603Podcast with Dan Egan
603podcast explores the people, places and things that create the culture of New Hampshire. From the Great North Woods to the peaks and valleys of White Mountains, in and around the Lakes, on and off the Seacoast, throughout the Merrimack the Monadnock Regions, to the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee area. This podcast educates, motivates and discovers the stories that shape the "Granite State" and its impact on the country and the world.
Hosted by extreme sports pioneer Dan Egan, you’ll hear inspiring in-depth stories, from our featured guests that are the heartbeat of the Granite State through conversationally discussions with New Hampshire’s most notable, need to know folks and characters make New Hampshire truly special place.
603Podcast with Dan Egan
Lindsey LaPointe: New Hampshire Adventure Writer, Outdoor Enthusiast, and Local Hiking Expert
On this episode of the 603podcast, Dan Egan interviews Lindsey LaPointe, a New Hampshire-based adventure writer, blogger, and outdoor enthusiast who has made it her mission to inspire others to explore the state's stunning natural beauty. Originally from the West Coast, Lindsey moved to New Hampshire in 2008, when she took a job with the Appalachian Mountain Club. What started as a temporary move turned into a lifelong passion for the Granite State’s wilderness.
Coming from California, LaPointe was used to fire roads and trails with switchbacks, but New Hampshire's rocky, steep paths provided a challenge that immediately hooked her. Since then, she has fallen in love with the state's rugged landscape, particularly the Bonds in the Pemigewasset Wilderness, which offer hikers vast, breathtaking views.
In 2012, Lindsey started her blog, Freelance Adventurer, as a way to document her hiking experiences and share trail tips with others. Over time, it evolved into a valuable resource for those seeking outdoor adventures, offering detailed advice on everything from moderate hikes to family-friendly trails. Her personal stories about hiking, combined with practical tips on gear, trail conditions, and safety, make her blog a go-to for hikers in New Hampshire.
Lindsey’s work isn’t limited to her blog. She also contributes regularly to Field & Stream and Seacoast Moms, where she shares gear reviews, trip reports, and advice on hiking with kids. Her passion for the outdoors has also led her to become an ambassador for New Hampshire hiking, offering honest, accessible advice for both novice and experienced hikers alike. Lindsey’s writing emphasizes safety, preparation, and the importance of carrying the right gear, particularly for families and those new to hiking in New Hampshire’s more challenging terrain.
Beyond writing, Lindsey actively engages her local community. She runs the Seacoast Hikes Instagram account, where she shares short hikes that are perfect for families, as well as offering a trail guide for the Seacoast region that comes with a fun incentive—complete all 10 hikes, and you’ll earn a patch and bumper sticker!
As a mother of two young
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For more information about the 603podcast visit 603podcast.com
Hi and welcome to the 603 podcast, where we explore the people, places and things that create the culture of New Hampshire. This podcast educates, motivates and discovers the stories that shape the Granite State and its impact on the country and the world. Hi everybody, I'm extreme sports pioneer Dan Egan and your host of the 603 podcast. I'm excited about this podcast for so many reasons First, to share the stories. Second, to meet and get to know the people who create, share and develop the activities, businesses and iconic history of our state. But also to hear from you, our listeners, about the stories and ideas you think that we should share on our podcast. You can check out our website at 603podcastcom to learn more about our guests and to share with us your stories and ideas of people who you think we should interview.
Dan Egan:The 603 Podcast is sponsored by Mad River Coffee Roasters in Campton, new Hampshire Always my first stop in the White Mountains, located just off exit 28 on Highway 93. Check them out online at madrivercoffeeroasterscom. Our 603 podcast is also sponsored by Waterville Valley Resort, new Hampshire's family resort and host of the 2024 Mogul World Cup. Visit watervillevalleycom to learn more and plan your next visit. Hi, everybody, and we're back here at the 603 Podcast and I'm really excited, as always, to welcome my guest today, lindsay LaPointe, who really is a lover of the outdoors, a blogger, an adventurer, a hiker and somebody who's on a personal mission to inform us all about the great places to go and enjoy New Hampshire. How are you doing today, lindsay?
Lindsay Lapointe:I'm great Thanks for having me, Dan.
Dan Egan:Yeah, it's nice to see you. Thanks for joining us and you know, it seems like I heard about you through a conversation that somebody had in a hut in the White Mountains.
Lindsay Lapointe:Oh wow, I love that.
