a trail to self discovery...

On Thursday September 19, the phone rang the radios fluttering with talk. A man fell off the headwall of Tuckerman Ravine. I quickly packed up my gear and extras with the MW State Park Rangers and another co-worker of mine and hit the trail. We made it down and had him med flighted out. After 5 hours of doing everything and anything we could to help him, we were just about back to the summit when we heard on the radio, he didn't make it. Unfortunately, he had multiple compound fractures and a head injury. He stepped to the edge of the trail and fell. There is much to say about this. For now I will say never test the nature of the beast. My thoughts and prayers are with those friends who had to watch it all unfold in front of their own eyes, and the family and friends he has left behind. On another note; I just got back from Baxter State Park. Where we had planned to summit Katahdin. I had followed the weather reports right up until the day we arrived. Unfortunately, it was not wo...

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...