spring break
Spring Break:
Even though it wasn't much of a spring break, since I was mostly working on my 839 project, there were a few things of note. Lev and co. wanted to go road-tripping to Florida, but unfortunately that didn't pan out, and I couldn't because I was working on the project. The worst was seeing pictures that other people posted from their trips to sunny tropical places. Sad.
3/21 (Friday)
Boston Market and 10,000 BC
Andriy and I went to Boston Market and had delicious delicious delicious chicken and mashed potatoes and creamed spinach and mac and cheese. I love Boston Market, I wish I'd go more often... Then we met Jaime and Sally for 10,000 B.C. at Boston Commons. That movie was basically Apocalypto, but set in a different time. Not really sure what the time was, even though it said 10,000 B.C., it seemed there were pyramids there too, which I'm not sure is correct. It was still fun to watch though, and the guy was hot. Turns out he's the same guy from The Covenant, which incidentally played Warren Peace in Sky High, which was awesome.
3/22 (Saturday)
Non-Spring-Break Party
There was Larinda's, and afterwards Lev and I went shopping with car. We went to the liquor store and then to shaws and bought lots of alcohol and food in prep for PARTY that night (aka sad compensation for those of us staying behind during spring break). The party started off with some of Lev's friends, and we watched Pixar shorts on youtube for a little while. Then more people started showing up, and drinking, and well, it's all documented via Jaime's awesome take a zillion shots in continuous shutter mode policy. The pictures got interesting as the night went on and people started to leave and somehow we ended up with a bunch of pictures of Lev's bald spot and one of his crotch. Thanks Jaime. Jaime basically dominated the rest of the night with nonsensical drunk talk, especially after Sally left in disgust after his flirted with this other little Asian girl for a really long time. Yeah it was an interesting time...
3/23 (Sunday)
Arethusa Falls
I wanted to write about this when it happened, but it was pretty overwhelming. Andriy and I decided to take a day to do something vacation-y, so we rented a car and drove up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to go hiking for the day. This could have very easily turned into one of those TV shows about a hiking trip gone terribly wrong, and we were really lucky that nothing happened in the end and we made it out safe and sound. It's weird because you never really think about your own mortality until something like this happens. I think this is probably the third time that I've really been scared that I or someone close to me might die - after the river in Munich and the deep pit on the beach in Miami with Erica.
So we got a late start going because we were tired from the party the night before, and we didn't leave until noon. It took about three hours to drive up there, and then it was a little confusing when we got to the final road because most of the trail signs were buried in snow, so we eventually had to ask some ski rental place where the trail was. We wanted to take the trail to Arethusa Falls, which is apparently the highest drop in NH with some other associated superlatives... The trail is supposed to go past a really nice scenic viewpoint that gives a spectacular view of Mt. Washington.
So even though it was March, the snow up there was deep as ever, which I hadn't anticipated when I wore my sneakers that had a hole in the side. Luckily I also wore wool socks and consequently didn't feel any wetness until a couple of hours in the snow. The trail was a little slippery with snow while going downhill, but overall it was very calming just trekking through the wilderness in the glistening snow and taking lots of pictures. I was lucky that I brought along my snow pants because I used them quite a few times as a shortcut going downhill. They were also useful when I plopped down on the ground to take some pictures of leaves.
Since we didn't start the hike until around 4pm, we didn't get to the falls until around 5:30. They were really cool looking because almost the whole thing was frozen minus a small window near the bottom, and it was just this huge mass of dripping ice covering a huge cliff drop. It was like a winter wonderland, especially with the path over a small snowy bridge that led up to it. Very romantic.
Here's where things went wrong. We thought, okay we have about an hour and a half until sunset. Since we'd already gone the path of the falls, why not move forward, since it loops around to the road anyway. It would take a little longer, but we should be fine if we walk fast. The beginning of the way forward was a fairly easy hike, so we were really happy that we went that way, rather than going back along what I thought might be tricky, since I had thought it was slippery on the way in. Walk walk walk, all is well and good, and then we come to more signs saying how the road is still two miles off. It seemed strange that it was taking so long, but we were still confident. Then the sun starts to set.
