Taking Flight

My very first backpacking trip, if you can call it that, was with my friend Sylvia all the way back in 2015. She took me on a trip to Lonesome Lake Hut in the White Mountains over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. I struggled. My thumb was broken at the time (a recurring theme for me), so I couldn't use poles. Sylvia had a pair of spikes for me, but they broke, so I tried to hike in the snow without any of the proper equipment. It was tough, and I totally wore myself out doing what I now know is a relatively easy hike, but I did make it. I had a great time, too. I enjoyed it so much that it became a tradition, and then I eventually branched out to doing other types of backpacking trips. Recently, the roles have kind of reversed. Sylvia has wanted to get into doing more modern, lightweight backpacking, and so sought out my help. Given how much she taught me about backpacking to begin with, I was more than happy to return the favor. I loaned her some equipment, gave her recommendat...

I don't know why, but for a long time leading up to this hike, I couldn't get Mt. Washington off my mind. I really wanted to hike it, and I couldn't tell you a good reason why. Maybe I just saw it mentioned in too many books and YouTube videos. I have attempted to hike Mt. Washington four previous times (twice successfully), and all four times were from the west side of the mountain, via the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail. In fact, you can read about the most recent of those attempts  here  on this blog. This time, I wanted to do something different. The more famous approach to the big mountain is via the east side, starting from Pinkham Notch and ascending via one of several routes. The easiest route is probably the Boott Spur Trail, but it's also the longest. The most iconic route is via the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, but that area is also famous for avalanches. The most difficult route is Huntington Ravine, and I wasn't going to go near that in winter conditions. Thus, I d...

It's been a while since the last time that I did a blog post. I didn't hike for a while after the Appalachian Trail, but I have gotten back to hiking in recent months. I don't blog as often as I should because pulling photos off my iPhone is a pain, but I hope to get back to doing it more soon. Also, I hope to backfill some blog posts from some of the missed hikes. It's winter again, so this blog post was all about continuing to work toward my winter list goals. At the beginning of this winter, I had four peaks still to go to complete my Winter 48 in New Hampshire. They were North and South Twin, Garfield, and Tecumseh. Tecumseh is an easy peak that I have been saving for my finisher so that my girlfriend Dragonfly can hike it with me. Garfield could be done in a day hike, but I want to do it as an overnight backpacking trip because I enjoy winter backpacking. The Twins are still on the list because they require a road walk, and that makes it a very long hike, difficult...

My original plan for this hike had me continuing into the White Mountains for the next ten days, but plans change. After I got to the Rattle River Hostel, I realized that the last few days had taken a lot out of me. The relentless heat and humidity had make hiking unpleasant, and then the rain had exacerbated the developing blisters on my feet. Could I have continued? Probably. Would it have been enjoyable? Definitely not. Hiking is hard, but ultimately it is recreation, meaning that it should be at least some amount of fun. I consulted with several people who I trust, and I laid my situation out for them, and I asked them for their thoughts. Everyone was unanimous. If you're not enjoying yourself anymore, then you shouldn't be doing it. That made my mind up for me. I decided that I was going to end my hike, and save the White Mountains for a future hike. Of course, there were some logistical details that had to be taken care of. I had a reservation at the Joe Dodge Lodge that ...

Carlo Col Shelter to Gorham 16.8 Miles Today was the day that I finally finished Maine! I have to be honest, even though it’s my home state, I wasn’t sad to leave Maine behind. The southern Maine part of the trail was brutal and draining. Carlo Col shelter did not have flowing water, just puddles. As a result, getting water from there required using a scoop. I carry a Craisins bag that I cut the top off of, and I use that to scoop water when there isn’t much water available. Not long into the day, I crossed the Maine/NH State Line. I was excited to finally finish southern Maine. I also had accomplished the original goal of my hike, which was to make it into New Hampshire. This got me thinking about whether I wanted to keep going or stop. A lot would depend on the weather going forward. The early day featured climbing Mt. Success. The climb was difficult, with a lot of rocks, some of which were smooth slab. I remember looking up at one particular slab and thinking, “They can’t expect me...

Grafton Notch to Carlo Col Shelter  14.1 Miles I know that it says just above this that it was a 14 mile day, but I can assure you that it felt a lot tougher than that. In fact, I think it was the toughest day since the Bigelows. Probably not coincidentally, this was the first day since the Bigelows with 6000 feet of elevation gain. Mark from West Bethel Motel was once again awesome, being flexible with my drop off time and getting me on trail by 8 AM. My first task was to climb the last remaining four thousand footer in Maine, Old Speck. That was a tough climb, and I took it slow. Unfortunately, there was no reward, as the mountain was in the clouds. I wasn’t upset, though. I had hiked Old Speck with my friend Sylvia a few years back to finish my New England 67, and that was an amazing day. I figured that I have seen Old Speck at its best, so it had nothing left to prove to me. The descent from Old Speck was very steep, and I had to take it slow again. I knew that today was not go...

East B Road to Grafton Notch 10.3 Miles Today was the day for all of us to leave The Cabin and hike on. Gazelle, Medicine Man, Ali, and I were going back to East B Road, while the others were going to South Arm Road. That meant that the four of us who hiked together yesterday were in front by about nine miles. However, before we could leave The Cabin, there was a problem. We had to pay. The Cabin apparently doesn’t take credit cards, so we had to pay cash, and very few of us had enough cash on hand. This meant that Swan had to drive us to the ATM at The Store first. As expected, we ran the ATM out of cash. Thankfully, all of us going to East B were able to get cash, so we were on our way.  Once we got hiking, we immediately split up into two groups. Gazelle and Medicine Man ran out front, while Ali and I lingered behind. However, Ali wanted to hike alone, so I put on my headphones and pushed up East Baldpate Mountain by myself. About halfway up the mountain, there was a shelter cal...