White Mountain Weekend - June 2020

I made it up to the Whites a few weeks ago for another of my solo hiking trips.  With everything going on with the virus I wanted to minimize my impact as much as possible.  To that end I got gas at the border and avoided all shops, restaurants and gas stations while I was up there.  I drove up Friday and returned Sunday morning, sleeping in my car both nights.  The only time I wasn't hiking was Saturday afternoon when I took the opportunity to take a drive through Evans Notch, a section of the Whites I was completely unfamiliar with.  It was nice to finally get a glimpse of the Baldfaces and the other peaks over there I've yet to explore.

I want to finish Round # 2 of the NH 4000 Footers this year so I went up there with the goal of chipping away at the nine I had left.  Cannon and the Kinsmans on Friday took care of three.  Mt. Jefferson and East Osceola brought my list down to four peaks.

I've been focusing on vertical gain this year in preparation for mountain work and I think it made a difference.  While I cannot simulate the hour long climbs of the Whites down here in Rhode Island I feel like my legs were stronger from all the hill repeats,  I think it gave me the focus to run up inclines I may have previously hiked.  And I still had a good amount of pickup in the legs for Sunday's ascent of the Osceolas. 

If you'd like to see a video of the weekend here you go!