Dan Egan:And I know you know you love the White Mountains, I know you love the hut system, but you also worked there as a teenager, is that right?
Lindsay Lapointe:but you also worked there as a teenager, is that right? Well, I worked there in my early 20s and I I got the job a little randomly. I thought I was well. First of all, I needed residency for graduate school, and so I just was kind of looking for a job to kind of fill a year so I could go to grad school. And I applied for a job that I thought was kind of outdoor education, which is what I had been doing at the time on the West Coast but instead accidentally clicked the box to be a backpacking guide for their teen wilderness adventures program, and when they interviewed me I had never backpacked before I got the job, never having hiked to the White Mountains before, flew out, and I have been here ever since. That was 2008.
Dan Egan:Wow, that's great. So obviously, yeah, something hooked you there. Did you remember? Like the first time when you were, you know, you kind of said I can't believe the vastness or the beauty, or did you remember that?
Lindsay Lapointe:moment Southern California and I, you know, showed up at Joe Dodge Lodge in Pinkham Notch, and I said to one of my coworkers well, I just meant, let's go for a trail run, let's just like go for a jog, because that's what I would do, you know, in the San Gabriels. And I learned on that first, first time, out straight out of Joe Dodge, that I could not jog the trails Like I could jog these fire roads in California. I said, what are all these rocks? And then my first like hike was to go up the bonds, which is a pretty burly hike, you know, in the in the Pemi, and, um, I was instantly hooked. I don't know if I'm a masochist or something, but I love the kind of the pain of climbing up these mountains and the rocks and, yes, the beauty is insane. I love it. I'm I don't know I I'm a West coast girl born, but I I instantly felt like this is my place. I love it more than any other place in the world.
Dan Egan:It's striking and you know, of course, the bonds. What overwhelmed me about that was looking into the wilderness, you know, and the wilderness that we've all driven by on the highways, either going up through Conway or coming up the 93 through Franconia. You don't really realize how big and how vast that is, and isn't it true? When you're on that specific hike but others hikes as well you look out that wilderness and you, just you can't comprehend it.
Lindsay Lapointe:And not only that I feel like you work for that view. You know, unlike driving even the kink or something like to get to Mount Bond or West Bond, it's a hard hike and for the most part like for me, if it's over 10 miles, I'm going to spend the night out there. You know I'm in a backpack and so it's like, hey, I carried 50 pounds or 40 pounds to get here to enjoy this view and it's kind of that, that beauty, that release of like I worked for this. You know, it's really incredible feeling.
Dan Egan:It is so, you know, from those roots of getting the unexpected job and discovering the White. How has that sort of shaped your blog?
Lindsay Lapointe:Yeah, so I started my blog in 2012. So I had been kind of, I did six seasons with Appalachian Mountain Club, so I was kind of past that point and I was going to the Whites sometimes, you know, multiple times a month. I live in the Seacoast area and I was going all the whites sometimes, you know, multiple times a month. Or I live in the seacoast area and I was going all the time recreationally and it it started as a way to kind of document so that I could go back. You know, I, I, I wasn't, at the time when I moved here, familiar with that peak bagging culture that a lot of people kept track and people would say, oh, have you done this hike, this hike, and I'm like I don't know I can't remember you know, like it was my job.
Lindsay Lapointe:I've done Mount Pierce at least 20 times. You know cause I guide people up that Um. So I was like I think I need to start documenting what I'm doing, and it turned out to kind of be more for me at the beginning, just so, you know, those early blogs would be like okay, here's how you get to the trailhead, here's what I noticed on the hike. And then I realized I'm sharing these links with people because people say, hey, I need a moderate hike, I want a loop, uh, that's you know, two hours from Dover. And I'd say, oh, yeah, here's one, you know. So it turned out that it it was a resource for others as well as myself.
Dan Egan:And I think that it's nice when you have an outsider, you know, taking a look at this, because often you know those closest to it without realizing it can be a little elitist or exclusionary, because they know the names, they are bagging peaks and that's intimidating if you haven't done it before. Some people just don't know do they go in hiking boots or should they wear track shoes? Do they need a Patagonia or can they just wear a hoodie? And I think that it's helpful to have a perspective that opens it up to people like hey, this, this, this resource is right in our backyard.
