Magical Hike Up Moosilauke

December 1, 2018– Sky’s Birthday. Jeremy, Victor, and I followed her up Moosilauke. No wind, warm temps, and the most incredible undercast.

Crabby Cabot and Kill me Killington (47/48; 5/5) & The End of Alternative Summer 2018

Can you believe I’ve only made it up to the mountains 4 times this summer? I understand that 4 times may seem like a lot to the naked eye, but I assure you that it feels like a prolonged absence from the place I love each summer. I made it up to Garfield and Franconia Ridge with Victor back in June. It was hard to “hike” everything, knowing that running itself is not the danger, but falling was a big risk. To refresh your memory, I am recovering from Pulmonary Embolism diagnosis back in May, and am on a course of Xarelto for 6 months. Running is an approved and encouraged activity… but physical trauma is actually quite dangerous with a risk of internal or external bleeding. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been a little risky… but never in some place as remote as the summit of a mountain or alone.

I’ve been calling this summer the “Try New Things” tour or my “Alternative Summer”. I haven’t been training for any long ultra-marathons, and I haven’t been spending all my free time in the mountains. This has given me the freedom to explore new activities and new places right in my home city of Boston. Instead of heading north every weekend, I’ve been able to spend time locally and finding new corners of my neighborhood to enjoy. This whole year has been about making fewer excuses to try new things, and that philosophy exploded this summer.

For example, I have spent a large amount of time on the river this summer. I bought a season kayak/canoe/SUP pass and have done all 3 of those activities. I’ve even been able to take Sky Girl out on the river with me, where we were quite a hit with everyone on bridges we paddled under. I have always loved the water, not just swimming but the calm of a river or lake. Even in the hottest days of the year, setting out on a board with the pup was never out of the question. This activity was made even more enjoyable by the masses of my friends, from different circles of my life, who also enjoyed summertime on the river.

Another river activity that deserves some written real estate in this post was the great tubing adventure on the Deerfield River. I’ve sat in a lazy tube before, with a floating cooler and an incipient summer sunburn, but this tubing adventure is what I would call “active tubing”. Jeremy invited myself, Victor, Mark, and Seero out to the Berkshires (the most magical place in MA) to go tubing down the river. If you are picturing the lazy tubing, please wipe your mental canvas clean and instead picture a rushing river with class 3 rapids, where we went 4 miles in an hour. This trip was like one long slide, where you had to dodge rocks and attempt to paddle with your nearly useless hands outside the tube, while getting splashed. Storms threatened and sunglasses were lost (sorry, Mark). I had a blast, possibly the most fun single hour activity I’ve participated in.

I could go on and on about this alternative summer. There were other activities (mountain biking, visiting new parts and parks in Boston, etc.) but by August, I was ready to get back to my familiar happy place, climbing in the mountains.

Cabot is so far north. Holy crap! Jeremy and I left on one of the last days of August with the intention to drive up to Cabot, conquer that bad boy, camp out, and then hit Owl’s Head. The day did not follow as ideally as we had hoped. First, I woke up that morning with a horrible sore throat. I have been battling a sore throat on/off since coming home from San Diego and it seems like every 3 days it returns. That morning, I woke up feeling sick and questioned my ability to hike and camp. I was thinking about what would happen if I wore my body out and then got real sick again, worse than just a sore throat. After sleeping a little more, I decided I’d at least try it. So with the late start, Jeremy and I headed north, and north… and when it doubt just keep driving north…

Cabot is WAY the hell up there! After what felt like an eternity, we made it to the fish hatchery. Neither of us has hiked Cabot before, and a quick google search claimed that the gate at the hatchery closes at 4:30pm. The trailhead is a 2 mile road walk/run away from the gate… so Jeremy and I had a decision to make. After realizing that we could take our time, we left the car on the outbound side of the gate and added 4 miles to the 11 mile loop. We hiked the Cabot loop counterclockwise, heading up Unknown Pond trail first, then hitting the Horn and the Bulge and finally summiting Cabot and then heading down.

The day we chose was HOT. Not only hot but HUMID. Like, stupid humid. Like only stupid humans would venture on a day like today. And only stupid humans would bring a dog and make a dog do this hike on a humid day like that. Well, I don’t claim to be very smart…

Speaking of Sky, she did absolutely great on this 15-mile day! She showed no signs of slowing down, no signs of fatigue, and she was actually running down the road faster than Jeremy and myself at the end. Her strength surprised me, as she isn’t the young pup that she was when I first got her (she’s not old, but just not young) and her road running is very slow these days. This pleasant surprise is encouraging me to bring her on more, longer mountain days.

Anyway, Jeremy and I camped on the Kanc after this and decided to lick our wounds and go home the next day, saving Owl’s Head for another day.

Vermont High Peaks—CHECK. Over the Labor Day Weekend, Victor and I made last minute plans to head up and check out some trails. We didn’t want to stay in the Whites, and I assumed that we would be unable to since they apparently get more visitors than Yosemite per year (Jeremy’s claim!) so instead we thought about doing some trails in Vermont. That made me remember that I only had 1 more of the Vermont 4000 footers to summit, Killington, to finish the list.

