I’m a Gridiot, the self-deprecating time interval used contained in the White Mountains to make clear the loopy individuals who’ve achieved the White Mountain 4000-Footer Grid. I’m the 179th particular explicit individual to complete, which is fairly unbelievable contemplating the difficulty concerned in ending this peak itemizing, ending on Might 20, 2024, with a solo hike to Mt Isolation.
Ending The Grid (see my spreadsheet beneath) requires mountaineering 12 rounds of the 48 White Mountain 4000-footers as rapidly as in every calendar month of the 12 months (48 x 12). This entails mountaineering about 3000 miles with 1,000,000 ft of elevation receive, together with shut to six months in winter situations with snowshoes and utterly completely different traction aids.
Whereas I’m proud that I completed this itemizing, it ought to have been unimaginable with out the companionship of my associates and the choice Aspiring and Present White Mountain Gridders who outfitted me with an quite a few stream of inspiration, encouragement, and recommendation that made mountaineering this troublesome peak itemizing fairly a number of nice. I’d completed an entire lot of solo mountaineering, backpacking, and bushwhacking contained in the Whites prior to committing to ending the Grid, so repeatedly peakbagging with companions, a number of days every week, was a mannequin new subject for me – one which turned additional vital than climbing the precise summits. Whereas mountaineering contained in the White Mountains is world-class, the Grid is restricted on account of group of hikers who assist one another to complete it.
I owe particular on account of John Sobetzer and Pepper (who’s not with us), who glad me to hike the Grid eventually as quickly as we bumped into one another a number of years before now whereas climbing Mt Cabot. I had not too method again stuffed out the Grid spreadsheet to see the place I used to be and located I had already achieved 265 summits out of the 576 required. I’d been on the fence till then, nonetheless John, who’s achieved a Grid himself, tipped me over the sting.
Whereas I hiked with many individuals all by the following 310 summits, I had a number of associates who’ve been frequent companions, together with Ken and Karen Robichaud, Lynn Kessler, Barbara Crane, Tom Ickes, and Hilde Getsch. We had an entire lot of fine hikes and even some backpacking journeys collectively, and whereas my reminiscence of these treks will fade, I’ll frequently take into consideration the camaraderie and friendship we shared mountaineering The Grid.
What’s subsequent? I’m headed to Vermont to hike and backpack a Extended Path side-by-side, which is a path itemizing of all the paths that intersect with The Extended Path, which I hiked in 2008. I furthermore plan to enterprise into the Adirondacks to pattern the ADK 46ers, presumably mountaineering all of them eventually.
