The new New England
As noted, the past week I've been vacationing. Tuesday mid-afternoon I put down my pen and drove up to Syracuse. Discovered that the Angola rest area has really good coffee -- real espresso like you might get in any half-decent shop in Italy. Go figure.
Syracuse was unexciting, except for putzing about trying to find a *@#$@#* hotel. The real destination was Tupper Lake, where I was to meet up with Mark Handy and paddle all afternoon Wednesday with him. There was a minor problem where he ended up at a put-in about 10 miles up the stream at the appointed time, but apart from cutting an hour or so off our paddling time, no biggie. I now lust for Magic (a steal at just $1740). Not a cloud in the sky; 80s.
Then off to the Whites. Finding lodging was an even bigger adventure, this time spanning the Northern quarter of Vermont, and we ended up sleeping under the stars at a romantic camp site (thank goodness I'm a packrat and grabbed and kept that Vermont tourism map last time I was in the state). Given the weather, we didn't bother pitching tents: just a pad on the ground.
Thursday after waking up, we drove along some back roads, rounded a bend, I went "oh, a small town; wonder if they have a diner" then noticed the capitol building. Answer: yes, the Vermont politicians get to enjoy a little diner that produces amazing pancakes (and tofu scramble, natch'). Then on to Twin Mountain NH where we met up with Mark's friend Don Bickford, whose family is from that area. By which I mean his family has been in New Hampshire since 1680.
Our first hike was the ascent of Mount Jefferson, 5712' on the Caps Ridge trail which starts at 3009' and rises those 2700' in a mere 2.4 miles. Amusements included a grey jay that approached us -- much more aggressively than the chipmunks on Mt. Rainier -- and would steal your food if given the chance. Alternatively, it would just eat it out of your hand. Much of the trail itself was actually third-class scrambling; when I got done with the trail, my leg muscles felt like I'd put in a hard day of climbing, not of hiking.
More snaps: Mark and Don, views 1 2, Mark going "does it never end?" Don treading carefully, more views but this time actually framed.
We camped in Maine, about halfway between Gorham NH and Bethel ME (where Sunday River is; I've been to Bethel often, never knew it was so close to the NH border and the Whites). That night, I slept in a tent, but didn't really need to.
Friday we woke up to a report of impending doom: 2-5 inches of rain expected that day due to a cold front coming in, and would either stall or merge with Tropical Storm Tammy (reports weren't clear). So we hurricane-proofed the camp site (that is, we took everything of value, but left the tents up so we wouldn't have to put them up in the rain) and decided to rent a motel that night but return the following night. After that, we set up a car shuttle from "The Basin" to the Wild River, and hiked up West Royce (el. 3202). Given the temperature (still warm) and the humidity (high), I overheated on the way up and slowed us down by a good 15 minutes, but as soon as we reached the ridge, the wind cooled me down, and we stopped for lunch in a spot with yet another gorgeous view. And it started to drizzle. I'd recommend the trail in dry weather, but we had to contend with slippery rocks and roots which made things tricky.
Saturday it basically just rained all day long. We trooped down to North Conway to shop (ugh) outdoor goods stores (cooool!) Mark and I drooled over a wind jacket that couldn't have weighed more than an ounce; you could ball it up in your fist except for the tags explaining how shiny it was. Sadly, didn't fit me. I snagged a jacket at LL Bean to replace the one I shamefully have lost; bonus is that it's medium/tall -- for once, the jacket *actually* fits me. Anti-bonus is that it's light "look at *this* stain!" grey. We also hiked a couple of waterfalls (1 2 3). Back to camp in the evening, we built a fire (slightly tricky starting from dry birch bark, but wet everything else) then I organized dinner around pasta and mushroom/tomato sauce, which went over well. Go go car-camping!
The rain probably did wonders for the local fungus, but they were already out in force despite the warm dry weather.
Sunday was rather better weather, so we did a rather harder waterfall hike. By this point, I was starting to seriously hurt, mostly in the ankle, which has never hurt (the knees would have surprised me less), so I wasn't too sad to skimp. Mid-afternoon, Don went to meet his next visitor, while Mark and I drove back to Manhatten, getting there a bit before midnight.
Monday, after waking up ridiculously late -- even sleeping through Mark getting up, meeting his sister to get spare keys, then coming back in -- I caught up on ten thousand LJ posts and emails, then finished my visit of the AMNH's exhibit on mammal and dinosaur evolution that I'd started in May. Dinner with Katherine and Pijus[*], return to Mark's place and hanging out with his sister and a friend of his he keeps talking about -- and eating mousse, of course.
Tuesday, I drove home. I stopped for a mini-hike in the Poconos at Hickory Run SP where I saw an interesting flower (close-up), and took more shots of fall colours, slightly less well developed there. Otherwise, nothing of note happened.
In summary: Dacks as nice as ever; Whites and Vermont and NH make me think that maybe, just maybe, I might could compromise on my Montreal dream and end up in a New England college town instead.
Colour summary: Dacks were just pre-peak on Thursday, so probably they've peaked; Whites were at their peak this weekend; Poconos were either about to peak or just past-peak depending which way you turned; from State College onwards, it looked like there was a ways to go, so maybe this weekend or next.
Not all pictures were linked; there's more.