We started walking a little faster, and we got to the peak with the scenic view of Mt. Washington right about sunset. That was really beautiful, but I was unfortunately starting to get a little cold. We had our beef jerky and water though, so I still felt okay, that I could survive. We kept walking hoping to get to the road soon. It got darker and darker and still nothing. Then we came to a sign, and there was nothing about the road on that sign. It was horrible, I don't understand how they could lead you along this trail and then suddenly drop you off. At this point I was starting to get a little scared because we still didn't know what was ahead, and it was getting really dark. The path was slippery with snow, and there were quite a few portions of the way where it was downhill along the side of the mountain on a narrow road with no railing of any kind. In the dark, this becomes very scary. I had to sit down quite a few times to move on my butt because I was terrified of falling off the mountain.
In times of need, who would have thought that my iPod could save my life. Out of everything that I had with me - I almost left it in the car too - the iPod had a 10 hour battery and a surprisingly amazingly bright light that was able to light our path very well. Andriy was smart too, told me to stop playing music to save battery, so I kept it on the info menu so that I could easily renew the light by pressing play, but nothing would actually play that way. That was one comfort in all of that. Finally we got to this point where it was basically impossible to keep going down. I really just don't know how that would have worked, it would have been a sheer climb down the mountain grabbing onto whatever tree there was along the way. Andriy maneuvered a tiny way down, and all I could think about in that moment was what if he falls down the mountain, what am I going to do here in the middle of the woods alone in the middle of a snowy night and he gets hurt or worse dies. I was freaking out and finally got him to pull back, and we clung to that one tree for a few minutes in despair trying to figure out what to do. I looked up that area when we got home, turns out it's called Frankenstein Cliffs, and apparently that part of the trail you have to climb a root path down, which I think there's probably no way to do in the snow, even during the day. I don't understand how they can have this stuff and not warn people along the way, it's crazy dangerous.
We did the only thing we could do at this point, we turned back. Well, we were still convinced that we were close to the road, so we pulled back to the overlook of Mt. Washington, and at that point we took a break to regroup. I knew it would be a while to walk back the way we came, and I was starting to get scared for bears or something like that, especially because we had beef jerky. Since we were up high, we were able to get some phone service, and I called Mike. Mike helped us get some park service numbers, but of course they were closed at that time, and I just didn't know what to do. God bless Mike for helping out, even if nothing came of it. It was nice to talk to someone that we knew, knowing that if anything happened, at least he knew where we had been. The only other option was to call 911, and we decided against it. God knows the only thing I wanted in that moment was for a helicopter to fly in and rescue us, but I knew that we still had one other option to turn back, and we knew that way. Even though I was freezing and my feet were starting to get wet, at least we had some food and water and each other and my iPod, so we were doing okay. Andriy gave me his jacket, since apparently he was hot, and that really helped.
Everything became much brighter after we decided to turn back, because we knew exactly where we were going now. Even though I had a silent fear of bears or some crazy serial killer following us, neither of us spoke of anything like that for fear of freaking each other out, and we both knew that it was the only thing that we could do to keep sane and productive was to keep our mouth chattering about something trivial and optimistic. We just talked about things like dance and what we were going to do when we got home. Plus I knew deep down also that if we kept talking loudly it would ward off bears anyway.
Surprisingly, going back the way we came was quite easy. The trail was light and not as steep or slippery as I would have thought. I think my expectation of a steep hill was changed over the course of the trip, so it wasn't so scary at all. We got back in an hour or two, I believe, which is amazing because it seemed much longer on the way in, especially after having gone all that extra distance. It was SUCH a relief to be back in the car, driving away. I was still scared of a killer, but once we were out onto the highway I could finally relax. It was around midnight when we finally got back on the road. It was a stupid thing that we did, especially having no flashlights or anything so late in the day, and we were lucky that nothing happened.
Other than having an interesting story to tell, one thing that was good about what came out of the experience was a shared bond with Andriy that only a real scary trial can give you. I was really afraid, but through everything it was comforting to know that we were together and we could carry each other through it.
