Mu: Catharsis

Yesterday was the first real hike of the spring. (Technically, C and I ascended Moosilauke in March, but that was still winter weather) The Summit was Mt. Madison. About 4K elevation. I'm sore, my heals hurt, and I'm feeling old -- perfect weekend :) The trip was a precursor for a 20 mile, multi-day, multi-summit trip colloquially known as the 'Presidential Traverse'.

It seems I am an environmentalist at heart. More than that, a historical environmentalist. Whenever I encounter a feature of nature that impresses me deeply, I stop to wonder: what is the history of human interaction with this place?

I spent part of last week visiting the West Cost. Two reasons, one was to spend some time with my little sister, who lives in LA. The other was to check out Yosemite park. With only a two full days, it was hard to take in the entire park. We stayed in a tent city, known as Curry Village. Decent, cheapish, if not crowded accommodations, with several useful (thought a little pricey) amenities.

Welsh and Dicky are two mountains, fairly close to each other. So close that I assumed they were a single mountain. They are joined by a saddle, which makes a nice quick hike between summits. The scale was rather small, but they were both above 4k. We ascended the eastern leg of the loop. The trail was well maintained, fairly easy, and not terribly busy. The most impressive part of this loop, was the way the trails switched from all rock, to vegetation and trees. It did so suddenly, and frequently -- making for a nice survey of normal White Mountains conditions.

I went for a drive out to Western Mass. On Saturday to visit Mt. Greylock for the first time this spring. Predictably, my friend and I got off to a late start, and after 2.5 hours of car ride, it was a little dubious that we'd have time to make the summit, and get down before dark.