My Thoughts on Today’s Event!

[MtnMagic]

#46798 |

Warm, sunny, clear — a superb day! On Mt. Cabot, Laura, Sky, Ghostdog, and I reached the summit by 11:45, taking less than 3 hours. We would have easily made it a half-hour earlier, but I stopped (as anyone who has hiked with me knows) to trail talk with six other hikers who passed us on their descent. One fit, young woman made it to the summit in an hour and 15 minutes. She ran up!

As Cabot is the most northern of the 4000’ers, we were a bit surprised that nine more hikers arrived during the two hours our flag flew on the wooded summit. We explained the history of this event and have many photo’s to share when the film is developed. We will post them later in the week. Lots of photos!

The huge turn-out at the Mooseland Grill was amazing. Hikers from many of the peaks received hand-held flags and table tents of the event with a place to write the name of the mountain they raised our flag on. We laughed, drank and dined, (I had dessert, twice ;-)) having warm fellowship while we swapped our accounts of this most wonderful day. The staff was happy to take many group photographs that will be posted a.s.a.p.
_______________
Please add your thoughts, too!

[Max]

#49028

Ditto on Mtn Magic’s feelings. It WAS a great day!! Here’s how ours went. My wife Patti and I arrived at Cannon at 10:30 AM. After purchasing her ticket for the tram, I started up the Kinsman Ridge trail, pushing a pretty fast pace and arriving at the summit an obscene 57 minutes later. Plenty of time to set up the flag. The skies are crystal clear early in the day, and I can already see the flag on Mt. Lincoln with the naked eye. Impressive, nice job guys! I get mine up by using bungie cords to attach the pole to the lookout tower. The steady breeze straightens out Old Glory like she is destined to be. In a brief moment of disappointment, I realize I have forgotten both my binoculars and quarters for the ones that are on the lookout platform. Another summit visitor with correct change informs me that she can see a flag on Garfield. Her quarters run out. It looks to me like I can see one on Lafayette and also on North Kinsman. I think Liberty too, but hard to tell without magnification. My wife arrives right at noon (after browsing the base station gift shops), and we sit down to talk to the various visitors.

Christine and daughter Olivia drop by. They are the two that had inquired here about participating, and that she had not hiked anything other than Monadnock. We have a nice chat, and I take their pictures in front of the flag. I am genuinely glad that they made it and were part of the event. Well done girls!!

A minor highlight is the release of three separate gliders near the summit as they are towed by their respective airplanes from (I assume) the Whitefield airport. Cool.

Franconica Ridge shortly becomes cloud covered, and thereafter it starts to cover Cannon as well. So the best views were early. Surprise #2, my son, his wife and my grandson arrive via the tram, and we have a mini family reunion attop the peak. What a great event! With the fog blowing in, we dismantle the flag setp precisely at 2 PM. My family returns to the tram station and I return via the Kinsman Ridge trail, running down to the base in an equally obscene 39 minutes. Well, it was a short day mileage-wise, but I made it intense at least! After some gift shopping in Lincoln, we head over to the Mooseland Grill for a dinner that can’t be beat. Nice to run into Cantdog, Alpinista, and Silent Cal. Sorry I did not get to meet everyone there, and we had to leave before the remainder arrived. But we’re home safe and ready to do it again next year.

Pictures to follow.

Patti and Max

[Frodo]

#49029

The 5 of us; myself, Kris (Little Bear), Joan, Bob, and Margarita, started up the Caps Ridge Trail to Jefferson at 9am. Kris gave us all small flags to hang off our pack, and also gave us laminated “Flags on the 48 history statements” to fasten to our packs. Way to go Kris!

It was a beautiful day, with blue sky galore as we casually made our way up the short (but rugged) trail. We reached the summit at 11:40 and unpacked the 96 sq. ft flag , 15 foot long 2” dia PVC flag pole, 100’ of rope, 8 steel joint supports, and one jumbo sized roll of duct tape.

We raised the flag at noon into mild winds, and quickly tied down all of the guy lines. Several of the hikers who were up there joined in to help. We heard several “wow’s”, as Old Glory flapped in the wind providing a sharp contrast of color to the barren granite landscape.

