This Six-Pack hike was all about facing some fears. Two fears, in particular:

1. Steep, open rock faces
2. Ghosts

Earlier in 2021, I spent a month living in northern Arizona (and sadly was unaware of the Six Pack at the time or otherwise I would've totally been down for the challenge) and as a mostly-lifelong East Coaster I was thrown off guard on hikes because even though the hikes themselves weren't particularly challenging, they basically consisted of giant, sloping rock faces with huge cliffs to the side. (If you've ever hiked the Hangover Trail in Sedona, that's the kind of thing I mean.) I realized that I do not, in fact, feel particularly comfortable on hikes like this. Thankfully, there haven't been any hikes like that in the five SoCal Six Pack hikes I've done so far. In fact, today was supposed to be the day that I would be doing my sixth, but I cancelled the trip back to LA because of the national forest closures. In all honesty, it was a bit of a relief — I don't feel quite up for a 10,000-foot mountain yet and the New England challenge is giving me the opportunity to work up to it while doing another Six Pack in the process.

Today it gave me a crash course in dealing with those steep rock faces, which definitely raised my heart rate a bit. The fact that there were plenty of other hikes on the trail (including a group of six women with a dog who decided to follow me for a while) made it easier as a solo hiker, to be able to see the routes up the rocks that other hikers were taking and also to know that if I got injured I wouldn't be alone. But when I reached the second summit with the realization that this actually wasn't that hard, I got pretty amped about Old Speck next weekend and wrapping up the Six-Pack with the Vermont peaks the following week.

This also was a really gorgeous hike, with panoramic views starting just a mile in. After cloudy and underwhelming ascents of Bear and Greylock, these views were doubly appreciated — especially being able to look back on the peak(s) you just climbed.

A couple of Welch-Dickey tips for other New England Six-Pack aspirants:

1. This is a very, very, VERY popular hike. Trailhead parking lot was already filling up by 9AM. Plan accordingly!
2. It costs $5 for a White Mountain National Forest pass for your car. I did not see this on any of the hike descriptions I loaded up, so I'm flagging it here. You can either buy one online in advance (and, presumably, print it out?) or pay in cash at the trailhead.
3. Do the loop counterclockwise. The steep sections of Welch are safer as an ascent than a descent. When I got to the trailhead, national forest reps were there to encourage all the hikers to do this, because apparently a lot of people get injured on Welch-Dickey. But I'm not sure if the forest staffers are there all the time or just on weekends, so keep this in mind anyway.

Oh, wait. I forgot to talk about the ghost.

I spent the night before the hike at a lovely B&B called Sunny Grange, which I highly recommend if you want to get an early start on Welch-Dickey (it's about ten minutes' drive from the trailhead). The owners are awesome and also super knowledgeable about hikes, and the breakfast they cooked in the morning was fantastic. But as with many old New England houses, you definitely get the feeling that there are some… supernatural inhabitants. Creaking doors when no one's in the hallway, things in the middle of the night that kind of sound like whispers… while my Whoop tracker did indeed tell me that I hadn't gotten a great night of sleep (HRV under 20, ugh), I had plenty of energy for today's hike. So I assume Room 4's ghost is a friendly ghost who wished me well, if a bit mischievous.

(When traveling throughout New England, haunted B&Bs and hotels are really a plus, not a minus.)