The Year in Review - Peakbragging 2015!

[Tom Rankin]

Once a year, I invite people to post their accomplishments from the previous year.

I'll go first. Laurie and I finished the NE Hundred Highest (all season) on Scar Ridge this year.

I also finished my 11th round of the 35 Catskill peaks over 3500'. And I finished the 35 x 4 Seasons as well.

Brag away!

( Edit: PeakbragGing, I assume! )

 

[peakbagger]

My brag if I can call it that was finally getting to do the Northern Peaks trail at Baxter. I missed out on it the year before they closed it and had to wait quite awhile for it to get reopened. I got washed out in 2O14 due to heavy rain and wind conditions (park closed the summits). Fate lined up and supplied a perfect day to do what is now one of my favorite hikes in the Northeast.

 

[KRobi]

Karen and I completed all the Belknap Trails to become Belknap Range Redliners. We also finished the New Hampshire Fire Towers list.

 

[Stan]

We've cut back our hiking, paddling and traveling activities this year due to more pressing priorities but are happy to have done the Traveler Loop in Baxter Park. It is every bit as scenic and demanding, especially after the aforementioned cut back, as any of the more popular NE peaks and I would recommend it as a classic must do for Northeast hikers.

 

[Rhody Seth]

Hi all. First time posting. My "brag" is that I solo'd the Pemi Loop (well most of it) over two days before a friend joined me for the third day. Definitely my most adventurous solo outing and it whet my appetite for more such trips. I used this forum a lot as I researched things in preparation thanks very much for that.

If anyone's interested, you can read about the trip on my blog. Looking forward to chatting with you all in the future!

 

[sdways01]

In January I finished my goal of hiking all 67 New England 4Ks in the time frame of a year. So after that, I scaled back some to spend more time with my wife and daughter (born during the 67 in a year). I've still managed to bag 9 more peaks towards the NEHH, hike a handful of 4Ks, and do a "spring" hike in the southern presidentials snowshoeing in shorts and a t-shirt with temps in the 50s and 4 feet of snow still on the ground. I've also got back to my local mountain (Mt. Monadnock) a few times to get back working on my various personal goals for that peak.

 

[Espy]

We've cut back our hiking, paddling and traveling activities this year due to more pressing priorities but are happy to have done the Traveler Loop in Baxter Park. It is every bit as scenic and demanding, especially after the aforementioned cut back, as any of the more popular NE peaks and I would recommend it as a classic must do for Northeast hikers.

Agreed, the Traveler Loop is awesome!! I did it once on a gorgeous September day and didn't see anyone else on the trail the entire day. Enjoyed tons of blueberries when I hiked it in August one summer.

 

[egilbe]

My Gf and I did the Bigelows, Old Speck, Hamlin Peak and North Brother, leaving Reddington, The Horn and Abraham for the Maine 4000 footers. We discovered Evans Notch and the myriad of trails in the Wild River and Caribou Mountain wilderness areas. We adopted part of the Grafton Notch loop trail and spent Memorial weekend cleaning blowdowns off the Western part of the trail.

 

[1SlowHiker]

Finished NEHH on Vos Spur in August (great hike with my grandson). Chipped away at 5 W48s, (1 failed attempt at N. Twin). After just counting, I just realized that I only did 12 peaks in 2015. Took ~ 3 months off for health and other reasons Sep-Nov. I will probably not ever finish my winter 48 list; My last hike (Galehead on Christmas) was really tough on me - combination of emphysema, and afib is taking it’s toll. May have to change to level ground hikes.

 

[Grey J]

Finished the NH4K 48 on a solo to Owls Head in August. Only took 37 years but I got there. I'm up to 99 named NH peaks >3000 feet. Not looking to finish any more lists but hoping for many more hikes. The Baldfaces for sure in 2016.

 

[wardsgirl]

Only climbed 1 4K'r all year- Whiteface via McCrillis Trail

But I hiked 100+ miles on 56 trails in the Whites that I had never been on before

Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness... how long has that been there?

 

[Wayne]

Completed twelve consecutive months of great range traverses. Did a double Presi. Finally did a Mahoosuc traverse. All good. Got Lyme disease. Not so good.

 

[egilbe]

O

Only climbed 1 4K'r all year- Whiteface via McCrillis Trail

But I hiked 100+ miles on 56 trails in the Whites that I had never been on before

Caribou-Speckled Mountain Wilderness... how long has that been there?

Not that long. It was designated a Wilderness area fairly recently. Beautiful area.

