My first trip the to the White Mountains in New Hampshire back in December really got me thinking about how much planning goes into many of the trips I take. I spent so much time with my eyes on the weather, going over my gear, finding everything I could on the route and much more. It really made me realize how important planning is to the things I do but that doesn’t mean I’ll always execute that plan. So, I planned again and tried again. Yes, sometimes you can just throw everything in a bag and take off but not on the trips to the big mountains, the trips for days out on the water, and the trips to the woods for weeks on end; these require a little more finesse. Once you’ve picked a place, a trip always starts with what can often be the hardest part, picking a date. You must figure out all the schedules of those involved, find the permits, work around this and that person’s requests and make it all work. From there you figure out what you need, from gear and clothing to food and cash. You pile it all together and pack it all in, you think about it over and over again making sure you have everything you need for your excursion. Next you go over the route repeatedly until all you can think about is your destination. You get excited, you start to dream of what lies ahead. Finally, you’re off, heading for the mountains, the beach, the woods or wherever your destination may be in front of you. From the initial planning of this trip, all the way through, I had my reservations. At first, we couldn’t button down a set group to go up and once we did it kept changing up until almost the day we left. Then, the weather kept changing making us need to adjust our window to summit so as not to have too cold of temperatures or be buried in feet of snow. Finally, there was the drive; if we couldn’t make it in the window we were giving ourselves the whole schedule would be thrown off, potentially making a summit bid impossible. At the time, trying to do so much in a weekend seemed like an impossible challenge. Thursday February 8th
In the morning we woke up to clear skies and cold air, the forest was silent without any wind, a good sign. We arranged our gear for the climb, took some photos and said our good-byes to Bryan. Brandon accompanied us part of the way up the Lion Head Trail, getting us past the hardest part of the route. He eventually opted to turn around and head back to Bryan and Lizzie and I were on our own. We continued on and shortly later we were above tree line, the wind began to whip, the summit was nowhere to be seen, lost in the clouds. As we moved from cairn to cairn we could feel the summit coming closer, but we still could not yet see it. After passing Alpine Garden we entered onto a snowfield and the trail vanished, it was a complete white-out…. I knew the mountain was up to the right and to my left was a massive drop down into Tuckerman’s Ravine. We shot between the two, straight across the snowfield. It was a complete whiteout with visibility down to about 30 feet from all the blowing snow and fog. Once we got across and found some safety we realized we couldn’t see another cairn anywhere around us. Knowing my bearings helped, I knew the mountain was up to the right, so we headed that way. After a short while of trudging through the snow and occasionally post holing up to our knees, Lizzie finally spotted a row of cairns. From there, we went just a little further and found our salvation, a sign that simply read, “Tuckerman’s Ravine Trail, Mt. Washington .3 →”. It was exhilarating for the both of us, not knowing how far we were in the clouds had made us each do battle with our own minds but now we were almost there. I ran up the ridge, with Lizzie right behind me. Just short of the top we stopped for one last drink knowing the winds would be punishing at the summit, while we sat I heard Lizzie tell me to turn around. When I did, all of a sudden, I could see everything for miles, the fog had lifted and our time in the white abyss was over. Minutes later we reached the top of the trail and began to walk for the summit sign for a photo (Pics or it didn’t happen, am I right?), the wind was whipping at near 50mph, so this last stretch was grueling, digging our crampons and ice axes in every step so as to not be blow over. We got to the top, took our photos, rejoiced in the moment and headed down.
Near tree line we ran into a group of around 12 being guided up the mountain, we laughed as we told them about our push for the summit as theirs was cloud free and we could see the top from nearly 1,000’ below it. We arrived back at the top of the Lion’s Head after only about a 45-minute walk and glissaded down it’s steep slope (Lizzie enjoyed this part). After getting down a few steep spots, we found ourselves back at the Harvard Cabin, packing our bags gleefully thinking about the trip to Boston to visit friends. We made it the rest of the way down, to Boston, to Cleveland and finally home to Cincinnati without a hiccup. Finishing all of this made me realize how much one could really do in just a few days’ time. I learned so much more from this mountain this winter, in my two short times there, than I ever could have expected. I finished my unfinished business, I made it to the top and I found another place that I'm sure will continue to call me back throughout my life. "We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us"
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After a night of festivities celebrating the new year, I awoke early on the first day of a fresh new year and started off on a journey. For this trip, I traveled about 6 hours south of Cincinnati to the Roan Highlands along the Tennessee/North Carolina boarder to do a 5 day through hike along the Appalachian Trail with some of the awesome crew from my work, Roads, Rivers and Trails. |
To be honest, this trip both excited me after my flop in the White Mountains and scared me due to the fact I would be hiking with some Appalachian Trail thru hikers, and a guy who had attempted the Continental Divide Trail... After a cold night at the Roan Mountain Hostel, we set off on the trail the morning of the 2nd under beautiful blue skies destined for the summit of Hump Mountain and camp at Over Mountain Shelter along the Appalachian Trail.
