a thankful visit to waterville valley...

a late start, plenty of snow, a grand day! we could pretend that we were waiting for the inches to build up, but honestly, we were skating and eating again. tecumseh, another nh 4000 footer, sticks up above the waterville valley ski area, about an hour away from canaan. a 2.5 mile trail follows the tecumseh brook up, mostly paralleling the north side runs. we were planning on skinning up to the summit, cutting over to the ski area, and flying down one of their trails. it all sounded doable, even pulling out of the drive at 12:30p in heavy snow.

simon was the designated driver, it was his new car that he just bought from his grandmother. noah road shotgun, i took the back seat and nestled in for a long winter's nap. the roads were slippery but the subaru was all about tracking right along. despite a few pokey drivers, and who could blame them with the conditions under wheel, we made it up to the ski lodge, parked, booted up, and walked about a hundred feet to the trail head. it was a bit sketchy crossing the brook in ski boots, trying to balance on the stones sticking above the waterline. that done with no big splashes that i heard, we stepped into our bindings and started up. noah hung back and took this picture as we wove through the trees.

at that point the trail was fairly wide, snow coverage was ample, the turns rather gentle, and the pitch, not so bad. that didn't last too long. the rocks grew enough to stick out of the snow in lots of awkward spots. the turns got twisty and tight. the pitch, save for one little segment pointed straight down to the open brook, got steep and stayed steep. did i mention that the trees, changing from hardwoods to evergreens, seemed to close in on us too?

it got steep enough that we put up the climbing bails under our boot heels and trudged on. at one point i slipped on some ice under the powder and slid back on one knee, into noah, pushing him down the hill a couple of meters. i suggested he go ahead in case that happened again. lucky thing he did as i went down several more times, genuflecting and sliding--only not praising god at the moment. simon's comment later was, "i almost got annoyed with that trail--it went on and on, up and up--i didn't think it was going to end."

it did end, finally. si's phone/camera ran out of battery right after he took a picture of noah and the summit sign. noah pulled his out and we group-selfied or how ever you say it.

we seemed to be smiling right here, but the immediate decent down the summit cone, put me in a highly focused, less jolly state. noah took off, passing me and careening around the first steep corner, not to be seen again until we got to the cut off. i offered si a pass too, but he said he was good. since he never ran into me i believed him. noah removed his skins at the junction and convinced si to do the same. i kept mine on and should have suggested the same to simon, as our skis had no scales like noah's. i was glad to have them on and si let his brother know it was a 'bum steer' he had been given.

soon enough though we popped out at the top of the ski area, where they waited for me while i de-skinned. we pointed them left and down and scooted along as it was getting darker. i stopped at a headwall and put on a knit cap under my billed hat--going down was a bit chillier than climbing up. the snow was mixed, deeper on the edges and icy-ish in the middle. it was fine skiing though and we flew along. at one stop i did admit to my legs being "right next to officially tired." that got a laugh as we slid away.

we found the road and car shortly there after. it felt good to get the boots off and everything stowed. the subaru pulled right through the pile a plow had pushed around us. we were headed home. to celebrate i found a chocolate bar--dark, with raspberry--that the pendletons had christmased me with and passed it around. i hadn't brought my thermos of tea this trip. the roads were not all that clear, but we got along with only one stop to clean the windshield. thank you sadie and otavio, we used the new scraper you left in my truck christmas eve. simon passed around a few of his mom's famous cookies too--thank you linda.

as we pulled into the pendleton driveway, linda, the famous cookie making mother, was at the door on the phone with pam. we were home (at least i would soon be), happy, and hungry...number 2 of the 48 nh 4000 footers had gone on skis!

thank you simon and noah for guiding and helping carry on the MOC tradition!

i wish i had a river...

i could skate away on...i would teach my feet to flyyyyyy! i took my skates and maps over to visit the pendletons, the first, knowing they would be checking the ice out and go on the slimmest possibility of a skate. the second, my way of interesting them in planning where we would use all the snow we were forecasted to get tomorrow. when i went by the lake there was ice, pretty ugly but frozen. i didn't bother to stop, i assumed we would be there in a short while. sure enough, when i got to their house skip was just getting back from his scouting--we were going. they gathered up a pair of blades for each, save morgan who was flat out on the couch with a stomach bug--yuk.

not too much later, linda, skip, and noah were skating away while simon and i finished putting our skates on. as we pushed away from the milk carton benches chasing after, my immediate thought was, don't be so critical, this is pond ice. it could have been my leg muscles jiggling or the rattle in my teeth that gave it away, but the surface was a bit bumpy. still, as long as you didn't trip and do a superman or worse the splits as a soft spot grabbed one of your blades while the other glided on, it felt like skating--it was my first time out this winter.


considering all that, it also felt pretty magical to be flying about out in the fresh air. the wind wasn't whipping and it wasn't all that cold. whenever good ice was found, we circled around for a bit until someone shot off looking for another spot. at times somewhat together, other times spread way out, we were searching for the proverbial "best skating ever." after a couple of circumnavigations and several criss-crosses we skated back to the milk cartons and de-skated--lunch-o'clock.



a wonderful soup and sandwich later, we dealt away five of ten phases in a favorite card game.  when skip handily beat us, we decided to go back for a second skate around. by we, i mean all but morgan, still on a couch, though a new one, and now skip celebrating his win, or saving his back for the ski we had planned for the snow coming in.

a thin film of snow covered the ice this time and it was just a tad bit harder to find those sweet smooth spots, but we tried for an hour or so. i explored a couple of the bays i hadn't skated into in the morning, but never found the perfect spot. still, when i took my blades off, i was happy to have been out. as we got into our vehicles we promised to call each other tomorrow for the next adventure.

moosilauke goes...

or rather simon and i went--truck to peak to truck on skis!  considering the 'wintry mix' we have been getting lately, moosilauke was in prime shape, 6-10 inches over a base, parking lot to treeline, and enough to keep the skis on from there to the top. for those of you following, that was the first of the nh 4000 footers to fall to my push to do them all in one winter. while i would be pleased as punch to ski everything, i would also be happy to get in a run or two of what si's dad, skip, refers to as "the best skiing ever!"

