White Mountains in Review

Why have we never heard of this place? How is it that we don't know anyone that's ever been here before? These questions and many more we were continually asking each other throughout the whole trip. It was amazing. The area is incredible. It's only a 4 1/2 hour drive from Lubbock to the trailhead. We saw only one couple up on the mountain after we got out of the range of the dayhikers. The weather was perfect. The views were stunning. I really just can't believe that we've never heard of this area before. We'll be going back often I think.









This was only Mandi's second backpacking trip ever but she handled it like a pro. She even outdid me by not passing out for a few minutes Saturday morning. That part is still a mystery. One minute I was working on making coffee, the next minute Ryan kicked me to wake me back up. That was a new experience for me. Our best guess is maybe I stood up too fast, cause the blood which was already low on oxygen to flee the brain and the brain decided to shut down for a minute or two. Fun game, but no harm no foul. Aside from that the trip was just a walk through the Firs, Aspens, alpine meadows, and ridgline trails. It was a beautiful hike. Luke, you've really gotta check this place out. Shame on you for not being the one to tell me about it. You're supposed to be the big brother. It's your job to find these places and tell me about them. So anyway, after my episode Saturday morning we hiked up this beautiful little valley you see to your left and then climbed to to that ridge to reach the crest trail. Which has views like the one to the right for, I've read, its whole 22 mile stretch. One day maybe we'll find out for sure. That one's on the list thought. White Mountain Wilderness 22 mile Crest Trail. Now all we need to do is find the time. We walked along the crest trail for the rest of the day while being followed the whole way by a rather nasty looking storm which is pretty typical for that time of day in the mountains. As it turned out though the storm barely missed us and ended up pounding Riudoso with a few inches of hail. We found a pretty swank campsite that night that had a fire ring, some flat ground for the tents, and even an old metal horse trough that we used as a bench. You can see the beginnings of that storm in the picture to the left. After our second night we woke up and spend a very short half day hiking back down to the car and by noon we had it packed up, our clothes changed, and we were on our way to Riudoso for some much needed real food. That always seems to be the most pleasurable part about coming off the mountain. Ryan had a burger you wouldn't believe, I had enchiladas and tacos, and Mandi had a huge burrito. After all of that food we decided that we still weren't done. Mandi, as resourceful as she is, overheard directions to an ice cream shop a little down the street from our restaurant and so we went to check it out. We went to the wrong one without knowing it, but accidentally got the best five dollar banana split I've ever had. This is another place we will return to. That was our trip. We're looking forward to the next one.