a quiet hike--at least part of the time...

out in the woods with granite state off roaders!

pam and i have been doing quite a bit of trail work around our neighborhood--up over town hill to the boggy area above bear pond. but last sunday was pretty glorious, so we decided to get up higher and look at the sun shining down on a bigger view. we headed to wolfboro road to hook up with the AT and get to south peak on moose mountain which looks down on the broad goose pond 'valley' and to the south.

when we parked where the road goes into the woods, i noticed right off wide muddy tire tracks. i didn't think much of that until about a half mile up, i realized the tracks were pretty fresh--probably that morning. soon after i decided that, i heard engines rumbling ahead. soon after that, we caught up to a group of seven off road vehicles of all sorts--but all jacked up, with oversized and knobby wheels.

as we went by i heard at least three, "hey koby" greetings from former students. older and bearded, it was hard for me to identify any of them, but josh w and toby p might have been a couple of them.

it was cool that hiking was faster than four wheeling. i suppose that isn't always the case, but nice for us today. up at the height of land where the AT intersects, we split off the road, aiming for south peak. no vehicles would be on this trail. soon enough you couldn't even hear them. at the summit, it was clear and the view was indeed big. i took a shot of pam at rest with a snack.

things were quite all the way back to the AT-wolfboro rd intersection. five vehicles parked tucked into little niches here and there told us why. the drivers and passengers were going up through the woods--this time 'off trail' again and on foot. (later in the week pam brought home the valley news with an article about the plane wreckage up on south peak and how folks are now hunting for it. we suspect that was what this group was doing.)

headed down the road back to the car, i enjoying the peace and quiet. i recall thinking, "good, we got past all that hub-bub..." not quite. in another half mile or so, i started hearing more engines coming toward us. sure enough, it was another group. a young woman in the front vehicle greeted me as i came up to them, "hey koby..." it was allonda, another former student. this time there were at least twenty trailing off roaders.

when i got by i looked back the long line and snapped a picture.  pam was ahead of me and all i could think now was, she would be livid. this was not what we had come out for. we had at least another half mile or so to the car and i hung back hoping she might recover as it got quiet again and was so lovely.

by the time we got to the car, she gave me a kiss and mentioned that she was glad we had come out, despite the four wheeled intrusions. driving home along goose pond we came up behind a bike rider, going along--only he wasn't pedaling. pam gave one last groan, "that's a gas powered bicycle! all these engines are smelling up the air!!" she probably even said "...my air!!!" but i won't mention that.

fortunately, when we got out of the car at home, i got another kiss and she confirmed that it was indeed good to go outside and play!

leaf peeping from the saddle...

pedaling around the block--the big block!

trusting that the weather would be spot on the prediction,  i took off on a bike ride. i was thinking of heading east on route 4. there are dozens of routes i could take, of all lengths. as usual, when i start out on a longer ride, i started running all those options through some sort of filter. if i do this..., it will mean that...--do i really want to do that? i suppose in the long run, i am deciding exactly, just what do i want to do?

all the while i was questioning myself, i pedaled east. at times i would veer off onto the rail-trail for a couple miles before coming back onto the road. when i was pumping up a climb on the road, i would think how much flatter the trail was. when i was plodding along the trail, i would think, the road would be a lot faster. what i should have been doing instead, was taking more pictures.

as i was going through danbury, i stopped at the general store and ask a group at a table if they knew of a road to take me over to 4A without going to potter place. the woman said, there was a road but it was being paved today. the man reported that rt 4 was also newly paved between here and andover. another woman, mentioned that there was another way up the road, but there were so many turn offs you would need gps to make sense of it. i thanked them and continued on as i had been--pedaling rt 4 and the rail-trail.



i made it onto 11 and headed south. turning west onto 4A, i started a long climb through wilmot, toward the height of land. now that i was heading homeward, i stopped dwelling on possibilities and started to think about pictures. just before i left my driveway i had thought about taking a picture of the maples across the road. autumn color would have made a good theme. i forgot to stop. forgot again, on the rail trail watching the sunlight filter through the leaves. finally, i rode by a long run of knotweed, stopped, turned back to the beginning, and got out the camera.


