Mt Rogers

I'm eating a self cooked waffle at the EconoLodge in Marion, VA. And will be on my way to climb Mt Rogers in a minute. I have already driven over 700 miles since leaving Albany and plan to be in Nashville, TN tonight. Gotta go. Hope to learn how to post pictures from an iPhone soon?

Still haven't learned to post from my iPhone, but I am back on a computer and have pictures from a successful summit of Mt. Rogers.  I saw wild ponies, got lost and then found the trail.  Did not see anyone else for five hours and enjoyed a beautiful day of solitude here.

It was nine miles round trip and 1079 feet of altitude gain to the summit of 5,729 feet.  But, the trail gains and loses altitude over the course of the hike as it crosses a number of rocky "knobs" and mirrors the Appalachian Trail for much of the climb.

along the trail I saw dozens of wild ponies!!

Fat Man's Squeeze is a well know part of the Appalachian Trail that I passed through here.

The summit is in the woods with no view, but the views on the way are beautiful.  I paused to enjoy the quiet as the wind blew through the trees, and was alone with my thoughts as I descended the trail.

I learned that there is a thin line between wonder and fear, as I was so alone here during the nearly 6 hours of my hike and found myself lost a couple of times with no one to ask for help. It's quite isolated, which is the part of the beauty of Mt Rogers.

Mt Lafayette

This pretty much tells the story of my preparation for this climb

Zach was headed up to Boston to visit Chris, so I figured it was a good excuse for renting a car, driving to New Hampshire and climbing a mountain.  While it was not a "high point", the ranger suggested that Mt. LaFayette was a good training hike for future higher points.  He was right.  It was over 5000 feet.  I carried a 40 lb back pack to make it more challenging and I made it my goal to make at least 1000 feet of elevation gain every hour.  I am proud to say that I met my goal on my solo climb up Mt LaFayette.  This coffee shop served as my base and "fueling station" before and after.  It was beautiful.  I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

You can see that visibility at the top of the mountain was limited to about 30 yards and the windchill was in the single digits, not bad for January at the top of the Franconia Ridge.  Being alone and without GPS, I stopped about 400 yards from the summit when it seemed likely I might not find it, or my way back, if I went further.

a beautiful wintry, steep and icy trail

My googles froze on the upper part of the mountain.  Another learning experience!

There's the trail!

Gone

Ah, that's better.  On my way down again by Greenleaf AMC Hut

Is that a trail marker or a frozen bear?

success!

A last snack at the coffee shop before I go home.

I am very happy to report that all of my exercise is paying off.  The climb was quite manageable.  My big challenge on this was climbing safely, solo!  The solitude was wonderful, but I am a man seeking a climbing partner.  I'll be back to the Whites this winter. but first a stop for some ice climbing on the weekend of January 20th with the American Alpine Club in the Adirondacks!