a' travelin'
i woke up under a tarp in a storm in new hampshire, walked and drove many miles to then fall asleep in my new haven bed, got on a plane for some even faster travel the next morning, and have now spent the third night in my san diego bed.
it was an amazing week in new hampshire. we kicked so much trail ass that i now feel wholly confident that we can survive five months of it next year. instead of leaving the trail to come home at the end of the week, we'll leave the trail to find a shower/laundromat/trashcan/food source in small town x, and head right back to it.
we were awarded for our vacation choice by beautiful weather for most of the week; our flimsy walmart tarp has now retired.
my feet won the battle with the new shoes.
(it wasn't even a close fight.)
an early morning hike allowed us a confrontation with a moose, just a handful of yards in front of us on the trail. fortunately, he was bored rather than threatened after a long stare at one another, and meandered away without incident.
no picture to show, but i did capture a chipmunk
munching on a breakfast mushroom just down the way..
i've discovered something interesting about trail difficulty. whether it be steepness or storm to make it difficult, it's not the hardest ones that break my spirit. it's those damn intermediate ones. those generally with a continuous gradual slope in either direction, that piece by piece would make for a really easy, mellow hike, but when strung together in one unending trail, well, they put my mental stamina to a test i never enjoy.
enter the Descent into Hell, aka Zeacliff Falls. or, on the trail, more frankly referred to as the "Piece a Shit trail". according to andy, and a vague foggy memory of mine, we did actually climb this trail the last time we were up in this region (two years ago). i mostly blocked it out. with good reason at the time, but i neglected to realize one of the wonderful benefits of memory: avoidance of prior pain. we're supposed to learn from our mistakes, right? well, this time i have. we walked down the trail (oh that sounds so painlessly mild) for, i solemnly swear, the last time ever. fortunately, there is a convenient alternate loop route for those less insane. that's where we captured these shots, first from the beginning
, just on the other side of the river, and then at the end
of the loop, just near the top of the hellish climb that we gladly avoided. the pond you see out in the second shot, off to the right, is where we camped that morning.
it's quite incredible to get to the top of a peak and be able to recognize other mountain tops you were on just earlier that day, or with an even father view, where you were a few days ago.
more pictures of the trip on my flickr page.
otherwise, the vacation continues on. socks and lace sit waiting to be knit, gre tests wait for me to practice, and there are two piles of material just begging to be constructed into backpacks. tomorrow morning it's to the beach for a run and surfing rendezvous with the brother and dad. perhaps i'll get up on my feet this time...
nice to be (at my other) home. :]
it was an amazing week in new hampshire. we kicked so much trail ass that i now feel wholly confident that we can survive five months of it next year. instead of leaving the trail to come home at the end of the week, we'll leave the trail to find a shower/laundromat/trashcan/food source in small town x, and head right back to it.
we were awarded for our vacation choice by beautiful weather for most of the week; our flimsy walmart tarp has now retired.
my feet won the battle with the new shoes.
(it wasn't even a close fight.)
an early morning hike allowed us a confrontation with a moose, just a handful of yards in front of us on the trail. fortunately, he was bored rather than threatened after a long stare at one another, and meandered away without incident.
no picture to show, but i did capture a chipmunk
munching on a breakfast mushroom just down the way..
i've discovered something interesting about trail difficulty. whether it be steepness or storm to make it difficult, it's not the hardest ones that break my spirit. it's those damn intermediate ones. those generally with a continuous gradual slope in either direction, that piece by piece would make for a really easy, mellow hike, but when strung together in one unending trail, well, they put my mental stamina to a test i never enjoy.
enter the Descent into Hell, aka Zeacliff Falls. or, on the trail, more frankly referred to as the "Piece a Shit trail". according to andy, and a vague foggy memory of mine, we did actually climb this trail the last time we were up in this region (two years ago). i mostly blocked it out. with good reason at the time, but i neglected to realize one of the wonderful benefits of memory: avoidance of prior pain. we're supposed to learn from our mistakes, right? well, this time i have. we walked down the trail (oh that sounds so painlessly mild) for, i solemnly swear, the last time ever. fortunately, there is a convenient alternate loop route for those less insane. that's where we captured these shots, first from the beginning
, just on the other side of the river, and then at the end
of the loop, just near the top of the hellish climb that we gladly avoided. the pond you see out in the second shot, off to the right, is where we camped that morning.
it's quite incredible to get to the top of a peak and be able to recognize other mountain tops you were on just earlier that day, or with an even father view, where you were a few days ago.
more pictures of the trip on my flickr page.
otherwise, the vacation continues on. socks and lace sit waiting to be knit, gre tests wait for me to practice, and there are two piles of material just begging to be constructed into backpacks. tomorrow morning it's to the beach for a run and surfing rendezvous with the brother and dad. perhaps i'll get up on my feet this time...
nice to be (at my other) home. :]