July 26, 2014
With Clement Wagner
#14 Cannon (4,100 ft.)
We camped at Franconia Notch (me, the kids, Christina, and Clem), and all of us hiked to Lonesome Lake hut. Then Christina took the kids back down while Clem and I hiked to the summit of Cannon and looked around the ski lift area. I remember the trip down Hi-Cannon as wet, narrow, and tedious.
August 18, 2016
With Susan Mutter and Alex Mutter
#22 Moosilauke (4,802 ft.)
This was the first hike I did with Susan Mutter, my hiking partner of the past few years. We also hiked with her nephew Alex Mutter, son of my longtime work colleague Cynthia Clark. I remember a less strenuous hike up than anticipated, a beautiful but windy summit, and a helicopter alighting on the summit for either a rescue mission or training exercise while we ate our lunch.
August 22, 2023
Solo
#36 North Kinsman (4,293 ft.)
#37 South Kinsman (4,358 ft.)
I started out in White River Junction, Vermont, retracing a trip I had made earlier in the summer. After breakfast in the Four Aces Diner, I drove to Franconia, and as ever the hardest part was finding a parking space at the campground. The hike up to the hut was easy. At dinner and breakfast I met a couple from Charlottesville. I slept in the upper bunkhouse, in the bigger corner room, and had it all to myself. I started promptly the next morning and made the ridge easily; I had both summits to myself, and panoramic views (they said it was 130 miles of visibility from Mount Washington; you can see Mount Mansfield in Vermont in my photos). On the way down I met a thru hiker from Alabama who had been on the AT since March. A mother-and-son team I sat beside at dinner said they saw a black bear cross Fishin' Jimmy in front of them just north of the hut.
