Preparation...and I don't mean H

     I uploaded some pictures in a previous post from my "prep" hikes: Lonesome Lake, Mt. Willard, Zealand Hut. When I was waiting tables at Alburrito's, I found out that one of our regulars is a guide who brings people up Mt. Washington in the wintertime, jackpot! I'd serve him margaritas and tacos, and he'd give me advice. (however, he nixed the pole idea, which eventually became a necessity for me - bad Brad!) We talked gear, water sources, hikes to train to hike, and then hikes to hike. He offered to take me out, but after a winter of kidney stones and the flu, I thought I'd better stick to my own pace. Slow.

     Lonesome Lake was the first hike we did. I dragged my son along; I'm fortunate that he's usually pretty game to go, as long as it's not 90,000,000 degrees or raining. It was a decent day, but I could tell ten minutes into the hike that I was #1 seriously overdressed, and #2 way out of shape. Ugh. We kept moving, switchback after switchback, me stopping every so often to try and catch my breath. Finally I pulled out the inhaler. My son joked that he'd go up and come back to get me. No chance!

     We met several folks coming down the hill who said that there was a lot of water, mud, and even some snowpack still on the trail as it got closer to the hut. Once we got to the fork (one way goes around the lake, one way goes right to the hut and Fishin' Jimmy Trail), we decided we'd try it - if the snow and/or ice was an issue, we could just double back. Once we got to the hut, I talked my son into heading down the Fishin' Jimmy Trail "just for a bit" to see what all the fuss was about. Um, yeah, it was a little steep in places, which was fine until I had the vision of having to go back up. Sam went ahead on the trail, came back, and said he was all set with going any further. Party pooper! Back we went, and around the lake and back down; I think our total time was something ridiculous like three plus hours! When we got down, we headed to Truant's Tavern in Woodstock to celebrate. After lunch and a beer, Sam drove us home - when we came through the notch, it was socked in and rainy where we had just been. We got lucky!

*A note here about gear - I wore socks that I usually run in, with my hiking shoes. Too thick! Lesson learned.