alpinista
Active member
There are many times when I look back on my childhood and I wonder "Whatever happened to so-and-so? What are they up to? What are their lives like now?" There are also some classmates that I wished I'd gotten to know better back then, but found that the various "clicks" got in the way or made some people seem unapproachable.
Peter is one of the folks. He was one of the "smart jocks" while I was one of the geeks who hung out in the foreign-language lab. (No red squares please! I'd like to think I've emerged as a bit less geeky!)
This is why I like those periodic high school reunions. Because this past year, I had my 25th _ yikes! _ and posted a note ahead of time inviting anyone who wanted to join me on a hike before the cocktail reception. Peter was one of the few to respond (guess this over-40 crowd is getting a bit sedentary ) _ and although the weather and a nasty flu bug I was just getting over prevented us from getting out that day, it planted the seed in our minds that one day we should get together for a hike.
It only took more than six months to make it happen! Between his busy life and mine _ including one overnight hike he was able to make but I had to cancel because of work _ our schedules just didn't mesh.
This time, weather and work be damned!
We met at the Flume Visitors Center in Franconia Notch for a nice laid-back hike to Mt. Pemigewasset aka Indian Head. From the road down below, it does indeed look like an Indian chief, complete with the trees resembling a headdress. It was gray and overcast, the tail end of some nasty rains that had stuck around the region for far too long.
But I, for one, didn't mind. It was bearable and I was actually getting out into the woods. Nothing to complain about in my book!
We started up the Mt. Pemigewasset Trail at a nice leisurely pace, stopping on occasion to gab.
Geek factor warning: Much to my surprise this guy that I knew as one of our star baseball players actually plays badminton! I was shocked because I also played badminton competitively when I was growing up and we found that we both actually had the same mentor and actually played with some of the same clubs in Connecticut, just at different times so that our paths never crossed. (FYI, competitive indoor badminton is NOTHING like the outdoor BBQ game, so keep your snickering at a minimum please! )
We made our way to the summit (2,557 feet) in an hour, under book time, and were treated to some nice views into the valley: stands of birch trees that you could spy if you were brave enough to inch close to the edge of a broad ledge and didn't get vertigo as you gazed down below; the mountains off in the distance; the buildings that dot Route 3 that cuts through the notch; the mountains off in the distance.
We goofed around on the top _ me doing my impression of flying, Peter throwing a rock over the edge of the ledges to see how far he could toss it and exploring around in spots that showed he's far braver than I!
On top is a memorial to a woman who died in 2001, a small block of tile with her name and dates etched on it. I'd heard there was a cross up here as a memorial, but didn't find it. I also scouted around for some stealth tenting sites I'd heard were up here, but also didn't find any.
Still, it's a great summit to linger on _ broad, with little nooks and crannies, and one section so serrated that it has nifty "seats" etched into it.
It was getting chilly up top, so eventually, we decided to head back down. We're both in favor of loops, rather than taking the same trail both up and down, so we took Indian Head Trail back to the valley. The downside is that it requires a road walk back to the parking lot. It was a tad longer for us because when we hit the road, we briefly went the wrong direction. But we quickly corrected ourselves and got back in short order.
I'd forgotten my camera, so I took pictures with my Treo. Pix are here:
Peter is one of the folks. He was one of the "smart jocks" while I was one of the geeks who hung out in the foreign-language lab. (No red squares please! I'd like to think I've emerged as a bit less geeky!)
This is why I like those periodic high school reunions. Because this past year, I had my 25th _ yikes! _ and posted a note ahead of time inviting anyone who wanted to join me on a hike before the cocktail reception. Peter was one of the few to respond (guess this over-40 crowd is getting a bit sedentary
) _ and although the weather and a nasty flu bug I was just getting over prevented us from getting out that day, it planted the seed in our minds that one day we should get together for a hike.It only took more than six months to make it happen! Between his busy life and mine _ including one overnight hike he was able to make but I had to cancel because of work _ our schedules just didn't mesh.
This time, weather and work be damned!
We met at the Flume Visitors Center in Franconia Notch for a nice laid-back hike to Mt. Pemigewasset aka Indian Head. From the road down below, it does indeed look like an Indian chief, complete with the trees resembling a headdress. It was gray and overcast, the tail end of some nasty rains that had stuck around the region for far too long.
But I, for one, didn't mind. It was bearable and I was actually getting out into the woods. Nothing to complain about in my book!
We started up the Mt. Pemigewasset Trail at a nice leisurely pace, stopping on occasion to gab.
Geek factor warning: Much to my surprise this guy that I knew as one of our star baseball players actually plays badminton! I was shocked because I also played badminton competitively when I was growing up and we found that we both actually had the same mentor and actually played with some of the same clubs in Connecticut, just at different times so that our paths never crossed. (FYI, competitive indoor badminton is NOTHING like the outdoor BBQ game, so keep your snickering at a minimum please!
)We made our way to the summit (2,557 feet) in an hour, under book time, and were treated to some nice views into the valley: stands of birch trees that you could spy if you were brave enough to inch close to the edge of a broad ledge and didn't get vertigo as you gazed down below; the mountains off in the distance; the buildings that dot Route 3 that cuts through the notch; the mountains off in the distance.
We goofed around on the top _ me doing my impression of flying, Peter throwing a rock over the edge of the ledges to see how far he could toss it and exploring around in spots that showed he's far braver than I!
On top is a memorial to a woman who died in 2001, a small block of tile with her name and dates etched on it. I'd heard there was a cross up here as a memorial, but didn't find it. I also scouted around for some stealth tenting sites I'd heard were up here, but also didn't find any.
Still, it's a great summit to linger on _ broad, with little nooks and crannies, and one section so serrated that it has nifty "seats" etched into it.
It was getting chilly up top, so eventually, we decided to head back down. We're both in favor of loops, rather than taking the same trail both up and down, so we took Indian Head Trail back to the valley. The downside is that it requires a road walk back to the parking lot. It was a tad longer for us because when we hit the road, we briefly went the wrong direction. But we quickly corrected ourselves and got back in short order.
I'd forgotten my camera, so I took pictures with my Treo. Pix are here:
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