Lindsay Lapointe:I think so too and I think, uh, one of the things I've become as as an ambassador for New Hampshire hiking too is that like our just like I learned on that first, you know, quote unquote trail run the hiking is challenging and in many ways more challenging than West Coast hiking.
Lindsay Lapointe:Especially on social media I see a lot of things about like, oh, how are those hills you know in New Hampshire, because you know they're not 12,000 feet, or something like that.
Lindsay Lapointe:But I think it's important my perspective as an outsider that I can give really honest advice about, like you're saying, the kind of footwear that you know. We all know Mount Washington's weather is very dangerous and I get concerned. Or I hear stories and often from locals oh, that hike's not hard and it's like, well, it's perspective and probably you understand this from a ski perspective it's like a black diamond at one mountain is very different than another, and so I think that a hard hike is relative and when I have friends and family come out from the West coast, they I take them on what would be considered easy hikes, uh, maybe like middle Sugarloaf or Mount Willard, um, in a white mountain perspective, but are somewhat challenging. You know we don't have switchbacks. It goes up, you're climbing over rocks. So I think that West Coast perspective from kind of helps with the safety aspect and putting in perspective for challenge level as well.
Dan Egan:Yeah, you know, I'm so relieved to be talking to a Californian that fell in love with the East, because most of them just think we're idiots for still being back here.
Lindsay Lapointe:Yeah and I. I grew up in Oregon, actually, but then I went to college in San Diego and and worked out of the mountains down there. But yes and um, I working. When I worked for Appalachian mountain club, people looked at me and thought I was crazy. They're like what are you doing here? Everybody wants to go West, go to the big mountains, and I go. I go West every summer. I was just in North Cascades National Park this summer. I went to Rainier, I went to Mount Hood and those are all amazing places and now, being here, I see new beauty there. You know I took some of those areas for granted as a kid, but I, to me, this is my place. I don't know, Like I know, I'm not born and bred here, but this is New Hampshire is my place.
Dan Egan:I love, I love hearing that and you know it is such a beautiful place, such a beautiful place and hiking. You know, with all that you do and that, all that you're doing to help others enjoy the mountains, what do you get out of it when you're hiking, when you have had a good hike, what's that experience like? Describe us to you. What did you pull away from that hike?
Lindsay Lapointe:That's a great question. I don't think anyone's ever asked me that before I. I'm going to have to reflect on that afterwards as well. I think there's a few things. One, of course, is the beauty right, like it's just whether I'm doing something here, you know, like Stonehouse Pond in Barrington, near me, or you know, odeon Point on the coast, or going up to the Whites and doing some of my favorite peaks there. I just love natural spaces wherever I go, and mountains in particular. So you know, whenever I plan a quote unquote vacation, there's probably a mountain and hiking involved. I love the beauty of it. Exercise, of course, those endorphins. That's a great feeling and I think in this modern day, unplugging is a really important thing.
Lindsay Lapointe:I know I'm taking video and photos because I post a lot on social media and blogging and things like that. But I work a lot, you know, and I write. I'm a school teacher, I have children and like being away is a great break. I've heard people say kind of oh, your mind kind of clears. I've heard people say kind of oh, your mind kind of clears. But I like to attribute it to like my mind is like a lot of dirty laundry and when I go on a hike. It's like you're you're processing all that stuff and it's like washing and folding and when you, when I get home, you know the mental laundry is all put away. And of course, just like laundry, it's going to be a mess in a few more days, but it's a great way for me to process thoughts. It's therapy, you know.
Dan Egan:You know, it's true. I find myself on a long bike ride or a hike or a run. That internal conversation becomes external. All of a sudden I'm talking, talking to myself, and if anybody's around, something will go. What'd you say? I'm like no, no, no, no, it's it's, it's all happening in here, you know.
Lindsay Lapointe:I think I do a little bit of that too.
Dan Egan:No, it's a, it's a wonderful getaway and it does sort of clear the head and for me, being a mental midget, I need those moments. You know, I need that to get away. You know, it's interesting to me because the transition from the seacoast to the whites is also part of the journey right, and taking the journey from the ocean to the peak, and I think that's sort of a lot. What the Westerners miss is that we go from sea level to height, you know, and that that's quite dramatic. And do you like to sort of the context of both settings?