[*] If you are 0-3 years out of college and have a math and CS background and want a job in Manhatten at Pijus' firm (a hedge fund), email me.
Syracuse was unexciting, except for putzing about trying to find a *@#$@#* hotel. The real destination was Tupper Lake, where I was to meet up with Mark Handy and paddle all afternoon Wednesday with him. There was a minor problem where he ended up at a put-in about 10 miles up the stream at the appointed time, but apart from cutting an hour or so off our paddling time, no biggie. I now lust for Magic (a steal at just $1740). Not a cloud in the sky; 80s.
Then off to the Whites. Finding lodging was an even bigger adventure, this time spanning the Northern quarter of Vermont, and we ended up sleeping under the stars at a romantic camp site (thank goodness I'm a packrat and grabbed and kept that Vermont tourism map last time I was in the state). Given the weather, we didn't bother pitching tents: just a pad on the ground.
Thursday after waking up, we drove along some back roads, rounded a bend, I went "oh, a small town; wonder if they have a diner" then noticed the capitol building. Answer: yes, the Vermont politicians get to enjoy a little diner that produces amazing pancakes (and tofu scramble, natch'). Then on to Twin Mountain NH where we met up with Mark's friend Don Bickford, whose family is from that area. By which I mean his family has been in New Hampshire since 1680.
Our first hike was the ascent of Mount Jefferson, 5712' on the Caps Ridge trail which starts at 3009' and rises those 2700' in a mere 2.4 miles. Amusements included a grey jay that approached us -- much more aggressively than the chipmunks on Mt. Rainier -- and would steal your food if given the chance. Alternatively, it would just eat it out of your hand. Much of the trail itself was actually third-class scrambling; when I got done with the trail, my leg muscles felt like I'd put in a hard day of climbing, not of hiking.
More snaps: Mark and Don, views 1 2, Mark going "does it never end?" Don treading carefully, more views but this time actually framed.
We camped in Maine, about halfway between Gorham NH and Bethel ME (where Sunday River is; I've been to Bethel often, never knew it was so close to the NH border and the Whites). That night, I slept in a tent, but didn't really need to.
Friday we woke up to a report of impending doom: 2-5 inches of rain expected that day due to a cold front coming in, and would either stall or merge with Tropical Storm Tammy (reports weren't clear). So we hurricane-proofed the camp site (that is, we took everything of value, but left the tents up so we wouldn't have to put them up in the rain) and decided to rent a motel that night but return the following night. After that, we set up a car shuttle from "The Basin" to the Wild River, and hiked up West Royce (el. 3202). Given the temperature (still warm) and the humidity (high), I overheated on the way up and slowed us down by a good 15 minutes, but as soon as we reached the ridge, the wind cooled me down, and we stopped for lunch in a spot with yet another gorgeous view. And it started to drizzle. I'd recommend the trail in dry weather, but we had to contend with slippery rocks and roots which made things tricky.
Saturday it basically just rained all day long. We trooped down to North Conway to shop (ugh) outdoor goods stores (cooool!) Mark and I drooled over a wind jacket that couldn't have weighed more than an ounce; you could ball it up in your fist except for the tags explaining how shiny it was. Sadly, didn't fit me. I snagged a jacket at LL Bean to replace the one I shamefully have lost; bonus is that it's medium/tall -- for once, the jacket *actually* fits me. Anti-bonus is that it's light "look at *this* stain!" grey. We also hiked a couple of waterfalls (1 2 3). Back to camp in the evening, we built a fire (slightly tricky starting from dry birch bark, but wet everything else) then I organized dinner around pasta and mushroom/tomato sauce, which went over well. Go go car-camping!
The rain probably did wonders for the local fungus, but they were already out in force despite the warm dry weather.
Sunday was rather better weather, so we did a rather harder waterfall hike. By this point, I was starting to seriously hurt, mostly in the ankle, which has never hurt (the knees would have surprised me less), so I wasn't too sad to skimp. Mid-afternoon, Don went to meet his next visitor, while Mark and I drove back to Manhatten, getting there a bit before midnight.
Monday, after waking up ridiculously late -- even sleeping through Mark getting up, meeting his sister to get spare keys, then coming back in -- I caught up on ten thousand LJ posts and emails, then finished my visit of the AMNH's exhibit on mammal and dinosaur evolution that I'd started in May. Dinner with Katherine and Pijus[*], return to Mark's place and hanging out with his sister and a friend of his he keeps talking about -- and eating mousse, of course.
Tuesday, I drove home. I stopped for a mini-hike in the Poconos at Hickory Run SP where I saw an interesting flower (close-up), and took more shots of fall colours, slightly less well developed there. Otherwise, nothing of note happened.
In summary: Dacks as nice as ever; Whites and Vermont and NH make me think that maybe, just maybe, I might could compromise on my Montreal dream and end up in a New England college town instead.
Colour summary: Dacks were just pre-peak on Thursday, so probably they've peaked; Whites were at their peak this weekend; Poconos were either about to peak or just past-peak depending which way you turned; from State College onwards, it looked like there was a ways to go, so maybe this weekend or next.
Not all pictures were linked; there's more.
[*] If you are 0-3 years out of college and have a math and CS background and want a job in Manhatten at Pijus' firm (a hedge fund), email me.