Whiteface, Passaconaway and a Glass Half Full - 7/2/11

[mtruman]

Yesterday we had an incredible day hiking Mt Whiteface and Passaconaway as peaks #23 and 24 of our 4000 footer journey - half way home. Made getting out of bed at 3am for one really long day trip well worth the effort. It's been an amazing spring and beginning of the summer in the mountains for us. Gets harder to do that drive home every time...

The whole story is here: http://theramblingsblog.blogspot.com...lass-half.html

[Trailsend]

Mark I loved the pictures, it looks like a great hike.....I know what you mean about driving home after a long day of hiking like that, It happens to me quite often here.

[Anna LeBlanc]

Great TR and photos Mark! Looks like you and Natalie had a wonderful time....Gary and I know all about those long rides home as all of our hikes are daytrips!


_____________
Anna

[mtruman]

Thanks Armando and Anna. I don't mean to complain about the drive. What I really mean is that it's harder and harder to leave the mountains. Someday they will be home for us. For now we consider ourselves blessed that we can still be there with a one day drive. I have to say that it seems shorter and easier all the time. Heck, we've done it 4 times in the last 5 weeks. I just think of it as a long commute - except that what's at the end is a whole lot better than work.

[Snow Miser]

Very nice report and photos Mark. Congratulations on numbers 23 and 24!

Hopefully one day, many of us will be able to get back from a nice day hiking, jump into the car, and drive less than a half hour back to our homes in the mountains.

[ow2010]

Awesome report, Mark! Congratulations on hitting the half-way point! I really like how your analogy of Glass Half Full extends to viewless summits --- even on viewless summits, the glass is still full.
Great pictures!
See you on the trails.

[Jimmy Legs and Little d]

Another great hike, Mark. That was one long day! Originally thought you were going up for the weekend. But once you drive over the New Hampshire line the adreneline has a tendency to kick in.
Not having been to Whiteface yet, your photos give a real feel of the steepness of the ledges; where you have to lean and hug the ledges to make your way up. It always gives me a lift to see the first glimpse of the mountain you are headed to after several miles on the trail. Now we have a good idea of what Whiteface will be like. Good to see your glass half full now. We have 13 to go; I think you and Natalie will get your 48 completed before us.

Donna

[mtruman]

Thanks guys.

Bob - yes, hopefully some day we'll all have MUCH shorter drives to be in the mountains we all love.

Owen - yup, no such thing as a bad summit (or a bad day in the mountains).

Donna - I like being able to get an idea about a hike from other's TRs before we do it so I know what to expect. I had seen one about Whiteface saying that the ledges were a bit easier than the ones on the North Tripyramid slide and I think that's accurate. The one spot with the holes drilled in the rock is a tad tricky but the holes help a lot. It was definitely fun. As for who finishes the 48 first who knows. We've been lucky to get up north a lot more lately and having gotten over the mental barrier of doing long day trips it could be a lot more still. Perhaps we should compare notes on our remaining peaks - we might just be able to finish together.

[Jimmy Legs and Little d]

Mark, have you ever thought of which peak you would like to finish the 48 on? That certainly would be something if we could finish together. We still have some of the long treks left: The Bonds, Isolation and Owl's Head. If things work out for the fall trip we may be taking on The Bonds; which would be our longest day hike ever.

Donna

[mtruman]

I've thought about it a lot Donna, but haven't come to a conclusion. We have Owl's Head, Isolation and two of the Bonds left on our list too (we got Bondcliff on our aborted Pemi backpack two summers ago). I don't really want to finish on an ultra-long one and definitely not on Owl's Head. Would like to make it easier for friends to join us to celebrate with us. I've actually been thinking about Cannon for a couple of reasons. One is the "easy factor". The main one is that it was the first 4K that we hiked a number of years ago when Jamie was small. It didn't count for the list though because we took the tram down. Seem fitting to finish where we almost started. Plenty of time to decide all that though...