Victor planned a cool 20 mile loop starting and ending at our campsite in Gifford Woods State Park. GW is a great place to camp if you are looking for a place in that area. There are plenty of amenities, it’s very clean and well maintained, and you have access to many trails from right there—including the AT and the LT.

Our loop changed slightly, based on quality of the trail, but we ended up making a large loop and out-and-back out of the Long Trail and the AT. We ended up heading up Pico, over and back to Killington, and then back down. We ran into Hannah Hawley just driving by on the road during one of 2 road crossings, which is kind of amazing. The total mileage was 19 miles and almost 5,000 ft of gain.

As fall approaches, I am looking forward to finishing my NH 48 during peak foliage. Owl’s Head is probably the most remote mountain of the list, nestled so snuggly within the heart of the Pemi Wilderness. It’s a 16-18ish mile out and back hike from Lincoln Woods (although of course you can make more mileage out of it from other locations) and I’m looking forward to using it as a big training day.

I started this blog with this list in mind, but it’s turned into a wilder journey than I could’ve predicted. I slowed down my progress so much that for a while I was wondering if I’d ever finish the list at all. I’m not done yet, so I will just keep wondering.

Winter Hiking- December 2016

I’ve been fortunate this December that I’ve been able to get up in late fall “pre-winter” conditions, as well as currently during real winter. I’ve made 3 trips up to the Whites this month– Madison, Welch-Dickey, and Monroe attempt.

Madison was really fun. Jeremy, Austin, and I went up Valley Way to the hut and then summited from there. Temps were very cold, exacerbated by high wind gusts, and we intended to hit up Adams as well but Sky girl was shivering and getting stressed so we turned around. This was the first time I’ve seen her cold. Either way, good experience and we got some beautiful views for a bit!

 

A few days after that, I solo decided to head up again to test some camera things. This was my first excursion where I wasn’t specifically looking to get a gnarly hike in, or get above 4000ft. I opted for the Welch-Dickey loop, a mild 4.5 mile loop that rewards the hiker with ledges and beautiful views of the Sandwich range. The drive is also a lot closer than most hikes since this loop is on the south end of the Whites. I had a wonderful day, leisurely hiking up the ledges, getting a little lost off trail (the trail markers were painted on the rocks on the ground which were covered in snow). This hike would be ideal for beginners or taking kids! Big reward for minimal effort.

 

Most recently, in real winter, Jeremy, Aaron and I took a trip with the intention of summiting Monroe. The skies and clouds had other ideas, and visibility kept us from going past the Lakes of the Clouds Hut. We went up the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail to the hut. We were off trail a bit after going over the beautiful waterfall at the top of the first climb. I would love to try this again on a clear day!

 

 

So this concludes my hiking for 2016. I can’t wait to get back out there in January 2017! Winter hiking is a complete joy. Happy New Year to all!

Mt. Hale- short and sweet #44

After knocking off another Pemi Loop adding in West Bond (#43) at the end of summer with Dani, I had only a few peaks left. With my long ultra already completed, I have been relaxing and not focusing on hard training/tapering. I thought that this past weekend would be a good time to get another trip up north, and another peak off my list.

I’m at the point in my journey to climb the NH 48 where I have a few left and have fond memories of many summits and many multiple summits. I have a lot of favorite peaks- Isolation, Moosilauke, anything on the Pemi, etc. where I am finding trouble motivating myself to get some of the less exciting tags out of the way (e.g. Hale, Cabot). With the changing seasons of summer into fall, and fall already into winter in the Whites, I went after little Mt. Hale on Sunday.

I was watching my roommate’s dog and thought a nice activity for him, myself, and Sky would be a hike. I thought about the peaks I have left and ruled out Owl’s Head because of the distance, then ruled out North Twin and Galehead because I want to grab those together which would be a lot in perhaps unpredictable icy/snowy/rainy conditions with an unseasoned dog (Buck). That left Hale and Cabot– not much to decipher between the two but Hale was a little closer and shorter so I went for it.

Not much to report, I went up and down the Hale Brook trail for 5.3 miles total. The trailhead looked like a beautiful fall with foliage and cool temps. While climbing, once I hit ~2700ft elevation, snow was steadily everywhere and it was almost like spring conditions– lots of slush and water. It wasn’t cold, a bit windy and a bite if you stopped moving but let’s face it, Sky and I never stop moving.

Overall, it was a beautiful day and just what I needed to wake my legs up and shake out. I hiked all the way up in my new trail shoes– inov-8 terraclaw 220’s — and ran all the way down. I’ll probably post a love letter to those shoes in another post but this was their test and they passed with flying colors! It was a beautiful hike, and a nice ease into winter conditions. Buck got to summit his first NH4k foot mountain and he was a gentleman the whole time.

I met one other solo female hiker on the trail and saw no other people. She was awesome and we both talked about being solo women and the fears and subsequent tranquility and confidence that goes along with that. She is also from MA so we exchanged phone numbers and hope to hike again, as she is also attempting to hit all 48.

