Peaking at 90
September 30, 2015 7:56 AM Subscribe
Richard Dreselly first hiked to the top of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire in 1941. He has since hiked the 6288 foot summit seventeen times. Now at 90, he climbed for what he says will be his last time.
A simple story.
A simple story.
And now I really can't justify skipping my afternoon run. Very inspiring.
posted by Fizz at 8:12 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 8:12 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wow. Good for him!
What the article really doesn't get into is that he didn't just climb to the summit of Washington, he traversed the entire Southern Presidential range. That's why it took him three days. That's pretty impressive. There are much shorter ways to climb Mt. Washington, though none of them are easy. He did it the long way, though it may actually have been easier for him to do it that way rather than a one day push like most people do.
People often scoff at our mountains, or "mountains" as they call them, but Mt. Washington or any of the Presidentials can be brutal any time of the year. The trails are hard and often dangerous and the weather can be notoriously bad.
I don't know how many times I have been on my way down and I pass people on the way up, late in the day. They'll ask me how far to the summit, expecting I'll say "Oh ten minutes or so" but instead I'll truthfully say "You probably have another two or three hours to go." a few people have started crying when I've told them that. That mountain can kick your ass.
I hope I can still get there when I'm 60, much less 90.
posted by bondcliff at 8:14 AM on September 30, 2015 [7 favorites]
What the article really doesn't get into is that he didn't just climb to the summit of Washington, he traversed the entire Southern Presidential range. That's why it took him three days. That's pretty impressive. There are much shorter ways to climb Mt. Washington, though none of them are easy. He did it the long way, though it may actually have been easier for him to do it that way rather than a one day push like most people do.
People often scoff at our mountains, or "mountains" as they call them, but Mt. Washington or any of the Presidentials can be brutal any time of the year. The trails are hard and often dangerous and the weather can be notoriously bad.
I don't know how many times I have been on my way down and I pass people on the way up, late in the day. They'll ask me how far to the summit, expecting I'll say "Oh ten minutes or so" but instead I'll truthfully say "You probably have another two or three hours to go." a few people have started crying when I've told them that. That mountain can kick your ass.
I hope I can still get there when I'm 60, much less 90.
posted by bondcliff at 8:14 AM on September 30, 2015 [7 favorites]
bondcliff: ...but Mt. Washington or any of the Presidentials can be brutal any time of the year. The trails are hard and often dangerous and the weather can be notoriously bad.
We have driven up from Rhode Island with the Boy Scouts the past three Septembers to climb one or two of the White Mountains' "4000-footers," and they really are harder than I had expected or been lead to believe. Without being "technical" climbs that require anchors and ropes, the trails demand that you actually prepare and are ready for the exertion. And the conditions relly do change throughout the day and throughout the climb.
The weather is as volatile as they say: the sun disappears and storms blow in; the temperature drops tens of degrees in very short times; sharp winds come out of nowhere; WTH is this, rain?! Last year we got surprised with cold & wet, and even with "Be Prepared!" in mind, we still had boys who were chilly and soaked and shivering.
And we haven't even tried Mt. Washington yet, only the Twins, Hancock, and then this year Little Haystack & the one next to it.
I hope I can still get there when I'm 60, much less 90.
Last weekend we were doing some volunteering and a quiet lady mentioned that she and several other women (all, I think, in their 60s) have been climbing the 4000-footers together for many years. They like the effort and sense of accomplishment -- but they are very cognizant of the danger. Like her, I hope that I am still out there on the trails two decades from now, and two more after that!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:37 AM on September 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
We have driven up from Rhode Island with the Boy Scouts the past three Septembers to climb one or two of the White Mountains' "4000-footers," and they really are harder than I had expected or been lead to believe. Without being "technical" climbs that require anchors and ropes, the trails demand that you actually prepare and are ready for the exertion. And the conditions relly do change throughout the day and throughout the climb.
The weather is as volatile as they say: the sun disappears and storms blow in; the temperature drops tens of degrees in very short times; sharp winds come out of nowhere; WTH is this, rain?! Last year we got surprised with cold & wet, and even with "Be Prepared!" in mind, we still had boys who were chilly and soaked and shivering.
And we haven't even tried Mt. Washington yet, only the Twins, Hancock, and then this year Little Haystack & the one next to it.
I hope I can still get there when I'm 60, much less 90.
Last weekend we were doing some volunteering and a quiet lady mentioned that she and several other women (all, I think, in their 60s) have been climbing the 4000-footers together for many years. They like the effort and sense of accomplishment -- but they are very cognizant of the danger. Like her, I hope that I am still out there on the trails two decades from now, and two more after that!
posted by wenestvedt at 8:37 AM on September 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
My favorite trail was a clear cut 75 years ago. I hope I'm still hiking it in 50 years to see how it's come along.
posted by wotsac at 8:38 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wotsac at 8:38 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I climbed some of those trails way back in the '70s when I was in the Boy Scouts but never made it all the way up Mt. Washington. It's so beautiful up there when you get just above the tree-line.
posted by octothorpe at 8:41 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by octothorpe at 8:41 AM on September 30, 2015
And he's doing it in Velcro sneakers! I would roll my ankle just from looking at some of the rocks on the trail.
posted by topophilia at 8:56 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by topophilia at 8:56 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Big respect to Dreselly, and to Mt. Washington. Hope I can do this at his age.
