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.
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