Sunday September 16,2012

Today I hiked Tecumseh with the Sander's family: Rick, Gail, William, Charlie and Lilly; Susie and her son Ethan; Peggy and Evan from CCALS. Rick and Peggy and I have worked together at Spaulding for the past 12 years but we have never hiked together and Peggy hadn't hiked in a long time. I assured her she could do it and that we were hiking one of the shortest of the 4000 footers. We hiked Mt Tecumseh ( 4003') it is 5 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2,300 feet and it was a 5 hour hike. I neglected to tell her it was going to be a long way up!  Tecumseh is home to Waterville Valley Ski Area. So... hardly easy.

 Rick's boys: William and Charlie lead the way at what seemed to the rest of us to be running up the trail. Ethan tried valliantly to keep up with the older boys and the rest of us made our way up at a more reasonable pace. We got a great view part way up where you can go out onto the ski trail. There are only partial views from the actual summit. But it was a beautiful autumn sunny day with just enough of a nip in the air to remind us that winter is right around the corner. Lilly and Ethan are only 7 years old and they both made it to the top!...their very first 4,000 footer! Congratulations Ethan and Lilly...great job! We had the pleasure of having Evan Fairmont with us from CCALS and had the opportunity to hear from him directly about the great work they are doing to help those with ALS. He has a very easy going way about him and it was great to have him along today. He kept us all entertained with stories of his travels and adventures. All the kids got along and it was fun to have them, they made it into a fun adventure for all of us! Thanks to everyone in the group for making today a great day and taking the time out to help raise money for CCALS. I would like to dedicate today's hike to Anne D. who passed a few weeks ago. She was an extremely intelligent woman with her own unique sense of style. She would have been delighted with today.

Saturday September 15, 2012

Today I hiked Cannon ( 4,100'), this was my second attempt at climbing this peak. I had driven out to try it last weekend but thunderstorms were headed into the area and the entire peak was in a black cloud and the winds were over 50 mph. So I returned today to try again. The trail up to the top was fairly easy and the cool temperatures helped. The mileage was only 4.4 round trip and I was able to make it up and down in less than 3 hours.

Cannon was home to the Old Man of the Mountain until it fell off in May of 2003, I remember on family vacations looking through on of those machines that you put the quarter in to see farther and looking at that landmark. The machines are still there and you can still see a great view of the entire Franconia Range. I am used to being at the top of a peak with only a handful of people around. There is a Tram to the top of Cannon, so to my surprise there were alot of people at the top when I got there and the clouds parted just long enough for all to get a view of the amazing Layfayette Ridge across the highway.

This peak I would like to dedicate to Mitch Gart who died 1/19/2012 

There was a quote on a stone bench at the top of Cannon that read:

" If you love someone...tell them

Most importantly stay close to your friends

 Let it make a difference in your day and theirs"

Saturday September 1, 2012

 

  I had last week off for a very nice vacation in Squaw Valley and Napa Valley, California and came back with only a little bit of jet lag. This weekend was a special one for me and my close friends Ed and Jane MacKenzie and their family. Also joining us were Kathy ( Jane's sister), Erin and Emma, Richard and of course...Riley. Riley is the sweetest dog I have ever met. As a puppy she lost a leg and is still the best little hiker. She hiked 3 peaks with us this past Saturday. We hiked Mt Monroe ( 5,372'), Mt Eisenhower ( 4760') and Pierce ( 4,312') for a total of 10.1 miles. It was misty and cloudy when we headed out and we were actually in a cloud when we reached the top of Monroe. I was thinking that I just wanted it to be a beautiful day as we were dedicating this hike to Wayne Harris who is the Mackenzie's brother-in law. I wanted it to be a special day for his dedication. Just as I thought this the clouds parted and you could see the top of Washington and as we moved across towards Eisenhower it completely cleared and was gorgeous. It was as if God heard my request. We made our way across Eisenhower and onto Pierce. We almost missed Pierce as the signage was not good. Thank you Richard for keeping us on track and saving us from having to go a long way back. We finished the day at the Mt Washington Hotel for a toast with all our friends. This hike we are dedicating to Wayne Harris, OT who is this years Evening of Hope Spirit Award recipiant and beloved family of the MacKenzie's. I had the pleasure to hear Wayne speak at the MDA/ALS dinner and his passion and humor brought us all to tears. It was an honor to hike with you in mind today.

Sunday August 19th, 2012

Today I hiked with Susie. We went back to attempt Mt Madison ( 5, 366'). This one was nagging at me a bit as I tried to do this one with Noreen when she was visiting from Wisconsin, but the weather was not in our favor that day and we had to go down. Today was a beautiful day.... abeit a hot one. ( I went through all my H2O by the day's end.) We were on the trial by 7am and off by 2 pm and climbed a total of 8.2 miles. We had several ominous signs along the way warning us that this is one of the most challenging routes with many miles of exposed terrain above tree line and very steep and strenous climb with 4, 100' of vertical to cover. The sign at the start of the trial warns not to attempt this hike unless you are in top physical condition. So I guess Susie and I did pretty well! My legs were a bit tired from the day before hiking the three peaks with the guys but Susie hikes a good pace and kept me going with easy conversation. It gave us a nice time to catch up. At the top we ran into 4 guys who were summitting the first of the 3 they were planning to do this day. One had never hiked a 4 thousand footer before. Not sure I would have picked this as his first one? The view from the top I'm sure was enough to keep him going as it was absolutely spectacular! I would like to dedicate today' s hike to Dick Sullivan

Saturday August 18th

Today I hiked with the guys: Richard and Rick. We hiked Mt Tom ( 4051'), Mt Field ( 4,340') and Willey ( 4, 285').  Richard was back from his vacation to Hawaii and was eager to hike...too much sitting on the plane I suppose. It was raining when we got up that morning and humid but it dried out nicely and got brezzy and cool in the afternoon. We had summited all 3 peaks by 12 noon! The climb down however was not as quick as we might have thought. There was some very steep sections and several steep ladders that had us decending backwards. It was all going well until we got to the last section on the Kedron Flume trail. As the name would suggest...it was quite wet. There was one rock that Rick told me " no matter what...don't step on this rock.. you will fall". Did I listen? Of course not, I had to try it out for myself and ended up on my butt in a puddle of mud. Next time maybe I'll listen. We ended the day with a stop for Ice Cream...nothing better than a little rainbow sherbert at the end of a long hike! Followed by a lovely dinner out with good friends.  I would like to dedicate Mt Tom to Fred Mac Donald, Mt Field to John Keator and Mt Willey to Beth Barry