there are all kinds of invasives in new england. they spread themselves out by any number of means--plants as well as animals.  whenever i see knotweed way out in the middle of nowhere--like that patch on kevin's road way back in the woods--i wonder, how does knotweed get out here? people used to plant it as an ornamental?? we had a patch across from our drive--next to those maples i should have photographed--that has taken me a over thirty years to almost eradicate.


with the camera now stuffed into my bike shorts, i stopped again fairly soon when i passed a boggy area off to one side at the high point in the road. drainage in both directions made for an interesting situation. water goes either east, ending up in the merrimack and flowing out to sea past newburyport mass. or, it goes west, into the connecticut and drain into long island sound at old lyme ct. pam and i spent a bunch of times down in newburyport going out to visit plum island for beach and birds. turns out there is a plum island right at the mouth of the connecticut in the sound as well.

i was flowing west and except for one broad valley i had to climb out of, it was all downhill. before i wove through the s curves dropping into enfield center, i stopped and took a picture of the boggy, north end of george pond.

it being friday, instead of turning home, i extended the loop and stopped at drummond's to sweep. i like to stay connected with the folks there and sweeping the shop once a week is good for that. today, robbie even had a front piece that extends off the stem to try and push out my handlebar bag. on the gravel growler, i had kinked the cables which probably was what caused my rear derailleur to fail. good people drummonds--relaxing to push a broom around too!






on the way past the high school, i stopped for a time to watch the soccer game and chat with two former students' parents. father, andrew, was pretty impressed with the new bike and snapped a picture to message son/student, ben. we were both thinking ben would be surprised that i jumped so far into the 21st century with a carbon frame--the three of us each ride vintage steel frames.



no matter what frame you are riding--go outside and play!

surf's up...

if you love big waves, the news of a hurricane can get you excited...

but, i realize that flooding is not a happy topic for the people who lose their property to rising water. while i type this, i am listening to an emotional report on the long term effects of the flood out in colorado--5 years ago. the devastation from extreme weather events, is serious, even deadly, let alone traumatic for millions.




that said, on friday, pam and i drove down to sakonnet rhode island ready for big waves. we had planned the visit with billy at 'rough house' on round pond, long before we knew  anything about where or when florence would hit. his place is a couple hundred yards from 'rocky beach', off mill point, and a couple hundred more to a series of little coves on 'tappens beach'  divided by giant rock outcroppings. the last email from billy spoke of the waves being "enormous"! 

this is tappens beach mid tide, at a much quieter time. we were playing to the far right just out of the picture by those smaller rocks. there is a bluff off the far outcrop (its actually two giant outcrops but the furthest one is hidden) that people plunge off. i broke my eardrum diving there with a stuffy nose, years ago.


this time, friday's surf was indeed huge! billy and i spent a good several hours getting happily thrashed body surfing or on a boogie board at small beach. pam stayed ashore reading her book in the comfort of her beach chair. there was one other person out with us, which felt a bit safer given the weird rip coming off of the nearest rock outcroppings. speaking of rocks...please keep off them!





we went back saturday both pre- and post- a late lunch. while the waves had diminished some, the surf was still very big. i coaxed pam during the morning session, helping her get over the fear of losing her suit in the shore break--the picture on the left shows a wave closer in, and billy and i taking a breather as the tide went out. when i came in from the offshore break, pam told me happily how a big wave had whooshed her 'bottom' right off. she went right in on her own in the afternoon!


after the stimulating big surf and a delicious big dinner--thanks for the curry tracey!--we were just about to head off to a big night's sleep when billy turned on the 9:00 news: "Swimmer Dead After Shark Attack On Cape Cod." a shriek from pam, "noooo! i'm not going in tomorrow!" billy assured pam that the sharks were after seals and the waters off the cape were prime seal habitat. i was thinking how crazy it was to hear such a story after being out in the ocean all day, playing in the waves, looking for all the world just like one of those seals. but billy's best guess was rhode island had never had a shark death. i looked that up when we got back. don't tell pam but... 

