Today was one for the Record Books

Mad Adventures of MadDog and Mutha: WE TAPPED THAT. "Tapped" What? Great question. Hillman's Highway. No kidding.

We had bright blue skies - not a cloud to be seen anywere. Winds may have gusted as high as 3mph but I doubt we experienced anything that tremendous. Temperatures in the parking lot at Pinkham were probably 50°F at 9am and at the summit they reached about 40-45°F by midday, maybe higher, so above Tucks we were probably hiking in 50°F still air.

We decided not to summit, but instead play around at the top of all the ravines, watching skiers and just generally enjoying a terrific day out. We chatted with the folks at the top of Left Gully, which I have to say is pretty darned steep. Pics are posted.

Mutha's Report:

At Pinkham, MD notes that forgot his crampons. The First Fatality
New plan: still do the Hillman's/Lion's Head loop, but MD can use my crampons.

At Pinkham, MD notes that he forgot his sunglasses. New plan: MD borrows my sunglasses, but then breaks them in the prep room. New New plan: MD and I go upstairs and buy new sunglasses in the shop.

The ascent up Hillman's was most memorable because wearing crampons caused MD pain in the knee when he kicked in. The solution? BAREBOOT HILLMAN'S! (That's why they call him Mad Dog!)

I chose a route at the top MD Tops The Pucker
that included a great pucker-licious climb over a hump in the outcrops. It was steep enough that you couldn't see over it when looking back down. The photo at the right is Mad Dog topping out over the pucker. I had to enlarge his image. To appreciate this, click on the pic to zoom, and appreciate that Mad Dog has 1,500ft of open valley down to the cabin.

The avi runout at the bottom of Hillman's is impressive. Pics to follow tonight.

Lion's Head Descent: Human ping-pong. MadDog will confirm: above Heather's, it was unrecognizable.

MadDog's Report:

Another custom designed delight for all the senses (including non) by Mutha. And pucker-up I did. The "yeeeaaaah Baby" crowd was out in force. At one point the waterboy who joined us says to me, "hey, that guy is incredible!" So I am forced to leave my own little drama on the last pitch, and I look up to see Mutha sprinting on a near vertical face. Oh yeah, I said, that's MUTHA, he's a MONSTA. Then 2 mins later I realize that the above-mentioned sprinter was supposed to be cutting me steps - on the steepest section. So what do I find, nothing but two little entries from his front points. Bastid!


Yes, throwing stuff into a bag on couple of sleep can lead to interesting times at the trail head. But why tap? Let me just say this...half way up the highway, MZ and MD are engaged in deep conversation of vernaculars - the context was in academic settings. Somehow, the conversation drifted (i.e., sunk) to tap. Now, you might be shocked to learn this but Mutha's voice is like his legs, it has the ability to travel great distances - with ease. So no sound suppression was in place for the tap conversation. Later on the climber Waterboy (Mutha can explain him) joins us. And as we take a rest on the climb, I'm looking for some empirical data on the tap topic, from Waterboy. So I put the question to him about it's use, popularity, longevity, etc. To which he replies two things. First, it was something he used to say when he was in the 8th grade - rut roh. Second, there's no need to give him background on the conversation that led to it all, because (thanks to Mutha's ability to project his voice), every climber and skier in Tucks heard the conversation. I laughed so hard I nearly came out of me steps and went sailing down the highway. You just can't make this shit up!