a wonderfully busy four days!
a week ago, on thursday and friday, i spent the day digging holes. actually, the excavator with pat operating dug the holes. jason and i helped place them and the piers to go in them, level & plum the latter at proper distances; we did a little hand digging and back-filling, maybe some raking. at one point i tried bashing some ledge that was in the way--that had mixed returns. in the end though, we placed 8 cement piers to hold up the posts of the timber framed pavilion shinnlinger's building and construction class fabricated last school year, second semester. here is a picture of the roof truss for one of the middle bents--we left out the posts for ease of raising this up as a demo.
that is some of the class that cut things. they were pretty happy that everything fit together so well--so was i.
early thursday morning mtd's started clearing the site and digging. the first corner--south west--went in like a dream. not too long after the second corner--north west--was in as well and pat was digging at the north east corner. that was were we first hit ledge, the same ledge i took a sledge hammer too. oh, that is when the laser level went on the fritz as well. with the day waning, we left that hole to futz with in the morning. we did get the south east corner in before calling it quits.
friday was a chilly start but we went back and adjusted the base of the pier at the north east corner and set it. we decided to dig trenches between corners. we hit more ledge on the north side and ended up raising the piers. the posts will just have to be shorter. the south side went in with a little bit of 'extra' digging. in the end we were pretty happy with the job--i even got pat and jason to pose on the 'high' piers!
on saturday, i pedaled over to drummond custom cycles to join my chiropractor, susan, for a long-ish test ride. while i was on her "table" for an adjustment the week prior, i had told her about my new 'gravel bike' and sent her a link to its maiden voyage in my august posts. she was impressed enough to give it a ride solo and a longer one with me. as i went over the shaker bridge, i stopped to say hi to the stuffed fishing person. the clouds and lake looked so cool i snapped a picture of it all.
not the best lighting, but susan's smile was there as she feeling a bit more confident going along even in the washboardy areas. she also reported feeling comfortable with the bike's geometry, which was new and different from her current road bike. we pedaled on, climbing and descending, gravel and pavement. and stopping once more for a water and picture break.
the clouds were breaking up and the blue sky made for a nice contrast with cardigan mtn off in the distance. it was a fine ride for me and i assume for susan--she bought the bike!
when i got home, pam and i up town hill with the intent of finishing some trail maintenance we had started the week before. we had spent a good couple hours clearing a path along a stone wall which takes us straight down to bear pond road. there was a trail there before, but it hadn't been cleaned up in ages. one major blow down took cutting a heavy leaver stick from another fallen hardwood. it worked pretty well, but i had to stop myself from 'over-pushing', remembering just a week before i had been getting readjusted on sue's chiropractic table.
on bear pond road, we headed toward the boggy area where i spent another good hour sawing blowdowns. one particular oak maxed me out again. as it was getting dark, we pushed the last log aside and headed back up and over town hill.
sunday dawned cloudy and cold again, but pam was game for another go at moose mtn. this time we went to the section of AT leaving from goose pond road--there would be no granite state off road-ers on that! (if you missed 'a quiet hike...' you might get a laugh.) we love that part for a number of reasons: it's rarely crowded, has some fine lookouts, really interesting features--like the bridge, railing, and AT symbol marked in the ash on the right.
as we hiked along it kept spitting snow. in the mid 20's it was just about right so we didn't get overheated, but weren't cold either. at least i wasn't, even in knickers and crocs. and pam seemed cozy in her long undies/pants, fleece/jacket, wooly hat and gloves...
i snapped a picture of her at one of those fine lookouts--the one she dubbed "smelly boys ledge" after a group of through hikers parked there when she wanted to use it once. sometimes she can get a bit possessive. but there were no hikers jockeying for space today--we had it all to our snacking and viewing selves.
as we were coming back down to 'sbl', i took a series of photos of one of my favorite features--what i call the spine. for quite a ways along the top section, there is a rock outcropping at times parallel with the trail, or the actual trail in places. i keep meaning to take simon up there and have him explain its geologic significance to me. it is pretty cool. the pictures capture about 200 yards or so.
when ever i try to place a series in blogger, it is a struggle. but you should at least get the idea.
it was a grand four days to go outside and play! --in the dirt, on the trails, and in the leaves!!!
