late autumn, outdoors in new england--playing in the leaves

after our saturday zoom-yoga session with the kids, i went out to harvest a late crop. it was raining, but not all that hard. by the time i got a bucket full of leeks into the house, it had gotten wetter. i decided to postpone until sun-day, my exploratory ride of a section on the 'five town tour'. 

i was dressed and out to the shop before pam even got out of bed, only to be met with a flat front tire on the addict. when i was going to patch it, i accidently got some paper stuck on a weird blobby patch made for my air mattress. so it wouldn't go to waste i used it on the bike tube all the while wondering how long it would last...the answer to that came in less than a mile. i ended up changing it out in front of harris rebar.

all pumped up, i got back on rt4 heading east. at some point i jumped on the rail trail and just after going by the town of canaan, i met up with a fellow teacher1 out for a run. we chatted as we went along. after that i was looking for the little connector i discovered, winding through the woods from rail trail to rt4. i stopped and rolled a large rock in place to mark the faint path on the trail side.

next stop was a stone foundation remnant where i took a picture.

after that i headed up riddle hill--the one sawyer and i came down in the last goap!--to the ruggle's mine turn. my plan was to find the old road back over to height of land road that drops down to rt4 right by tewksbury. my idea was to offer up a more woodsy less paved alternative to the north end of riddle hill. of course that would include a big ass hill. little did i know that even past the gate up to the mine, there is still quite a bit of climbing--big, big ass hill. looking up with the sun at the back and looking down into the sun.

all the climbing was worth it though. the woods were sublime and 97.9% rideable--for me. the leaves were again slippery enough to have me seriously thinking about a pair of rock n' road tires. i looked them up and ran into frame builder bruce gordon's death announcement as well as a SOPWAMTOS parade picture! sawyer mentioned something about gordon dieing when we were riding sunday, but then stopped. my hope is 43mm will fit on the addict.

meanwhile coming out of the woods onto height of land road, a grand 'new england-y' view got me off the bike walking around for the iconic postcard picture. the first one is right at the junction. 

not sure if this next one is the best vantage point but it was good--i think that is moose mtn in the distance.

on the downhill to rt4 i stopped twice to talk to folks about the road i just took coming over from ruggles mine. the first was a local graftonite, and an avid pro-class 6, 'open' roader. the second person was another local character--and one i knew--definitely a pro-private 'closed' roader. both thought it might be called glass road.

at rt4, snug harbor road is exactly opposite height of land and leads up to orange pond rd. that would start the 'long half' of the five town tour. i had the thought today, that fom-ftt might more accurately describe the ride than friends of mascoma gravel grinder.

today--to get back for a hike over town hill with pam--i turned left onto rt4 and went west until i found a quick link back to the rail trail. in a couple of miles or so, at canaan's eastern culvert, i met two grandparents riding with their little grandkids.

just past the tunnel, the father was waiting on his bike and when i went by, i got an enthusiastic "hi koby". enthusiastic enough that i stopped and chatted a while before riding along with him after the rest of the group went by. it was a classmate of sawyer's, travis. definitely a warm & fuzzy moment hearing all his good news.

i road fairly hard toward home and got there in time to stretch while pam ate lunch and got ready to hike. we both put on jackets as it was cooling down with the sun sinking. the woods, again--this time on foot and with a friend--were sublime. we made it over to the marsh you may have seen before if you follow goap!

the log bridge i set in the dry time a month ago, was now actually crossing water. i didn't use it though as now it only gets you to more wet. 

it was a really great day! the only regret i have is sadie and i didn't get to carve pumpkins. vt has restricted travel into and out of grafton county. despite that little setback, going outside and playing, always generates a big smile!

a wonderful couple of weeks, with plenty of play

two goap! posts in one month barely cover all the playing outdoors going on, but i am trying to stay ahead of it--well ok, not fall as far behind as i did over the summer into the fall. 

a week ago last friday it was raining hard at olivia's and my usual 6:00a meet up to bike/hike somewhere for sunrise--she begged off. it rained an inch and a half that day and into the night. saturday morning, i woke early to the ground covered in snow. 

