Mike Foster
New member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2008
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 7
Hello,
Well, I’ve finally got myself onto VFTT. I’ve been poking around for a while (doing the single winter 48 I was quite curious as to what trails were broken out.) and I’ve met a number of members out and about.
Last year I had my first go at the single winter and got 37 peaks. I’m in college and play hockey so time is hard to come by. My plain this year was to finish over my winter break and not have to deal with mixing classes, mountains and hockey practice. Inspired by the exploits of mountaineers of yore I devised an epic plan to finish fast. I would backpack across the Whites, solo, starting at Appalachia and finishing at Franconia Notch, tagging the peaks in between. I would then tear into the remainder of the mountains, sleeping in my car or wherever I could and finishing on or about January the 15th, with the whole effort lasting about 20 days.
When the 15th rolled around I had tagged a whopping 20 peaks.
So it goes.
Three things I failed to take into account:
1) Laying around my dorm room not doing much of anything last fall was not exactly the best preparation for such an undertaking.
2) The snowiest winter anyone can remember.
3) Its difficult, maybe impossible, to make yourself sleep in a car when there’s a nice warm bed you can drive it to.
I did finish, but the whole thing was much more modest than I had envisioned. Here are some points I remember most:
I. Prelude
I was turned back in the deep snow just below East Osceola in the wee hours of the morning on the first day of winter. I saw the first faint green light of a winter sunrise over Mt. Kancamagus from the top of the old slide. I was 0 for 1, but the view was wonderful.
II. Wet Snow
The epic crossing never happened. I had to break it into sections to make it feasible. After Crossing from Crawford notch into the bonds I awoke one morning at Guyot to find the world was melting. The snow stuck my snowshoes in twenty-pound lumps. I had to forget about Garfield ridge retreat back to Zealand, soaking wet. For a moment, on the warmest day of the winter, I was in the worst danger I’ve ever experienced in the whites. I would have spent a cold, wet night at Zealand had I not been offered a ride from Zealand Rd. to Crawford by a real peakbagger (and I thank you again).
III. Breaking Things
I broke trail, a lot of trail. And snowshoes too, I broke every major brand this winter, MSR, Atlas and Tubbs, I’ve wrecked them all. The people at EMS must think I’m running some sort of scam. The snow was brutal. I got very friendly with more spruce trees than I care to remember. The Tripyramids turned out to be the hardist. They took more effort than Owl’s Head and Isolation combined. That was the nature of this winter.
IV. Cause For Concern
I was frightened by the multitude of rescues and tragedies that occurred this winter. I did not head up on a reasonably nice day because it seemed somehow wrong for me to go play when someone was lost and quite possibly dying up there. It seemed to me that the mountain gods were angry. Later, crossing over little haystack under the most perfect blue skies I was humbled by what I knew had happened there. Experience is a wonderful safety device, but this winter reminded us all what the mountains are capable of.
V. Bittersweet Triumph
I thought for a while that I should stop at 47, leaving the task unfinished out of respect for the hills. Unfortunately I’m not that unselfish, and on the Ides of March, 2008 I finished. My last hike took me to Monroe by way of Ammonoosuc Ravine. The trail was short and crowded, and the air was thick with warm fog that made it clear that winter was over. I did not linger on the summit, someone there was speaking in an imitation Borat voice that made the occasion completely void of sentimentality, which looking back, is really the way it ought to have been.
Now it’s time to lie around my dorm room, not do much of anything, and wait for summer to come. I’ll be working as a caretaker for the AMC’s Backcountry Shelters Program this summer, so I’m sure I’ll see a lot of VFTT folks while I’m on the job.
-Mike Foster
Well, I’ve finally got myself onto VFTT. I’ve been poking around for a while (doing the single winter 48 I was quite curious as to what trails were broken out.) and I’ve met a number of members out and about.
Last year I had my first go at the single winter and got 37 peaks. I’m in college and play hockey so time is hard to come by. My plain this year was to finish over my winter break and not have to deal with mixing classes, mountains and hockey practice. Inspired by the exploits of mountaineers of yore I devised an epic plan to finish fast. I would backpack across the Whites, solo, starting at Appalachia and finishing at Franconia Notch, tagging the peaks in between. I would then tear into the remainder of the mountains, sleeping in my car or wherever I could and finishing on or about January the 15th, with the whole effort lasting about 20 days.
When the 15th rolled around I had tagged a whopping 20 peaks.
So it goes.
Three things I failed to take into account:
1) Laying around my dorm room not doing much of anything last fall was not exactly the best preparation for such an undertaking.
2) The snowiest winter anyone can remember.
3) Its difficult, maybe impossible, to make yourself sleep in a car when there’s a nice warm bed you can drive it to.
I did finish, but the whole thing was much more modest than I had envisioned. Here are some points I remember most:
I. Prelude
I was turned back in the deep snow just below East Osceola in the wee hours of the morning on the first day of winter. I saw the first faint green light of a winter sunrise over Mt. Kancamagus from the top of the old slide. I was 0 for 1, but the view was wonderful.
II. Wet Snow
The epic crossing never happened. I had to break it into sections to make it feasible. After Crossing from Crawford notch into the bonds I awoke one morning at Guyot to find the world was melting. The snow stuck my snowshoes in twenty-pound lumps. I had to forget about Garfield ridge retreat back to Zealand, soaking wet. For a moment, on the warmest day of the winter, I was in the worst danger I’ve ever experienced in the whites. I would have spent a cold, wet night at Zealand had I not been offered a ride from Zealand Rd. to Crawford by a real peakbagger (and I thank you again).
III. Breaking Things
I broke trail, a lot of trail. And snowshoes too, I broke every major brand this winter, MSR, Atlas and Tubbs, I’ve wrecked them all. The people at EMS must think I’m running some sort of scam. The snow was brutal. I got very friendly with more spruce trees than I care to remember. The Tripyramids turned out to be the hardist. They took more effort than Owl’s Head and Isolation combined. That was the nature of this winter.
IV. Cause For Concern
I was frightened by the multitude of rescues and tragedies that occurred this winter. I did not head up on a reasonably nice day because it seemed somehow wrong for me to go play when someone was lost and quite possibly dying up there. It seemed to me that the mountain gods were angry. Later, crossing over little haystack under the most perfect blue skies I was humbled by what I knew had happened there. Experience is a wonderful safety device, but this winter reminded us all what the mountains are capable of.
V. Bittersweet Triumph
I thought for a while that I should stop at 47, leaving the task unfinished out of respect for the hills. Unfortunately I’m not that unselfish, and on the Ides of March, 2008 I finished. My last hike took me to Monroe by way of Ammonoosuc Ravine. The trail was short and crowded, and the air was thick with warm fog that made it clear that winter was over. I did not linger on the summit, someone there was speaking in an imitation Borat voice that made the occasion completely void of sentimentality, which looking back, is really the way it ought to have been.
Now it’s time to lie around my dorm room, not do much of anything, and wait for summer to come. I’ll be working as a caretaker for the AMC’s Backcountry Shelters Program this summer, so I’m sure I’ll see a lot of VFTT folks while I’m on the job.
-Mike Foster
