BIGEarl
Well-known member
As it is with reaching many milestones, the accomplishment is often a personal achievement, but others might be interested in the story. Completing one of the lists is perhaps the most common milestone we hear about in the hiking community, but there are others that can feel just as good.
Sue and I have enjoyed such an accomplishment; here’s the short version of the story…..
Early in 2007 I found myself without a hiking partner. Jumping on hikes posted on-line that looked interesting along with completing some solo hikes became my standard approach. Steve had a Bonds Traverse posted for June 30 that I saw a couple days before the hike date. I sent a note asking if there was room for me to join and he confirmed there was indeed plenty of room. The hike included Steve, Christa, Amicus, Katharine, Sue, and me. I was meeting and hiking with Katharine, and Sue for the first time. We enjoyed a terrific day on a south-north traverse and I came away with some great memories and new friends. In the course of the hike I got the impression Sue would be a lot of fun to share hikes with. Part of that feeling came late in the hike when I started making noises about adding Hale and Sue was eager to head for one more peak when we reached the area. We didn’t make the turn onto Lend-A-Hand but stayed with the others and finished the hike the way we started, as a group.
During the drive back to Lincoln Woods to retrieve the other vehicles we talked about our hiking plans. Sue was finishing her all-season 4K’s and listed her remaining peaks. I mentioned my hike plans, which had a lot of overlap with Sue’s remaining peaks; one was a Twins-Galehead-Garfield Traverse the following week. I invited Sue to join the hikes but she declined. We didn’t hike together again until September when we got together for a Double Hit & Run (Cabot and Hale). Our first hike together was a big traverse and our second was a Hit & Run day. Who knew this would become normal for us?
During the Cabot & Hale Double Hit & Run, I told Sue about my plans for a Wildcats-Carters-Moriah Traverse and invited her to join the hike. Again, she declined claiming six 4K peaks in one day seemed a little intimidating. I completed the hike solo.
One other hike we completed in late October, 2007 was again with Amicus; we hiked the Wapack Trail end-to-end (north-south). Sue had some free weekend time and decided to try another long, multi-peak day to see if it was something she enjoyed. We had a terrific day, including the final few miles on Mount Watatic with headlights.
We never hiked together again until February 2008; this time with Amy on Franconia Ridge. During 2008 we got together for 27 hikes. By mid-year we were hiking partners; hiking together on nearly every hike we completed. In addition, we were enjoying some really interesting long, multi-peak hikes; multiple Presi Traverses, Kilkenny Ridge Traverse, multiple Wildcats-Carters-Moriah traverses, multiple Hale-Zealand-Bonds Traverses, and some fun big loops. The loops and combinations were all based on the hike specs of a Presi Traverse, which became our baseline specs for hike planning. We’re having fun now! For even more entertainment we decided to hike a 30-30 (30 peaks in 30 days). That gets a little more interesting if you mainly have only weekends for hiking. Sue tossed in some vacation days and we did some big hikes.
In 2009 we increased to 56 hikes generally following the same hike planning approach. We did more 30-30 months, more big traverses, including a traverse of Osceolas-Tripyramids-Whiteface-Passaconaway, Thornton Gap to Ferncroft (killer car spot), and more crazy combinations. On one weekend, Sue had something else that took priority and I was on my own. On that day I hiked a triple hit & run (Hale, Hancocks, and Tecumseh). I believe Sue was a little disappointed I did that without her and we needed to fit a similar plan into our hiking schedule at some point, which we did.
Up to the beginning of 2010 we were carefully planning our hikes to fit The Grid. Even though we never said we were hiking The Grid it was our approach. In January 2010 we decided to focus on completing our hiking of The Grid together. We sorted out the new peak list that would get us both to 576 together and had a common objective. Hiking The Grid together with the combined list meant both of us would have peaks to re-hike. Along with continuing to work on The Grid, we spent time in Vermont and Maine together. Sue finished her New England Four Thousand Footers, and I re-started the NE4K’s that had been on the back burner for a while. The 2010 hike count reached 64 hikes completed.
In 2011 we had our highest annual hike count to date with 69 hikes completed. Most of the opportunities for big traverses had already been hiked so we found ourselves regularly hiking double and triple hit & runs. Trailhead hopping can be a lot of fun but the added logistics issues make planning the day a little more difficult. Sometimes we finished later than planned but hiking after dark is something with which we are both completely comfortable. Everything always turned out fine; we were always able to find the truck at the end of the day.
Late in 2011 I started looking at a few things and realized we were closing in on a milestone I never expected we would reach. At the rate we were hiking, in a few months we would pass 3,000 miles and 1,000,000 feet of elevation gain hiked together. I know this isn’t unusual for a lot of people that have been at it for a while. But, I never expected to be fortunate enough to reach such a milestone with a single hiking partner. Sue is an amazing hiking partner, and a wonderful friend.
A few weeks ago we passed the 3,000 mile mark while hiking Owl’s Head. Our most recent hike of The Wildcats put us past 1,000,000 feet of elevation gained together. Sue and I have covered a lot of ground together.
As I said at the beginning, this is an accomplishment that I admit is mainly personally satisfying. I also know there are many that enjoy following our hiking activities through the posted reports and slideshows. Hopefully, this condensed version will provide some perspective on all of the pieces of the on-going story that get posted each week.
Stay tuned……….
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