After just a short time on the trail and a long uphill, we broke tree-line. We took lunch and then set off for the top, quickly making the summit. I had forgotten that such views existed on the East Coast after being spoiled with my travels in the Rockies. |
We snapped a few photos, soaked up the sun and set off to finish our 9 miles for the day. We arrived at Over Mountain and tucked in up in the attic for a cold night, everyone enjoyed a short reprieve from the trail. In the morning we tore down camp, packed our bags and set off for the highest point of the trip, Roan Mountain. Throughout the day we crossed Jane and Round Balds, took in the views and started looking at the weather for the night ahead. Knowing it was going to get down to the negatives overnight with windchills close to -30 degrees that wouldn't go away for several days, we decided we would spend the night up top at Roan Mountain Shelter and then come back down in the morning for a ride out. |
The trail heading up Roan High Knob was icy and treacherous but we had some of the best weather of the day. Myself, Joe and Will (A.K.A Leapfrog) lead the front of the group up the mountain. We watched our steps as we crossed ice patches and thought of the cold night ahead. We reached the top, setup camp, warmed up by a fire, called our ride for the morning and did everything else there and in-between we needed to do to stay warm for the night. As we tucked in for night in the old fire warden's cabin Joe read us stories of his time on the AT heading south bound years ago, traveling the very section of trail we had that day. It both kept me warm with good laughs and happy thoughts as well as got me thinking about my own possible future adventures. We all drifted off to sleep and woke up in the morning to howling wind and light snowfall knowing we had to get down to our ride. We bundled up and hurried down the mountain racing away from the storm. Once we arrived at Carver's Gap, and loaded the trucks up we were quickly heading the rest of the way down the mountain. During the ride I thought of how successful this trip had been after my flop in the Whites and how nice it had been to be on a trip I hadn't planned. Coming out of this trip I found yet another fun group of people to travel with, I found a new destination to show people and best of all I got an invite from Will to travel the Pacific Crest Trail with him in 2021 after he graduates college. Roan was an amazing adventure and I look forward to many more like it with RRT!
Before I had even left Cincinnati I knew this would be one of the most difficult trips I had ever decided to go for. It was a monumental undertaking in my mind, to go up to New Hampshire, summit 5 of the tallest mountains of the northeast in the snow and wind over the course of three days having never done such a thing before. We started from Cincinnati around 3AM, picked up the rest of our crew in Cleveland around 7AM and continued smoothly north through New York. Getting into Connecticut winter storm Benji started to hit us. As we tried to outrun it in Vermont we quickly got bogged down by icy roads, we decided to spend the night about 2 hours away from our trailhead. |
The next morning I woke up early and finished the drive north. After situating our gear, talking to the rangers about summit conditions and getting the forecast we began up the trail. It was quite a late start, around 10AM. Immediately we turned onto fresh powder and were breaking trail, luckily the snow was light and soft. I started to have my own reservations as the day continued on and the group began to move slower and slower. I love these guys and they did a great job but our pace continued to suffer. We slowly began to reevaluate our position and figure out our plan. |
As the darkness (and cold) were beginning to close in towards the end of the day, we decided to spend the night at Osgood Camp around 2,500' below the summit of Mt. Madison, which was our objective for that day. We quickly set up tents, got situated and made warm food to keep us going. The group discussed different options and seeing the pace we had been at it was decided that we would most likely not be able to complete the 8 mile trek along the summit ridge to Mt. Washington safely before dark the next day. As a team, we looked over the map and decided that we would break camp in the morning, make a quick push to the nearest trailhead and go straight for Mt. Washington from Pinkham Notch. The next day by 7:30AM I was on the trail rushing towards the parking area. By 8:30 I had arrived, flagged down a driver (Thanks Susan!) and was heading back with my car to pick up the others. |
I figured I would see them there by 9:15AM at the latest since it had taken me so little time to get there. I sat in the car and looked over the maps evaluating our plan. Originally we thought we would head up the trail and camp below the summit but the rangers told me that a storm that night was predicted to dump around 10" of fresh snow and a summit the next day would be next to impossible with drifting snow and near whiteout conditions. They said our best bet would be to do it all today and finish the last bit below tree-line after dark. They estimated that if we could be on the trail by 10AM we'd have a fair shot (I might have sounded more knowledgeable then I was when I talked to them though...). I sat in the car and thought over all of this and quickly 9:20AM rolled around, I began to worry. I decided to walk back up the trail and saw only my fresh prints. Around 9:30 I finally heard their voices coming down the trail and already knew in my mind a summit was out of the question for us. We arrived back at the car by 9:45, packed in and decided that we would at least go up the trail for a few hours and see what we saw. One of our team decided he was done and stayed behind, so the other three of us started up the trail yet again. Quickly another one of the team fell behind and started to turn back. With only two of us left, my only goal was to make it to Hermit Lake and see above treeline. As we continued on we ran into more and more people coming off the mountain, telling us of crazy snow levels and wanting to know how close the incoming storm was. We would trade ideas of how far each was from their objective, wish each other safe travels and continue on our way.
