Welcome to my blog.
Expect reflections on long distance hiking, hiking culture, nature, creativity and my undying love for backrests.
All tagged white mountains
Part one of a series on how to train for a thru hike (and why even bother when everyone else seems to “hike themselves into shape.”
It’s a rare treat to find a book about an epic adventure, especially a hiking adventure, where the author is generous and vulnerable with the details she shares.
I’m happy to add another book to that small collection. It’s called 48 Peaks: Hiking and Healing in the White Mountains by Cheryl Suchors.
Just a few shots of the last day of our eight day traverse through the White Mountains.
What a blessing the Ethan Pond trail is to knees that have refused to bend for the past three days.
Good times!
A few weeks ago, I went to Damascus, VA to take a course that was supposed to help me get ready for my thru-hike. The term “purist” came up a few times.
The course instructor felt like people had come to use that term in a derogatory way.
Maybe. But should we really GAF what other people think about how we hike? I think not.
This was our first overnighter in the White Mountains this season. Steve Smith, the guru of all things White Mountain hiking, called this one “the most grueling section of the AT in the White Mountains.”
Oh, goody!
This should be fun.
Mt. Guyot transformed from Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll overnight.
Today, we got skies parting, angels singing and a glorious day for a walk in the wood.
Plus, cornbread.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Way back at Liberty Springs Tent Site, we chatted with Quinn, the Caretaker, a lovely young woman who didn't seem to mind answering questions she'd probably been asked a thousand times about what it's like to spend the summer using a privy that "flushes" with mulch.
She asked me to deliver a message to a boy at the Guyot Shelter. Of course I said yes! What fun to play a tiny role in a White Mountain love story.
She entrusted me with a tiny square of paper folded a couple of times with "Jimmy" penned elegantly on the top.
I tucked it into my hip belt where I knew it would be safe and off we went. It would be two days before we reached the Guyot Shelter.
The question was: would the note survive the trek?
This was day two of a five-day trip along the Appalachian Trail through the White Mountains, from Franconia Notch to Crawford Notch.
Apparently the rumors of White Mountain ruggedness and ability to challenge even the most seasoned hikers start way down in Georgia.
But I learned a few years ago that TIARAS give you secret hiking super powers.
