What once seemed like an impossible task is now more than halfway through. Twenty-five peaks down. I could probably finish the 46 High Peaks in another summer, if I really tried.
In the High Peaks I always have a moment where I think I can’t do it, but don’t really have any choice.
That’s what coming down off Dial and Nippletop felt like. Like I couldn’t do it. But I did.
If you want to do what I did:
I hiked to Indian Head with my friends along Gill Brook Trail. At Indian Head, though, I left them and headed straight down Fish Hawk Cliffs Trail to take Elk Pass Trail to Nippletop and then to Dial, over Bear Den Mountain and down and down.
Flat ground feels like splinters in your knees after all of that up and down. It feels like swimming in air temperature water. On the way home I thought a carved bear was a real bear and texted my friends to please have some food waiting. Twenty five down.