Ethan's progress: Day one

Globe correspondent Ethan Gilsdorf is walking from Massachusetts General Hospital to Lee, N.H., in memory of his mother and to raise money for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation. Here's the latest from Ethan:

Monday night, Dec. 17

I left Mass General at 7 as the sun rose. Taking the Longfellow Bridge was like walking on a moonscape of ice. The city and its suburbs are wrapped in a straightjacket of ice and snow. To navigate the sidewalks is to become aware of the varieties of ice: color, depth, viscosity, slipperiness. On my route today from Boston to Cambridge, then Somerville and Medford before hitting the 'burbs of Stoneham and Reading, often I had to walk on the road. There was simply no way unless I climbed frozen solid snowbanks or post-holed my way through crusty snow (I did my share of that, too).

I was warm (despite the wind and cold), I was determined, I was happy. And now, in the hotel in
Andover, I'm exhausted. Day 1 is over. I surpassed my mileage goal, so perhaps I'll go a bit slower tomorrow? That is, if in the morning I can get my legs to work at all. And my feet.

The day in numbers:

9 hours of walking
27 miles
5 blisters
4 dead camera batteries
3 slips and falls
6 phone calls
4 ibuprofen
3 energy bars
25 degrees (with wind chill, lower)
1 frozen water line to my Camelback
3 layers (bottoms)
5 layers (tops)
0 regrets
1 hour bath