- On August 24th, just below the summit of Mount Washington, I hit one million feet of elevation gained for the year, reaching the goal I set for myself four weeks early in the "Do It for the Vert" Strava Challenge.
- I hit the ground running at the start of the month with back-to-back big days in the Northern Presi's, 20K, covering the MMD course highlighting RMC Trails, King Ravine's Great Gully, Sphinx, Wamsutta, and Chandler Brook trails in the Great Gulf. It was a rugged course that no one would end up running the following week because of bad weather. Instead, I had MMD participants run the "easier route" of the Carters - Cats - Glen Boulder & Boott Spur loop from Barnes Field, 33 miles and 11K+, which I ran the day before the event. This year, 26 runners/hikers participated, with 16 finishing the route. This was my fifth year organizing MMD, and I was proud of everyone who hiked/ran for their positive attitudes under tough, humid, and slippery conditions.
- Other big days I had over the first three weeks of August included dawn pawtrol Washington with Sarge followed by brunch and lunch on Monroe and Washington, a Wildcat - double Washington - Monroe, and my favorite day of all, linking all the trails along Franconia Ridge on a cool and clear day.
- In between the big days, I took Sarge up Wildcat D Peak at sunrise quite a bit, along with a few solo Washington and Monroe mornings. Dawn now starts at 5:30, as we have lost an hour of sunlight in the past month, but it still left plenty of time for pre-work vert.
- Twice during the month, I had minor knee discomfort from the combination of dozens of knee-hammering descents of Washington and falling on a flat section of the Great Gulf Trail with two miles to go when I ran MMD, and again after the Franconia Ridge day a week later. In both instances, I took two days off, iced and elevated, and eased back in hitting up Wildcat for two days before getting back at it with no setback and feel fine as of now.
- One of the big questions going into the goal I set for myself was to see how my body would hold up as the miles and elevation piled up. Over the 8 months, I totaled 2,373 miles on trail. Usually, I am just over 2,000 miles in a whole year. Early in the winter, I had sore knees and hips on the splitboard, but this would only occur when I pushed the pace skinning up to Wildcat or HoJo's. Once I figured out a happy medium, I had no soreness at all and cruised through the rest of winter with no issues. After the snow melted and all my miles were trail running, I soon realized two things: not to blitz downhills like I do every summer, and I was going to have to get shoes with more cushion. Once I started wearing La Sportiva Prodigio Pro and took my descents a couple of minutes slower, any general knee soreness went away. However, my feet had to adjust to the Pros, having run in low-drop La Sportiva Bushido for the past dozen years. The issue with the Prodigio Pro was tightness in each of my Achilles, one week apart a few weeks into running in the new shoes. I found some light stretch exercises that loosened up the Achilles, and within a few days I was good to go, and my feet have fully adjusted to the different fit.
- The question from here on out will be which shoe to use going forward? The Prodigio Pro are very expensive, but I do credit them for getting me to a million feet unscathed. However, the Bushido are half the price and can handle everything just as well. I guess it's pretty simple, it'll come down to how my legs and feet feel when I wear the Bushido again. We shall see!
- Going forward, I have no solid goals for the rest of the year. I plan on taking it much easier on trail while enjoying the end of August and the first two weeks of September before Sarge and I pack up the Jeep and head to Arizona for two months.
- In the meantime, I'll be volunteering for the Run the Whites - White Mountain 100 run, running in the Chad Denning Memorial Run, and grinding out the last White Mountain Throw Down of the year. Outside of that, I hope to get out to the Bonds and deep in the Pemi to explore the old logging camps.
- Anyway, what a wild ride/run this has been since January 1st. As with everything I take on in the White Mountains, my number one priority is to thoroughly enjoy myself when chasing a goal. Throughout the eight months, I loved "stacking vert" and physically pushing my body while creating memories that I will always look back upon fondly.
- My top five days:
1. Beach Day with Sarge on Monroe, Washington, and intercepting Ashley on Jefferson in February.
2. Sunrise Splitboard on Wildcat & breakfast on the Sherbie, lunch on the Sherbie, sunset on Wildcat in March.
3. Mount Adams Vertical Day in June, where fifty people did at least one lap!
4. Dry River Wilderness 100% in July
5. Up, down, and around Franconia Ridge in August
Mount Madison's summit cone casting a shadow over Madison Spring Hut
Clouds clearing off Mount Jefferson, Great Gulf Wilderness sign on Wamsutta Trail, Wamsutta Falls, weather station on the abandoned Carriage Road
Lakes of the Clouds
Clouds overtaking the Presidential Range as seen from Wildcat Mountain
Clouds quickly blowing off Davis Path. Descending Boott Spur
View from Boott Spur
Tuckerman Ravine from Boott Spur Link
MMD 2026! Midnight & 5:30AM starters. Dude hiking with a canoe at Pinkham, and MMD BBQ
The 5:30AM starters running down NH16
Glen Boulder
North of the Notch Run Club heads up to Glen Boulder!
Early morning sun burning off the fog on the Rockpile
Someone found the mud!
Wildflowers popping on the Wild Kitten ski trail
Franconia Ridge
Eagle Lake, Greenleaf Hut, early morning undercast in Franconia
Cloudland Falls and entering the Alpine Zone
Pemigewasset Wilderness
Along the Franconia Ridge Trail heading to Mount Lincoln
View from Franconia Ridge below Mount Lincoln of Liberty and Flume, Mount Lafayette from Mount Lincoln, Greenleaf and Lonesome Lake Hut with Cannon and the Kinsmans from North Lafayette, Mount Garfield from just above Skookumchuck junction
Picturesque Pemi Bike Path traveling over the old US Route 3 and the Hugh Gallen Bridge, Echo Lake and Cannon Mountain
Morning on Polecat Ski trail with a great view of Mount Adams and Madison
Sarge being silly on Wildcat!
Sarge takes a break at the Starr King Well and the fireplace on Starr King's summit on the way to Waumbek
Sarge takes a break at the top of Bobcat Skit Trail and its Dood-High wildflowers
Sarge heads into Tuckerman Ravine and takes a dip in his favorite spot at the bottom of the Bowl
Cooling the toe beans off before heading up the steep staircase by the waterfall
Top of New England!
Sarge in front of the Tip Top House and looking into Tuckerman Ravine. Split Rock on Boott Spur Trail and heading up to Boott Spur
Harvard Rock outlook on the Boott Spur Trail
Great Gulf Wilderness and the northern presi's, southern presi's from Lil' Monroe, Todd running down Crawford Path to Lakes of the Clouds, Monroe and Washington from Lil' Monroe
Pano of the Carter-Cats Range and Pinkham Notch from Pine Mountain Ledges
Sarge on Mount Eisenhower
Sarge heads up Mount Washington at dawn on a cool and crisp late August mroning.
Jan: 100K / Feb 125K / March 120K / April 114K / May 117K / June 162K / July 138K / August 141K. Meanwhile, Amber is still out there every day stacking vert over at Stowe ski area below Mount Mansfield. She does have a competitor out in Colorado doing repeats of Manitou Incline who is pushing her, but she is still in the lead as of late August.
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