Lots of Mountains

Recently I went on an epic all day mountain adventure, which has been something I wanted to do since I moved to NH. Mike DeLuca, myself and our friend Ethan set out into the white mountains and our goal ... complete a presi traverse in a single day. After a not so great night of sleep we dropped off a car at the south end, drove another 40 minutes to the north end and left the trailhead at 7am. (Tip #1: start earlier, start in the dark if you can.) We looked in the trail registrar to see if anyone else was doing a traverse, and the only other people that were doing it were planning on doing it in 3 days. After taking a deep breath and rubbing the backs of our necks we were on our way, and we weren't looking back.
Then it was up, up, and more up, and we bagged our first summit by 9:20am, Mt Madison. We took a quick break at the Mt Madison Hut, Ethan and I ate power bars and gorp, while Mike had his first triple whopper with cheese. Then it was more up, down, up, down, then a little bit of back tracking to summit Mt Clay, then a final push up to the top of Mt Washington. (Tip#2: watch what trail you take, it's not always well marked.) We were starting to feel tired and we weren't even half way. So we took a solid break at the summit, we stretched, refilled H20, Mike had his second whopper of the day, then it was back to the trail. (Tip#3: don't stop to watch the highest circus in New England.)
After Mt. Washington you could say it is all down hill from there, but no matter how many times you tell yourself that it is not quite true. Mike probably could have ran the rest of the way to avoid finishing in the dark, but Ethan and I were not in the mood to put our bodies through that. By mid afternoon we got to Mt Monroe, which meant we were over half way and we only had 5 out of 11 peaks to go. We kept pushing at a steady pace and took at least a 30 second break at each peak to take a picture. Just before sunset we took a pit stop at the Mizpah Hut, to relieve our selves and refill on water. From there we had 6.4 miles left, and as we hit the trail again we got some interesting looks from a few Canadian hikers who thought we were crazy.
We were slowly getting more and more tired, but how bad can 6.4 miles be after you have already come 19. I was starting to feel like I was 60 years old, and my pace reflected how I was feeling. To avoid being crushed by our inner bonkasaurus, we took a break at the top of Mt Jackson. A delicious mate bar and a Gu packet come to my rescue, Ethan had some jerky, and Mike, well he didn't think two was enough, so he had his third triple whopper of the day. (FYI the tangerine flavored gu is disgusting, but it was worth it because it had caffeine.)
Slowly but surely we made our way down in the dark, and we were all quiet because some of us were so tired and grumpy we were on the verge of exhaustion. Head lamps were out, and apparently the only headlamp I packed was slightly broken, so it gave me something to complain about for a good 30 minutes. (Tip #4: make sure you pack an extra headlamp and extra batteries.) The trail was loose and scrambly, and I felt like and eighty year old coming down and I murmured swear words to myself every couple of steps, but I kept going because that was the only way I would get to sleep in the own bed that night.
Finally we made it, 11 peaks, 24 miles, 9000+ feet of gain and loose and 16 hours later, we made it. I was grateful to be done and for the sandals and clean clothes I left in the car. For the next couple of days I had a hard time walking, but I was proud of myself for doing something challenging and epic. I told myself several times the next day that I will never do that again but... now that I can walk again I am not so sure I will be able to stick to my work, plus I know I can beat that time and it would be fun to do it in the winter or during a full moon or do it with different people. Until then, there are plenty of other adventure to be had.