It’s over. We won.
Having attained the summit of Bondcliff this morning via an 18 mile hike in the windy sunshine, Mr. P and I have finished our dogged years-long quest to hike all 48 mountains in the White Mountain 4000 Footers (here).
Where’s the champagne?!? Oh, we already drank it on Bondcliff. Fuck yeah we did.
And so our 4 1/2 year long journey came to an end. 48 mountains. Hundreds of miles spent trudging through the forest, sometimes deep in conversation, sometimes with me practicing my French on a captive native audience, sometimes enjoying the resolute silence of the trees. Thousands of rock slabs, rock slides, rock steps, and rock piles. Scores of energy bars. Dozens of brook crossings — only one unsuccessful. A couple of moose. No hypothermia or skeleton injuries. More laughs than tears, but more sweat than anything.
So when we reached the summit of Bondcliff, we were so ready to unloosen the cork from the champagne bottle. We were celebrating the accomplishment of a long-term goal, but we were also celebrating that we were no longer beholden to The List. Now we can choose hikes because they are scenic, or because a hiking group is going, or because we did the hike before and we want to do it again. No more choosing our hikes based on a somewhat arbitrary criteria that involves a mountain of a certain altitude. Maybe we can even go hiking in Maine for a change. There’s fourteen 4000 Footers in Maine…
