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A whole lot of catching up to do

Here is the agenda for today’s post:

1. North Twin with Ruby, Buck, & Sky (My #45, #1, #2, #41 respectively)
2. Boott Spurr & Isolation
3. Whiteface & Passaconaway with Matt & Summit (Sky’s #42, & #43)
4. Born to Birthday Run- 27 local miles with human and dog friends in the spirit of the working class!

1. After Hale, I was in the mood to knock off some of the remaining peaks that I had left. I had plans of going up North Twin, over to South Twin, and then down and up Galehead and back out the same way. This would be a big day, ~13 miles and a lot of gain (going up that Twinway to South Twin in the middle). This hike never happened because Ruby and I (and I suppose both dogs) fell in the high river on the way up North Twin. There are 3 river crossings on the way and while it was colder and snowy at higher elevations at the time, I wasn’t horribly worried about freezing because, let’s face it, I’m a furnace. I just rolled up my tights and waded through, expecting to get soaked. Ruby had more issues with the water, ended up falling in early, and never warmed back up. We decided to turn around at the summit of North Twin instead of risking freezing legs. There were absolutely zero views but the snow and rime on the top was beautiful and my first tastes of a winter hike. Spikes weren’t needed but the snow was present. We headed out and to a brewpub to celebrate Ruby’s #1, Buck’s #2, Sky’s #41, and my #45 of the NH48.

2. The following week, I thought about my goal and how I really am not in a rush to hit Galehead, Owl’s Head, and Cabot. I calculated Sky’s peaks instead. She has done all of the ones I did except for Waumbek, West Bond (ugh), Whiteface, and Passaconaway. However, I thought she also hadn’t done Isolation and the Osceolas. I then remembered that one time Ryan and Kristen took Sky to the Osceolas for me while I ran the Mt. Washington Road Race. I made a mental plan to hit Mt. Isolation with her next, totally forgetting that she did that hike with me already. Maybe I’m getting old? I contacted some other hikers and we decided to go over Boott Spur and then down the Davis path to Iso and back out. The night before the hike, I saw a photo on my phone of Sky on the summit of Isolation from over a year ago. Whoops! Oh well, I love Isolation so much that I was happy to re-conquer it.

Jeremy, Seero, Peter, Sky, and I all headed up to Pinkham and met up with Austin (who was planning on camping overnight) and we hit the trail early. This was one of the clearest days I’ve had in the Whites ever. It was not too cold, horribly windy, and absolutely clear and sunny heading up above treeline. For whatever reason, my legs and back were more sore than they had been in recent days and my legs never felt light or felt strong so climbing took a while for me. We still went at an aggressive pace, but none of us wanting to be in the woods after dark. After hitting Iso, Seero and I decided to forego the climb back up the Boott Spur and opted for more miles instead and went out Rocky Branch. It was really wet, but fun hopping along rocks and we got an amazing view of the supermoon through the trees among a cotton candy sunset sky. We got out to the parking lot and were waiting for our rides from the others while chatting with other hikers who were crushing beers and hanging out after their hike. I was in conversation with one guy about attempting a winter Pemi loop with Sky girl and was given the advice to go on an especially cold day. This way, I would move faster to warm up (little does he know me…) and that snow on the trees would not melt and fall on us during wooded sections. Solid advice from a guy who claimed to have done a “super pemi” including Galehead, North Twin, Hale, & Zealand extensions in under 15 hours.

Beers at Moat were especially delicious on this day, as I learned that Pete and Seero like even worse movies than the ones I’ve been watching lately. #RocketMan.

3. It could’ve been scorching hot, pouring rain, tornadoes, or white out blizzard conditions and I would still #OptOutside for Black Friday. Luckily, it was only a little rain and some snow, with heavy cloud coverage in the White Mountains. With proper lists all caught up, I thought I’d hike a Whiteface-Passaconaway loop adding in the Wonalancet Range on the way out. This way I could assure that Sky gets 2 more of her peaks, I could revisit the Sandwich range, and relive the memories of my first hike on this circuit of completing the 48. **I had done Mt. Washington growing up a few times, but after learning about the list, I started fresh with a Whiteface-Pway loop in 2014.

