Cannon Mountain (4,081)

2/6/16, Co-hikers: Greg the Pirate, Yuliya, Toji

I am a lucky girl. I have a very dear old friend who happens to be a pirate and whose parents happen to own a little cabin-y house in Mittersill Alpine Village at the base of Cannon Mountain. This past weekend Greg and his dog Toji and I plus another dear old friend, Yuliya the crazy/awesome Russian, escaped up to this cabin in the north.

Friday night was just driving and eating cheese and getting the house warm. Saturday we prepared for the day with a hearty breakfast of protein, protein, and more protein, and got ourselves over to the Lonesome Lake Trail head by 11am. Toji may not love snow as much as Naina but he loves running ahead and doubling back over and over again, in that doggy kind of way. The trail was a gradual climb all the way to the lake which was breathtaking. And completely frozen over! All the other hikers we met just walked straight across it to get to the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) hut on the other side. This is where we went the opposite direction as everyone else and headed toward the Kinsman Ridge Trail.

Now I love Yuliya and her steady, unvarying pace. And I love Greg for sticking with Yuliya so she wouldn’t feel alone. But this meant that for the first time I did a fair amount of solo trekking. The upside to this was not wasting breath on talking, because hoo boy, the little bit of trail to get to the ridge got very steep, very quickly. The downside to this was having nobody to give me that healthy competition and occasional quips to add to the fun.

So I followed a tried and true technique and would hike ahead until the next trail intersection then wait for them to catch up and make sure we’re all heading in the same direction. All the while trying not to have any digits freeze off as the sweat evaporates and I eventually have to put ALL of my layers back on.

My favorite part of the trail was the very rocky, very icy, very steep climb up Cannon, specifically the first 0.4 miles of the last 0.9. With Greg having to hoist Toji up the bits he couldn’t dig his claws into I spent a bit longer waiting at the final signage but we plodded along the fairly flat last half mile to the summit together. There we met a solo hiker and his adorable dog and all took pictures before choosing to descend via a different trail near the tramway with a sweet lookout point.

The way down was a bit too steep and icy to lend itself well to running. Also I did try to stay with my friends for  bit. But after we finally got past some really dicey bits where I did, in fact, have to slide down on my butt once (hello bruise) I finally just took off and did my mountain running thing!

One of the really nice things about the trails we choose is that we had to walk back to where the car was along the Franconia Notch path which was completely flat. This was the perfect cool down/moving stretch and prevented my legs from being completely spent the next day. Also we walked past the old Man in the Mountain viewing site. I’m pretty bummed that my parents never brought us up north to see it before it collapsed.

The following morning Yuliya took off to ski for a few hours before having to leave for home around noon. I decided to go for a trail run on these two much shorter peaks just up the road, Artist Bluff and Bald Mountain (2,340 ft). Now this was FUN. I was pretty much grinning to myself the entire time. And sweating balls. That’s how I justified getting a nice hearty brunch at Polly’s Pancake Parlor before Greg and I bid farewell to the north life and headed back to Boston to face the reality of a full week ahead.

Total hike distance: 13.8 miles, total hike time ~5 hours (again, didn’t track)

Total run distance: 3.46, total run time: ~51 minutes (my GPS watch is tricky and I can’t work it)

Mount Liberty (4,459)

This peak I will always treasure as my very first 4K footer!

1/17/16 Co-hikers: Marcus, Chris Friend, Clement, Naina

This day started off a little rougher than the previous Sunday hike. I had gone to a dinner party the night before and since we were driving up to Franconia Notch I had to be up much earlier and since I’m an overachiever I of course had to make breakfast for Marcus and my French neighbor, Clement (through whom I met Friend in the first place). However after my second coffee and a chilly walk around the Starbucks parking lot with my roommate’s dog, Naina, I was rearing to go!

In my personal opinion, always hike with a dog if you can hike with a dog. Their energy is infectious. Especially if, like Naina, they are obsessed with snow. She literally dove head first into it once I let her off leash on the trail.

This Sunday was cold and clear, hovering in the mid-20s, but without a lick of wind (a great improvement from Monadnock). There was ~6 inches of snow on the ground but many others had hiked it before us so the trail was easy to follow. We slapped on the microspikes right away and were off!

After an early detour where we missed the very obvious and well-marked turn off, the first bit of the Liberty Spring Trail was a fairly gradual rise. That quickly gave way to a steep, endless incline encased in a magical, snow globe-esque, fairy tale marshmallow land of white silence. Once again Friend and Marcus matched pace pretty perfectly as Clement and I took off at a more aggressive clip. Naina sprinted back and forth multiple times, likely tripling her distance hiked. It’s those herding dog instincts, I tell yah.

