We encourage our guides to briefly summarize the day allowing us to better capture and record the event and create a keepsake for our guests to share and enjoy. While we know the mountains and all that goes with hiking them, not being on trail with the guests makes it hard for us to solidify the image of the moment. Sometimes our guides summarize things so well we just sit back and say, here you go… in this case the leading and the telling is courtesy of Redline Guide Mike Maciel.
One of the most difficult decisions any of us will ever make comes down to two simple options: do we walk away or do we try harder?
Our guest wanted to know if setting his sights on the 4000-footers was a reasonable goal. To figure this out, he decided to take a shot at Mount Liberty, being that it is more in the moderate range (comparatively speaking, we know they’re are all hard). There’s only one catch: he isn’t just any hiker considering a new adventure, our guest is 80 years old and didn’t starting hiking seriously until his mid 70s.
He’s a regular in the Belknaps, Ossipees, and Pawtuckaway. He finished the 52 With a View list last year, on the Baldfaces of all things. He’s impressive and driven by achievement.
Today however, the mountain won, and we made the difficult decision to turn back a little below the ridge. He was gassed and understandably disappointed, but now he knows exactly what he’s up against. Tired but stronger, where he goes from here is completely up to him. If this does end up being his limit, much respect to our guest for actually finding it. Most people never even get that far. —Mike M
