RISK

No, not the board game that pits you and your closest (at the start) friends in a face off for supreme global domination. But the kind of risk you experience every day of your lives. The risk you take when you turn the key to turn your engine on and putt putt out your driveway and onto the busy streets of no town. The same risk you take when you step onto an airplane to fly 6 states away (in the East). The same risk you take when you drink water from a pond or stream, the risk you take when you drink milk even though its 3 days past the expiration date.

So back up... way back... Waaaaaaay back to this past weekend. The trip report of one epic adventure is below. Sarah and I walked off the trail on Mount Washington, the most notoriously monstrous mountain in the East, in search of a seldom visited waterfall, perhaps a dead body, and later the summit at 6,288 feet in elevation. As the dust settled on an adventurous day, we never found a body (though one WAS found on Monday next to our route of descent), we never made the summit but we were left with many valuable lessons. As we walked down the Lions Head Trail with the setting sun to our backs, I gave Sarah a mini-lesson on Risk. I started to tell her that there are different kinds of risk. Perceieved Risk and Actual Risk, and we examined our day based on the definitions of these levels of risk.

Perceived Risk = Is the amount of risk which we merely think is involved within a certain activity. "Based on our own experiences, those of our friends and family, and the influence of media we create perceptions about various activities. We may, for example, believe that flying and driving are relatively safe activities. We might also come to believe that bungee jumping or rock climbing, on the other hand, are dangerous. If these activities were in fact very dangerous and a large number of people died in these activities each year (as they do driving cars) the media would quickly lose interest in telling these stories to their audience." (http://its.stgeorges.bc.ca/oed/riskmanage/risk.html)

Actual Risk = Is the amount of risk that is actual or inherently involved with the activity. Within the guise of Actual risk are two sub levels of risk. No risk and High Risk. Actual risk is based on real statistical likelihood of someone getting hurt or of there being a loss involved in the activity, whether or not that loss be to life or object.

It is amazing how everyone has a different view on risks involved with certain activities. Some folks believe that it is safer to drive to California from Boston then it is to fly. When the statistical and TRUE information actually points to the fact that flying is the safer mode of transportation. And when it comes to our case in hiking in the mountains, of course people believe that it is safer to stay on the trail then it is to travel off of the trail. But take a look at this website: http://www.mountwashington.com/deaths/index.html The website lists all of the deaths in New Hampshire's Presidential Range in history. Of all of the deaths listed, and there are some 136 of them, only three are the result of someone being lost and all of those happened in the 1800s. Were we lost on Sunday? Nope... knew where we were at all times and we even registered at the base of the mountain with details of our route.. and we checked out upon leaving for the day. I had placed numerous phone calls to a close friend of mine so he knew of our time consuming situation and checked in with him again after we had emerged from the brush. So bottom line was.. even though we were off trail, we were never lost, never in ANY danger, and someone knew of our approximate location at all times.

So lets talk about the perceived risk's involved with Mount Washington. It is the highest peak in the Northeast which boasts an average daily wind speed of 35 mph. It is not uncommon to experience winter conditions in the dead middle of summer. There are countless books, websites, documentaries and other media that boasts the mountains nature to "kill" the intrepid traveller. News agencies are very quick to report a lost hiker or an injured hiker and over-exaggerate the adventurers tale. Nine times out of ten you tell someone you're going to hike Mount Washington and they are likely to tell you that YOU are crazy. Why? Because most likely they'll never do it themselves because their level of perceived risk is perverted compared to the level of actual risk. Lets review some of the numbers again. Mount Washington is within reach to over 70 MILLION people. Lets say that on average per year, the mountain sees over 1 million visitors whether that be on foot, car or train. So in the last 100 years of history on this mountain... ONLY 135 PEOPLE have actually died and a majority of those deaths were rock climbers, skiers or unprepared individuals who died in winter of hypothermia.