that got me excited. by the time pam woke and had breakfast, the snow had melted. she had a hike up firescrew from the north on the mowgli trail planned. i was going to bring my chain saw and go at the dozen or so blowdowns we had to step over or walk around in august. the cardigan mtn highlanders volunteer trail crew i am on, has been extremely busy on the popular trails with the pandemic increase in hiking. they haven't gotten out on any of the less hiked trails so i thought this would help.

on the way up to the parking area, the snow reappeared an inch or more at the pull off. as we hiked up the logging road, it got deeper. at least a couple of inches covered the road wherever it didn't have water running down it. by the time we got to the pond, there was four or more.

at the height of land above the pond, where the mowgli trail intersects the road, my boot prints look downright deep. that was where pam mentioned she should have worn gaiters.

in under the trees, even with most of the leaves off, the snow wasn't that deep, but the trail was always covered. the blowdowns started early and donned my safety gear and fired up the saw. most of the time i would just clear the cut out sections off the trail. a couple of times i used a segment to make a water bar. 

pam was hiking ahead and i didn't catch up to her until i stopped cutting, dropped off the saw and gear. that was just above crag camp, below where it gets steep. the first look to the north is right above that. by that point it was cold enough that snow was deep again and looking very fresh.

it was also getting late enough that we called that the high point and turned back down. it was pretty slippery and much slower going in that direction. surprisingly, when we got back to the road, a subaru wagon was up at the height of land. closer to the bottom, i ran into an former student going up with his two dogs. it was a good day to be out.

on sunday, sawyer came over for a bike ride. i was interested in riding the 'short half' of the friends of mascoma gravel ride laura and i were planning. our hope was to ride through each of the five towns making up the mascoma valley regional school district. soy had a phone, loaded stava on it, and we pedaled off. starting from the high school, the route went south and into the woods on the old, closed mud pond road. 

we came out of the woods and got on a big hill--soy's first big hill in long while since most of his riding is now on the cape. after a couple turns and a couple of miles, we turned back into the woods to climb up, over to another high point above grafton pond. from there we would drop down route 4 and join the rail trail about fifteen miles into the ride. before we started losing all the altitude we climbed, i found a patch of snow on the shady side of the road and snapped a picture of soy, snapping a photo of me. 

sawyer was riding in a t-shirt, which had prompted me to strip down to just a short sleeve and a thin windbreaker. in and out of the sun, up and down the hills, i was comfortable. 

at the bottom of the gravel we got onto pavement which took us to rt4. an obscure little path took us to the rail trail and we turned west, head back to the school.

about five miles along, the track passes through a slot of blasted ledge. twenty to thirty feet walls rise up on either side of the trail. it is a very cool section.

the rail trail goes along the edge of tewksbury pond just before this. we stopped for water and a snack at a grafton tiny library box set right at the view. i didn't take a picture this day but had one from two years back.

after the rest stop, we made it back to the school fairly quickly. after sawyer turned off strava, we biked around the cross country trail i built over the past two years. the team was running races on the trail again. they had even named it after me--'koby's way'. 

that was a surprise honor. they made a sign to put up where the trail turns out of a field and into the brush. while i am biased, it is a wonderful trail.

i am happy to report, runners and coaches from the other teams agree. they might even be a bit jealous--one told me, "i can't believe you get to run this everyday."

this friday, the rain was much reduced and olivia and i met up to bike in the shaker wildlife management area. even though we both forgot our headlamps, we set out in the dark, shortly after six. the trail was open enough that we managed to miss any major obstacle. we were headed up to the 'potato field' to catch the sunrise. it was foggy enough that we sort of knew that was highly unlikely, but the downhill to follow would be worth the climb.

if you scroll down through last week's post, note that even without the sun, a picture of olivia at the 'top' is becoming de rigueur. 