Lindsay Lapointe:Oh, absolutely, I think I live in the best place I know you've mentioned on the podcast before but, like, even for me, my location in New Hampshire, the Dover, rochester area, I am 30 minutes from all these beaches, main beaches included, you know, wells Beach 30 minutes. I'm 30 minutes from Lake Winnipesaukee. I'm like an hour to the Kankamangas Highway, maybe a little less. It's just like I can't imagine a better location. I'm. It's just amazing During, you know that, that COVID time, when we were all kind of locked up and I was like, well, what am I going to do today? Okay, let's go to the lake and like, spend a day on the beach there, take the kayaks or the boat. Okay, let to the ocean, let's go. For you know, it's just we're so fortunate to have these things all within 30, 45 minutes and it's pretty special has, uh, is it bled over to your kids?
Dan Egan:are they all family into it?
Lindsay Lapointe:yeah, I have a five-year-old and a seven-year-old and my son was, you know, I don't know he was on the top of Mount Willard within three months or three weeks of his birth and, like within three months, was camping in Acadia with me in you know, packs and up 4,000 footers. So when it was just him that's what he knows and with my daughter as well, when I had two little ones, that's when I started doing a lot more of the seacoast hikes, which is I have an Instagram account by that name and a trail guide, and that's been a really fun experience also. So I have people that ask me like, oh, how do you get your kids to hike? And I'm like this is what they just do. It's like me saying we're going to the grocery store. It's like we're going for a little hike in the morning and then we're gonna go to the grocery store, then we'll have dinner. It's part of their existence, it's part of our family's kind of routine to go on trails weekly.
Dan Egan:That's great and you feel like making it, instead of making it a massive day out. Making it an everyday event has been beneficial long-term.
Lindsay Lapointe:Absolutely. I asked my daughter last week I said what do you want to do this weekend? And you know she could have said go to the pool or go to the beach or, you know, watch a movie. But she said the Winnie the Pooh Trail which is in Barrington. And you know she knows, if we go to Winnie the Pooh Trail it's like a one mile loop. It's going to take, I don't know, you know half an hour. And then we usually go to Caleb's Country Store after and get a little treat in their penny candy section, and you know it's just a nice thing to do, just, you know, kid friendly.
Dan Egan:It is true, right, and it doesn't have to be this big thing. And I think that, of course, anything started young. I often joke that I make a living doing everything my parents taught me before the age of five, and you know that's a nice thing, right? You know, to package that all in to a lifetime of sport.
Lindsay Lapointe:Yeah, and I didn't grow up backpacking but that's obviously something I love and you know I worked guiding and so that is something I've started with them pretty young as well. But it's again. I try to make it fun. It's not hard little backpacking trips with me this summer and that's something that I'm hoping that like becomes part of their norm as well. You know that, oh, this is something you can do and it's not scary and it's fun and we can meet other families doing that and it becomes part of that family culture.
Dan Egan:And how do you shift gears with your writing between sort of a backpacker magazine and TripAd advisor? I mean, those seem like to me two different styles of writing. Is that true? Or do you kind of plug in both ways?
Lindsay Lapointe:I do a variety of outdoor writing. Currently, my kind of most common writing is I have two publications that I do like monthly or or more than um once a month. One is Field and Stream Magazine. I do, uh gear reviews for them, which is, you know, dream job for me because, uh, you know the I did.
Lindsay Lapointe:I just did like three in the last month and one was like binoculars, so like best hiking binoculars. Well, I don't have, you know, the funds or even time maybe to go out and buy set after set of binoculars to figure out the right ones, but I get to test them all and and many times keep it and it's just so fun. So I got to, you know, test a $2,000 pair of binoculars against $100 pair of binoculars and really explore the differences and like that's really exciting, and then share that with the readers of kind of where to put their money and things like that. Same with hiking shoes. I've been working on those this month.
Lindsay Lapointe:I've been working on those this month, and then I, you know, my blog is more of like trip reports and explaining where to go. You know, here's a great hike to do with your family, or here's a one night backpack in the whites. And then I monthly publish for Seacoast Moms, which is more family focused. So you know four great hikes to take your toddler on or what to pack if you're camping as a family and that sort of thing. So I switch around but it's all fun and it seems conversational too. It's like if I was going to explain to you which you know what hike to do or which binoculars I think are great hike to do or which binoculars I think are great. You know it's fun for me. I like doing that.
Dan Egan:It's interesting you bring up binoculars because you know, these days a lot of people are experiencing their activities in nature through the iPhone. And it's such a different experience. Through a proper lens, it changes, it grows. There's deeper, there's more definition, you see farther. Just talk us through. What was your experience through that? I mean, when you actually look through a lens, you're transporting yourself mentally, way different than snapping on an iPhone.