Lets go back to the day Sarah and I had. Sarah, admittedly, has very little experience in the mountains. Yes, she has climbed all 48 Four Thousand Footers in New Hampshire finishing in June of 2005. But that doesn't make you an expert on hiking or adventure (surprise peakbaggers!) There are MANY hikers that could prove this point for me, and I'm thinking of a few names off the top of my head... Regardless of this fact, Sarah is inexperienced especially when it comes to being off trail. Myself... I've done the 48 peaks over 6 times, I've hiked Washington over 20 times, I've got experience in my field through my course work at The University of NH where I study outdoor education which includes classes revolving about real outdoor adventures, survival and wilderness navigation and I'm one peak away from finishing one of the tougher peakbagging lists, which boasts half a dozen decent bushwhacks. I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I know my way around the trees. Sarah's PERCEIVED risk of our activity this past weekend was MUCH different then mine. And as thus.. the story she tells post trip is different then mine. I tell a story of great adventure where we travelled to a lesser tramped place, saw an amazing waterfall and then wrestled with some trees. Sarah... Sarah almost died, we made stupid mistakes we never should have, we had no compass and we almost had to make a shelter for the night and miss a days work.

Well I'll be honest. I thought about the setting sun, Sarah's tiring legs and the prospect of potentially having to make a shelter on the mountain to hunker down for the night. While the summit itself was shrouded in the clouds, it never rained Sunday Night and winds died down to near 5mph. There was NO SERIOUS risk involved with our trip, just a butt load of frustration. Was it inherently risky to travel off trail? No not really, we had one mission, Follow the river UP. And UP led us to a place above treeline. We accomplished this mission except for traveling too far to the right while ascending the mountain bringing us slightly off our desired course but NEVER lost or in danger. Had we stayed the course along the river, we would have encountered the SAME frustration as the ones we did. Is bushwhacking dangerous? Sure, there are some dangers involved... Its time consuming, you get scratched and cut open by branches and sticks... and you could fall into a moss trap or into a hidden hole breaking a leg. But I experience the same on the actual beaten path, just at a lower level of intensity. So is bushwhacking RISKIER then taking the actual trail? Yes and No.

So lets weigh the differences.
On The Beaten Path:
Pros = Beaten path, quicker travel, people passing by on a more regular basis, knowing which way to go (most people)

Cons = More open to the rigors of the weather. Various Man Made hazards like stone stepping, rotting bog bridges, rickety ladders, and a general level of lowered respect for the mountain

Bushwhackin:
Pros = Going to a place seldom visited, Greater adventure, less people to interrupt your wilderness experience

Cons = Decaying woods, tougher navigation, time consuming, tiring

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. Some of our closest, and not so closest, friends and family have taken the time to baby and criticize the experience we had on the mountain this past weekend. And to be completely honest, those that have been quick to criticize are the ones whose actual knowledge of the mountain doesn't go much past what they have read in the paper or seen on their local evening news. "Hiker Found Dead" "Missing Masshole on Mt Wash" "Camel Hikes Auto-Road." PLEASE! I can honestly tell you folks that what we did this past weekend was safer then driving your car up the mountain or taking the 100 year old Smog Railroad. What we did on the mountain this past weekend was safer then jumping out of a perfectly fine airplane strapped to your closest strangers crotch. What we did this weekend on Mount Washington, was no more or less dangerous then taking the same old route to the top of New Hampshires Highest Peak. What we did this past weekend is safer then you typing in your bank account number to access your online banking account.

But because we had moments of frustration, fear, desperation... and we shared those feelings with you... you jump to judge our intentions of the day. You call us crazy and scold us telling us to never do it again. Ya know something... You just gave me a BETTER REASON TO FIND A HARDER ROUTE TO THE TOP. These are the same people who tell me that running 100 miles is going to ruin my knees and that "You'll feel it when your my age." Oh? Will I? What were you doing at 27 that even compares to what I am doing at 27... and how can you relate how your rickety life has turned out compared to how you THINK or PERCEIVE that mine will turn out? Because I know a lot of 40+ year olds who have lived a fantastically active life, and are in greater shape then you by a friggin' land slide in so cal.

Bottom Line.. just because you won't, can't or couldn't doesn't mean that I shouldn't or am crazy. Because when I look deep into the eyes of those quick to judge I see a soul empty of any adventure. I see souls looking for release, escape... I see people whose idea of adventure involves reading the TV guide followed by a heavy workout of channel surfing (no board needed). Risk is a dicey topic, there is a HUGE difference between Perceived and Actual risk. Before you are quick to judge or call me crazy... consider both, research some facts, ask some actual questions. And maybe I'll respect your opinion a little more.