It has been a weekend of hiking - started on Saturday for a great hike with Christine - # 21 Whiteface, #22 Passaconaway. I started this journey with a focus of getting back to hiking which I love and spending times with friends old and new.  Saturday was great fun with Christine:

 Blueberry Ledge was a great trail - fun had by all...Then on Sunday moved onto Webster and Jackson for a second hike with Margie #23...

 ENJOYING THE JOURNEY!!!!!!

#16, 17, 18, 19, & 20 - Hale, Zealand, West Bond, Bond and Bond Cliff (and..Guyot )

Phenomenal  day to hike - we have decided that Grace has good weather karma as each time she hikes with me we get clear dry weather.  This clear air was not wasted as the views from the Bonds were breathtaking.  This hike was difficult.  Grace and I may have made it more difficult by starting out to quickly. 

The stats of our trip are as follows: 

• * 5 peaks off the 48 4000 footer list -Guyot is a 6th peak but is not on the list
• * Our moving speed was 2 mph, average speed 1.7 mph with a max speed of 4.7 mph - the max speed was at the end when all we want to do was get to our car and take our shoes off
• * Total distance was 22.34 miles 
• * Total Ascent was 6058 ft
• * Total moving time 11 hours and 23 minutes
• * Total stop time 1:51 minutes 

The first peak we summited was Mt Hale - some nice views on the way up:

Then came Mt Zealand - which we had to hike over to get to the Bonds - we needed to hike .1 miles off the trail to officially reach the "cozy" summit:

We continue onto the Bonds......You can never capture the beauty in photos - these views were beautiful and they only got better as we moved on..

First Summit- West Bond: 

Second summit: Bond:

and finally BondCliff: Can you see my fear...I practically crawled off this cliff after the photo was taken 

It was a great day of hiking...but a hard day of hiking...we will rest today....

Margie and Kate Excellent Bushwhacking Extravaganza

Mount Moosilauke:   Kate #15 & Margie #1 

 I dragged Margie into the car at 5:30 am to get a 7:30 am start to avoid the bugs, heat and crowds.  This was Margies first 4000 footer and with the weather report I was hoping for some amazing views on Moosilauke.  I had chosen the West Loop which definitely covered significantly more miles but promised a more gradual descent on the Benton Trail.  Benton was a more gradual descent and clearly someone had fastidiously cleared the Trail of winter storm blowdowns.  Apparently the Moose like this trail as well as there were many piles of scat.   It was at the end of Benton that the fun began.  First we came out of the woods to meet up with Tunnel Brook Road...there was a road which had been recently built up by an excavator.  After walking about a mile up on this road we discovered this in fact was not  Tunnel Brook Road  but instead a road which ran parallel about .25 mile east  of Tunnel Brook Road.  We made the decision to  bushwhack to the "lightly travelled gravel road" described in the guide, which we did successfully.  We continued on with our route seeing many signs of Moose - tracks and scat but no moose.

As we hiked along Tunnel Brook Trail about a mile in the blow downs started...and continued on for 1-2 miles often obliterating the trail completely.  I have to say the subscription to Gaia GPS app was well worth it on this trip as we often just had not choice but to bushwhack in the general direction of the route. This photo shows some of the devastation.  We would rate this is mild compared to some of what we climbed through....

So almost 14 miles from our start we walked through the Glencliff Home for the Elderly campus and returned to our car.  It certainly was an adventure...nothing like making Margie's first 4000 footer challenging...I hope she will hike with me again 

#12, 13, and 14 - Mt Field, Willey and Tom

I took the winter off from hiking but return back to the 4000 footers today. 👏🏃  Angus joined me...and kicked my @%s  a bit on the steep sections.   But was great fun to spend sometime with him.  We ended the day at Black Mountain Burger before I returned him to Camp Kabeyun for him to continuing working to help get camp ready for the campers arrival.   It was a cloudy hike but not too crowded and cool enough that the black flies did not join us.  I am still figuring out my GPS app - ignore the nautical mile measurement - the hike was just under 10 miles

The second try at a selfie

Mt Field

Mt Field

Mt Willey

Mt Tom

Great to be back...about 3 months to get 34 more - just let me know if you are interested in joining me on a hike.