We spent the next 2 hours talking with all of the 50+ hikers who showed up while we were there. Kris also brought along a guest book for people to sign and express their feelings (another fantastic detail provided by her). We could clearly see the flag on Monroe, but could not see any flag on Adams or Washington (Washington’s summit is obstructed by the observatory though). We sadly removed the flag and hardware at 2:10, packed it all up and started back down leaving without a trace. We all commented on how empty the summit looked.

On the way down, many people who were still heading up/down asked me what I was carrying (three 5 foot long , 2” dia pieces of PVC tubing duct taped together in a bundle). Jokingly, I told them things like; backcountry pole vault, musical instrument, extra plumbing from the outhouse we just installed on the summit, and a potato gun, which could launch 3 potatoes at the same time for about 1/2 a mile. After seeing those surprised faces, I quickly told them the truth… 😀

We headed to the Mooseland Grill afterwards to eat, :beer: , and be merry with many of the other hikers who participated in this event. We reminisced, took many pictures, traded names with faces, and one of the highlights of the evening is when Jaytrek showed up with a massive bag of flag bandanna’s and handed them out to everyone. There were nothing but positive comments and stories about everyone’s experiences, and we all can’t wait to do it again next year!

Sept 11th will never be forgotten….

[MichaelJ]

#49030

My friend Jenifer and I, after a Friday night stay at Guyot, got up to West Bond around 11:30am on Saturday. I was surprised at how warm it was up there, with just the shallowest of breezes. Up on the summit I found our friends John and June who we’d met a Guyot, another gentleman, and much to my shock and pleasant surprise, my coworker Tova and her husband Ron! What a great treat.

It was hot up there, with just a bit of a breeze. I quickly got the flag together and everyone helped my work out the guy lines. We looked around and between naked eyes and my small binoculars could see flags flying on Bondcliff, Carrigain, South Twin, Garfield, Lafayette, Lincoln, and Liberty!

Just past noon we gathered around to sing the national anthem, then relaxed and talked. A little after one o’clock, watching the clouds pour over Franconia Ridge and the Sandwich range, I decided that, given the 8+ mile slog back to the car, I had to disassemble a bit early. I met a number of people on the trail who had seen the flag from Bond or Bondcliff and were thrilled and thankful. The public knowledge of this year’s event was much more widespread than last year, and it felt great every time I’d see someone on the trail, and they’d recognize the flag bandanna on my head and the poles on my pack.

We didn’t even get back to the car until 7:15, just in time to not need headlamps, and I’m sorry to have missed so many who’d already left the Mooseland. But it was great to meet Jay and SilentCal and the folks who were still there.

Thanks to my friend Jenifer for helping out, and to the organizers, and to everyone who participated. We done good.
🙂

[Alpinista]

#49031

I don’t know why, but this year I found the event to be even more moving that last year. I hope we keep this tradition up, because it truly helps me reflect on what happened two years ago and on where we’re going forward as a nation. I hiked up with a co-worker, Sylvia, and two friends, Basil and Julie (aka Cantdog), and got to the summit right around noon. Just before reaching the summit, I ran into Mike, who had sent me an email just the night before volunteering to bring a 10-foot pole — just the right size to fly a massive flag another friend had lent to me. It was like kismet since I’d never met Mike before (aka Sticks), and would not have been able to fly this massive flag without a suitable-sized pole. Julie and Basil hoisted the flag ala Iwo Jima, and we were blessed with just enough wind to keep it gently flapping and unfurling in the wind. It was incredibly hot on the summit and I now am sporting a pretty bad sunburn, but I wouldn’t have missed this for all the world.

From atop the peak, I dictated some information and quotes to the AP. At the Mooseland later that night, I was lucky enough to have run into Gail Linehan, who graciously agreed to be interviewed for the article. I hope the story did this day justice.

Thanks to everyone who participated. It was a great day to reflect –and I also enjoyed meeting so many of you at the Mooseland.

