Published: Jan. 10, 2010
Words: 61,840 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781452303703

Short description

The White Mountain Chronicles celebrates the author’s two decades of adventure in the mountains of New Hampshire. From Monadnock to the White Mountains, these memoirs and stories capture the fleeting moments of a 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.

Extended description

This ebook 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 champion 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. (Read more) This ebook 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 champion 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 53,900 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
(Less)

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Tags

short stories, creative nonfiction, memoirs, hiking, camping, presidential range, franconia notch, travel essays, travel adventure, short essays

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Videos

The White Mountain Chronicles
A video trailer for "The White Mountain Chronicles", a collection of stories, travels, and memoirs celebrating life, laughter, and adventure in the mountains of the Granite State.

Reviews

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Review by: Bill on Nov. 24, 2010 :
These short stories by Laudizen King have touched my heart and soul. I am a avid hiker, camper and explorer of the White Mountains of New Hampshire and have experienced the awe of this beautiful region throughout my entire life. The King brings me back to those places I visited in such a eloquent and vivid manner in "The White Mountain Chronicles". It's as if I was there again seeing the landscape, feeling the elements and experiencing the nostalgia all over again through his words. I would recommend his work to anyone interested in a fine read, but more so if you are at all interested in hiking, camping or learning more about this beautiful region. Hats off to the King!
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: Brian McCarthy on Sep. 16, 2010 :
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!
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: number1fan on Aug. 23, 2010 :
I enjoyed these stories from the mountains of New Hampshire; they are full of life and enthusiasm. His chapter detailing the strange and piquant moments of those years (Out of the Fog) was particularly telling. A fine read.
(reviewed long after purchase)

Review by: RCH on March 18, 2010 :
I confess that I am not an objective reviewer. Full disclosure: I've known Laudizen King for half a century, and joined him for quite a few White Mountain adventures.

King introduced me, some thirty years ago, to the magic of the mountains. His boundless enthusiasm and connection with the sheer joy of being one with New Hampshire's majestic terrain was infectious, and I surrendered without question to every suggestion he made that I drop everything and join him for a romp in the Whites. It is with more than a little nostalgia that I revisit those salad days.

All these years later, reading Laudizen King's memories of those glorious trips, I am once again astounded by his encyclopedic knowledge of the territory and acute memory for the most minute and obscure details of the trips, the trails, the tribulations and triumphs that marked his long term love affair with the Whites.

But make no mistake: The White Mountain Chronicles is much more than an account of King's adventures on the trail. It is an intimate look inside the evolution of one man's awareness of his rightful place in the natural order of things and in the world of man.

Read this book to learn or relearn the realities of committed mountain hiking and the glory of the White Mountains. Read it again, between the lines, and be richer for it.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

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