My name is Mercede Pimentel, but please call me Sadie. It is my preferred name and saves you a few syllables I suppose. I'll start by saying I completed my New Hampshire 48 on Mount Moriah. Not by choice but because that is sort of how all my plans ended up working out. Moriah was an up and down, up and down experience the entire way up the trail, but I don't regret it at all. I had a fantastic group of the most amazing people with me that day - all of which I was lucky enough to meet on the trails finishing my 48 goals.
I started my New Hampshire 48 completely by accident. When I finally heard about this list, I decided to make it a goal of mine, starting with the summits I had already done before making the list my goal. I won't say this is one of the hardest goals I've ever experienced as I've been through a lot, but hiking all of the 4,000 footers was by far the most enjoyable & mentally challenging!
It was tough at times as some of the hikes I had endured really made me question my sanity, or perhaps even why I was up there climbing mountains in the first place. The overnight backpacking trip to Wildcats, and the following day heading up to the Carters, is an experience I'll never forget. It was my first experience crying and in terrible pain with a blown-out foot. I had never been so impatient and angry at mother nature in my life until that moment. But with the help of a fantastic friend, we made it out okay, and after one night off my blown-out foot, I was back at it and hiking again with just as much love as always! Yes, even after an injury & a lot of curse words getting off the backpacking traverse.
That experience taught me that is so easy to live in the moment in the Whites, and even on the worst day when you think you hate what you're doing because it's hard or it hurts, you still really love it immensely after each hike when you reach each summit, and when you make it down with the soreness that speaks for such a wonderful accomplishment! I never thought I would be writing my story, telling you all about my experience because I finished the New Hampshire 48. And here I am proud as ever of myself and of anyone else who loves those trails as much as I do. I'll end this with a few of my absolute favorite hikes that I did, some so much I did them several times forgetting I had a list to finish. So here it goes, Mount Lafayette, Mount Peirce, Mount Eisenhower, Mount Cabot because I did it solo and broke my own personal hiking time that day at about 2 hrs. And who doesn't love that adorable little cabin?.. The Bonds.. all of them!! Those summits are beautiful!! Mount Carrigain and of course Mount Moriah because I had such a wonderful crew for my 48 finisher !!!
Thank you, AMC for everything you do maintaining those trails and educating others to love nature and respect it as much as humanly possible. I am so grateful and so grateful for my entire experience doing all 48 summits. Another BIG thank you to Minus33 for gearing me up for all 48 summits and leading and supporting my adventure with some of the most fantastic wool products I’ve used to venture into the wilderness in the White Mountains national forest.
Taking on this project for myself was incredible and it led me to some fantastic people, along with my own thoughts, learning something new about myself with each ascent made. I learned that sometimes I have no patience for very much when I'm hungry, that after a long day sometimes I can still be in the most fantastic mood and other times not. That being “prepared” isn't a light-hearted saying, it's a very real definition in the white mountains and shouldn't be taken for granted. I figured out that some of my best meals (although cheap, crappy food usually) turned out to be some of my favorites at the summits with views. I could go on all day but finally I also learned that saying silly things like “ only half a mile to go “ doesn't mean much up there. That could be one hell of a half mile in my opinion. I can thank Bonds and Owls head for that realization.
Blog written by Sadie Pimentel for Minus33