#6000ft

After climbing, scrambling, enduring, tolerating, pushing, witnessing and being astonished my way up through the 2nd leg of the hike I entered the 3rd and final leg of the hike, where I was surrounded by the clouds. While most of the 2nd leg of the hike is climbing beside or through waterfalls and snow shells the 3rd leg was a .8 mile scramble to the summit. I was going to scramble the .8 miles of rock formations and loose rocks where one wrong step and I would either knock myself unconscious or I would send a loose rock barreling down the side of the mountain possibly hurting someone below. I had to be extra careful. I was exhausted but I wasn’t going to give up now and head back down. Not after pushing myself beyond my limit.  At this point, you are basically in the clouds with the winds strong enough to push people off the rocks. I was lucky since I was only facing wind velocities of 45MPH but the visibility was low and at best is 10 meters but since the trail is well marked with mounds of stones marking the path I did not get lost. As I was scrambling my way up the 3rd leg, nature was teasing me showing glimpses of the landscape but I never got a good view of what lay way below in the valley and I reached the summit before the view cleared up.

I had somehow pushed myself beyond my physical limit and scrambled my way up to the top of the mountain and the exhilarating feeling of my achievement made me climb onto the highest rock and display my feelings with a pose for a photograph. We grabbed some quick lunch before we caught our shuttle back down since we neither had the energy nor the time to hike back down. But Mother Nature was not yet done with me. Right before I got into the shuttle all the clouds surrounding the summit cleared off to show me the staggering view of the valley and the civilization below and that is a moment I wish I could relive again. The reflective water, verdant vegetation, and the blue sky is something that cannot be photographed but still lives in my memory. That was my parting gift.

This is a strenuous hike and I suggest having good hiking shoes, carrying adequate food and water supplies and preparing for the weather changes.  A change of clothes is recommended since temperatures drop at the summit and it gets really cold. Carry some cash to avoid atm fees since the cafeteria on the summit accepts only cash. And if you get a chance don’t forget to enjoy New Hampshire by Star gazing or basking in the sun.

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