Getting out there in the White Mountain National Forest and (seriously) braving the spring season was Redline Guide Mike Maciel. We would go on-and-on, trying to flex our pen, but Mike M. wrote this wonderful summary so we’re more or less just going to hang back and let him tell it in his own words. Oh, and regarding the title of this post, that is Mike’s, too. That will also be explained, below.
Our many time returning guest really wanted to see what shoulder season was all about. We tried to talk her out of it. The mud, the raging rivers, the rotting monorail and post holes, it’s not always a ton of fun. But as far as spring hiking goes, today was really pleasant. We stayed south by 4000-footer standards and took a trip to the Sandwich Range Wilderness to tackle Whiteface & Passaconaway. There was so little mud, under 2500-feet it actually looked more like late fall than spring. While our guest loves the mountains she is not a huge fan of heights and scrambles, so we took our time up the Blueberry Ledge Trail, enjoying an early lunch on the lookout below the summit. The traverse across introduced her to “snirt” (snow + dirt), “snuce” (a new phrase coined today for snow covered in spruce debris), and the infamous monorail, which held up surprisingly well. Dicey’s Mill took us up to Passaconaway and with some weather moving in we opted to head out vs. extending our day out to the lookout. She said it was the hardest hike we had done together so far, now up to 10 peaks with Redline Guiding and 19 total, nearing the halfway point of the 4K journey. —Mike M.
Mike also took a bunch of photos which we put together in this little video. Enjoy.
Good lead, Mike, and to our guest, a hearty congratulations… and thank you!