i had heard that some snow was coming in, so wednesday after school, i took skip his 4000 footer poster, and discussed the possibility of a ski. simon, his super fit 27 year old youngest, was the only taker. we set a time of 10-ish to allow for the storm to hit and beef up the base that had suffered a good bit of rain on sunday before. when i got there the next morning he and eben were off visiting a few other MOC alum home for the holidays. i made some lunch and shortly after they pulled in, we pulled out.

it was still snowing some, putting the roads in somewhat sketchy condition, but the truck didn't slide until we pulled on to the sawyer highway going by the eastern flank of moosilauke. we were not going fast at all, but the rear end let go and we went sideways, twice. i stuck it into four wheel drive and we kept going. when we turned off onto breezy point road, access to the carriage road, the snow wasn't plowed yet. by the time we got up to the parking area, there was such a good amount, we both got excited.

geared up and going, our enthusiasm grew with the increase in snow depth. soon enough we started running into the numerous drainage crossing. the open water contrasted sharply with the deep snow, and thankfully was fairly easy to get over. my scales were holding fine even after the flat-ish approach so i left my skins in the pack. we were following a mostly filled in ski track until it disappeared into a jumble of moose tracks a couple miles up. the moose really pocked up the trail for more than a few hundred yards which promised a bit of excitement on the descent.



we still had a couple of miles to go when the steady incline started working me over in my efforts to keep up with simon. i had made the mistake of mentioning my red-ish pee from eating beats the night before. the negative being, si told me beets increased blood oxygen and i mentioned that maybe that was why i could almost keep up with him. i rarely saw him after that comment. finally, i yelled that i needed to put skins on. when i was slip proofed and caught up to him he had his camera out and caught me looking almost tired.



i say almost tired, as i knew it would get worse before it got better. but with skins on i was not maxing out the upper body and core, so simon was often in view--even behind me a time or two. we got up to the mostly flat ridge leading up above treeline and met a snowshoer and his dog. he appeared out of the fog, we exchanged a few words, and he disappeared behind us. while i have long hoped to ski to the summit on a blue bird day--i once promised khiet chhu a picture of moosilauke, snow covered and regal--the dozens of time i had been on the mountain, only once had i been all the way to the top. and that day, like today, was totally socked in.

in the clouds or not, we kept on even though coming out of the shorter and shorter trees, the snow got pretty skimpy and really icy. we zigged and zagged following the over our heads cairns, built extra high to still have a presence when buried in feet of snow. we topped out amongst the rock foundations of shelters that had long since been burned or removed. i put on a hat, gloves, and zipped up my jacket before picking my way over to the sign post for summit picture. i asked si if he wanted me to take a shot of him but he had already put the camera back under his jacket and was getting another layer, mitts, and his helmet on. i guessed it was time we headed down.

we made it back almost to the glen cliff cutoff before we took off our skins and started sliding down for real. the snow was really amazing and when we stopped next we each had wicked smiles. it kept getting better and even though it was sometimes fast, it was never furious. well mostly. i did dive in too deep a few times. and by dive, i do mean head first, but that is what hoods are made for--i assume. getting back up did tire me out, way beyond the 'almost' noted earlier. after one crash right at his feet, he kindly pulled me back up and told me his legs were starting to burn too.

burning quads or not, we got in plenty of sweet turns, even through the moose tracks. i had to laugh as i half skied, half climbed over the one blow down that i wish i had brought my saw for. right after that we crossed the high bridge and unlocked our bindings and reversed the long approach, headed for the truck. our high five and hug was big: we had skied a 4000 footer, dropping a few thousand vertical over 5 miles in snow over a foot deep in places; the peanut butter-honey and cheese sandwiches for lunch were quite tasty; it was only 4:30, just getting dark and more than likely we would make it home well before our send out the troops time request!

just to celebrate all the happy things, we each had one of linda's, his mom, famous cookies, poured ourselves some hot tea, and cranked up jimi hendrix--we were experienced...! 

no moose today...

but more snow, only tomorrow it's supposed to rain. wtf?! ok, i won't complain, much...today, my second day out in the backcountry this week/winter, already surpassed all the woods skiing i did last year. nobody gives out snow guarantees around here, so i take it when it comes. but i am keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow's meltdown never comes.

today's six inches was not melting at all, given i never saw it get out of the teens. i made a few calls this morning trying to interest somebody in going to moosilauke but no takers. i mulled over a solo adventure but choose to stay local and loop the shaker trails again--a bit of play time in powder.

when i pulled into the la salette parking lot i had to put it in 4wh as all that powder was unplowed. i had first tracks and thought of spinning a 360° but thought the guy who would be coming to plow, wouldn't take too kindly to that. it would probably scare the two skiers and their dog going into the big hay field as well. as they turned up hill i recognized ann and andy--i don't recall the dogs name--so when i got out of the truck, i gave a hello. i booted up as they skied off. after fiddling around with my bindings and settling my pack, i took off after them, following their tracks.



i caught up with them at the top of the first hill and we talked a bit before i headed up further in the fields and they went off into the woods toward the canal trail. i got to the top of the upper hay field and went into the woods on a trail the same ann, sawyer, and i had cleaned up years ago when we started the shaker snow-shoe-fest. a quarter mile up earned me a quarter down. at the height of land, on that trail at least, a click out of free pivot put me into flow mode. the snow was silky and the turns came easy down the narrow path. no rocks kept it smooth, without any 'bottom' entanglements.


as i turned back onto the caleb marshall dyer and worked my way up over long stretches of barely covered rocks, i realized why i chose going counter clockwise. this way my route would avoid hitting these rocky sections on the downhill.



avoiding rocky sections was a good thing, as i found it often pretty thin under the hemlocks and pines. as well as rocks, there were plenty of blowdowns to negotiate--i would have to bring a saw out before this year's snow-shoe-fest. on monday, kevin and i had actually met kyle the new shaker museum educational director who would be working with me on trails for the event this year. he was out in the snow wishing he was on skis with us, unfortunately, he was looking for a snowblower in one of the barns. beyond the obstacles, i came over the second height of land and clicked into downhill mode.



as i pushed off and let gravity take over, i was hoping i wouldn't be sliding at speed if and when i met any blow downs on this section. there were a couple of steeper, very narrow sections ahead that didn't allow for much turning to brake. i was equally weary of the rocky section at the bottom of the trail. to my enjoyment, it was mostly deep and fluffy and made the skis go fast. i avoided all the junk i saw and when i got to the gullied, rocky part, i met up with a snowshoe track that looked rather obstacle free. i used that as a guide and pleasantly glided down to the junction with the james jewitt trail.