a week ago, on thursday and friday, i spent the day digging holes. actually, the excavator with pat operating dug the holes. jason and i helped place them and the piers to go in them, level & plum the latter at proper distances; we did a little hand digging and back-filling, maybe some raking. at one point i tried bashing some ledge that was in the way--that had mixed returns. in the end though, we placed 8 cement piers to hold up the posts of the timber framed pavilion shinnlinger's building and construction class fabricated last school year, second semester. here is a picture of the roof truss for one of the middle bents--we left out the posts for ease of raising this up as a demo.
that is some of the class that cut things. they were pretty happy that everything fit together so well--so was i.
early thursday morning mtd's started clearing the site and digging. the first corner--south west--went in like a dream. not too long after the second corner--north west--was in as well and pat was digging at the north east corner. that was were we first hit ledge, the same ledge i took a sledge hammer too. oh, that is when the laser level went on the fritz as well. with the day waning, we left that hole to futz with in the morning. we did get the south east corner in before calling it quits.
friday was a chilly start but we went back and adjusted the base of the pier at the north east corner and set it. we decided to dig trenches between corners. we hit more ledge on the north side and ended up raising the piers. the posts will just have to be shorter. the south side went in with a little bit of 'extra' digging. in the end we were pretty happy with the job--i even got pat and jason to pose on the 'high' piers!
on saturday, i pedaled over to drummond custom cycles to join my chiropractor, susan, for a long-ish test ride. while i was on her "table" for an adjustment the week prior, i had told her about my new 'gravel bike' and sent her a link to its maiden voyage in my august posts. she was impressed enough to give it a ride solo and a longer one with me. as i went over the shaker bridge, i stopped to say hi to the stuffed fishing person. the clouds and lake looked so cool i snapped a picture of it all.
susan was getting set up with pedals and such when i got there. we decided on a route to include some gravel downhill as she really wanted to know whether to trust the bikes control and stopping power. we took off toward enfield center, east on 4A. the gravel downhill led us to grafton pond where we stopped for a photo.
not the best lighting, but susan's smile was there as she feeling a bit more confident going along even in the washboardy areas. she also reported feeling comfortable with the bike's geometry, which was new and different from her current road bike. we pedaled on, climbing and descending, gravel and pavement. and stopping once more for a water and picture break.
the clouds were breaking up and the blue sky made for a nice contrast with cardigan mtn off in the distance. it was a fine ride for me and i assume for susan--she bought the bike!
when i got home, pam and i up town hill with the intent of finishing some trail maintenance we had started the week before. we had spent a good couple hours clearing a path along a stone wall which takes us straight down to bear pond road. there was a trail there before, but it hadn't been cleaned up in ages. one major blow down took cutting a heavy leaver stick from another fallen hardwood. it worked pretty well, but i had to stop myself from 'over-pushing', remembering just a week before i had been getting readjusted on sue's chiropractic table.
on bear pond road, we headed toward the boggy area where i spent another good hour sawing blowdowns. one particular oak maxed me out again. as it was getting dark, we pushed the last log aside and headed back up and over town hill.
sunday dawned cloudy and cold again, but pam was game for another go at moose mtn. this time we went to the section of AT leaving from goose pond road--there would be no granite state off road-ers on that! (if you missed 'a quiet hike...' you might get a laugh.) we love that part for a number of reasons: it's rarely crowded, has some fine lookouts, really interesting features--like the bridge, railing, and AT symbol marked in the ash on the right.
as we hiked along it kept spitting snow. in the mid 20's it was just about right so we didn't get overheated, but weren't cold either. at least i wasn't, even in knickers and crocs. and pam seemed cozy in her long undies/pants, fleece/jacket, wooly hat and gloves...
i snapped a picture of her at one of those fine lookouts--the one she dubbed "smelly boys ledge" after a group of through hikers parked there when she wanted to use it once. sometimes she can get a bit possessive. but there were no hikers jockeying for space today--we had it all to our snacking and viewing selves.
as we were coming back down to 'sbl', i took a series of photos of one of my favorite features--what i call the spine. for quite a ways along the top section, there is a rock outcropping at times parallel with the trail, or the actual trail in places. i keep meaning to take simon up there and have him explain its geologic significance to me. it is pretty cool. the pictures capture about 200 yards or so.
when ever i try to place a series in blogger, it is a struggle. but you should at least get the idea.
it was a grand four days to go outside and play! --in the dirt, on the trails, and in the leaves!!!
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