Writing for the sake of it

Today I woke up with every intention of going on a hike. Its like most Mondays, I wake up, make coffee, make scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and hot sauce, a slice of wheat toast with peanut butter on it, and then I sit down at the computer and search for a decent day hike. Today, my mind was set on the Crawford Notch trail. With the trailhead located right on route 302 in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, I knew I could find it, and I'm confident about hiking 11 miles over 2 4,000 foot peaks.

But this didn't happen. I got up into Littleton, and it was obvious it was going to rain. The sky was grey, and I really wasn't feeling motivated. I kept telling myself "You made it this far, asshole, come on, just hike a little mountain" and then, suddenly, I found myself outside of my car in Franconia Notch staring at the trail for Mt. Liberty. Apparently, a single steep, exposed peak in the rain is a lot better than 2 less exposed peaks on a trail that loops around a little more gradually.

I'm not going to bore you with details of the hike. Instead, im going to throw a short paragraph in between telling you that I'm not going to bore you, so I hopefully don't bore you.

There weren't a lot of people on the trail. Mainly because theres not a lot of people as stupid as me. The people I did see where on the trail for days, in parkas, with full 60-70 litre packs, giving me funny looks. I saw the AMC caretaker for the tentsite twice, once on the way up, once down, and when I was going down we struck up a small conversation and I mentioned I went to the summit.

"You went to the summit? In the rain, dressed like that, alone?"

"You're alone too."

"Well... Have a nice hike!"

I love it when I can leave an AMC guide speachless. It's what happens when you live in New England for 22 of 23 years. But she had a point, the top was cold, windy, and wet, and a t-shirt and shorts were no match for the elements. To prove this, I took a picture of myself with Mt. Liberty in the background. It wasnt pleasant. I mean, look at my facial expression, I'm obviously in pain.

Overall, the 8.4 miles round trip were worth it. It provides a great story, great pictures, and proves I have some sort of drive not many others have. Basically, it makes me all sorts of an elitist asshole that I know I am already. I'm tired, thats all for tonight.