Hi All:
Three-day weekends are glorious for adventuring. I hiked twice over the weekend, in two gorgeous and very different locations.
Hike number one on Sunday, was the Around the Mountain hike in the Camden Hills. We logged just over nine miles (well, I logged just over nine miles; we had a range of mileage based on different apps and watches) with 2,729 feet of elevation gain. It was a fair-sized group of women and almost all of us will hike together in Europe in three (gulp) weeks. I felt mostly good after that hike except for a knee that screamed at me for the last mile plus. Note to self, redo Vitamin I part way through the long hiking day.
Hike number two on Memorial Day, was up Passaconoway in NH. What a gorgeous spot! The evening before I had reached out to Kelly Corbin who is well-versed in NH hiking and asked for her recommendations. She came up with a few and I chose this one based on mileage (just over nine) and although I’m not actively bagging the NH 48, I’m passively hiking them and open to accumulating the 48 4,000’ peaks. Passaconoway is one of the easier 4,000’ and not too much of a haul from Portland. When we arrived, the parking lot was completely full and I think we snagged the last spot along the road. Funny enough, we didn’t see a ton of hikers heading up or down — maybe because there are a number of trailheads from that parking area.
The ascent was great. Relatively easy, a little-bit-scary water crossing (took balance and focus), and a well-maintained trail with thoughtfully placed stone steps along the way. The final mile was steep, snowy, and some hand-over-hand rock scrambling, but nothing terribly difficult. Unfortunately, the summit had zero view. Like zero. We walked a bit further along the trail and did find a nice rock face that had a peek of Mount Washington and we settled in for our lunch break. I looked at our map (I love a paper map!) and proposed a loop instead of an out and back.
Oh boy, do I regret calling that audible. The trail we took down, was steep, rocky, rugged, and relentless. And we even had to make another ascent up a secondary peak. If we had descended our ascent trail, we would have had a smooth path for the majority of the hike down. During that difficult second half, my knee hurt and was starting to swell. I was tired, physically and mentally, and as much as I wanted it to be over, I knew that I was the only one who could get me down that mountain. My sweet dog bounded ahead and would periodically stop and wait for me to catch up. And Bill was kind, too, but neither of them could carry me to the parking lot, nor would I want to end the hike that way.
In these moments, it becomes crystalline clear that the only person to save you, is you. That thought was both liberating and difficult. It would be my legs that would carry me down and my feet that would take each challenging step — and it would also be my success at the end.
As a carrot, I knew there was an ice-cold beer waiting for us in the car. That prize helped a bit as I dug deep to get to the trail’s terminus. I have to say, I don’t remember a beer EVER tasting that good.
Looking out over Megunticook Lake
The hiking crew
Taking a quick photo op break
Crossing the stream on the Dicey’s Mill trail up Mount Passaconaway
A very well-done and detailed paper map (thanks, Liz)
Still a bit of snow
Trilliums along the trail
A sliver of Mount Washington
The coldest, best beer EVER!
Happy adventuring,
Gillian