603 INFORMER / WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
Blowing in the Wind
Flags on the 48 to mark the 20th anniversary of 9/11
The flag goes up on Mt. Liberty as particpants observe the Flags on the 48 activities last year in remembrance of those who perished on September 11.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARSHALL HUDSON
I
’m partway up the Liberty Springs Trail and starting to hurt. I still have some distance to go before reaching the peak of 4,459-foot-high Mt. Liberty and I’m wondering what I’ve gotten myself into. The guidebook says it is 4.1 miles from the trailhead to the summit and should take three to four hours. That means it is also 4.1 miles and another three to four hours back down again after the exertion of going up. The guidebook indicates an elevation gain of 3,150 feet between parking lot and summit and describes the hike as “difficult.” I’d describe it as being on a relentless stair-stepper machine for eight hours while wearing a 25-pound backpack and being eaten by mosquitoes. Why am I doing this? I’m with a team of like-minded trekkers scaling the mountain with the goal of flying Old Glory on the summit. In addi-
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tion to the usual mountain hiking gear, we are also packing flagpole parts, guy wires, ropes, duct tape and a large American flag. These components are divvied up amongst team members to minimize the extra weight any one person might carry. My portion consists only of camera and notebook, so perhaps I’m getting off easy. Our headcount was 22 when we left the trailhead, but like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, we’ve been picking up others in groups of twos and threes and fours along the way. By the time we break tree line and start climbing the rocky pyramid dome, we are a colorful, sweaty band 44 strong with three dogs. Our team is not alone on this mission; similar teams are ascending all 48 of New Hampshire’s 4,000-foot mountains with the shared goal of flying the flag between noon and 2 p.m. for the annual Flags on the 48 memorial hike.
Flags on the 48 is a grassroots effort by volunteers who believe that those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, should never be forgotten. Experienced mountain hikers and passionate nonhikers join forces each September to raise American flags on New Hampshire mountaintops in memory of the lives lost on that day. This memorial service originated three days after the 9/11 attack as Americans were reeling from the devastating news, wanting to fight back but finding little they could do. Six hikers found a way to express their emotions by climbing Mt. Liberty and raising a 96-square-foot American flag on the summit. Perhaps an insignificant event, but it was symbolic, patriotic, demonstrated a defiant unbroken American spirit, and paid tribute to the rescuers and thousands of innocent people who died in the attacks. Their effort received a tremendous out-