"According to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), great white sharks are most likely passing through local waters on their way to Cape Cod...'White sharks do occur in Rhode Island waters and it’s not unusual for them to be caught in summer months.'" 

tracey joined us on sunday and we went down to small beach for a last round. as we walked past rocky beach, even though it was high tide, the waves were as big as saturday's, maybe even bigger. we got pretty pumped. at small beach, billy and i dove in immediately--well, billy put on his 'seal suit' first--and stayed out for a good bit. when we finally came out, pam and tracey went and played in the shore break. they didn't seem to be too worried about sharks.

after a sunny walk over to the beach club and a warm up. i went back in for a final session, i didn't even think about getting bit, though i was out past the offshore break a bunch. life in the surf is grand!

when we went back to rough house tracey had lunch all ready. even though she was suffering from a wisdom tooth extraction that wasn't healing, she had made a quiche before coming over to rough house. it was delicious! we ate our final meal of the trip, talking about getting together again soon.

with or without waves...go outside and play!

still riding--uphill--for beer...

or blueberries, blue cheese sausage, and fine spirits...! 

tuesday, day 3: we packed and got out early, headed to wolcott general store and breakfast. one false turn later we got on the right track. it was interesting having sawyer with paper maps, matty with the route on gps, and joel with google maps on his phone--it had survived the fall. as we ate outside the store, a scrap-metal truck driver chatted us up on the best route up and over the next hill.

"you don't want to go up east hill. i live on east hill and you want to go back and take town hill straight up to west hill and down to cemetery road. that'll take you straight into craftsbury."

it was a terrific climb, close to a 800 feet in three miles, most of it in the first half mile. i was feeling relatively weightless on the addict and pedaled hard and fast to a 360° view along the top. matty and i stopped to wait in a field where soy shared a beer when he came up. the truck driver was right about the straight shot into craftsbury. we stopped at the general store and bought a lunch of cheese, berries, and bread.

after packing things away, i got to chatting with a couple guys with motorcycles doing some back roads themselves. i was directing them to evans notch on the nh-maine border when i felt the gentle hand of the 'time bastard' on my shoulder. no need to speak, i got on my bike. after another climb out of that valley we pulled off and ate. i supplemented my fare with peanut butter, the others with sausage.


the 'time elf'--that's a well fed 'time bastard'--got us back out on the road, which after a short climb, turned into a dirt track through the woods. at the bottom of a steep section we came out to some back fields on either side of a muddy wagon/tractor track. i am not sure why matty and joel stayed to the muddiest side but i got past fast enough to snap a few shots as soy took a drier line.


these back roads we were piecing together with the singletrack, gravel, and blacktop, made for an interesting pastiche. my guess is that's what gives it the name "adventure cycling".  a good number of these back ways didn't even have a name. out on the gravel roads there were usually signs to help guide us. this one in the picture had the crazy name 'rocking rock rd' which just so happened to match the name of sawyer's rock n' road tires. it is also a good shot of a well appointed steel frame.

we were in the high country above craftsbury, headed over to greensboro and the award winning hill farmstead brewery. it wouldn't be open until wednesday noon-ish but sawyer had found a sweet camping spot in a farmer's elderberry orchard just a couple miles--down hill--past the brewery. we found the farmer, todd hardie, at thornhill farm and got instructions for camping. after taking off bags and setting up bivys and hammocks, we pointed our lightened bikes down garvin hill into greensboro for a swim in caspian lake and some grocery shopping.

