Needless to say, I’ve been a bit stressed out. However, I have planned two trips for the summer…one will be going from Lakes of the Clouds Hut to Madison Springs Hut. I won a gift certificate for the trip so, other than gas and lunch/snacks, it is a free trip.  We are also going to be doing a fundraiser called “Seek the Peak”.

Seek the Peak raises funds for the Mt. Washington Observatory at the top of Mt. Washington. This is the home of the “Wildest Weather” in New England, and perhaps the US. If you are interested in learning more, you can go here for my fundraising page and more information. My goal is $500.

That means that this year, I (the difficult grandchild to buy for in their minds) get to buy my own Christmas presents! Generally, my mother would buy them for me, but I get to So, Grandma is going to get me lots of hiking stuff

Thus far, I have:
a new platypus
A new pair of mittens
Matching fleece lined hat (Both wool)
A tarma necklace
A new bandana

Any other suggestions? I need new socks, got new zip off pants last year at the end of the season, have enough shirts. A backpack is too much money for them to spend and I’m used to my clunker.

Larry is a wooden bank that was given to me by a person as a thank you for letting her and her boyfriend stay at my aunt’s Cape house.  Much lighter than he actually looks, also.  Larry has come on a bunch of hikes with me and others throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts…here he is at Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts (on a day with weather very similar to today’s):

He also came along with me on my second trip up Mt. Washington this past summer:

And here he is at the ridge-line between North and South Hancock nice and snug in my pack:

People always seem a bit confused by him, but warm up really quickly. Unfortunately, I dropped him at the summit of Mt. Clay and he has crazing all around his neck, so I soon might be left with only Larry’s head…but that would make him lighter, so who knows!

It is also the end of the “safe” hiking season. After this weekend, the weather starts to get a bit weird and dangerous. You could have snow one day and have it be 60 degrees the next (happened one New Year’s, which was glorious because we went into Boston and didn’t need winter coats).

Unfortunately, it also rained on Columbus Day. We had gone to a wedding on Saturday and were exhausted on Sunday. Monday morning, I woke up to pouring rain that waxed and waned through the day, but never really left. We were both very glad that we agreed on Sunday that we would stay in MA instead of dealing with driving up, getting wet, probably getting angry, and dealing with traffic to just tag another peak. We’ll get it next May as our first mountain of the year.

Pictures from the Hancokcs came out alright…I used a disposible camera since they are so light.
This is Larry…I might have mentioned him before, but I’ll talk about him more in depth soon.

The summits were rather dissapointing, but it was a good hike. I felt great the next day, which is always a nice thing.

These were both taken at North Hancock. Now I just have to get a small digital camera that will fit into my pocket, take great macros, do self timer, and have a decent zoom (I like 12x) hehe..>Any suggestions?

I took a disposable camera along with me instead of my regular camera so the pictures are coming later and hopefully will come out well.

One book claimed that this was the perfect beginner’s overnight camping trip. However, its been getting down to about 32 degrees in the Whites, so I’m definately not down with that The hike is 9.4 miles, so it will be a great hike. 

The weather has been changing here in New England for the last few weeks…the other day, I was so cold that I had on my wool socks and a sweater. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be 80 degrees. Kooky New England. We have a tentative plan to go hike on the 29th as our anniversary is the 26th. I am thinking that I might suggest some Presidentials since Eric has only ever done Washington (Albeit, 4 times…I’ve only gotten 2 under my belt, but I have about 11 more 4,000 footers than he does, so that evens us up). Maybe the Tri Pyramids or Carter Dome or something of that nature…but I definately want to get into Nature soon.

 I’ve been collecting quotes about hiking, but they are hard to find. Will have to spend time tomorrow at work trying to find some new ones

The only problem with that is that I get cold so often so quickly. My feet and hands are freezing right now. I would have to figure out how to manage my temperature better and also food.