Bombadil
Active member
I definitely did not start out hiking this winter thinking I would do what I ended up doing. I like that it worked out that way; sometimes it is the pursuit of the goal that is draining. Part of what made this winter so fun and unexpected is that last winter I did just one hike. Life got in the way and hiking was pretty low on my priority list. More than anything I finished up the W48 and just wasn't motivated to revisit the same mountains. Flash forward to this year and I figured I'd slowly check off a few of the NEHH here and there, do a solo winter presi traverse, and if things went well maybe try for a pemi loop (hadn't done a winter one before).
I was climbing in Mexico for a couple of weeks from around xmas to after New Years and when I got back I wasn't in a rush to make a lot of progress on the NEHH. But a gradual snowball effect was taking place. In mid-January I did a couple of long ~20 mile days with Jason Beaupre in poor conditions with tons of trailbreaking and found myself getting stronger. Scar Ridge turned out to be a piece of cake. Choosing the right snow conditions for a lot of the hikes made a big difference. I noticed when I could sneak out for a 10 mile solo night hike I was taking hours off my best times on some of them.
By late February with less than a month of winter to go I had 60 peaks to go and I thought I'd start building up for a pemi loop so I did a solo presi traverse on a perfect day (http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?48218-Snapshots-from-a-presi-traverse-on-a-perfect-day). I ran myself into the ground a little with a couple of tough days of solo trailbreaking after the traverse and got myself sick. It was bad timing because I had to head up to BSP for a planned trip with Tom Caldwell and Scott Disnard to attempt the Brothers/Fort/Coe in what would be my only trip up to BSP this winter. It proved to be a turning point as I dug deep to get all 4 peaks while under the weather in what would turn out to be the toughest hike of the winter with so much waist-deep trailbreaking. It took 17 hours to get all 4 and I felt like death by the time I returned to Cozy Cabin. The next day Tom and Scott were headed home and the weather forecast looked poor but I had filed a solo permit in case the weather was good enough to try to solo Katahdin/Hamlin. I decided I'd give Abol a shot but if the weather above treeline was as bad as we faced on the Brothers 2 days before then I'd head home as I still hadn't fully recovered and didn't have the energy reserves to dig so deep again in terrible weather. But the weather wasn't as bad as forecasted and I got both peaks. I'd have to climb 35 peaks in the last week and a half of winter but in my head finishing all 100 in a single season crystallized then as a tough but an entirely achievable goal.
geeking out. the turning point came after a successful trip to BSP in early March where I'd need to climb 35 peaks in just over a week and a half
From there it was mostly a blur. There were a few night hikes, a solo pemi loop (http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?48366-quot-Road-Too-Long-quot-aborted-Pemi-Loop-attempt-3-9-13), some solo bushwhacks, one very miserable hike in the pouring rain. Then Tom and I teamed up to do some winter camping to knock off the 6 pack (TR with the numerous border patrol encounters: http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?48596-2-guys-3-days-4-Border-Patrol-encounters-and-5-peaks-to-finish-the-NEHH). After all that I just had a somewhat anti-climatic hike of Moosilauke on 3-17 with a few friends to celebrate. When all was said and done I wound up doing 31 of the peaks with others and 69 were solo. 24 peaks were climbed after dark, owed mostly to some late starts and a few long days. In hindsight it would have been a lot easier if it had been my goal all along. I could have made it a lot easier on myself to not leave so much for the last couple of weeks but in a way I like that it worked out that way since I have a better idea of what I'm capable of now. More importantly I need to give huge thanks to Jason and Tom. The hikes I did with them were often the most remote and toughest on the NEHH so to have such good strong company to offset all the solo hiking was invaluable. Thanks guys!
