Cardigan Mountain, Swim In the Merrimack – A perfect summer day

Cardigan-Summit-View August 2018

Today began with a hike to the top of Mount Cardigan at 3,155 feet.

I met a woman, and her dog, who is an ultra runner and former Ironman athlete. I love it when you meet your people. It doesn’t happen much for me but when you do, you learn so much. I didn’t snap a photo of her but I hope to see her on the trail again.

Here is the top – the view was great, a little hazy in the distance but after all the rains the last few days it’s understandable. The streams were running throughout the hike; it was glorious.

Mount Cardigan Summit

And as I made my way down the slabs of rock and into the forest, the streams were so cool and nice!

Once I got home it was a hot, 90 degrees in Concord so I took the Winnie-dog to the Merrimack River (Sorry, no pics).

It was a good day to be a New Hampshire resident. #hikeNH #swimNH

Mountain Rescue themed Month of Reading

Desperate Steps Peter Kick

I finished Where You’ll Find Me: Risk, Decisions, and the Last Climb of Kate Matrosova in two days. Matrosova’s story was so well told by Ty Gagne. As I read, I researched all the organizations and people. The SAR organizations are so interesting to read about. It was a sad story because she perished but every hiker/mountaineer should read this book and learn the lesson of doing research about a mountain region especially the weather; learn when to turn around. Here is a link to the NPR interview with the author,  a guide and a rescue organization.

It’s also inspired me to want to hike in the winter – and hire a guide. So I began researching guide services, which I’ve never done. But I never have been interested in hiking in the winter. What I really want to do is be comfortable in the mountains since my new life goal is to be a mountain runner.

A book that was listed in the bibliography is Desperate Steps,  Life, Death, and Choices Made in the Mountains of the Northeast by Peter W. Kick. The book is really interesting and the stories of rescues and (not) rescued are well told. These stories are educational about hiking in all terrain and conditions.

Up next after this is another book referenced in Gagne’s book, Not Without Peril.

Bears in Concord

Reading the headlines today and saw this: [screenshot]

Where was I on Saturday morning? School Street is right next to my street.

An excellent article by David Brooks at the Concord Monitor said that more sighting of bears in Concord has been the norm but no human interaction. Thank goodness. “Eventually the ursine family wandered off, presumably into the nearby woods behind Concord Hospital.” Just where I love to run. See post where I ran into most likely that same ursine family.

So Green

Winant Trails May 23 2018

Photo: Yesterday’s trail run in Winant Park. No Photoshop needed. The trees and plants are so green and beautiful.

Daily Stats (May 23):
Hike: 0
Run: 7.5M
Swim: 0
Bike: 0