This weekend was a big hike. My friend Richard and I took off at 7 am for Laconia. We were on the trailhead by 8:15 and didn't emerge back until 10 hours later. What we accomplished in those 10 hours still amazes me. We headed up the Old Bridle path to the top of Lafayette ( 5, 260 ft) and then across the Franconia Ridge Trail to Lincoln ( 5, 089ft) and over Haystack on to Liberty (4,459 ft) to Flume ( 4, 328 ft). Then we had to skip back across over Liberty to get to the trail to find where we left a car as it is to slippery and dangerous to go down the Flume trail. Lafayette is the tallest mountain in the Franconia range and #6 in height on the list of 48. It felt good to get another one in from the top 10! It was an amazing day with the most spectacular views I have seen so far in this journey. The skies were clear when we began our day and at the top of Lafayette you could actually see all the way to Canada. I know people say that all the time...but this time it was true. As we crossed over Haystack, Richard said "my legs feel good do you want to try and do the other 2?" I looked out and saw just how far away the other two peaks were and thought he was crazy...but I said "yep let's go". I'm so happy that he pushed me to try and do all 4 in the one day, almost 15 miles! When we got to the top of the last peak and looked back on where we started, I was so surprised at what we were able to achieve. It also made me so grateful that I have the ability and the opportunity to do this and I am appreciating every moment of this experience.
This weekend was a big hike. My friend Richard and I took off at 7 am for Laconia. We were on the trailhead by 8:15 and didn't emerge back until 10 hours later. What we accomplished in those 10 hours still amazes me. We headed up the Old Bridle path to the top of Lafayette ( 5, 260 ft) and then across the Franconia Ridge Trail to Lincoln ( 5, 089ft) and over Haystack on to Liberty (4,459 ft) to Flume ( 4, 328 ft). Then we had to skip back across over Liberty to get to the trail to find where we left a car as it is to slippery and dangerous to go down the Flume trail. Lafayette is the tallest mountain in the Franconia range and #6 in height on the list of 48. It felt good to get another one in from the top 10! It was an amazing day with the most spectacular views I have seen so far in this journey. The skies were clear when we began our day and at the top of Lafayette you could actually see all the way to Canada. I know people say that all the time...but this time it was true. As we crossed over Haystack, Richard said "my legs feel good do you want to try and do the other 2?" I looked out and saw just how far away the other two peaks were and thought he was crazy...but I said "yep let's go". I'm so happy that he pushed me to try and do all 4 in the one day, almost 15 miles! When we got to the top of the last peak and looked back on where we started, I was so surprised at what we were able to achieve. It also made me so grateful that I have the ability and the opportunity to do this and I am appreciating every moment of this experience. 
It seems very appropriate that I am dedicating Mt. Lafayette to Gordon T. Heald, he is the inspiration for CCALS and his larger than life personality would have matched the majesty of this mountain. Although he passed in 1998 his life goes on in all the good work done in his name. I would like to dedicate Mt Lincoln to James Wallace who passed December 2010. I was able to hear James speak at the Evening of Hope ALS/MDA dinner a few years back and was present when he received the Spirit Award, which is now presented in his name and honor. It was an honor for me to hike in his name.