 

[Sematary]

Not counting Mount Monadnock which I hiked dozens of times, I did my first ever winter hike on Kinsman North last January.
I also took a HUGE step towards finishing the 48 4000 footers in NH with ascents of (besides Kinsman), Passaconoway and Whiteface,
Madison and Adams, Jackson and Webster, Mount Jefferson, North and South Twin with Guyot and Zealand. Also The Hancocks and Garfield
and Galehead. Also hiked my first Vermont hike at Mount Equinox. My absolute hike of the year though was Diamond Hill in Ireland.
Why? Because it's in Ireland!

 

[Lefty E]

Was able to complete NH 48 in calendar year doing them one at a time, starting first with the most northern peak (Cabot) then going to the most southern peak
(Whiteface)...then alternated north-south until done...had nice views on most!! Got a few more ADK high peaks done...did trail maintenance in Mahoosucs and also Boundary Line & Jewell Spur...Happy New Year to all...

 

[Sematary]

In January I finished my goal of hiking all 67 New England 4Ks in the time frame of a year. So after that, I scaled back some to spend more time with my wife and daughter (born during the 67 in a year). I've still managed to bag 9 more peaks towards the NEHH, hike a handful of 4Ks, and do a "spring" hike in the southern presidentials snowshoeing in shorts and a t-shirt with temps in the 50s and 4 feet of snow still on the ground. I've also got back to my local mountain (Mt. Monadnock) a few times to get back working on my various personal goals for that peak.

What are some of your personal goals there? I've hiked that mountain dozens of times (my favorite hike is Spellman Trail). I've set some time goals for myself on some trails. I (if I remember correctly) completed the White Dot to Cascade to Spellman trip to the top in 75 minutes. That was pushing it for me but it was great hike. I managed the White Dot in 54 minutes once. I've never timed myself on Dublin Or Marlboro or White Cross or White Arrow (my favorite winter hike). I did set another goal in October while training for a hike in the Whites of ascending 3 times in one go. I ended up doing that 3 or 4 times and twice on the other occasions leading up to that November hike. Not sure how much more there is left to do for me up there. I did a predawn hike up Marlboro earlier this year to watch the sun rise and snowshoed/crampon'd my way up Spellman near the end of February in -50 degree wind chills (near the peak). It was definitely an eventful year.
If you're interested - here is a link to my Monadnock photo album on Facebook (please, feel free to share some of yours).
https://www.facebook.com/Monadnockphotoalbum/?ref=hl

 

[DMOutdoors]

It was quite an amazing year for me. Last fall I had decided that I would make a goal to push to finish up my Grid, which I started in January of 2011. In the calendar year 2015, I hiked 41% of my remaining grid peaks, knocking off everything I needed each month for 12 months straight.

284 total summits - 245 4,000-footers - 1,219 miles - 423,355 feet of elevation gain - 574 hours on the trail - 71 total solo hikes

Highlights:
Saw the 1st sunrise of the year from Mt. Moosilauke
Completed my 3rd ssw48 on Mt. Carrigain.
Completed 3 rounds of the 48, 7 peaks shy of round 4, and reached several peaks 6 times in 2015.
Completed my 6th solo round, making 50% of my grid completed solo, and 50% with companions.
Finally finished #48 at night. I've been to all 48 summits at night at least once (on the summit between sunset and sunrise)
Completed a Moriah to Jackson Traverse in October in 26 hours. 41.6 miles, 18,824 feet of elevation, (14) 4,000-footers, with 12 counting toward my grid.
32 4Ks in the month of April including Owl's Head, Isolation, and Presidentials, including a weekend trip in the middle of the month to Clingman's Dome in TN.

Along with a full time job and all that night hiking....
-Purchased my first home (a 5 month short sale process)
-Went to Disney World
To ring in the New Year, I'm off to Aruba

After twelve straight months of full-on dedication to a schedule, I'm looking forward to spending more time with family, enjoying my new home, and planning fun hikes to take on, and slowly work on the NE100 and maybe ADK 4Ks.

Nice to read others' accomplishments! Thanks for a place to brag - haha

 

[una_dogger]

I only hiked 15 NH4ks in 2015, due to competing athletic interests and also recovery from surgery which kept me indoors for the most part during winter 2015. But I'm grateful to have gotten out there and made some great memories.

Congrats to all on your 2015 accomplishments!

 

[TEO]

Finished the NHHH on Stub Hill in September. Carried my son up Mt. Wachusett for his first summit/county highpoint.

 

[DayTrip]

Agreed, the Traveler Loop is awesome!! I did it once on a gorgeous September day and didn't see anyone else on the trail the entire day. Enjoyed tons of blueberries when I hiked it in August one summer.

Interesting you both mentioned this area. Just read an article about it online and it did sound amazing. How much farther up is it to get to the North Gate vs the South Gate? The article said it is only 20 minutes different from Portland,ME but that can't possibly be right. The camping areas sounded amazing up there and very uncrowded. Never been to Baxter before but planning a trip this Summer.