Luke Foley
Doug Martland
Genevieve Martland
Tim Peck
Mickey Spades
All tagged New Hampshire 4000 footers
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve skinned and skied Mount Tecumseh but if I had to guess I would say over 20 and under 50. Despite my numerous adventures on Mount Tecumseh, I still find myself being educated by the journey to the mountain’s summit and the trip down the ski resort’s slopes, and my most recent trip was no different.
For the past few years, we’ve been obsessed with trail running, hiking, and backpacking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Put simply, our goal is to get on a ridge line and then pick off as many summits as we can before descending to the car. As we’ve already written about several of our favorites on goEast (most notably the Presidential Traverse, the Pemi Loop, and the Franconia Ridge Traverse) and, more historically, on the Ninja (e.g., the Zealand-Twinway Traverse), we’ll focus instead on two lesser-known traverses that we really enjoyed as part of our 48-in-48 effort late last spring: the Sleeper Traverse and the Kinsman Ridge Traverse.
I reply sourly, “IDK.” Sure, I have plenty of ideas, but at the time I was having difficulty mustering enthusiasm for any of them. It feels wrong to hike when skiing is still an option, but I don’t feel like skinning at the resort and I’m terrified of the dust-on-crust lurking in the backcountry. On the other hand, I’m stoked to boulder but I would like to spend some time in the mountains. Doug and I trade texts back and forth, him with ambitious plans, and me shitting all over them; too icy, too far away, and I think it will suck represent only a few of my bitter responses that day.
Epic views, an exposed ridge, and tagging the summits of two of New Hampshire’s 48 4,000-footers always makes a hike across Franconia Ridge a worthwhile endeavor. Throw in good friends, great weather, a pre-hike breakfast of biscuits and gravy from Sunny Day Diner, and icy cold Moat Mountain Brewing Call It A Day Double IPAs waiting in the car, and it might have been one of my best hiking trips in recent memory.
Everest Woman is responsible for my worst hike ever: a December 2007 ascent of the Hancocks in the White Mountains. To this day I have not forgiven her. I was cold. So cold. This is the story.
Looking to break the cycle and to start the new year off by doing something active and outdoors—sorry, treadmill and climbing gym—I headed to Mount Tecumseh on New Year’s day with Doug, my wife, and the intention of skinning to the summit of a 4,000-footer and skiing down the adjacent Waterville Valley Resort.
The awkward transitional time that happens as fall gives way to winter often leaves me searching for motivation. With not enough snow to ski and not enough ice to climb—at least for mortals like me—my adventures in the Whites are typically relegated to hiking. Lacking the speed of skiing and the excitement of ice climbing, at times I find myself asking is the drive for hiking worth it?
So often our trips to the mountains are focused on squeezing in multiple objectives, doing something in a fast time, or just moving quickly in order to get back home to our never-ending lists of other commitments. On this day, however, we chose to linger. To make conversation with other hikers. To bask on a sunny slab on Pierce’s flanks because days like this are few and deserve to be cherished.
