My First Madison Trip

"When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold on to them. They are the life boats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely illusive." One Week (a really good movie)

To say this will be a bitter-sweet week on the mountain sounds a little too dramatic. I will, however, reflect a little more than usual. Take some extra time to think, consider how lucky I am to enjoy the life I live, the place I am in and to have experienced the people I have met along my ways.

Monday will mark the two-year Anniversary of my first trip to Madison—my second and final hike with Brooke. It's what started all this.

Me on my first trip near the Madison Hut (99/365*)

It was Easter weekend and I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Brooke and I crawled out of the back of her Pontiac Vibe Saturday morning, packed our gear and snowshoed up the Daniel Webster Scout Trail. I had a dozen or so NH 4000' peaks checked off my list, but I had never hiked over 5000', or done any peak in winter conditions. While the calendar said early spring, it was still winter high in the mountains.

Above treeline, without crampons, winter boots, ice axes and only a 3-season tent (the missing season being winter) we were unprepared at best. Undeterred, we summited Mt. Madison by mid afternoon and slid our way down the West side into Madison Col. With clear skies and low winds, we decided to camp near the hut, which was closed for the winter. Brooke wasn't feeling well, so she curled up in her sleeping bag in the tent, while I buried the base in snow for warmth and explored the Col.

Brooke and I's tent in Madison Col (100/365*)

The temperatures dropped and winds built throughout the night, bottoming out around 5 degrees with winds upwards of 60 mph. My tent wasn't built to stand in such conditions, and it would succumb to the winds in a Utah dust storm later that year.  It survived this test though, and at day break we began packing our gear. It was tough to pack given the conditions, so Brooke and I teamed up. She stayed in the tent, stuffing sleeping bags and rolling sleeping pads while I shuttled the gear to the South wall of the hut, where we were sheltered from the fierce North winds and better able to pack.

That hike with Brooke is one of my fondest memories of her. The sense of adventure. Her blind exuberance and anything can be done attitude. The hike out was treacherous, with high winds, icy snowfields and trails. Brooke slipped and slid a short distance down a snowfield early on, giving herself a decent scare (we should have had ice axes and crampons). From that point on, she slide down every steep section on her ass, destroying her pants. I thought she was crazy. She was having fun.

Brooke approaching the summit of Madison, Osgood Ridge in the background (101/365*)`

I thought Brooke was crazy for leaving for Africa when she did. How could she afford it? What about medical school? What about me? In reality it was only two months. In reality, it was an opportunity of a lifetime. In reality, how could she not go? In reality, it was an adventure tailor made for Brooke.

I faced a few of the same critics when deciding to take part in the Madison project. And I also had incredible supporters, including Brooke. Sometimes I wonder if I'd be doing this project without her. Without discovering Mt. Madison with her or without the lessons she taught me about life, and death.



*I didn't take any photos this weekend, these old ones are filling in photos of the day.