An oft-returning guest came to us wanting to get the pendulum moving in a full arc once again, so to speak. Apparently it had slowed, or at least it seemed that way, and it wasn’t quite reaching the ends of its swing, a couple times now coming up short. Maybe it was quitting time. The idea was floated. But, no: “No way,” spoke the many voices. With the right support, the ends of that swing will be reached again. The stop button will not be pressed. There will be no quitting here, folks.
The objective for this hike was the iconic Mt Chocorua (New Hampshire’s other mountain). For those who don’t know, this 3490′ peak is on the 52 With a View list and is a beast of a hike terminating with a rugged and potentially dangerous and scary summit scramble. In other words, while this mountain may not be a “4000-footer” it is a lot more of an accomplishment than many of those peaks. The hike was lead by Redline Guide Mike Maciel and the more detailed story and photos that follow are his.
Don’t Call It a Comeback
At one point last year our many-time returning guest almost called it quits. Despite his highest output of summits in a single year, 2023 felt like a disappointment. There was his 2nd unsuccessful attempt of Mt Adams. Then there was the Pemi Loop turned Semi-Pemi via bailout. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be, maybe it was finally time to hang up the hiking boots. The journey almost ended there at 41 of 48. In fact, even after today the tally still stands at 41 of 48. It looks different now, though, following a family intervention of sorts. Turns out, his family didn’t want him to quit. He didn’t want to either. So 2024 has arrived and along with it some new tweaks: an updated exercise routine and some revamped nutritional strategies to help achieve an important health goal. Right below that on his to-do list for the year is something else: to finally finish the rest of his 48.
I was ready to start chipping away again, to see what he could do after already losing 10 pounds this year. Flume and Liberty were right there waiting for us, but our guest had a different priority for this trip: he needed a win, and didn’t want to risk another disappointment. Makes total sense. Doing hard things absolutely requires the correct mindset and momentum is important.
So instead we set off for one of my favorite places, Chocorua, to just enjoy a nice day in the mountains. I hoped he would feel inspired taking in the views of so many peaks he has summited during this journey. The magical summit delivered the goods like it always does.
Now he knows where he’s at. He knows what he has left to do. There’s really only one thing left at this point, it’s time to put in the work and do the damn thing. LFG. —Mike M
