July 4th

At some point that weekend (July 4th) tmail is coming for a fun-filled adventure-fest:  a road bike ride (40-70 miles) followed by a hike the next day.

We don't have a fixed schedule yet, but hopefully one or more of you can make one or more of those days.  at this point we're pretty flexible and don't have a specific route planned for bike or hike.  I understand that the weekend of the 4th is a big family holiday and it's not likely anyone can make it, but just in case you have one day free, consider joining forces.

It's also not clear how my ankle will hold up on a ride, let alone ride and hike.  The doc asked me not to stress it by 'clipping out' for another week yet.  I've also done one road bike ride this year:  35 miles.  so i'll be at the back watching the road for stuff you guys may have dropped.

Possible rides: 

• hardwick - craftsbury - irasburg - barton - greensboro - hardwick
• something involving burke and island pond.
• double gap ride going over - um - two gaps.  probably app gap is one (heading east toward waitsfield).
• single gap ride, starting in champlain valley, riding around, climbing the app gap, turning around and going back to car by a different route (i gotta get new brake pads)
• waterbury to stowe to cambridge via smuggler's notch.  return via pleasant valley.
• something involving woodbury, morrisville and hyde park
• danville - groton - groton state forest - danville
• something involving rte 5 south of st. j. through barnet, mcindoe falls, monroe, woodsville and other connecticut valley destinations.

Possible hikes:

• green mountain madness:  a long trek (spotting a car) from the top of smuggler's notch taking the Long Trail north to camel's hump, the bamforth ridge and river road in jonesville/bolton.
• green mountain madness:  a longer trek starting at the Lincoln Gap north on the LT to Camel's Hump and ending up descending the bamforth ridge in jonesville.
• something in the whites

Garfield-Galehead Loop

tMail, Jake & Spanky and I tackled Garfield & Galehead.  tMail and I carried 40lb packs (more or less) in anticipation of our Wyoming trek.  We parked at the trailhead for the Gale River Trail and walked the 1.6 miles along the loop road to the Garfield Trail.  Roughly 16 miles and some four thousands of feet later returned successfully to the car - about 8hrs.

Mutha's Trip Report (pics here):

• Jake really proved himself on this one.  Both dogs were outstanding performers of course but for a Jack Russell sprinter, this long mileage and elevation gain showed stamina that really was the payoff of two years of training.  When we got back to the house Travis noticed how pumped up his muscles were - he looked like a wrestler or body-builder.
• For meals, I packed 5 full soft tortillas w/ mackeral & mayo for the dogs.  This fueled much of the trek in addition to some home-made bicuits, trail-mix and water.
• Following tMail, the Iron-Man machine, was like paddling a canoe in the wake of a speedboat.  Incredible.
• About 4 hours in, dropped to the ground in flames as the right ankle completely exploded in a tendon-wrenching hyperextension.  It was pretty bad and currently am following the R.I.C.E. therapy w/ 800mg of Ibuprofen, a beer and a glass of bourbon.  This won't end well.
• Galehead Hut was calm, cool and collected.  The hut cougars were absent, as were the crazies, loons and freaks.  I think the mid-week timing had something to do with it.  We encountered about 4 groups on the trail - and a few solos - most of whom were out for at least two nights.  It was pretty impressive.  One young man was just poking around, heading up to the Twinway to find a spot anywhere and just have a great night out.
• We met a young woman on Garfield who works for the AMC taking school groups on hikes.  She was out for some time to herself and was taking an arbitrary number of days/nights out.  She seemed completely at ease with taking another day, two or three.  She was eating peanut-butter out of a jar with a knife and had a jar of Frito-Lay cheese sauce.  I got zits just watching her down this stuff with a knife, but it was clearly fueling her adventures.  Good for her.

tMail's Trip Report (pics here):
What a great day, we took one from the weather gods!

