Finished the 770>>>>

[SpencerVT]

I finished the 770 (777) on August 15th 2020 atop Spencer Bale Mountain in Maine.
It took me roughly 8 years to climb them all.
To my knowledge I am the 12th finisher, and the first from Vermont to climb the 770.

Thanks first and foremost to my incredible and supportive wife Renee who climbed over half of them with me.
Thanks to Dennis for keeping me busy all these years!, and for his insight and inspiration.
And thanks to all the awesome bushwhackers and friends I have met over the years!

Some thoughts:

Favorite bushwhack mountains:
Catskills - Beaver Kill Range 3377’
Vermont - Cold Hollow Mountain
New Hampshire - The Captain
Maine - Boundary Bald (East Peak)
Adirondacks - Sawtooth 1

Easiest bushwhack:
Catskills - Woodhull Mtn
Vermont - Mount Tabor
New Hampshire - Blue Ridge (N. Peak) 3102’
Maine - Leroy Peak
Adirondacks - Burgess Mountain (once you get permission and start bushwhacking)

Hardest bushwhack:
Catskills - Friday Mountain
Vermont - East Seneca
New Hampshire - Anderson
Maine - Barren
...And the hardest bushwhack not only of the Adirondacks, but of the entire 770 goes to:
McDonnel.

Unsurpassed in awfulness. Like being a tiny insect caught in one thousand spider webs.
Do not venture into the basin between Redfield and Allen, or if you do,
may God have mercy on your soul.

Virtually nothing beats being out in nature and the wilderness of the Northeast (well maybe pizza). I cultivated an even deeper appreciation for the outdoors, the natural world, and animals. I overcame physical challenges greater than anything I have faced before. The benefits of the outdoors cannot be over stated. It is my hope that those wandering the shopping malls of America forgetting what a tree even looks like, or excessively glued to technology will come to recognize the tremendous mental and physical benefits of getting out in the natural world. The Northeast, and particularly Vermont, is the most beautiful area on Earth.

Spencer “Bigfoot” Crispe
West Brattleboro, Vermont.

770 completion atop Spencer Bale Mountain, August 15th 2020:

 

[Steve-o]

Nice ! Congratulations !
Dennis always tried to talk me into doing that list and I kept telling him he was out of his mind.
Good job, now what ?

 

[Peakbagr]

Nice going, Spencer. Well done !

 

[peakbagger]

Definitely an impressive accomplishment.

What next?

 

[Rhody Seth]

Awesome work!

 

[wardsgirl]

Great job!

Oh, the stories you must have!

 

[HockeyPuck]

Sweet! well done and congratulations. 8 years is pretty good. I'm 20 years into that list and almost 50% done.

 

[skiguy]

Well done. Awesome accomplishment. You really ought to replace that T-shirt though.

 

[maineguy]

Congratulations! I was wondering: do you have an estimate of the number of miles you had to drive in your quest?

 

[Grey J]

Wow! That is a lot of mountains to climb in a fairly short time. I can't imagine the focus and dedication it took to stay fixed on that goal in such a dogged fashion not to mention the consistency of performance over that time span to simply cover all that ground. Congratulations. A singular accomplishment.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Wow. Congratulations!

Tim

 

[ChrisB]

Amazing! Congrats.

Question: What was your main navigation method for most of these whacks? GPS, map/compass, terrain following, stars, etc.??

 

[Reneeapril]

Congratulations, Spence! Extraordinary accomplishment.

Check out the article: https://www.reformer.com/stories/local-hiker-completes-big-challenge,612600. Frontpage news!

 

[TEO]

Congratulations, Spencer! As someone who enjoys peakbagging and bushwacking, I am in awe of the dozen of you who have completed the 770. As someone who also grew up in Brattleboro, way to cover our hometown in glory. Congratulations, too, Renee!

A couple of questions:

1. Where does your nom de guerre come from?
2. Did you start peakbagging with the 770 in mind? Or, did you start with subsidiary list(s), e.g. the Adk. 46ers or WM48, and grow into the 770?
3. Are you a Vermont Sixer yet? (See the attached PDF, retrieved from here: https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_pid.prl/)

 

[Salty]

Spencer, you are amazing, sir. I knew you were after this list, but had no idea you were that close, but at least saw how you were banging them out. Absolutely amazing feat, you are now in a very elite list of northeast bushwhackers, so I guess I gotta revere you as well. ;-) Congrats. Many congrats. And good on you for the props.

All I know is what's next is something regarding a peak(s) around Success Pond.

 

[OnAClearDay]

Congrats and well done! I greatly appreciate the many trail reports over the years, always full of useful nuggets of information. As a New York based hiker I take some odd comfort that McDonnel tops the list..! (I'm thinking it would be slightly better in early spring on a deep snow pack with crust..)

 

[hermit]

Congratulations !!!

 

[SpencerVT]

Thanks to you all, I have really enjoyed talking with so many of you over the years.

The 770 was a process of one thing leading to another. I think the overwhelming majority of the 12 finishers grew into the 770 as they accumulated peaks. I am only aware of one or two finishers who may have embarked on the 770 from the beginning of the list.
I had climbed many mountains on the list at a pretty rapid pace, such as the 115 4Ks, so one thing lead to another and I just said, let's continue & go for the full 770. I was attracted to the idea since it is patently unreasonably long and a ludicrous list LOL!
I averaged about 100 mountains per year, which was always my goal as to pacing, and I wanted to finish in 2020.

I did several hundred mountains using a compass. However, for the remainder I did utilize GPS. I used GPS primarily because it could mean the difference of finishing a peak or leaving a straggler and then having to drive 6 hours round trip to come all the way back. I drove tens of thousands of miles for this and I tried to do trips as efficiently as possible to minimize the travelling.

I have been into Bigfoot my entire adult life. I do not believe in Bigfoot, although I would be so stoked if Bigfoot were indeed found behind like a Pizza Hut in New Jersey someday. Having climbed all 770 mountains in the Northeast, I can say for certain that if Bigfoot did exist, I would have found him by now, LOL.
For example, on my wedding day I had a person dressed in a Bigfoot costume come out of the woods and deliver the wedding ring to my wife. I think the idea of Bigfoot is cool and it just seemed like a perfect hiker nickname for me.
That "Daryl" shirt that skiguy posted is awesome!

Finishing the 770 is a little bit like when your kids move out of the house to go to College. AKA it's all I've known for so many years, and now it is an abrupt change that I have to get used to. I plan to keep working on the Vermont 500 Highest and then after that I am sure I will think of something further!

Thanks again!
Take care,
Spencer Bigfoot.