Okay okay, here’s photos:

 

A different take on the Pemi Loop

I’m not the first, nor the fastest, nor the funniest person to have completed a 30 mile, 18k elevation change, Pemi loop. I don’t want to write up another “first I walked over a bridge, then I went east” etc. douchy report about the hike. If you want to find out details about the hike, you have options! You can:

1. Google “Pemi Hike” and search away for the many other bloggers or AMC workers who have knowledge about the route and elevation.
2. Ask me specific questions, I can chat about the experience in person and will probably give a more animated and, dare I say, entertaining description!
3. I don’t have a three but lists with only 2 items are kind of lame. Either way, I’m sure you can figure out other methods of learning about the Pemi loop.

So, instead of my traditional boring report, I thought I’d do something different this time. I’m going to take slices of my hike, with a timestamp and location, and write to you my internal (and occasional audible) monologue/dialogue that was a running commentary of the whole experience. If you think talking to me is annoying, take pity on me! I talk to myself all the time and can’t get away from me!

So first, I’ll give you the quick and dirty on the trip, so that you have an idea about how far I am and what time it is during different stops on the ever-exciting monologue express (choo choo!)

Friday night I couldn’t sleep. Not totally uncommon, but I typically can’t sleep the night before I am considering a long run or a big hike. Instead of having to wait around until morning like I have to if I’m hiking with others, I decided—hey fuck it! I’ll go hike that sucker now. So at 10pm I drove to Lincoln Woods with my dog and bags in tow and was on the trail at 2am. I also decided on a counter clockwise loop. I chose this route because I have some weird mental block about the Pemi loop going up flume first. I’ll get into more detail about that in a more serious, lame, soul finding bit at the end but for my own mental sanity, I chose CCW this time. I’ve read that the benefit of the CCW loop is that the long flat Lincoln woods trail is done early, which drags on at the end of the hike. The drawback to CCW is that you have a lot of climbing to do late in the day, scaling Lafayette for example at mile 20. It didn’t matter, mentally, CCW was what would keep me going and in the event that I had to bail (or had to help Sky bail), I would at least have seen Bondcliff finally.

Okay so got the details? CCW loop and 2am start. Just my dog and me. All aboard? Let’s start this wild ride.

2:15AM Lincoln Woods Trail, 0:15 into hike

What the hell, Sky? Why are you so slow tonight? Yeah it’s late, yeah it’s dark but you are a dog. You literally just sleep all day. You didn’t have to drive here. Why am I putting such distances between us just by walking. We should be running this section! Sky, c’mon let’s go. She really hates wearing that pack. I don’t get why. She should be more used to it by now. How can a dog who runs runs runs all the time just crawl right now? Are we even going to make it to Bondcliff? Why is she being such a butt? Maybe it’s too heavy. I know, I’ll just dump out her water and make it lighter. Sky, come here, let me… okay there now you have no water. Wait, I’m an idiot. Why even have the pack on her if she isn’t carrying water? Ugh what if it gets hot early? I should just go back and dump the pack but I don’t want to add more miles to this already. I’m so stupid. I just won’t drink any of my water and that way if she needs it, then she can have mine. Wait that is stupid, too.

3:00AM Lincoln Woods Trail 1:00 into hike

Oh my god oh my god oh my god I’m going to die here. I swear to god I am going to die here. There are monsters and bears and moose and all kinds of bad shit out there and I’m just alone walking into it. Fuck fuck fuck what was that sound? Sky, stay on the path please. I am such an idiot, why did I watch a scary movie today? Why why why why would I do that? Trails at night weren’t so scary before, ugh I am going to die here—–WHAT WAS THAT? OH my god please Sky can you just try to run a little with me please. I’m going to just start yelling, make sure all the bear and moose know I’m here… HELLLO BEARS I HAVE A DOG. I’ll just yell that every couple of minutes… oh shit. Oh shit oh shit what is that? Something written with sticks on the ground and an arrow? What does it say? “Help me”? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING? There’s a goddamn arrow pointing down the trail I have to take? Does it say “help me”? I’m not going to look again, jesus I don’t want to know. Oh my god this was such a stupid idea. [This really happened]

3:30AM Lincoln Woods Trail 1:30 into hike

GOOD GIRL SKY. I’m going to just keep yelling that every 3 minutes. I haven’t seen a bear or moose or anything bad yet. Good thing the scary movie I watched was just The Exorcist and not the Blair Witch Project or something… fuck now I’m thinking about the Blair Witch Project. Fuck fuck shit I’m so dumb. Sky, stop trying to eat toads. As soon as you catch them, they just pee in your mouth…

4:30AM BONDCLIFF SUMMIT 2:30 into hike

Holy shit, this is the most beautiful moment of my life. I just experienced more stars than I’ve ever seen before and now this sunrise. I’m alone, there’s a strong wind waking me up, and the summits of mountains are all around me, 360 degrees, rising out of the undercast clouds like the heads of titans. Look! There’s Carrigain, Franconia ridge, Willey, Field, wow this is.. wow. Flashlight off, let me just sit, I think I might cry.