while we were swimming we could see a storm coming in over the lake. we got out, mostly dried off, and made it to the store just as it started to pour. our timing was right as when we came out with dinner and some breakfast, the rain had pretty much stopped. by the time we headed back up garvin hill, the roads were drying out. i got matty to stop at breitmeyer's berries near the top end of the road. i had noticed their sign on the way down and remembered those were the berries we bought in craftsbury. i had the empty box with me so i returned it and we picked a bit. the breitmeyers were happy to have us.

 soy and joel were back at camp when we arrived. we decided to check out the sheds over where we were getting water as it was raining again. we set up a kitchen under an eve and cooked a big supper to make up for tuesday's meager affair. the boys had bought more sausage--made at jasper hill farm, we saw their barn going into greensboro--along with veggies. cooking it, was smelling so good, i decided to taste a bite of the blue-cheese version.  it was the first sausage i have eaten in over forty years, and it was delicious. those are three serious eaters pictured--i think they liked dinner!

wednesday, day 4: the night, was a tad bit rainy, but the stars were also out periodically. i was learning how to adjust the bivy bag, to allow for breathing, crucial, and keep the rain off my head, comfortable. i woke early and went back over to the sheds and snapped a picture of the 'yard' and surrounding barley fields. todd had spoken with us the night before and told us a bit of the story of thornhill. he also gave us a tip on caledonia spirits, a distillery he actually started before buying this land and farming.

i set up a breakfast kitchen in the lower sheds to the right of the drive. todd made it into his office before the boys showed, but they eventually did and we had oatmeal and tea. there was plenty of time to dry things out and clean up since hill farmstead didn't open until noon.


packed and ready to go by a leisurely eleven-ish, we headed back up hill to the brewery. there were already a dozen or so groups there, milling about. when a line finally started at least a dozen more had shown up. some of these people looked damn serious, with coolers and growlers at the ready. the doors opened early and we got our beer and went back on the porch. before we even took the first sip the 'time elf' was happy enough to announce, "drink up and relax boys, we are in good shape..."

retracing our path down to greensboro we got through town and headed toward hardwick. the ride over went up and down some really beautiful country. there were plenty of distant mountains to think about pedaling up and over--the last one into infinity.






lucky for us we didn't didn't ride away forever into infinity, we made it to a local  hardwick sandwich shop just before it closed. unlucky for the meat eaters, they were out of most all the meats. after our sandwiches we pedaled out to caledonia spirits for a tasting. the women doing that was super friendly and was a bike tourer herself--she even took a tour of our bikes. i passed on the gins and vodka but did get some cold water.




back on the saddle again, we found buffalo mtn road and headed up. at just a mile and a half and only 700 feet up, it felt like one of the steepest and most sustained climbs we did. maybe that was more the heat and rocky back road. sawyer had us looking for a little pond at the height of land. when we came out of the woods into a huge clearcut, there it was. after the climb, camp with a swimming hole was heaven.

we each had a dip and set up our sleeping spots. as we cooked dinner, we watched a storm rolling in from the west. it was certainly going to rain at some point in the night, if not sooner. no need for the 'time bastard' to spur on clean up--we washed and stowed gear quickly.

the rain held off long enough for us to enjoy a little fire to fend off the mosquitoes, they were not holding back at all. when the coals were burning out we headed off to sleep. on and off rain all night gave me a lot of practice with the breathing/dry balance bivy thing.

thursday, day 5: by morning i had enough. with a break in the rain, i emerged from the hot, wet cocoon and gave a 'time bastard' call "all rise and start packing, we're riding to breakfast!" more like riding without breakfast, or at least a sit down kind. we shared our collective bars, watered up, and pedaled away from our piece of paradise. 

in less than a mile, the road went gravel and we started seeing houses. another mile or so and we rode back into the woods on a four wheel drive only road. it was an uphill struggle made nearly impossible by hangry deer flies, feasting on my back. i couldn't slap them or even flick my shirt as if i let go the handlebars i would lose my pedal. i yelled instead, "aaaaahhhhhrrrrrggggg!!!!!" thank goodness for going uphill as sooner or later you get to go down.

