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.