kevin and i had skied this section, both up and down, but today i was just going up to catch the moses johnson or what we call little sherburne. i was still following the snow shoe tracks which made the going easier. whomever was packing this out was following our ski track which made for a solid trail.




up at the 'potato field'--15 or so acres the fish and game had cleared for rabbit habitat--the snow had blown back into the tracks and i imagined the mj/ls would be nice and deep. i locked down again and tightened the boots back up for the longest run we have at la salette. one nice feature on this section are the water-bars that when things are fast offer some air time. things were fast enough today, and i got in some good unweighting as i turned of the crests of several. the rhythm was coming and sweeping back and forth across the fall line kept feeling better and better.

i stopped before the final pitch and took a picture of the interplay of ski and snow shoe tracks. when i took off again, i started playing on the banked edges until i hooked a rock and scrambled a bit to rebalance. i could be imaging it, but often when i push the 'edge' i end up thrown off--maybe that's the nature of the beast.


i recovered well in time to launch the last two water bars, bigger than most and with steeper landings. when i reached the trunk trail at the bottom i turned uphill and thought--i could go back up for some more of that! i unlocked, the bindings, unbuckled and unstrapped the boots and went for one more downhill. i decided to go up to the loop off the cmd and ski down into the upper hay field. that would be opposite of how i started, but it was a good run and would point me at a final finish on the big hay field.

up top again, i tightened everything back up, emptied the bladder, and drank some water to replenish. the other day, i read how students do better on tests when they drink water. that was my plan--to do well on this last run. while i did slow way down in a few flatter spots i don't believe i ever stopped, from top to bottom the ride was worth it. i made figure eights with my monday tracks where i could see them and found another snow shoe track to follow at the bottom to keep a little speed as i headed for the truck.

the plow guy was there and he waved when i  was taking off my boots. it had been a fine day even though i didn't go up to moosilauke and score my first 4000 footer. a little more time, a little more snow, and maybe a partner and i would start ticking the big ones off. for now, i was happy having soloed a little one...

the promise of winter...

i won't say finally, but...cold and snow has come to our neck of the woods! kevin also made it over sunday night before any white stuff started. we woke up monday morning with 4-5 inches and geared up for a ski. first, oatmeal pancakes, second skis/boots/poles, and third a loaded truck headed for the hills.

i have a snow depth 'rule' that helps me choose the hill of the day: 4" la salette; 6" cardigan; 8" moosilauke or carr; 10" anywhere! given that this was one of our first snows we were pretty much confined to la salette's trails with no appreciable rock-age. that fact matched kevin's new skis and his desire to keep the bottoms as scratch-free as possible. still, it was deep enough to get us out and raising heel.

speaking of raising heel, one of the reasons kevin got his new skis--with free pivot bindings no less--was for the nh 4000 footer project i had dreamed up last winter. we all know what came of those hopes--a nearly open, snow free, year in all but the highest backcountry. this year has already outpaced last for snowfall and got me sending out the call again to all who ski up to ski down. i even drew up a little logo to swag those who answered the call.

back at la salette, i was treating this as the practice session any first time out should be. we started with a quick run down the bottom of the 'hay field trail', to test out our ability to still link turns. that worked so we took off and up the james jewitt trail. we decided on one more test run back down after getting about 2/3 of the way up. one more time back up--all the time admiring our figure-8 turns--and we got to the top of the moses johnson trail, or what skip calls the little sherburne south. the real sherburne, is up on mt washington coming down from tuckerman ravine to pinkham notch. the resemblance is they are both fairly narrow and sustained for a good long way. the real one is more than 2 miles while this one is not even a mile, but for around here, it is long enough.




before sliding down we stopped for tea and sandwich. after our spot of lunch, we buckled up and started off and i couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful it was to be outside and playing. i won't go overboard and say "it was the best skiing ever." even if skip was not home sick, he probably wouldn't have phrased it quite that good, especially after plowing up a good deal of leaves if you carved much at all. but, and i have a pretty big butt (sorry if you have read that before), it was a fine first day out. and despite that one tangle with a trail side tree, i bet kevin would write the same thing. with the forecast for half a foot on the weekend, it was only going to get better.

before we made it to the weekend and deeper snow, we were slated for some pretty cold weather and really high winds on thursday. what better time to head up cardigan with a wind gauge. on the appointed day, with the thermometer showing a solid 10°F and snow showers blowing about like wild, i packed some extra warm clothes: my wooliest hat, fluffiest mitts, and puffiest jacket. i was the only truck in the winter lot, but a trail of boot prints led past the gate and up the road. i thought i saw a very faint ski track but there had been more snow since monday when we were at la salette. even though it crossed my mind to bring skis, i couldn' t imagine that beyond the road there would be enough coverage.

once i got onto the west ridge trail that lack of coverage was evident with plenty of rock sticking up. it would take at least one more good snow event to have any chance of rock-free skiing. hiking was fast and i warmed up quickly, doffing the hat, removing the gloves, and unzipping the jacket. the snow was almost heavy, but i knew it to be blowing through as a shower and didn't get too excited. i stayed off the ski trail and kept to west ridge. soon enough i was getting more and more wind as the trees got thinner and shorter. right after turn around rock, i got out the anemometer and took the first reading, where the wind started to really blow. it was a steady 10-20 mph, i actually saw it hold at 15 for quite a while, with gusts up to 30. i put the hat and gloves back on, and zipped up the jacket and kept going.

on the last, mostly treeless summit segment, it actually got hard to walk straight. at one point i measured a consistent 30 mph, gusting into the 40's fairly regularly with one or three blasts even going above 50. walking with my head sideways and hood up to cut the wind, i made it up without blowing over or away. the tower was plastered with ice and snow, carved in crazy fashion by the extreme winds. i wondered what it was like during the actual precipitation event with every single side of the structure covered thick.

as i was sheltering on the lee side, the snow squall that was with me the whole way up blew through to the southeast. i figured a couple of the huge bursts of wind that shook the tower, were likewise above 50 mph. but i was warm and comfy in the sudden sun so i didn't go out and check. i did add a neck gaiter to my layering in preparation for the descent.

