onrhodes
New member
Well, last weekend on August 25th I finished my NH 48. It took my 27 months. I hiked about 1/3-1/2 of them solo and the other with various friends and relatives.
What got me started was my wife returning to college. With her working barely part time and me having a slight burnout from 16 years of racing my bicycle all across the Northeast, I decided I needed a new challenge,. With us watching every penny we spent at the time, I had to find something cheap (typical bike race is $25 and I would race about 30-40 times a year) and that would keep me occupied for 2 years while she finished up her degree.
I had heard of the list before and I had even hiked a bunch of stuff around the area while attending Plymouth State University. Including Moosilauke as a very green 20 year old who was bored 1 day.
I remember the day I officially started well. It was a very rainy Spring in NH in 2005. I was lounging around at home in Concord waiting to see if the rain would let up. After looking at the Weather Channel, it did not look likely. So I grabbed my NH atlas and decided to check out Mohamed's website (Google had picked that one out for me). I decided that Tecumseh was as good as any for my starter.
So I left Concord around 10 AM on May 22, 2005 sick of surfing the channels and needing some outlet for a lot of pent up energy. I knew the Waterville area quite well having ridden bike races and used the climb as training while at PSU. I pulled into the parking lot around 10:45 and slapped on the boots and rain jacket for this 5 mile journey. It was lightly misting out and comfortably cold at the base, by the time I hit the top, it was snowing and windy and I was pretty damp from the rain and wet snow coupled with a poorly breathing jacket.
I met two men at the top who were some where into the high 30's with their peaks. I stopped for a few minutes and changed into some warm and dry layers and headed down. I finished that hike in about 2:25 (I was soon to find out that I hike way faster then "book time").
I had enjoyed this effort and I was happy with the beat feeling I had upon finishing this 4,000 footer. I guess you could say I was hooked from then on.
I quickly recruited my most consistent hiking buddy for the next weekend. His dad was a huge hiker in the 60's and 70's, so he had 4,000 footer aspirations too.
The next weekend we did Moosilauke and could not see more then 40 feet in front of us for most of the day. I was also soon to learn that this was also a common occurence. Again though I liked the wrecked feeling after a long day of hiking. I've always been into sports that make you suffer, cycling, XC skiing, track and field, soccer, etc.
Cannon, Jackson and Pierce all quickly tumbled in the next few weeks too. I felt I was off to a good start and starting to get the gist of this "hiking thing".
My wife did Osceola with me as her first 4K and that will always be special to me because I got to do it with her.
Wiley, Field and Tom next with my first experience of those oh so brave Grey Jays. I've got a few cool shots of feeding one sitting in the palm of my hand.
Eisenhower and Monroe where my first experience with Mt Washington weather. Horrible visibility up to Lake of the Clouds which just got worse. The wind was brutal on this day too. I was glad for some shelter and hot chocolate when this day was done.
Lincoln and Lafeyette where the next to Fall on my first major solo trip (tecumseh being my first) and one of the more memorable. I should have known better then to head up a trail called Falling Waters the day after the remains of Hurricane Katrina came through NH. The water crossings where the most intense I had experienced up to that point (and since then come to think about it). It was another cloudy and viewless day, but totally rewarding. The kicker was by the time I got back to the car, the sun was out and the whole Franconia Range was in view.
Carter Dome, Wildcats, Kinsmans and Hancocks, Passaconaway and Whiteface all also fell by the end of the year. My first 6 months of hiking and I had knocked off 22 peaks. I felt pretty good about that.
2006 had me working my tail off all winter with two jobs while the wife was in the middle of her culinary degree. I tried my best to stay in shape over the winter with going to the gym at the crack of dawn and riding my bike on the trainer.
Waumbek started out the year in early March and about 10 inches of powder all the way to the top. That was fun, I passed 2 guys about halfway up and soon realized they had been the one's breaking trail, now it was my turn and it was HARD.
Twin's soon fell, then Flume, Liberty and the Tripyramids too.
My most epic solo day came in early July 2006. I started from Jefferson notch road and headed up over Jefferson over to Adams and Madison and then back the way I had come cutting by Monticello's lawn to avoid going over Jefferson again. A hugely epic and long day. Probably the most destroyed I had ever been after hiking. That was a long drive back to Concord that day. Also spent in the clouds and Fog.
East Osceola and Carrigain soon tumbled and then the remaining Carters.
Washington was spent with my twin brother who was in the middle of a unforeseen (by him at least) divorce from his wife. That day also stands out because it was with my closest friend and he was really in need of support at the time. Again, also in the clouds.
