People.

I started my hiking days with Michelle and hope to finish them with her as well. I did more than half of my first round of four-thousand footers with her, and she’s currently working on finishing up her list. Michelle is always game for a long adventure and is much better at water crossings than I. She’s an engineering genius, an advocate for real meals on hikes, and cannot behave herself at dining establishments in Gorham. 

My folks have been beyond supportive as I disappear for long days or days at a time to complete my goals and imparted an immense sense of direction in me from a young age. Their forever urge to “go for a drive” has turned me into the hiker I am. They are regular Mt. Monadnock hikers, pine cone collectors, and like me, enjoy a hearty brunch after a big hike. 

I’ve known Liz since elementary school as a substitute art teacher, parent’s friend, and my brother’s cub master. Though none of the above are traditional credentials for hiking partners, Liz & I coincidentally started our 4Ks at the same time. Since then, we’ve finished our NH48 on a 33-mile loop together, section hiked the 18-mile Camel’s Hump stretch of the Long Trail, and plan on hiking the entire Middle-Connecticut section of the AT this May. 

Cassie had been a cross-country teammate of mine for 7 years before we first hiked together. She brings a combination of complete goof and incomprehensible trust in me on the trail, where we can be found rotating voices to keep ourselves entertained. This trust is so strong that she even let me take her on a rainy, early-season shit show down Mt. Eisenhower Trail and the Dry River Cut-Off for her first hike of the season in 2022.

My roommate Diane is the type of person you take on an unforgettable hike who is guaranteed to forget what she hiked. I most profoundly remember her forgetting she hiked the Travellers, despite them being the most underrated epic in Baxter. She can always be found with an apple sauce in hand and a cross-country runner spirit within.