MT Washington

MT Washington, a set on Flickr.

Part 2: Mountain Washington is a Mountain

Last I left you, Felicia and I had just left Tuckerman’s Ravine Trailhead. It was a gradual incline with a rocky but well-worn trail. I was taking pictures of some cool root systems and really enjoying the time in nature. It was a somewhat crisp (but not cold) morning. I was excited for what the day was going to bring.   It wasn’t long (quarter mile) before the trail started to get steeper and the rocks turned into boulders. I remember this first section thinking that it would level off and from time to time it did. There would be a section uphill and then a smaller section across (typically a wooden bridge across a stream) that was flat. Well at least for the next quarter mile, but it was increasingly getting steeper with relief from the incline getting further and further apart. I remember, at one point in the bottom half of the climb maybe 30 minutes in, there was a waterfall that Felicia wanted to show me. There were two view points for the waterfall. One was at trail level and one was a few big steps up. Knowing what was ahead of us, Felicia chose to view the waterfall from trail level.  I (not fully understanding what was before me) decided to get my picture from the higher location.  Admittedly, even at this point I was not sure I was going to make it to the top and in the long shot case that I did, I didn’t want to feel compelled to do it again to get a picture of a damn waterfall. After a few quick pictures we were back on our way.  After a few hundred feet more, we sat down for our first snack. At this time I am really questioning my decision and wondering if I am going to make it. I am not one to back down easily but I was scared. I couldn’t tell Felicia and I wasn’t sure I could admit to her I was woefully unprepared for this hike.  It was also at this time that I began to think I had worn the wrong pants. I was hot, sweaty hot; they were proving to be too long and too stretchy. A wardrobe malfunction was eminent. And so Felicia and I laughed made some small talk and after a few peanut better filled pretzels, some water and folding up my pant legs so they were cropped, we were back on our way. The round trip should not take more than a mere 8 more hours.   I would have to stop every 15 minutes to hike up my pants and tighten the draw string... After 1.5 hours we made it to the Hermit Shelters. These are shelters that are located about halfway to the top. They have bathrooms and a place to replenish water. These shelters make the Joe Dodge Lodge look like the Ritz Carlton and I for one was grateful that I stayed at Joe Dodge. The shelters are basically a structure with three walls. I imagine anything can get in the unprotected side (spiders, snakes, bears, raccoons, mice, mountain lions) and don't get me started about the walk in the woods to the bathrooms - I have nightmares even thinking about it.  After a brief check in and another snack break we were back on our way. I spent most of this break really inspired.  I made it halfway, I can totally do this. It would not be long before I realized that the first half was basically a walk in the park. What was to come would be so much more challenging than what was behind me and really harder than I could have ever imagined.  As I look back at the pictures the evidence is clear, between the Hermit Shelters and the top I have may be 3 pictures most of which were taken within 10 minutes of leaving the shelter area.   So there you have it, I spoiled the end.  I survived and made it to the top.  I did… but it was a challenge. It took just about 3 hours from the Shelters a total of 5 hours from the bottom.  It got increasingly steeper and the rocks got larger until it was just boulders.  The trail is essentially rock face, and precarious in parts.  At one point, I remember looking up at Felicia not sure where my next step was going to be and telling her I was scared out of my mind.  Which she found hysterical, this is the product of my life in sarcasm.  Only this day I wasn’t being sarcastic, but I don’t think she knew that.  That said her unwavering faith in my ability to do this is what kept me going.  That coupled with the top was closer than the bottom.  At this point we are probably an hour or so from the top.  What started out as a nice day was now a chilly, cloudy, and windy day?   The climbing was basically on all fours and as much about upper body strength as it was about leg strength. But mostly it was about endurance and mental stamina.  I was certain I had no more left but I was going to finish because there were no more options.  Just put one foot in front of the other.  My clothes were dripping wet from sweat, every part of my body was tired, exhausted and my mind wanted to see beyond the fog so I could at least see the destination.  I can do almost anything as long as I know my destination.  Just as my mental state is wearing I can hear some cheering in the distance, then I hear the rumble of a couple of motorcycles, and finally I see it.  The road.  The road is just ahead…  I SO have this, I will make it to the top; I am NOT going to die on this mountain.  The relief runs through my body and fills me with energy...   “Filling me with energy” may be over stating it just a bit, but I have hope and a little more spring in my step.   As we continue the clouds get thinner and we see it - we are there.   As I approach the rocks that will get me on the road I see this couple.  All I can think is… “You have to be freaking kidding me…”  He was in an alpine get-up with knickers, she was appropriately attired in hiking pants, a scarf, both had packs and poles and they were headed down (what looked to be) the same path we came up  - they were fresh as daisies - down is harder than up … if you can believe it….  Gravity makes it more challenging.  They had to be at least 70….   Throughout the day I had been passed up by many people.  It was, at times humiliating, especially when some would bound past me like it was 10 feet.  Felicia assured me they started at a different location.  But the elderly couple was the final deflating straw…I felt so out of shape but these thoughts were not going to get me to the top so I divert my focus to the road.  We climbed the last few steps and we are on top at the road.  Relief... I did it... We did it! Get me a chair I can go no farther.  But alas… I looked up and to add insult to ever lovin injury there are about 3 more flights of stairs until we get to the very top.  Serious, can you give a girl a break??  But we do it not, our legs are jelly.  It is 35 degrees on the top, we are cold and wet… and starting to feel grateful that we decided not to walk down too.  There was just no way..  it was more of a risk than I wanted to put myself or Felicia in.  We went to the hut arranged for a van to take us down to Joe Dodge and breathed a sigh of relief.  It was over and we did it! I have often said had I known - I would never have done it.  Remember, I decided to do this because I was taking a break (because of injuries) from triathlons.  Next time I will wrap up the rest of the trip, provide some final thoughts on the journey.  Let me know if you have any questions I can answer!