The Zealand/Bonds Traverse came in September 2006. It was my biggest hiking party of 8 people. I convinced them to start even though it was drizzling out and cloudy. That was the theme of the day. Throw in the wind at Guyot and it made it epic. We finished in 8:45 mostly because there was nothing to see except about 15 feet in front of you. Also the day I was introduced to the Train Wreck Sandwich at the Woodstock Station. What a great meal!!!
Galehead and Garfield soon came down in early October and then Hale in late October and then Cabot in late November, on the second try after missing it by one peak the week before (tired and clouds made us turn around 1 peak too quick).
So in 2 years I had nailed 45 peaks. I was pretty determined to finish them off in 2006, but getting back in bike racing that Fall and my wife's graduation from school messed things up a bit.
I still had 3 left for 2007.
Isolation was done after repeating a few hikes as warmups. We took the more challenging route of Glen Boulder, totally worth the effort. Though 85+ mph winds made us go out Rocky Branch and hike up route 16 to get back to the car. A wonderful 18 mile day.
Owl's head was spent with my twin brother. Long day and fun peak, but not sure how soon I will head out to that one again.
That left Moriah. I had planned at the end of 2005 for this to be my last one. After reading the description and seeing some pics I thought it would be a good one for less hiking minded people.
So last weekend 6 of us headed out. My wife, hiking buddy Andy, twin brother and his new girlfriend and my 13 year old nephew.
Could not have asked for a better day, little humid at the bottom, but the sun was out, tad hazy and nice breeze at the top, popped the Dom Perignon and spent about 45 minutes just enjoying it.
Made it down in about 2:40 but my brother's girlfriend either overestimated her ability or deceived us into thinking she was more in shape. Her knees started acting up about 2 miles into the hike (and she did not tell us). Pushed on to the summit and did not tell us about the pain, then on the way down we dropped her and my brother. I figured they would be about 30 minutes behind us. 3 HOURS LATER and after heading back up the trail in thunder and lighting they came out of the woods with my brother piggy backing his new GF the last mile. Made for an interesting day and a story I am soon to not forget.
So, that is a summary of my 48.
Favorite peak: Garfield
Least Favorite: Hancocks. Nothing exciting about them at all
I'll return to the Bonds to actually see those views everyone talks about, would like to do a presi traverse too.
Just wanted to say it has been fun and now I am looking for my next "athletic" challenge. Doesn't have to be hiking related. I'm not overly interested in the 100 highest or anything at this point. Though Kathadin will fall next summer on a week of camping.
It's been fun, It kept me in shape and I have learned a lot more about NH and my own skills in the past 27 months.
Thanks for reading!!!
What got me started was my wife returning to college. With her working barely part time and me having a slight burnout from 16 years of racing my bicycle all across the Northeast, I decided I needed a new challenge,. With us watching every penny we spent at the time, I had to find something cheap (typical bike race is $25 and I would race about 30-40 times a year) and that would keep me occupied for 2 years while she finished up her degree.
I had heard of the list before and I had even hiked a bunch of stuff around the area while attending Plymouth State University. Including Moosilauke as a very green 20 year old who was bored 1 day.
I remember the day I officially started well. It was a very rainy Spring in NH in 2005. I was lounging around at home in Concord waiting to see if the rain would let up. After looking at the Weather Channel, it did not look likely. So I grabbed my NH atlas and decided to check out Mohamed's website (Google had picked that one out for me). I decided that Tecumseh was as good as any for my starter.
So I left Concord around 10 AM on May 22, 2005 sick of surfing the channels and needing some outlet for a lot of pent up energy. I knew the Waterville area quite well having ridden bike races and used the climb as training while at PSU. I pulled into the parking lot around 10:45 and slapped on the boots and rain jacket for this 5 mile journey. It was lightly misting out and comfortably cold at the base, by the time I hit the top, it was snowing and windy and I was pretty damp from the rain and wet snow coupled with a poorly breathing jacket.
I met two men at the top who were some where into the high 30's with their peaks. I stopped for a few minutes and changed into some warm and dry layers and headed down. I finished that hike in about 2:25 (I was soon to find out that I hike way faster then "book time").
I had enjoyed this effort and I was happy with the beat feeling I had upon finishing this 4,000 footer. I guess you could say I was hooked from then on.
I quickly recruited my most consistent hiking buddy for the next weekend. His dad was a huge hiker in the 60's and 70's, so he had 4,000 footer aspirations too.
The next weekend we did Moosilauke and could not see more then 40 feet in front of us for most of the day. I was also soon to learn that this was also a common occurence. Again though I liked the wrecked feeling after a long day of hiking. I've always been into sports that make you suffer, cycling, XC skiing, track and field, soccer, etc.
Cannon, Jackson and Pierce all quickly tumbled in the next few weeks too. I felt I was off to a good start and starting to get the gist of this "hiking thing".
My wife did Osceola with me as her first 4K and that will always be special to me because I got to do it with her.