After about an hour and a half we found where the Lion Head Trail took off for the summit. Under a cloudy sky, the conditions already beginning to deteriorate with increasing winds and on and off snow we took a photo at the closest point we would get to New Hampshire's highest summit and hunkered down at Hermit Lake Shelter #5 for a quick lunch. We had a light snack, shared a cup of hot tea and exchanged thoughts of our trip. Being still chilled us quickly so we got up and headed back to the trailhead where our warm car awaited. After about 30 minutes we reached the bottom and told our friends of how high we had reached. Coming away from this trip I viewed it as a failure, I didn't touch a summit, I didn't push to go for Mt. Madison when we were so close and so many other things I didn't do that I might have been able to. Looking back on it though I learned so much and in that way it was a success. Next time I won't go so big until I know the team can take it. Next time I'll know what its like to slog through the snow and ice. I'll know what I can do, how to do it and have a better chance for success the next time. Every trip is an unknown adventure and the ones that I end up learning something from mean so much more to me. |
"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountains and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books"
-Sir John Lubbock
I didn't always love the outdoors. My mom still likes to recount the days where I would say "There's nothing out here but trees and rocks," but now those trees and rocks are my favorite. My first backpacking trip several years ago opened a path for me in life that I now can't imagine living without. Shortly after arriving at the University of Cincinnati in the fall of 2014 for my freshman year of college, I found myself surrounded by a fantastic group of friends. Luckily we all were so keen on spending time with each other and having a good time that we all joined the University of Cincinnati Mountaineering Club and went on our first backpacking trip to Red River Gorge Kentucky, led by the wonderful Rob Even. I visited places like Indian Staircase, and Cloud Splitter that would become constants in my future weekend adventures. That weekend, we spent time goofing around the campfire, staring up at the stars and enjoying a little time away from school. For me this trip would be the beginning of what is now one of the biggest parts of my life. In the morning, seeing the sunrise and the fog in the valley below was a gorgeous sight. To this day when I visit, it reminds me of that first trip and where I started.
Over the course of the next year and a half I would explore more of Red River Gorge and pick up new talents such as rock climbing and kayaking. During the spring of 2016 two of my best friends and I hatched a plan to travel to Utah and Colorado and push our limits to a new level. We traveled to Zion National Park in Utah, conquering Angels Landing, The Emerald Pools, and a large section of the East Rim Trail. After that we ate more food than I thought was possible and journeyed to Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. There we spent time wandering the seemingly endless dunes, getting to the top of High Dune and Star Dune, the tallest and most prominent sand dunes in North America. This trip would plant a seed and lead me to do larger trips with bigger groups and crazier ideas the more and more I went. In the following years I would travel to Wyoming to a place I consider to be among my favorite on Earth, Texas with a new and amazing group of friends and many more journeys and adventures. | These pursuits have taken over my life and I couldn't be happier. I often find that when I'm in a rough place or having a bad day my mind flutters to thoughts of the next trip. This makes complete sense to me though, most of my favorite moments are on these trips. Out there I leave bad thoughts and gather inspiration for my life ahead. There's endless opportunity to leave the everyday behind and to reach new points you never thought you could. Some people ask "Why do I do what I do?" The answer is simple, I get to go places a fraction of the people on this planet will ever get to experience and I get to see places that are untamed by man, still natural and wild. I'm keeping this blog to both share my experiences to others that find interest in my adventures and as a way of reflecting on my trips. I hope you enjoy my stories, I know I have. "Not all who wander are lost" -J.R.R. Tolkien |
BEn Shaw
The Hopeless Wanderer
Trips
August 2023
July 2023
November 2022
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February 2021
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November 2019
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December 2017
September 2014