SUMMER 2024 | 9 Peak Ridge. It felt even better when I got back to the car because the conditions were not ideal. And, oh yeah, I did enjoy a 46er Pale Ale when I made it back to the car! Then I had to find something else to do. I had fallen in love with the mountains, so I decided I’d come back in winter, and start my winter 46. As you mentioned, I did hike solo for [the hike up Rocky Peak Ridge] and most of the 46. I completed twelve high peaks with a partner and the rest were solo. I don't want to be hypocritical; I know we always tell people they should hike with others for safety; however, there are plenty of hikers who prefer hiking solo and back then, it’s what I did. I truly felt that I had the skills. I grew up in the mountains, my family backwoods camped regularly, and I had already completed the 3500 mountains and the fire towers. I also researched my hikes thoroughly, so I felt very comfortable. SR: I meet plenty of solo hikers, and if they are experienced and prepared, I’m always impressed. Many are on their second and third rounds of the 46. LR: I know when I solo hike, I'm much more focused in the woods. When I go with somebody else, I'm distracted chatting and doing things with them. But when I'm by myself, I'm very focused on everything from foot placement to trail directions and my surroundings. I was working on the fire tower challenge when I started the 46. My first trip into the Santanonis was solo. On my way up I did the Hurricane Mountain fire tower. Then I drove to Corey's Road and camped out the night and climbed the three Santas the next day. It rained all day. I camped out again that night. My boots were soaked. Water was everywhere. The next day I did Seymour, and when I came out, I was planning on another night of camping and then just said, “No,” and packed up. Later, I questioned myself about leaving early because I had used vacation days from work. So, on the way home I decided to hike Belfry Mountain fire tower. I hiked in my sneakers, because it was the only dry footwear I had. It was one of the hardest towers that I've ever done! I was so tired from the three previous days of hiking that little Belfry kicked my butt. SR: Wow, that's impressive. I’ve never camped out alone in the mountains. Is it a bit scary? LR: No, it's just different. I love the night sounds, and I usually sleep really well. My dad always told me there's nothing out there in the nighttime that isn't out there in the daytime. SR: What is your favorite high peak? LR: My favorite mountain anywhere is the last mountain I was on. They all have redeeming qualities. They really do, except for Giant one day in winter. SR: Why, what happened? LR: This is when I started the winter 46. Usually, I hate for a day to end when I'm out hiking, but this day was the worst. Giant was a sheet of ice. I had my full crampons on, of course. I got up to the summit fine, but I knew coming down was going to be awful and it was! I was on the ridge trail and had to let myself down over the ledge rocks so slowly. In the dry weather you would hardly notice these spots. But on this day, it was frightening, and I knew I was going to fall. There was just so much ice, even with my full crampons on it was hard to get a grip going down. I held on to the trees for dear life. Their branches had already been trimmed down to little nubs by other hikers. When I finally got down, I was covered in streaks of bruises on the inside of my arms. I just didn't want to let go of those trees. I couldn't wait to get off the mountain that day. I’ll never forget it. I never felt like that before. SR: How did you feel when you became a winter 46er in 2007, and did you do those solo? LR: That was a very different journey for me. I did start my winter journey solo, but after I met Tom, we completed them together. We got in sync with each other by duplicating some hikes. The winter hikes were hard; I’d probably say that up to that date, it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. It's hard mentally as well as physically. The Santanonis took me four trips to get them in the winter. The first trip I only got Panther, the second trip I didn’t get any, and the third trip I got Santa and Panther. Finally on the fourth trip I got Couch. Winter is not easy. Redfield was tough. We got turned back on Cliff and they called the rangers on us. SR: Really? I can’t wait to hear this! LR: Tom and I liked to stay at a little B&B in Newcomb while we worked on our winter hikes. We’d come up on Friday nights after work. On this Friday night there was a storm, so it was quite late by the time we got to the B&B. We left early in the morning because we knew we were going to have to break trail and it was a long hike. So, we never saw the proprietors or left our itinerary with them. The morning temperature was cold, well below zero, and it took us a while to get adjusted to our layers and pace when we started out. We were working hard, and I remember getting close to Flowed Lands when Tom said, “Wow, listen to the robins.” He was in front, and I thought, “Oh my God, he's hypothermic.” We were far from the car at that point and all I could think about was how to get him out of the cold. I was going to talk him out of going further when suddenly I heard the robins too. It turned out there were more mountain ash berries than usual that year. The robins were singing in the bushes and puffed up like pigeons. When we got to the false summit of My favorite mountain anywhere is the last mountain I was on. They all have redeeming qualities.
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