Even though it wasn't much of a spring break, since I was mostly working on my 839 project, there were a few things of note. Lev and co. wanted to go road-tripping to Florida, but unfortunately that didn't pan out, and I couldn't because I was working on the project. The worst was seeing pictures that other people posted from their trips to sunny tropical places. Sad.
3/21 (Friday)
Boston Market and 10,000 BC
Andriy and I went to Boston Market and had delicious delicious delicious chicken and mashed potatoes and creamed spinach and mac and cheese. I love Boston Market, I wish I'd go more often... Then we met Jaime and Sally for 10,000 B.C. at Boston Commons. That movie was basically Apocalypto, but set in a different time. Not really sure what the time was, even though it said 10,000 B.C., it seemed there were pyramids there too, which I'm not sure is correct. It was still fun to watch though, and the guy was hot. Turns out he's the same guy from The Covenant, which incidentally played Warren Peace in Sky High, which was awesome.
3/22 (Saturday)
Non-Spring-Break Party
There was Larinda's, and afterwards Lev and I went shopping with car. We went to the liquor store and then to shaws and bought lots of alcohol and food in prep for PARTY that night (aka sad compensation for those of us staying behind during spring break). The party started off with some of Lev's friends, and we watched Pixar shorts on youtube for a little while. Then more people started showing up, and drinking, and well, it's all documented via Jaime's awesome take a zillion shots in continuous shutter mode policy. The pictures got interesting as the night went on and people started to leave and somehow we ended up with a bunch of pictures of Lev's bald spot and one of his crotch. Thanks Jaime. Jaime basically dominated the rest of the night with nonsensical drunk talk, especially after Sally left in disgust after his flirted with this other little Asian girl for a really long time. Yeah it was an interesting time...
3/23 (Sunday)
Arethusa Falls
I wanted to write about this when it happened, but it was pretty overwhelming. Andriy and I decided to take a day to do something vacation-y, so we rented a car and drove up to the White Mountains in New Hampshire to go hiking for the day. This could have very easily turned into one of those TV shows about a hiking trip gone terribly wrong, and we were really lucky that nothing happened in the end and we made it out safe and sound. It's weird because you never really think about your own mortality until something like this happens. I think this is probably the third time that I've really been scared that I or someone close to me might die - after the river in Munich and the deep pit on the beach in Miami with Erica.
So we got a late start going because we were tired from the party the night before, and we didn't leave until noon. It took about three hours to drive up there, and then it was a little confusing when we got to the final road because most of the trail signs were buried in snow, so we eventually had to ask some ski rental place where the trail was. We wanted to take the trail to Arethusa Falls, which is apparently the highest drop in NH with some other associated superlatives... The trail is supposed to go past a really nice scenic viewpoint that gives a spectacular view of Mt. Washington.
So even though it was March, the snow up there was deep as ever, which I hadn't anticipated when I wore my sneakers that had a hole in the side. Luckily I also wore wool socks and consequently didn't feel any wetness until a couple of hours in the snow. The trail was a little slippery with snow while going downhill, but overall it was very calming just trekking through the wilderness in the glistening snow and taking lots of pictures. I was lucky that I brought along my snow pants because I used them quite a few times as a shortcut going downhill. They were also useful when I plopped down on the ground to take some pictures of leaves.
Since we didn't start the hike until around 4pm, we didn't get to the falls until around 5:30. They were really cool looking because almost the whole thing was frozen minus a small window near the bottom, and it was just this huge mass of dripping ice covering a huge cliff drop. It was like a winter wonderland, especially with the path over a small snowy bridge that led up to it. Very romantic.
Here's where things went wrong. We thought, okay we have about an hour and a half until sunset. Since we'd already gone the path of the falls, why not move forward, since it loops around to the road anyway. It would take a little longer, but we should be fine if we walk fast. The beginning of the way forward was a fairly easy hike, so we were really happy that we went that way, rather than going back along what I thought might be tricky, since I had thought it was slippery on the way in. Walk walk walk, all is well and good, and then we come to more signs saying how the road is still two miles off. It seemed strange that it was taking so long, but we were still confident. Then the sun starts to set.