Lindsay Lapointe:Oh, absolutely. And the binoculars. I would say two things I noticed through that testing is one if you have the opportunity to see wildlife I mean zooming in on an iPhone isn't going to help you at all, so having binoculars isn't going to help you at all. So having binoculars, it really opens up, especially with birds and things, and brings questions and has you, like, realize what's around you. So if you go to a seashore or up on a mountain and you're looking at some birds, it's like oh my gosh, what is that? And it's this great kind of like opening a door to the wilderness you were looking at and didn't realize.
Lindsay Lapointe:And I was kicking myself because I was on the West Coast and I didn't have a pair of binoculars and I could see these little birds flying on and off you know, Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach and I was like I'm pretty sure those are puffins and I really want to see. And I knew if I had a pair of binoculars, you know, like just 10 times magnification, I would get to see clearly what those puffins were and I was kicking myself. And then the other thing with binoculars is is safety. You know, again when I was on the West coast this summer wildfires in North Cascades and I was, you know, able to track that fire on hikes and things and and keep track of safety or just, you know, scanning the horizon for obstacles when you're out in the wilderness. So both I mean it's a great little tool. You know it's a luxury item if you're backpacking, but it really does open up the wild space for you and bring new awareness.
Dan Egan:I mean, I can't talk enough about them. My dad was one that always had binoculars and I still have his binoculars. But you know, when I'm out in the backcountry or on a big adventure, I always have binoculars. And you're right Safety, wildlife and perspective. You know how far do we have to go to get there, what, what is out there ahead of us or above us or below us? And it really helps. And I think you know a lot of these times, gear reviews and things that you're talking about. It's convenience, it's weight, it's sort of like is it going to keep you dry? But when you bring safety into it, you change the conversation. How does this help your safety? And when you're talking to the moms about hiking as a family, what are you bringing up as sort of the safety concerns, how to keep kids safe while hiking, whether it's running ahead or sitting down to cry. You know how do you manage that and keep safety in mind to meet goals.
Lindsay Lapointe:Great question. Safety is something that I talk a lot about and it's a real concern. I think in New Hampshire we're so accessible and also, like I was saying before, people don't always take our mountains seriously or our trails seriously. You know, we don't have as many of the wildlife threats that they do in, you know, other areas, and so I do talk a lot about it. You know, for families, it's usually the moms that really take it seriously. They think about safety because especially, you know, I take my young children solo on backpacking, on hiking, and it's always at the front of a mom's mind safety. So always, you know, preach, tell someone your plan, research it well, bring a first aid kit, know how to use it, and moms tend to be pretty good at these things. And also, moms are pretty good at bringing, like, lots of extra clothing layers, you know, because if you know that kid's going to fall in a puddle or if it's my kid, jump in the stream within the first chance. They have to catch a frog or something. Um, so I often find and um, you know, obviously generalizing that moms and parents tend to be pretty prepared and the concerns, sadly, that moms have are usually other humans that they're going to come across and either be judged as a mom with kids or safety concerns with other hikers.
Lindsay Lapointe:Safety concerns with other hikers when it comes to wildlife, I think actually the things that are the biggest concerns are the teeny little bugs, the ticks, you know, and the mosquitoes, and safety concerns are blisters and things like that, because as a guide, it was those things that were more concerned. I've come across bear and moose on trail multiple times. Never been a guide, it was those things that were more concerned. I've come across bear and moose on trail multiple times. Never been a concern. Our black bears will run away if you make some noise. They're scared of us and learn to store food properly and things like that. Usually, my concern for hikers and things I preach is is a lot of our, our younger hiker friends that you know in the twenties and I can put myself into that category as a young hiker. You know you, you don't necessarily know you put on some sneakers, grab a little water bottle and think you can climb up Mount Washington and so, um, it's often like the young people I I'm most worried about on the trail.
