home again, home again, jiggety jig...

...home again, home again, jiggety jog! sead is over--or at least the students have gone home and i don't have to stay in hanover anymore. it was good to see pam's little red fit in the drive when i came around the corner saturday afternoon. she was just home from her own trip up to the white mountains resting and hiking with old amc friends, cami and jenny. we made an alternative version of the black rice salad i experimented with earlier this summer and enjoyed a mellow dinner out on the back porch. as we ate we planned a hike for sunday morning. when i woke it was raining but by the time pam got up it was looking better. as we took off for cardigan, we decided to try the west side parking lot even though on most summer weekends it is full. i figured maybe the rain would slow them down some and we were still early. to our luck, the lot was pretty empty.

we started out on the ski trail, taking the first two sections skirting a few larger groups. back on the west ridge trail and most of the way up, just before clifford's bridge, we turned onto the skyland trail, cutting over to the south ridge. i was pretty sure pam had never been on it and also convinced she would love its moss covered surrounds. the light was slanting through the fog and trees, lighting up the green covering all the fallen timber and the rocky ledge that sticks out. the pictures below give one a bit clearer taste: the left looks uphill to the east, and the right looks downhill to the west.

it was also really quiet as there were enough kids on the mountain to fill the bus we saw parked down below. while adults can be really noisy when hiking, youngsters will likely be, especially when in large groups. with impeccable timing, we popped out onto the rock on the south ridge and heard a bunch of young girls coming up that trail.

fortunately that group was stopping, and we kept going. passing the fire warden's cabin down the eastern flank, we hit the steep, open rock and started flexing the calf muscles, climbing on our toes, for most of that last section. at the top, but still below the summit, i sat and waited for pam. some folks passed going down and said something to pam as she came up. "it seems like you are coming up over the edge of the world." i knew that would get a response from pam. "oh, don't say that. i can't look back." she made it without falling off any "edge", and we rested there, deciding not to go the last 100 yards and avoid the other half of that large group of young girls along with other hikers already up there.

going up cardigan is a fairly regular thing for us and after today, i bet the skyland trail cutover to south ridge becomes a favorite of pam's.

take a hike...

into the mountains! since coming home from maine, my play outdoors has shifted from the beach to the lawn and garden, hills and mountains--though with the good rains we have had lately, it sometimes seems like it is almost as wet. speaking of rain, immediately after unpacking, i started in on weeding the lush growth out in the garden. gandhi's favorite edible plant, purslane, was starting to take over. running the cultivator through rows quickly clogged the tines and i found myself hauling the uprooted plants to the end of the rows. again the next day, i was out doing close in work around individual plants in their rows. a steady rain made weeding easy, but a bit on the muddy side, at least on the hands. i was off to a week of sead that evening and wanted to leave things fairly clean before going so i stuck to it for a long while.

my part in the summer enrichment at dartmouth, sead, was teaching a comix seminar. i had started this class in the previous sead iv and was looking forward to doing it again. this cohort, also in their fourth and final year, just graduated high school and most were headed to college in the fall--some of those missing were already there in early start programs. activities outside of the classroom included plenty of outdoor play time. i got in a game of soccer and one of ultimate frisbee on the green during the afternoon free times. on thursday, we bussed out of hanover headed to the moosilauke ravine lodge up beyond warren nh.

very early on friday morning, more than a dozen of us trooped up the mountain, or at least started. turns out one scholar and one staff made it just about to treeline when time dictated they turn back. the two 'jack rabbits' i ended up following actually went right by the turn onto the trail everybody else took. in their defense it was still pretty dark, though i was already thinking of turning off my headlamp. 20 meters ahead of me--and just out of site in the dimness and trees--they went charging past the two orange 'gorge brook' and 'snapper' signs. having skied the mtn. dozens of times and hiked it more than a handful, i didn't stop them, but did speed up a bit to catch them. right as the snapper tee'd into the carriage road we stopped for a sip of water and i told them of their alternate route.

they didn't seem at all bothered, and i figured jay wouldn't mind as long i didn't lose them. after a short break for one to throw up at the glenn cliff junction, we continued up into denser and denser fog/cloud. the weather was not unusual. of all the times i had been up there, most of them had been either socked in or precipitating--snow in the winter / rain in the summer. weather is more likely to be extreme up this high than sunny and pleasant. right along a spine, where the trees are just above head high, i told the two we called the section, "the icy sluice of death" as it often forms a narrow, wind blown tunnel of rime.




soon enough we were above treeline on the large south-eastern shoulder leading up to the summit. even though we had slowed our pace some, i figured we would be the first ones up there, unless of course jay decided to run ahead of the others trying to catch us. we were not to be caught since we were not even on the same trail. that meant he would be sitting alone and wondering, well they are strong hikers and are with koby...what could possibly go wrong. fortunately, nothing did--beyond the 'going too fast and drinking too much water' hurling event. sure enough, a gnomish, shadowy figure appeared as we topped out on the summit.








