The Two Bagger and Dust on My Nose

On Labor Day, Chuck, Mom, Ryan, Tyler and I went hiking. We had planned on doing a big day, but Ty had a headache in the morning. We were going to stay home, but he took a nap and woke up feeling better. And wanting to go. The weather was wonderful, so we went. We headed out to to Singepole in Buckfield.

The trail was in pretty good shape and we mostly made good time. Chuck was tired and lagging; doing his typical huffin' and puffin'. He always sounds so uncomfortable, I wonder why he likes hiking so much. As we hiked, Chuck and Tyler started picking up rocks and showing them to each other. This area is so rich with rocks, minerals and gems. Pretty soon, Tyler started putting rocks into Chuck's pack. Chuck wondered why Tyler was going to make him carry the rocks UP the trail, but Tyler kept doing it.

After about 40 minutes we were in the summit. As we soaked in the sun and family time, I sneezed. Unfortunately, when I sneezed, my nose was pointing at the dust on the rocks. This caused a big cloud of dust to go up into the air and all over my nose. Everyone thought it was hilarious. I'm not sure I saw the humor, but I'm always willing to be entertaining!

Mom didn't think the view was enough, so we decided to go climb Streaked Mountain, right next door. One peaked "bagged" and on to the next. We hiked down quickly, jumped in the car and off we went with Ryan looking for another dirt road so he could drive. (That won't happen, too soon.)

The road near the entrance to the trail at Streaked was packed. It looked like there were a hundred people up on the mountain.

We started up. This trail is pretty steep. Again, Chuck was lagging. Just before we got to the exposed rock, Tyler said he wasn't feeling well. Chuck offered (jumped at the chance) to go back down with him and let Mom, Ryan and me continue up. Which we did.

As we continued, we saw many people coming back down. There were lots of dogs, too, but I kept to myself and kept on climbing. When we reached the summit, we took some time to just hang out and explore a little. Mom took some pictures, too. This summit was the second we bagged for the day- my second two bagger!

We started back down. Ryan and Mom were chatting away, having some great mother son moments... they lost the trail. We ended up doing the same thing that Chuck and I did the last time we came up here; going way over to the right side of the rock face. We had to climb back up to find the trail again, so we could go down. That was okay, though.

I had a really fun time hiking with the whole family.

Black Diamond Trail Shock Trekking Poles - 2011 

Goose Eye From the Other Side

Saturday, September 5, 2009; Chuck, Ryan and I go hiking. Once again, Chuck leaves without a plan and not as early as he should...

We headed west out Route 26. This would give us greatest number of choices, I guess. First stop was at Chuck's new favorite store True North Adventurewear to pick up some trail food. Chuck is a big fan of Power Bar Gel Blasts, which are sold here. Chuck must have spoken with the guy that owns the place, because when he came out, he had decided to go the the Success Pond Road side of the Mahoosucs and do Goose Eye.

Chuck did something fun- and possibly illegal; as soon as we turned onto Success Pond Road he pulled over and let Ryan drive. My boy did great!

The trail head was quite a ways in, we entered New Hampshire with the Mahoosucs on our left. We past trail heads for the Speck Pond trail and the trail to Mahoosuc Notch (the toughest mile of the entire Appalachian Trail). And, then, we were at the trailhead.

The beginning of the trail was a very pleasant walk in the woods. The weather was perfect! The grasses alongside the trail were pretty long and made kind of a tunnel for me. It was really neat. Chuck and Ryan laughed about the fact that they couldn't see me as I hiked along the trail. I was really enjoying this; my left front paw didn't bother me at all!

After a bit, the trail began to climb. Ryan was going pretty slow which resulted in Chuck going pretty fast; huffing and puffing along the way. Dad's legs are much shorter than Ryan's. Anyway, the trial climbed gradually like this for maybe a mile, and then got very steep. Here we hiked slow and steady, and kept going up. We were on rocks quite a bit, and I had to scramble a bunch, but I was doing fine. And, really having fun.

