The Hills Are Alive

With the sound of music...the kind of music that speaks to me from every cell in my aching body.  Just up at 9 this morning after a glorious 26 hours out in the wilderness of our very own White Mountains where we hiked and spent the night in The AMC Greenleaf Hut looking out on the massive Mount Lafayette that we had just partially descended  to the hut.  But I get ahead of myself.

You see this all began at dinner with friends one night when I mentioned this was something I had always wanted to do.  And so we did it!  It was THAT simple.  We picked a date, called the AMC and made a plan about a month away...giving some of us time to "get in shape" for the endeavor.  And so this hike loomed ahead of me and the closer it got the more nervous I became.  Why?  I kept asking myself...why am I so nervous?  I was nervous because the last time I took on such a hike was easily over 20 years ago..in the pre -marriage, pre-kids era of my life and while I have done numerous day hikes since, an overnighter had been a thing of the past!

And so I did what all logical people do when in training...I went marathon shopping!!  I bought new boots, because my old ones were worn out and giving me blisters on my practice hikes up Kearsarge and the Cascades.  I bought the perfect sized itty bitty backpack complete with a bladder, because I have never had one and the smaller it was the less I had to carry!   I bought...well my mother actually bought me trekking poles for my early Christmas present!  And although I thought I was all shopped out, the idea of actual hiking pants became more and more needed the closer the hike came.  Yes, I was shopped out and now I was ready?  Right?
Nope.

 I also started interval training with a strength component and a cardio component that included sprints.  Now if you know anything about me at ALL you know that I HATE to run so running as fast as I can does not make it any easier or better.  You see, people with big boobs just shouldn't have to do sprints.  They hurt.  Or as my son, Zachary seems to think when I was telling him about my daily workout asked, "did anyone see you sprinting?"  the sheer horror on his face was absolutely hilarious.  I shrugged my shoulders not knowing as he proclaimed, "Mom, women over 40 just shouldn't sprint!"  And while I know this sounds sexist, I also understood that he specifically meant me and my bouncing boobs.  Oh the horror of one of his friends actually seeing me!  But I digress.  I pushed on in my training and was more faithful than an old dog.  I began to feel stronger, but still was concerned I was not strong enough in my 48 year old bones to hack the hike that loomed on the horizon.  And in week 4 of my training I found myself feeling worse instead of better.

And so I started to develop some ailments in the last week before our ascent.  Suddenly I was feeling my knees as I was walking down the stairs and well, my ankle found a hitch in itself and was that some actual swelling down around my left ankle? Suddenly the seasonal allergies were worse than ever.  "Nope", I thought to myself, "I am not going to be able to do this"  I looked at the 10 day forecast and saw there was a 30% chance or is that 50% chance of rain on Sunday?    And I thought to myself, "NO way am I doing something this major in the rain!"  And the negative thoughts and bodily ailments continued as I wondered what had happened to my adventurous soul who used to just get up and go out and DO things without any other thoughts.  Where is she and why is this worrying sorry sac of an achy soul taking over?  Was it my mind, body, spirit or all 3 thinking of taking this one and sitting on the bench?  But I was committed and the closer the date came the better the forecast got and the more I realized that no matter what ache, pain, ailment, thoughts, ideas. doubts, fears that I had...more than anything I HAD to go for it!!  And I did.

We started out on the Falling Waters Trail and hiked up to Mount Haystack.  This is THE most gorgeous trail, particularly in the beginning where you are following the river and you weave back and forth across it.  Typically I am always a nervous nellie crossing rivers, but with my trusty new poles, I found my confidence was high and crossing was actually quite easy!!  Upward and onward you begin to meet the "falling waters" the trail is named after as you discover one waterfall after another.  Hiking with the sound of the water cascading in the background is soothing and inspiring as the energy from the water spurred me on and the cool breeze kept us all the perfect temperature.

We began our hike at about 10:30 and the beginning of this trail was kind.  It was steep in parts, but really quite forgiving as it eases you into the steeper parts to come.  We stopped for water breaks and an occasional handful of gorp and then pressed on at a good pace...well good for me anyway as I was often the one in the lead!!  This too was a new posture for me as in all of my outdoor adventures,  whether skiing or hiking, I prefer to bring up the back of the pack.  Not sure why, but for some reason everyone kept urging me to the front and with my poles to help heft me up every steep rock I just went with it.  My hiking companions were kind, keeping me in mind with my worries and fears and allowing me to set the pace without feeling the need to hurry on.  THIS was priceless and I didn't even realize how much so until this moment.  We finally stopped for a lunch break at Sliding rock, a brief shoot off the trail with a fabulous view.  We gobbled down our sandwiches and took some time to rest and enjoy on this rock ledge the gorgeous views all around.  Here is Hank resting it up!