once we peaked out the road turned into a series of huge mud holes. this route was clearly a four wheel mudder's nirvana. the flys were still biting but i could slap more, at least when i wasn't negotiating a thin, dry-ish line. as we tipped off the ridge we picked up enough speed to out pace the flies--at least the slower ones. i quit yelling and started whooping. going fast down a rocky back road can be just as technical as going uphill. it demands focus--whooping seems to help.

we were headed out of the woods looking for the maple corner store. it would have some breakfast food to supplement the energy bars we had so far. it soon appeared and was blessed with a hose we could easily access to spray off the mud. as i was finishing my wash job, sawyer and matty came out with a couple of muffins and some bananas. they offered to share and i took them up on it.

clean and refreshed, we dropped into calis where i had to pull off and lock in my rear derailleur as it had stopped shifting. still two in the front, i dropped from eleven, to one in the back--now i was riding a very expensive two speed. it was enough of a spread that i could pedal up the steep, and on the flats, not over pedal too much. i was good with coasting down the hilly stuff. we were hunting for one last single track that would drop us into montpelier. 

at first we cruised right by a faint path leading into the bushes at the corner of a field. when we found it, i was closest and dove down the ditch first. right off, there was a good bit of bridging over some boggy parts. as we got into bigger woods, the bridging got really tricky, and slippery. i hit one section of two side by side 2x6s, spaced with a groove in the middle. i aimed for the space and hoped for the best. chance and good fortune kept me from braking and after flying through that section, i stopped to wait. 

a flurry of noise let me know that the others had not been so fortunate. when they came up, soy reported that matty had slid out--"don't break, don't turn!" hadn't worked for him. the bridging dropped away just after that, and we found some sweet single track--and it was downhill, some of it wicked steep. thankfully those sections were fairly short. the whole trail was more fun than is legal in some places.

it was a bit of a let down to t-onto a street and pedal smoothly into town. but, i was thinking a bike shop could put my derailleur back in working order. the others were more interested in beer to satisfy their thirst. we found onion river outdoors right around the corner from three penny taproom. everybody was happy. while i was at the shop they went and ordered a few pints and some lunch. matty came back to check that i hadn't pulled a koby and fallen asleep on their couch and let me know i had a sandwich ordered.

shop owner kip roberts finished up on the addict, putting it back to 22 gears, and making a few suggestions that drummonds might want to consider once i got back home. my "impossible" burger was delicious, even though it was plant based, and i drank a last beer. we trickled back to the bikes and pedaled out of town toward our parting ways. joel sawyer, and i were headed back to waitsfield and the final killer hill. matty was going toward little river where he had parked back on monday. 




we were turning onto lague drive and he was staying on state street. it had been a wonderful five days for me. and save for joel's slide on the road, it seemed like everybody had a grand time.

i bet they would all agree...

go outside and play! 

(oh, and drinking beer seems to help!)





ps joel, soy, and i made it down to waitsfield pedaling along river road, rt 100B, and finally rt 100. we stopped at some picnic benches and stripped off all the extra packs on sawyer's and my bikes. joel was resting his knee and watching the gear. we were riding up those last 1000+ feet in the final couple miles. i totally appreciated the carbon frame on that last leg. 'hot' off the bikes, soy and i took a final picture just before i went down to pick up joel. he was so pleased to see me, he cooked us a couple of delicious pizzas to end the week--even if it meant skipping the mad taco!

will ride--uphill--for beer...

and pedal uphill to go downhill, eventually--fast but not too furious.

sunday, day 1: i met up with joel and sawyer at the top of stage coach road, in fayston, high above waitsfield vt, prime green mountain territory. sawyer's in-laws have a house that looks across the valley to mad river ski area. it was a grand site to final pack. after locking down what we were leaving, we took off--uphill even more. we 'peaked' out at a mcmansion in the clouds and pointed things down--into the woods on the left in the picture. much to our surprise, we hooked back up to a road and popped out right across from the driveway we started at! that was interesting.





