Saturday June 30th

Well this weekend was a big weekend in my journey...the biggest so far. Three of my friends and I set out to do Owl's Head mountain in the Pemigewasset Wilderness. It is only 4,025 feet. But what it lacks for in height and scenery it makes up for in length of time and mileage. In order to get to the trail that takes you up the actual mountain, we needed to hike 8 miles in, then 1 mile straight up and then all the way back out again for 18.2 miles total. Along the way we had to negotiate over 7 river crossings. The first 2 we made it through without incident, the third one Rick had his boots fall in the river and he had to hike the remaining 12 miles of the day in wet boots. The fourth river I fell in and the fifth claimed Susie. Hilary made it through the day without falling in the river but I think she ended up with the biggest blister at the end of the day. There were several funny moments along the way...meeting up with the man with spandex shorts who declared "this mountain sucks!" and getting to the top only to find out that that wasn't the only top. The hiking book describes Owl's Head as being "everything a mountain should not be." I disagree, there were some great views from the slides and although it was the most difficult thing I have done so far it taught me how strong we are and how much you can achieve when you set your mind to it. Every hike I take time to count my many blessings. My three friends in this hike are at the top of that list... I couldn't have done it without them and they were the perfect crew to have on this particular adventure! I dedicate this hike to George M. His story is the best example I have seen of patience, family and love.

Saturday June 16, 2012

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.

Saturday June 9, 2012

 

I had the pleasure this week of meeting Doug Oakley, his personality is as big as he is tall. He is full of life and has a wicked sense of humor. I would like to dedicate this weekend's adventure and both Carter Peaks to him. The mileage that we covered pales in comparison to some of his achievements. He told me that he rode his bike from San Francisco to Boston in about 40 days and then he says he got smart and "put a motor on the bike." I  can only hope to come close to the amount that he was able to raise when he did his 4 Corners Ride for CCALS a while back.

This weekend I had the sincere pleasure to hike Middle Carter ( 4,610 ft) and South Carter ( 4, 430 ft) for a total of 11.8 miles with my friends Mo ( Maureen) and Brian. They hadn't hiked in a few years but they were definitely up for the challenge. The day started at 6am with them spoiling me by cooking me breakfast. They kept the jokes and laughs going all day long, capped off by us blowing bubbles to celebrate arriving at the top of each peak! We came across Mark who was completing his 48th 4,000 footer today on Middle Carter. Congratulations Mark and good luck in Arizona! I'm hoping I match his achievement at the end of this Journey. Thanks to Mo and Brian for a great day, I am truly blessed with great friends!

Friday May 25th

I took an extra day off this week to be able to hike with my dear friend Rick. He has been anxious to hike with me on this Journey and up until now our schedules hadn't matched up. They finally did and we drove up Thursday night to get an early start on Friday am. We woke up early to see pretty much nothing across the parking lot as there was pea soup fog and mist. We heard the fog was supposed to burn off and there would be off and on showers during the day. Rick has never been one to be detered by bad weather so...we were off on our adventure. We climbed Hancock  ( 4,420 feet) and South Hancock ( 4,319 feet) over a 9.8 mile loop trail where only the last mile was extremely steep. I was huffing and puffing on the way up wondering if we were going to make it and Rick stayed very positive telling me " you are strong like bull". I was thinking he was full of bull, but I appreciated his unrelenting encouragement over the whole trip. These two peaks where lucky #'s 12 and #13 so I guess it was appropriate that it poured rain as we got to the top and continued until we were a mile from the parking lot. Thanks Rick for keeping me laughing and safe and for the Dales on the hike out! I would like to dedicate Hancock to Arthur Marlin who passed away June of 2005 and South Hancock peak to Frank Szymczyk who passed December of 2005. As I complete each peak I stop to remember those who have died of ALS and those still struggling with it each day. Each dedication keeps me motiviated to keep going.