Empty Nest 4000 Footers: One Day Full Presi TraverseOne day - 23 miles give...

Empty Nest 4000 Footers: One Day Full Presi TraverseOne day - 23 miles give...: One Day Full Presi Traverse One day - 23 miles give or take depending on your path and summit the following peaks: Madison-Adams-Jeff...

One Day Full Presi Traverse

One day - 23 miles give or take depending on your path and summit the following peaks:

Madison-Adams-Jefferson-Clay*-Washington-Monroe-Franklin*-Eisenhower-Pierce

(*Not on 4000 footer list due to precipice rule)

The weather could not have been better lower 60s, clear with light winds.  We still prepared for the worse in terms of gear but completed most of the hike in tank/short sleeve shirts.  We begin at 3:30 am with headlamps and finished with headlamps on the Crawford path descent which at times seemed endless. My very patient husband waited for us at the Highland Center with champagne.  We arrived at 7:30.

My hiking partner was Sarah Elia a great friend who unfortunately due to the daily commitments of life I have not spent much time with in recent years.  I feel like reconnecting with friends is a big part of what this empty nest hiking quest is about - not so much about bagging peaks.  Sarah pushed though the pain of blistered feet - not sure I could have pushed through like she did.  I am sure her hiking boots are in the trash this am. 

Thank you Lynn Campbell Fitch for sharing your great home allowing us to be a bit closer to the trailhead for our planned 3:30 am start.  We limited ourselves to one glass of wine the night before - enough to help us get some sleep before our 2:00 am wake up 

We hiked Valley Way trail up Madison in 3 hours to catch the sunrise.  We were only afraid a few times  by both the large toads on the trail and a few bear shadows.  When we arrived Madison was in the clouds but then cleared just for us :) - the first of many great views!

A great hiking partner

Mt Adams was the only peak which was clouded in during our summit.  The sun just needed a bit of time to burn off the clouds 

As we approached Jefferson the clouds began to lift...

Lifted a bit more...

...and the rest of the day looked like this....   

Amazing view from Mt Jefferson - Peak #3

Peak #4 - Some hikers will skip Mt Clay, as it is not one of the 48 4000 footers.  This is not about peak bagging for me but rather spending time doing something I love, with people I care about in the beautiful outdoors.

Peak #5 - Washington - it is a little weird to see so many people and cars 

Also Mt Monroe 

After the hike down Washington to the Lake of the Clouds hut our feet (especially Sarah's blistered feet) were feeling in on the rocks. 



The quick ascent up Monroe (#6) was a nice relief

We thought this was Mt Franklin - not a president I know but on our path - however this really may have been the second peak of Monroe.  We do know at some point we traversed over the small precipice of Franklin (#7).  Our growing fatigue is visible in this photo.

Looking toward the hike to Eisenhower and Pierce - that peak looked larger than I wanted it to be 

Mt. Eisenhower - the hike up was not as bad as it looked from afar.  Actually going up was preferable to stepping down the rocky paths as our feet and legs were screaming.

FINALLY - MT PIERCE!  Now we just need to get down.  This was not as easy as we hoped.  The trail was quite wet and rocky and felt much longer than the stated distance.  We had to put our headlamps back on toward the end. 

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My loving husband not only sat waiting in the Highland Center Parking lot for 3 and 1/2 hours but also brought us champagne to celebrate our finish.  We did not open it last night as Sarah had to drive herself home.  Richard and I opened it today to celebrate.  Sarah we will have to have a celebratory night out soon!!!!

This was an awesome day! There were moments of pain, fatigue and frustration but the weather, views, and company made it all worth it.  Thanks Sarah