In the northeast our tallest summit is that of the 6288-foot Mt Washington, the White Mountain — which is the most prominent peak east of the Mississippi River. It’s a historic and iconic mountain, to say the least. Some Native American people used to call it “Kodaak Wadjo” while others like the Abenaki called it “Agiocochook” or “Agiochook” (there’s still a prominent point, a crag, northeast […]
It is here that I think of hiking as an almost religious experience. What follows is a 2013 article reprint by Mike Cherim detailing the various stages hikers often go through as they put mountains behind them. Aside from the never added “mindlessly driving there for hours on end” stage, you should be able to relate to at least some of this. After all, hiking is […]
We were working and unable to attend this year’s Hannes Schneider Meister Cup Race held at a Cranmore Mountain in North Conway, but we did offer a $75 gift certificate to a raffle whose proceeds would benefit the New England Ski Museum. For those interested in skiing, this is quite the place detailing ski history going back some eight thousand years. Our mission is to collect, […]
Springtime brings us longer days and generally milder weather. It has its challenges, usually in the form of soft snow, postholing, dripping trees, weakened snow bridges, and iffy river crossings — plus it still gets cold at night — but there’s so much to do at this time of year blending winter with the rest of the year. Below are examples of some of the cool, […]
If this was correct, we would have a forty-ninth 4000-footer. We were having a conversation about a bushwhack with Steve Smith, owner of the Mountain Wanderer Bookstore in Lincoln, NH, and compiler and editor of the 30th Edition of the AMC’s White Mountain Guide. During our talk Steve broke out some maps as he’s been known to do, pointing out this or that to his customers. […]
We’ve experienced a number of trips this season that ended up coming up short of the intended Mt Washington summit — some of those ending up on completely different mountains thanks to such rotten weather we didn’t even attempt the Rock Pile — so we were ready for a win. Redline Guide Jeffrey Shutak delivered the goods leading two guests, Delia (who returned to us after […]
While Redline Guide Arlette Laan was taking her long walks with her husband, Rich, more of our guides were doing their own thing — this is why we need so many guides, half are always out playing. Specifically, Redline Guides Liz Wyman, Ken Hodges, and Jeffrey Shutak were off in three different directions having three distinct adventures of their own. Let’s start with Liz, since she […]
In the case of Redline Guide Arlette “Apple Pie” Laan, we really mean Guide’s Winter Off. In typical fashion, Arlette spent the winter crushing big miles with her husband, Rich “Greenleaf” Gambale. Specifically, from December 31st, 2017, to February 28th, 2018, the husband-wife thru-hikers clocked about 850 miles during two back-to-back hikes. The first was Benton-MacKaye Trail, a 550 mile figure-eight involving part of the AT […]
Another Mt Washington attempt, that is. As much as we’d like to say we always summit, in all honesty this season’s Mt Washington’s attempts have been for the most part falling short. Either the weather has been uncooperative or our guests haven’t been up to the task on the given day of their attempt due to illness, cramps, etc. All of this is normal in the […]
Nice weather is rare on Mt Washington so yesterday was special. Mild temperatures, full sun, and slight winds. It’s not often like that on the Rock Pile. Especially in winter. But that’s what Redline Guide Ken Hodges got to enjoy today as he led a single guest, Oleg from Brooklyn, on a summit attempt of our infamous mountain. Of course this wasn’t by accident. We offer […]
Have you ever been scared on a mountain? Frightened for your life — or for your fingers or toes? Have you ever wondered frantically which way to run from an alpine thunderstorm? Have the winds ever knocked you flat? Has the cold ever invaded your body so deeply that you had extraordinary difficulty with the most mundane tasks? These conditions and more can consume your mind […]
Yesterday, February 24th, 2018, was the wedding of Corey and Jodi, a couple who reached out recently with plans for a small, intimate service. Since we do remind couples they can have it however they like, this service had a custom twist. To begin, our Justice of the Peace Mike Cherim recited a poem called the “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. And this was but […]