the down was indeed worth the up that morning, with only one stop to push, pull, and roll a very large, heavy wet blowdown, that fortunately broke in two, giving us a chance to move it. while we were working at that, i described 'the spine', a secret trail off the main one that we would turn onto just ahead. olivia was a little skeptical, or maybe more worried that she would run into a tree.

sure enough we got onto the little ridge and i heard an "ahhh..." behind me when i stopped to clear some of the larger branches in the path. when olivia came along, she mentioned that she had indeed hit a tree. off my own bike, i took the opportunity to take a video of her dropping down the last steep section--this time avoiding the trees.

my advice is to go outside and play!--have yourself some fun...take a video...of you, of a friend...maybe even throw a snowball. that should put a smile on your face.

a pandemic summer and fall outside--plenty of playing!

i haven't posted in a long while--since may actually, when there was still snow on the ground! it was definitely not for lack of adventures...

pam and i have been hiking pretty much once or twice a week--and given she always has her phone, we've even taken a few pictures: 

blueberries and cranberries up on cardigan...

an abandoned boat up in a peaceful cole pond...

a selfie of us smiling with no other hikers to social distance from up on firescrew--and the really cool clouds in the background...

we have also been swimming a good deal, although i couldn't get pam to dip into cole pond with me. it was cool, but she swims in maine in early july. speaking of maine, we got over to popham for the week of the 4th of july--no 'children' this year, but still fun to be on the beach. one evening just before the sun went down a wild storm blew through.

it left us a spectacular rainbow over the kennebec river and the pond island light.

 

the other end arced over sequin light down to fox island.

besides hiking and swimming, i have been biking quite a bit, trying for a couple hundred every week, with at least one 50+ miler. for some of the shorter 'local' rides i have coaxed along former students from MOC. dirk, justin, olivia, laura, zoey, ryder have all done at least part of my favorite local route, starting right out of our dooryard. 

the figure eight-eight is fast becoming a classic, especially if i save the 'woot woot' section for the end. at least that's rowan's opinion. we pedaled out of the dooryard, up townhill, down toward bear pond, over and down to the rail trail, up the x-c trail to south road, over to the snowmobile trail that goes down to mud pond road, back up south road to the top of the x-c trail, down to the rail trail, back over toward bear pond, back up to townhill, and down into the dooryard--the F88. 

the proverbial kid in a candy store, rowan was eyeing all the natural elements that he could send some funky trick off of. i got videos of two--going 'up & over' a large~ish rock and a 'smooth' log crossing.

for the last couple of fridays--with fewer tricks involved but just as much fun--olivia and i have been biking-hiking a mtn to catch sunrise. it has been a dark early start, but the payoff has been grand! two fridays ago, we went up cardigan, leaving our bikes off about half way. though it was sort of rainy and cloudy, there was a thin band of clear-ness at the eastern horizon--just so we could see a dramatic sunrise.

before we got back to the bikes, we heard a hooting, snuffing, and snorting a little ways off the trail. it turned out to be a rather large bull moose, looking for a mate i assume. he semi-charged us to about 10 yards. i suggested to olivia she step behind the tree i was headed toward. she was mid-trail, exclaiming, "oh wow! oh my gosh! that's like the third moose i've ever seen." though the ride down was super sweet--fast but never furious--compared to the moose, it was somewhat beaucoup moins dramatique.

last friday, we biked up wolfboro road and turned onto the AT headed toward the south peak of moose mtn.--the name withstanding, we didn't see any large ungulates this time. and when i say 'biked up', that is a relative statement. some of the time we were actually pedaling, but there is a substantial rocky section where we had to dismount and push. there is quite a bit of really fun riding above that, so the push is worth it. 

up higher on the AT, where the trail gets fairly 'rooty', we left the bikes and hoofed it to the top where we caught a much clearer, brilliant sunrise than up on cardigan. another pose by olivia sets a precedent and will be repeated...

olivia had her phone out a couple of times and caught me going up and coming down...

