Pemi Trail to Liberty Springs, 2,000 miles

On Saturday after an attempt to hike Willey in Crawford Notch I headed home with the thought that I would stop at an unknown trailhead and explore for a few hours before driving back to Concord. 

I stopped at Lafayette Campground and Trailhead Parking to hike towards Kinsman. I thought for sure there would be parking since it is mid-season. But nope – no parking at all. So I continued south on I-93 and decided to take the Flume exit and hike around the Liberty Springs Trail. Last year I hiked from this trailhead and knew there would be parking. Yep, just a few cars. 

Winnie and I started hiking the Pemi Trail around 12:30 and needed spikes from the start. The trail was spectacular and we crossed many streams. The bike trail had a coating of ice so spikes were still needed. 

We took the trail to Liberty and while it would’ve been great to summit Liberty it was 1) too late in the day (although I did have my headlamp and enough food and water) 2) the 5 mile hike in Crawford Notch really was tough. I decided that I would go slow, look around, meditate and just really enjoy the day. The sun was slowly descending and just made the afternoon so enjoyable. 

I’ve never hiked so slow. I’m not in my ultrarunning shape that I was in four months ago when Mount Washington was a piece of cake. Really, I thought that in July.

Now, fast forward to November when every leg muscle seems to hurt before, during and especially after running and hiking. 

I have goals and want to be outside hiking, running – but it seems I’ve slowed down. There will be time to pick up the pace but for now, slow hiking is amazing. 

Two miles into the hike we turned around and headed back to the car the same way we came. 

While on the hike I hit my 2,000 mile mark for 2019. I set this goal at the beginning of the year and am pleased that I reached it in November. Next year, 4,000 miles! I’ll be figuring out my race plan for 2020 in a few weeks. I’m thinking mainly New England running events but first – core and strengthening to finish out the year and get rid of these aches and pains.