after a quick couple of photos we headed down to see how the others were fairing. breakfast was at 7:30 and the bus home was due an hour later. if people were going to make it to the top, they had to be pretty high up and moving along. there were two cars that could take some hikers, but at least the two boys and i would have to get down and bus it. we met people soon enough and let two groups continue up and turned back a pair in the back--after congratulating them on getting so high at such an early hour.









when we got down the sun was just rising above a ridge off to the southeast and breakfast was getting to the tables of the sleepy non-hikers. after changing out my sweaty shirt for a dry one, i thoroughly enjoyed a couple of bowls oatmeal and a stack of pumpkin pancakes before packing and boarding the bus. not a bad day and it was still before 9:00! to top it off, it was birthday.

back to the dorms about 10-ish, we had sometime to unpack and cleanup. it was our next to last full day and there was plenty to do for students and staff. after the whirlwind crunch-time, graduation, and 'prom'/scrap book share can be, we were planning another before-breakfast hike the very last day we would be together. this one was much shorter and, as it turned out, clear and sunny. that morning, about two dozen sead-ers got on the bus and we pulled out a bit after 6:30. we were going to hike to the fire tower on gile mtn. just over the river and through some woods in norwich vermont. everybody made it up the mile or so to the tower and most everybody climbed the forty or so feet to the tower platform. jamie, a former sead staffer, was already there with hot chocolate for the crew!

we got a full breakfast when we got back to the choates and deemed it another fine morning! for those of us who went it seemed like a good way to say goodbye to sead.

make hay (or whatever)...

when the sun shines! i got the kite out on monday and was flying it about in a fairly steady 10-15 mph, down the beach breeze. all of a sudden i noticed a little guy, 8 maybe 9, standing close behind me and following my motions. i asked him if he wanted to fly the kite and he got pretty excited. his name was oscar and he was 8 and going into third grade. it did not take him long at all to get the knack of pushing and pulling the dual strings rather than steering--a bit counter intuitive. i held onto him as the wind was definitely strong enough to drag him down the beach. soon enough his brother oliver, a year older but looking every bit his twin right down to his swim trunks, joined us and took a turn at the controls. oscar didn't want to give it up and hung right close anxious for another go.

he got a second go soon enough as oliver was not as sure of himself and found it hard to overcome the temptation to just steer the thing back and forth. when they changed back the older brother went out to were the kite was swooping down and the younger brother and i practiced dive bombing him. a nice wide expanse of beach at low tide kept us from tangling with any others.


when the tide came back in, the waves got a bit bigger and i packed up the kite and grabbed a skim board. the art of skim boarding is fairly simple in theory, but somewhat complicated in practice. you start by waiting for that wash of a wave to cover a flat area of sand. when i say wait, timing can play a big part in skim success. when the thin covering is actually draining away, and there are no conflicting 'wavelets', is best. take a bit of a run, throw the board down in the direction you want to go, and jump on with both feet. it helps to land with both feet close to the same time and with the force headed more forward than down.



direction plays another big part in skimming. if you head sort of parallel with the beach, above the next wave coming in, you can get a fairly long ride, even spin a few 360's or spin your board while you jump off and then land back on it. if the beach has a pitch to it and you point yourself down, more toward the next wave you can really get some speed and go out into the surf. that is what the pros do and
it can be pretty thrilling to go out turn on a wave and ride it back in. i like trying to hit a wave and have it throw me up so i can do a back flip off the board--when it works you can really get tossed!

speaking about the pros and getting tossed (the link above is to a great skimmer with plenty of others to watch after...), i am far from being that good and for my fiftieth birthday, broke my wrist in one of those classic board riding falls. still, i have some fun and manage to give the waves here in maine a few good runs--including one in costume for the 4th of july!


kevin, mariel, and the boys came over and we got in a couple of sessions of skim boarding. owen was finding the sweet spot for some high speed runs on the pitched sand as the tide came in. he and i went to the other side of the fox island bar and zipped about for quite a while until the sun dipped pretty low and the tide almost turned.


when we weren't skimming we took a good long run on the long boards out on the road. our first direction took us down to percy's to meet pam and mariel for ice cream. the picture below was of the four longboards parked out front as we coned up inside.

coming back, we passed the cabins and went up to what i call the s-curves heading back toward bath. there are some nice long hills and even a couple steep sections in both directions. of course the day before the 4th there was a fair amount of traffic too. i manged at one point to nearly run kevin over as he was walking off the main road and i was coming fast down a side hill and turning onto it. not all that ironically, he was the one wearing pads and a helmet!

