…and it was painful…

Carpe diem

I love the feeling of adventure–the keyword being feeling. So, I packed my suitcase and flew up to Boston to visit my friend Todd.

He told me we would be going on a “little” hike–it was my first hike after all.

“Little” is a relative term here, and his definition of the term was far different from mine. When I hear “little”, I think of a nice gravel trail with scenic (or touristy) stops. What Todd meant by little was 4 miles up covered with boulders, trees, and rivers to a 6,288 ft. summit where some of the worst weather in the world happens.

I’m all for the idea of seizing the day–the keyword being idea. We camped out the day before, and at 9 a.m. on October 6th, 2012, we started our climb to the top. I was wearing sneakers, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, completely unaware of what I was getting into.

It started off easy, a dirt trail. Then there was mud… and some rocks…. The incline increased, and finally the dirt and mud disappeared, and there was only rocks. Around 2 o’clock, we got the to top.

The top was surreal. It was like a ski-house. There was a woman in 5-inch heals a short shorts; no, she did not climb to the top, there are some shuttles that drive to the top. Sadly, even though I was soaking wet and cold, the shuttles weren’t willing to take us down. We climbed up, and we had to climb back down.

Quite frankly, I was plotting how to kill the people that somehow convinced me to climb to the top on the way down. There was a storm coming. What was drizzle on the top had turned to sleet and rain–wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. If there was water by my eyes, I swear it wasn’t tears.

When we reached the bottom, I was sore and in pain. No, I didn’t kill anyone. Sure, I felt a sense of achievement; of course, I had “seized the day”, but I don’t see how people take joy in hiking just for that feeling. This would hopefully be my first and last hike up Mt. Washington.

Post-Mortem

After the hike, we rested. We also wound up going to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.

I think this was the real reason I flew up–to taste the food. I’ve heard of New England Lobster, and was told the sea food is delicious up there. Everything I was told about the food was not a lie.

I had a lobster roll and some scallops, and who knows what else. All I can say is I would move up there just for the food. The scallops were tender and buttery. They were covered with some pesto and served over a vegetable medley. It was awesome. The lobster roll was magic in a bun.

My last day there, we went to an aquarium, the Sandwich Glass Museum, and there was something called Candle Pin Bowling.

Overall, it was a fun trip–except for the hiking.