Suddenly, we entered a very strange and mysterious section of the trail. It leveled out a bit and everything was covered with thick green covering Chuck called moss. It was everywhere, except on the trail. Chuck pushed his finger into it and it disappeared- it was really thick. This place was almost spooky. The trees started getting very thick and closed in on the trail and the wind was howling through the tree tops. The temperature dropped down into the low sixties, according to what I heard Chuck say to Ryan. And everything was green! Very strange.

Just as quickly, the trail got steep again. And broke out of the trees. I needed a boost in several places because the rocks were just too steep. This quickly led to us being above the trees and open (and steep) rock. Boy was it windy! I managed to stay on the mountain, though the wind tried, and suddenly we were at the summit. The wind was really strong. It had taken us 2 hours and 35 minutes to climb the 2,200 feet and 3.2 miles to the summit

Chuck needed to take a shoe off and settle down behind a rock to block the wind. I laid down at his feet and instantly went to sleep. I guess the hike was more tiring than I thought. I think I heard Chuck tell Ryan that I was snoring, but I could have been dreaming.

We rested about 15 minutes and headed down.  The trip down was pretty quiet. Ryan was whistling and singing; and texting. It is probably not a very good idea to text and hike; teenagers! I was pretty pooped, so I didn't do my normal downhill dashes off the sides of the trail, I just stayed with Chuck and Ryan. It took just over two hours to get back to the car, bringing our total hike time to almost exactly 5 hours. As soon as we were there, I got into the back seat and went to sleep.

It was a super day! When we got home, we all went over to the Henry's, our neighbors. They were showing movies on the side of their house. We watched Muppets in Space and Back to the Future. Chuck had made a sleeping bag into a blanket. I was tired from the day, so I got into the sleeping bag and curled up around his feet and went to sleep. What a great day!

Rock-hounding and Bothersome Paws!

Chuck, Tyler and I attempted to hike yesterday. Tyler decided he wanted to be rock-hounding, so Chuck headed for Lord Hill and Deer Hill (map), in western Maine. Both of these areas are in the White Mountain National Forest.

Chuck had Tyler navigate the way there, after showing him how to read a map. My boy did great... we drove right there! The hiking was nice; but after just a little ways, we encountered a trail filled with mud and muck. Since both Chuck and Tyler were wearing sneakers, and we had another place to go, we turned back.

Somewhere on the trial back to the car, I hurt my left front paw. I don't remember it, but I knew something was wrong, so as soon as I got back into the car, I burrowed down in the front of the car as far as I could. I just wanted to get low.

We drove down the road a bit and found the entrance to the Deer Hill area. Unfortunately, as soon as I got out of the car, Chuck realized I was hurt and wasn't hiking anywhere. So, we got back in t he car and started heading for home. Tyler was very worried about me; don't worry Boy, I'll be fine!

We drove home through Evans Notch, stopping a couple of times to check stuff out- I was able to walk better- a little, when we stopped to go over the suspension bridge over the Wild River. I didn't like the bridge at all; I could see through the slats or the walkway.. Chuck had to come get me and carry me over.

Tyler navigated all the way home. He did an awesome job; my boy sure is smart!

I'm gonna lay low this week. Hopefully, I'll be ready to go next weekend. Chuck says the weather looks spectacular (although Chuck would go out no matter what).

Goose Eye - Wright Trial

Chuck went hiking yesterday, WITHOUT ME! He said it was going to rain, and likely thunder; it probably wasn't the place for me. I agreed, so he went alone. So here is a guest post:

I decided to try Goose Eye (map) again. This was a place I remember my father talking of, though I believe he was talking about either coming up from the Success Pond Road or across the AT. Either way, I find myself drawn to places I remember him talking about, so rather than go the Kearsarge, which I don't think he ever mentioned, I ended up back at Goose Eye.

I went looking for extreme conditions, and I found them. By extreme, I mean rain, thunder and lightning, and high temps. Though the temperature was only 70, the dew point was probably 70 and the humidity was 98%. (I know the temperature, I hike with a thermometer, but the dew point and humidity are purely anecdotal.) Let's just say it was muggy! And raining.

