The short story is we were called in the 11th hour to guide a half day hike. Our response was, naturally, of course. The rest we’ll let Redline Guide Jeffrey Shutak tell. He is the one who led this hike, and he also offered this nice write-up (edited slightly from the original text) along with the photos which follow: What started out to be a quiet […]
Huntington Ravine: We were asked if it was possible, that it was not too late, and we said yes, we can do this, so we asked our guest to fill out the form. She did, we did, and Huntington Ravine Trail happened. This was a private tour, photo permissions not given (which is totally fine and it’s why we ask), so this post is somewhat limited. […]
We turned three today, going into our fourth year of business […] In a previous life, under the name of a different company, and more than a decade past, a vertical stack of four inches of paper was “used” every two weeks or so. The company was pro-environmental by its very nature — living organisms were sold as biological pest control agents — and at the […]
One might call this trip a foliage bushwhack. Part foliage tour in the mountains, part steep and tough battle through the bush avoiding the extra thick pencil woods (thin trees growing so densely that transit is impossible). This tour, of course, is one we’ve done before. Helping folks with some of these trickier New England Hundred Highest peaks like this one, Scar Ridge (3775′). This tour […]
Oh, sure, the sun may be out, and some folks might be seen scurrying about town wearing shorts still, but in the mountains, the tide is turning fast. Up there the air is starting to hurt. The wind machine is cycling up, the temperatures are swirling downward in an irrevocable cycle. Winter is coming! Hypothermia — a perilous dropping of your body’s core temperature — is […]
[…] maybe Fort would come into view. The same private guest we recently led to the Rangely area in Maine came back to finish what she started, working on the New England Hundred Highest list. Still in the lead was Redline Guide Ken Hodges. There’s not a lot to tell. She needed Coe (3795′), North Brother (4151′), and Fort Mountain (3867′). South Brother she had gotten […]
Flexibility in business is a positive thing. Whenever we and our guests are able, we will often work around the weather or anything that might lessen the enjoyment of the day. This isn’t policy, per se, but it is how it is. Policies are designed to protect us when we can’t, but if we can… well, flexibility in business is a positive thing so we try […]
“Of the seventeen peaks I have left, only the hard ones remain,” she said as she booked our services for a guided ascent of the 5712-foot Mount Jefferson (third tallest of the 4000-footers). This trip, however, would be atypical. Instead of hiking with our guest from trailhead to summit then coming back down as we normally would, this time our guest would be headed up on […]
Having a close friend or family member who is a strong, skilled hiker with myriad related outdoor skills and specialized gear at the ready just in case things don’t go as planned is awesome. Literally a would-be life-saver. But if you don’t, you still have us. More and more we find ourselves being that close friend. Obviously we do this professionally so we can’t settle for […]
That’s the title we came up with. We tossed around other ideas with our guest but ultimately the one above is the one she liked best while still being rated PG. Other PG titles that were considered: “One Last Hurrah” and “Why I Hated Ryan.” The rest can’t be printed here without marring our reputation for posting family-friendly content. So, with that said, now on to […]
This is a very simple story with a very happy ending. Our recent guest who hiked with us to Owl’s Head had come back to us for one more peak (for now). Owl’s Head, you see, was her 47th mountain toward the completion of the NH 48 4000-footers list. Thus, she had one more: Mount Isolation. Like Owl’s Head, Isolation is as its name implies, out […]
When going over isn’t an option, going around surely is. This was the choice Redline Guide Ryan Mcguire was presented with on his most recent Presidential Traverse attempt leading a single guest. Attempt, yes, because as much as we would love to complete all our quests, weather and other factors will sometimes get in the way. In this case it was the weather. Specifically, the winds. […]