6:45AM somewhere near South Twin, 4:45 into hike

The sun is really up now. I can’t believe what a morning that was. I still haven’t seen anyone, this is really perfect. I wish Sky would move faster though, this is so runnable.

8:00AM Galehead Hut 6:00 into hike

Breakfast for the backpackers, the hut is packed! No dogs in the hut, I’ll have her sit outside while I go in and refill her water bottles that I stupidly emptied and refill my own water. Hmm… I guess I didn’t drink much? I barely have to refill. I really am just so stupid, why didn’t I drink more? Oh well. I’ll feed Sky, too. I could shoot up Galehead and back. It’s a mile round trip and I already missed the West Bond spur. I’m not sure how Sky will fare now that it will be warmer, not sure how I will feel either. I’ll skip it. I’ll be back attempting more Pemi’s in the future anyway.

9:30AM Trying to get up Garfield 7:30 into hike

Man, fuck Garfield, fuck this climb, fuck this waterfall. Holy crap this asshole mountain just shoots out of the ground out of no where and then I have to go all the way back down? This is so stupid. Who is Garfield anyway? Not cool enough to be in the Presidential range, huh? Isn’t Garfield a fat cartoon cat? Fuck this fat cat. Sky is mostly a mountain goat, but I’m doing a lot of helping her on this climb. It’s not even such a huge climb, maybe 1000ft but sharp, so sharp. Ugh, just keep pushing.

10:15AM Garfield Summit, 8:15 into hike

This is my first summit with people! Real people to talk to! I met some dude who was running the loop CW (smart, lucky man) and some day hikers as well as 2 dudes and a dog who slept on top of Garfield. It’s nice to finally be able to talk some. Worth the rest and time for snacks also. I know what is coming next, long descent and then the last big climb. I’ll let Sky rest some more, I think she’s already asleep… “Hey thanks! I love Janji, great company and they make my favorite shorts.”

11:15AM en route up Lafayette, 3.7 miles from Garfield summit to Lafeyette summit, 9:15 into hike

Seeing a lot of people now, it’s a decent hour where people are actually awake. It’s getting warm, too. Especially in these little clearings in the sun. Oh look, more runners! Man I wish I were running. “No you got it, come through. You’re still running..” Oh, that guy knows the Brighton Bangers! He’s running with a few runners from Community Rowing, I didn’t know they had a run club. Cool.. that one guy with the beard is pretty cute. Small world, I think most people doing the loop that I have talked to are from the greater Boston area.

11:50AM very close to Lafeyette summit, 9:50 into hike

LISA?? Oh my god, what a place to run into you. Oh, you think I look fresh? Thanks! Just the pick me up I needed. Enjoy your pemi loop!

12:00PM Lafeyette summit, 10:00 into hike

holy fucking hell, how did all these people get here already? Oh my god, there must be 150 people on this summit, at least 9 other dogs. Oh my god this is going to be awful. I didn’t think Franconia Ridge would be this packed. No, don’t let your dog just run over to mine. No sorry my dog’s water is not for your dog. Fuck off everyone go away. Sky, sorry we can’t rest here, I’m so uncomfortable.

A running monologue for the Franconia Ridge section from Lafayette to Lincoln

Okay, okay, let’s go. Sky, c’mon please lets try to run the 10 yard sections between groups of hikers that we can? I want this stretch to end as soon as possible. Ugh, “ha ha ha yes her backpack is cute”; “no she is tired and doesn’t want to play”; “no I don’t make her carry my things, she carries her own food and water.” Sure you guys take your time, you and your 25 person group can slowly go up this 7 ft rock and not give me 2 seconds to literally jump down. “no I don’t make her carry my things, she carries her own food and water.” Oh my fucking god just move over. Sky, keep up… “no I don’t make her carry my things, she carries her own food and water.” What a tale of 2 halves of the day. I couldn’t have been happier at 4am alone on the other side. There must be close to 1000 people up here. This is worse than the mass pike on a Friday afternoon. “NO I don’t make her carry my things, she carries her own food and water.” I hope to god it gets better after Lincoln. SKY COME ON. This is the slowest final 8 miles of anything I’ve ever done. “No she doesn’t want to play with your dog she’s tired” oh your dog is tired too? Can’t tell by how it’s pulling you all over the place, did you put 25 miles on your dog already? Oh for fucks sake “no I don’t make her carry my things, she carries her own food and water.”

[I realize what a snob I am inside my head but rest assured, I was nothing but polite aloud to anyone. However, I will NEVER attempt to be on that ridge on a good weekend day in the summer every again.]

1:00PM Just past Lincoln, 11:00 into hike

Finally, oh my god finally. Still a bunch of people on this side but in comparison, it’s deserted. I am low on water and Sky is out. We just have to perservere at this point. Liberty is kind of an annoying climb this far into the day and Flume after. At least we will have less people and nearly no reason to hang out on the summits. We’ve been on Flume and Liberty maybe 6 times already.