We rendezvoused at a very informative warning sign and climbed above the tree line where our effort was rewarded with even more magic and a frosty, almost edible looking rock face. At the summit where the boys decided to have a serious rest and snack I started to feel the cold seeping in. As long as I keep moving blood pumps nice and warm but the second I stop I remember why I should have worn a second pair of socks and packed those amazing little hand warmers.

The summit was also where we heard from other hikers that Flume was far too dangerous to descend. So instead of pressing on and risking it we turned around and back tracked down the same trail. This time Marcus’ knees weren’t the happiest so Clement joined me in running down. Seriously, try this, it’s exhilarating and actually better on your knees than walking.

On the drive home Naina curled up in a ball at my feet and passed. Out. Cold. I also may have snoozed for a hot second … and Clement may have a photo of that …

Total distance: 8.2 miles, total time: 4.5-5 hours (still not keeping track)

 

Mount Monadnock (3,166)

1/3/16 Co-hikers: Chris Friend, Asian Chris, Marcus

Though not a 4K footer, Monadnock is a) close to Boston, b) affords gorgeous views as the tallest point around, and c) is in fact the first New England peak I ever bagged way back in high school.

We took the less popular white arrow trail off of the old trail road because that’s the parking lot my friend Chris pulled into. The sky was clear, the temperature in the mid-20s. Chris brought along his friend (also) Chris and I brought along my friend Marcus. The upside to our little group of mountaineers was that it turned out Chris Friend (actually his name) is a slower hiker than me, right around Marcus’ pace, while Asian Chris is exactly as speedy as I am!

At the halfway house I had the chance to put on my very first pair of microspikes which I had picked up last minute at the EMS in Harvard Square the day before. They weren’t cheap but oh my stars and garters, so very necessary! The trail was almost pure ice. The climb was gradual until the very last bit which was a solid bit of scrambling. While fun this was where the wind picked up and I had to layer up to protect my precious, precious face.

What was the most fun, it turns out, is running down the mountain. Once we had descended the rocky scramble Marcus and I took off! Man, the looks we got from those saner souls on the trail … well worth the risk.

The other highlight of this quickie came when we were un-spiking at the halfway house. There was a ranger-type fellow waiting for EMS because evidently someone had taken a spill and impaled himself in the booty with a stick. Yes, impaling is never a good thing, but if it’s going to go anywhere the glute is a pretty safe option.

Total distance: 4.2 miles, total time: 2.5-3 hours (I hadn’t started keeping time yet)

Begin at the beginning

I’ve always loved running around outside and climbing the highest hill or tree I could find. Sporadically through my teens and twenties I would find myself invited on hikes or nature trips. While I enjoyed these mini-adventures I often found myself wondering why my co-adventurers were walking so slowly, or why they would rather sit around the fire eating and drinking and reading all day when we could be exploring and summiting and breaking a nice healthy sweat!

Last summer I took a trip to Alaska with one cousin to visit another cousin. Part of our trip we crashed with an old friend of hers whose roommate raced mountains. Yes, her hobby was to ascend and descend peaks as quickly as possible. We were able to partially watch her participate in one such feat in Seward, AK on the 4th of July – the famous Mount Marathon Race.

I was inspired but broke, partially injured (herniated L4-L5, right and posterior), and at a loss for how to break into this kind of adventuring. My kind of adventuring – the fast kind.

Thanks to a friend who finagled me a 50% discount I was able to participate in my first mountain race back in October, an ascent of Loon Mountain (yes the ski resort). Roughly 5.5 miles and 2,000 feet of elevation on zero preparation and I had a blast! I was hooked. I wanted more.

Fast forward just a few weeks later in that same month and I race a very hilly half marathon on Mount Desert Island, decently exacerbating my disc symptoms. I’m back out of the game after pushing myself too hard too fast. A common recurrence and theme in my life. I can’t even handle stadium workouts at November Project on Wednesday mornings.

But I am nothing if not diligent. I’ve returned to physical therapy, begun focused weight lifting, and reached out to friends known to spend time hiking/running on trails and mountains. To begin with I’m eyeballing the goal of hiking all 67 of the 4,000 footers in New England. As of yet I’ve hiked two (which I will cover in a separate, non-introductory post) at a decent clip though I still struggle to find comrades who like to bag peaks at my speed.

So here it is, a way to faithfully document my summits and track my (hopefully eventual) grand debut as a racer of mountains!