- July flew by in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and I stayed on track to reach my goal of one million feet of elevation gained by the end of summer for the Do It for the Vert 2026 Challenge. For the month, I stacked up 137,785' to go with 330 miles on trail, raising my yearly total to 877,671'. With another great month behind me, I have moved my goal from the last day of summer, September 21st, up to August 31st.
- The month started off with Sarge watching the snow arch melt away in Tuckerman Ravine. After the 4th of July, he was able to jump up on the last big block of crumbled snow from the arch, and by the 10th he got in his last "turn" of the year for "Bowl Pawtrol"
- July was also the second Run the Whites - White Mountain Throwdown of the summer, Skookumchuck / Garfield Ridge Trail to the summit of Mount Lafayette, 5.1 miles and 3,650' feet of climbing (Results). This combination of trails has the best footing to the summit, soft trails and easy grades for the first two miles followed by some punchy steep sections over mostly good footing until gaining the ridge, then a sustained moderate grade to the summit over slab and dirt. My goal for the run was to try and beat my Tuckerman Ravine Trail Thowdown time of 1:14:48, which was over 4.2 miles and 4,200' of climbing. To prepare for the run, I took the weekend off from rock hopping in the Presi's, doing a Carrigain - Nancy Loop, and spending some time in Shelburne's tail system off North Road. Monday, I took a zero day and Tuesday morning I hit the trail at dawn and gave it my all. I felt good over the first two very gradual miles, and felt great during the steeper climb toward Garfield Ridge Trail. The last half mile until breaking above treeline meanders a bit and it was the only part where I didn't feel locked in, but once I hit treeline and the junction I was refreshed and motored to the summit as fast as I could, clocking in at 1:15:17, a half minute from my goal. Was I upset about the time? Hell no, I was pumped to come so close, be able to push the pace, and feel fine post run considering how many miles and elevation I have been grinding out for over six + months straight! There were over 120 runners that took on the throwdown, I placed 40th, pretty - pretty good.
- The most creative route I had in July was doing all the trails in the Dry River Wilderness + summiting Washington for my New Hampshire 4K #3,000 on Sunday the 26th. I started out along the Dry River Trail for 4 miles, then did and out and back of the Isolation West Trail, 4.8 miles, followed by another out and back off the Dry River Trail, 0.6 miles on the Mount Eisenhower Trail to the Dry River Cutoff junction, before making my way 4.3 miles past Dry River Falls, Dry River Shelter, and climbing up and out of Oakes Gulf to Lakes of the Clouds Hut where I ran into Austin, Nate, and Todd who Sherpa'd me up to Washington before I double back to the hut, 3.0 miles, and continued 2.0 miles south to the the top of the Mount Eisenhower Trail. From the alpine zone, I dropped 2.1 miles into the Dry River Valley over a cushy trail bead to the Dry River Cutoff, which was the complete opposite, a muddy ascent of 2.0 miles to the Mizpah Spring Hut. The last descent of the day was 3.0 miles over my favorite trail in the Dry River, the Mount Clinton Trail. It's remote and wild, I have hiked this trail close to a dozen times and have never seen a soul on it. 2.5 miles of this trail is in great shape, the other 0.5 miles has some eroded and muddy spots to contend with but nothing to difficult, although there are three spots where hikers could get lost when descending. The highlight of the trail is the end where it dumps out into the Dry River off an eroded cliff bank followed by a river bed walk to the Dry River trail junction. From the junction I hiked 3 miles of the Dry River Trail back to 302. It was the perfect way to summit my 3,000 4K, 30 miles in mostly wild terrain deep in the Dry River Wilderness that is constantly changing from storms that have wiped out riverbanks.
- The month ended on a high note for Sarge too, I was able to get him to Evans Notch for a Baldface -Meader Loop and over to Franocnia Notch for his annual "Classic Franconia Doodle Loop" at dawn before work!
- Looking to August, the first weekend will be MMD 50K, a fun run and BBQ I organize for enthusiastic mountain runners. Outside of that it will be more of the same, rock hopping the Rockpile during the week and exploring different areas on the weekends.
Sarge heads into the Bowl to check out what is left of the snow arch
Sarge was sad that this was the last of the snow
Beautiful July morning on Mount Washington
Sarge taking in the view from above Tuckerman Ravine just north of Tuckerman Junction
Hermit Lake, AKA HoJo's, and the floor of Tuckerman Ravine
That's a wrap! Sarge gets the last turns of the year in Tuckerman Ravine on July 10th
Mount Jefferson's Monticello Lawn
Madison Spring Hut and Mount Madison
Heading south along the Gulfside Trail just past Thunderstorm Junction
Great Gulf Wilderness
Descending Crawford Path to Lakes of the Clouds and Mount Monroe
Catching up with friends crewing a White Mountain 100 slackpack effort
Views from a Mount Carrigain to Nancy Loop
The soft, sweet, and picturesque railroad grade of the Nancy Pond Trail
Sarge scampers up Wildcat the morning after Seek the Peak
Cushy trails up to Bald Cap Peak
Gorham and the Presidential Range from Bald Cap outlook
Classic Franconia Ridge picture after finishing the Run the White Skookumchuck Throwdown
Eagle Lake and Mount Lafayette
Sarge is all smiles on the Polecat ski trail early on a Friday morning
King of the Cat!
Baldface Knob
Beating the heat on the Baldfaces. Sarge takes a water break in the shade
North Baldface summit
Landslides from hundred-year storms of 2011, 2017, 2022 that destroyed the Dry River Trail between mile three and four.
Forgiving footing along the Isolation West Trail
Dry River Falls
Dry River Shelter and the wild and secluded upper end of the Dry River Trail
Lakes of the Clouds
Amazing views above treeline along Crawford Path
Dry River Cutoff and Mount Clinton Trail
Mizpah Springs Hut
Looking upstream along the Dry River, the Mount Clinton trail drops abruptly from the cliff bank on the left.
Rock hopping the river, looking downstream at the suspension bridge
Dry River suspension bridge
Greenleaf Hut
Above treeline heading up to Mount Lafayette
Franconia Ridge
Classic Franconia Doodle Loop!
Seven months down and feeling fine! Jan: 100K / Feb 125K / March 120K / April 114K / May 117K / June 162K / 138K. Amber just ticked over 2 million feet of elevation gained as she chases the world record for most vert in a year. She spent the month in Vermont doing repeats on Mount Mansfield's ski trails. She is scheduled to attend MMD, can't wait to see her grind out elevation for a day back in the White Mountains!
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