2:30PM Franconia Ridge after Liberty, 12:30 into hike

I’m on autopilot, just ran out of water, still tons of people slowly going up liberty or going down. I can’t believe how much time we’ve wasted on this ridge.

3:00PM Just passed Flume, 13:00 into hike

FINALLY, 5.5 miles until the bottom, I am tired but I know this is the gently downhill we need. I’ll walk some and run some but we are MOVING. Sky, there will be water at the bottom, at the glorious bottom. We are not so far away. Let’s go let’s go let’s go.

5:00PM Dunking myself in the Pemi River by the trailhead, 15:00 & finished

Oh my god. So this is what it feels like to finish the Pemi loop, huh? I feel awful. I am tired. A girl on a bike just yelled at me because Sky walked in her path. “Leash your dog!” yeah… I get that she doesn’t want to get hurt or hurt my dog but I am way too tired to care. The hike alone is tiring, but without sleep for 36 hrs at this point, plus a drive back to Boston, I can’t be bothered with people. Her stopping her bike shouldn’t ruin her day completely. I thought I’d feel more accomplished or something but the last 6 miles were really killing me. Like KILLING ME. My feet hurt so much from walking, running would’ve been better. I have to think about how to carry some water for Sky if I choose to run it next time.. I can’t go her “pack pace” anymore. Oh well. Ice cold water on the legs is a relief. I’m going to eat a burger and then go home. I wonder what happened to whoever wrote “help me” back there?

…and we will never know.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen: that is my Pemi report. I am tired again just from reliving the whole thing. I’m very proud of Sky for now being able to hold the title we all knew she deserved—that of Ultra Dog. As for my own mental state upon finishing, well, I’m not too changed. I didn’t expect to be, but I can’t believe how bad the Franconia Ridge made me feel about the rest of the experience. I shouldn’t let a shared beauty in NH get me down, those hikers have as much a right to be there as I do, and I should have foreseen a busy ridge midday on a clear and beautiful Saturday. I just love when I am in solitude, I like going my own way at my own pace and I like having just my dog around for company. I’ll take that last 10 miles to the bank and learn a lesson for next time.

As for finally completing the loop after failing twice before, I certainly feel glad, but I don’t feel changed. I think that’s appropriate. I (perhaps) jokingly described the Pemi Loop as my “ex boyfriend” of hikes because it was grand, impressive, and no matter how much I knew I was good enough and deserving, it never let me feel that way. Well, here I am proving to be good enough, and still wanting more. Much like my ex.. the first half of the Pemi loop experience was life changing and incredible but by the last stretch, I just wanted that shit to be over.

I took on a few new peaks in the process of this hike: Bondcliff (39), Bond (40), South Twin (41), & Garfield (42). I have 6 remaining peaks– West Bond, Galehead, North Twin (all within an arms reach from the Pemi loop), Cabot, Hale, and the gnarly Owl’s Head (in the center of the Pemi loop).

I try to learn a thing or two from every experience so here it is broken down:

• Figure out how to make Sky run faster or carry her shit for her
• Don’t watch scary movies before going alone in the woods… but perhaps watch scary movies before night trail races because I was ready to SPRINT up Bondcliff
• Drink more water early, chronically failing at that
• Be patient with strangers, you are the face of trail running and ultra running/hiking to some people so don’t be a dick even if you are tired and cranky and hungry and thirsty
• Have confidence, you know what you are capable of.

Ahh you’ve made it this far in the post? I’ll reward you with photos.

My uniform, plus a black Nike longsleeves

My sunrise photos from the East side of the loop

The dunk in the Pemi to conclude the day

Beers Before Headlamps: Pups & Patriots Weekend

Last year, Updog (Ryan) and TFC (Ben) along with their friend Alec celebrated our nations great independence by hiking a Presidential Traverse. Simply full of jealousy for a whole year, I tagged along this year for a weekend in New Hampshire with Ryan and many new friends—including Ben, Dani, Mike, Yitzy, Nate, Matt, and Erik.

 

*disclaimer, most (but not all) the photos in this post come from Dani or Mike, who are more skillful at hiking and documenting and have a better camera on their phones than I.

Friday- Day 1

Sky girl is dressed and ready!

I packed Friday morning and headed up to meet Ryan and Dani who arrived Thursday. We had an easy Friday, hiking a flat mile out to Church’s pond for a dip between the mountains and then back. We grabbed food and headed to camp. We started drinking and playing stump and enjoying ourselves. This is where Bad Event 1 occurred… somewhere during this time. Somehow, I lost my “wallet” – you know, that money and credit card bundle that I keep a hairtie around. Unaware of this, I partied on, greeted Mike and Yitzy at their arrival and slept soundly.

Saturday- Day 2

We had a kind of late start on Saturday. The plan was to grab breakfast, and then climb the Tripyramids. This hike includes 3 summits, 2 of which are on the list (#35, 36). After realizing that Ryan was kidnapping us, and taking us to some breakfast joint that was not Bart’s, I realized I forgot my wallet (believing it to be at camp somewhere). Who wants to pay for me? Thanks guys.

