The Year 2008 in Review - Post away!

[una_dogger]

Well, hmmmm...did The Devils Path as a one day traverse in Spring -- that was awesome!! (surprisingly as I believe it was my first or second hike of the season!)

Finished the ADK 46 on Haystack later that spring with some really nice people in sunny weather, with astounding views and a little rotten snow thrown in just to keep us all honest.

Finished the NH48/NE67/NE115 on West Bond in October during a sunny, single day Bonds Traverse with MJ and Terra, a very quiet and contemplative way to finish three lists on one peak (woot!).

Three awesome summertime peakbagging trips to Maine for:
Katahdin and Hamlin on my Bday and Brothers/Fort/Coe the day before. Tons of fun on the US CA Boundary Swath, seeing MJ finish the NEHH on Boundary; tagging the Six Pack, completing my remaining Maine 4ks.

A one day traverse of Whiteface, the Sleepers and the Tripyramids with Silverfox, Terra, GrumpyGran and Finn! Can't wait for more long hikes with that crew.

Some other notables of 2008..
Bought a house with MJ -- now that's a biggie!

Learning to downhill ski and LOVING it!

Couple things I wanted to get too but couldn't:
Summer Solstice Great Range Traverse -- bursitis kept me down.
Single Day Presi Traverse - iffy weather and a puppy injury put an end to that one.

No regrets, though, its all good!

Oh yeah, and meeting more great people "on the Internet!"

 

[una_dogger]

I think Adventurous should get some type of patch for attending the "most finishes in 2008"

 

[Snowflea]

I went over two weeks without a shower -- a new PR !!

 

[sli74]

I went over two weeks without a shower -- a new PR !!

Haha . . . that's great !!!! I went 18 days without a real shower (just bandana bathing), so I can relate.

My 2008 was GREAT !!!!

Thru-hiked the AT from GA to ME
Married the love of my life

So, this year will be hard to beat.

sli74

 

[onestep]

All 5 Hitchcocks in one day!

'whack on brother!

 

[marty]

I went over two weeks without a shower -- a new PR !!

Something to be very proud of, Stinkybody

 

[wardsgirl]

Here goes...

Only managed to climb 3 WM 4ks (Hale, Passaconaway and Isolation) this year- the fewest WM 4ks I've hiked in a year since 1983.

Climbed all 5 VT 4ks (and several other VT peaks).

Saw my 13 year-old son get his WM 4k award in April.

Hiked the AT through New York.

Completed the Long Trail on August 3, after hiking through the rainiest July imaginable. (18 days without a shower for me too, if you don't count the rain!)

Completed 3 work trips on the Twinway, including a major treadway reconstruction that converted two badly placed puncheons into 50 feet of solid trail (if you know the Twinway, you may recognize this when you next hike it)

Completed 11 Region Leader reports for the Southern Presies.

Using my GPS, recorded every trail feature (waterbars, cairns, dips, signage, step stones, springs, etc.) on every AMC maintained trail in the Southern Presies except 1 - sorry Mt. Eisenhower Loop adopter!

Amazingly enough, most of this was accomplished before August 16, when my boyfriend was seriously injured in a skydiving accident. (Yes, his chute opened. Yes, he’s been skydiving since 1976. He suffered a shattered pelvis and numerous internal injuries that come from striking the ground at a high rate of speed while trying to avoid hitting a barbed wire fence. Yes, he will recover and can already walk faster than me! And, no, his accident was not a direct result of drinking water from the Carrigain Well!)

 

[Snowflea]

Something to be very proud of, Stinkybody

The scariest part is I can pretty safely say that I was the best smelling in our group of 8 on Denali. Truly I hate being smelly and grungy. Lacking soap or shampoo of any kind, I even resorted to washing my hair with hand sanitizer at 14,000 feet.

 

[Sasquatch]

Got off to a rough start Jan 3rd 08 when wife got laid off.Suffered through the snowiest winter (bummer)in a while, $4.25 gas prices and no $$$ kept me out of the mountains,just trying to keep the house. March, discovered this site while looking for trail conditions for one of my few hikes.With no travel money and a broken derailleur on my mtn. bike the only thing I could do was run.Local.So that's what I did.By the summer things started to turn.Ashley started on a path that would ultimately lead to her finding a new career that is currently going great . Met so many wonderful people through this site,it was really mind blowing to learn that I'm not crazy.By fall things started to get back to normal financially and spiritually.I even did my first two trail runs on 4k peaks,the best feeling in the world.Had many fine hikes with friends met here,so different than the years alone in the woods with Tuck.
Very positive looking to the new year.

 

[dr_wu002]

Got off to a rough start Jan 3rd 08 when wife got laid off.Suffered through the snowiest winter (bummer)in a while, $4.25 gas prices and no $$$ kept me out of the mountains,just trying to keep the house. March, discovered this site while looking for trail conditions for one of my few hikes.With no travel money and a broken derailleur on my mtn. bike the only thing I could do was run.Local.So that's what I did.By the summer things started to turn.Ashley started on a path that would ultimately lead to her finding a new career that is currently going great . Met so many wonderful people through this site,it was really mind blowing to learn that I'm not crazy.By fall things started to get back to normal financially and spiritually.I even did my first two trail runs on 4k peaks,the best feeling in the world.Had many fine hikes with friends met here,so different than the years alone in the woods with Tuck.
Very positive looking to the new year.

Nice 100th post for you! It was great meeting you and Ashley and I look forward to hiking with you guys and hangin' out at BF during 2009!

-Dr. Wu

 

[arm]

I went over two weeks without a shower -- a new PR !!

always wondered where you got your trail name

.

 

[dr_wu002]

New People I Got To Hike With

I hiked with some people in 2008 that I actually had never hiked with before. I had a great time hiking with all of them and I'm looking forward to hiking with some new people in 2009.

Dave Metsky
Mats Roing
Jason Ferris
Rebecca (Juniper)
Darlene
Nartreb
Lucky Laura
Shizzy
Courtney (Leaf)
Dave Bear
Hui Yeng (7 Summits)
Dave Sun Ra (well, we met at the summit of Moriah)
Unfrozen Caveman

I hope that I didn't miss anyone and I hope the people I listed I actually hiked with. It was a good year!

-Dr. Wu

 

[ColdRiverRun]

The scariest part is I can pretty safely say that I was the best smelling in our group of 8 on Denali. Truly I hate being smelly and grungy. Lacking soap or shampoo of any kind, I even resorted to washing my hair with hand sanitizer at 14,000 feet.

I immediately showered after reading this post, I'm not kidding!

Ok, fess up who was the stankest? Was it Frodo in his death shroud sleeping bag or the big guy trying to convince you that those were just Swedish fish in his pocket but he was happy to see you!

 

[Tom Rankin]

2008 gets two thumbs up (insert marchowes thumb photo here)!

He's had some good avatars, but I did like the 'thumbs up'!

 

[The Hikers]

I had Major Surgery in April, so we started back in to finish our NEHH in June.
A double hernia from the surgery cropped up on the way up Big Jay, so more surgery in July. We refused to give up on our goal, so we extended our summer vacation into October and "got 'em done". Finished on Vose Spur (second attempt).
Considering the various obstacles, we are blessed to have had such a great year.

 

[GBKDalton]

Another great year here- thru-hiked the AT, though missing a few miles in Jersey-gives me something to do this year! Also met a ton of great people both on the trail and on this site, some at the same time!