Dan Egan:Talking with Lindsay LaPointe here on the 603 podcast and getting some really important insight on, and perspective on, safety and hiking in the beautiful state of New Hampshire and I think these points that you bring up, lindsay, are unbelievable. You know it's often the small things that are overlooked. And then you bring up this sort of idea of blind ambition that comes with as we get into our 20s and we're invincible and all that and some of that you know goes into the idea of peak bagging or bucket lists. Idea of peak bagging or bucket lists and those things in my mind, in the back of my mind, often sort of fog, the real purpose for doing things. But, as you know, ty Gagne on the podcast a couple weeks back, you know he talks to like, yeah, setting goals is part of it, right, and having you know motivation. So there's both sides of that and that really made me think you know what our job is to really put the information out there to help people make decisions. It seems like that's sort of your baseline approach.
Lindsay Lapointe:Yeah, I think a lot of status and injury could be prevented with carrying the right gear, and so to me, that's the first aid kit, that's the extra layers, you know, that's the navigation, sun protection. We call these the 10 essentials. You know, and I would, I would recommend that listeners Google hiking with the 10 essentials and what that means and not being afraid to ask questions to people who do a lot. I had a friend's husband message me a couple of weeks ago and he's doing Mount Washington with a group of you know friends and I was impressed that he'd reach out to me and ask some questions, cause I think he he's a little intimidated. You know, it's like a group of friends going up Mount Washington with various you know ability, and he's never done that before. And I was like, okay, here, here's what I think you should carry. Come over and borrow some trekking poles, borrow a backpack, you know. So reach out to people, and people can reach out to me too. I'm always available and I have a lot of people do that because I really want people to have a fun, safe time in the whites.
Lindsay Lapointe:And, of course, accidents happen and we get injured and all those things, me included, you know, but if you're prepared it really helps. And another thing is like knowing how to use your first aid kit. I had, you know, the benefit of going through wilderness first aid training multiple times as part of my job and it's given me such confidence that if I'm out with my kids I'll know how to deal with an injury. Or if I come across an injured hiker or something, or if I myself am solo hiking and get injured, I always have in the back of my head a skill set to help deal with that. So always recommend a first aid course and wilderness first aid is a privilege to take those classes. Highly recommend the wilderness first aid is usually like a three-day course.
Dan Egan:Yeah, I strongly recommend it. I think that knowledge is power, right, and you know what you talked about. There is confidence, and you know reaching out to ask people one. That's a courageous move, right. You have to sort of swallow a bit of your male ego and ego in general to do that, and it's often said you know, groups of family and friends are the hardest to guide, the hardest to be with, because you don't want to insult somebody or you know there's sort of the internal politics of loved ones there and often can be the place where somebody might bite their tongue.
Lindsay Lapointe:Agreed. Yeah, and Ty talked about that too right when you interviewed him about like sometimes you know there's this peer pressure and things to continue to push forward, and I see that all the time.
Dan Egan:There's a there's a story in here somewhere about your experience in Newfoundland and how that inspired you to sort of, you know, get more involved. Am I right about that?
Lindsay Lapointe:I had the pleasure to go to Newfoundland. Like I said, somehow my travel kind of vacations always tend to involve lots of hiking. And I have a friend that I've had since 2000, I might get the date wrong four or five and we started traveling together and every year we plan a vacation, including now. I met her when I was 21,. We're 40 now and we've gone every year on a trip and the joke is always she's looking for a beach to lie on or someplace warm and she's like why are we hiking somewhere cold up a mountain again? And so I convinced her and another friend to go to Newfoundland.
Lindsay Lapointe:I had the pleasure of working with a couple newfies when I worked in New Brunswick at a summer camp one year and they just were the most warm, wonderful people and I just felt like I have to go to the place where these people are from. And for those people who don't know, newfoundland is kind of hard to get to. So I, you know, you drive through New Hampshire, through Maine, up to the top of Nova Scotia and then you take either a nine hour ferry or a 13 hour ferry, depending on which side of the island you want to get to. So we took the nine hour ferry car, ferry drove off and then spent, oh, a while ago, maybe almost three weeks, driving around the province, yeah, doing a ton of hiking. Gros Morne National Park there is just incredible, definitely a hidden gem a lot of people don't go to or don't know about. And you know, you see in these little towns icebergs floating by and wild berries everywhere. I'm sure it's extremely harsh in winter, but in summer it's like one of those places I just felt it's like mountains, ocean, you know, oh, it was beautiful. So, yes, um is one of the many cold, mountainous places I visited and definitely has an imprint on my heart. And the people there, just like the Newfies I worked with in Canada and in New Brunswick, are so friendly.