The preferred route is up the North Tripyramid Slide, over the peaks, and then down the south slide. The north slide is brutally steep and many sections are loose scree rock that doesn’t make for strong footing. We walked in through the Livermore Pass starting at the Kanc. Round trip was close to 15 miles, slow day on that slide—6 hrs. I will share that I LOVED the slide trail! Gradual uphill & switchbacks might be easier and faster, but the sheer vertical climb, uneven footing, and mental route planning that goes into a rock slide trail is way more fun and, for me at least, that energy translate into speed! Huge credit to our 4 Trail Dogs: Sky, Cayenne, Tuckerman, and Piper 1 who were also champions at this trail where dogs are not recommended.

Taking small breaks on the slide, Ryan and I were able to look out into the mountains, into the Pemi and could, between the 2 of us, identify each and every mountain. I always feel at home in the Whites but I must say that felt even moreso like home.

At night, we again grilled and hung out. Nate (& Perdy) and Erik (& Piper 2) arrived. Bad Event 2 occurred. With so many large dogs (our 6 plus 2 others at camp), dog tensions were running high. I was trying to give Sky a piece of chicken when Perdy just walked by. Sky snapped at her and my hand was caught in the crossfires. Got a nice bite, cleaned the wound and life goes on.

Tuckered out little pups

Sunday- Day 3: to hike or not to hike

So with full knowledge that Monday’s traverse would be an effort, Ryan didn’t give a F and planned a Hancocks hike. Erik and Nate arrived the night before and wanted to get onto trails. Yitzy and Mike opted out, for a lazy day on the river (smart boys!). My thoughts were to meet up with all the people I knew who raced the Loon Mountain Race nearby in Lincoln and go to a lake and drink beers all day. However, after not hearing from anyone and being easily persuaded, I joined Dani, Ryan, Erik, and Nate on a Hancocks hike. This was about 10 miles of a lollipop loop, including 2 more peaks from my list (#37, 38).

Doing this hike alone, I would’ve probably ran much of the initial climb into the mountains. The trail was soft and bouncy, filled with pine needle and not covered in rocks so much. The loop part involved one steepish climb, ~1000 ft to a nice view atop North Peak. Then a ridge line trail that slowly ascended the South Peak.  On this hike, we had 5 humans and 6 dogs. We were a pack and maneuvered well together. All the dogs were great off leash, including the scary road crossing on the kanc, at the hairpin turn.

During the ascent on this hike, my left calf burned. I have been having cramping issues with it for a week or two, probably a combination of dehydration and lack of foam rolling out the buildup. I was slow on the climb and felt dumb for not resting today and worried about how I would fare on the traverse. These mental worries are the worst—I’m worried about failing at something I haven’t even started yet! Not only that, but something that I am looking forward to doing! I shook it off and finished the climb, reminding myself to drink more water. The view at the top was well worth it!

Bad Event 3 (and final Bad Event) occurred. Due to the nature of the holiday, many fireworks were set off from nearby houses and towns. As most dogs are, Sky is terrified of loud sounds. She was shaking and I was afraid she’d run away so I put her in my tent briefly while I got ready to join her. In those 15 minutes alone in my tent, poor baby was so scared she peed on my sleeping bag. It wasn’t a lot and it was totally cleanable. I just felt so scared for her, and bad that I left her alone in their at all. I’m sorry, Sky Girl. Never again!

Monday- Day 4: AMERICA TRAVERSE

Okay. The plan was simple and yet not so simple. We at camp had a meeting to discuss logistics. Mike and Yitzy were going to leave cars at the finish and head straight home (to NY) after finishing. Ben, maniacally, was driving up through the night from VA and would meet us at Applachia at the start. Matt was driving up from Boston at 3am to meet at the start also. That left Ryan, Erik, and myself to figure out car spots.

We learned early on in this trip that the dogs were capable of riding in the truck bed of the pickup without jumping out or being scared. In fact, I think they all enjoyed the freedom back there! So we left my car and Ryan’s (and Mike’s and Yitzy’s cars) at Crawford and we piled into Erik’s truck with dogs in the back and headed to Appalachia. We got a later start than we intended but met Matt and Ben and were on trail by around 6:50am.

Our fine collection of doggos

Our ascent was via the Valley Way to Watson Path to the summit of Madison. My climb was as I thought it would be, a pain in the calf. I thought my muscle was going to explode. Every step was agony after the first 1500ft of climbing. I slowed down, fell behind, but didn’t stop. I knew that once I hit the top, I would be fine with the climbs from there on out. I kept drinking, too, knowing the Madison Hut would be a refill. I brought s-caps with me also, popped 2 of those just after breaking treeline. I felt the pain persist through to the summit, where we rested and took in our first view. 2:30 total time to the summit, but it flew by. After moving again from there, the s-caps kicked in a bit and my pain went away. Thank goodness! I felt good to climb after that!

We moved steadily but slowly for most of the day. Part of hiking with a large group, including 4 dogs, is that it’s easier to stop. While I wish we were moving as a group a bit faster, as in taking less time to stop, I can’t really complain because the weather was AMAZING above treeline. It was clear and sunny and the view was beautiful. I’ve been up there a bunch of times and I think this was the best weather I’ve seen, other than the Mt. Washington Road Race day.. which I still haven’t posted about.

