Mount Parker
Submitted by Pat
Stats
Mountain: Mount Parker (3,004)
Date: July 2, 2017
Weather: Warm, humid
Miles: 7.8
Elevation Gain: 2,800
Trail: Langdon Trail — Parker Trail
We plan to climb Mt. Parker after a Saturday of storms that produced heavy rain, some flooding up north, roads washed out and all streams and rivers are running high. I see on the topo map that the trail for today – Langdon Trail – has at least one water crossing. I do more research to see if I can learn more about the water crossing but come up empty. Originally, we thought about a car spot and trying to bad both Mt. Resolution and Mt. Parker, over 11 miles, but as think about it I feel it’s too much to ask of my unfit body and suggest we climb one or the other but not both.
Nancy is supportive and willing to change plans. We decide to meet at the intersection of Rtes. 25 and 16. Nancy arrives at 7:00 am for our 7:30 am meeting time. Great to see her smiling face. We load her gear into my car and head north. We take the West Side Road to skirt the traffic up Conway’s main drag. Slow and scenic. We pass the strawberry farm and agree if they’re open on our way back we will stop and buy some fresh berries.
We stop at the Sunshine Shack for breakfast. Nearly all the tables are taken and people are standing around outside waiting for a table. We luck out and grab two empty seats at the bar. The coffee was decent but I didn’t finish my mug. I order what they call a Carnie – a bowl of griddle potatoes, scrambled eggs, American cheese, mushrooms and spring onions. It is tasty but I can’t finish it, which is very unusual for me on a hike morning.
I feel full, thick with food, when we put on boots and packs at the Mt. Langdon trailhead. The trail is a thin ribbon of eroded earth with water flowing lustily down the incline. The Swift River across the street runs high and brown. The air is dense with humidity and every tree branch, rock, root, and blade of grass drips with dew.
I lead off, sensing that my time as the lead hiker will be short. I feel good and strong when we start out, but with close to 3,000 feet of elevation gain I doubt I’ll be able to maintain a decent pace. We start climbing immediately and sweat drips off my nose, my chin, my elbows. I drink often and deeply, but it still feels like I’m barely hydrating.
Maybe a mile into the hike, when the trail steepens, I realize I feel lousy, emotionally and physically. Breathing hard, fatigue seeps into my quads with every passing half hour. I fall behind and although Nancy waits for me, I have to stop often to drink or wipe the sweat off my face. The insects aren’t a nightmare, but there are enough of them buzzing around me to bring out the Ben’s. We stop so I can get my breath back and I try and describe how I feel – the difficulty breathing and the fatigue. My neck and back are stiff coming into this hike and the tension in those muscles increases the farther we move up the mountain.
This difficulty hiking when I’m not very fit has been an issue from the beginning of our hiking together. I did well in the early years and didn’t start struggling until late 2009 after we finished the 100 Highest. Nancy says she thinks my current difficulty is caused by the extra 20 pounds I am carrying. I know all that weight can’t be good for my knees and maybe my current struggle really is my extra weight.
We reach a high point on the climb and start a long descent before climbing up again. I know I’m going to hate climbing a serious amount of the trail on the way back, but I know worrying about it is a useless waste of energy.
We reach the intersection of the Langdon Trail and turn left up the Parker Trail. 1.4 miles to the summit of Mt. Parker. The trail undulates through the forest, offering a variety of terrain. Some of it easier but mostly it feels like a slog. I know my frustration and physical discomfort is putting a damper on my enjoyment of the hike. Turning around isn’t an option for me.
The summit, which we reach at noon, offers incredible views from the southern White Mountains looking north toward the Presidentials with Mt. Jackson off to our left. It feels fantastic to take my pack off and stop moving. We have a beautiful, open summit to ourselves. Sitting on rocks continues to be one of my least favorite parts of hiking, so I’m up and down a lot as we eat lunch. The one clementine I pick out and eat is flavorless and stringy. The sandwich – chicken salad – tastes totally unappealing so I eat potato chips and a granola bar instead.
Reluctantly we leave the summit at 12:45 pm and start down. While I can maintain a decent pace when the trail is relatively flat, my knees begin to hurt with every deep step down. The effort makes me work hard enough that I begin sweating again. So much for the dry shirt I put on at the summit. We are quiet as we descend. We usually are quiet, having talked on the way up, sealing the connection, and don’t need to talk just to fill the silence. The sounds, the bird songs, the wind ruffling the leaves on the trees – all that is more than enough.
We are lucky. We only see two other hikers on our way up. Nice folks who are working on their 48. We also see a group of three with heavy packs on heading to the Langdon lean-to shelter. Most of the day we are alone together. I talk a little about how I feel, trying to figure out if there is something I can do differently next week. Mostly I keep to myself, resting occasionally for 30-40 seconds to catch my breath and move on. Every step is taking me closer to sitting down, a cold drink, the incredible feeling of peace I feel after a hike.
How much of my physical discomfort is exacerbated by inner frustration with my body and anxiety because I don’t believe that I will ever get past struggling on a hike?