Hiking with Boris: 1994, 1999, 2013
by Misha Grinberg
August 1, 2021
On at least three separate occasions, Boris has entrusted his safety to my planning abilities
and mountain hiking experience. In each case, some errors of judgement were made, but all
ended well.
In the summer of 1994, during our Boston days, there was a very ambitions day hike in
the White Mountains. The plan was to hike the Eastern half of the Pemi Loop, starting
form the Lincoln Woods trailhead, and to return via the Frankonia Brook Trail. See map:
https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/new-hampshire/pemi-loop–10mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map
Yes, this can be done in one day by a pair of strong hikers. In the actual event, we were caught out by darkness near the Thirteen Falls campground, and were rescued by the campground keeper, who allowed us to sleep in a corner of his large tent, on the wooden floor. We made it back to Boston, rather pleased with ourselves, the following afternoon. I did complete this route, as a day hike, on a later date, but it is certainly on the extreme side.
In the summer of 1999, we flew into Lyon together, and headed for a three day hut-to-hut
hike in one of the national parks in the French Alps. I can not recall the exact location
or even the name of the park. It was beautiful for sure. At the end of day two, we were
supposed to spend the night at a mountain hut situated right on a mountain pass. As we
were approaching the pass, maybe 40 minutes to an hour away, I told Boris that the trail
was not going to branch before reaching the pass, so I would walk ahead to inquire about
food, lodging, etc. As I got to the pass and finished my inquires, I was expecting to see
Boris approaching. But I did not. Confident that Boris could not get lost, as the trail for
sure did not branch between where I left him and the pass, I waited a bit, then decided to
run down to meet him. I ran a surprisingly long time before I spotted Boris’s figure in the
distance. As I kept running, the figure was getting closer, but only rather slowly. Finally, I
realized Boris was walking down, and away from me.
I am sure he had his reasons. Perhaps he was surprised he hadn’t reached the pass, and decided to investigate whether he had missed a fork in the trail. I would say that Boris’s tendency to question his assumptions is a strength in most, but not in all, situations. That night Boris learned how to shower in under 3 minutes, as hot water gets rationed in such places.
Finally, in early June 2013, Boris joined me for a day hike in Benese Oberland. The
error in that case was rather obvious: it was to come to Bernese Oberland in early June.
Essentially every trail over 2000 meters was covered with snow and “closed” for avalanche
danger reasons. Of course, a trail being closed is a matter of daily guidance. Nobody
will stop you from walking on a closed trail. Which offered us a chance to compound our
error. After a pleasant lunch at the Oberstainberg hut, we headed up to the hanging valley
above. Rather quickly, we came upon a snow bridge stretching high over a mountain stream,
which we crossed without dwelling too much on the various possibilities. As we advanced to
2000 meters and beyond, we crossed a number of snow fields, using a single pair of hiking
poles for gear, and never falling more than waist deep through the snow. Needless to say,
navigation became rather difficult, with the trails impossible to see. We witnessed several
avalanches on the steep slopes around the valley, but none near where we were. Surrounded
by waterfalls, the place looked magical that day, and we had it entirely to ourselves, other
hikers perhaps taking a more literal interpretation of what it meant for the trails to be closed.
We enjoyed our snacks near the Oberhoresee lake, and descended past the topologically non-trivial Talbachfall, full of impressions to discuss over dinner back in Murren.
I hope to be able to add to this list of adventures before Boris’s 60-th birthday.
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