Saturday May 19th

 This weekend I hiked the Tripyramids( Middle 4,140ft  and North Peak 4,180ft ) with another on-line hiking group that I joined. This group is called Random Group of hikers. I heard about them from people who were in my group last weekend ( Ted and Badri). I picked up Badri at her hotel in North Conway. It was nice to see a friendly face and she is a good hiker having done the Adirondack 46 over that past 2 years.  Our leaders for this trip were Michael and Monica, who were very friendly, had a great sense of humor and were super organized. They kept everyone safe, together and entertained.  It was a group of 13 of us and we got out to a bit of a late start at 9am considering we had that many of us to get up and down the 2 peaks and a total of 11.4 miles. We headed onto Sabbaday Brook trail off the Kancamagus Highway. This is a lovely picnic area with a beautiful waterfall and cliff at the start of the trail. We had 4 challenging river crossings to manuever over. One of which required taking the hiking boots off and wading through knee deep frigid water. We all managed to stay dry and made it across without incident. The climb was fairly easy until we got to the last mile before the trail junction, then it was straight up. I had the chance to talk to everyone on the hike and met some great people. They were nice enough not to tease me too much when I had a senior moment during the hike... I had put my phone in my pack at one of the river crossings and then later in the day I was searching my whole pack inside and out for it and couldn't find it anywhere... I told everyone I lost my phone and to keep an eye out for it on the way back. When we got to the top... I heard this beep and looked in my short's pocket to find...my phone! I'm going to blame this forgetful moment on the heat vs my age. It was a very hot day for hiking compared to what I've had so far, starting out at 70 degrees and 85 degrees by the time we finished. The frigid river water felt mighty great on my feet on the return trip. I would like to dedicate Middle Tripyramid to Ron Gossman who was a Vietnam war veteran and worked for the Tranportation Dept for the City of Boston. And I would like to dedicate North Tripyramid to John Marso who was an avid baseball player who passed away in 2006.

Saturday May 12th

 I joined an online hiking group to meet some new friends and to spread the word about by hiking fundraising for CCALS. This past weekend I hiked with the 4,000 footers Meet up group. They were very nice and welcoming to this new comer and offered up lots of information to help me achieve my goal of completing the 48 peaks. They all have far more hiking experience than I do and have done many more peaks. I  worried if I would be able to keep up but I did just fine and surprised myself. We headed out at 8:30 am and made our way 3.2 miles to the top of Whiteface (4020 ft) on Blueberry Ledges trail. "Whiteface" is a referrence to the prominent cliff on the south slope of the mountain and the ledges towards the top offered some fun bouldering and scrammbling to get to the top. It was another beautiful day and although the black flies are now out in full force they were kept at bay by a steady breeze. We then made our way another 3.2 miles over the Rollins trail over to Mt Passaconaway ( 4043 ft). Mt Passaconaway is named after a Penacook Tribe chief and means " Son of the Bear". The actual " peak" of each summit is in the woods with no view to speak of but there were several look out ledges with beautiful views of  Mt. Chocorua. It was then another 4.6 miles back to the car for a total of 11 miles for the day. So far I have hiked 47.6 miles over 9 peaks and counting!  I would like to dedicate Mt. Whiteface to Bob Mendenhaul who worked at the Montesori schools and was an Erudite musician. And I would like to dedicate Mt. Passaconaway to Sean Lucey who was a dear friend of CCALS and passed away Nov 2011

Sunday May 6th

 Today I climbed Mt Hale with my dear friend Kathy. We had been up in Conway spring cleaning and managed to fit in a little fun with a Derby/Cinco de Mayo party on Saturday night and had a great time with some good friends. Kathy did not have today's hike on her agenda but she was quick to say yes when I asked her if she would hike with me.  We got up early and headed out and made it onto the trail by 8:45. Mt Hale ( 4054 ft)  is one of the easier of the 4,000 footers. We did the Hale Brook trail which is 2.3 miles to the top, 4.6 miles round trip. It was a perfect day for hiking weather wise about 50 degrees and slightly cloudy. No ice or snow to deal with on the trail this time so that was a nice bonus and made it easier footing compared to the last few I have done. As we were approaching the top we saw and heard a helicopter. It was quite close so we wondered if there was a problem, some type of rescue perhaps. But as it turned out it was a buddy of 3 guys who were hiking Hale that day and he was flying this Blackhawk helicopter over Hale to say hello. Since there is really no view form the top of Hale the Blackhawk zooming over several times added some excitment to the trip. Some of the rocks at the top of Hale are magnetic so to test this out we brought up our pair of refridgerator climbing magnets and yes they did cling to the rock! Thanks Kathy for hiking with me it was great fun! I would like to dedicate this hike to Steven Alcott who died a short while back and to his wife Mary who continues to be active  in fundraising to cure ALS and support CCALS.