Bobby
Active member
It's the last Saturday in July, and that can only mean one thing. My annual trip to Mt. Washington, to join in the Paul Perry Mt. Washington memorial hike. Paul was a Massachusetts State Trooper who died in a helicopter accident in February, 1995. Also killed in the accident was Trooper James Mattaliano and two employees of AT&T. The hike is coordinated by Paul's wife, Carol, and their sons Scott and Mike.
I asked Eric early in the week if he was hiking, and he said he was out. It wasn't a problem, I'm not into pushing the kids where they don't want to go. Then, Friday morning, he said he wanted to go. I asked why he changed his mind, and he said simply that he wanted to be there. OK, Kid, start packing!
We rolled into Pinkham Notch a little after 7:00 AM, and members of the group were already getting their gear together. I ran into Bob Cusolito in the parking lot. He was participating in another great event on the mountain, Seek the Peak, with Kevin, Judy and Emma. We spoke for a few minutes, then began to prepare for our trips.
It took a few minutes to get all seventy-three hikers together for a photo, but by eight, we were on our way up. It was humid, and layers quickly came off. The streams were flowing and the cascades were beautiful. Different groups went off at different paces and we were soon spread out on the mountain. We got the occasional view through the trees, but for the better part of the hike up, we peaked through the clouds.
We stopped just below Lion Head for lunch because the wind on top were blowing stiffly and we found a sheltered spot. A few pictures and laughs, and we put on some layers. The walk across the flats was windy, but as we began the ascent to the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, the wind died down and layers came off. Some fog blew in, and we saw people moving in and out of the mist. What we could see were hundreds of people on the trail going to and from the summit. It was kind of cool, watching people go in and out of the fog.
Up and up, rock hopping we went. I stopped for a few minutes to help out a young lady with a bad knee. A little tape under the patella, and she said she was good to go. I caught up with the group, or more like it, they waited for me! Then.....we were there!
Eric and I went up to the summit sign (it's new) for our sixth summit photo together. It was still foggy, so we went inside and got some lunch. A hot dog for me, and a Whoopie Pie for Eric. That seems to be a tradition for him, for the third year in a row that's all he wants at the snack bar. I snuck down to the Observatory museum and bought Eric a "This body climbed Mount Washington" t-shirt. He proudly wore that today! As we were leaving the summit, I again bumped into Bob, then Judy and Emma. They had a nice hike up Boott Spur. We crossed paths with them several times on the way down, and I also saw Jen, who I met at the Fool Scouts Ball in March. It was a who's who day on the Rock Pile.
There was a trail crew on the upper portion the the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, building cairns and scree walls. Just about 100' down the trail, the clouds moved out and the sun appeared. Finally, we got some views......the Southern Presi's, the Carters and Wildcats, even Chocorua off in the distance. It was slow going on the downhill, there were so many people hiking. Slowly but surely we moved down, with me lagging behind, taking pictures. In Tuckerman Ravine, we saw the remains of last winter's snow. We took a few pictures and threw some snowballs. I took some pretty nice pictures looking up the Headwall of the cascades flowing down.
The floor of the ravine has always been my favorite part of the trail. A nice gentle down hill and a forgiving footway. It was a welcome change from the rock hopping further up. We stopped briefly at Hermit Lake and got ready for the last 2.4 miles out. We moved quickly, and then, with just about a mile to go, Eric "bonked!" He had some chocolate, a gel and some water and we got moving again. Linda was hiking with us, she was the sweeper - making sure our group was in front of her. I took over the sweep, and told her to tell everyone ahead of us to go, they had a 6:30 dinner to get to, and we were going home. Eric was going slow, so we moved along at his pace, talking and telling silly jokes to take his mind off of his troubles. On the right, the Boott Spur trail! .3 miles to go, almost home! I fell back, letting Eric lead us off of the mountain, he earned it!
I left Eric at the Trading Post and was getting ready to walk to my truck and come back for him, and to my surprise, there was Linda and her boyfriend, Dave. They were in Dave's truck, offering me an ice cold beer, and a ride....OK....twist my arm! They dropped us off at my car, and we chatted for a few minutes, then went our separate ways.
Eric and I stopped at the Common Man in Lincoln for a late dinner, and got home about 10. All in all, a great day, no complaints here! One observation, a good one. I noticed lots of young ones on the mountain. It is so cool that parents are getting the little ones in to hiking, before they know any better!
That young man of mine is continuously impressing me. He understands the importance of this hike to the Perry family and he enjoys being there with them. He also gets my attachment to Mt. Washington, which is why I think he changed his mind and came with me. Finally, he is about the toughest kid I've seen. He was pretty much done, but kept going, no complaints. I can tell when he's "bonking", he gets quiet, and tries so hard to hide it. I offered to carry his pack, he said "no, I got it." I offered to carry him, and I got "THE LOOK." If you have a teenager, you know "THE LOOK." You don't want to be on the receiving end of "THE LOOK."
