What many people know about me is that I love hiking. I find solace and peace among the trees and mountains. What most people don't know is how I came to be a hiker. It all started innocently enough, as most stories do.
However, in order to tell the story, I need to let you know that another passion of mine is photography. I like to photograph everything. I take thousands of photos a year. While I don't consider myself an expert, with today's fantastic digital cameras, I am able to take some great shots. That being said, it was late Spring in New Hampshire (USA), and for skiers, that meant the annual pilgrimage to ski
Tuckerman's Ravine .
Two of my friends, Doug & Craig,
were
back country skiers and wanted to hike up to Tuckerman's and have me
take photos of them. This sounded like great fun. I have always dreamed
of skiing Tuck's, but never had the skill level. This way I could go,
and not have to worry about skiing, just take photos. I figured this
hike would be a piece of cake. I was in good shape from being a cyclist
and I had hiked
Mt Monadnock (the 2nd most climb mountain in the world) before, so I had hiking experience. This was going to be easy, or so I thought.
So, on April 28, 2009, the two of them met me early at my house and off we went for the two and a half hour ride. I got more excited with each mile closer. Finally, we made it to the parking lot (which was already quite full). This is the first place that my total inexperience began to show itself. Both Doug and Craig looked at me incredulously, as if I had completely lost my mind.
The problem? I was wearing all cotton, and according to them,
COTTON KILLS. What they meant was that you will sweat on the hike, and cotton does not dry quickly. This could be very dangerous if the weather turned bad, and as I have learned through the years, on
Mt Washington, things can change quickly. Thankfully, Doug had spare, non cotton hiking clothes, and we were close enough in size.
Finally, once properly attired, we set off. The going was smooth, and the trail was wide at the start. There appeared to be a lot of other hiker/skiers going up as well. They day was cool, not cold and blue sky prevailed. I was getting excited with every step.
Soon, I began to realizing that hiking shape and biking shape were not the same thing. I was using totally different muscles and I couldn't seem to catch my breath. I was really struggling with this walk up the hill.
Well, after what seemed like a 100 miles of walking straight up, we eventually arrived at the Hermit Lake shelters and took a break. Well, they took a break. I thought I was going to die. I eventually came to the conclusion that I was not going to make to
Lunch Rocks, which is the traditional spot to hang out and watch the
folks skiing and boarding the Ravine.
I told Doug and Craig to go on without me. I was so disappointed in myself and very embarrassed that I was struggling so badly.
I could see Tuckerman's Ravine from where I sat and if I looked really hard, I could see the skiers hiking up the head wall.
I was so close, but so exhausted that I might have been 100 miles away. I simply could not go on. Well, while my friends and many others, enjoyed the day hiking and
skiing, I wallowed in self pity. Then made a decision. This would NEVER
happen to me again.
I decided right there and then that I would hike every one of New Hampshire's 48 4000 foot mountains.
I finished in a little under two years, and now, after 5 years of hiking, have summited over 150 of New Hampshire's mountains, many of them solo hikes. I now consider myself a child of the forest and going hiking seems like going home to me now. It's a place I belong...my happy place.
The moral of my story is don't let disappointments destroy you. Take those are as a chance to improve, to go a new direction, to try a new plan, to walk a different path. Just make sure some of those paths are dirt. Cheers and happy hiking. Thanks for reading!
