Ken Olney is one of three friends I still have from high school days. We have known each other since we were 15 and had the same life ambitions. On weekends, he, Erik, and I used to enjoy getting away to mountain and beach destinations to talk about our dreams for the future. I'm happy to say that many of them have come true, and even happier that although our lives have taken drastically different routes, we still are able to make time for each other. This photo shows Ken with his son, Tyler, enjoying a late Sunday afternoon in summer of 2000. Erik, and Ken's wife Bridget, are pictured later.
Jon O'Brien has been one of my closest friends and adventure partners since our first hike together in 1998. We knew each other from our job at the ambulance company, where we both started as rookie EMTs on the same day in 1995. We're so good at getting our act together that it took us three years of talking about doing a mountain adventure before we actually did. In this photo we're camped in Zeta Pass along the Nineteenmile Brook Trail in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
 Liz Baldwin and I have been sharing adventures for the past year or so, after meeting in the New Hampshire Outing Club at UNH. She says I'm the only one of all her friends who does any crazy stuff. Jon (above) says that's no surprise. Last September, Liz and I hiked up Mt Lafayette in the middle of the night, and in November attempted a traverse of the Presedential Range. We summited no peaks due to bad weather, but on the third and final day, we awoke to undercast with bright sun, hiked all day (as shown at left) and the mountain rewarded our patience with a spectacular sunset seen from Lion's Head on Mount Washington (below.)
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 My sister Karen and my cousin Skye are two of my favorite people to hike with. Although Karen was always sort of outdoorsy, many women in her life attempted to make her into a dress-wearing kind of girl, until I invited her on a hike to the top of Mount Washington when she was in high school. She now holds a degree in environmental conservation and sleeps outside more often than I do. Skye is a registered dietician, and loves to get outside with us when she's not busy with research or presentations. |
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 This is Ken's wife Bridget and Erik relaxing one summer afternoon at Ken's place in Mattapoisett, MA. This is one place where Ken, Erik and I used to hang out during high school summers. We'd watch the sailboat races on Buzzard's Bay, look up when planes went over and try to guess what kind they were, and we always talked about big trucks and dreamed of driving across the country. Now Erik is a truck driver, I take flight lessons, and Ken (despite 5 years in the US Coast Guard) still likes to sail. Ken is not in this photo because he was watching baby Tyler. Tyler is no longer a baby. The transformation from cute little baby to roving vortex of curiosity-based demolition doesn't take long! Ken and Bridget are planning another one.
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Giselle Rosa was my lab partner for a geology class we both took at UNH. Over the course of the semester, we gradually became friends. At the end of the semester, she went back to her home in Brazil, but we still like to see each other when she visits her family in the United States. I have promised her I will visit her in Brazil also.
Here, she is wearing the stylish UNH dining-hall uniform from her student job, and was on her half-hour break when this was taken. Despite her job, she still managed to smile.
 Andrew Barnett is one of the people from New Jersey I first hiked with. He may be Dan's younger brother but he's no less crazy. About a millisecond after I took this photo, he did a high-speed face plant and his ski came flying off, his feet went in different directions. This kid actually likes a good choppy water surface for skiing. Like Dan, he's a poster child for self-punishment! |
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 Dave was assistant manager at Eastern Mountain Sports when I worked there for a season. He's as much into mountaineering as I am and we've made many winter (and some summer) climbs together. This guy likes to do the annual Mount Washington Road Race, which involves running eight miles all up-hill. He's climbed that mountain more times than most people can count. |
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 I first met my flight instructor Warren Patterson at the Moultonboro Airport in New Hampshire, in summer of 2000. I'd taken flight lessons in the past, and my girlfriend at the time inspired me to start them back up. Warren and I have now logged many hours together at the controls of various small aircraft, and our most recent adventure was landing on the ice of nearby Lake Winnipesaukee. My sister took this photo after we let her have the back seat for one of our mountain flights in November 2000. |
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 This is Phinny. He's one of the many bass that swim in front of the house, waiting for a human hand to hold out a crawfish.He's been stopping by for about four years now and is the most amazing fishy in Lake Winnipesaukee. He's almost been caught several times but we like to think he's smarter than to go for something with a hook in it. Besides, he knows he has us to flip over rocks, grab the scurrying crayfish, and hold them out to him. When other bass come around looking to share in the bounty, bass-brawls break out! Phinny always wins. It's very entertaining to watch and most visitors can't believe thier eyes. |
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 There's the cat. His name is Dusty. He enjoyed this snow cave I made for him one stormy winter's day. |
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