Get out and enjoy the pleasures of summer... while you can.

The grass is actually greener on this side of the calendar! July is the sunniest and hottest time of year meteorologically, speaking. All winter long, we pine for warm sunny weather. When it finally arrives, some complain about the heat… Really?

Sultry summer’s here, but don’t blink! Rather than sit in an air-conditioned box, get outdoors!

Summer is the best time to explore the White Mountain National Forest and all Eastern national forests turn 100 this year! Conservation groups and the U.S. Forest Service are commemorating the Centennial of the Weeks Law of 1911 which first authorized federal purchase of private forestlands to become what is now the eastern national forests.

The 800,000 acre federally-owned White Mountain National Forest is a jade green jewel that attracts 6 million visitors annually. In summer, the national forest features more than twelve hundred miles of scenic, winding hiking trails which access dozens of wind-swept (bug-free) granite summits and hundreds of misty, mossy waterfalls and cool swimming holes along tumbling mountain streams!

We live in scenery worth of an archetypal granola bar ad! Yet some residents take our rugged backyard mountain trails for granite. While we all intend to get more outdoor exercise, it takes a little effort to do so.

Now is prime time to seize the day!  No excuses! Fresh air, healthy exercise and spectacular White Mountain scenery await. Our White Mountains have remained the state’s principal summer tourism drawing card for centuries!

Summer has a way of slipping away. All-too-soon, autumn leaves flutter with the certainty of snow to soon follow.