nobody died, though clayton did launch a pretty good superman into the grass as he hiked all the way up that side hill and came flying down towards the intersection where he decided he had better abandon 'ship' due to rapidly increasing speed wobble and an unsure ability to slide a corner. right after that episode, some guy stopped and cheered us on both with a thumbs up. as he pulled away, he mentioned that we should "get some helmets and pads--you never know when you're going to need 'em!" true that.

three arbor bamboo boards and one ondar longboard

one other board sport that popham has plenty of is riding the waves on a boogie board. i don't remember who i loaned my board and wet suit to, so i usually borrow one from one of the crew in the cabins, or if the waves are big enough, and harder to get on when it is deeper, i just body surf.



the picture above shows kenny and zoe on boards and that's my bald head sticking out of the foam surfing the body. it is always fun though when the waves get bigger surfing gets faster. on the two cloudy days at the end of the week, we saw some bigger and bigger waves. it also got a little colder, so zoe and i were the two that got in the most rides. sherri, zoe's mum, got one shot that captured the experience of waiting for the 'big one' ...



i don't know if this was the one that crashed over her head, but for all the times that happened she always went back for another smiling.

we have seen bigger surf, but not this year--hopefully next!

The weather is here…

wish you were beautiful! the beach is a magical place loaded with possibilities…and coming to popham now 25 consecutive years to the cabins at sea acres, has me nearly sold on taking a ‘regular’ vacation for the rest of my allotted summers. don’t get me wrong, i still fully embrace waking up to an unexpected snow, a whim of a wind, or a sudden break in the rain, stimulating a change of plans and going off for a ski, a bike, or hike. but, there is something to be said about sun, sand and surf that makes even the dedicated change artist in me want to just sit out and listen to the constant crash of waves—over and over again.

we left canaan saturday with happy hearts, not only looking forward to a great week, but satisfied that the inch of rain over Friday night would keep a dry garden from blowing away. weeding and tilling a bit before pam got up for breakfast i even got a bit muddy. the only disappointment i had, was my second planting of parsnips didn’t come up—such a hard seed to germinate.

the drive to maine kept up the food traditions we have been honing over the years: pam’s stop for ice cream at holderness, a cart load of meals plus extras at the shaws in bath, along with a final stop at plant’s seafood. we pulled up to the cabin, unpacked, and headed down to the beach—after putting a potato in the *oven to bake. one of us had a swim suit on with intentions of using it.

maine water is always cold, but swimmable. i didn’t stay in long but registered the temperature, as mid range and if things stayed like that, i would be in again tomorrow. if it got a tad bit warmer, i bet i could get pam in. on the way back up to the cabin—conveniently just a couple hundred yards from the beach—the thought of ‘life is good’ crossed my mind.

as we came through the front door, we got a bit of shock. the *oven was churning out a nearly toxic smell--unmistakably rodent, formerly nesting, and now roasted in the fiberglass beneath the stovetop. long story short, paradise stunk ‘to high heaven’ (as my gram used to say), and would be a major—read vacation breaking—problem, unless i could clean it up.

somehow we made it through the night and i was up at dawn and down to the beach just as the sun rose. at this hour i was alone save one person fishing out on fox island. i have made this early morning high tide line inspection for years. i hunt for lost toys, flip-flops, hats, or any interesting items to make a week’s end sculpture. i dream about its design, which takes shape depending upon the beach findings. one year i found enough clothes and shoes to outfit a stick beach family, complete with a beach chair. another year it was lobster trap cordage for colorful lashing over shaped driftwood. but most often it is dozens of assorted toys, hanging off a washed up bush or used for some sort of mobile.

besides that pleasant fantasy—and thinking about taking apart the stove—there were all the usual birds flying or floating, sitting or scooting about, mostly undisturbed at this hour. it was a good count, 21 different species, including the two ‘threatened and endangered’ species that popham beach state park works to protect: piping plovers and least terns. during the nesting period and while the chicks are young, large areas of beach are roped off from humans and the specific nesting sites are fenced from predators such as gulls and fox. i didn't see any this year, but the plover chicks are the cutest creatures--like fuzzy little golf balls with legs.

http://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=03-P13-00023&segmentID=4

i stopped for a good bit to watch a spotted sandpiper dodge in and out of the marsh grass just to the inside of a roped off area. whenever it stood, the non-stop bobbing of its tail end made it look almost mechanical, like some exotic windup decoy. i gave the terns equal time, attempting to sort out what i thought were three different species. the least terns with their yellow bills and feeding habits—they don’t plunge-dive for fish—were easy to pick out. common terns and what i thought to be larger Caspian terns, as opposed to smaller royal terns, were out in numbers over the river as well as the ocean. i used their relative size, beak and leg color, wing color, and tail shape to identify them.