The Maine Conservation Corps had worked on the trail during the previous week and the trail was it great shape. In spite of all the rain we had had, the trail was mostly well drained and firm.

I hiked along the river to the crossing where Lucy and I had to turn back earlier this year. I hiked relatively slowly, because a) it was oppressively muggy, b) I needed to warm up and, c) I'm still not in trail shape.

I crossed the "stream", expecting to start moving away from the sound of running water, which had been present to this point. Almost immediately, another "stream" appeared to my right. Boy, there is a lot of water up there. When I hike, I enjoy the full sensory experience. I love the smells of the woods; the sounds of the bugs, birds and water- even the sound of Lucy's collar jingling and the sound of my own footsteps and huffing and puffing. But in this case, the sound of running water was almost overpowering- it was all around me and really loud!

I am a proponent of slow hiking, or maybe "off-speed hiking". There are certain places where hiking fast is great; it's excellent exercise and physically challenging. But, I've noticed that my awareness of the environment around me is inversely proportional to the speed at which I'm hiking. When I'm slow hiking, I really see the landscape. I notice things; both forest and trees alike (an allusion to "can't see the forest for the trees"). I've seen plants growing through a hole in a leaf from the previous autumn's leaf-fall; I've seen tiny ants hauling a queen ant up a tree trunk; I've seen boulder fields along a forest hill side, each with a tree growing over it like the wrapped tentacles of an octopus. When I hike fast, my focus goes to the rocks and roots of the trail, and where my feet are going to go. So, as I hiked slowly because of the conditions, my head was up; I was looking around. What a beautiful area!

My primary goal was the campsite roughly 2.5 miles from the road. I am scouting places to "backpack" to. This is an ideal spot. There are two tent-sites around a common fireplace and rustic picnic table. The site is located where two streams come together, so the overnight sounds would be amazing. Looks very interesting indeed. I am planning to spend at least one night here this fall!

The trail splits into a northern trail and a southern trail at the campsite. The "recommended" ascent route is up the southern trail. This takes you one of the peaks of Goose Eye, where it intersects with the AT (Appalachian Trail). From there, the proscribed route takes you west on the AT across a middle peak (the real peak) to another peak. Here you leave the AT and head down the northern trail. Sounds like an awesome route. Only thing is, the southern trail is closed do to hazardous conditions.

So up the northern route I went. Immediately, the trail began a steep ascent. I was doing fine, but was a bit concerned, that my head felt hot to the touch. I felt fine, but my skin felt hot. Given the weather conditions and the potential for heat stroke or prostration or whatever, combined with my lack of conditioning (and the fact that this week would be a bad one to be limping around) I set a turn-back time of 2PM. One thing I have determined about solo hiking is that I feel compelled to pay really close attention to my body. And I always think about the trip down: a little tired up, leads to a dangerous trip down. Needless to say, I am sure I made the right decision.

Mud!

Last fall, the hiking was wet. It rained every weekend, and when it wasn't raining, the trails were streams. Chuck and I started hiking this season almost 2 months ago. We have managed exactly 4 hikes: once we weren't turned back by snow; once we summited Caribou, once we started up Goose Eye, only to be poured on and turned back by a stream too high to cross. Yesterday, we went to Mt Apatite in Auburn, just to get out of the house. We encountered ankle deep mud covering the trail and the worst crop of mosquitoes Chuck has ever seen!

So, my posts have been as sparse as a sunny day here in Maine. With any luck, we'll be able to hit the trail next weekend! This time we won't forget the bug dope!

Shakedown Hike Redux

Yesterday, Saturday, May 15, Chuck and I hit the trail again. Finally! I know you all have been waiting; Chuck has even been told that one post every 2 weeks is unacceptable. I'd type myself if it weren't impossible.

Anyway, we left the house without a plan. But, it wasn't too long before Chuck announced that we were going to finish what we started two weeks ago. We were going back to Caribou Mountain. We had left Auburn late, so it was 1:45pm before we got on the trail. The leaves are open on the trees and so the smells were a bit different. I was a little nervous as we started hiking, but Chuck kept going, so I followed.

