Trailblazer

Columbus Day weekend: 2006. The last hike of the year turns out to be the most beautiful day for a hike. In celebration of a GK sister's 43rd birthday, a group of 12 met at the base of Mt. Liberty in NH and climbed a 4460+ footer. This was also Sabrina's first hike. It is approximately 2.6 miles to the top and I was very leary that she would make it. At only 4.5 months, I was worried she wouldn't know when to stop; that her young joints and muscles just wouldn't be able to take the 3 hour hike up. But hike she did, and with ease. In fact, not only did she hike up, but she would run up and down the path, darting back and forth between us hikers, keeping us in a pack. If someone stopped hiking, she would begin to whine. It was amazing to see her little pack dog instinct kick in. I thought it was just something Riley used to do, but here was little Sabrina making it her job to see that everyone stayed together and kept hiking.
The trail was tough but picturesque none-the-less. When we reached the top, the view was breathtaking. Atop our summit, we could see the tops of all the neighboring mountains. Some summits we have even climbed before: Flume, Green Leaf Hut, etc. We gathered, we ate, we basked in the sun, and we laughed.
We even got a professional photographer to take our photo!There was no breeze this particular day at the summit and I wanted to stay there and take a nap. Sabrina certainly found a comfy place to catch a snooze. One GK sister presented the birthday girl with a bottle of Irish Cream she had carried all the way up the mountain! Cheers to the birthday girl!
As the rest of the party hiked down, my mountain man and I hiked .6 miles back down to the Liberty Springs campsite where we were going to stay the night. We took platform #8. After setting up camp, we headed over to the outlook to watch the sunset. As night set in, we prepared our meals, tent-side on a little Jet Boil. Jeffrey brought freeze-dried lasagna and meat sauce. I had a little Miso and Tofu instant noodle cup. Anything at this point looked delicious. Little Sabrina was so tired even a spoonful of her Mediterranean Banquet in front of her nose couldn't wake her up. After dinner, a little bedtime tea and we were ready for bed. The night was unseasonably warm, around the 40s. By 5am, before the sun rose, Sabrina was up and ready to go again. Finally by 7am we were up, packed, and began our descent. It took us only 1.5 hours but the trail was steep and rocky. When we reached our car there was great sense of accomplishment. Jeffrey is proud that I have finally gone backpacking with him, though it is a bit embarassing to say that he pretty much carried *everything*. And really, I mean everything. It was quite an amazing feat. I could barely even lift this pack.
Unfortunately, Sabrina's first hike was absent of Riley. We let him stay home to get extra rest and not aggravate his knee (or good knee for that matter). A kind neighbor came over to let him out and spend a little tummy-scratching time with him. I wish he could have hiked with us, with our new little trailblazer Sabrina. He would have liked that.