Peak Bragging 2016! The Year in Review - Tell us your stories!

[Tom Rankin]

Once a year, I start this thread. A little bragging won't hurt, right?

This year, Laurie finished the Catskill 35 x 12 Grid on Balsam Lake Mountain, and hiked the Northville Placid Trail.

I finished my 4th Winter round of the Catskills, and my 12th round overall, but I am not a gridiot!

Speaking of Winter, we've already climbed 10 Winter Catskill peaks!

We also helped out with several Fire Tower work projects, and did trail work a few times as well.

Ok, I'm done, what did YOU do this past year?

 

[Rhody Seth]

I hit up 14 4000 footers this past year. Only three of 'em were new but all the trips were great. The year included a backpacking trip and a stay at the Mizpah Hut. I got my first taste of winter hiking last February and I'm looking forward to more this year. My 7 year old daughter bagged her first five 4000 footers this year (including a 2 day trip to the southern presidentials) and I'm very proud of all she did. And I finally got to race the Beast of the East back in September up over North Moat. It was as tough and epic a race as I had hoped. Here's my write-up for that one.

Overall 2016 featured the most hiking I've done in years. Looking forward to some great trips in 2017!

 

[SpencerVT]

I climbed 122 peaks on my 770 list. Most of these were trailless peaks in the Adirondacks and included some of the toughest peaks in the Northeast US, such as McDonnel, Stuart and Sawtooth. I completed the Catskill HH as well. I also hiked numerous Vermont peaks and re-hiked some Vermont 3000'ers taking different approaches this time. Lots of fun, it was a great year. The lack of rain this past summer made for endless fine hiking outings.

 

[Grey J]

I was going to say that I have returned to New Hampshire every year for 17 years since leaving New England, and have now climbed 108 named 3000 footers in the Granite State. Then I read about Snow Flea's epic Calendar Year Grid. Uh, never mind.

 

[iAmKrzys]

This is not a brag, but my favorite hiking memory of last summer that I detailed in a trip report earlier last year http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?58449-Hiking-Rysy-highest-peak-in-Poland-8-8-16

 

[egilbe]

Hiked from Rt 4 to Sugarloaf, finally bagging The Horn as wells as bagging Saddleback, Sugarloaf and Spaulding again. Too Windy that day to bag Abrams. That leaves Reddington and Abrams for my last two 4k'ers in Maine. Hiked the 150 miles South from Katahdin over my two week vacation. The Barren/Chairback range are a lot tougher than one would think looking at the elevation profiles. Bagged Whitecap for the NEHH list. Completed the section of the AT from Grafton Notch to RT 4 over multiple weekends. Completed the GNLT. Bagged my first Presi, Madison, on a beautiful October day when my GF was on a Caribbean cruise. She was jealous Started working on the NH 4ker's with Tecumseh. Spent a few weekends hiking in the Wild River Wilderness Area hiking the Carter Moriah range.

Goals for this year:

Finish the AT from Old Speck to VT. That should knock out quite a few of the 4ker's in NH at the same time. We realized that driving to NH was quicker than driving to Carrabassett Valley. Hike a NH 4k'er in the Winter. Spend a few weekends camping out this Winter. Trying to get my GF to understand its OK to be a little bit cold some of the time has been a bit of a challenge. Baby steps.

 

[yogi]

I (we) had my most productive year yet in NH, climbing 31 4000's with just over 200 trail miles.
Tucker finished his 48 on Wildcat in August. He has now climbed 71 4000's, 18 in winter. Not bad for a 3yr old!
Not coincidently, I finished my 3rd full round on Wildcat as well. It was also my first complete round solo.
My favorite hike was a two day Bonds, Twins, Galehead traverse.

 

[eddie]

In four separate trips from Pittsburgh, PA, we hiked: 7 ADK winter peaks including the Santanonis, 8 ADK summer peaks including the Sewards and HaBaSa for my daughter's 46er completion and my third round, and finally 14 NH48 peaks including a Pemi Loop backpack and a day hike up Huntington Ravine for my daughter's intro to the Whites.

 

[BobC]

I finished the NE67 this year...wasn't sure I'd ever finish (or care to!) after finishing the NH48 in 2009, but with some encouragement from my friend Joe (JustJoe), together we got all the remaining Maine 4Ks done, then finished up the ones in VT...last hike was Camel's Hump.

 

[Raven]

I've had my eyes set on one high ridge in particular for about 10 years now. It took me a lot of time and patience, and I certainly carried more weight up to these particular slopes than I've ever carried on any hike I've done. I got started on it in August and finally finished up in November just as the flurries began to fall and the icy patches were forming. And now, when I look up from my yard at that ridge, it looks somehow different. Maybe it's the new shingles.

2016 was a year of few hikes for me, my lowest in many years, although I managed a number of smaller ones. Including roofing my house, I took care of a lot of other domestic jobs that needed to be done, but it took most of my free time.

I did finish up one personal goal early in the year I had been working on for a bit over a decade. In February, on a hike of Isolation, I completed the W48 solo. I was treated to a nice day as well as the odd coincidence of the burning of the Rocky Branch #2 shelter by USFS personnel. On my hike out, I warmed myself by the still smoldering embers. First one was Madison in 2002, windiest was Monroe in 2007, coldest were Flume and Liberty on a record cold day in 2004, broke the most trail on the Carters, had a gratefully easy day on Washington, a pretty hard one on Jefferson. West Bond was the most elusive. Had a lot of great solitude on these hikes, broke some trail along the way, stayed out a few times, hiked under full moons, and turned back pre-summit numerous times. Generally, most of these involved having a full overnight pack/gear including winter bivy sack, sleeping bag, and multiple headlamps in the event of an issue. I don't go out in winter for a hike of length without everything I need for an overnight. Looking forward to 2017 and more trail time; I was lucky enough to hike Owl's Head (Cherry Mountain) last weekend, a good start. Happy 2017 all.

 

[jniehof]

I did finish up one personal goal early in the year I had been working on for a bit over a decade. In February, on a hike of Isolation, I completed the W48 solo.

Kudos! That's a fantastic accomplishment.