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
A few pictures from the journey:
presi traverse on a perfect February day
blue sky day on Mansfield
sums up how I felt that day on the Brothers, Fort, Coe. 20 miles of tough trailbreaking in snow and freezing rain while sick = type 2 fun
a turning point--soloing Katahdin and getting all 6 BSP peaks in one trip
South Basin from near the Saddle
dawn from Osseo on a solo pemi loop
view to the Bonds and Presis from Flume on a solo pemi loop
hiking the swath to get boundary
-25 F night in the deep freeze on a solo hike up Moriah
I was climbing in Mexico for a couple of weeks from around xmas to after New Years and when I got back I wasn't in a rush to make a lot of progress on the NEHH. But a gradual snowball effect was taking place. In mid-January I did a couple of long ~20 mile days with Jason Beaupre in poor conditions with tons of trailbreaking and found myself getting stronger. Scar Ridge turned out to be a piece of cake. Choosing the right snow conditions for a lot of the hikes made a big difference. I noticed when I could sneak out for a 10 mile solo night hike I was taking hours off my best times on some of them.
By late February with less than a month of winter to go I had 60 peaks to go and I thought I'd start building up for a pemi loop so I did a solo presi traverse on a perfect day (http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?48218-Snapshots-from-a-presi-traverse-on-a-perfect-day). I ran myself into the ground a little with a couple of tough days of solo trailbreaking after the traverse and got myself sick. It was bad timing because I had to head up to BSP for a planned trip with Tom Caldwell and Scott Disnard to attempt the Brothers/Fort/Coe in what would be my only trip up to BSP this winter. It proved to be a turning point as I dug deep to get all 4 peaks while under the weather in what would turn out to be the toughest hike of the winter with so much waist-deep trailbreaking. It took 17 hours to get all 4 and I felt like death by the time I returned to Cozy Cabin. The next day Tom and Scott were headed home and the weather forecast looked poor but I had filed a solo permit in case the weather was good enough to try to solo Katahdin/Hamlin. I decided I'd give Abol a shot but if the weather above treeline was as bad as we faced on the Brothers 2 days before then I'd head home as I still hadn't fully recovered and didn't have the energy reserves to dig so deep again in terrible weather. But the weather wasn't as bad as forecasted and I got both peaks. I'd have to climb 35 peaks in the last week and a half of winter but in my head finishing all 100 in a single season crystallized then as a tough but an entirely achievable goal.
geeking out. the turning point came after a successful trip to BSP in early March where I'd need to climb 35 peaks in just over a week and a half
From there it was mostly a blur. There were a few night hikes, a solo pemi loop (http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?48366-quot-Road-Too-Long-quot-aborted-Pemi-Loop-attempt-3-9-13), some solo bushwhacks, one very miserable hike in the pouring rain. Then Tom and I teamed up to do some winter camping to knock off the 6 pack (TR with the numerous border patrol encounters: http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?48596-2-guys-3-days-4-Border-Patrol-encounters-and-5-peaks-to-finish-the-NEHH). After all that I just had a somewhat anti-climatic hike of Moosilauke on 3-17 with a few friends to celebrate. When all was said and done I wound up doing 31 of the peaks with others and 69 were solo. 24 peaks were climbed after dark, owed mostly to some late starts and a few long days. In hindsight it would have been a lot easier if it had been my goal all along. I could have made it a lot easier on myself to not leave so much for the last couple of weeks but in a way I like that it worked out that way since I have a better idea of what I'm capable of now. More importantly I need to give huge thanks to Jason and Tom. The hikes I did with them were often the most remote and toughest on the NEHH so to have such good strong company to offset all the solo hiking was invaluable. Thanks guys!
Pat
pcushing21 at yahoo dot com
A few pictures from the journey:
presi traverse on a perfect February day
blue sky day on Mansfield
sums up how I felt that day on the Brothers, Fort, Coe. 20 miles of tough trailbreaking in snow and freezing rain while sick = type 2 fun
a turning point--soloing Katahdin and getting all 6 BSP peaks in one trip
South Basin from near the Saddle
dawn from Osseo on a solo pemi loop
view to the Bonds and Presis from Flume on a solo pemi loop
hiking the swath to get boundary
-25 F night in the deep freeze on a solo hike up Moriah
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