between the summit and treeline, i was glad to be well clad. there was a funny wind drift, standing about five feet high with a path plowed through it. i stopped and carved the MOC logo on the sidewall. below the bare rock, the wind was more a noise above my head than at my back. the sun warmed me enough that i could unzip and take layers off. i came the rest of the way down wearing a big smile.

at one point i caught myself looking ahead for somebody coming up in all this 'nice weather' but never saw anybody. when i spotted the truck in the parking lot, there was another vehicle there as well. having seen no tracks besides mine, i guessed the hiker was still gearing up. sure enough, a person i have seen on cardigan in all kinds of weather, was shouldering his pack. i wished him a good time and un-shouldered my own pack. it was bound to be a good time for someone looking to hike in the cold and wind.

as i drove down the hill, i remembered that i had a couple of computer problems at ces that i could stop and attend to on my way by. if i could actually fix things, it would be a good end to the outing...

after turkey trot...

with MOC alums... for many years now, the outing club has hiked on the friday after thanksgiving--hence that name. the past four or five have been down to just pam and i going, quite a drop from the days of two dozen or more. this year we added numbers, hiking with two other parents, my old co-leaders skip and linda, and four alum: eben, sawyer, hannah, and andrew.

i walked down to the school to gather any current students that were planning to go, but waited without seeing anybody. it was raining/sleeting/snowing so i wasn't too surprised nobody showed. pam, soy, and han swung by to pick me up and we headed over to the AT trailhead on goose pond road. the thick slushy snow on the gravel section of goose pond was quite slippery and made us all wonder what condition the trail would be in. usually it is thick with leaves, slippery even when dry, and with three four inches of snow could be "like a bottle!" as they say.

at the trailhead andrew pulled in right after we did and the pendletons not long after that. a few of us doffed jackets and donned raincoats in hopes of keeping cool and dry enough to say we were comfortable. it wasn't below freezing or pouring rain, but things were pretty wet and gloomy. there was some mush ice on the beaver pond which looked cool.

the beavers were active as freshly gnawed trees were down across the trail and sticks floated in the water. i made a mental note to come down fast, cut up the gnaw-downs, and move them out of the way.

we hiked and chatted, hiked and chatted, leisurely making our way toward the dartmouth skiway, our traditional lunch stop. the snow from the past few days was wet and heavy which actually made for great footing getting everybody's approval. a few heavy inches stuck to hemlock boughs, branches of beech still holding their coppery leaves, and smaller saplings, loaded and bent them all downward into the path. it was like walking through the proverbial wonderland only with wet scratchy sticks whapping you in the face.

when we got to holt's ledge at the skiway, the wind had picked and the jackets and extra clothing came out of the packs. it felt cold, but not so bad that we couldn't eat lunch. hence, sandwiches and drinks were also pulled out.

sawyer passed out some chocolate and i shared around some hot tea to cap off the break. the crew lined up as they finished lunch and i snapped a picture just before skip tipped over and domino-ed the line...

going back downhill was much faster and the snow atop the leaves held our feet without too much slippage. pam came along with her camera out so we posed for a few final shots before i took off to go cut that beaver gnaw-downs.

after pictures, i motored ahead and soon caught up with and passed the younger crowd. beyond them, i got in a couple of good slides down some of the steeper sections, pretending that i had skis on the feet--living the dream. where i wasn't schussing by too fast, i shook off some snow loads letting branches rise out of the way for those coming behind me. 

i came up to the beaver's work soon enough and took off my jacket, got out the saw, and set to work on a couple of 8" diameter maples. it went fast--sharp saw--so i had a cup of tea as i waited. andrew wandered up and we walked out the last quarter mile together, talking about the 'old days'...

back at the cars, we distributed holiday hugs and hopes for more hiking opportunities. i personally wished for more and more snow, but for now, i was happy with another turkey trot...

go up to fly down...

longboarding and mountain biking with kevin and owen in the north country. i went up to visit the fieder-sullivans last weekend and brought my mt bike. i got there friday afternoon with the sun shining (side note, i went the back way without making one wrong turn!) and for mid november, it was warm. we broke out a couple of longboards and went out the drive. their house is just at the height of land on old county road so there is a choice: to the north, straight and steep, perfect for speed; to the south, gradual curves and alternating hills with flat, allowing for cutting speed or even stopping. we went south.

i hopped on and pushed a few yards until gravity took over. carving back and forth with a big smile until i picked up some speed and noticed the trucks were setup much looser than on my boards. this one seemed prone to some crazy 'speed wobble' if i didn't stay right on it. still, fast was fun! i took a screen shot off google maps, just down the steep section. i am including it because i love the way they blend multiple images in street view. tell the truth, did you notice the 'anti-gravity' wires?

on the second steeper section, i felt the wobble just the 'other side' of each turn and wondered what that would mean when the car coming at me would force me into a single lane, straighter line. the car went by and i managed to make it to a flat section before taking one last hill, with no more cars.

at the bottom of that last steep--seen looking back up in the picture above--was a paved, side road that i remembered. it was often sandy and gravelly right at the turn, definitely a hazard, but offered a good uphill which would slow me. at least that was my theory as i turned. my rear wheels cut loose and slid without much of a prompt. the excitement was brief as i shot around the corner and swung a full 180° before i lost too much speed. now, cruising back to county road i gave a little victory slide in the sand at the corner.

it always amazes me at how lost in the moment i get when indulging in such downhill pleasure. i can focus and feel enormous joy at the same time. but as i stepped off the board i realized, i was alone--where was kevin? i got up one hill and still didn't see him. halfway up the next section he appeared, helmet first, carving deep turns across the road, shoulder to shoulder. he swept by me with a classic kevin wave, accompanied by his own wide smile. he stopped before tipping over that last hill and i knew he had been walking the steeper sections. helmet, elbow and knee pads, gloves, long pants, and solid shoes marked him as more cautious. maybe he was more sane too, compared to my shorts, tee shirt, and crocs.

we walked up together and took another run, then another, and then several others. i took that last hill three more times and even got kevin to try it--from a cautious, part way down start. both of us managed to avoid sliding out! we finally turned back to the house as the sun sank lower and the roads grew shadowy.

