Moosilauke on my Birthday

For my 28th birthday, I wanted to hike. Luckily, my friend Caitlin had recently quit her job to go hike the AT and so I caught her before she left with some time off to go with me. The weather was not ideal, but we caught a brake in the rain. She brought along her pup, Vaida, who’s not so much of a puppy anymore, and is in fact settling into her 10 years on the trail. She made it halfway up, but Caitlin thought it best to turn back with her. Since we know this trail very well, Rye and I went along to the summit. There were a couple of small patches of crunchy snow just enough to let us know we’d made it someplace different than where we started. Though there were no views, I always enjoy a walk along the usually-windy Moosilauke ridge, and this day didn’t disappoint. We stopped long enough to put on mittens, eat a snack, and take some reluctant selfies, then we headed back down the trail. It was slower going than I remember because the trail is quite technical without all the snow smoothing things out. We passed on AT through hiker heading North and I thought of Caitlin and he passing in just a few weeks once she’s heading South on the very same trail.