Completing the New Hampshire Four Thousand Footers List

Today is the day that I have been working for 10 years for.  10 years ago on July 3, 2007 I hiked my first NH 4,000’ peak.  Today, May 13, 2016 I will finish the list of 48 on top of Mount Liberty.  In addition, I have some redlining to do.  I parked about a mile north of the actual trail and walked south until I hit the Appalachian Trail.  From this point on, I have a few miles of redlining of the AT to check off.  The water was a bit high at the water crossing but with a little care, I was able to stay dry. 

After a few miles, I came to the Liberty Springs tentsite and was discouraged to find quite a bit of trash around as well as a burnt hole in one of the tent platforms.  My guess is that some careless winter campers caused this damage. 

I then quickly made it to the summit of Mt. Liberty, snapped a few pictures and prepared for the ridge walk over to Little Haystack which is actually higher than Liberty but not on the list due to its lack of prominence from Mt. Lincoln. 

When I made it to Little Haystack, I took a picture over to Lincoln and headed down as it started to sprinkle just a little.  The rain stopped as soon as I hit treeline and I made good time on the way down.  It was a little slippery in spots as there was still snow on the trail.  The snowmelt made for a good picture of the falls though.

When I made it back to the bottom, I had to hike the flat ground back to the car.  The day was an 11.2 mile trek for 3,900 feet of elevation gain.  I was also able to redline some 4+ miles of the AT.

Since this day, I have sent in for the patches and am awaiting their arrival.  I still cannot believe that 10 years after setting a goal for myself I was able to complete it.  I kind of started hiking in order to just get out of the house more and get some exercise but since starting it has turned into so much more. 

When I am in the woods, I am literally in my happy place.  Even though I’m generally working hard, I’m never unhappy in the woods.  Even in the rain and the lightning, I haven’t been unhappy.  I may have been uncomfortable, but there’s joy to be found in nature no matter the circumstances.

I sees my opportunities and I takes em'

It’s been a bit since I have provided an update on my 101 in 1,001 goals list.  Work has been very busy so finding time to focus on completing individual items has been super challenging.  With all that said, over the past few months, I have been able to pick off a few.

As of April 1^st, I have paid off all of my revolving debt.  There wasn’t much of it but it’s gone.  Check the box on this one.

I went to a charity event for work.  The President of my company is on the Board of Directors for a specific event and while there I donated to the event so I can check “Donate to Charity” off of the list as well. 

Lastly, I was feeling a bit stressed out so I “Took a sick day to do something fun”.  I went for a small hike in the Wells Barrens Preserve.  I hiked about 4 miles around the old blueberry plains.  It’s a fairly level hike and I came out loaded with ticks however it was a good little bit of exercise.  There was actually a pretty good size sand pit on the back side of it as well that I walked around in for a bit.  

I haven't been able to focus on goals however when there's opportunities to check some off, it's good for me to be able to do so.