When we made it atop Washington, ~ halfway done with our day, we spent almost an hour eating and hanging out. Because of our 4 dogs, someone had to stay outside with them at all times. Luckily, they were all so tired they just lied down together and watched other people and dogs wander about. The summit of Washington is like Disney, packed with drivers and train passengers and other dogs and children and our pups paid them absolutely no mind. I even took a nap on the ground with them in the sun, warming myself and enjoying the rest.

During this stop I felt like a tour guide of sorts. I got a lot of questions about hiking with dogs, knowing what the dog need, what do I put in my dog’s pack. I also got a lot of questions about my singlet, a Janji India style. Finally, I got questions about day hikes and speed records and trail running. So many people show such an interest in the mountains and mountain running!

Of the 4 dogs, 2 were equipped with backpacks. Sky Girl and Tuckerman both wore Ruffwear Approach packs. Inside Sky’s, I had 2 L of water in soft collapsible flasks (1 L on either side of her for balance), a collapsible food/water bowl, her leash, and a ziplock bag of food, which she ate on the Washington summit. The pack seems to temper her wild trail animal instincts, she is less likely to run amuck off trail chasing shadows and seems to stay on trail more. I think this is overall the best for long hikes like this where she should conserve some energy.

As for the Janji gear! Everyone should be looking to get running/fitness gear from them. Janji apparel features bright colors and fun patterns that reflect the message that Janji sends out. Each piece purchased provides some source of clean sustainable water for 3^rd world countries all over. Available clean water sources is a global issue, imagine you yourself spending a week unsure if you could have access to such clean water! As a girl whose trail name is Sweatshop, I for one would not be able to take on these adventures without knowledge that I can get water in places like the top of Mt. Washington! I highly recommend checking out Janji brand and story and picking up some great gear (I am particularly fond of the shorts)!

After I woke up from my dog summit nap, I went inside and scarfed 2 hot dogs and a slice of pizza. I refilled with water and we continued on. The descent from Washington to the Lake of the Clouds Hut is fun and runnable! We got to the bottom and let the dogs play in the lake for a long time before hitting the hut and then finishing the day. We made great time on Monroe, Franklin, Eisenhower, and Pierce before deciding against adding Jackson and maybe Webster. Sky girl had a rough day on her nails and one was rubbed down to the quick—she was bleeding since Mt. Jefferson so I was cleaning it and observing. The Crawford Path down Pierce and out to Crawford Notch (the finish line) is entirely runnable! I spent most of it running a few minutes and then walking a few. Sky girl had the “get me the F out of here” mentality and bolted ahead with Ben and Matt!

Finished at the car around 12:30 total time, changed and immediately downed a beer. The dogs showed us they were made of strong stuff by chasing squirrels while we waited for the rest of the crew to come out. This was my first N-S presidential traverse and I loved everything about the day.

Matt and I even found we brought the same Pinelands finisher Buff and made hats at the end!

Hey Ryan, sneaking in

Gear Used:

• American Flag Shorts, duh
• Janji India singlet
• Nike Dry-fit quarter zip for the summit
• PrAna hat
• Nathan Vapor women’s vest, everything fit perfectly
• Darn Tough Socks
• Topo Runventure Shoes, also a perfect choice for the weekend
• Salomon Buff, didn’t need
• Extra Socks for either feet or as gloves, also didn’t need

Nutrition:

• Trail Mix
• Trail Pickles (0 calories, all the salt)
• S-Caps, took 4 I think
• Pears, Strawberries, and Blueberries baby food things
• 2 Hot dogs
• 1 Slice of Pizza
• 2 finisher beers

Weekend Summaries:

• 4 new peaks to my list
• 11 overall peaks
• 50 miles hiked
• 15, 500ft elevation gain

Beer before headlamps. Good training for my upcoming 100k– the Bigfoot 100k!

Kinsmans, Cannonballs, Cannon (again)- 33, 34

Okay. So Monday after this long weekend, Ryan and I stayed to play in the mountains! I needed Kinsmans and he wanted to attach Cannon. We made the day into a traverse. Up Cascade Brook Trail to Lonesome Lake. Then Fishin’ Jimmy Trail up to Kinsman Pond campsite. Then up both Kinsmans and back to the pond, quick refill of the water– then the tiresome Kinsman ridge trail over the cannonballs and steeply up Cannon. Then down Cannon on the otherside after a trip up the tower! All in all, a long weekend of climbing and mountains.

I think I got some good base miles on and am looking forward to getting stronger from this experience. I’m coming for you, Bigfoot 100k!

Mt. Zealand- #32

This past weekend was the weekend of the Mt. Washington Road Race! I will write a separate post about that race, but for now I’ll update you about the day after– where Lauren, Matt, Erik, Ryan, Rui, and I all hiked Mt. Zealand, a mountain we all had never truly summited and would work for our respective NH48 lists.

