February 7, 2009
Ed Hawkins is back in action. After sustaining an injury on January 1st, he has posted his first 'Grid' hike of the year. I just had to be a part of it. Eight of us left the Highland Center about 8:30 - Ed, Jim, Kurt, Paul, Kee-he (sp?), Foster, Ron, and myself.
Looking up to Mounts Field and Tom
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"It's broken out at least until Tom," said Ed.
"Oh no," I said, "it's broken out more than that. I got an email from Cath Goodwin last night that she hiked all three yesterday."
So we headed off knowing we would be in good shape for the day.
We took our first break at the junction with the Avalon Trail
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Up we went all the way to the col between Tom and Field.
"So what do you do for work?" Ed asked Foster.
"I deal weed," she said.
"Excuse me?"
"I deal weed."
"Really?"
"I work for an offshore company that harvests seaweed such as kelp."
We had a good laugh.
"You can leave your packs here if you want," said Ed as we prepared to take the spur trail to the summit.
Here's our group at the summit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jim took my picture for me. It was a little bit of a milestone.
This was my 200th Grid peak. Just 376 to go. Ha!
It was also a new winter peak (#40) and #31 for this winter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking over to the Bonds, Zealand, and the Twins.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Next up, Mount Field
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ed gives out "well done" handshakes on the summit of Field.
That's winter peak #41 (any winter) and #32 for this winter.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Our blue skies from earlier in the day had turned gray.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There's tomorrow's target: Mount Carrigain.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Once on the summit of Willey, I took this zoomed in shot of Washington which surprisingly stayed below the clouds all day. I had thoughts of hiking it today, but the high wind forecast scared me away.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Looking down to Route 302
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This makes winter peak #42 (any winter) and #33 for this winter.
We returned over to Field. Rather than head down the steep Avalon Trail, we decided to head back towards Tom and then down the A-Z trail. Ed's arm and shoulder are doing well but far from 100%. We are glad to have him back and didn't want him to risk injury heading down the steep trail. We got back to our vehicles about 3:30. It's great to have you back Ed!!!
| 
