Single Season Winter NH48 Four-Thousand Footers

A couple of years ago I read Following Atticus by Tom Ryan. It's a compelling story about Tom and his dog hiking in New Hampshire, learning to love the mountains as they gained experience. Many of Tom's anecdotes resonated with me; I decided that if a middle-aged, overweight, and acrophobic reporter could climb all forty-eight of New Hampshire’s four thousand-foot peaks twice in one winter, then I could complete a single-season winter 48.

I had hiked many of New Hampshire's 4000-footers, and people sometimes asked me if I was working on "the list", but it didn't really interest me. Summitting 48 peaks in a lifetime didn't inspire me, but trying to complete them all in one winter, between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, was a compelling adventure.

So in 2014 I decided to accept the challenge. To prepare, I first hiked all 48 mountains that summer, which taught me two things: First, I enjoy the logistics and exertion required to hike the list in a single season. Second, hiking them in a single winter was going to be even harder than I originally thought. To gain more experience, I joined the AMC's winter hiking program, which consisted of hours of classroom lessons, and then many weekends of winter hiking. I couldn't devote the following winter (2015-2016) to hiking because I had too many vacations scheduled: Christmas in England to see Man City v Sunderland; New Year's in Florida to ride 80 miles with my Dad on his 80th birthday; and 2 weeks skiing in Jackson Hole. Instead of hiking, I spent most of last winter sitting on the sofa, watching TV, and snacking.

This summer, I rode my bicycle 6,460 miles, lost 30 pounds, filled the gaps in my hiking gear, and spent many hours planning. This winter, I began hiking...

I recorded all my SSW48 hikes using GaiaGps. Click on the links below to see photos and the track for each hike.

*SSW48 = Single Season Winter NH48 - hiking  all 48 of the Four-Thousand Footers in New Hampshire's White Mountains in a single winter, i.e., December 21, 2016 to March 20, 2017.

Progress

As of February 12th, I've summitted 32 of the 48 peaks.
red star = completed peaks; blue pin = remaining peaks

As of February 12th, I've hiked 170 miles with 60,000' elevation on 18 hikes taking 102 hours.

Teradyne Shutdown

Teradyne shuts down for the week between Christmas and New Years, so I decided to go to New Hampshire and get a jump start on the 48 peaks I plan to hike this winter.
I drove up to NH on December 21, the first day of winter, and spent 3 days hiking with Ripper Steve Hayes.
I came home and spent three whole days with my family--Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day--then left early the next morning to spend another 7 days hiking in NH before going back to work on January 3rd.

#1, #2, #3 & #4 Franconia Ridge w Ripper Steve H

#5 & #6 Hancocks w Ripper Steve H

#7 & #8 Osceolas w Ripper Steve H

Christmas Break from Hiking

#9 Mt Moriah - my first solo winter 4K

#10 & #11 Pierce & Eisenhower w Julie, Michael, Nick

#12 Jackson solo (rest day?)

#13 Wildcat D (aborted Wildcat A - live to hike another day)

#14,15,16 Carters - 1st tracks :(

#17 Waumbek w Mark P

#18, #19 Madison Adams solo

#20, #21, #22 Jefferson Washington Monroe with Ripper Steve

#23 Moosilaukee w Steve H and Mark P

Jackson Hole Break from Hiking

I went skiing. Woo Hoo!!!
But it meant no hiking in NH for almost 3 weeks. Boo hoo.

#24 Owl's Head solo

#25 Cabot solo

#26, #27 Kinsmans solo

#28 Cannon skinning with Rippers North on Super Bowl Sunday

#29 #30 #31 Tom Field Willey

#32 Carrigain

#33 #34 North and Middle Tripyramid with Alex

#35 Tecumseh with Andrew and Rich

#-- Twins aborted

#36 Garfield Solo

#37 #38 #39 Twins and Galehead

#40 #41 Whiteface and Passaconaway

#42 #43 #44 #45 #46 Hale, Zealand, Bonds traverse

Tentative Plans For Remaining Winter Hikes

18-Feb	Sat #9	Trips	hike with Alex, or ski Livermore Rd
19-Feb	Sun #9	Tecumseh	WV race day; w/ Andrew,Alex,Don
25-Feb	Sat #10	Garfield	ski road
26-Feb	Sun #10	Galehead	TorG anytime w Tim and Gryffin?
27-Feb	Mon #10	Twins	ski from 7 Dwarfs? TorG anytime w Tim and Gryffin?
4-Mar	Sat #11	Whiteface,Passaconaway	from Ferncroft trailhead
5-Mar	Sun #11	Hale,Zealand,Bonds	traverse w/ Steve, car spot
11-Mar	Sat #12	Wildcat A	via 19 Mile Brook
12-Mar	Sun #12	Isolation #48	Iso in March w Tim and Gryffin?
18-Mar	Sat #13	---	---
19-Mar	Sun #13	---	---
20-Mar	Mon AM	Winter ends	3/20/17, 6:29 A.M. EDT

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