One more awesome day in the mountains, l'm already looking ahead to the next one.
http://http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IZNnDNozasWOZ&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar
I asked Eric early in the week if he was hiking, and he said he was out. It wasn't a problem, I'm not into pushing the kids where they don't want to go. Then, Friday morning, he said he wanted to go. I asked why he changed his mind, and he said simply that he wanted to be there. OK, Kid, start packing!
We rolled into Pinkham Notch a little after 7:00 AM, and members of the group were already getting their gear together. I ran into Bob Cusolito in the parking lot. He was participating in another great event on the mountain, Seek the Peak, with Kevin, Judy and Emma. We spoke for a few minutes, then began to prepare for our trips.
It took a few minutes to get all seventy-three hikers together for a photo, but by eight, we were on our way up. It was humid, and layers quickly came off. The streams were flowing and the cascades were beautiful. Different groups went off at different paces and we were soon spread out on the mountain. We got the occasional view through the trees, but for the better part of the hike up, we peaked through the clouds.
We stopped just below Lion Head for lunch because the wind on top were blowing stiffly and we found a sheltered spot. A few pictures and laughs, and we put on some layers. The walk across the flats was windy, but as we began the ascent to the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, the wind died down and layers came off. Some fog blew in, and we saw people moving in and out of the mist. What we could see were hundreds of people on the trail going to and from the summit. It was kind of cool, watching people go in and out of the fog.
Up and up, rock hopping we went. I stopped for a few minutes to help out a young lady with a bad knee. A little tape under the patella, and she said she was good to go. I caught up with the group, or more like it, they waited for me! Then.....we were there!
Eric and I went up to the summit sign (it's new) for our sixth summit photo together. It was still foggy, so we went inside and got some lunch. A hot dog for me, and a Whoopie Pie for Eric. That seems to be a tradition for him, for the third year in a row that's all he wants at the snack bar. I snuck down to the Observatory museum and bought Eric a "This body climbed Mount Washington" t-shirt. He proudly wore that today! As we were leaving the summit, I again bumped into Bob, then Judy and Emma. They had a nice hike up Boott Spur. We crossed paths with them several times on the way down, and I also saw Jen, who I met at the Fool Scouts Ball in March. It was a who's who day on the Rock Pile.
There was a trail crew on the upper portion the the Tuckerman Ravine Trail, building cairns and scree walls. Just about 100' down the trail, the clouds moved out and the sun appeared. Finally, we got some views......the Southern Presi's, the Carters and Wildcats, even Chocorua off in the distance. It was slow going on the downhill, there were so many people hiking. Slowly but surely we moved down, with me lagging behind, taking pictures. In Tuckerman Ravine, we saw the remains of last winter's snow. We took a few pictures and threw some snowballs. I took some pretty nice pictures looking up the Headwall of the cascades flowing down.
The floor of the ravine has always been my favorite part of the trail. A nice gentle down hill and a forgiving footway. It was a welcome change from the rock hopping further up. We stopped briefly at Hermit Lake and got ready for the last 2.4 miles out. We moved quickly, and then, with just about a mile to go, Eric "bonked!" He had some chocolate, a gel and some water and we got moving again. Linda was hiking with us, she was the sweeper - making sure our group was in front of her. I took over the sweep, and told her to tell everyone ahead of us to go, they had a 6:30 dinner to get to, and we were going home. Eric was going slow, so we moved along at his pace, talking and telling silly jokes to take his mind off of his troubles. On the right, the Boott Spur trail! .3 miles to go, almost home! I fell back, letting Eric lead us off of the mountain, he earned it!
I left Eric at the Trading Post and was getting ready to walk to my truck and come back for him, and to my surprise, there was Linda and her boyfriend, Dave. They were in Dave's truck, offering me an ice cold beer, and a ride....OK....twist my arm! They dropped us off at my car, and we chatted for a few minutes, then went our separate ways.
Eric and I stopped at the Common Man in Lincoln for a late dinner, and got home about 10. All in all, a great day, no complaints here! One observation, a good one. I noticed lots of young ones on the mountain. It is so cool that parents are getting the little ones in to hiking, before they know any better!
That young man of mine is continuously impressing me. He understands the importance of this hike to the Perry family and he enjoys being there with them. He also gets my attachment to Mt. Washington, which is why I think he changed his mind and came with me. Finally, he is about the toughest kid I've seen. He was pretty much done, but kept going, no complaints. I can tell when he's "bonking", he gets quiet, and tries so hard to hide it. I offered to carry his pack, he said "no, I got it." I offered to carry him, and I got "THE LOOK." If you have a teenager, you know "THE LOOK." You don't want to be on the receiving end of "THE LOOK."
One more awesome day in the mountains, l'm already looking ahead to the next one.
http://http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IZNnDNozasWOZ&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar
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