not to be left out of outdoor adventures, pam has been plotting to hike smarts mtn for a while and sunday we finally did it. we both really love the hike and somehow our coronavirus-social distance timing was pretty good for a beautiful sunday on a holiday weekend. (don't forget it's now indigenous people's day!) we made our loop up the AT to the ranger trail and down. that avoided a much crowded summit, at least if the full parking lot at the bottom was any indication. 

the AT section is up a fairly steep, spiny mile to a beautiful overlook that gets a lot of attention. if you scroll around goap! you will see this view a good number of times, throughout the seasons. 

from the outcrop, you follow a ridge, in and out of softwoods, for more than a mile before dropping down into the hardwoods. climbing out of there you get back into mostly spruce and fir again, where in wetter times you can be wading through standing water. pam even calls it "the marsh".

much to her enjoyment, pam is on instagram and loves to take photos and share them around. down in the dip among the beech on the AT--before the marsh--pam spotted a "cute little nest" tucked into the crook of a small tree, only a couple feet off the ground. 

we had just seen a bunch of smaller birds--at least two veeries and several others, mostly warblers of an unknown species. i noted how all of the birds were busy feeding and silent--save for rustling the leaves. i was guessing they would be headed south any day now.

the ranger trail was formerly the AT until some time in the 80s. as we stopped at the slowly decaying garage next to a fairly big creek crossing, even in dry times, three older hikers came past. one of them had thru-hiked the whole AT in '78, walking this section before the switch put it up on the ridge.

this shot was down the final mile or so of the ranger trail. we are past peak leaf, but the light and color makes for a spectacular path. 

whenever we hike i try to help with trail maintenance and had been clearing the smaller blowdowns today all along. a good deal of high wind episodes had fell plenty of obstacles. at some point, i remembered the pair of telemark skis i had picked up for pam and thought, "this would be a perfect 'backcountry' first experience. from there on i was removing anything that could distract a skier.

the summer's hikes, bikes, swims...even garden work and a socially distanced 'nice family yoga' session out in the yard, have been rich. and if these pictures do anything, i hope they inspire your own adventures--'go outside and play!'

closed due to coronavirus pandemic

this may sound like a complaint, because it is: closed is relative. 

cardigan mountain state park for example, advertises on its website as "always open for recreation unless closed or restricted by posting. During the off-season the park is typically not staffed and comfort stations are not available."

ok, but new hampshire divested upkeep of many of its state parks, into the hands of volunteer groups that keep up grounds, clean facilities, maintain trails, basically all upkeep. this didn't happen to all parks, but definitely the ones that would cost more to staff than you could earn back through fees. 


cardigan mountain state park, or as the sign has it, mount cardigan state forest, is in my neighborhood has been taken care of for years by the friends of mount cardigan. i have been helping for many of those, mowing, cleaning bathrooms, and for the last couple, maintaining the clivus composting toilet.

long story short, i decided that it would be prudent not to be 'raking' other people's waste given the pandemic which meant closing the bathrooms. so i got some tools together in a backpack and rode off to fix locks to the doors. a stop at the hardware to pick up hasps, locks, nuts and bolts went well. since i was there, i also got 10 pounds of seed potatoes and a pound of onion sets, but left the extra weight in the store to pick up on my way home.

pedaling up orange road/cardigan mountain road is no small task. it is 4 miles to the summer parking lot with a gain of 1000 feet in elevation. having been #30daysofbiking (see previous two goap! posts) i was ok with the effort. got up in good time and started attaching the hardware. that was when i discovered the 2" bolts i bought were too short. damn that would mean riding down to the hardware again and getting 2.5" ones.

i prepped everything i could, stuck the locks on so it would look like the doors were secured, packed up and set off downhill. that took a lot less time than going up, so i started thinking, maybe i'd call skip and see if he wanted to go up and help--he has a truck. with new bolts in hand i called and alas, he wasn't home. no big deal it could wait until the morning. then i spotted a 'friend of cardigan' who lived part way up the hill and thought, i have a mask and gloves, maybe they would give me, my bike, and supplies a ride--i had just picked up the potatoes and onions--at least part way there.

