In 2020, I did not make it to NH due to Covid, breaking a streak of 25 straight years visiting the Granite state to hike. So, I was determined to start a new streak in 2021 and succeeded in getting there in late August with hopes of hiking every day and exploring some more 3K peaks that I mostly ignored in my long-term pursuit of the NH48 which I finally completed in 2015. However, both the cabin and the weather conspired to put a damper on my plans, and I was only able to do three hikes in the week I was there. A short-circuited sump pump blew a circuit which unfortunately controlled the fridge among other things. It took two days to clean out the rather disgusting refrigerator, diagnose the cause and then replace the pump. And then it rained. C'est la vie.
I was able to climb Smarts Mt solo where I met a number of NOBO thru-hikers and a couple of SOBOS. I had been meaning to get down there and do that one for years. I liked Lambert Ridge which I did coming and going. I also did Hedgehog (Albany) with my buddy (nice views) and then finished up by doing the Doubleheads solo. I certainly would have liked to do a couple more, but it was not to be. That cabin has been good to me for a long time, and I do not resent the fact that we had to devote as much time to its upkeep and continued usefulness. It has been a place of refuge for many years that I am grateful to have had access to.
I sure hope to return again this year, but I've been battling Guillain-Barre Syndrome for the last few months and need to do a lot of rehab before I can think about climbing again. I went from climbing 6000 feet of elevation over 3 days in August to using a wheelchair in late Sept. I was not helped by the fact that in diagnosing the GBS with a lumbar puncture, I was infected with a bacterial infection that led to septicemia and an epidural abscess that required back surgery. I spent 2.5 weeks in a rehab facility and had to learn to walk again. I have gone from wheelchair to walker to Frankenstein walk to a gait approaching normal but at present, I can only walk about a half a mile. Long way to go but I'm determined to make it back. Today, I climbed a flight of stairs. It's a start.
Happy Trails to you all.