I've a bunch of exciting news to post this evening, but first I'd like to share this photo of the girls enjoying the sunset at Lakes of the Clouds Hut on the shoulder of New Hampshire's Mt. Monroe.
We had an excellent couple of days above treeline ascending multiple peaks in daylight and moonlight. I'll post a full trip report within a couple of days.
Some more exciting news -- in just over a month, I'll be the guest speaker at GirlVentures' EMPOWER! breakfast in San Francisco. This is quite an honor; last year's speaker was Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the creator of Miss Representation. GirlVentures is a wonderful and unique organization that develops adolescent girls' inner strengths through outdoor adventure and empowerment programs. Read all about their fine work here.
Even more exciting news -- the girls and I will head west next week for our third highpointing adventure. We'll spend six or seven days acclimating at 11,000 and 12,000 feet, then we'll see what we can do in terms of bagging some extremely high summits. We hope to get at least two highpoints on this trip, but we'll play it by ear and see what happens. At the very least, we'll spend a lot of time in absolutely gorgeous locations, so even if we "get nothing," we'll still win.
Even MORE exciting news -- and this is a biggie -- the girls and I will walk the Camino Frances route of the Camino de Santiago next year. We plan to start at St. Jean Pied de Port in France and go all the way to Santiago (about 780 km) in northwest Spain. This kind of journey is right up our alley and Hugh and I feel the girls are quite ready for this. Alex and Sage are now happily hiking 10-15 White Mountain miles up and down peaks every single week without any trouble and they habitually and easily beat adult book time even in foul weather, so they're probably as prepared for the Camino as any average adult hiker would be. In any event, we will not be in a rush to complete this pilgrimage and we will go at whatever pace the girls wish, and we will take days off as needed. Hugh will join us here and there as he is able. I would like to raise awareness and hopefully some money for a specific charitable organization as we hike, but such plans have not yet been fully formed. Right now, all I know is that we're going and that I feel extremely blessed and fortunate to have such an adventurous family.
4 comments:
Awesome news. You just keep going and going. Sometimes I'm tired just reading about all your plans! Are you planning on doing Elbert? I'm going to be in Colorado next week too. That would be too cool to meet mountain celebrities like yourself. I'll be checking the blog for details of your hikes. Keep it Up (pun intended).
Now that's a bunch of grat news - particularly the confirmation of the Camino! How wonderful! If only more kids could have the amazing experiences and adventures that your girls have. Big kudos to you and Hugh for making all of this happen.
Mark
Hi Asa,
Elbert is on our list, though we have no definite ascent date. We'll spend some time acclimating, then we'll look at the weather forecasts for various places and play it all by ear. If you do happen to see us out there, please introduce yourself! :)
Trish
Hi Mark,
Thanks! The girls and I are in for a huge adventure in Spain, no doubt about it. I'm hoping winter hiking in the Whites keeps us in shape for it over the next few months. Thanks for the congrats, we're looking forward to this. And congrats to you and Nat! Wish we could be there for your NH48 finish!!
Trish
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