that worked out well, as i was riding up the park road much sooner than i would have been if i had to pedal the whole 4 miles. once up at the bathrooms it took some work to tighten down everything on the three doors, but they were now shut and locked. i repacked the potatoes, onions, and tools--so the cordless drill wouldn't be poking me in the back--and flew downhill. 

after a brief stop to talk to bob about what i had done, give him the state's park facilities cleaning guidance sheet, and let him know where the keys were, i was headed home. scooting along on the rail trail, i saw a huge bunch of skunk cabbage shining bright green in the evening sun and made one last stop for a picture.

a long day. but, it was good to get the job completely done so that going back up in the morning could be optional.

sure enough, friday was busy with all sorts of other 'volunteer' activities and i never got up to the park. but saturday morning, i woke to a few fresh inches of snow on the ground and knew the mtn would be covered. the polar vortex was pushing some fairly nasty weather, including ~50mph  winds. i immediately called skip to see if he wanted to go for a hike. he was still recovering from wrenching his back, so i went solo. 

even on my own it was great to get out in the weather. there were two other vehicles in the winter parking area and three sets of foot prints--with two dogs--going up. at the summer lot i split off and took the ski trail following a single set of tracks, no dogs. 

when i went by a lone skunk cabbage, i remembered bunches i passed thursday evening so i stopped to take a photo. spring weather can be wildly varied, but the skunk cabbage is well adapted to break ground early. pam and i saw our first one mid april.

i kept to the ski trail even after the other set of tracks left. on what we call the top or the 5th section, i snapped a picture of the infamous "skiing over a dog" slope before setting first tracks.

no dog was harmed in that incident, but when i topped over the high spot in the picture, said mutt jumped out of the woods directly under my skis. the snow was wicked deep and basically i just buried it for a second. it did give a yelp but popped right back up as i went by. it's a fairly fast section so i was at the bottom already when two guys came rushing up and asked if i had seen a dog? as i slid by them i shrugged and said, "i just heard one!"





when i got to turn-around rock, i put my jacket, hat, and gloves on, lowered my head and started dealing with the wind on the bare rock above treeline. at what i call the half-pipe, i was really struggling. it was a big relief to reach the tower at the summit and shelter behind a wall. it was about as windy as i had ever felt it, but i gave my anemometer to sawyer to measure the ocean 'breezes' down on the cape so i couldn't measure it. i took a movie panning from the east to south.

you can definitely hear the wind, but it's hard to see the incredible 'snow devils' blowing off the rock and rising out of the trees, spinning wildly for hundreds of yards.

i put on a buff to help cover my face which would be getting a good bit of that wind on the way down. as soon as i stepped away from the tower i had to shoulder way into the wind to keep going in the direction i wanted rather than the wind was pushing me. i made it back past turn-around rock and unzipped some and took off the buff as i dropped below treeline. the clouds were rushing past so fast that when the sun did come out, it didn't stay long. but out of the wind it was quite pleasant. 




on the bottom or 1st section of the ski trail, i was bounding down a steep section and saw a movement just in front of my boot. it took me a few steps to slow and stop so i could go back to check it out. 


it was a young mouse caught out of its nest and struggling to get out of the boot track it had fallen into. after i kept going, i had a vision of an owl finding it later and taking it back to its young. the cycle goes on.





i got back to the truck soon after that and had another thought, that if the kids were still young i would have put in a pocket and taken the wee thing home for a viewing. both those thoughts made me smile. it was a fine, windy, 'mousy' day to go outside and play!

