Review
I'm a huge fan of Laudizen King! I've read "The White Mountain Chronicles" at least a 1/2 dozen times. You can't imagine how much I can relate to this work.
I enjoy his writing style and the way he speaks of the White Mountains and the time he spent there. I share so many of his sentiments about the area, but one that stands out most to me is his thoughts on hiking alone, "I'd rather hike alone than share the mountains with someone who does not appreciate them the way that I do".
I'm a bit embarrassed by it, but I often think how great it would be to have a hiking partner like him, someone who loves the whole mountain experience: the drive up as the weight of the world starts to leave your shoulders, the satisfaction of a long hard hike, the pleasure of a warm camp fire and cold beer afterwards, gazing at the stars from a tent in Dolly Copp, and all of the other great things that come with the mountain experience.
I actually just stayed at Dolly Copp on Sunday night before hiking King Ravine on Monday and was thinking of this book. I'm curious what his favorite site was. I was putting up my tent in the rain, remembering the story 'May Camp', of arriving late in the evening at Dolly Copp, and getting his tarp set up in the rain. His writings are so vivid that it's impossible to be in the area and not recall a story or two of his about the area you're in.
Laudizen King's writings mean a lot to me. I think you will enjoy them as well. When your schedule, the weather, or life in general won't let you be in the mountains, Laudizen King's writings are the next best thing to being there yourself!
Brian McCarthy 5 Stars
I enjoy his writing style and the way he speaks of the White Mountains and the time he spent there. I share so many of his sentiments about the area, but one that stands out most to me is his thoughts on hiking alone, "I'd rather hike alone than share the mountains with someone who does not appreciate them the way that I do".
I'm a bit embarrassed by it, but I often think how great it would be to have a hiking partner like him, someone who loves the whole mountain experience: the drive up as the weight of the world starts to leave your shoulders, the satisfaction of a long hard hike, the pleasure of a warm camp fire and cold beer afterwards, gazing at the stars from a tent in Dolly Copp, and all of the other great things that come with the mountain experience.
I actually just stayed at Dolly Copp on Sunday night before hiking King Ravine on Monday and was thinking of this book. I'm curious what his favorite site was. I was putting up my tent in the rain, remembering the story 'May Camp', of arriving late in the evening at Dolly Copp, and getting his tarp set up in the rain. His writings are so vivid that it's impossible to be in the area and not recall a story or two of his about the area you're in.
Laudizen King's writings mean a lot to me. I think you will enjoy them as well. When your schedule, the weather, or life in general won't let you be in the mountains, Laudizen King's writings are the next best thing to being there yourself!
Brian McCarthy 5 Stars
Product Description
This is a work of creative nonfiction by Laudizen King: stories, memoirs, and essays of travel and adventure that celebrate the human spirit. 'The White Mountain Chronicles' is a volume of 25 stories that celebrate the author's two decades of adventure in the mountains of New Hampshire. From Monadnock in the south to the White Mountains in the north, these memoirs and stories capture the fleeting moments of a New Hampshire life: from friendships forged on the trail to nights of revelry, from dangerous water crossings to winter storms, and all the strange memories and events that make the experience whole.
The volume begins with 'My AMC White Mountain Guides', the author's homage to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a story that ends with a poignant bit of graffiti found by the author years earlier.
That story is followed by 'May Camp', an appreciation of setting up camp in a driving rain, a task made joyous so long as it means being back in the White Mountains.
Many adventures follow: from wild nights on the trail to hot summer treks, from the humor of the 'Golden Girls' to the discovery of red flannel hash, from frigid winter outings to the camaraderie of the High Huts, from the last motorcycle ride to the shadow of Monadnock.
In 'Mt Garfield Dream', the author and a companion ascend the Garfield Ridge in a May rainstorm, enduring a frigid and dangerous water crossing on the way. After reaching the ridge, they continue their ascent toward Garfield Shelter, negotiating the steep climb up the rocky cone of Mt Garfield as the freezing runoff from the rain cascades down the trail like an icy waterfall. As they climb wet and frozen, the rain turns to a blinding driven snow, yet more wonder awaits them higher up the mountain.
'Out of the Fog' is a collection of strange happenings compiled over eighteen years on the trail in New Hampshire.
In 'The 48 Summits', the author describes the haphazard way in which he came to climb all of the 4000' peaks in New Hampshire, and gives special mention to those awe-inspiring places he visited numerous times over the years, such as Mt Moosilauke, a peak he climbed twenty times.
These unique stories are filled with the author's love and respect for New Hampshire; this collection is unlike anything available on the market today.
Enjoy!
(approx 61,800 words)
Chapters
My AMC White Mountain Guides
May Camp
Red Flannel Hash
In the Shadow of Monadnock
Carter Notch in Winter, the First Trip
Through the Past Darkly with Sven Saws and Candle Lanterns
Winter Night at Hermit Lake
How Things Come to Pass
Second Sojourn
Camp 16
Ghosts and Summits
Golden Girls
Pilgrimage
Mt Garfield Dream
Closing Galehead
Remembering Ray Evans, 1909-2001
Mountain Pond and Carter Dome
Riddle of New Hampshire
Mt Carrigain Trilogy
On the Garfield Ridge with Jack Kerouac
Out of the Fog
Interlude
Saco River Idylls
Franconia One
The 48 Summits
The volume begins with 'My AMC White Mountain Guides', the author's homage to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, a story that ends with a poignant bit of graffiti found by the author years earlier.
That story is followed by 'May Camp', an appreciation of setting up camp in a driving rain, a task made joyous so long as it means being back in the White Mountains.
Many adventures follow: from wild nights on the trail to hot summer treks, from the humor of the 'Golden Girls' to the discovery of red flannel hash, from frigid winter outings to the camaraderie of the High Huts, from the last motorcycle ride to the shadow of Monadnock.
In 'Mt Garfield Dream', the author and a companion ascend the Garfield Ridge in a May rainstorm, enduring a frigid and dangerous water crossing on the way. After reaching the ridge, they continue their ascent toward Garfield Shelter, negotiating the steep climb up the rocky cone of Mt Garfield as the freezing runoff from the rain cascades down the trail like an icy waterfall. As they climb wet and frozen, the rain turns to a blinding driven snow, yet more wonder awaits them higher up the mountain.
'Out of the Fog' is a collection of strange happenings compiled over eighteen years on the trail in New Hampshire.
In 'The 48 Summits', the author describes the haphazard way in which he came to climb all of the 4000' peaks in New Hampshire, and gives special mention to those awe-inspiring places he visited numerous times over the years, such as Mt Moosilauke, a peak he climbed twenty times.
These unique stories are filled with the author's love and respect for New Hampshire; this collection is unlike anything available on the market today.
Enjoy!
(approx 61,800 words)
Chapters
My AMC White Mountain Guides
May Camp
Red Flannel Hash
In the Shadow of Monadnock
Carter Notch in Winter, the First Trip
Through the Past Darkly with Sven Saws and Candle Lanterns
Winter Night at Hermit Lake
How Things Come to Pass
Second Sojourn
Camp 16
Ghosts and Summits
Golden Girls
Pilgrimage
Mt Garfield Dream
Closing Galehead
Remembering Ray Evans, 1909-2001
Mountain Pond and Carter Dome
Riddle of New Hampshire
Mt Carrigain Trilogy
On the Garfield Ridge with Jack Kerouac
Out of the Fog
Interlude
Saco River Idylls
Franconia One
The 48 Summits
