Adventure with Alex

I’ll admit it. I have a competitive streak when it comes to hiking. When I look at an estimated hiking time in a book I quickly think about how much I can “beat” that time. Hiking solo I could often cut the book time in half. Hiking with Alex on my back has adjusted that down to about 2/3 of “book time”. I like to move quickly through the mountains and I don’t feel I am missing the vistas or not smelling the flowers… I feel “efficient”.

Today’s Forecast: 72 degrees and “abundant sunshine”, light winds, low humidity, perfect. Michelle had been wanting to climb Chocorua (elev. 3,500ft) for a while. That’s understandable as we can see it from our neighbor-hood and it is the most photographed mountain in New Hampshire; a recent addition to the backs of NH State Quarters.

Late last night we planned to take the Champney Falls trail to summit, a heavily traveled route from the Kancamagus Highway that rises 2,250ft in 3.8 miles (using a bit of the Piper trail at the top). Everything was in place for a fun family hike.

Trailhead shot

Book time for this ascent was 3 hours flat. I figured we could do it in 2 hours, 20 minutes. The first mile of the trail was a gentle ascent and we passed multiple parties.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say I love passing parties with small backpacks (if a backpack at all) with Alex on my back and when I do so a small smile creeps across my mouth. That smirk gets full blown when just before I go out of earshot up the trail I hear someone I passed exclaim “wow!” As any racer knows passing people makes you feel stronger. However this is a part of my ego that needs to get checked when hiking with the whole family.

As we hit the steeper switchbacks an hour into the hike Michelle mentions we need to slow the pace, and I oblige. I can cruise with the 45 pound load on my back on flat and gentle ups, but when it gets steep I welcome reining in the pace. All seems well when we reach out first nice view, an hour and 45 minutes into our hike.

A good spot for a break, if one is smart.

Here I make a fairly big mistake. When I mention to Michelle how much further we have she suggests a break, her legs are feeling fatigued and a bit shaky. I justify we are “super close” to the summit and we should push on. Ego. We’re on par to crush book time. Up we go.

20 minutes from the top

It’s just over there!

A crowded summit

5 minutes from the top

We scramble up the last 100 feet. There are some third and possible 4th class moves here, and the exposure + crowds of less than sure-footed hikers has got Michelle a bit anxious. I can see it in her face. This is not fun for her. I’m somewhat surprised at the summit marker when I turn to her and she sends me a high-five. She’s not stopping up here on the exposed crowded summit though, and wants to retreat down to the col below before stopping for our first break of the day.

Total ascent time: 2 hours, 15 minutes. While we crushed the guidebook time we would pay for it later. We stopped on a nice flat sandy spot with some excellent blueberry bushes. Alex was ecstatic to learn that “boo-berries” could be plucked and eaten on the spot. It was an excellent break.

Comfy late lunch spot

After a substantial break (30 minutes), we loaded back up and started out descent at 2:45. Despite the break, we were feeling the fatigue of the non-stop ascent with zero breaks that I had coaxed us on. Not 20 minutes down the trail Michelle rolled her ankle. Still being weight bearing, we continued albeit more slowly. We had stopped talking. Michelle rolled her ankle again. We slowed down again. Carefully making our way down it took 1.5 hours to get back to the car. It was a LONG ninety minutes. It wasn’t fun. I knew I had pushed us too hard on the climb up and Michelle probably would have not rolled her ankle if our pace had been more “normal”. Had we taken a 10 minute break at that first view point the whole day could have been a success. I wouldn’t hike that fast with clients up Mount Washington because I know what wearing someone out early leads to. You hit “the wall”. You crash. You risk injury. Man is hindsight 20-20.

I won’t bore the reader with the apologies I have made to my wife, but I’ll share a promise I made. Whole family hikes should enjoy trails according to “book time”, not trying to “crush it”. Success is not measured in how fast you climb something, but how well you climb something, and today I did not climb Chocorua well.