coming over to brownfield was always good for some gravity time as well as food, which we got right at after stowing the boards. after dinner kevin even made a dish of brownie-cake with kidney beans--that was new and different, "lil' kevie's moose poop brownies!"


saturday dawned equally clear and perfect for some more gravity time. today it was to be pursued on bikes and owen was coming with us. after breakfast, fixing a flat, and loading the bikes in the truck we drove over to new hampshire to the marshall conservation area kevin was raving about. the parking area was still fairly open but a large group of people were there, getting ready to hike. we unloaded the bikes and set out up the road towards the top of the singletrack.

the first trail we took down was the shumway! (the blue line on the map above) oh my gosh...this was heaven. the track was laid out incredibly sweet, with banked "technical turns and rock elements" galore. at just over a mile it didn't last nearly long enough, so of course we went back up--twice! we did another trail first but finished repeating the shumway on the final run. my goal that last trip down was to flow as natural as possible and hit a few of the lifts without breaking that 'stream of gravity'. i made it almost the whole way before my front wheel slid out from under me in a pile of leaves. back at the truck i watched the others skid about in the leaves and suggested with all that energy we hit another area.

kevin had another trail already in mind, sticks and stones. we loaded up and headed to a second round of 'flow' biking. before we took to the actual trail, i watched the other two again, this time circling round and round a pump track put in for practice. sticks and stones itself was two miles of fairly flat, compared to the downhill of the shumway, nor did i remember any built up bermed turns. but it was definitely full of highly technical turning. the track wound through the woods, with a scattering of stone elements designed to give bikers a challenge, usually by launching them into the air.

it was a fine day for playing outside! and why not follow that with some equally fine food and youtube inside. kevin and i each created a pizza for dinner: bacon blueberry on his; and beets and goat cheese on mine. we ate way too many pieces while watching danny macaskill videos.

if you have never watched macaskill work his magic on two wheels, i highly recommend it. videos always seem to look better following your own personal session with the outdoors. find some mtb trails if you like to bike, some smooth paved road if you longboard. maybe this winter will be snowful and allow us to get out to ski the backcountry, if not perhaps the ice on a lake near you will be smooth and thick.

whatever you do, when gravity starts to pull, let yourself go...!

hiking local...

with pam and MOC! i have been home nearly a month now and have enjoyed getting to see the end of peek foliage...

a week of teaching physics and chemistry for my dear friend ann--despite a cold...

and a couple other weeks of the usual tech support work: plugging in computers; blowing dust out of cpu's; resetting memory sticks; futzing with smart boards--including plugging them in; giving students email addresses; reconnecting chromebooks to wifi--basically plugging them in; all sorts of various and sundry low-tech tasks.

thank goodness for 'mountains'--it is harder to use that term after spending time out west. the sunday after 'that tuesday' pam and i were both hike ready. given a scheduled MOC event, we stayed local. we went over to wolfboro road and hiked up the back way to the AT between the north and south peaks of moose mountain. it was a lovely mild day with plenty of sun and no wind to speak of. about half a mile from where we parked, a tractor of some sort had come over from the hanover side and scraped, making a bit of a mess. i had not been up on wolfboro in ages--the last time was on skis over feet of snow. this grading was fresh, maybe just done, pushing aside a foot of leaves. it had been such a dry summer, maybe they thought they could avoid the usual mud. turned out, even in very dry weather, wet trails don't ever drain completely.

while i was dreaming of a deep snow smoothing it all out, i sunk--a wee bit over my crocs--into a mud pit, hidden by a deep layer of leaves. at the height of land, we crossed the AT and turned off headed for the south peak. the trail was leafy but not 'graded' so there was no mud or loose rocks. i don't think pam had ever been up there so she was quite pleased with that section. we stopped at the top for pictures and lunch.

from our lunch rocks, there was a good view to the south beyond the high school and mud pond and to the east past goose pond and cardigan. if you knew where to look, you could just make out our upper field over on west side of town hill.

when we came back down we crossed right over the road going toward the north peak. pam wanted to see the shelter about a quarter mile up. the view from there was not nearly as grand, more what they call 'local!' the shelter though is sturdy and i started dreaming of snow again, thinking about coming up in a storm, laying in while it built up, then skiing out in trackless powder.

back down to the road i pointed out a few spots where i remembered skiing and even biking once. we avoided the mud hole and had a very pleasant descent especially when the trail paralleled closely the brook draining the area we just hiked through. new england may not have the mountains the west has, but the woods here are places of wonder. and a late fall day was a perfect time to take a hike.

a late-fall evening, with a super moon rising at about the same time the sun is setting would be just as perfect. i have been trying to do a hike--once a month--for a good number of years now to get above treeline and catch the moon and sun doing their thing. it started when i took some folks i was teaching with at sead up cardigan, aptly dubbed the moonrise-sunset hike. when mascoma started that year, i kept promoting the hikes with MOC and it got somewhat popular--depending on the weather.

the weather was still really fine and though there was some wind coming up, it was dead clear. i got up to the cardigan parking lot where a couple of students were waiting. before we started hiking, three more showed up. not the biggest crowd, but they were enthusiastic.

and they hiked quite fast. we made it to the top in about 30 minutes--young legs. that gave us a bit of wait time, but it was so beautiful out, nobody complained. there were a couple of other groups up there and two MOC parents showed up just as the super moon crept above the horizon. it was indeed super and doubly rare to see it directly at the horizon.

after snapping a picture of the crew with the moon, we moved over to the west side and got a shot of the sun sinking into the green mountains.

as we gathered our packs to head down, one hiker from another group announced, "i'm freezing! i was not prepared for this." i was glad our group had the equipment needed to stay warm. we made it back to the parking lot just about as it got dark enough to warrant a head lamp.

in the words of wallace and gromit,
it was a grand day out!

or as MOC says,
go outside and play!

man these trees are big...

and they are the small ones! 


sawyer flew into vancouver a day 'late', one after me, but in plenty of time to jump on a bus and head over the bay to north vancouver where we found endless biking. they had our rental 29ers ready to go. they also had the bike bags we had ordered and had shipped there. we put the framebags on and fit the rest into our backpacks and rode back across the bay to the airbnb to pack gear for an early start in the morning.