I would’ve gone alone, but thought I’d reach out and see if anyone local was interested in hiking. I first asked my friend Matt since apparently he and some friends went up Iso the same day as we did but we never ran into each other. He was game, and he brought his ADORABLE “brown utility mutt” Summit. We drove through snowy back roads to Ferncroft trailhead and had a decent hike, only losing the trail a few good times. It was actually quite warm for the hike, only windy on the western ledges on the way up Whiteface. We had a couple of beers- one for each summit- and then slushed and slid our way down. It was Sky’s first real snow hike of the season. She went bananas as soon as she got out of the car and was pumped for the first half of the hike just about the snow alone. She disappeared a few times, more than normal—chasing shadows through the snow I’m sure. She could learn a lesson from Summit about just hanging out on trail.. and Summit could learn a lesson from Sky about not stopping under my feet. All in all, a successful “White Friday” and I can’t wait to get out on trails or to drink ales with Matt and Summit again.

Sky and Summit checking out the sky and the summit.

4. This last section is not about hiking at all. It’s mostly going to be a love letter from me to my friends and my dogs. I like to go for a run on the birthday and in the past I’ve tended to run smaller distances for smaller birthdays. 24k, 25k, etc. but last year I went for the full marathon, as it was my first birthday with Sky. We were in NJ and I posted about this last year. We ran the full 26 miles alone together. This year, I was not heading to NJ, didn’t know any trails near Boston where I could feasibly link 27 miles without seeing anyone, and wanted to be always near the car in case my back spasmed and ended my fun. (I’ve been dealing with lower back stiffening and locking, it’s horribly painful when it hurts. I’m on meds and seeing PT. The good news? It doesn’t hurt to walk or run at all!!)

This is where the local favorite trail is pretty handy. Cutler Park is almost, almost, the perfect place for me to attempt this 27 miler. It has ~7 miles of trails that you can do as an out and back that are interesting, but not hard. There are 2 huge water sources for dogs to cool off, drink, etc. and you can link up any distance loops as low as 1.5 miles (just around the Kendrick pond). The only downside being, like all trails anywhere near Boston, this place gets CROWDED on nice days and on weekends. The day I picked was both a nice day (high 45 degrees and sunny) and a weekend (Sunday).

I made a facebook event inspired by my favorite rock and roller (“Born to Birthday Run”), made it public, and told some of my friends that if anyone wanted to join me, Sky, and Buck for any amount of 4 mile loops, they were welcome. Just go to the parking lot, maybe text me if you know what time you want to show up so I can plan to be back at that time, and let’s roll.

Being a closet introvert, I wanted a ton of time alone with the dogs. I started at 6:15am, excited and ready to go. Sky and I were in matching American Flag outfits (although Sky lost her bandanna somewhere off trail). We knocked out 12 miles before being joined by Kerry, Jon, and Jeremy at around 8:30am. I tossed my buff and swapped long sleeves for singlet and arm warmers (40 degrees might as well be summer for me). We did a loop and then met up with Ruby, Em, Mark, and Seth for another loop. 2×4 mile loops + 12 solo miles put me at mile 20, a great time to have a beer. 1 beer later I went off for a small 1.5 mile loop, then dropped Jeremy, Em, and Mark who promised to see me later at the house. I had a quick bite to eat, let the dogs rest a spell in the way, and then Seth and I went out for one more 4 mile loop + a little extra to finish it out.

Quiet sunrise, alone on trails and chilly–my favorite!

By this time ~10:30am, there were TONS of people and dogs all over the trails and while Buck was tired but fine, Sky was getting moody. Everytime we saw another dog, I would grab her and step off and she was fine—no real lunging—but it slowed me down a bit and also made me want to get to the bigger loop where we would be less likely to run into dogs/people.

Seth was fantastic company, and just the right person I needed to finish it out with. He is one of my longest friends from the running club and we’ve gotten close beyond the running community alone. I’m thankful to have him finish out my 27 miles, and Buck’s and Sky’s longest RUN (we didn’t walk for any portion more than 10 seconds at a time). I’m sure each of those pups hit at least the 50k mark with all their playing and off trail stomping they did in those early first 12 miles.

As we hit the parking lot, my Garmin dinged at exactly 27 miles. Seth and I each had another beer while we caught up some more in the parking lot. I didn’t think I’d feel so good, complete it so fast, and emerge without any back pain from this year’s birthday run.

After a shower and 3 servings of chocolate pudding, I was ready to have friends come by for snacks, beers, and Bruce Springsteen tunes. To top all of this off, Sky was so tired but still so bitchy for a spot on the couch that she even voluntarily slept on me. All it takes is 27 miles and no other spots on the couch for her to cuddle with me! It was a pretty awesome day before birthday celebration.

All the redemption I can offer, girl, is beneath this dirty hood!