#30daysofbiking -- part 2

off the top of my head, this year's weather was much more 'rideable'. there were some snow and rain days, but i didn't freeze or melt. another bonus, pam rode with me a couple of days and hiked while i biked a few other times! and dirk and i had a good, socially-distanced loop through the woods. here's part 2...

it was a thursday, and i rode into enfield to mail a 'toy box' to the christensen kids and do a pass through of the elementary school.

it was more than "kinda" weird weather, but i survived the ride and took an extra picture, a minute after the one to the right--the snow came fast and furious.











friday was different in that it wasn't snowing anymore--much. it was cold enough that a couple of passing cloud banks, did spit some flakes. i have never seen one, but i wondered if a rainbow was possible with sun shining through the snow?


i didn't ever punch in for work, but i stopped by both elementary schools--canaan and enfield--to check on the servers. that's how i got the two pictures.

saturday was so rainy, i never stopped to take a picture. with over an inch of rain, the rivers were really rushing. 

sunday dawned sunny with the promise of getting up toward 60°-- dirk and i had arranged to loop a route going up and down three different woods 'roads'. i use that term loosely as each would be easily classified as "unimproved". still there were some sweet sections to be had. 


the picture of him is on a natural berm at the bottom of our town hill--the same one pam and i hike a lot. the christensen's and i were sledding it this winter!




no pictures were to be had--or more accurately, i didn't stop to take any. monday's can be busy with the weekend for problems to brew. why are phones and wifi are so important--maybe it has something to do with remote learning...



another wet day tuesday, and commuting around didn't leave me much opportunity to document. but i went out with pam after we ate and she grabbed a couple of action shots with her phone. 


we maintain a trail looping around our field and through the woods. the section you see here is on the upper side and mostly dry! it is not all like that, but everything has some potential fun.




wednesday's commute was definitely drier than tuesday's though the cold and high winds have been brutal at times.


the hs-middle school is only three miles away, but when i have to go to the eles, milage can add up. canaan is 7~ish miles from the office and enfield 5~ish. i often ride on the rail trail to avoid traffic and hills. there is usually less wind as well.

no surprise, it was cool and windy, but the sun is getting higher angle and warming more and more on days when it's out--like thursday. i didn't even think about work and took a 25 mile loop with some long uphill.


everything that goes up gets to come down though. i stopped ad grabbed a picture at the four big-ger bodies of water. also got in my weekly sweep at drummond custom cycles when i went by there.







there was a heron hunting in george pond and i managed to get a picture of it by zooming in. and then snuck around and got it again as it flew up.











friday was mostly a garden day, but i did ride around the loop with pam.



saturday was another garden day, until pam hiked up over town hill and i pedaled after her. on the way back home, she got a short video of me doing a little rock hopping--off one of the many launches dotting the woods road.


that's the money shot in the tweet. as hannah noticed, my head looks rather vulnerable, but i try to keep upright as much as possible.





sunday was one of those threatening to rain-snow at any moment. by threatening, i sort of mean it started on and off throughout the day. 


i rode an interesting loop out into springfield and back, mostly to deliver a pack of pam's contact sheets to their data entry clerk, but also cause it has some good hills and pretty spots, like mcdaniel's marsh in the picture.


i made it home and only got a tiny bit damp!






monday morning brought a decent amount of snow and gave me an idea of the challenge included in this picture--ride around the garden without putting my feet down. 

going downhill was easy, but at the chair and mini-greenhouse when i tried to turn the corner, my front wheel just slid. that happened again at the next corner even though i was ready for it and just creeping along--even trying to hop it around some.

i won't even talk about spinning away trying to go uphill!





tuesday's commute was not exactly warm, but it was sunny with the promise of warming up close to 50° the snow on the ground would not be there when i came home. 


and sure enough, it was gone, except for under the eves where the roof dumped it yesterday.

wednesday was not as sunny, about the same temp, and much much windier! i ended up riding to every school, and the sau office. which was ok in one direction, but then i had to come back. 


my last trip was into canaan. going east was really fast with the wind pushing me along. after finishing things there, i pointed back west at home, head down, and pedaling hard.









the last day of april was wet all morning, but i decided to go up town hill and work on a little side trail i was hoping to develop.


the start had a fairly large oak blowdown that i had to open up. that took a while. it also gave me a calf muscle bruise that is still hobbling me--somewhat. biking still felt good and flying downhill was a trip.




for fun, and under sunny skies, i have kept riding into may! it's always good to go outside and play! even with a bit of a limp.