up mt washington--an 'ode' to billy

the day: the 25th of july, yet another beautiful day in the neighborhood! and more importantly, up in the white mountains. sunny and somewhere in the 70's. not too windy save for some breeze up top. not bad at all for "the worst weather in the world."

the adventure: if you live in new england and love to go outside and play! hiking up mount washington is likely on your bucket list. iona asked me 'to do' it a while back, and her father billy's death last year, shifted it to the front burner.

there are dozens of paths up washington, but since billy and i met and had many adventures out of the amc pinkham notch complex, we planned to start there. and what better path to take than the tuck trail, directly through the bowl, over the alpine garden, ending at the summit. 

we came down lion's head back to the tuck trail. then between 2nd and 3rd bridge we cut over to the sherburne ski trail--"far from the madding crowd."

the memories: way too many memories--past and present--to record here, but all of them had me smiling. i had a little déjà vu filling iona's water bottle at the pump next to hermit lake, just below tuckerman ravine. as we climbed into 'the bowl' it struck me that i hadn't been up here in the summer, in a long time. 

without snow, things didn't look familiar until things started to get steep and i saw a person, perched on a rock playing a recorder. when we came up to them, we were greeted with a "hello. is that koby..." it was a former student, danny and what pam calls "a koby sighting." he was there supporting sea to summit triathlon racers. it was sobering that some of the top finishers passed us on the way up.

as we got closer to the top, we started to hear people and vehicles--and a loud cheer for one of the triathletes. it was a bit of a shock for iona. lots of people up there. after a bit of a sit, we found one of them to take a summit shot standing on an overlook. you can almost see lake of the clouds hut off behind us--back in the day billy worked there some. 

going down lion's head, i got a shoe caught and took a tumble.
iona saw it and thought it somewhat elegant, until the blood started pouring out of my hat. ever up to an emergency, she cleaned & patched things up and we continued to descend. 

knees for iona and my quads significantly slowed us on the down. after we crossed over to the sherbie and we got to a steep little headwall i thought i remember, i pronounced it the "last steep section...i think." iona was not convinced but thankfully, there were only four more after that, before we eventually got to the bottom. we were about spent, but down.

notes:

• just like a long bike ride, bring electrolytes--blueberries are nice too!... 
  
• going up is always easier than coming down--and not just because you are knackered...
• hiking with iona is as much fun as it was with billy--even with shoes on...
• tomorrow, take iona, tracey, and pam up square ledge--if our legs still work...

go outside and play!

a birthday bike ride

the day: july 17th, another beautiful day in the neighborhood! and beyond, all the way across central new hampshire into maine... sunny but not hot, in the low 70's, a decent breeze most of the day. given it is mid- july and air quality has been crazy bad with smoke from the wildfires in minnesota and ontario, it was pretty much heaven with cool~ish, clean air--just for our ride.

the adventure: taylor and i have been thinking of riding over to maine to visit kevin & mariel and clayton, their oldest. i've been biking to kevin's for years, always trying to whittle a few miles off. so far, it seems like all my shortcuts end in the name "...hill"! 

taylor lives--and runs the 'last stop bike shop'--on province road in dorchester, a favorite shortcut. the last time i rode home, i cut over that way from the back side of plymouth, through hebron and groton. there's a sweet 'untraveled' gravel stretch, with a washed out bridge a mile or so from taylor's house. no cars = very pleasant riding! it made a fine start!!

we went around a couple of the other "...hills" but mostly stuck to my shortest version. not even sure how far we actually road, but probably in the neighborhood of 80 miles. 

the memories: we did go over the durgin covered bridge--off of "fellow's hill"--between sandwich and tamworth, as it was not washed out. later, going up a long steep "moody hill," we were passed by a police car with lights and siren on, going fast. a half mile further, going down an even longer steeper "glines hill," four police cars, lights still flashing, were parked, dealing with an suv, perched precariously down in the ditch, nearly flipped over.

tactfully avoiding "sam brown hill"--we actually missed our turn flying down another hill on the brownfield road--we ended up carrying our bikes across another river, as we headed up to kevin's. how à propos, a bridge out - river crossing on the first and last mile!

notes:

• pack light but for gosh sakes bring electrolytes and stay hydrated... 
  
• "...hills" might make the trip shorter, but they are not always your friend (as the driver of the car in the ditch--taylor heard the cops giving him a ticket as we passed)...
• thank you pam, a last slice of the birthday cheesecake was a delicious treat...
• ride--and ski!--with taylor more often...

go outside and play!

back on moose mountain, "whoppin' and hollerin'!" with noah

the day: a week ago, the 27th, a beautiful day in the neighborhood! it was in the teens when we left the house, but the sun was out and it was bound to get warmer...

the adventure: noah--a new skier from north carolina--and i, went up wolfeboro road, to the AT and south peak on moose mountain, for his biggest backcountry experience to date. the snow was still soft enough to turn without too much of a struggle.

i have been up there a few times this year and as mentioned in the last goap! post, the coverage is great and few people ski it. i was aiming to take noah over to our stash we call the 'secret sherbie'--named for the sherburne ski trail down mt washington from tuckermans ravine. that was if the sun didn't turn the fluff into what is sometimes called 'wet cement.'

