NH Winter 48 record comments - Views From The Top

Frodo · 01-07-2004, 03:53 PM

After spending a day sleeping, relaxing, and playing with my kids, I would like to say a few things about our adventure.

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the kind words of encouragement, either by all of the awesome emails or posts. The NE hiking community is a special group of compassionate souls, and it is because of all of you that we hike as much as we do. With all of you passionate hikers out there, who could have a better way to spend there free time????

I also want to thank Thom Davis. You were one of the original 3 who joined in on this adventure, but due to an injury on the 1st day you had to use your own itinerary. Remarkably, you ended up not far behind us (35 peaks in less than 11 days). You also were a great hiking companion, joining Sue and I for 25 of the 48. Also, thanks for letting us spend our last 4 nights in your beautiful home.

To Al “Cruddy Toes” Sochard (who has done the summer NH48 in 8 days twice). You da man! Thanks for finding the trail between Starr King and Waumbek (we were wiped!!!). Also thanks for letting us spend our first 4 nights at your awesome house. Sorry we didn’t have time for the “Hugh Hefner Memorial Hot Tub”, infact, I don’t even know what your house looks like in the daylight...

Also want to thank all of the friends who joined us for moral support (Andrew Thompson, Cathy Goodwin, Tom Wilkins, Andy Fay, Hal Rhubart, Gif, Mike, Neighbor Dave aka Post’r Boy, Michelle, Kris Ebbeson aka Littlebear), and all of the people we met on the trails. We wanted to have fun on this adventure, and you people helped to make it happen.

A special thanks to Mohamed for consolidating our trip reports into a more user friendly format.

More special thank you's go out to Steve Smith and Mike Dickerman for the encouragement and interest the both of you had in our adventure.

A little history behind this:

Oct03
Sue (Stinkyfeet) Johnston emails me, and asks me if I would be interested in attempting a winter 48 record with her and Thom Davis. She had been thinking about an attempt during the past summer. Thom and I both join in. We all email our itineraries. Sue consolidates them down to 12 days. We plan a Dec 26-Jan 6th attempt mainly due to all of us having the time off for winter vacation. We know that we are going to have the shortest days of the year. We start training...

November 03
We do a few scouting hikes (Lincoln Slide, Passaconaway Slide). The rest of our itinerary we are extremely familiar with.
Tim Seaver inquires about a winter 48 record on VFTT. We are surprised to see his thread spiral out of control and decide not to post anything in advance about what we are planning

Dec03
We have all of the details down and are ready to go. The weather is the only unknown factor, though we are concerned about the 2 major Nor’Easters that hit the Whites in mid December. If a storm develops during our attempt we are done. We invite many friends to join us in our attempt to keep us from going stir crazy. We count down the days...

January 6, 2004
We finish in 10 days, 22 hours, 37 minutes. The weather was on our side, though we still had to deal with the 1st two days of trail breaking, then a warm spell where the snow was soft, lots of washed out trails, high icy water crossings, rain, flurries, extremely icy conditions above treeline, bitterly cold nights, and very short days.

We end up finishing on Waumbek, which was unplanned, AND, quite ironic because Sue and I both met on Waumbek back in Aug of 2002. We were both part of Cave Dog’s White Mountain Challenge. I was his remote supply person and she actually hiked the last 22 hours and 11 peaks with him. It was a fitting end to a most excellent adventure...

Overall, we had a blast!!!!!

Thank you everyone!

Robert “Frodo” Williams & Sue “Stinkyfeet” Johnston

A few stats...

