a trail to self discovery...

It was Garfield I had in mind for today. A solo hike to Garfield to knock off another on my list. When I posted my plans online, a friend, Whitney had messaged me and asked if I would like to hit the Wildcats instead. With my plans being Garfield on Monday and Wildcat A on Tuesday- I agreed. We planned to meet at 19 Mile Brook Trail at 8:30 am. We spotted her car there and took mine back to Glen Ellis Falls to start our adventure. This was the first time either one of us had hiked with each other. We totally hit it off within minutes of getting on trail. We had the conversation about what to expect. I had previously hiked Wildcat Ridge when I had hit Wildcat D back in November. I knew it was steep and rugged. So, up the trail we went. And when I say up- I literally mean UP. We chatted pretty much the entire way up and I have no idea how we did it and kept a good pace. Finally bursting out onto the ledges we received our first views of the day. With my car still in sight, we knew

10 and 1. Sounds like sports talk, but it's not.  Today marks a huge accomplishment not only for me but a friend I went to high school with. A few days ago I got a message asking about hiking Mount Washington from my friend Kate. Her and her b.f, Ray, really wanted to knock this one off their bucket list. Like most people, they knew Mount Washington is a scary mountain and many have died trying to summit this one. One to be very much intimidated by. Knowing she had a friend who had climbed it several times, Kate & Ray asked me if I would go along with them on their first ascent. I was more than happy to join them. This was my 10th ascent of Mount Washington myself. I was originally planning on holding off and hiking Huntington Ravine for my 10th ascent, however, for whatever reason it didn't play out that way. I am OK with that. I met Kate & Ray at Pinkham Notch Visitor Center at about 7:30am. We shortly hit the trail there after. We discussed options of what

As I looked at my map and all the peaks I have left to bag, I couldn't for the life of my figure out where Cabot and Waumbek were. Oh! There it was. Just a little north in the Plinny Range. Gladly enough I asked my friend Nate about it, because I noticed it was near the town he grew up in. He was more than happy to tell me all about it and offered to tag along for this bag. We planned for Friday. We set off and reached the trail head around 8:00am. Forgetting his candy bars & the beer we like to enjoy in the cooler after we are done while tailgating in the parking lot, we finally arrived. A chill morning it was. We both had long sleeves to start. While I waited for him to put his boots on, I quickly took some of my usual photos. We started out ascent at the Unknown Pond Trail head. Headed into the woods it quickly became noticeable not many trek through this trail. The trail was incredibly overgrown. Needless to say we both were enjoying it. I am so accustomed to hikin

It wasn't long after I awoke and saw beautiful blue sky that I realized I need to get out on the trail. I spent thursday hiking Liberty and Flume, Friday went for a 25 mile bike ride, and Saturday running errands. I had orginally made plans to head to Sugarloaf Mountain in ME to help search for the missing thru hiker, Geraldine "Inchworm" Largay. However, waking up at 3 am to drive 4 hours to search for someone would have been exhausting. With all that has been going on with this Search, it has consumed a huge part of me. Not because someone is missing, but a solo woman hiker. No sign and no trace of her. With that aside, I packed up my pack and headed to the trail head of 19-Mile Brook trail. I arrived roughly at about 9:45am. It's a little later than I normally would start, but given the circumstances of had previously been on this trail I knew it would be a breeze to get to the ridge. I checked the radar- all was clear. I hit the trail at 10:00am. 

The title to this is incredibly appropriate for anyone who knows my friend Jim. He is incredibly tall and has the longest and strongest legs I have ever seen. However, as an avid hiker, I enjoy hiking with him because he loves it just as much. For anyone who has hiked with me or hikes with me on a regular basis knows, how much I dislike extremely steep sections, and know that I average about 2mph while hiking. So, my morning started by waking up late. 8:00am late. I am typically an early start kind of hiker. This day, I woke up and quickly checked the weather and saw it wouldn't be until much later that the rain would be moving in. Knowing my skills and how fast I can hike, I asked Jim to come with me. I would have gone by myself to do this hike but something was telling me not to attempt the slide alone. That something was right! I quickly packed up & jumped in the car to meet jim at the Liberty Springs trail head at 11:00am. I didn't have the greatest nights sleep tha