We were a little slow, having raced Mt. Washington the day before, but it was a great hike, filled with dogs and HEAT.

I don’t have too much to say. I love the mountains and my friends and dogs. The end? Stay tuned for the hike we did the next day…

VT weekend- Mansfield, Ellen, Abraham (#3 & #4)

I have so much to catch up on and no desire to type out a story. So I’ll be super brief.

A few weekends ago we went up the Vermont– a large group of Bostonians… plus Hannah and a new friend named Dani. To sum it up:

Saturday- Jeremy, Ruby, and I went up the steep AF Hellbrook trail, dropped off Ruby + Buck, and J, Sky and I continued on up the apple, chin, and over to the forehead of Mt. Mansfield, the tallest mountain in Vermont. I have climbed this in the past so I am not counting it as a new summit. Windy and rain, but the Long Trail on top is clear and beautiful. We went back on the LT down, running on wet rock and flying! It felt great!

Sunday’s adventure was a traverse. Ryan, J, and new friend Dani and I went from App gap to Lincoln Gap on the LT.. Hannah and Ruby performed a miraculous car swap for us. On this hike, we hit summits of Mt. Ellen (4, 081 ft) and Mt. Abraham (4, 016) (and some smaller peaks along the way). It was a great weekend where I felt strong the whole way!

Great weekend of climbing and drinking and dogs and friends!

#31- Moosilauke, the Gentle Giant, Sweet Child O Mine!

The week after Cannon, I decided that it was mountain time for the rest of the year. I wanted a solo trip, a quiet, chilly, snowy peak morning with just me and Poopgirl. Not that hiking with Jeremy is awful, but he should taper and probably recover from hitting the ice earlier.

Anyway, the night before I ended up at the Drop with Erik because earlier I saw a dope blue Corona mountain bike in the window and naturally assumed I could win it at some point. We went in maybe an hour after I walked by and the bike was gone. It looked like this:

Pretty sweet, right?!

Anyway, so after a few beers, I end up in bed at the outrageously late hour of 10:30pm. Hey, for me, that’s pretty late. I intended to wake up at 5:30am and get on the road early, so I tried to get to sleep. Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep at all that night and I don’t know why. I got a few hours and woke up at 5:00am, half an hour before my alarm. At first, I thought I’d set the alarm back to 6:30am, since it didn’t really matter that I was the first one on the mountain. Then I considered not even going and instead just climbing at the Blue Hills. But hey… 5am and awake? IT’S GO TIME. I shook my head, got up, fed the dog, counted my things and got on the road.

I’ve learned from my past that I will always regret not going and doing something awesome, just because what I want to do in the moment is different.

Anyway, I didn’t stop to get gas or breakfast. I snacked on some granola in the car but mostly was planning on eating snacks on the summit. Thus, the faster I climbed, the sooner I could eat.

The Moosilauke trailhead is at the end of Ravine Lodge Rd. The plan, based on actual trail research and reading trip reports this time, was to head up the Gorge Brook Trail to the summit, then take the Carriage Road to the south summit and cut back on the Snapper trail. The trail head is a few miles west of Woodstock off 93. My drive north always seems to fly. I’m sure I am speeding, but there is really no one else out there. I was cruising on this beautiful mountain road through the wilderness and the radio went out. Not uncommon, I just let the white noise take over. Then, something really inexplicably important happened. As I am starting to get excited to be on a mountain, the white noise disappears as I turn sharply to expose the other side of the mountain I am driving around. Suddenly, in crystal clear lucid condition, the song Sweet Child O Mine by none other than Guns N Roses comes on, not halfway through, but at the very beginning. I had 6 minutes to the trail head and this song was going to take me there.

I mean, go ahead and open up youtube or spotify or itunes or whatever (Tidal?) and put that song on. Put it on, don’t do any work, don’t even read the rest of this post. Just get excited, for whatever you are doing today, this weekend. Whatever you are looking forward to, just think about that and BLAST THIS SONG. I can wait.

See? Didn’t that feel AWESOME. If you’re not ready to fuck some shit up, try again. Still no? Maybe this version will work…

“Dane Cook. Pay-Per-View. 20 minutes. Let’s go.” – goddamn Derek

Anyway. The hike was amazing. It was gentle, moderate climbing, I passed 2 people on my way up and was able to savor the summit, beautiful and exposed all to myself (plus Sky) for 45 minutes. No wind, no need to hide. Didn’t use spikes or winter coat. I was able to run down a lot, just smiling, arms out, chasing my dog through the woods…

Final exposed approach up the Gorge Brook Trail

It’s been a weird few months for me. I’ve been riding high for over a year, not manic but not really in touch with reality in all ways. I’ve been staving off a crash, just thinking it will come, but not ever sure it will. Just because I’ve been happy lately and for a prolonged period of time does not mean that sadness must follow, or that the sadness that may follow will be as intense and crippling as it has been before. I’m trying to work through creating my own balance instead of just accepting that which comes, but also, if it does come accepting it can have benefits. As long as I am in touch with myself, that’s just fine.

Enjoy the moments, Sweet Child O Mine!