After this lunch break things really started to rev up and get steep.  But honestly it never got as steep as I had feared as memories from 20 years ago hiking out Mount Flume loomed in my mind.  It was steep, but it was doable.  We took our time and it was just fine.  As we climbed I wondered to myself, "what in the hell were you so worried about?"  And onward we pressed , the steepest of steeps in this loop.  Here are Lila and Hank coming up a steeper part.

We finally hit the alpine zone and before I knew it we were coming to the top.  Once you cross over the tree line things everywhere change around you and the excitement of almost being there begins to take over as I found myself moving faster and faster to get there!!  At this point Jeff lurched into a sprint in an effort to get there first.  The guys were gone and I found myself lingering just to begin to look at the views that were emerging.  In no time we had summited Mount Haystack.  Here we are at the top of our first peak of the day!!

Lila and I at Peak number one, Mt. Haystack!!

Mt Lincoln in the distance.

Behind us you can see Mount Lincoln which was our second Peak of the day.  As we moved along the ridge we were amazed at the sheer beauty and clarity of the day.  It was like being on top of the world and the rush of happiness I experienced was so pure.  We moved our way along the ridge from peak to peak and it was like you weren't even hiking anymore as there was so much beauty to take in.  Although it looks like we were cold, we were not.  The wind was very mild, but it was a bit chilly.  I remember walking along the ridge thinking, "I just don't want this to ever end!!"  Here we are along the ridge and and Peak 2, Mount Lincoln.

This is  a cairn I built asking everyone to pick out a rock to add to it.  We left our mark!

Lila and Hank taking it all in.

Peak Number 2!!  Mount Lincoln.

Peak Number 2!!

 And then onto to Mt. Lafayette...THE final peak of the day!!  It is amazing how close it looks and how long it actually gets to get there, but the high of being on top of the world just pulsed on and adrenaline was my best friend!!  I have included so many pictures because it is hard to just choose a few.  And the pictures don't even show it!!

Mt Lafayette Marker!  WE MADE IT!!  WAHOOOOOO!!!!

Peak Number 3!!  Mount Lafayette!!

Lila and Hank on top of Lafayette!!

Jeff and I on top of Lafayette!!

 And thus we begin our ascent down Lafayette to Greenleaf hut for the night.  And as my iphone died at this point, I ran out of water and the day began to turn a bit cooler we started our way down, down, down.  This, for me was the longest part of the day.  I had had my 3 hour high and was now looking forward to getting to the hut and resting my weary bones.  It took us much longer to come down and the hard part is that the hut is so close it looks like you can touch it.  But it is quite far as you traverse one knoll and then another and then a final upward part to arrive.  Arriving was heaven, and it was 5:30 and dinner was served promptly at 6.  We chose our bunk room, not hard to do as on this Sunday night in September they only had 16 guests to arrive when full capacity is 48!  So we had a bunk room to ourselves and dinner was hot and delicious and we spent our night playing scrabble, sipping red wine and whiskey until it was lights out at the cabin at 9am.  We had our first couples sleepover and woke up early to the sound of a beautiful voice accompanied by the ukulele at 6:30 am announcing breakfast was to be served at 7.  We ate another delicious meal and hit the trail home at about 9.  It took us about 3 plus hours to get down as we took our time and took advantage of every gorgeous view along the way.  We talked and sang and marveled again at the weather and how we lucked out with THE most perfect September weather!!

And so I leave this post thinking about my next hike and where to go and what my next adventure will entail.  I am hooked.  I am hooked to the views, I am hooked to being "unhooked" and being out in the wilderness to remind myself that life is only as complicated as we make it...and boy do I do a good job at that!!  I thought this was going to be something to check of my imaginary bucket list, but I think it has more to do with thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my life.

Much of my purpose in life has been trying to make this world a better place for us all...particularly in the realm of education.  And while is has always been my life's work...I see that work shifting.  The shift is internal as I consider not how I can "fix" everything, but how I can make and take the time to enjoy the beauty that is all around us each and every day.  I am done trying to fix for now.  It is too hard and too frustrating.  If only it was as easy as climbing a mountain and the rewards as rewarding.  But for now I leave this lengthy post elated to have gone and done and perhaps having rediscovered that adventurous part of myself that got lost in marriage, motherhood and responsibility...all self-imposed I realize!!!!  She is still there and I feel her growing and needing more and I love to have her back.   Life is short.  Let's do this!