Let us never forget …

[SilentCal]

#49032

Grace and myself actually started to plan this hike after last year’s event. I remember mentioning to our friend Jayne, “Wouldn’t it be cool to finish our 48 and carry the flag as well”. The day started off with a pit stop at Lafayette Campground to wish Jaytrek a good day and then we drove to the Signal Ridge trailhead. Upon taking the pole out of the truck, another couple thanked us for being the flagbearers for the mountain. We trudged up Signal Ridge and stopped at the viewpoint 1/2 mile from the summit. From there Grace raced to the summit. I plodded and arrived soon after and our flag was raised at about 11:45. The couple from the parking lot(Tim and Vicki) gave us high fives and we began to pose for photos with the flag. We began at noon to search for flags and North Hancock jumped right out at us. (Good job Jayne!!) We are pretty sure that we saw the one on Jackson as well. Soon we had about 35 people on the tower and many read the mission statement and event history and commented on what a wonderful idea it was. Many people said “thank you” and had other nice things to say. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up. We made our way down and over to the Mooseland grill. We saw some old faces from last year in Marianne, Jayne and Frodo. We were delighted in the company of Mtnmagic, Skye, Laura, Wendy, Lisa, Stephen, MichealJ, Max, and Jaytrek. (sorry if I forgot anyone). I hope someone can post the group photo that was taken. Overall we thourghly enjoyed the event and the camaderie that goes along with it. Count me for next year!

[LOMU]

#49033

Ahh-yupp! Well it’s nice to know you have dependable help…not. Team LOMU turned into LOMU, lonely LOMU. I had to do a quick reassessment of my flag pole design. I determined that my design from last year was too much to carry. I dug through my gear and found that my tarp pole would work perfect if doubled up. I found the hike annihilating; I over packed in anticipation of poor weather and could have gotten better sleep (so, stupid!). Something about thinking your running way late and being in trees constantly makes progress seem slow. A funny part was right around the time that I was getting discouraged, I stopped for a breather. In the process of reaching for my water I dropped a trekking pole which disturbed the largest bees nest I have ever heard. Well nothing like the vision of having a beard of bees to kick start your pace. I envisioned the movie “My Girl”, and those episodes of Tom and Jerry involving bees in a formation of an arrow. Anyways after emerging from tree line it turned into a fantastic hike, I can’t complain about the weather and I was dedicated to the cause. I got nothing, but positive feed back even from the US Park Ranger that was at the summit. He snapped a photo and told me he appreciated what we were doing (he had already known about the event.). I saw, no other flags on any peaks and started wondering if I had the right day. After an hour of flag flying I descended, a truly awesome day. Stopped by the Moose Land Grill at about 5:30 and the place was empty, 4 cars max. I waited for about 20 min. and boogied back home. Great Job People! Great Job America!

Log: I started up Valleyway at about 9:15 (a little late), but Frodo insisted 3 hrs was plenty of time. You were right on dude!

I peaked at approx. 12:15 let several people know what the cause was and all found it to quote one person “inspiring”.

I began my decent at approx. 1:20 stopping only for water. Hammered down and got to my car at 4:25.

[trackstand]

#49034

Ct. Trampers: Cuzin Tommy posting for our leader Al-dog (on a 3 day solo over the Carters). The six of us hit the trail by 8:00, this years crew included Sarah, Tim, Jim, Doug, Al, and me. We headed up Falling Waters trail, and had a beautiful hike, that got even better when we arrived at the top of Haystack, the views where incredible 😀 . We also had many “whats the pvc for?” type questions, our replies ranged from, plumbing for an outhouse, to the worlds longest bong 😮 😀 . When we finally told people what we where doing we received much praise!!!

We arrived earlier than planned and had the flag up by 11:30 and after a few adjustements we had it back up by 11:45!!! Most people where very receptive to the idea and we received many, THANK-YOU’s.. I wish we had someone as smart as Kris (from Mt. Jefferson) and we brought a log book. There where many people with kind words and it would have been nice to have there words to share with all of you.