Total Miles hiked: 227
Total Elevation gain: 71,000 feet
Miles hiked at night: 71
Sets of batteries we went thru: 2 (Frodo), 1 (Stinkyfeet). Got to love those Petzl MYO’s!!!
Summit sunsets: 4 (S. Twin, Washington, Isolation, and Tecumseh)
Trips to Dunkin Donuts in Lincoln: 9
Nights at Thom’s house in Thorton: 4
Times we saw Thom’s house in the daylight: 1
Nights at Al’s house in Randolph: 4
Times we saw Al’s house in the daylight: 0
Nights at home with family: (Frodo 1, Stinkyfeet 2)
Nights in Motel: 1 (Frodo)
Favorite hike: Southern Presidentials/Isolation (we both agree on this)
Least favorite hike: Osceolas in the cold raw rain (we both agree on this)
Times we met Hal Rhubart unexpectedly on the trail: 3
Number of peaks Al joined us: 6
Number of peaks Thom joined us: 25
Number of peaks Andrew joined us: 8
Number of peaks we did without any company: 14
Number of water crossings: ~60
Number of failed water crossings: 2 (Frodo), 1 (Stinkyfeet)
Miles of trail breaking over a min of 8 inches of new snow: 45
Miles of hiking in the rain: 14
Number of pain relievers taken: one 800 mg. Motrin (Stinkyfeet)
Number of massages received: zero.
Mountains where I felt the best: Owl’s Head (Frodo), Kinsmans (Stinkyfeet).
Mountains where I felt like sh*t: Garfield/Galehead/Twins (Frodo), Madison (Stinkyfeet)

Frodo · 01-07-2004, 03:56 PM

almost forgot a picture...

Papa Bear · 01-07-2004, 04:10 PM

Most Excellent! And with the Yankees cap! Way to go.

I know you took pictures on most (all?) summits. Look forward to seeing them.

You inspire me to get out there and do more and more!

Pb

sli74 · 01-07-2004, 04:36 PM

Amazing . . . wish I had known that you guys were on this adventure when I ran into you early that morning. Glad to see such success! And ONLY 1 pain reliever? I take 6-8 every weekend I hike

You guys are amazing, see ya on the trails.

sli74

Sticks · 01-08-2004, 06:17 AM

All I can say is WOW, way to go!

Now what are you going to go for?

Happy Trails

Sticks

01-08-2004, 08:16 AM

I might be able to do them all in 11 months...

I am in total awe of you guys. An amazing feat, congratulations.

Bob

rambler · 01-08-2004, 08:51 AM

Great report, got me laughing and thinking about hiking. Congratulations!

AlpineZone · 01-08-2004, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Papa Bear
I know you took pictures on most (all?) summits. Look forward to seeing them.

I agree. My offer still stands, Bob...

carole · 01-08-2004, 09:04 AM

Frodo said:

Quote:

Miles of trail breaking over a min of 8 inches of new snow: 45

If I only knew you'd be doing Garfield etc, that day I would have gladly shared in trail breaking. I would have had to start 'pretty early in the morning' though to get far enough before you passed!! Even following in your tracks (one set of snowshoes, and one barebooting) was work that day.

Paul_Bear · 01-08-2004, 09:19 AM

Great job! It took me 16 years to hike all of them in winter. Guess I set my sights too low! Awesome!

Dennis C. · 01-08-2004, 10:32 AM

Incredible journey (!) ... and a new winter 48 climbing record! When I commented in an earlier post ("this sounds serious"), I wasn't aware that you were out to do them all in consecutive daze ... er ... days. What an amazing and fantastic adventure!

Hobbes · 01-08-2004, 11:40 AM

AWESOME!!!

Congratulations to both of you!

I'm so jealous!!

My goal is to complete the 48 in winter, period. Can't even imagine completing them all in one year let alone in under 11 days! You are both an inspiration.

Rob

SherpaKroto · 01-08-2004, 02:37 PM

Everytime I think of this, I'm numb. This is so amazing!

I think I'm going for a record at the other end of the spectrum. My first winter 4K was Adams on January 6, 1979. I still have 18 to go! I'll be happy if I can just complete them.

I can only imagine how proud both of you feel. Major Kudos!

Turnbill · 01-08-2004, 05:25 PM

Sorry Sherp, I think I have you beat. My first was Moosilauke in back 1973 or '74 and I still have about 30 to go!

However, HikerBob may beat the both of us.

MtnMagic · 01-08-2004, 07:26 PM

I'm buying the Guinness next time. Bravo on a superb accomplisment!

