What am I missing?

[sli74]

Sabrina,

I am the same way . . . once I am on a peak, particularly one that has a view, however limited, I can recognize it from other peaks, it is strange and I can't explain it except to know that it is almost always true.

sli74

 

[vegematic]

Strangely, once I hike a peak, I can just recognize it from other summits. Not sure why...any one else experience this??

yep, that would be me too.

 

[Steve-o]

If you've only been hiking for a year, that explains it.

Give it time.
The more you hike and hit different peaks, the easier it will get.

 

[PA Ridgerunner]

Strangely, once I hike a peak, I can just recognize it from other summits. Not sure why...any one else experience this??

Yup. I usually spend quite a bit of time planning the hike, studying maps, looking at TR's and pics on the fora. So then by the time I do the hike I have a pretty good idea of the physical characteristics of the mountain. Then on subsequent hikes I anticipate what I might see, and if there's something I've hiked before, I already have an idea of what angle I may be seeing it from and I look for it. If that fails, and the wind isn't bad , I get out the map and compass. I usually do that eventually anyway, to see what else is there. Sometimes you get a nice surprise...like seeing the cliffs on Pitchoff from the summit of Colden. I wasn't expecting that particular treat!

 

[wardsgirl]

Maintain trails for 20 years, then you'll know 'em all for sure!


But seriously, it's just like unadogger and sli74 said, for me. When you get to hike more, you'll recognize more mountains you have visited when you are standing on other summits.

 

[una_dogger]

it is strange and I can't explain it except to know that it is almost always true.

sli74

yep, that would be me too.

Glad to know I am not alone!

I have always been satisfied with the sentimental explanation that we develop a special kinship with a mountain once our feet have walked to its summit.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

Or, as a one-time flame of mine said to me, as I was naming some of the surrounding peaks from the summit of Lafayette, on her one and only hike with me, "what the #@&% difference does it make?"

 

[andrewb]

Strangely, once I hike a peak, I can just recognize it from other summits. Not sure why...any one else experience this??

Yes I agree and certainly have no idea why. Maybe it's because I just remember almost everything about the land from every hike... sights, sounds, smells. With years of seeing the mountains and realizing, well I've been there, there, and also there... it all just sinks in. From anywhere in the whites I just get my bearings like that from any viewpoint. What was scary was hiking in Maine this past fall and having no clue where the hell I was!

It takes more than a year for it all to sink in, unless you hike a gazillion times a month or something. I'm sure in more time you will notice you just know where you are.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Is it really any different, cognitively speaking, then learning your neighborhood after moving into a new domicile? The more houses, churches, stores ("mountains") you go to, and the more roads and sidewalks ("trails") you use, the easier and quicker it is for you to identify things, find your way around, and give directions. Use Google Maps or Google Earth to learn the mountains in much the same way you might use it to learn a neighborhood.

Heck, all the under water "mountains" in the ocean are well-known to those who spend time fishing them. Some are easily recognized from a mere sonar picture because 99.999% of the time anglers don't dive on these structures and so have never seen them except for sonar.

Tim

 

[hikes-with-him]

PHEW!!!

I'm glad to know that I'm not a hopless case...and that there is hope for me for the future.

Although, I do anticipate that I'll still be pretty clueless about most of what those peaks are (unless they are pretty obvious)...heck, I'm directionally challanged.

 

[--M.]

Anyone ever do a browser for the Whites?

Not that I'm aware of. I was turned on to the DAKs browser two or three years ago and have always kept an eye out for a NH analog. I think the Scudder's books are the closest, although I haven't seen them yet, except perhaps in poster form at the Wanderer.

My favorite, though, is the 'stewards' atop certain NY peaks or otherwise expert people whom you can get to rattle some off. I really like starting with what I know and having them take it from there. It's especially exciting when the visibility's good enough to see across state lines or natural boundaries. "There's Marcy, there's Champlain, there's Washington!" That's pretty cool. There was a pleasant young lady atop Algonquin who could hit almost every visible one. And then describe the differences between grasses, sedges, and such. That was a great help, but I digress.

The Carters and Pressies stack up like that too, when seen from the Baldfaces. Very scenic AND informative.

When I was a kid and traveling to Boston with my folks, they'd tell me "If you get lost, look up and find the (newly-built) Prudential Center. You can figure out where you are from that." Still works today.

I highly recommend putting Carrigain on your list for this year!

 

[Dave Bear]

Yes Carrigain is a great hike and nice to have someone along that likes to point out the surrounding summits. My trip out was with Earl and on a clear day. One feature he had pointed out were the giant stairs of Stairs Mountain so ever since I have been anxious to hike Montalban Ridge!

 

[Mike P.]

On a nice spring or summer day when you don't need much gear, you can always bring a compass and few maps & set them up on the summit & just get yourself oriented.

Sometimes the peaks in the distance stay that way unless you are very familiar with them. From Bear in CT I can see the Catskills but on a good day, I can't pick them apart.

 

[WinterWarlock]

Hike with me and it won't be a problem...I haven't had decent views in ages!

 

[forestgnome]

It's enjoyable to sit with your map and compass and relate what you see on your map to the world.

happy trails

 

[Kevin Rooney]

...When I was a kid and traveling to Boston with my folks, they'd tell me "If you get lost, look up and find the (newly-built) Prudential Center. You can figure out where you are from that." Still works today.

Holy cow, do I feel old! I remember when they were building the Prudential ... I was in high school.

 

[--M.]

Holy cow, do I feel old! I remember when they were building the Prudential ... I was in high school.

Not "old," "experienced."

 

[RoySwkr]

Holy cow, do I feel old! I remember when they were building the Prudential ... I was in high school.

Not quite that old but I remember when they were building the Hancock. For a seminar got a ride to the top floor then built, on the construction elevator which was a cage hanging on the outside of the building. Excellent views in all directions as there were no walls or even guardrails, just a single rope strung between the vertical beams. Walked down the 40+ stories.

As to the original question, I agree that the more different peaks you've climbed the more names you'll know and the better idea you'll have of geography. Start with the obvious peaks and then fill in the rest of the view.