Lindsay Lapointe:And one little story, just hilarious. I you know this was before a lot of internet kind of availability on TripAdvisor and stuff. So I had to plan this trip myself and we showed up in a little town and a man saw my license plate was Maine and he said, oh, we have family in Maine. Do you know any? Do you know my family? I'm like, no, I don't know. He's like, well, come over. And soon his wife was making us tea and we had a nice conversation with them and like that's just an example of just random, like everybody there just wanted to meet us and get to know us and it was like you can tell they don't have a lot of tourists, or at least didn't in, you know, 2010 or whenever. That was because they were just so friendly and eager to have us there.
Dan Egan:And this is totally fascinating to me, that you're a playwright. Tell me, tell me about standing North and what, oh, you've dug deep You've dug deep into my old resume.
Lindsay Lapointe:I've always liked writing and the play was. I always feel like I need a creative outlet and I was doing a year for AmeriCorps and the place I was working. I had quite a bit of free time, I was working at a wetlands preserve place. I was working, I had quite a bit of free time, I was working at a wetlands preserve and I just started kind of typing and wrote a one-act play and submitted it to a playhouse for a competition where they, would, you know, read plays and then produce one.
Lindsay Lapointe:And so mine was chosen and it's a short one-act play about an environmentalist who has kind of boarded herself up into a tree to protect it from being cut down and construction is halted. And during construction being halted, she kind of befriends one of the construction workers that's supposed to take down the tree and they they realize that they have more in common than than not, um, and it's a kind of a story of friendship and also, like um, the kind of how we can go about making change, um, so it's, you know, I I always think, um, I'm not a person who necessarily sees the world as black and white, I like to see it as very complicated and I think that's one way I like get along with a lot of people is because it's not just about your political party or about where you're from or whatever, that we all have common ground and that's kind of a message of that story.
Dan Egan:Message of unity message of unity.
Dan Egan:The outdoors brings us together in a beautiful way and I've always enjoyed that throughout my whole career sort of the unification and common ground of meeting people in those environments, whether it's for a cup of tea or political discussion. And as you think about it, you know, when people say to me, you know where should I go skiing or what should I do, you know, I always say look, the glaciers of the great glaciers of Europe are melting. If you want to see a piece of history, go now, yeah, and see it and look at the displays, what they used to be and what they are like now. I think when we're out in the outdoors we get a chance to see sort of this history changing. You know, whatever you want to call it, it is changing around us. I was wondering, with all the places you've been and you've hiked Cannon Beach, you're all over Europe, in the Cascades, you're everywhere, you're here in New Hampshire what do you see the changes and why is it so important that people for themselves to witness what's going on around us?
Lindsay Lapointe:I have seen huge changes and I've seen it most on the West Coast and the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in just outside of Portland, oregon, and kind of. The two big visual changes are one you probably are familiar with, mount Hood and their glacier and in the summer you can ski there, you know, and going up as a child, there's this big swath of snow up at Timberline and it's a very special place. I got married up on Timberline at Silcox Ski Cut and it's just so much smaller now every summer, you know, and so it's a visual for me. Most recently, the big, dramatic, kind of heartbreaking thing is fire and again, 18 years of living in the Pacific Northwest.
Lindsay Lapointe:As a child I don't remember wildfires being part of my life ever and I continue to go back every year and fire is becoming a huge regular thing and you know it's affecting family. I've had multiple family members who've had to evacuate their homes. Fire has, you know, impacted their life and then it impacts a lot of hiking and travel. And so the last I was trying to do the math the last five summers I think, I've had a trip canceled or changed due to fire and going into this past summer we're coming out of. I had planned a hiking trip in North Cascades National Park and you know kind of a worry wart and I was like the only thing I really don't want to deal with is fire. And I'm very concerned because the last few trips I was supposed to do a Sedona one a few trips years ago fire I was supposed to backpack in Eastern Oregon, fire canceled it. I was supposed to backpack in Eastern Oregon, fire canceled it. And I'd been watching, you know, wildfire reports and I was feeling pretty good.
Lindsay Lapointe:And then the day before I arrived in North Cascades a wildfire started on just Sourdough Mountain near Diablo Lake. There, and pulling into the park could see the smoke coming off and it was extremely small and you see the helicopters dropping water. And the next morning our campground was full of smoke. We were able to still hike but it was just like it was so small and it's right there, it's right next to the lake. You know here's water, it's not hard to get to.
