Today I hiked Garfield with two of my dear friends whom I have known for 25 years now, Fran and Kathy. We all used to work together at SRH many years ago and although they have moved out of state we have remained close friends. They flew all the way up to Boston and drove to NH to help me complete this journey. They live in Florida now, so I'm sure the irony of the weather on this day was not lost on them. We set out early at 7:30 to drive an hour over to the trailhead. When we started it was 50 degrees and raining. The forecast was for increasing winds and dropping temps. As the hike went on we came across more and more snow on the trail and then ice! The rain turned to sleet ..then hail then ...snow. The hike was 10 miles round trip and by the time we got back to the car the temps were in the 30's. The Gator Girls did great! They stayed positive and never complained.
I wasn't sure I would make it to the top. Being surprised by how much snow and ice there was on the trail, I did not have any crampons, spikes or even Yak traks with me. I figured I would go up as far as I could and if I couldn't get all the way to the top I would come back another day with the spikes. I was only .2 miles from the top when I considered turning back. But then I saw Bob ahead of me. We had met him earlier in the parking lot and he had his microspikes on the back of his pack. As I approached him I noticed they were still on his pack. I asked him why he didn't have them on as it was getting increasingly icy. He said it was not much further and I would be able to make it to the top without them. He has done the hike before and I trusted his judgement. I think he may have been a guardian angel put in the right place at the right time! Thank you Bob for helping me make it to the top! And there are not enough words to thank Kathy and Fran for every moment shared this past weekend. Best friends evaaah! A special Thank You also to Noreen ( who surprised the heck out of me flying in from Wisconsin), Maria, Amy and KC for a fabulous celebration dinner and lots of fun surprises!!
I would like to dedicate this peak to Ernesto F who has been living with ALS for 10 years now. He lost the ability to speak years ago but has the most expressive eyes I have ever seen.
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