At Four Thousand Feet

…once again, rethinking. It would really be nice if I could make up my mind on this whole grid situation.

Trail runners and MSR snowshoes? I’ll admit, at first I was a little wary. As a rather clumsy individual prone to excessive ankle rolling, I grimaced at the thought of teetering along an unstable spring snow monorail, my delicate ankles just begging for an injury. But with the coming of warm weather, my shiny new pair of Inov-8 Rocklite 312 GTXs were just itching to get out. I must say, wrapped up in winter gaiters they looked positively adorable:

How wonderful it felt to finally be out of winter boots. So wonderful, in fact, that my friend Eric and I decided to go on a spring hiking rampage. Over the course of a single April weekend, we tore up the Willey Range, the Wildcats, the Hancocks, and Garfield – 41 miles in total (thanks to the Gale River road walk). Not an ambitious distance by a long stretch, but I was quite pleased by our effort given the tough conditions that we faced.

What of the trail runners? Well, I’m glad to report that they held up fantastically, as did my ankles. Dare I say I’m wildly excited to have discovered this combination?

Unfortunately, picture taking conditions were sub-par. Nevertheless, here are a few photos:

…more here.

It’s official – I have an addiction to carrot cake. Vegan carrot cake made by the delightful folks at Cafe Indigo, to be precise. At $5.97 a pop, it’s certainly not the cheapest of indulgences… but luckily for me, my good hiking friend Cath shares my obsession with the stuff. To celebrate the first day of calendar winter back in December, we decided to carry a little baby carrot cake with us to the summit of Cabot. Save for the slight frostnip that sprung up on my pinky finger (note to self: licking icing off one’s fingers in -10F temperatures is not the most brilliant of ideas), it proved to be the perfect hiking treat. Thus, a new tradition was born…

Carrot cake on Carrigain. The phrase has a pleasant ring to it, does it not? Perhaps a carrot cake x 48 is in order, as I’m now three peaks into the list (7 if you count post-hike indulgences).

Osceolas.
Carrigain.
Moriah.
Black tights (as the January thaw was in full force).
Carrot cake.

Throw in some absolutely phenomenal – and wholly unexpected – views, a welcome encounter with a new friend, and some good old trail breaking… who could ask for a more perfect few days of hiking!

More Pictures Behind the Cut »

Sometimes I let myself get a little too focused on the peakbagging aspect of hiking mountains. Every trip up north becomes a mission of sorts, a challenge defined not by the journey, but the numbers.

How far can I go?
How fast?
How many 4,000 foot peaks can I squeeze into the timeframe?

While I do think it’s healthy to set goals, I’ve noticed that my current peakbagging aspirations have started to (ever so slightly) detract from my enjoyment of the mountains. Consequently, last weekend I decided to take things easy for once. A leisurely 11:30am start time on the Hancocks, followed by a stellar visit to Whiteface/Passaconaway and the Sandwich Range Wilderness, made for a spectacular two days of hiking.

North and South Hancock

Distance: 9.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,650 feet
Trails Used: Hancock Notch, Cedar Brook, Hancock Loop

More Pictures Behind the Cut »

Distance: 14 miles
Elevation Gain: ~3,500 feet
Trails Used: Sawyer River Road, Signal Ridge