01-07-2004, 03:53 PM	#1
Frodo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Wilmington, MA Posts: 538	NH Winter 48 record comments After spending a day sleeping, relaxing, and playing with my kids, I would like to say a few things about our adventure. First of all, I want to thank everyone for the kind words of encouragement, either by all of the awesome emails or posts. The NE hiking community is a special group of compassionate souls, and it is because of all of you that we hike as much as we do. With all of you passionate hikers out there, who could have a better way to spend there free time???? I also want to thank Thom Davis. You were one of the original 3 who joined in on this adventure, but due to an injury on the 1st day you had to use your own itinerary. Remarkably, you ended up not far behind us (35 peaks in less than 11 days). You also were a great hiking companion, joining Sue and I for 25 of the 48. Also, thanks for letting us spend our last 4 nights in your beautiful home. To Al “Cruddy Toes” Sochard (who has done the summer NH48 in 8 days twice). You da man! Thanks for finding the trail between Starr King and Waumbek (we were wiped!!!). Also thanks for letting us spend our first 4 nights at your awesome house. Sorry we didn’t have time for the “Hugh Hefner Memorial Hot Tub”, infact, I don’t even know what your house looks like in the daylight... Also want to thank all of the friends who joined us for moral support (Andrew Thompson, Cathy Goodwin, Tom Wilkins, Andy Fay, Hal Rhubart, Gif, Mike, Neighbor Dave aka Post’r Boy, Michelle, Kris Ebbeson aka Littlebear), and all of the people we met on the trails. We wanted to have fun on this adventure, and you people helped to make it happen. A special thanks to Mohamed for consolidating our trip reports into a more user friendly format. More special thank you's go out to Steve Smith and Mike Dickerman for the encouragement and interest the both of you had in our adventure. A little history behind this: Oct03 Sue (Stinkyfeet) Johnston emails me, and asks me if I would be interested in attempting a winter 48 record with her and Thom Davis. She had been thinking about an attempt during the past summer. Thom and I both join in. We all email our itineraries. Sue consolidates them down to 12 days. We plan a Dec 26-Jan 6th attempt mainly due to all of us having the time off for winter vacation. We know that we are going to have the shortest days of the year. We start training... November 03 We do a few scouting hikes (Lincoln Slide, Passaconaway Slide). The rest of our itinerary we are extremely familiar with. Tim Seaver inquires about a winter 48 record on VFTT. We are surprised to see his thread spiral out of control and decide not to post anything in advance about what we are planning Dec03 We have all of the details down and are ready to go. The weather is the only unknown factor, though we are concerned about the 2 major Nor’Easters that hit the Whites in mid December. If a storm develops during our attempt we are done. We invite many friends to join us in our attempt to keep us from going stir crazy. We count down the days... January 6, 2004 We finish in 10 days, 22 hours, 37 minutes. The weather was on our side, though we still had to deal with the 1st two days of trail breaking, then a warm spell where the snow was soft, lots of washed out trails, high icy water crossings, rain, flurries, extremely icy conditions above treeline, bitterly cold nights, and very short days. We end up finishing on Waumbek, which was unplanned, AND, quite ironic because Sue and I both met on Waumbek back in Aug of 2002. We were both part of Cave Dog’s White Mountain Challenge. I was his remote supply person and she actually hiked the last 22 hours and 11 peaks with him. It was a fitting end to a most excellent adventure... Overall, we had a blast!!!!! Thank you everyone! Robert “Frodo” Williams & Sue “Stinkyfeet” Johnston A few stats... Total Miles hiked: 227 Total Elevation gain: 71,000 feet Miles hiked at night: 71 Sets of batteries we went thru: 2 (Frodo), 1 (Stinkyfeet). Got to love those Petzl MYO’s!!! Summit sunsets: 4 (S. Twin, Washington, Isolation, and Tecumseh) Trips to Dunkin Donuts in Lincoln: 9 Nights at Thom’s house in Thorton: 4 Times we saw Thom’s house in the daylight: 1 Nights at Al’s house in Randolph: 4 Times we saw Al’s house in the daylight: 0 Nights at home with family: (Frodo 1, Stinkyfeet 2) Nights in Motel: 1 (Frodo) Favorite hike: Southern Presidentials/Isolation (we both agree on this) Least favorite hike: Osceolas in the cold raw rain (we both agree on this) Times we met Hal Rhubart unexpectedly on the trail: 3 Number of peaks Al joined us: 6 Number of peaks Thom joined us: 25 Number of peaks Andrew joined us: 8 Number of peaks we did without any company: 14 Number of water crossings: ~60 Number of failed water crossings: 2 (Frodo), 1 (Stinkyfeet) Miles of trail breaking over a min of 8 inches of new snow: 45 Miles of hiking in the rain: 14 Number of pain relievers taken: one 800 mg. Motrin (Stinkyfeet) Number of massages received: zero. Mountains where I felt the best: Owl’s Head (Frodo), Kinsmans (Stinkyfeet). Mountains where I felt like sht: Garfield/Galehead/Twins (Frodo), Madison (Stinkyfeet) Last edited by Frodo; 01-07-2004 at 06:54 PM.*