we contemplated a second path back through the woods, but after a few hundred yards in, with a stop to watch twin fawns in a swath of chest high ferns, we turned back to some "marked" trails joel had spotted earlier. more climbing before we eventually started down, right next to a foreboding sign--danger! complete with skull and cross bones. this had to be the way.

it turned out it was a way, and after a wonderful descent--with plenty of danger--we finally t-d out onto another road that ran a few quick miles down to the highway where we turned toward waterbury.



we headed for the prohibition pig--a pub that carried fine craft brews as well as food. it was a good place to stop and eat  a late lunch, complete with a great selection of hot-sauces. while the others went right in to sample the first beer, i took a bit of time to put on the water bottle cages i picked up at waterbury sports.

after eating, soy and joel went across the street to pick up some 'cans to go' and we continued onto little river state park. we were camping there the first night and waiting for matty to come up from boston. it was a good place to stop as it had vt's largest reservoir, a pleasant place to swim and play a little frisbee. i found a pair of goggles that inspired a photo.

back at the tent site, matty pulled in and we set up bivy bags or hung hammocks, brewed some tea and lit up a small fire. it was a fine first night.

monday, day 2: i wake up early and this trip was no different. with a bit of prep, i was cooking oatmeal as the others got out of their sleeping bags. we ate, cleaned up, broke camp, loaded the bikes, and matty drove his car off to a long term parking spot. when he rode back over the hill to us, we headed off to find the single track up and over the first mountain.

riding up hill can be a grind, but the switchbacks made it almost easy. well, maybe just a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. it was a challenging couple miles, but definitely rewarding. as we topped out, we got another couple miles in the woods before hooking into an improved gravel woods road. that made things faster--hitting the waterbars at speed, made for exciting air time. at one point we came around a corner and met a huge gap over a stream with "road closed" signs everywhere. when we got off the bikes and walked up to the edge, a worker on the other side directed us to follow the pink flagging around the construction.

as we remounted and started away, he warned us of a dump truck that would be coming up the road. we were still going down hill and the road twisted and turned significantly. at one point the boys went off ahead. as i was pedaling hard to catch them up, i corned almost into the path of a large front-end loader. we both were surprised! he turned toward his side and i managed to slide a bit to my side, enough to fly by without getting scooped up. until i caught up with the others i was keeping far right in case the mystery dump truck came around the next corner.

a few miles later we were out to black top and hunting for the turn off to single track up to the von trapp brewery and bierhall. when we found 'pipe line', and started up, it didn't take too long before it turned technical. i admit that at one point, i mumbled to sawyer, "i don't think this bike was made for this type of trail." the craziest, rootiest, rockiest parts mellowed out at some point and soon enough we saw a sign for the 'bierhall'!

we each tested at least one beer and ate a sandwich while watching a couple groups play around at frisbee golf. after lunch we got in some more climbing up to some really sweet single track dropping down north of stowe, headed to morrisville. i was really pleased at how agile the bike was. it could rail the switchbacks with ease and negotiate more technical parts--only this time going downhill.



back onto roads and climbing out of the valley, we stopped at a farmstand and picked up some goat cheese for supper. just after that we pulled up under an oak tree to let a shower pass. as we dropped down the other side of the last climb, i noticed joel with his phone out, capturing a kodak moment. just as i was thinking this was not going to end well. he went down, skidding along the pavement on his hand and hip--ouch! that couldn't have felt good. it looked bad enough to even be a trip ender. we patched him up and pedaled into morrisville. oh--he got the picture...

rock art brewery was closed by 15 minutes when we pulled up, but truth be told, that might have been a good thing. long story short two catholic school board members took us up to elmore state park where we got a shelter for the night. dinner was tasty, though we probably all could have eaten more. we walked down to the lake for a swim in the dark.

back at camp, we all turned in early--resting up to go back outside and play in the morning, if joel wasn't too stiff!