most often i hike along until i hit the morse river and turn back. each year the whole layout changes with winter storms dumping, removing sand. this time the river’s mouth had shifted fairly close to the main park beach and included a huge low tide pool. the extensive sandbar that has generally appeared at low tide in front of the cabins--just to the east of the bar at low tide out to fox island--barely showed this year (only saw it exposed once the whole week). the shore is constantly in flux, but as mentioned, i love change, even on an ‘everyday’ path. 

heading up the boardwalk, back to the cabin with the beach gleanings stuffed into a chip bag, a pair of american goldfinches flitted about in the pitch pine, and a common yellow throat sang from the scrub bushes, adding a final two species for the morning. as i dipped my feet in the sand-wash bucket on the porch, i smelled the oven and remembered the other job for the day. with any luck, by the end of tomorrow’s morning jaunt i would get back to ‘life is good’!

knee high by the fourth of july...

plenty of sun and warm, but we need more water! last friday i packed up some food and water and pedaled out the door-yard headed to north haverhill and the nh-dmv to renew my driver's license. i joined up with will hively toward the north end of goose pond and we went right along. i was looking around the roadside fields and forest and for some reason, started remembering old idioms: a cardinal flew in front of me and joined its mate in a big maple along the road--"a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"; a dog sniffing and running about behind a house--"barking up the wrong tree"; going by post pond in lyme and my friend david's house, thinking when i get back here 60-ish miles from now, i am still going to have 15 miles to go to get home--"bite off more than you can chew"; and passing the first corn fields, south of orford--"knee high by the fourth of july".

a couple of miles further we came to several more fields and i thought of stopping for a picture. will snapped the first one in the short field. i went across rt 10 and took a 'selfie' in the tall field. i hatched a plan to document corn fields along our route and somehow weave a blog around them. 

we passed  several corn fields between orford and piermont and i decided that there were just too many to stop and document each one, but i still liked the idea. beyond piermont and heading into haverhill, we started discussing alternative routes off of 10. will knew a way on brushwood rd off 25. i got to thinking it would be fun to check in on ken and lesley over in newbury and see if ken wanted to ride up to the dmv and back. if we went over to the vermont side here and rode up rt 5 we could cross back and come back down rt 10. we crossed.

when we pulled into ken and lesley's door yard, things looked quiet and sure enough, nobody was home--"back to the drawing board". taking advantage of shade and a lawn, we had a snack, drank some water, and stretched a bit. back on the bikes we continued towards wells river on a freshly paved rt 5. the ultra-smooth ride made me think of all the different pavements i wheeled over last year...

that section went fast and soon enough we went back over the connecticut into new hampshire at woodsville and cut back on a side road to rt 10 heading south now. the dmv is in the court house in a mix of state buildings and we parked the bikes in the shade and went in. when i asked for the office, the security guards told me i didn't need a license to operate a bike. about a half hour later, i was back outside for a second snack, water, and some more stretching. we packed up again and pedaled away.

soon enough, we were passing plenty of corn fields again, until i saw a really short looking one and stopped. within a mile or so we came to a fairly tall one and stopped once more. i wondered if it was soil composition, water availability, or just the timing of planting that made the difference in height. will mentioned that the forecast for the next stretch of weather was for sunny and warm. corn loves sun and heat and with a week of that ahead, there was a good chance the short stalks would shoot by the old.



back in college plant physiology though i had read that a field of corn transpires an enormous amount of water on a sunny day. corn is one of the highest of all the farm and garden plants--54 gallons a plant / season. that said to me, unless we get some substantial rain with that sun, these plants won't be growing as much as a farmer or gardener might wish--"don't count your chickens before they hatch".

we took the river road leaving haverhill and snuck back into vermont at bradford. i was hoping to get some more fresh black top but will informed me that there was about two miles of grooved road that we would miss heading that way. before we got to fairlee i saw a sawyer road sign and after a quick look for will behind me, i braked hard and stopped for a picture--and a bathroom break.

we crossed back over to new hampshire at orford and then took off on the river road again. when we hit the lyme bridge and started climbing up to town i had to whistle will to stop as i could feel some cramps coming on--"a stich in time saves nine". i figured a rest, some snack, water, and stretching would forestall that. we took off again and stopped shortly at the lyme store where i got a sports drink and will got a cold coffee.




fueled up for the final leg, will chose goose pond road, it only had one steep section! i dropped it down to the granny gear and made my way up, slowly but with no cramps. we came on to goose pond and spotted helen, will's wife (and mother of two former students--the younger, michael, was an active outing club member!), out for a walk and watching a baby loon. the chick was rising up out of the water and flapping as we watched. 

a mile more down the pond will split off at his and helen's house. i had another three miles, mostly flat until the steep, but thankfully short hill up to our house. back down on the granny, i chugged my way up and pedaled right past the drive choosing to ride a bit on the flat before dismounting. i stopped and chatted with bob and midge some before heading home for some snack, water, and a bit of stretching--to "make a long story short" it was a very fine day!