You have to take what the mountains give you. But sometimes you find that it’s exactly what you need. The trail provides.
White Mountains
184 posts
Looking out, looking inward, looking forward, returning to quietude. These are the transcendent moments that draw me back to the forest, time after time.
Why suffer the hardship, the pain, the miles of the Pemi Loop? What’s there? Oh wow, lots.
Wow. When you hike the Osceolas, make room for your mind being blown. What kind of view is there from the summit? More than you know!
Whiteface Mountain (4,020 feet). Sandwich, NH. 2022-06-07 (Tuesday.) Via Flat Mountain Pond, McCrillis, and Rollins trails. 12 miles round-trip. (Includes a “quick” jaunt down Kate Sleeper trail to Downes Brook trail as an add-on.) Approx 3,200 feet elevation gain, not including the 600-odd feet on Kate Sleeper. Temps were warm, in the mid-70s. Winds were noticeable in the trees at about halfway up, a refreshing light breeze on the exposed […]
Sometimes you endure pain and steep terrain for not a lot of expansive views. But sometimes you find something more fulfilling in those moments.
Sometimes you look up and see clouds. You hike up, and see something more.
Owl’s Head isn’t at the pinnacle of the 48 four thousand footer list, but it’s at the pinnacle of the sublime. But why?
And then there were none. I finished my winter 48, and my fourth season, on the most bluebird of bluebird days.
Mt Liberty and Mt Flume, Lincoln, NH. 2022-02-20. (Sunday) Via Whitehouse Trail, Liberty Springs Trail, Franconia Ridge Trail. Approx 8.7 miles. 15 dF +/- at the trailhead, 10 at the summit. Sunny to start, with rapidly closing high level clouds. Wind at Liberty and Flume summit was a light breeze to start. Back at Liberty on the return, the winds were brisk and bitter. Trailhead: 1030; Liberty Summit: 1300; Flume […]
What a difference a week (and some warm weather) makes. What can you do when the trail feels like concrete?
An attempt at a trail is usually Type II fun. Obviously, you went there with a goal, but something happened. Powder snow. Step-slide, step-slide gets old quickly.