packing for a trip that you have to carry everything you bring, makes you think twice, maybe even three or four times, about each piece of gear. it was fun seeing what i was thinking of bringing along compared to what soy was contemplating taking. i tend to go with big picture items and he often thinks of the little things. after several iterations, we satisfied ourselves and each other enough to go to bed. 

in the morning the bags still looked ready. a hot breakfast of five grain cereal filled our fuel tanks. we shouldered our backpacks and rolled away excited. vancouver is super bike friendly--union street, where our apartment was, is a designated bikeway. we fit right in with the commuters and made our way through the city, down to the waterfront, and back over the stanley park bridge. i snapped this picture just as we entered stanley park.

over the bridge and onto marine drive, we headed north toward horseshoe bay and the ferry that would take us to langdale where we could strike out to find the sunshine coast trails. they were somewhere over the bay, under those clouds in the picture soy took as the ferry started the crossing.

our plan was to get into the forest and go north for three days. at one point i was dreaming that we would go the 75 miles to the far end of the peninsula. sawyer's view was more realistic and had no fixed end point--just ride some cool single track.

after debarking and riding into north gibsons, we climbed a 21% grade and found spin cycles, the bike shop we had originally talked to about rentals. we were after some advice and bought a paper map to take along. soy had also loaded a trail app which gave us plenty of directional aides to ponder over as we tried to figure out exactly, "where the heck are we?"

i studied that paper map outside the iga grocery while soy went in and bought the rest of our food along with a bottle of alcohol for stove fuel. fully loaded, we headed uphill and into the woods. we had gotten some advice at the bike shop to avoid certain trails, so we aimed for hwy 102 to start the ride. getting there was easier said than done. we tried two access points--one a dump for old building supplies and rusting large machinery, the other chocked with himalayan blackberry (a local called them russian blackberry, maybe because of their foreign, nasty thorns)--before taking a woods road that took us where we wanted to be. finally, on some single track, we started winding through the tall trees, along steep banks, some with streams at the bottom.






it was one of those very drop offs that i pitched into soon after we started. my 29er tires didn't exactly 'roll through' a tangle of tree roots and i left the bike with a shout, tumbling down headed for a splash. somehow i managed to stop and clamber back up just as sawyer was coming to the rescue. he later told me he was questioning his judgement "bringing his old papa on such a trip?" i was glad he waited to share that, falling was embarrassing enough. what he did say at the moment, was that shouting every minute or so, was the new bear safety protocol--let them hear you coming. making noise is key at bearsmart.com where they also recommend you "put the ipod away and pay attention..."

as if on cue, only minutes later, i stopped at the top of a hill when i saw a runner coming up the trail, fiddling with his phone. i am not making that up, he was totally oblivious to us. when he did finally notice, it was with a good dose of surprise and a dash of wonder. even more interesting though, were his last words, "ride safe and watch for grizzlies..." the next time we stopped we had a chuckle at such warnings given his attention to a device rather than the surroundings. but, we did register the possibility of a bear encounter and started giving a shout "hey bear" now and again. i also felt vindicated having asked soy the night before, if he had any cord to tie up a bear bag in the evenings. ever attentive to the little details, he had some.

around four o'clock-ish, his attention fixed on water as we passed a good stream. he suggested stopping and setting up camp. while he filtered a few liters i scoped out some flatness for tent and bivy. we met back at the bikes, successful on both accounts, although the flat i found was not nearly as abundant as the water supply. we cooked up a fine supper, brewed a thermos of tea, and set about pitching our shelters. darkness settled in as we brushed our teeth and then hung the food bag. after a bit of a chat we crawled into bed.

i managed to only crawl out once to go pee, easily getting back to sleep right through to the rain and fog at first light. by the time sawyer popped out of his bivy, the oats were ready and the tea was brewing. he added a good handful of nuts from one of his numerous little bags and voila, breakfast was served. we decamped, shook off as much water as possible, and packed, wetter and heavier than day one, but happy to wake up and be out in the forest. 

not two hundred yards down the trail, the forest suddenly disappeared. we came out into a substantial clear cut and stopped to take it in. often, people have really hostile reactions to logging, but doing it like this, 10-20 acres at a shot with some clumps left for seed trees, makes sense--if you are going to log at all. i would guess that many of those complaining live in houses built with a fair bit of wood, so i don't put too much stock in their gripes. soon enough, our path went back into the trees. check out this grin! 




one of the coolest features we rode on were the bridges. they went over gullies, streams, and even huge fallen logs. riven 'boards' of ceder and fir were nailed over logs stretching across the gaps and up and over obstacles. the 'boards' could be really slick in the wetness, so most had wire mesh laid along the center. each bridge was unique in width and pitch--some as narrow as six inches and leaning heavily to one side. many were not at all straight, curving or angling around whatever. at first we walked the scanty or questionable ones, but as we got acclimatized, we started going for all but the most likely to cause a spill. soy stopped at one shot a funny movie of me 'racing' across an easy one.

at the end of 102, we took the westridge trail but after a fine start, it had so much pushing that we ultimately decided to turn around and descend. it was our first big downhill run of maybe a mile, and even though it was quite rocky--reminded soy of back east--it gave us both a solid rush. we made it back to the start of 103, the route we avoided as the map guy at spin cycles had said it was too narrow and tricky. we did have to go up and down a funky, awkward ladder over a huge log and took off down the hwy! 

unlike the guys in the video above, we were whooping and hollering most of the way--single track is so much fun, even on a foggy day. like we were warned, there were some technical sections, including some really odd bridges, but most of the crazy ones you could ride around. i missed a turn at one point and started down a black diamond. after about a hundred yards of extra focused riding, i realized it was way steeper, with lots more roots and rocks than on 103. i was able to stop without crashing and climbed back up. when i got back to sawyer, we took off in the right direction, and found some really lovely riding.

some of the best of that, went across bridges, including my favorite one pictured above. it was a fairly narrow affair, starting at the bottom of a steep s-curve with a smooth curve threading the trees at the far end. directly behind where i took this shot, we stopped for lunch at a ragged tarp over a log table and benches. while eating, we also got out the paper map and fired up the app trying to figure out a path to take us up as high as we could get before camping. we decided on trying the health trail which ended just across the logging road from the end of 103. 

