You will see a theme among many of these photos. In many of the scenes you will notice a man, the groom, helping a woman, the bride, deal with her footwear. Not just once, but you’ll see this recur four times throughout this short time together. Why is this so significant? Well, it did strike us as quite humorous, we have to admit. All parties indeed […]
We are becoming known for helping people backpacking the Appalachian Trail (AT), particularly through the State of New Hampshire. As such is the case with a returning guest, “Bear Repellent,” whom we’ve hiked sections with before. She came back, this time to take on yet another section. Being an AT “section hiker” affords her the opportunity to do it her way jumping back and fourth along […]
They had spent fifteen days together in July hiking all of the Appalachian Trail (AT) in New Hampshire. In that time they became friends, and hiked some more. But one more professional gig remained on the table for Redline Guide Arlette Laan and our guest: the Mahoosuc Notch. Reportedly the “toughest mile on the AT” — though some say the most fun — the Mahoosuc Notch […]
A guest came to us looking for some adventure. She was new to hiking, but really fit and quite capable of a day of hiking the Whites. On point for this was Redline Guide Ken Hodges, but this was by way of a last minute substitution. The target was pre-selected, and was to be Mt Pierce by way of the Crawford Path — a perfect starter […]
[…] she got to see Mt Washington on foot, by automobile, and also by train. We count that as a win. The goal was to hike a two-day Presidential traverse, north to south, with an intermission, so to speak. A plan was proposed, some tweaks were made, and what resulted was an effective plan that began by Redline Guide Ken Hodges meeting our guest at the […]
We’ve taken out families with kids-in-tow on hikes before, though having just the kids was a first for us, but we were eager to get involved. The family — returning guests — wanted a half day hike with some items of interest for their grandchildren, ages 10 and 14. This was an easy one, and it was in the front of our minds thanks to a […]
We’ve officiated a lot of weddings, and performed services in myriad locations, but this easy-to-get-to-depending-on-who-you-ask location in Franconia Notch was a first for us. It’s not a private location, but most people turn up their respect-o-meters when they see a wedding in progress. It is a pretty location offering a stunning view of Echo Lake, Cannon Mountain, and the long view of the notch itself. It’s […]
[…] stay away from this decommissioned wooded lump of iron. What with all the trees on it, chunks of iron ore scattered all over, and terrible trail erosion, this mountain is losing it. It even has bugs on it and in the air, sometimes. And don’t even get us started on the long, bumpy Class Six approach. It’s no wonder this mountain was taken off the […]
Once you get moving it is often better to stay in motion. Momentum is your friend in the right instances. We shared this sage advice during a tricky section of the trail where we thought it may help with a returning guest who was just with us on the Bonds. We hinted in that story that there was much more to tell, a secret we couldn’t […]
It seems like Redline Guide Arlette Laan was just there, guiding on the Bonds, moose and squirrel nodding their hellos upon seeing her again. And so soon. This time she was leading one woman who wanted these amazing and remote 4000-footers for her list — naturally adding Zealand. The plan was to bag North and South Twin, then head toward the Guyot tent site to settle […]
A hiker thinking, “Oh my goodness, someone is coming, what should I do?” is a new mentality straight out of the hell that is 2020. A mere six months ago the standard action on trail when encountering another hiker was to say something like “Hello,” then maybe leash your dog if they’re not already, or turn down your music if it’s overly audible, and then to […]
What seems like two or three years ago — well, way back in early 2020 anyway — we were going to have a women-only introductory backpack but then something came along that changed our minds. But finally, pandemic aside, barring civil unrest, we have partially opened and we were able to partially make this event happen. With one of the original guests, plus one returning guest, […]
