The Big Rock Pile

     First things first--the coffee beans worked like a dream. I didn't have any nasty caffeine withdrawal symptoms, plus they were a treat to eat, so thank you again Mr. Fil!

     So my friend asked me if my trip was fun, and I said, Well, fun isn't the first word I'd use to describe it. Worthwhile, challenging, gratifying--these words all apply, but fun? Not so much.

     Not that I didn't enjoy myself. I did. Especially in those moments when I looked around and truly realized that I was in a place that I'd always marveled at. A place you couldn't get to any other way than by foot. That was very cool indeed.

     But it was difficult. By the third day my legs were rather sore, to the point where they felt kind of weak and unsteady and I wasn't sure they'd do what I needed them to do on the way down. They did, but we went really slowly and I did a lot of scooting on my rear. Thankfully from a cardiovascular standpoint, I never felt like I wouldn't make it. I actually felt good in that regard.

     It was my feet that caused me the most pain. I knew going in that they would hurt (I have issues with my feet), but oh my freaking god, I never knew they could hurt so much! I was megadosing on Advil and they still hurt like a motherfucker. I can only imagine what they would've felt like without benefit of analgesics.

     So it's no surprise that for me, the hardest part was the footing, which was extremely rough. Because the entire mountain is seemingly made of rocks (its nickname is The Big Rock Pile), most of the way the "path"--and I use the term lightly--was a rockbed marked every 30 or 40 feet by cairns. They call it felsenmeer, which is German for "A Sea of Rocks." Honest to god, there were times when I'd have to come to a standstill just to try to figure out where I was headed next--and I was following my husband!

     I wasn't really expecting that. I knew it would be rocky, of course, but I didn't understand that I'd have to think about each and every step I took. It was as though someone very carefully arranged the rocks in the most uncomfortable way possible, throwing in wiggly, unstable ones throughout just to make things more interesting. It was very stressful, in a sense, because you couldn't let your mind wander for a moment or you'd risk a fall. On the other hand, that kept me from stewing and obsessing about the things I'd normally dwell on, so it was freeing and relaxing as well. Oh, the irony!

     I did fall once, banged up both my knees and shins, but it didn't bleed too much and it didn't keep me from going on. It shook my confidence a bit, but eventually I recovered my groove. My husband fell, too, which was actually scarier for me. He fell forward on his knees but ended up on his back, and at first he said he couldn't get up. All I could think was he'd blown out his knee or something and how the hell was I going to get him down the mountain! I was only about ten feet behind him but it took me about 30 seconds to get to him--damn rocks! He was OK, thank god. It was his pack that was stuck.

     Did I mention I was wearing about 20 pounds on my back? He had on about 40 at the start. I thought that weight would really bother me (I'm kind of a baby about those things), but it was fine once I got used to it. It did throw my balance off, though, which made me go even more slowly.

     Our "goal" was to walk about one mile per hour. Sounds incredibly slow, I know, but it was actually kind of ambitious, for me anyway. We kept it up about three-quarters of the time I'd say. And the weather was perfect. Warm, breezy, and it never rained. Thank god! I can't imagine doing it when the rocks were wet.

     All in all I'm very glad I did it and I feel a real sense of accomplishment, but I'm not in any hurry to do it again, if you know what I mean.

Rockpile--"Let It Rock (With Keith Richards)" mp3 off Elvis Goes to Washington and Dave Edmunds and Rockpile Don't (bootleg)

David and the Citizens--"Sore Feet and Blisters" mp3 off Until the Sadness Is Gone (buy)

The Earlies--"The Ground We Walk On" mp3 off The Enemy Chorus (buy)

Chromeo--"Fancy Footwork" mp3 off Flosstradamus-Scion Sampler

     This was our exact route. Day one: up the Valley Way trail to Madison Springs Hut (3.8 miles). Day two: the Gulfside Trail (including summiting Mt. Washington) to Lakes of the Clouds Hut (7.5 miles). Day three: down Tuckerman's Ravine trail to Pinkham Notch (4.5 miles). May I say I will never again hike either up OR down Tuckerman's Ravine. Even though it was breathtakingly beautiful and there was still snow there and I feel really good about completing it, I will never do that again!

photo of the felsenmeer from here

     And if you'd like to see proof that I actually did it, click here.

tags: mt washington  rocks  pain  glory  

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