we finished lunch and 103 quickly, and hit a logging road going up past the end of health, headed for its start. turns out that riding on a road, even a rough one, was much faster than riding single track. hence, we overshot the established top end of health and didn't stop until we found a new section, a mile or more further up.






we tried that new section, but found it was wicked sketchy with more pushing than riding, even though most of it was downhill. the picture at left shows the start of it, just off the logging road--the barely developed, overgrown path should have given us a clue to what it was like in the woods. we turned back sooner than the last false start. and continued up on the old four wheel drive roads.










we got back onto a single track called the wagon trail which took us even higher to an enormous, ameoba-like clearcut. the picture shows only one of the psudopods, maybe a 10th of the whole. the trail meandered across the opening, sometimes on skidder roads, other times through those lethal blackberries, until sharply veered off and dropped us back into the woods. given the time and where we were, we decided to camp high, and blast down and out to the road in the morning.



this time we set up a cool sawyer-made tarp--another small detail he pulled out of a little bag--to cook under as it was already spitting rain. we cooked and ate, brewed and drank, heartily and mostly dry. after we cleaned up we scouted about for sleeping sites. not surprisingly, flatness for tent and bivy were at a premium. soy ended setting up right beneath the tarp and i found a spot just beyond a huge blowdown a few feet away. brushing our teeth and hanging the food bag brought us to dark and a steadier rain, so we crawled in with minimal chatting.

as we lay there waiting for sleep, the rain increased along with the wind. i did not have my anemometer with me--being the big picture guy, i had unpacked it as 'extra' back at the airbnb--and anyway, would have had to climb one of the giant trees to get a maximum reading. but from my experience, we were dealing with some really strong wind, up in the storm, whole gale force winds category. i decided setting the tent next to the large diameter blowdown was a wise choice as it would take the brunt of a tree that got blown over. unless a branch ran me through, i would be safe--enough. 

soon after these comforting thoughts, a light appeared outside the tent and sawyer voiced his concern. "i just reset the tarp so it wouldn't dump the gallons of water it was collecting on me, but if things get really desperate, is there enough room in there for me?" it was a solo tent, but how could i say anything but "sure"--he's my only son, flesh and blood, and all that. we would make it work. i never heard from him again and managed to sleep fairly well, again with only one pee break, albeit a wet and windy one.

the morning was pretty murky, the forest floor littered with tree detritus, but it was not raining too hard and the wind had calmed considerably. as i was boiling the water for cereal, soy emptied--as in dumped out--his bivy bag of at least a pot full of rain. thank goodness he had a thick pad for a float, and that it never got really cold. we finished cooking our oatmeal, emptied the 'nutbag', and filled our stomachs. that definitely made us feel good and ready for the last day's decent.

all packed, things even wetter--and heavier--than yesterday, we started out toward upper tube and the downhill rush we had planned. soon enough the wagon trail took us to the top of upper tube and we dropped in. 

it had all the promises of downhill singletrack, berms, series of berms, drops, launches, the only thing i don't remember were bridges, but it went fast and i may have missed them. we emptied out onto the logging trail we had taken the day before. our big smiles only grew as we rolled back into the woods onto lower tube. too soon, given the joy of flying through the woods, we popped out onto another logging road. it was there we met with the aftermath of last nights wind and had to drag the bikes and ourselves under a large aspen blowdown. around the corner, somebody had already cut out another big maple. trees in the roads were definitely getting thicker and we were happy to duck back into the woods again. but at downhill speed, that only lasted a while.

onto the main trunk road, our speed only increase all the way down to hwy 101, the paved road on the sunshine coast. there across the street we spotted a bus stop--how convenient.  




when the next bus came along, we 'front loaded' the bikes, dropped in some change, and sat down satisfied. at this rate we would make the 10:30a ferry and be able to get back to north vancouver by 3:00p, our witching hour to return the rental bikes. 





the rest of the bus ride and on the ferry we both said, the only thing that could have been better, was an additional week, or month, or year, maybe even endless...that would be sweet!

picking navel lint...

up in the sawtooths with my dear friend paul! life is sweet...of course to get here--one of the many mountain ranges in idaho--i ended up flying out of boston, through salt lake city, into haily/sun valley idaho. flying is something i like to avoid, for many reasons, but sometimes it seems worth it.

on the boston end, eben p met me at the bus station and hustled me to a tai restaurant were we met matt and kailynn. after swapping old moc stories--eb and matt were both stalwart alums--and finishing a tasty meal, eb and i continued onto his apartment where he graciously shared enough floor space to roll out a sleeping bag. i also snagged a couple of his mom's famous cookies for a bedtime snack. one could not ask for a better host!

eb had arranged for an early cab so i got up about four o'clock-ish, in time to finish kailynn's curried rice she offered the night before. a short bit later the cab picked me up and whisked me to logan in good time. had i used that time to inspect my carryon luggage, i might have found the old swiss army knife buried and forgotten in my little back pack. if i knew it was there i could have easily transferred it to my checkin duffle and saved it from whatever they do with the thousands of sharp objects they probably find. i told the tsa agent that it would do my heart good if he took it home and used it or gave it to his favorite relative--he smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

having effectively curbed any latent terrorist inclinations i might have, the flights out west went smoothly. and, given the two hours mtn time gave me back, just after noon i was waving at paul waiting to pick me up in haily. flying over the mountains, some well covered in snow, was very pleasing knowing full well that paul would have a hike planned to get us out into them for few days.

sure enough, the plan had us packing that evening for two nights and three days. day one, we would go leisurely up to goat lake out of stanley and set up camp, hang out some, take a swim, the usual 'this is such a beautiful place' stuff. day two, after breakfast, we would summit thompson peak, and then the last day, hike out, maybe in time for a second breakfast at the stanley baking co. & cafe. i got to catch up with paul and his wife renée as we packed. even with the large gap between our visits, it was a joy and the years quickly melted. 

at a certain point, our energies also melted and we headed off to bed. the next morning we final-packed, loaded the truck, and drove north. unfortunately, renée was still recovering from a sickness and couldn't go with, but she gave us a wave and wished us luck. the road to stanley took us up and over galena pass, where i had learned to telemark ski, way 'back in the day' when i had come out to be best man at paul's and renée's wedding. i had returned--and skied galena again--a few times, once with kevin when we were heading to alaska and denali. the pass was snowless for the moment, but i could remember the many lines, and envision hundreds more; just a few feet of snow would open up a world of joy. 

