Vista, indeed!

Hiking = productivity…

Fluffy moss & abundant blueberries!

The GRID - another challenge complete!

Never Again! (The December Grid)

Winter Solstice. We were finally out of “ugly season” with everything freshly dusted with snow. Wind chill was manageable until the final stretch, and overall trail conditions were some of the least sucky we’ve had in this section of the range. But we’re still grateful to never have to do this again.

But first let’s back up…

Solo Adventure

It’s amazing how unmotivated one can get when it’s cold and cloudy and there’s no one to hike with.  I honestly just wanted to stay home and make cookies or something.  But after accomplishing some schoolwork, I ramped myself up and eventually got out the door.  All I had left for the September Grid was Whiteface.  I needed to wrap this up while I had the chance!  

GPW. That's enough for now.

So... yeah... hiking an equally long hike the day after doing Mack Ridge might not have been the smartest idea. 😅  Though in fairness I didn't really think about it being as many miles, and definitely thought it'd be less elevation.  I guess three mountains combined adds up, huh?  Turned out we actually totaled a hair MORE today than yesterday!  

Mack Ridge: cobwebs, bugs, and rocks

We only hiked this trail once before while redlining, and that was in late winter/early spring.  But I remembered rather liking it.  Surely it would only be better in late summer...

Grid #111: MKRQ

Well, look at that, I'm writing about the inner peaks yet again.  For one of our least favorite hikes, it sure seems to get the most blog attention! 😂  (In reality, I mainly just want to have easily accessible trail notes for myself.)

Belknap Grid 111/144
Mts. Mack-Klem-Rand-Quarry via Wood-Reed Rds, 7.3 mi, 1640 ft, 3:37 hrs

Making progress! 👍🏻

Belknap Grid 96/144 - MKRQ

Mack overlook

Long overdue blog… but it's hard to find the time to write (between business, college, life, and of course hiking).  Plus not every hike is worthy of a full story, so a few pics and #hashtags is all it takes. 😉 I do keep up on instagram/facebook, which honestly is enough of a time suck too. 😂 But it is comparatively quick & easy.  You can always stay up to date on my hiking adventures there.  Meanwhile I keep the blog for bigger stories.

Hummingbird and I have continued to go hard at the Belknap Grid.  We currently have 5 months completed (not all consecutive), with several more half done, and are intending to grid out June!  If things go as planned (take notice weatherman!) we should be able to finish this month very efficiently AND include a girls' hike with my sister! 😊 

Belknap Moosecapades!

 Or, “an unexpectedly epic hike…”

Photo by Hummingbird

First big hike of the year! aka "Peakbagger Gridiots"

2024 is off to a decent start, hiking-wise.  Barely a week in, and I already have 3 hikes and just under 10.5 total miles.  

This weekend Hawk is off backpacking, so of course Hummingbird and I went out for our own hike.  With a full day available, obviously that meant gridding.  We chose the Wood Rd. approach to the Round Pond area while the trailhead was still accessible.  It’s a nice gradual route to Mts. Mack, Klem, and Rand, but unfortunately the parking lot is not plowed in winter.  So we figured we’d best get it while we can.  Good timing since a storm is blowing in tonight that may dump a foot of snow on us. 

Gridding out November

It’s been a while since we did an overambitious hike, so I suppose it was overdue.  Me and my big ideas!

And that’s October for the Grid!

It’s nearly November, but it felt like early September.  I dutifully packed layers, but of course I never needed any of them.  I was actually surprised I didn’t need to strip down to the crop top.  I was tempted at a few points on the ascent!

Whiteface Mountain

 

It was only half the plan.  But it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting.

Well, call me a gridiot.

I guess I just need to face the truth.  
I keep saying I’m not seriously doing it.  But I think it’s pretty obvious I’m going to.  Even if it takes a while (which it will).  
It actually makes sense in many ways.  It is an attainable goal for me, physically.  It’s local, so easily accessible.  And I’m out on most of these trails anyway, so already have 30% of the list done, by chance.  (Besides, the patch is super pretty, too!)
So that settles it.  I’m guess I’m officially going for the Belknap Grid.

Redline Wrap-up, Belknap Mt. & The Crash

And that's a wrap!  Hummingbird and I have officially hiked every trail in the Belknap Range, and qualified for the Redlining patch! 🏅 It was a relatively short finish hike, however it was definitely not quick…

Round Pond redlining loop

We are now one hike away from the Belknap redlining patch!  We’re super excited to finish.  This has been a long time coming.

Belknap Redlining - final stretch

We're so close!  Only two hikes to go!  
It was another hot and humid day, but it finally stopped raining, so we hit the trails for a big productive hike.

Saging it up on Mt. Shannon

Summer solstice hike! 🌞 And of course I threw in a little shamanic ceremony at the summit. 🔥  

But it was only slightly overambitious! (Gunstock redlining)

So maybe it wasn’t the greatest idea to do another sizable hike only 4 days after the “definitely too big” section of the MSG.  I did know that, despite feeling back to normal, I didn’t want to push my body too hard.  I mapped out several options, so I knew the estimated stats.  The route Hummingbird and I agreed on seemed reasonable, and within my range, but compared to my norm of late, the elevation gain was still significant.  The distance was nothing to sneeze at either.  But of course the truth is, my body wouldn’t necessarily have handled it any better or worse on a later day when I felt the same.  And it was such a gorgeous day for a hike!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Iron Mine I go!

I recently discovered that this "new" Belknap Range trail is less than 10 minutes away from my college.  Ever since then, I've kind of had it in my head that I should hike it after class some day.  It's a new requirement on the redlining list, so I had to get it sooner or later, and I've seen a bunch of posts on the Belknap hiking group from people who did it and enjoyed it.  Plus the semester is ending soon, so my window of "why not since I'm so close?" is closing, at least until fall.  Till then I'll have to drive a half hour from home to reach this side of the Belks.  So I had a lot of reasons to hike here now.  More importantly, after a string of dreary weather, the skies cleared and it turned out to be a perfect afternoon for outdoor activities, and I really needed some nature therapy.