At Four Thousand Feet

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

Yesterday on Isolation I realized my biggest goal of the year – to consecutively hike the 48 New Hampshire 4,000 footers in winter, spring, summer, and fall of 2009.

One of the greatest things in life is discovering those things that challenge and inspire us. Back in 2007, I was a girl so terribly out of shape that I could not carry my own backpack down from Jefferson (my Dad was not pleased to have to double up, nor was he particularly amused when I proceeded to throw up all over his truck due to overexertion). Yet as daunting and miserable as my first “adult” hike was, I felt an instant connection to the Whites that has stayed with me since.

Through these mountains I’ve made many new friends. I’ve reached – and pushed past – physical limits that I once thought to be unattainable. I’ve grown tremendously as a person. I’ve discovered what it feels like to have a clear personal goal, and to follow it through to completion.

These mountains have quite honestly changed my life for the better. Although my 2009 48 x 4 might be over, I know I’ll continue to find and pursue new challenges within the Whites. The question is: What next? I suppose the answer to that is quite obvious, as I can hear the grid calling…

On a lighter note, I would like to introduce my fabulous new snow pants. We may have been without clear skies on Isolation, but there was still plenty of blue to go around…

Photo courtesy of my friend Eric Rathbun

I’ve finally sorted through the pictures from my Thanksgiving vacation. What strikes me the most about this particular set of images is the wonderfully apparent transitioning of the seasons. Since my previous post on the topic shamefully did not admit the mountains that I climbed, here’s a brief synopsis:

• 11/21 – North Twin, South Twin, Galehead, and Garfield
• 11/22 – North and South Hancock
• 11/23 – Lafayette, Lincoln, Liberty, and Flume
• 11/24 – Tom, Field, and Willey
• 11/25 – Zealand, West Bond, Bond, and Bondcliff
• 11/26 – Pierce, Eisenhower, and Jackson
• 11/27 – Waumbek
• 11/28 – Moriah
• 11/29 – East Osceola, Osceola, and Tecumseh

It certainly was a week of milestones for me. Not only did I reach my halfway point – and my 300th peak! – on the grid, but also ended November with a total of 44 4,000 footers climbed.

Below are a handful of my favorite images. The entire gallery may be viewed here…

“To go up into the desolate isolation of mountains into what one can only call the mountains’ truest interior is to know the nature of isolation itself — that ineffable, unmappable place where the tree will sometimes fall, and space and time recede. Where knowledge, and the urge for knowledge, falls away.” – Tim Muskat, Appalachia (Winter/Spring 2006)

Image courtesy of my friend Tim Charboneau

9 days.
112.3 miles.
35,050 feet of vertical gain.
25 peaks climbed.

As may have been apparent due to my deplorable lack of updates, last week I was on vacation. Spare the occasional check of the higher summits weather forecast from my cell phone – (okay, and I’ll admit the near daily mobile updates to Facebook) – I was entirely without internet. What a marvelous experience it was.

The week began in trail runners, and ended in snowshoes and insulated boots. Glaze ice gave way to mild temperatures, and then feet of heavy wet snow. After nearly a month of unseasonably warm weather, winter has finally decided to pay a visit to the mountains. I, for one, could not be happier.

More to come, as I painstakingly sort through the 300+ images that I captured over the past 9 days…