• Performance of the day goes to Jake, known for his short bursts of speed, princess like charm and now his ability to strap a set on and actually be a man and smash out Garfield and Galehole! I have been to Muthaville enough and spent countless hours with Jake in my lap to know he can be a total whimp, but I give the little SOB credit.
• Garfield Trail, I was thinking it was going to be some hard ass trail, not sure why, but it was pretty nice and I thought the ascent was gradual, I never felt like it got steep at all. I also thought we made very good time, 3 hours to the trail junction with the Garfield Ridge Trail.
• Gregory Palisades Pack was awesome, it was my first time using it and I thought it was awesome, I had no issues latching stuff or find places for things to go. It carried extremely well.
• Bear Gryls Pants from Craghoppers pants I thought were awesome, breath really well, fit well, served their purpose. I order them on the assumption lets see how this guy designed a pair of pants and the quality, the passed.
• La Sportiva Trango, no issues until the very end but that could have been because it was a 16 mile day with 40lbs, paws were a little sore but they were awesome.
• Food consumed, 3 power bars, 3 mojo bars, 2 PB&J, all Wyoming food and I did really good had good energy levels
• For those curious in the Pack, the only thing I really left off the pack was sleeping pad.

1. REI Sleeping Bag, Kilo
2. BD Mirage tent, with poles, fly and stakes
3. Wyoming Rope (Both)
4. Med Kit
5. MH Primaloft Jacket
6. Marmot Precip Orange Jacket
7. BD gloves
8. Ragged Mountain over mittens
9. Wyoming hat
10. Alpaca Winter hat
11. Glacier glasses
12. Jet boil
13. Crampons
14. Harness
15. Climbing Helmet
16. Compass
17. Headlamp

• Mutha you need to work on the war whoop, louder, higher pitch, pretend the goats just horned you in the nuts
• I learned a lot about Pumpkins, Asparagus, strawberries, beans, crab apples, blocking weeds, raspberries, rhubarb, goats and bees
• Two years from now we will probably be hiking with a male goat could be interesting, I think it would be great to bring the goat to Galehole Hut.
• Quebec smoke still lingered in the air.
• MadDog discovered a peach tree that grows in the Vermont environment.
• Mountain water tasted better than ever!
• Post hike recovery, normal nothing feels sore.
• Lincoln, NH is a ghost town at 5.45pm on a Wednesday

Norcross Pond Camping

Finally got a chance to try out the tent I got from the PM.  Took Jake & Spanky w/ me on their first backpack overnight.  We didn't hit the trail until 3pm yesterday, so we hiked in 2.5 hours to where Norcross Pond dumps over the cascades down toward Carrigain Notch.  We camped in a sweet spot in the fir trees.  It dropped to about 45° - easily manageable, but it meant packing up in the morning at 6am wearing fleece, wool tights under pants and a hat.  Then disrobing in stages - eventually in shorts in t-shirt by 8am.  Pictures Here.


Notes for the future Mutha:

1. The lid on the jetboil has a purpose.  It keeps all that sputtering of rapidly boiling water from shooting out all over the place.  Use it for that.
2. A little LED light hung from the dome destroys night-vision and in the middle of the night, is a mistake to suddenly turn on to figure out why the hell Spanky is sleeping on your head.  Put red taillight-repair tape over it before the next outing.
3. Only bring mess-kit gear that matches the menu.  A corollary to this rule is:  almost everything can be eaten out of a mug.
4. Okay, I see why my old sleeping bag (my first, from back in '81) sucks.  It's warm - that's fine - but it has never been washed.  It weighs about 5 lbs (maybe 4) and compressed down to the size of a motorcycle helmet (w/ visor).  If it weren't for my support of Leave-No-Trace I would've left the thing in the woods.
5. Do a gear check PRIOR to leaving.  Did you really need 500' of paracord?  Can't that med-kit be trimmed a little (50 ibuprofen?  really?  If MadDog's not along for the pain-train, skip all the extras)
6. Only bring strike-anywhere matches if you also bring the strike-strip from the box.  They suck really bad on rough stone.  Glad I had a flint stick AND a lighter.
7. The vaseline/cotton fire starter is THE BALLS!  One freaking spark and WHOOOOSH!
8. A nearly bald Jack Russell can be warmed in front of a campfire.  Consider camping only in places that allow campfires, like last night.  It made a little cold dog veeerrrrry happy.
9. Backpacker's Pantry brand dehydrated meals aren't bad, but eating Kung Pow Chicken 2 years after the expiration date wasn't smart.  Taste wise, I would've gotten the same thing by dumping a handful of peanuts in Ramen Noodles.
10. Consider Ramen when camping.  I wonder if it's possible to get some kind of dehydrated beans for flavor/interest.

