We often don’t write up our Educational Courses, though we really should. Inasmuch, every now and then we do produce a blog post detailing a class. In the case of this post, the bulk of the content was handed to us along with some photos by the instructor for this Hiking Intro Course — namely Redline Guide Hayley LaPointe (thank you, Hayley) so here we go, a summary and photos of the day.
Our Intro to Hiking Course is designed to take someone that has little to no hiking experience and prepare them for hiking in the White Mountains… and beyond. Our guest and student for this class fell into the ‘and beyond’ category, with a trip planned to hike the Inca Trail in Peru. She is planning on hiking in the White Mountains to help condition herself for her exciting trip.
We spent the morning in the classroom discussing how to plan and prepare for a hike, what gear is necessary, Leave No Trace principles, general hiking etiquette, and techniques. We explored how to properly organize a pack, placing importance on keeping our gear DRY, especially as the forecast called for rain during our afternoon hike.
After eating lunch, we set out to hike Mount Willard, one of the peaks on the 52 With-A-View list that our guest is now inspired to continue exploring. It was raining when we got to the trailhead, which was perfect for testing gear in a controlled, low-risk environment. Our guest did a fabulous job preparing for this hike by hydrating and nourishing herself beforehand. She was also able to learn how to use trekking poles, specifically during water crossings, and on the descent. We talked a lot about erosion and how to hike on a trail, while minimizing impact to the surrounding forest.
The summit of Willard was socked in when we reached the ledges, but cleared up for a few moments, revealing the beautiful view into Crawford Notch. The beauty of hiking in the rain was that we had the summit to ourselves for about ten minutes, a rare occurrence on a Saturday on this peak. The cherry on top? Our guest saw her first moose crossing the road on her way out of the Notch and this was within 30 minutes of us discussing that she had never seen one! What a special treat! —Hayley
