loanshark
Active member
When Liz and I first started hiking, we never envisioned being able to accomplish anything like the NH-48. We didn't even know that the list existed. We were very content with Mt. Major and any other mountain with a round trip of 5 miles or less. Then it became," let's try a 4K, I don't know if we can do it." Telling Liz she's not capable of doing something is a big mistake. Our next 3 hikes were Osceola, Moosilauke, and Eisenhower. We were both hooked. In the meantime Liz found VFTT. We watched it every day. It was an eye opener. She said, "you mean people really climb those mountains after Labor Day!" All winter long we planned for spring and upgraded our equipment. We started the spring season with the smaller more southern peaks and chased the snow line as it faded. Then last spring we decided to climb Smart's Mountain. Shortly after leaving the parking lot, a young guy blew right past us. He was carrying an ice axe. I mentioned to him "an ice axe do you know something I don't?" He mumbled something about being prepared. When reaching the summit he was sitting at the base of the firetower and I recognized him as Rocket 21. We introduced ourselves and had some interesting conversations, mostly on politics. Then he asked us if we were hiking any lists. We responded no, just hiking for the pure enjoyment of it. We didn't need any lists. He offered to sponsor us on VFTT and we said why not. On the way home Liz and I started to talk about the NH48. It didn't take long for Liz to say let's go for it. And go for it we did. At that point we only had done about 15 four K's. By Labor Day we had 46. Then while doing Cabot and the Unknown Pond loop, Liz hurt her back. The next 6 months were hell. I watched her in so much pain wich more closely resembled toture. Her surgery did not go as well as planned and the rehab was tough. I think having her watch me hike all winter was even more motivation and I saw her starting to ramp up her workouts. On March 17, we climbed Waumbek for #47. It was a great day and a nice test. She did fine. One to go, Moriah. Moriah is a little bigger hike than Waumbek and the conditions we were confronted with made it even more so. We were accomanied by our brother in law, James, and good friend Silverfox. We met Mark at the trailhead right at 8:30. The day was shaping up to be spectacular. No clouds or wind, with temps in the teens. Perfect hiking weather. We geared up in no time and were on the trail by 9. Mark told Liz to take the lead as we thought we would hike to her pace. Having only hiked once since September 6, how slow is this going to be? Wrong! Liz set off like she was going to complete the hike all in one shot. After a couple of miles, Mark said let me take the lead, we need to set a slower pace to save some energy for the remainder of the day. The trail to this point was in great shape. Hard pack, no ice. with easy stream crossings. At about 2600 feet the trail markers indicated a sharp right turn. However the track went straight. It didn't appear as though anyone followed the trail markers, so we decided to follow the herd path. Mistake! The next section all the way to the ridge top was ice laden, bent over trees that were very difficult to navigate. We finally made it to the first open ledge. The views were strong. We stopped to take some photos and moved on. The next section proved just as frustrating as we could only find short segments of the trail. Finally we decided to abandone the trail and make a path of least resistance. This worked reasonably well. Mark was great at working his way thru the mess of ice laden spruce. I kept an eye on Liz as I was fearful that these conditions were a bit more than we had bargained for. But she never waivered. It was as if she never missed any hiking time. Our spirits were renewed when getting a clear view of the summit. And in no time we made the finall climb up the ledge to the top. After the usual whoo hoos and photos, we had lunch and met some new friends. John and his great little trail dog Pepper. They decided to hike back down with us. We retraced our steps back to the last set of ledges and looked for the correct path to avoid the mess on the way down. It was actualy Pepper who found the path. Nice to hike with a smart trail dog. The rest of the trip was uneventful and we were back at the trailhead in no time. This hike was kind of a microcosm of our whole hiking experience. Meeting great friends at he trailhead, poking fun at one another for a couple of hours, working hard to accomplish a goal, reaping in all the rewards, and most important adding to a lifetime of memories.We both have met some wonderful people and made some great friends.Feathered Hat, Barking Cat,Tim and Val just to name a few. Special thanks go to Jeremy for all your advice, Silverfox for helping us reach our final peak and Earl and Sue for letting us tag along on so many epic adventures. We took alot of photos.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/577146350AbLuBo?vhost=outdoors
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/577146350AbLuBo?vhost=outdoors
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