Ed Hawkins: A man for all seasons

AMC Outdoors, September 2002

By Katharine Wroth

Think a weekend in the mountains sounds like a great getaway? How about every weekend in the mountains? That's the schedule Ed Hawkins sticks to. Hawkins, who has been hiking for just over a decade, recently became the second person to summit each of New Hampshire's 4,000-footers in every month of the year.

That's right, he's scrambled up each of the 48 peaks in rain, snow, sun, and sleet. (Four Thousand Footer Committee Chair Gene Daniell is the other member of this elite group.) Hawkins has also managed, in that time, to complete New England's 100 highest in winter and to start in on the high peaks of the Adirondacks and Colorado. Why does he do it? "It's fun," the New Hampshire native muses, with classic New England understatement. "It's good exercise, it's a great social activity, and there's always some kind of reward."

This former motorcyclist, who used to make an annual ride to the top of Mount Washington, started hiking with his two young daughters in the late 1980s. Back then, he'd pick his next destination from among the visible peaks at the summit he was on. He is more systematic now, but quick to point out that he doesn't just "tag the summit and leave"; he likes to explore, and occasionally even take a nap.

And he isn't in it just for himself. A leader for the New Hampshire Chapter for seven years, he takes groups out about four times a month, instructs at the chapter's spring and winter skills workshops, and is planning hikes for next year's ATC Conference in Waterville Valley.

"I've always loved to be outdoors," says Hawkins, 56, who earned a degree from the University of New Hampshire in Soil, Water, and Construction. Now retired, the 28-year Coca-Cola employee built his own house in Chester, N.H., where he lives with his wife, Elva. "I'm spoiled," he confesses. "She puts up with me."

Asked what he would say to someone attempting his feat, Hawkins pauses for only a moment before offering up this advice: "Why not?"

—Katharine Wroth is Senior Editor of AMC Outdoors.