REFRACTIONARY

Sometimes I don’t know what I need or why. Sometimes knowing is best left separate from reasons. I don’t know what I worked out up there in the Pemi, but it wasn’t like other hikes. I didn’t go into a thoughtful, meditative state. I didn’t feel peaceful. I just threw myself against a rock and let myself empty until my body just couldn’t anymore. Today I feel a little bit sore. But inside, I feel open in a way that reminds me of a less jaded, less cynical me. We’re just going to let that be enough words about it.

Friday night, having driven up after work, I crossed the Pemigewasset River at the Lincoln Woods trail head. The bridge is suspended by cables and rocks in the wind and underfoot. So I set my tripod up on the chance that this shot would work out. It’s one of my favorites from the trip. And yes, I know that there’s noise and that the trees are blurry. I’m taking a break from caring so much about technique; the wind does what it does and the camera catches what it catches, and for me that’s part of the joy and beauty of an image like this.

My first day hiking was about getting through and sorting myself out. I hiked twelve hours from about the midpoint of the Osseo trail over Franconia Ridge to Mt. Garfield, where I stayed my first night. At 3 the next morning I packed up and got myself on the trail in time to reach Garfield Ridge East Peak by sunrise, which flashed only a few minutes of drama before fading into grayness as rain clouds rolled in from the West.

From atop South Twin Mountain I could see the mountains rolling off in all directions.

By 11:30 I’d reached Mt. Bond and descended part of the way down the ridge to Mt. Bondcliff where I stopped to send some texts and eat while resting my feet. Pulling myself together once again, I continued the descent. There’s a lovely moment where the trees open to reveal Mt. Bondcliff.

I have nothing to report of the descent back to Lincoln Woods. The trail feels interminable, and after Mt. Bondcliff it’s anticlimactic. In the future, I think I’ll prefer a counter clockwise direction. Also, next time I plan to take more than just two days in order to experience the loop in a different headspace.