Wiley, Field and Tom next with my first experience of those oh so brave Grey Jays. I've got a few cool shots of feeding one sitting in the palm of my hand.
Eisenhower and Monroe where my first experience with Mt Washington weather. Horrible visibility up to Lake of the Clouds which just got worse. The wind was brutal on this day too. I was glad for some shelter and hot chocolate when this day was done.
Lincoln and Lafeyette where the next to Fall on my first major solo trip (tecumseh being my first) and one of the more memorable. I should have known better then to head up a trail called Falling Waters the day after the remains of Hurricane Katrina came through NH. The water crossings where the most intense I had experienced up to that point (and since then come to think about it). It was another cloudy and viewless day, but totally rewarding. The kicker was by the time I got back to the car, the sun was out and the whole Franconia Range was in view.
Carter Dome, Wildcats, Kinsmans and Hancocks, Passaconaway and Whiteface all also fell by the end of the year. My first 6 months of hiking and I had knocked off 22 peaks. I felt pretty good about that.
2006 had me working my tail off all winter with two jobs while the wife was in the middle of her culinary degree. I tried my best to stay in shape over the winter with going to the gym at the crack of dawn and riding my bike on the trainer.
Waumbek started out the year in early March and about 10 inches of powder all the way to the top. That was fun, I passed 2 guys about halfway up and soon realized they had been the one's breaking trail, now it was my turn and it was HARD.
Twin's soon fell, then Flume, Liberty and the Tripyramids too.
My most epic solo day came in early July 2006. I started from Jefferson notch road and headed up over Jefferson over to Adams and Madison and then back the way I had come cutting by Monticello's lawn to avoid going over Jefferson again. A hugely epic and long day. Probably the most destroyed I had ever been after hiking. That was a long drive back to Concord that day. Also spent in the clouds and Fog.
East Osceola and Carrigain soon tumbled and then the remaining Carters.
Washington was spent with my twin brother who was in the middle of a unforeseen (by him at least) divorce from his wife. That day also stands out because it was with my closest friend and he was really in need of support at the time. Again, also in the clouds.
The Zealand/Bonds Traverse came in September 2006. It was my biggest hiking party of 8 people. I convinced them to start even though it was drizzling out and cloudy. That was the theme of the day. Throw in the wind at Guyot and it made it epic. We finished in 8:45 mostly because there was nothing to see except about 15 feet in front of you. Also the day I was introduced to the Train Wreck Sandwich at the Woodstock Station. What a great meal!!!
Galehead and Garfield soon came down in early October and then Hale in late October and then Cabot in late November, on the second try after missing it by one peak the week before (tired and clouds made us turn around 1 peak too quick).
So in 2 years I had nailed 45 peaks. I was pretty determined to finish them off in 2006, but getting back in bike racing that Fall and my wife's graduation from school messed things up a bit.
I still had 3 left for 2007.
Isolation was done after repeating a few hikes as warmups. We took the more challenging route of Glen Boulder, totally worth the effort. Though 85+ mph winds made us go out Rocky Branch and hike up route 16 to get back to the car. A wonderful 18 mile day.
Owl's head was spent with my twin brother. Long day and fun peak, but not sure how soon I will head out to that one again.
That left Moriah. I had planned at the end of 2005 for this to be my last one. After reading the description and seeing some pics I thought it would be a good one for less hiking minded people.
So last weekend 6 of us headed out. My wife, hiking buddy Andy, twin brother and his new girlfriend and my 13 year old nephew.
Could not have asked for a better day, little humid at the bottom, but the sun was out, tad hazy and nice breeze at the top, popped the Dom Perignon and spent about 45 minutes just enjoying it.
Made it down in about 2:40 but my brother's girlfriend either overestimated her ability or deceived us into thinking she was more in shape. Her knees started acting up about 2 miles into the hike (and she did not tell us). Pushed on to the summit and did not tell us about the pain, then on the way down we dropped her and my brother. I figured they would be about 30 minutes behind us. 3 HOURS LATER and after heading back up the trail in thunder and lighting they came out of the woods with my brother piggy backing his new GF the last mile. Made for an interesting day and a story I am soon to not forget.
So, that is a summary of my 48.
Favorite peak: Garfield
Least Favorite: Hancocks. Nothing exciting about them at all
I'll return to the Bonds to actually see those views everyone talks about, would like to do a presi traverse too.
Just wanted to say it has been fun and now I am looking for my next "athletic" challenge. Doesn't have to be hiking related. I'm not overly interested in the 100 highest or anything at this point. Though Kathadin will fall next summer on a week of camping.
It's been fun, It kept me in shape and I have learned a lot more about NH and my own skills in the past 27 months.
Thanks for reading!!!
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