A family from Alabama reached out hoping to book a non-specific nature tour. When asked what our prospective guests at the time might like to focus on — us offering topic examples like history, geology, sociology, environment, flora and fauna, and teachable moments — the reply we got to all that was “yes.” For those not in the know, this translates to: “we’ll take it all.” […]
Two days, in a row, without some rain? Is that even possible? Not that rain seems to stop the guides around here. They’re out there hiking and backpacking in it all the same, and even rock climbing — though that part was done between rains, as if by magic. We were worried. The notion of two consecutive days… was it fantasy? As it turned out, however, […]
And on this trip there was one. This Hiking Buddies Intro to Backpacking experience was close to full, but then things happened, numbers thinned, though plans were in motion and they stayed that way. Redline Guide Debra McCown ended up having only one student, but this did not diminish the experience. What follows is a step-by-step summary from Debra along with one zillion photos. A Chill […]
When asked our students usually either want get to know the typical navigational tools and how to use them while staying on hiking trails, or how to orient themselves if lost (like an orienteering class — which this isn’t, really), or to go all-out and hike anything, anywhere, trails optional. Our Wilderness Navigation class focuses on the whole range, offering students what they want but weighing […]
Gridding is a name for the pursuit of summiting NH’s 48 4000-footers every month of the year. According to the math, that means we are multiplying 48 (peaks) by 12 (months). No need to go for your phone; it’s a whopping 576. If that seems like a lot of redundancy, it may be, unless you explore your options. Such as: Combining peaks — which is quite […]
This past weekend began with two women’s-only groups, the first of many parts of a season-long offering to our friends at the Hiking Buddies (reach out to them to learn more). Thanks to life and mechanized things whittling down our numbers, the two groups, ultimately consisting of five participants, became one. Leading were Redline Guides Arlette Laan and Debra McCown. The destination: Perkins Notch and the […]
For some, Huntington Ravine is the ultimate challenge. For others, however, it is merely a stepping stone on a path to greater things. To be clear, there are no “greater things” than what we have in New Hampshire, but the facts are, much bigger things do await the father-son team on this hike up Mt Washington’s Huntington Ravine — arguably the most challenging trail in the […]
You’ll find the title of this post both extremely relevant to the day as well as being all too fleeting as it concerns the cool water Redline Guide Chase Hall mentions in his notes, below. The wonderful feeling of dipping those feet in that luxuriously cool water was very short lived, a tiny percentage of the day. It wouldn’t be mentioned, either, if it wasn’t so […]
Sometimes tough decisions need to be made in the mountains. Often for safety reasons, not just practicality. And it’s often when we’re thinking we’re closer to our goal than we are to our starting point… unless we factor in making it home. After all, summiting is really only being half done, unless you’re kicking off your boots and calling the top home. On lead for this […]
If we told you we led a couple hikes with four brothers — “four bros” as it was put on the phone — what would your mind’s eye see? You probably wouldn’t visualize four older fellows ages 69, 70, 71, and 74. We didn’t, then the forms came in. This was no joke. We had four birds of a feather still, after all those years, flocking […]
What a terrific day it was. Sunny skies, cool breezes, all-in-all just very pleasant to be out and about in it. That said, not all places are created equal. Sure, it was a nice day for the local park, and it might have been a nice day in the city, but neither of these compares to the notorious Huntington Ravine on Mt Washington. On lead for […]
Some people who Grid — to hike NH’s 48 4000-footers every month of the year — or have Gridded, will tell you there are times when it feels like Grinding instead of Gridding. It stands to reason as you can only encounter so many unique experiences chipping away at this finite list of peaks during this finite list of months. Hiking the White Mountains in different […]