the memories: it was definitely the day to go out. only where the sun was shining on the snow, it was indeed getting softer. while it wasn't quite wet cement, it was thickening up and heavy enough to make turning in the deep real work. check out the chunky snow kicked up in a turn noah caught in a picture coming down a south facing slope from north peak. 

noah is really getting the hang of backcountry skiing. the AT trail coming down from south peak, was packed out by snowshoers. to keep our speeds safe, we often went 'off trail'. more than once, i heard a good bit of "whoopin' and hollerin'!" from his direction.

luckily, the 'secret sherbie' was shadier. with the temperature going up, the snow was getting heavy. i've always said, when you have the choice go left, that's why we took option B, avoiding a sunny option A. it went well--i heard another "whoop" when noah followed me over the "stump jump!" (scroll through this goap! post for a series of pics jumpin' the stump.)

notes:

• deep snow, even when it's getting heavy, 'unfluffy', is still heaven... 
  
• it's a joy to add noah to the history of "the best skiing ever!"
• we did share a spot of tea this time--cookies, chocolate, and some muffins too--but the picture i took with noah's fancy camera was out of focus...
• so glad noah is loving his new hampshire winter adventures. here's a picture he took of his ski up--and half way down (it's a long~ish story)--moosilauke this week...

go outside and play!

out in the backcountry, enjoying a very fine snow year!

the day: a couple of saturdays ago, the 14th, cold ~ish, maybe teens, and feeling like it could snow soon. definitely completely overcast--some wind but not in the woods ...

the adventure: simon and i had been trying to get out skiing for a while. he mostly has weekends and since i have been avoiding cardigan due to the increased activity up there, i suggested going up wolfeboro road, to the AT and south peak on moose mountain. 

i had been up there a couple weeks before and the coverage was great--since then, we had gotten another foot of powder. not too many people go up from the eastern, goose pond side. even fewer people go up another old road that branches off a ways up wolfboro. if you know where to turn left, you can cross over and hook up with what we like to call, the 'secret sherbie'--named for the sherburne ski trail down mt washington from tuckermans ravine.

all in all that gives a good bit of steep ~ish terrain. the AT is narrow, mostly less than a ski length wide-- sometimes, half that, even less. the old roads are mostly more than two ski lengths wide. even nicer than being wide, the 'secret sherbie,' totally opposite from wolfeboro road and the AT, there are practically no rocks.

the memories: deep snow, plenty of steep, and first tracks made for what simon's dad, skip, likes to call "best skiing ever!" there was plenty to smile about. even though i mentioned very few people use the trails we were on, we followed somebody hiking in my old ski tracks. no snowshoes, no skis, boot packing in the worst way. weirder still, the boot prints head off into the woods a half-mile from south peak. my comment to si, "whoa, they are on an adventure."

notes:

• deep fluffy snow is my idea of heaven... 
  
• i have a long history of "the best skiing ever" with simon--but i miss skip in the backcountry...
• first tracks on secret stashes are to be savored--that said, i don't mind sharing...
• a spot of tea is always appreciated--even when i forget the cookies...

go outside and play!

back in the saddle

the day: last tuesday, the 19th, partly sunny or partly cloudy--depending on your perspective, somewhere in the 70s with barely a breeze ...

the adventure: a couple of weeks prior to last tuesday, i got an email from a former student, lu, suggesting i ride over to vermont and meet them, camp, and then ride back to canaan the next day. i loaded up the panniers with all the essentials, hooked them onto the bike racks, and pedaled off. i made it over the connecticut river and was heading up hill out of east thetford. two loaded bikers came over the top of said hill and the one out front, crossed over the yellow line, and greeted me, "hellooo koby!"

it was lu and sophia, headed to cedar circle farm stand for a fancy espresso to go with lunch. they had been biking since friday, from white hall, new york, across vermont. we chatted over lunch and changed plans a bit to include riding through a covered bridge back over in orford new hampshire and a swim in post pond in lyme.

after a swim over to a raft, a 'cannonball' and a 'watermelon' splash, and a swim back, we returned to our changing barn--my friend dave lives across the road--and hashed over the rest of day's ride. it was an hour and a half back-west into vermont and camp up by vermontasaurous or an hour and a half ahead-east into new hampshire and camp at my house in canaan ...

the memories: though i was thinking a visit to the giant wooden dinosaur would generate some fun memories, i didn't push an agenda and let the two decide--we road east to canaan. i'm not sure, but the promise of going by the recent murder scene and a longboard session the following day may have helped them choose.

the riding was as pleasant as a loaded ride could be. though i went twice as far as planned and ate way less than half the food weight in my panniers, i was smiling the whole way. obviously, the company was the big hit and i would have ridden twice x "twice as far" to pedal next to lu. bonus, sophia is a grand biking companion--and she happily put up with my nostalgic stories of adventures with lu! (scroll through 'a pandemic summer and fall outside--plenty of playing!' for an account of the famous moose incident!) ...

notes:

• riding with folks half your age--or even less--is therapeutic... 
  
• cooking on a kitchen range is easier than a camp stove...
• a year out from hip replacement*--everything works well...
• i should post goap! more than once a year...

go outside and play!

ps--*the two snow storms--and 7-8 days of skiing--i mentioned in my last post on march 29, 2024, made me realize something had to be done with my hip. sawyer reminded me of the walking uphill at our eclipse viewing was also a good reason to go in and get it checked out and ultimately, get it replaced july 11th.