We were able to see the flag from Mt Laffette w/the naked eye and w/ binoculars Garfield and West Bond (GREAT JOB ) :wink:. At around 1:30 we where paid a visit from our flag neighbors, from Mt. Laffette, :beer: stopped by to say hello. Soon after they left there was a break in traffic, so we dropped the pole, and tossed it off into the woods!!! 😮 Just KIDDING, the naturalist was concerned about us hiking out our pole and made it a point to ask everyone in our group the same question,”what are you going to do with that pole when your finished?” We assured him we where going to hike it all out, and we did, we need the pole for many years to come, the Ct Trampers are hooked on this event.

SORRY we missed the gathering at the Mooseland, but time and location didn’t permit us to make the trip. We will be there next year!!!!!!!!!
To everyone who arranged and participated in this event GREAT JOB and the Ct. Trampers thank all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :beer: 8)

[MtnMagic]

#49035

Sky says, “I want to say thank you to Greg, SilentCal, Kathy, Wendy,The8er, Frodo and the crew, and say I was so glad to meet those at the Grill – well done!”
She can’t logon right now. So I’m posting her words and a few of mine.

From me,
____________________
The second best part of the day was meeting all of you!

[MARI]

#49036

Me and my friend Dawna started the morning at the Osceola trail head around 9:00. Many hikers coming down the trail wondered about the “bag pipes” sticking out of my pack! When we reached the summit of Osceola first, a few hikers at the summit had been awaiting the arrival of the flag. This was really neat, but I explained I was headed over to East Osceola. “You better get moving then! Its almost time!” When we reached the summit of East, I couldn’t decide if I should hang the flag on the summit or at a better lookout post. I scrambled out to the lookout off to the west, and rigged up the pole to the tallest tree I could get to. A very nice man stopped to help us , as we had to pass the flag out to this rock ledge over some bushes and shorter trees. Many hikers stopped to ask questions and just say Thank you. It was wonderful to talk to people, and hear their reflections . I handed out the mission statement also.
Other hikers came through remarking that our flag was very visible from Osceola, however around 1:00, the fog rolled in thick! We caught glimpses of red,white and blue on Osceola. We did not get over to Osceola in time to see the flag there.
We later stopped in twin mountain for much needed shower! Then headed to the Mooseland Grill to meet up with familiar faces and some new ones. It was nice to meet Mtn Magic, and the8re! Before my meal, I read over some of the passages from the notebook Little Bear had on Jefferson. This was a wonderful idea…it brought the whole meaning back down to earth for me.
Thank you to everyone organizing the event! Greg, the8re and Frodo! I will be there in 2004 – and maybe like Cathy and Silent Cal, will make my “48” on that date. Pictures will be coming soon, but I had a disposal digital camera and the disk takes a few days – bummer. Go to

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID

for a wonderful story on Elizabeth Kovalcin, the story is titled “Leaning Forward”.

[Greg]

#49037

@Alpinista wrote:

From atop the peak, I dictated some information and quotes to the AP. At the Mooseland later that night, I was lucky enough to have run into Gail Linehan, who graciously agreed to be interviewed for the article. I hope the story did this day justice.

I thought the AP article was great! My only suggestion would have been to include the Flags on the 48 Web address so people could easily find all the images from the event. It was a very well-written article though. For those that haven’t read the article yet, CLICK HERE.

[Greg]

#49038

@MARI wrote:

Go to

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID

for a wonderful story on Elizabeth Kovalcin, the story is titled “Leaning Forward”.

I think you need to be a subscriber to see it. Can someone post the text to the article here? Is that okay to do?

[MtnMagic]

#49039

I can’t read either Mari’s from the Nashua telegraph or Alpinista’s at Boston.com, Geesh. The pages have been moved or no longer exist. Hope someone photocopied them and will post.

[Greg]

#49040

@MtnMagic wrote:

I can’t read either Mari’s from the Nashua telegraph or Alpinista’s at Boston.com, Geesh. The pages have been moved or no longer exist. Hope someone photocopied them and will post.

This article is an excerpt from Lisa’s AP story:

http://www.mountainear.com/news/newsstories/03F6342B7D.nclk

[MtnMagic]

#49041

Very well written excerpt. Thank you!

[Author]

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