After about 15 minutes, we encountered a horse and rider on the trail. I didn't say anything to the horse, but it looked like Batman. It was wearing some kind hat with pointy ears, kind of like Batman's cowl. Weird. I thought Chuck should take a picture, but he didn't, I think he was a bit intimidated.

A bit later, it started to rain. Chuck put on his raincoat to make it stop and it did. He was watching the rain on the radar on his cell phone and new we were going to stay dry. Note to inventors: Chuck thinks hiking GPS thingys should have a weather radar overlay; someone get on that.

Pretty soon, two giant black dogs came flying down the trail. I started running away, all the while barking like I was chasing something. Chuck eventually managed to pick me up out of the hackle hair, and two pretty girls came running. They were dressed in Spandex (the girls not the dogs) which was a bit strange. They apologized; they thought Lucy had been eaten, and then they went on their way. We continued on.

Three guys came down the trail a little further on, one talked to us about his truck, a gold Toyota with ladder racks that we must have been parked next to. Not really sure what that was all about...

As we started to near the top, the wind picked up. We were now in what looked like scrub evergreens, though we were about a thousand feet from timberline. The wind in those trees was like a jet engine. Very spooky. The summit must provide amazing views on a sunny day. We hiked for the challenge; no whip cream on top for us:(

The hike down was slow, Chuck being careful not to break something; he has a history. He's pretty smart; hiking alone, out of shape and pushed beyond what he should have. And, the way down is always harder... but, he was very careful and everything worked out alright.

It was a fun day; a bit rushed, perhaps, by the late start, but a nice hike nonetheless. Chuck may be ready to start hiking with others:)

Shakedown Hike - Caribou Mountain, Maine

Chuck and I went hiking today. Finally! I have waited all winter to get back out; he did some hiking this winter, but I couldn't go; my legs are too short and I just float on my belly with my legs flailing. It's pretty funny. Anyway...

He had some work around the house to do in the morning, so it was 11:30 before we got off. We were headed for the back of Caribou Mountain in the White Mountain National Forest. After an hour in the car, we were confronted by a tree across the road at a place call Pooh Corner Farm. Chuck went in to ask if we could park there while I waited in the car. When he came back he started getting ready, while I stretched my legs and checked out the scents. There were some pretty strange noises going on, so I went to investigate. It didn't take long for me to find it; it looked like a small horse (which I know about because the first place I lived with my brother had horses), but had really long ears. Hee haw! Chuck said his name was Eyeore. I let Eyeore know, in no uncertain terms, that he freaked me out a bit. I wish Chuck had taken a picture, but he didn't.

The first 3/10 of a mile was on the road to the trailhead. The woods remind me of fall; a carpet of brown and no leaves on the trees. The sound of rushing water was all around us. There weren't any interesting smells, so we just hiked.

The hike was pretty uneventful. Chuck did have to help me across two "streams" rushing with snow melt. Boy, he's out of shape; he huffed and puffed and sweat just poured off him. We ran into a couple coming down who probably thought Chuck was having a heart attack right there on the trail.

As we continued on, the going began to get tougher. Often we were in mud up to my belly, and I had a really hard time. We began to encounter snow on the trail, too. When we hit the border of the Caribou Speckled National Wilderness (that's me near the sign post in the picture), the snow started to cover the trail completely. I was having trouble going on, so Chuck turned around.

The hike out was great, I went ahead of Chuck, waiting only when I was about to go out go sight. It was fun. At one point, I found some great smells and took a short side trip, but as soon as Chuck whistled, I was back on the trail.

I made quite a mess of the car on the way home. Chuck gave me a bath (yuck, I hate baths) when we got there. I'm still pulling sticks out of my hair. Sometimes I wish I was a short-hair like Fenway and Chancey across the street.

Even though we didn't get to the summit, it was a fun day. I'm sure we'll be back this summer to do it again.