Jim, Rick, Mark and myself met at the Flume Visitors Center in Franconia Notch on February 4 for a nice laid-back hike to Indian Head (also known as Mt. Pemigewasset). From the road down below, it does indeed look like an Indian chief, complete with the trees resembling a headdress. It was sunny and cold at 20 degrees.

Mt. Lafayette (5260 ft.) is part of the Franconia Range. It ranks second among the ranges in NH's White Mtns. only in elevation. We parked at the Bridal Path Trail-head in the Franconia Notch by 9am Saturday morning.

Ya gotta love winter. The fourth season transforms our highest peaks into wind-scoured alpine islands of snow and ice, as spectacular as they are challenging. The first step in outfitting yourself with the basic mountaineering equipment that most high peaks demand, and that many challenging lower-elevation trails require: crampons and an ice axe.

(Waterville Valley, NH) GayOutdoors firmly believes in giving back to the community. That's why Jon Normand and Mike Boisvert (GayOutdoors, President) have decided to enter an agreement with the National Forest Service to adopt and maintain the Smarts Brook Trail near Waterville Valley, NH in the White Mountain National Forest. We hope that this act will encourage other gay outdoor enthusiasts to adopt trails in their area. 

We arrived at Monadnock State Park near 10 am, registered at the store, and prepared for the hike.  It was sunny with wind gusts around 31 mph.  We headed up on the White Dot Trail, the most direct route to the summit. The trail was completely iced over so we put on our crampons in the parking lot.  

Nine History Boys from Adventuring and/or Chrysalis mustered on an unreasonably mild December day to explore some near and far corners of Manassas battlefield.

Lost in the hype of Yosemite and Sequoia is the national park between them: Kings Canyon, the least overrun and pretty much unchanged for the last four decades.

From second skins to outerwear, here's how you can elevate layering to an art form this season in 7 easy pieces.

Tom Chase, Mark Laske, Chris Hewson, Don Arsenault, Rick McCurdy, Richard Corzo, Gary Wright, Jon Normand and I left the Livermore Road parking lot at about 11:30 am. There was about 8 inches of fresh powder on the ground.  So, off we shuffled up Livermore Road (which wasn't groomed for cross-country skiers.) The Tripyramids are unmistakable when we reached Depot Camp. 

Sometimes you just have to compromise your plans due to mother nature, but you have a great time anyway. With a  storm coming in the afternoon we made the obvious call to start an hour earlier than we planned at 7AM and see what we could do in less than ideal weather conditions. So Tom Chase, Mark Laske, Mark Legere, Rick McCurdy, Jon Normand and I went to see if we could actually summit. Tom and Mark were dying to see this "pressie weather" they often heard was all about --well they weren't let down!

At 3,155', a crown of solid rock forms the top of Mount Cardigan near Bristol, NH. Many reports detailing hikes of Mt. Cardigan seem to have a common thread. The hikers  are short on time and Cardigan can be a short hike. Approaching from the West in the Cardigan Mountain State Forest, the West Ridge Trail will lead you to the summit and back in a quick 3 mile round trip. We were interested in more of the rewards this mountain has to offer. Our approach was from the East starting at the AMC Cardigan Lodge. Six of us hiked Mt. Cardigan together. Rick, Jim, Chris, Don, Jon and me.

Portland's Adventure Group offers outdoor activities for the gay community. Their mission statement says it all: The "Adventure Group is a group of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals who promote a positive attitude about themselves through outdoor activities."

James, Jon and I got up nice and early Saturday morning in New Hampshire, around 6:30, and headed off to the Mt Washington valley. The drive over was not too bad, the Presidentials were socked in. We got to the trailhead around 8. Carter Dome (4,832 ft.) has a scrub fringed top with limited views. Mt. Hight (4,675 ft.) is a bare rock peak with the best views in the Carter Range.

(11/21/06) The Trilogy Challenge was an extremely challenging set of three hikes that was hosted by the hiking organization, Perfect Pace. Qualifying as a finisher of the Perfect Pace Trilogy Challenge required completing all three events within several weeks of each other and complying with rigid rules that were set for the challenge.