Happy New Year! I’ve been reflecting on my last twelve months of local adventures. Sitting here in February 2023, I feel like I didn’t hike that much last year. But, memory is a fickle fiend…

I started 2022 with a winter trek up to Tuckerman’s Ravine with the NEMO team. Spring brought a through hike of Ireland’s Wicklow Way, which was a great way to accelerate my legs into hiking shape via brute force.

Our wedding took over 98% of my brain space during the summer, but I allocated the other 2% for hiking. I did make a deal with myself to back away from the mountains two weeks out to avoid any ill-timed bruises or rolled ankles. (Although, TBH, the last significant ankle injury I had occurred after I stepped out of a burrito shop the wrong way… and I hypocritically did not enact any pre-wedding burrito moratoriums).

Because Chris and I were busy beavers this year, I kept my hikes on the closer and shorter side. After finishing the NH48 in 2020, I have been shopping around for some new arbitrary goals, and landed on the NH 52 With A View (NH 52WAV) and the New England 67 (NE67). NH 52WAV is a list of mountains in the state ranging from 2500-3500 feet that all have open summits, and the NE67 are the 67 highest mountains in New England (of which I’ve done 48 already, yay math!) These lists give me direction for journeys north, and have some nice ~internet communities~ for inspiration and tips (here and here).

And so without further ado: writeups of my 2022 New England hiking adventures!

6/5/2022 Mt. Dickey//4.6 miles

The plan was to solo hike Mt. Israel. Google Maps did me super dirty with a shortcut along “Sandwich Notch Road [closed winters].” Pri Baby was bottoming out everywhere, and was skittering about on the dirt road. At the bottom of a 45 degree, rutted out hill, I called it quits and retreated.

I had passed another trailhead that promised a pond, and parked there. I didn’t have any service, and was feeling iffy about no one knowing where I was or the hike I was attempting. Then, a big ol’ truck full of dudes parked next to me, got out in a very leery fashion, and proceeded to tuck their guns (yes, gunS plural) into their waistbands. They didn’t even have holsters for the dang things! On top of this weird vibe, there were a lot of mosquitos, so Pri Baby and I GTFO’d of there.

I made it back to Thornton and took out my map. Dickey was nearby, of the famed Welch-Dickey loop. I had only done Welch, so to Dickey I went.

It was a short n’ steep little number, but after all the hubbub I was content with crossing a 52WAV off my list.

7/3/2022 Mt. Israel//4.8 miles

On the holiday weekend, I met up with Holly at Mt. Israel. I was very careful to avoid all Google Maps shortcuts. The day was steamy, but it was still a nice jaunt through the woods.

A few minutes into my drive home, I heard a dragging sound under Pri Baby. I pulled over in a dirt church parking lot and found a plastic undercarriage thingie had started to tear, and was trailing along on the ground… perhaps from my last attempt on Mt. Israel??? I facetimed with my Dad, who didn’t think it would affect the operation of the Pri Baby, but that I should try to get it secured if I could. I looked in my trunk for tools, which included my glittery party boots, Gatorade, and a snow scraper. I used the snow scraper to whack the plastic back into place, and made it home in one piece. Mechanic in training!

7/10/2022 Mt. Killington//8 miles

A month out from the wedding, I was approaching my two-week “don’t be an idiot” deadline. I was feeling anxious both about The Big Day and my shrinking hike window. I resolved to get some big bois in while I still could, and journeyed northwest to the Green Mountain State to bag my first Vermont 4,000 footer. Mt. Killington had a nice easy 2 mile approach along a river, then chugged upwards to meet with the Long Trail. There was a cool shelter, and I ran into a few through hikers sweating their way through Vermont’s 273 mile hike. On my journey home, I stopped in uber-cute Woodstock and had a wee snack at uber-cute Mon Vert Cafe. It was a great intro to Vermont hiking, but was also a long day in the car; I decided to incorporate more camping in future NE67 adventures.

7/16/2022 Saddleback and the Horn//8 miles

The following weekend was Chris’ bachelor party, hosted at our house. I scooted on out of there and drove northward to the Rangeley Lakes area of Maine, which was new to me. I have a deep hatred of driving 95 in Maine (SO BORING), but it was worth the monotony. I hiked up a ski trail which is tough cardio, but I loved traipsing along the AT. It was like Franconia Ridge but way less crowded; would rec.

*I really stepped up my teeth whitening game pre-wedding and have very much slacked since LOL*

I camped at Stephen Phillips Memorial Preserve and took my SUP on her annual voyage out of the shed. I really enjoy paddleboarding, but hate inflating that damn thing. Paddling at sunset and sunrise was magical on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. The Preserve is now high on my list of favorite campgrounds, and I hope to be back.

9/18/2022 Mt. Pemigewasset//3.9 miles

Post wedding and honeymoon, I spent a Saturday combining two of my favorite things: hiking and Scotland shit. Holly and I nabbed Mt. Pemigewasset, then spent the day at the NH Highland Games. I love this annual hurrah at Loon, even if we did get soaked this year.

10/2/2022 Mt. Roberts//5.8 miles

One of the many benefits to NEMO doubling our team size is having double the people to weasel into adventures. A crew of 5 of us enjoyed Mt. Roberts at almost peak foliage.

10/16/2022 Mt. Stinson//4 miles

Around this time, I committed to running the 2023 London Marathon. I’m a charity runner fundraising for Outward Bound (support the team here!) A few months in now in February, I’m in my running flow, but in October I was still crushing on mountains… so I totally ditched my planned long run to climb Mt. Stinson.

10/19/2022 Mt. Major//4.8 miles

I rounded out the season with a jaunt up a NH classic, Mt. Major. NEMO hosted the OIA Trade Advisory Council meeting, and we pitched the hike as “New Hampshire easy.” There may have been some curse words uttered in our direction along the way, but everyone made it… and no one died…. which means it was a win!!

That’s a wrap! Running is my focus through the spring, and I have some bad ideas about a trail race in the fall. I’m hoping 2023 brings more NE67 peaks, and maybe a few NH48 repeats… I’m missing the Pemi <3

I guess I did plenty of hiking after all. Shut it, brain!

trailtime ‘22

PNW LDW

taormina