Happy birthday, Sage! Also -- the Hancocks. March 21, 2016

Sage is 11!

We hiked the Hancocks last Monday.  Since then, Sage turned 11 and Easter rolled around, so Alex and I are both tardy with posting our pictures/trip reports.

Here are my photos -- Alex will have her trip report up sometime today.  Hers will have all the details -- my images on this site are supplemental.

There wasn't much ice on this hike, thank goodness.  It was a nice change from last week's Osceola skating rink.  We made great time -- five hours for a ten-mile, two-peak trek (book time is 6 hours and 20 minutes).

On summit of North Hancock

On summit of South Hancock

Back at the parking lot

Osceolas on Ice. 3-14-2016

7.6 miles with 3100 feet of elevation gain.
Greeley Ponds Trail, Mt. Osceola Trail

First -- many thanks to Tammy Daugherty and The Lady from New York for each donating $576 to Global Fund for Women through Alex and Sage's Grid fundraiser, and thank you to Samantha Brady, Tom Rankin, Stephen Clapp, Denise Carignan, and Marcy Light for their individual contributions.  If you too would like to donate, then you can read more about the girls' long-term fundraiser here.

Alex's trip report on our Osceola hike can be found here.  The following are my photos from this adventure.

From car to the summit of East Osceola, the trail was pure ice.

Leaving the Greeley Ponds Trail and starting on the Mt. Osceola Trail.
That bump in front of us is not East Osceola...East Osceola is much higher than that.

Sage fixing her Hillsounds Pro crampon...which then broke about three hours later, along with BOTH my own Hillsound Pro crampons...I am not happy about that, this was not the hike for broken traction!

This is basically what the Mt. Osceola Trail looked like all the way up, except often much steeper.

Sage making use of an obliging tree branch

Alex making her way up

View from the slide

The girls carefully making their way across the bottom of the slide.  No ice ax is necessary here...if you fall, you are going to slide about five feet until the trees stop you.

Finished the steep bits, looking toward the main peak of Osceola

Looking at the summit of East Osceola from the top of the last steep bit

Soon there

East Osceola

The bypass to the chimney, which was the only (mostly) ice-free thing we climbed all day.

The actual chimney, which we didn't take

Almost at the main summit

On the main peak of Osceola

Heading back to East Osceola

Back down at the water crossing on Greeley Ponds Trail, after a SLOW descent due to multiple crampons breaking.  

My blood sacrifice to the mountains

This is how each of the Hillsound Pro crampons broke.  Exactly the same place, on BOTH sides of the device.  Not cool.

We hope to hike again next week.  Stay safe, everyone, and check out Alex's trip report if you haven't already.  :)

Hiking the Grid for Global Fund for Women

Last week, we announced the beginning of an ambitious, long-term fundraiser for the important and female-empowering nonprofit organization Global Fund for Women.

Alex and Sage are in the process of hiking the Grid, which is all 48 of New Hampshire's highest mountains in each month of the year.  That's 576 total ascents (48x12).  They are asking individuals and organizations to each donate a total of $576 dollars.  That donation could be all at once, or it could be spread out over 5-7 years, which is the time it will take the girls to finish the Grid.  Alex and Sage each hope to get 15 individuals/corporations to donate that amount, which would give Global Fund for Women a total of over $17,000.

If you work for an organization that would be willing to contribute, then please share this link with the powers-that-be.  If you yourself would like to donate, then thank you (!), and please click here.  All the money goes to Global Fund for Women, outside of a small processing fee that goes to CrowdRise.  Also, the donation is tax-deductible.

This is going to be a long-term process; if the girls can each get two or three $576 donors a year, then they will reach their goal before they leave for college.

Here is the girls' CrowdRise site, with the fundraising information and the direct link for donations.

Here is Alex's recent blog post announcement.

(Sage will have her own blog when she turns 13 - she is an equal part of this team, but she is not yet old enough for social media).

Thanks, and please help out the girls if you can.

Kinsmans (on ice!). February 29, 2016

Alex has a full account of this hike here (with tons of photos).

Here are some of my own photos of the day, for personal record-keeping purposes.