3,165 FEET

Today, Mike, Kaitlyn & I hiked 3,165 feet to the top of Mt. Monadnock in Jaffrey, NH. A magnet for hikers, Monadnock is said to be the second most frequently climbed mountain in the world, after Japan's Mt. Fuji. We traveled up the mountain 1.9 miles on the "White Dot" trail and down 2.1 miles on the "White Cross" trail. These two trails essentially go straight up the mountain and are almost unrelenting in their climbs. They are very similar in character although the White Cross trail was less steep for our descent. The round trip hike took us 6 hours.

Katie started out on her own as proud as can be that she was hiking all by herself!!!

It wasn't long before we had to put her in the backpack for our steep ascent up the mountain. This was definitely NOT a stroll in the park. This hike quickly turned into a rock climbing adventure and had we known what we were in for, we probably would have left Katie at home. But, we had her with us and Mike carried her in the pack (45 extra pounds on his back) all the way to the top of the mountain. I am totally in awe of his strength and determination. I really don't think I could have done it. I am SO PROUD of you honey!!!

Mike almost died (figuratively, not literally) when I asked him to pose for a picture in this position, but this shot really shows how treacherous some parts of this hike really were. This photo is a little scary, but so was the actual hike...

And there's me with my 10 pound pack :-)

Look at these rocks, and THAT VIEW!!!

After a few hours, Katie fell asleep in the pack. I don't know how she felt relaxed enough to actually drift off too sleep, but I guess she trusted her daddy enough to let him handle all the rough work. She was SO GOOD on this hike. She was in this pack for 6 hours and there were only a couple of very brief whining spells. Unfortunately, she slept through the whole "we made it to the top" part of the adventure. She didn't wake up until we started our descent and that was one of the whining spells :-)

The three of us on top of Mt. Monadnock.

Katie sound asleep in the pack.

My feet at the benchmark on the summit.

I do have to give a little plug to my new hiking boots, Timberland Chocorua Trail Boot. The boots are amazing. What a difference hiking in real hiking boots, compared to sneakers...the support and the grip on the treads, truly amazing! And the best part about these boots is that they didn't require any "breaking in" because they were comfortable from the get go. Mike also went out and got the same boot and he raves about them too. This hike would have been a lot more difficult if not impossible in sneakers. So, if you are in the market for hiking boots, we give two thumbs up for the Timberland Chocorua Trail Boot.

3,165 feet above sea level

This hike would not have been possible for us two years ago. We were both overweight and completely out of shape. Now, I know I still have a ways to go, but I feel so proud that we made this hike today. We have both come a long way from where we started.

Most of the way up the mountain, we were near this other family that was really struggling to make the climb. There was the dad and his young son (8ish) who were doing OK. The son was practically running up the mountain while the dad was trying to catch up to him and make him wait for the rest of the family. The mom, daughter (17 years old) and daughter's boyfriend were all drastically overweight. They were having a horrible time making the climb. I honestly don't know what they were thinking. But, mostly, I felt really bad for the 17 year old girl. Here she is in the prime of her life and she is so overweight and out of shape that she couldn't enjoy herself on such a wonderful day in the woods. Not only that, but they got within sight of the summit and decided that they couldn't go any further. I wanted to scream, "WHAT? How do you come this far and not touch the benchmark that says you made it to the top?" How do you turn back now?" I just don't get it. It just isn't in my nature to turn back at that point, but they just physically couldn't do anymore. I wanted to say to the young girl, "Let this be your wake up call. Let this be your day one!" But, it made me think of myself and my own journey. How far I have come and how far I still need to go. Let this be my day one for the rest of my own journey.

As we made our descent, my legs were shaking, my knees were aching and my feet were throbbing. I couldn't help but to think about the last time I took a hike as strenuous as this and I would have to say that it was 10-15 years ago when I hiked Mt. Chocorua in the White Mountains. But, I also started to let doubt seep into my thoughts. Doubt that I will actually be able to hike up Mt. Washington. Will my body be able to handle the climb? Maybe I am afraid to fail, but I know that I have got to try. This hike taught me a lot and now I need to apply what I have learned for the next hike.

Next hike, Mt. Greylock in Lanesborough, MA. At 3,491 feet, Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts.