For my first hike in the Whites with my brother, Brian, we drove up on a Thursday morning, stopping at the Miss Florence Diner in Massachussets for breakfast. We car camped at the Dry River Campground, in Carter Notch State Park—where there is a lot of highway noise—and warmed up by hiking to Arethusa Falls after setting up our tents. The next morning, we hiked up Gale River in light rain, which cleared to give beautiful views from Galehead hut by early afternoon. I met a gang of five or so men my age, all Harvard classmates, hiking the Pemi Loop, two with completely blown-out boots. One was the chairman of physics at Middlebury College. Saturday morning we hiked up the Twinway—my first trip back there in more than a decade, I think—and then did the North Twin Spur out and back for the summit of North Twin, more than twelve years after my first attempt was scuttled by weather. There were no views, but dramatic blowing clouds and fog kept us company in the Narnia-like fir forests of the ridge trail. After descending the Twinway—my first time going up and down in one day—Brian climbed Galehead while I had a coffee and repacked. We did the long hike out and drove home after pizza (mushrooms, roasted corn, and fennel sausage) at Flatbread.