Previous post on the blue about the dangers of hiking in the White Mountains (also a Boston Globe article, no less!).
Love and hate those mountains so much. It's been 10+ years since I've hiked there, and can't wait to go back and get my ass kicked again.
posted by Kabanos at 9:16 AM on September 30, 2015
Previous post on the blue about the dangers of hiking in the White Mountains (also a Boston Globe article, no less!).
Love and hate those mountains so much. It's been 10+ years since I've hiked there, and can't wait to go back and get my ass kicked again.
posted by Kabanos at 9:16 AM on September 30, 2015
This guy made my day.
posted by French Fry at 9:19 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by French Fry at 9:19 AM on September 30, 2015
Well done fella. Old school.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 9:21 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by GallonOfAlan at 9:21 AM on September 30, 2015
Respect. Much respect.
posted by AugustWest at 9:21 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by AugustWest at 9:21 AM on September 30, 2015
Mr. Dreselly is climbing the mountain. Why is he climbing the mountain ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:28 AM on September 30, 2015
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:28 AM on September 30, 2015
How wonderful and inspiring. I hope to revisit my favorite hikes when I am 90...until then, I'm going to have to keep myself in good shape and make sure that the wilderness I love is still there when I'm 90. Lots of work to do.
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:50 AM on September 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:50 AM on September 30, 2015 [3 favorites]
I have all the feels after reading this. I may have teared up, in a good way.
posted by maupuia at 10:54 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by maupuia at 10:54 AM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
To add to bondcliff's bit of context about Mt. Washington and how climbing 6300 feet is still worthy of respect when there are mountains that are far taller -- Mt. Washington has been known to many as the world's most dangerous small mountain. Books have been written about the number of people who've died on that mountain. The weather is unpredictable and among the worst in the country, and many of the short approach routes go in through Tuckerman Ravine, which is a grand little amphitheatre that has seen its fair share of hikers who've been blown off its edge and fallen to their deaths, so I can totally see how and why Mr. Dreselly would've chosen a longer but less steep approach. Doing a three day Presidential Traverse is no trivial matter either, as you're going to be spending a lot of that hike above treeline and again exposed to any bad turns of weather.
All the same, I'm happy for him and envious of him living close enough to hike those mountains on a regular basis. I have a lot of good memories of camping on the shoulders of Adams, Mt. Liberty, and was fortunate enough this summer to finally (finally!) cross Washington off the list; but I'm sure that collection is a pittance compared to his. Hats off, and add me to the list who can only hope to be able to do this when I'm 90.
posted by bl1nk at 6:29 PM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
All the same, I'm happy for him and envious of him living close enough to hike those mountains on a regular basis. I have a lot of good memories of camping on the shoulders of Adams, Mt. Liberty, and was fortunate enough this summer to finally (finally!) cross Washington off the list; but I'm sure that collection is a pittance compared to his. Hats off, and add me to the list who can only hope to be able to do this when I'm 90.
posted by bl1nk at 6:29 PM on September 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
I can still recall a couple in their late 70s that I met more than 20 years ago on my first trip on the Alaska Marine Highway System. They were sailing north to undertake a 5-day unguided sea-kayak tour of Glacier Bay.
Because the ferries are a great way to meet interesting people and hear their stories, I had time to learn from them how they came to be embarking upon such an adventure at their age. They had retired at the usual age and soon found themselves bored so they signed up for something -- I think they said a watercolor painting class. They did that for a while, and then became bored again. Over the half hour or so I talked with them, with some of the most spectacular scenery on earth gliding by while we sat and watched and chatted, they told me of their gradual escalation into more and more physical and adventurous activities that brought them to the point where I met them.
I sometimes wonder where they went on from there. By this time they both would be 100+ years old and the odds are not good that either or both are still living but I sometimes think about what a lot of amazing things they had fit into a time of their lives when most people are content to sit and rest. I hope I'm half as cool when (if!) I ever reach that age.
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:57 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Because the ferries are a great way to meet interesting people and hear their stories, I had time to learn from them how they came to be embarking upon such an adventure at their age. They had retired at the usual age and soon found themselves bored so they signed up for something -- I think they said a watercolor painting class. They did that for a while, and then became bored again. Over the half hour or so I talked with them, with some of the most spectacular scenery on earth gliding by while we sat and watched and chatted, they told me of their gradual escalation into more and more physical and adventurous activities that brought them to the point where I met them.
I sometimes wonder where they went on from there. By this time they both would be 100+ years old and the odds are not good that either or both are still living but I sometimes think about what a lot of amazing things they had fit into a time of their lives when most people are content to sit and rest. I hope I'm half as cool when (if!) I ever reach that age.
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:57 AM on October 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
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