The view of the hike that kicked my ass

**Wicked Dark** · 08-02-2010, 09:06 AM

Our mountains may not be the tallest in the world, but hiking in the White Mountains in NH will make you work for it. Unlike other places like Utah, Arizona and parts of California, Washington and Colorado, hiking in New England is destination hiking. Meaning you will toil long and hard before there is much of a view. Oh sure there are waterfalls and brooks, but views are few and far between. You've got to get above or beyond the treeline for that. Most of the trails are stream beds and rocky in the extreme (they don't call this The Granite State for nothing). In some months it's wet, buggy and cold. Or alternately wet, buggy and miserably humid.

So why do it?

For this.

Mt. Jackson is a little over 4000 feet and steep as hell. There are no flat parts on the trail that last over a minute. It's up and more up. We took the Jackson-Webster loop which meant coming down off this summit for a bit, crossing a ridge and climbing up to another 4000 footer. Kicked. My. Ass.

More to come.

**Marko** · 08-02-2010, 09:41 AM

Nice set WD - Nice work on maintaining all that highlight detail in the clouds.

**Wicked Dark** · 08-02-2010, 02:11 PM

Thanks. I'm figuring out the thresholds slowly but surely.

**Mad Aussie** · 08-02-2010, 04:23 PM

I can imagine how majestic those views are after such hard work to get there.

Hope your ass is ok.

**Bambi** · 08-02-2010, 07:57 PM

well worth the kick in the ass if it yields this result!!

**Wicked Dark** · 08-02-2010, 08:28 PM

thanks guys. I'm so sore today I'm on a diet of ibuprofen and white wine.

Here's a rare view of a flat spot on the ridge between the two mountains. It took about a minute to get through here and then it was either up or down.

**JAS_Photo** · 08-02-2010, 09:32 PM

Very nice series!

**Mad Aussie** · 08-03-2010, 04:57 AM

Love that green moss near the planks. Nice shot too.

**Wicked Dark** · 08-03-2010, 07:45 AM

Thanks guys. I'm still sore, but here's a few more -

It wasn't really a photography hike if you know what I mean. Too much difficult ground to cover (7 miles) and I was using poles so the camera stayed in the pack a lot, but I think I got some good shots when it came out. I've got one of the most steep part, but need to process it.