Aug 14

In the beginning the railroad station in Crawford Notch wasn't very busy.  It was early on a Saturday morning.  The New Yorkers were sleeping off their rum and cokes and Blue Hawaiis.

The trailhead crossed active railroad tracks and began its climb up over rocks and more rocks.

 Between the trailhead and Mt. Field, the summit of Mt. Avalon boasted the best views of the day.

Continuing for another mile or so, the partially restricted view from the summit of Mt. Field, 4340', revealed the Mt. Washington Hotel in the valley below.

From Mt. Field, the trail descended to a col on the way to Mt. Tom (hee hee)

Mt. Field is on the left as seen from the false summit of Mt. Tom, 4,051'.

It was a good 7 mile hike.  The day was hotter than predicted.  The car traffic on the way home jammed up everywhere; Naples causeway, HW 302, Jordan Bay turnoff.  Glad to be home finally.

Aug 13

   "...early to rise,

...healthy, wealthy, and wise."

Plotting the next move takes some time.  Plotting by candlelight adds to the mystery.  The plot considers some hike today; Jackson, Pierce, Tom, Cannon.  The most direct route may not always be the fastest or easiest.  Of course the plot involves food and walking, Class 1-2, nothing with ropes.



Aug 12

Mt. Hale, 4054'.

The tiny opening to the summit on the trail ahead appeared as robin's egg blue.  No view from the top.

The drive home curled around the cog railway, Bretton Woods and Mt. Washington Hotel.

 The dog days are over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wi75BBkLqs&feature=player_detailpage

Aug 11

Black and white; the concept of concrete thinking without shades of in between.

Yesterday morning, a Biker Babe gnome wearing black appeared in Colorado.

This morning a cormorant dressed in black dried its wings on the white mooring ball in New England.

It looks much like the biker babe gnome airing out her wings.  Ahhh!  This bird stayed on the ball for 45 minutes, a dark ornament, a harbinger of focused stillness, a bender of time.

Aug 10

A visitor hides along the shore, camouflaged in the leaves and berries of the mountain ash.  Friend or foe?

Depends whether you're a minnow or a stumbling dog.  Daisy wins out this time and the heron flaps off across the shoreline towards the dam, long legs trailing behind.

Aug 9

Sunrise did not wake me as usual because the sun has now positioned itself behind the mountain ash tree and was not shining on my pillow at 5:39 AM .  The high arc of summer is moving on.  Still there are several hills yet to climb, more high outlooks to be enjoyed this season.

 Looking at Mount Moriah on the way up.

 View from Mt. Moriah, 4049', towards the Presidential range

Looking up at Mt. Tecumseh from the ski trail.  It's easier bushwacking when there are no bushes.

Even the rocks were sweating in Waterville Valley.

Summit of Mt. Tecumseh 4003'

Aug 8

To match the blue nail polish, a blue drink!  The Blue Hawaii was first mixed in the late 1950s with the invention of blue curacao liqueur.

But the dark rum in the cabinet and perhaps the cloudy pineapple juice turned the drink green.  A green Hawaii.  Pretty, but green.

More practice tonight.

Aug 7

It's a good day to stay in bed; cloudy, sprinkling, cool, quiet.

But Mt. Tecumseh waits 2.5 hours away by car through the mountains.

No one will be able to distinguish the new blue nail polish from cyanosis.  The new blue toes will hide behind molefoam bandages and wool socks.  If the summit clears by the time the toes arrive, maybe they'll come out of hiding.

Aug 6

Yesterday,

Hacker's Day One

Today,

The Day to Say Yes

Would you like to take the golf clubs to the dump?

Would you like to climb Mt. Tecumseh?

Would you like to bake polenta pizza and cherry chocolate cookies?



Aug 5

At the beach, Lake Winnipesaukee,

my namesake appeared at the penny arcades and tattoo parlor where we sat for the same henna tattoo.

We all went for a boat ride and played miniature golf. 

It was too competitive a golf match to take photos.  Hope the practice on the putting greens will help today's big golf match at the Country Club.  A full time Floridian friend is visiting.  Surely she must have told me she lives on a golf course.  The task this morning is to go through the bag to discard any sandwich wrappings from years ago.  It's been a while since the purple bag aired out.

Aug 4

This accomplishment stuck in my mind enough to speak about it to a number of people.  Forty-six days to walk 2,180 miles!  That's 47 miles a day and about 3-4 mph.  Holy Heartbreak!
We walked in Colorado recently and averaged 10 times fewer miles a day, but carried the weight of the woman's car that supported her slackpacking hike.  Still.

Aug 3

Recently Moey sent an email listing nice places to retire.  Maine, it said, had 4 seasons; near winter, winter, still winter, and construction.

Yesterday I drove to Portland in the season of construction.  Many detours showed up, paving projects, flagmen and flagwomen, long single lines of cars.  Lucky the smartphone has a GPS map and kept me going in the right direction.

The team leader at the Weight Watchers meeting in Portland was a skinny old woman wearing a patchwork quilt vest who demonstrated her "snack bag".  She kept pulling food out of the bag including 1 cup of cheerios, a fiber bar, 75% fat free cheese, a banana.  She was like a clown pulling scarves out of her sleeves.  When we thought she was finished, she found 2 cans of tuna at the bottom of the bag!

Lisa May's Birthday

Humid today, condensation on the windows, leads to contemplation.

She lives somewhere in Idaho, is 31 years old, and no longer on her honeymoon.  She hasn't taken a raft trip on the Middle Fork since 1995.  She confessed and apologized for stealing cigarettes back then.  When we knew her she had long dark hair with a shaved band above her ears, like someone receiving shock treatments.  She remembers mostly the evil fat green cigar she smoked on her 15th birthday that made her so sick.  That, and our walk down the river one afternoon when we fell in love with her, the river, walking, adventure.

Rabbit Rabbit

Purple Haze all in my brain

The day dawns with a hazy sunrise; humid, close, particulate.

The law of the cairn and yesterday's hike to the summit of Mt. Moriah

brings to mind true summer, the feeling of freedom for day after day after day, the possibilities for adventure in alleyways and fields, on boats and bicycles.  And then comes August.

Jul 31

Day after the New Blue Sturgeon Moon

 Mt. Moriah profile from Mt. Hayes from Google images

Early morning rising and off for a hike to Mount Moriah, 4049 feet, located south of Gorham, NH.

There's coffee in the thermos, beer in the cooler and fancy schmancy gorp in the pack underneath the REI thermometer.