Lindsay Lapointe:And then the next day we went hiking and when we were in service to get some, you know, ice for our campground, we had a message that we could not go back and the highway was closed, the campground was closed, we had to abandon some of our camping gear and you know change our trip and you know that was unfortunate. But the real tragedy is our beautiful wild landscapes, that of course wildfires are part of the cycle of the forest and as a you know science teacher and former scientist like I, understand this. But this is a whole different level and this is not how it's traditionally in you know, modern human times been in these areas. It's just really sad and it makes me sad for the wild places, it makes me sad for the communities it affects as well.
Dan Egan:Yeah, you're really hitting on it there. The fires are amazing and the devastation of that is overwhelming. You know, recently on the podcast we had Lindsay Rustad, who's the lead scientist up at Hubbard Brook in the country and maybe the world you know single handedly reduced acid rain by 80 percent and how they changed national legislation. And one of her things and what they're studying at Hubbard Brook right up here in Thornton, new Hampshire, is what fire is going to look like here in the Northeast. And of course a lot of us think, oh, it's never. I know my in my mindset it's never. You know, I live five acres right up against National Forest. We're never going to see fire here. She says really the contrary. We've never been more primed for for fire here in the northeast. And of course, coming out of this wet, wet winter summer, you know kind of thinking how could that be? But I think you're hitting on it that we may see that reality here in our backyard hitting on it that we may see that reality here in our backyard.
Lindsay Lapointe:Guys, I unfortunately think we will, and the um was that last. Last year, a little over a year ago, there were some fires in crawford notch there and it was a a quick reminder. You know they were able to put them out over by arethusa falls falls and I think we'd be naive to say it's not going to affect us. And to your comment about kind of legislation, I think good science and strong legislation can help mitigate those things, just like it did with acid rain and hole in the ozone layer. But it really it takes public support to get strong legislation. And I think here in New Hampshire we have such beautiful wild spaces that so many people enjoy and it's such a big part of the identity of the state that I hope that we all can agree on that common ground to protect it. And climate science and supporting that is a big part of that, I think.
Dan Egan:It certainly is particularly just coming off of yesterday's news recently that with the EPA changing their entire policy around wetlands and not needing to check wetlands now for development and they're no longer protected, we've got a lot of things happening in our environment that we need to pay attention as lovers of the outdoors and as stewards of the future politically. So it's amazing. My hat's off to you, lindsay. I love all that you're doing helping families, healthy living, inspiring kids to get out there, teaching kids in your daily work, raising your own family, writing a blog, being an award winner writer and a playwright. My gosh, you ever just kind of think were you born for this? Are you the luckiest woman around? Like, how did it all happen? What's your thoughts on that?
Lindsay Lapointe:Very lucky. I have a lot of support. My parents were teachers. My dad's a writer as well, always supporting me. I have a lot of support. My parents were teachers. My dad's a writer as well, always supporting me. I have a ton of support at home my husband. We are bonded over our love for the outdoors and he's a great parent and partner as well, and he's home today. He's packing up the car for a camping trip over the weekend while I talk to you. So I am extremely lucky and fortunate and I know that.
Dan Egan:I love that. So tell us more. How do we find you? How can people check you out online?
Lindsay Lapointe:Yeah, so I am extremely active on Instagram. I have two accounts on there Freelance Adventurer, which is also the name of my blog, so if you Google it. Land's Adventurer, which is also the name of my blog, so if you Google it, it will come up my blog as well as my Instagram. I post, you know, funny hiking videos, also safety advice as well as advice for places to go and cool things to do in New Hampshire. It's really focused on our state. And then for the super niche local group of the Seacoast, I have a Seacoast Hikes account by that name, as well as a short field guide of 10 family-friendly trails and, if you do like, quote unquote, peak bagging. If you do all 10 hikes in that book, you earn a patch and a bumper sticker.
Dan Egan:We all need bumper stickers.
Lindsay Lapointe:Yeah, so that's, that's how to find me.
Dan Egan:Oh, that's awesome. Well, I'm so grateful you joined us here on the 603 Lindsay. Thank you so much.
Lindsay Lapointe:Thanks for having me, Dan this was fun Awesome.
Dan Egan:Hey, dan, this was fun, awesome. Hey, thanks for listening to the 603 Podcast with me, dan Egan, make sure you check out our website at 603podcastcom. Please support the sponsors that make this show possible for more stories, tales and exploration of the Granite State.
