Seeking the Peak

It’s that time of year again, when I join the Mount Washington Observatory’s fundraiser, Seek the Peak.  Last year I attacked New England’s Highest Peak, Home of the World’s Worst Weather, and succeeded before lunch.  I also got some cool swag.

This year Beth decided she wanted to climb with me.  We dutifully registered for the climb, created our team donation page, and began our training.

It quickly became apparent that she would not be ready in time.  I never thought of myself as particularly ‘in shape’ for a middle-aged guy, but I can run circles around her with a pack on my back.

Fear not, we have other options and the deadline is not until this Friday.

This past weekend we attempted our most ambitious project yet. We hiked in to AMC’s Lonesome Lake Hut and spent the night.

We ate a family style dinner with 41 of our closest new friends.

We slept in a rom with no electricity with 5 of our new friends. . .

The only sounds came from the wildlife. . .

And we woke up to this view.

The weathermen forecast Aurora Borealis for the night we were there, but we didn’t catch any.  We just stared at the fabulous stars instead.

Monday we woke up, ate a huge breakfast with our 41 friends, and departed up Kinsman Ridge for the 4100 foot summit of Cannon Mountain.  The trail was rougher than we expected, but we made it.

It was a weird feeling running into tourists in flip-flops at the summit after hiking all morning.  We joined them for a sandwich in the cafe and then rode the tram back to the valley.

Back to Seeking the Peak:    After conquering Beth’s first 4000-footer this week, we don’t feel too shabby about not attempting the Big Hike.  We will probably christen the new Honda on the auto road and then hike to a waterfall somewhere in the valley.  Unless we start to feel ambitious again. . .