we pulled into stanley and the cafe and fueled up on their famous pancakes. paul mentioned that a breakfast stop here was the tradition whenever they passed by. i was honored to get in on that. pam and i had actually gotten stuck in stanley when we were hitchhiking home from a visit--again, way 'back in the day'. the baking co. wasn't there in '76, i recall we ate breakfast in the lodge after spending the night there to avoid -52°F outdoors on the roadside.



well fed and back on the road, a few miles west of town we got out to the iron creek campground and the trailhead to enter the sawtooths from the north end. we swapped crocs for hiking shoes, shouldered our packs, and started, one foot in front of the other. hiking out west is not all that different than the trails in the white mtns back east, only it is much much dryer here and instead of all dirt with rocks and roots, there is a good amount of gravel on the footpath. 



being dry and gravelly also means the fallen trees don't rot nearly as quickly which makes for lots and lots of grey sticks of all sizes littering the forest. such excess would make our trail crews back home really jealous of all the material for water bars, steps, bridging, shelters, whatever. just when we turned off the main trail and headed toward goat lake, we crossed a three log bridge. paul said each log had been floating in much deeper water back in june. they were a couple of feet above water now.



as we rounded a shoulder coming out of the thicker forest, paul suddenly stopped and whispered, "stone troll...don't wake it or we're in trouble." we took a water and snack brake under its gaze and shot a couple of pictures. looking south--the direction the troll stared out--we started to see the higher peaks. 





a bit further along, we came to the next turn off, semi-hidden and going steeply up to goat lake. the path was super gravelly and the slope had clearly burned off at some point.  for a long while, you could hear a large amount of rushing water but we didn't get a look at it--goat falls--until passing an outcrop near its top. i imagined there would be some great ice climbing in frozen times.

the closer we got to the lake the more i noticed how hot i was and suggested to paul that we take a swim. he was not at all enthusiastic about diving into 'freezing' cold water, but i figured if i went in, he would join me. it would be good to wash off the sweat we worked up and get clean for dinner. i stripped and dove in. it was heaven, only a bit colder, though if i had to guess not all that different than the atlantic on the maine coast. 

the temperature might have been similar, but the view was certainly unique. after i got my boxers back on paul took this shot. the tiny triangle in the center distance is thompson peak, where we would be headed the next day. at 8000 feet plus, the water was snow melt coming down from patches like the ones you can see above the lake. oh, and paul did go in, up to his neck even.

we set up our tent just above the swimming 'hole', and cooked dinner on my new, ultra-lite alcohol stove. after cleaning up, we talked of life well into the evening. 




it cooled off quickly when the sun dipped behind the ridge line to the west, but there seemed to be a warm air mass moving up from the south. there were no clouds to clue us in on the direction of those upper winds, but that made for some super star watching. before i crawled into my sleeping bag, the milky way had washed a bright strip across the sky. when i woke up and went to pee a couple of hours later, the lake reflected all that starlight making for quite a show below the feet as well as above the head. 

in the morning, i fired up the stove again and boiled water for oatmeal and hot cocoa. we were about done eating when the sun started to hit that western ridge line and i snapped the picture below.

the stanley baking company had great pancakes, but atmosphere like this at breakfast would be hard to beat. yes, that is snow at the water's edge.

speaking of snow and edges, we soon took off around the perimeter of the lake, hiking up the chain of lakes, around and over a few patches of the frozen. most of the snow patches were solid from their top down to rock. this one below, had a nice arched tunnel that the melt had carved out enough to scare paul around it. he stopped and took a shot, intimating that at any moment things were going to collapse and i would be toast. 

of course i reminded him that if that did happen he would have to carry me out...he stopped saying anything, but he might have kept worrying. 










we circumnavigated one of the lakes by edging along a ledge about 5 meters above the water. i suppose this sort of 'trail' is not for everybody, but it got me excited and kept me focused on something more than the good distance we had left to go. truth be told, i am not all that big a fan of hiking. being out in the western mountains was nice though and with a rock 'climbing' section now and again, i was smiling.








not too much further, a drainage from another lake in the chain made me think of pam's love of moss. a couple hundred yards of thick, soft green, made a lovely path up through the rock. when paul had been by here in june, it had been under more than a few feet of snow. that got me guessing that the high plants only lay exposed for about 4 months, and some of that under water. you have to be hardy to grow up here.











we got to the saddle leading up to thompson peak and paul snapped a picture that showed a few of the lakes over my shoulders. goat lake, where we were camping, is the farthest blue spot to the north. it seemed like a fair distance, and we still had the peak above us to finish.


climbing through some pretty gravely scree, we worked our way up and around the western flank to the southern couloir and scrambled up. i got a nice shot of paul looking up that slot, just under the summit. 

topping out, we scouted around the several of the 'false' peaks along the summit spine. looking out to the south, one really gets the idea why this range is called the sawtooths. i respect that pam would never move out here, but i could see myself living near these mountains. skiing and climbing out our backdoor is possible in new england, even fairly decent given our proximity to the white mtns. but here, going outside and playing in the backyard would be like dying and going to heaven. just so i would remember it, paul took a picture of what we were looking over as we settled down to eat lunch at the summit register...

the view definitely put big smiles on our faces! after a multi pitch climb, my expression was a bit weary here--maybe it was a bad hair day. this picture was taken 40 years ago, somewhere out there in that view above, on the finger of fate, a stone spire in the sawtooths. i led one of paul's best friends, steve ollila, up there just so he could take this picture of me--jk. steve died a few years back but we opted out of a memorial climb so that we could actually set the camera and sit together on a summit...

the march back down to goat lake, didn't take as long as coming up--gravity has a way of making that work easier. although it was not just a hop, skip, and a jump, we did make it before dark and were able to cook without headlamps. that night, clouds did start moving in and we got a rain shower or two before breakfast. chocolate milk in our oatmeal fueled us through packing and hiking out--in time to hit the stanley baking co. cafe for 2nd breakfast!



well fed, we got back in the truck but, before driving back over galena pass we stopped at redfish lake to relax in the shallows of the river feeding it. i couldn't have asked for a nicer end to such a wonderful three days.