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This Saturday we tackled our first 4000 foot peak of the season. Since I had gone to the Red Sox game the night before, we didn’t even try to get an early start. Sometimes it is nice to linger over coffee, catch up on sleep, and roll up to NH at our leisure. We set off at a purposeful pace, but managed to avoid rocketing out of the car and up the trail.

I had been lobbying strongly for a hike – really needed to clear my mind of work and house stuff, and nothing seems to do the trick as well as a steep ascent. My breathing picks up to a heavy but steady pace, my mind focuses on where to place my feet, and the spectacular views are all that’s distracting when we’re on the way up to the peak. Wildcat A fit the bill perfectly for an early season hike.

Beej and I agreed that 19 Mile Brook Trail is one of our favorites. Its gradual grade for about 3 miles is a perfect warmup, and it follows the brook but has nice bridges to avoid tricky stream crossings.

Beej at a stream crossing

It was my first hike trying out MapMyRun for distance and elevation, and it worked pretty well. I was also breaking in my new Keen hiking boots, which I’d used for snow shoeing but not for dry trails before. There were a few bugs but we wore Bullfrog so the didn’t bother us too much. The weather was perfect, sunny and clear but with a bit of a cool breeze, and comfortable in the shade.

Carter Range from summit of Wildcat A

I classified this as an “epic” day not for length but for capturing all the best parts of hiking. It was a clear day with surreal looking clouds and gorgeous views. As we descended we heard a helicopter supplying the huts that had just opened for the season. We stopped by the Red Fox for dinner and a beer, now one of our standard post-hiking spots, on the way home. And we were both a bit sore the next day from the effort. Ahh.