We started walking a little faster, and we got to the peak with the scenic view of Mt. Washington right about sunset. That was really beautiful, but I was unfortunately starting to get a little cold. We had our beef jerky and water though, so I still felt okay, that I could survive. We kept walking hoping to get to the road soon. It got darker and darker and still nothing. Then we came to a sign, and there was nothing about the road on that sign. It was horrible, I don't understand how they could lead you along this trail and then suddenly drop you off. At this point I was starting to get a little scared because we still didn't know what was ahead, and it was getting really dark. The path was slippery with snow, and there were quite a few portions of the way where it was downhill along the side of the mountain on a narrow road with no railing of any kind. In the dark, this becomes very scary. I had to sit down quite a few times to move on my butt because I was terrified of falling off the mountain.
In times of need, who would have thought that my iPod could save my life. Out of everything that I had with me - I almost left it in the car too - the iPod had a 10 hour battery and a surprisingly amazingly bright light that was able to light our path very well. Andriy was smart too, told me to stop playing music to save battery, so I kept it on the info menu so that I could easily renew the light by pressing play, but nothing would actually play that way. That was one comfort in all of that. Finally we got to this point where it was basically impossible to keep going down. I really just don't know how that would have worked, it would have been a sheer climb down the mountain grabbing onto whatever tree there was along the way. Andriy maneuvered a tiny way down, and all I could think about in that moment was what if he falls down the mountain, what am I going to do here in the middle of the woods alone in the middle of a snowy night and he gets hurt or worse dies. I was freaking out and finally got him to pull back, and we clung to that one tree for a few minutes in despair trying to figure out what to do. I looked up that area when we got home, turns out it's called Frankenstein Cliffs, and apparently that part of the trail you have to climb a root path down, which I think there's probably no way to do in the snow, even during the day. I don't understand how they can have this stuff and not warn people along the way, it's crazy dangerous.
We did the only thing we could do at this point, we turned back. Well, we were still convinced that we were close to the road, so we pulled back to the overlook of Mt. Washington, and at that point we took a break to regroup. I knew it would be a while to walk back the way we came, and I was starting to get scared for bears or something like that, especially because we had beef jerky. Since we were up high, we were able to get some phone service, and I called Mike. Mike helped us get some park service numbers, but of course they were closed at that time, and I just didn't know what to do. God bless Mike for helping out, even if nothing came of it. It was nice to talk to someone that we knew, knowing that if anything happened, at least he knew where we had been. The only other option was to call 911, and we decided against it. God knows the only thing I wanted in that moment was for a helicopter to fly in and rescue us, but I knew that we still had one other option to turn back, and we knew that way. Even though I was freezing and my feet were starting to get wet, at least we had some food and water and each other and my iPod, so we were doing okay. Andriy gave me his jacket, since apparently he was hot, and that really helped.
Everything became much brighter after we decided to turn back, because we knew exactly where we were going now. Even though I had a silent fear of bears or some crazy serial killer following us, neither of us spoke of anything like that for fear of freaking each other out, and we both knew that it was the only thing that we could do to keep sane and productive was to keep our mouth chattering about something trivial and optimistic. We just talked about things like dance and what we were going to do when we got home. Plus I knew deep down also that if we kept talking loudly it would ward off bears anyway.
Surprisingly, going back the way we came was quite easy. The trail was light and not as steep or slippery as I would have thought. I think my expectation of a steep hill was changed over the course of the trip, so it wasn't so scary at all. We got back in an hour or two, I believe, which is amazing because it seemed much longer on the way in, especially after having gone all that extra distance. It was SUCH a relief to be back in the car, driving away. I was still scared of a killer, but once we were out onto the highway I could finally relax. It was around midnight when we finally got back on the road. It was a stupid thing that we did, especially having no flashlights or anything so late in the day, and we were lucky that nothing happened.
Other than having an interesting story to tell, one thing that was good about what came out of the experience was a shared bond with Andriy that only a real scary trial can give you. I was really afraid, but through everything it was comforting to know that we were together and we could carry each other through it.