Erica Laue and her family spent their New Years Eve snacking and playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends. But the next morning, they decided to hit the trails and catch the scenery at Monadnock State Park.

“I am so carb loaded and ready to go,” Laue said before they hit the trails.

They were among the crowds of solo hikers, couples and families who made their way to participating New Hampshire State Parks on Wednesday as part of the annual First Day Hikes. The state has been hosting these self-guided hikes each New Year’s Day for the past 14 years.

Officials at Monadnock State Park say they saw maybe 80 to 100 people roll through on Wednesday — some hit the Parker Trail, which was designated for First Day Hikes, while others set out for the top of the mountain. Other participating parks in New Hampshire included Odiorne Point, Pawtuckaway and Milan Hill. It’s also a tradition practiced at state parks around the country.

The Laues have been doing First Day Hikes for the past eight years, originally starting the tradition when they lived in Colorado. When they moved to New Hampshire, they were happy to find that the state offered these hikes, too. At the time, they had a 2-year-old and another child on the way — and it’s turned into a family tradition.

They’ve previously explored Bear Brook and Odiorne Point State Park. But this year, they met up with Laue’s sister, parents and extended family at Monadnock State Park.

“As a family, this is something we really love doing, and so this is one of the ways we spend quality time together,” Laue said, adding that the kids got their first backpacking kits for Christmas and the family is planning a hiking trip in the summer.

Roxanne Loudon, an avid hiker from Peterborough, was also on the trails with her kids and husband.

It was her fourth year of First Day Hikes, and she chose Monadnock State Park this year because it’s close to home and she enjoys the reservoirs and dam.

Over the years of participating in the tradition, she said she’s seen everything from porcupines in trees to pheasants on the trails. (She says pheasants are the ones to be concerned about, because they’ll chase you down.)

Loudon said she’s pretty horrible at holding New Year’s resolutions, but she has one in mind this year: keeping her phone off the trails. She says if you want to enjoy nature, ditch the phone, buy a camera and take it with you on the hike instead.

“Our goal this year is to get a landline, that’s our goal, that’s our resolution,” Loudon said. “And I know I can meet that.”

This is NHPR’s The Big Question. In this series, we ask you a question about life in New Hampshire, you submit an answer, and your voice may be featured on air or online.

For December’s Big Question, we asked: What was your favorite moment of 2024?

Here’s what some of you shared.

Barbara Jo Kingsley – Peterborough: My favorite event this past year was climbing Mount Washington. I had a very major, 10-hour surgery last fall, and I told the surgeon that my goal was to climb Mount Washington that coming summer. And we did. We went up to the top in misty, drizzly weather and saw nothing but fog, but we made it to the top. The next day, we went down the Cog Railway. I had been up on the top when I was younger, but it was new for me after surgery. It was a goal I set, and I made it, and I was real proud of myself.

Rik Yeames – Concord: My favorite moment of 2024 occurred on Monday, April 8 at 3:30 p.m. when I was able to view totality from Pittsburg, New Hampshire, of the total solar eclipse that occurred that day. I was actually a NASA partner, [a] solar eclipse ambassador, [and] had an eclipse mobile. I spoke to a lot of school groups, libraries [and] some rotary clubs around New Hampshire. So it was the culmination of about nine years of working, planning and preparing, getting ready for the eclipse. It turned out to be the sight of a lifetime.

Carla Schwartz – Meredith, New Hampshire, and Carlisle, Massachusetts: My favorite moment was that we prepared a camper van to go to Vermont to see the total solar eclipse. We put in windows and we put in cabinetry and a refrigerator that runs on DC, and all this stuff for solar panels that go all the way to the top so that we can live off the grid. It was an event for humanity, really, to be out there and have the sky darken and then listen to the quiet when the birds disappeared, and then have the sun appear again eventually. It was really beautiful.

Heidi Solomon-Orlick – Henniker: Well, probably the two biggest things for me is one, I fulfilled a lifelong dream of publishing my first children’s book at the age of 65 years old. And I think it proves that you are never too old, and it is never too late to reach for the stars. This book is the book that I wish I had when I was a child. The second moment for me this year is the fact that late last year, I was aged out of my corporate role and I decided to lean into full time entrepreneurship. It was a difficult transition for me, but it is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Fred Portnoy – Canterbury: My best memory of 2024 follows closely upon my worst memory of 2024. After my wife passed away in June, I determined two things: one, I was going to attend every concert offered by the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in Boscawen that summer. Two, I was going to honor my wife with a one-woman art show of her work in the town’s parish house community center, culminating in a celebration of life. The confluence of those two led to the high point: Ashley Bathgate, cellist of Avaloch, very kindly offered to play selections we chose together for my wife’s celebration of life in September.

SALEM, NH — Salem police have arrested a 14-year-old boy and an 18-year-old from Manchester after an investigation of a stabbing of a Windham man at the Mall at Rockingham Park

Salem Police and Fire responded to the report of a 20-year-old Windam man with a stab wound at the mall near the food court entrance Thursday. Officers provided medical aid to the man, including placing a chest seal over the wound in his torso. The victim was transported to Lawrence General Hospital and, due to the severity of the injury, was flown to a Boston area hospital with what police describe as life-threatening injuries. Police say he remains in critical condition.

After executing several search warrants in multiple towns police arrested the 14-year-old on Monday, he is accused of 1st degree assault, armed robbery, attempted murder, and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon.

Tuesday, Salem police arrested Ronald Joseph Marino III, 18, of Manchester, who is accused of attempted first-degree murder during a robbery, first-degree assault with serious bodily injury, armed robbery, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is being held without bail pending an appearance in Salem District Court on Thursday.

In October, Marino was indicted by the Hillsborough County North Grand Jury. According to the indictment, he is accused of conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, hindering apprehension, and sale of a firearm to a convicted felon.