01-07-2004, 04:36 PM	#4
sli74 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: H: Brighton, MA, Avatar :Brian and I at the 2005 Ski Gathering Posts: 1,776	Amazing . . . wish I had known that you guys were on this adventure when I ran into you early that morning. Glad to see such success! And ONLY 1 pain reliever? I take 6-8 every weekend I hike You guys are amazing, see ya on the trails. sli74 __________________ LIFE, I shall persevere! Everytime you knock me down, I will get up stronger.

01-08-2004, 10:32 AM	#11
Dennis C. Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: In the mtns, being chased (!) & Tewksbury, USA Posts: 391	Incredible journey (!) ... and a new winter 48 climbing record! When I commented in an earlier post ("this sounds serious"), I wasn't aware that you were out to do them all in consecutive daze ... er ... days. What an amazing and fantastic adventure! __________________ "Leave No Stragglers"

01-08-2004, 11:40 AM	#12
Hobbes Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Blairstown, NJ near the Applachian Trail Posts: 632	AWESOME!!! Congratulations to both of you! I'm so jealous!! My goal is to complete the 48 in winter, period. Can't even imagine completing them all in one year let alone in under 11 days! You are both an inspiration. Rob __________________ Why do they call a driveway a driveway and a parkway a parkway? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

01-08-2004, 02:37 PM	#13
SherpaKroto Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: No Reading, MA Avatar: Crater Rim, Mt Rainier, 8/4/2005 Posts: 2,351	Everytime I think of this, I'm numb. This is so amazing! I think I'm going for a record at the other end of the spectrum. My first winter 4K was Adams on January 6, 1979. I still have 18 to go! I'll be happy if I can just complete them. I can only imagine how proud both of you feel. Major Kudos! __________________ "So many roads to ease my soul." ~Hunter/Garcia

01-07-2004, 04:10 PM	#3
Papa Bear Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: New York City Posts: 1,844	Most Excellent! And with the Yankees cap! Way to go. I know you took pictures on most (all?) summits. Look forward to seeing them. You inspire me to get out there and do more and more! Pb

01-08-2004, 06:17 AM	#5
Sticks Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hampstead N.H. Posts: 74	All I can say is WOW, way to go! Now what are you going to go for? Happy Trails Sticks

01-08-2004, 08:16 AM	#6
HikerBob Guest Posts: n/a	I might be able to do them all in 11 months... I am in total awe of you guys. An amazing feat, congratulations. Bob

01-08-2004, 08:51 AM	#7
rambler Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Manchester, Mass Posts: 121	Great report, got me laughing and thinking about hiking. Congratulations!

01-08-2004, 09:19 AM	#10
Paul_Bear Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Nashua, NH Posts: 61	Great job! It took me 16 years to hike all of them in winter. Guess I set my sights too low! Awesome!

01-08-2004, 05:25 PM	#14
Turnbill Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Where snot freezes Posts: 168	Sorry Sherp, I think I have you beat. My first was Moosilauke in back 1973 or '74 and I still have about 30 to go! However, HikerBob may beat the both of us.

01-08-2004, 07:26 PM	#15
MtnMagic Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Lancaster, NH Posts: 208	I'm buying the Guinness next time. Bravo on a superb accomplisment!

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