People hike for a variety of reasons. Topping the list is probably fresh air and exercise. Sometimes it’s a competitive thing and other times it’s contemplative thing. And for some it helps them forget, like a temporary escape from reality. But in some cases, it helps them remember. What they are remembering can be incredibly personal and often sad. In any or all of these cases, […]
We had a couple of tours going yesterday and both had in common phenomenal conditions and wonderful weather. At some point nature’s going to throw the switch and winters going to smack us happy, but until then, we’re out to enjoy the day that is. Life’s short so there’s no sense in wishing it away as we reach for the next big thing. This hike was […]
It was one of those anomalous mid-November days where it was pretty much perfect. The leaves now long gone, ground conditions at lower elevations pretty much back to summer normal, and winter, well, it’s right around the corner but it’s not here yet. On this day it was neither too hot nor was it too cold. It was, as Goldilocks exclaimed, “just right.” Our returning guest […]
When you’re hiking the GRID — you know, tagging all the 4000-footers every month — the total summit count ends up at 576. We think in anyone’s estimation, that’s a considerable number of mountain summits. And with hiking being such a terrific low-impact workout, the affect it has on the cardiovascular system, the quadriceps, and the calves is significant. As a result, hikers often joke when […]
We aim to be flexible and adaptable, even in the eleventh hour as they say, which is absolutely appropriate in the hiking world, mostly for safety reasons… but not always. Sometimes things just change and we try to be easy going about it. After all, as guides, the day doesn’t revolve around us but rather it revolves around our guests. Redline Guide Chase Hall knows this, […]
Due to the availability of free time, or lack thereof, a guest asked us for a mini adventure and took advantage of our half day hike option. We put Redline Guide Gregg Ludvigson on the case and he decided that hiking to the summit of South Moat — a popular 52 With A View peak — would meet the needs of the guest perfectly. And he […]
Some people dread getting out of their warm bed and making the drive up to the White Mountains from Massachusetts and other surrounding states. They still do it, our mountains call to them, but they don’t love it. We can’t blame them. Getting up so early and doing it takes some real determination to push past the shackles that try to hold them back. Hitting snooze […]
It was a chilly day in early November, even in town there was a nip in the air. In the mountains it was like winter. High winds and temps in the teens conspired to make a dangerously low wind chill — well below zero. The rocks this mountain is known for were covered with rime ice, regular ice, and a bit of snow in pockets making […]
She wanted to hike three mountains, two of them 4000-footers. Namely, she wanted the Tripyramids and reached out to us looking for a guide/companion. Her friends, it seems, wanted no part of taking on “terrifying” trails — but this is what she wanted. Specifically she wanted to take on the infamous “North Slide” and the less scary (and sunnier) “South Slide.” She wrote: I’ve only hiked […]
A guest from Pennsylvania wanted to hike up Mt Washington — ascending being the part she loves the most. For the trip back down she opted for a ride on the Cog. We informed her that if she wanted to become a peakbagger she’d have to hike up and down in one trip for it to count, per se. Fortunately, she was satisfied to experience what […]
An oft-returning guest, a fellow that Redline Guide Chase Hall has been companion hiking with, helping him work on his GRID — hiking all the 48 4000-footers every month of the year — needed to get a Zealand-Bonds Traverse done for the month of October. Our guest has been working on “the hard stuff” recently, even though the reality is that it all has to get […]
A woman from southeast Pennsylvania came to us to join a group introductory backpacking weekend. Unfortunately the group didn’t materialize. Life. But the show must go on, as they say. So, with this individual, Redline Guide Debra McCown led the way to a pretty site in the Wild River Wilderness. Group or no, they had a great time enjoying fantastic fall weather. And that could be […]