Mount Mashington Saga Part 1: Arrivals and Departures

This is the first part of the trip, it was longer than I thought. Part 2 will be published shortly. If this is your first visit, check out the posts leading up to the hike. So it’s been over a month since my trip with my friend Felicia to New Hampshire to hike Mount Washington and it’s taken almost that long to realize what it meant. So it all started on a sunny Thursday when we left Manchester CT to drive the 5.5 hours north through Massachusetts and Vermont before arriving at Joe Dodge Lodge at the base of Mount Washington. I felt good. I am fit, I work out, and I have completed too many road races to count and almost 20 sprint triathlons. It will be a long day but the hike will be no problem. We were set to start our climb on Friday morning and it was expected to be a beautiful sunny day. But let’s not rush this. I need to tell you about Joe Dodge Lodge. In my recent travels I have grown accustom to a certain level hotel. Well, let me just say that this is definitely a lodge not a hotel not even a Garden Inn. It is a clean, wood paneled, communal bath kind of lodge. For your $70 per person per night you get breakfast, dinner and a comfy private room. In this example comfy means tiny and similar to what you might expect in a convent that was decorated in 1972. In other words one limp pillow, a double bed, no heavenly bed linens, and a window fan for cooling. We arrived at Mount Washington probably close to 4 and dinner was at 6pm. You get a little ticket that gets you into the dining room and you sit on long picnic tables that seat 16 or so people and there are 8 to 10 tables in the dining. They serve water but you are welcome to bring other beverages with you. We packed the wine... After we tasted the water we were grateful to have the wine. Being on the mountain I expected clean, refreshing spring water. What it was I can’t even describe; but I will try. It was terrible. It tasted like when you go to the dentist to get a metal filling and you have to swig water to get rid of the metal fragments. It tasted like the metal water you spit out. Really disgusting, I am a big tap water fan and I have never had anything so terrible... The food is served family style and there is plenty of it. It was not five star dining but it was pretty good. I wish I remembered what we were served. If I were my sister Lauren I would have taken pictures of it all. But I didn’t, I remember they had a great soup, really good bread and several other dishes that were interesting... Not bad just not sure exactly what I was eating... Dessert was pineapple upside down cake and it was awesome... After dinner we went out to our car and got our packs ready for the next day. We decided to forgo the movie they were showing in the dining room. It was some old movie on climbing the mountain and I felt at this point it was just better I didn’t know. By 8pm we were back in our room reading and getting ready for bed. I haven’t been to bed that early in a very long time... Did I mention communal baths? Yes. So as any smart person would, I had been hydrating all day to make sure I was well hydrated for the hike. In addition Felicia and I shared that lovely bottle of wine at dinner. As a result I woke up around midnight and had to go to the bathroom. In order for me to do that I would need to leave the room, walk down the hall and into the bathroom. This is a problem. At midnight I am fairly certain that this is a bad idea. There are clearly people lurking in the hallways and I could get murdered in the hall way or worse yet someone could sneak into the room I was sharing with Felicia while I was in the bathroom and kill us both. This would have put a definite cramp in our plans to hike the next day and I will not be a lead story on Dateline on a hiking trip gone badly. So being sound of mind I tell myself, I will wait. I can will it to go away. If I just fall asleep I will forget and just go when I get up in the morning. So that is what I do, I go back to sleep but I don’t wake up in the morning I wake up ten minutes later. That is okay I will cross my legs and will it away, and I awake ten minutes later. This is clearly not going to work. I must have laid there for an hour trying to figure out another solution. At which point I get up to go to the bathroom and suffer the consequences be that what they may. At which point Felicia also awoke and wanted to go to. Crisis averted! After tossing and turning most of the night I got up at 515 am. We knew this hike was going to be eight to ten hours and we wanted to get a jump on the day. I put on my new wicking everything. My pants were not new and neither were my cotton t-shirt and my boots. After all, I had purchased those boots at least a month ago… It was important that I was wearing a cute outfit; I wanted to make sure that the people passing me had something else to say besides, boy she is slow. And the outfit was the ticket. I could imagine it… “Boy she is slow but what a great t-shirt, day pack, visor, boots…...” That said I didn’t want it to look like I had never hiked before so it couldn’t be over the top new. I wanted to blend with the out doorsy hikers... Breakfast was buffet in the dining hall, but it was good and almost anything you could possibly imagine except fruit. So after breakfast we packed up our 15-20 pound day packs, I have my hiking poles and we set off on the Tuckerman’s Ravine Trail... It is just an incline but it is like any of the other trails I have hike. I am going to leave you here for now. But stay tuned for Part 2 to see if we both survived!