Back In The White Mountains: The Semi-Pemi

Sunday's Big Adventure:  The Semi-Pemi.  16-ish miles, 5000-ish feet.  We haven't decided clockwise or counter-clockwise, but it looks like the route is (if counter-clockwise):

Hale Brook to Hale summit
Lend-A-Hand to Twinway to Zealand summit
Twinway to Zeacliff to AT (Ethan Pond) to car.

If done clockwise the time to beat is 5:06.  I don't have a PR for the counter-clockwise route.

Mutha's Trip Report:  Only a few comments (pics here),

• Don't try to keep up with a man who's training for an Iron-Man.
• Pain hurts
• Snow everywhere.  Running/trotting/walking on it required muscles that I forgot I had.
• On descent of Hale, encountered a family that were probably 5 minutes into their attempt to get through/over a massive windthrow consisting of at least 3 large trunks.  I just ran around it, noting that there wasn't really any reason not to.  Why they decided they had to get into that tangle is a mystery, but going around involved a detour of about 8 feet.  WTF?  Eventually caught up w/ tMail at the cars and he did the EXACT SAME THING.  What were these people doing ?!?!?!?  It was like watching the Stoopid Family from South Retard, Montana.

tMail's Trip Report (pics here):

1. I have finally learned to take what the trail gives you, this helped today as we both stayed fresh and still had a good overall time. I also drank all of my 3L of water I had a my 1/3 of Liter left. Food consumption was all Hammer Gel nothing else, it worked well, Montana Huckleberry.

2. Taking the Zealand Trail down off Ethan Pond was awesome the hollow down there is wild, lots of stuff, rugged, and peaceful.

3. Twinway blew ass, snow hard at times, and like mash potato at other times. It took total silence to concentrate to blast down off Zealand.

4. You had to keep all your muscles flexed in your legs at time to get up or down on the monorail.

5. Sorry to the couple coming down off of Hale while we were ascending, I ran right threw a massive mud puddle and splattered them.

6. Hale is a TOTAL piece of shit, we did officially work our way up the rock pile and the views are not that bad.

7. The analogy is like this put 15 Christmas trees in the middle lane of a three lane highway...for whatever reason Mom, Dad, Dog and Daughter who was all the way underneath were all stuck in the trees, I went around them in maybe 1 second as there was a trail cut to go around the tree. Their dog looked at me and had that look like why is my family retarded can I come with you.

8. Great day to be back on the trails, can't wait for the trails to be bone dry so we can turn and burn.

9. Happy Birthday Mutha!

The Great Mack Mtn Bushwack

Yesterday Dogman, Trudy, Spanky, Jake and I did a 12-13 mile (5:30) bushwack.  Estimate of total elevation gain is about 5,000'.  We hit:

Hooker Mtn
Mack Mtn
Morse Mtn
Devil's Hill

The route out was bushwacked because except for the trail up Devil's Hill, none of these summits have trails.  Technically Hooker Mtn does, to the first peak, but the trail rises on the other side and we didn't hit it until within a few minutes of the main summit.

The return trip was all on snowmobile trails, forest roads, and for the last 5 miles, town-maintained roads.

The pace was arduous, in spite of an average pace of over 24 min.

For scale, Mac Mtn is about 2,400'

All these are covered in hardwood below 1500' w/ stands of fir at all elevations.  We tackled this now while the woods are still open.  In another month this trek couldn't be done w/out x-ray vision.

The weather and scenery were beautiful.

Pics to come tonight.

-mutha

The Aviversary

Up the Cathedral.
Down Hillman's.

MadDog's Trip Report:

1. Tmail and Mutha confronting the demons head-on, nice fricken job.
2. Must sleep, must get up and pack, must be quiet, must check email. Palin arises, and I realize I must be late. AHHHHH!
3. In attempt to reduce the lateness, the barely civilized Civic (safely) bushwhacked its way to Mutha's setting new land speed records along the way.
4. Seeing the PM (in his 30s beach attire) and Tmail (looking like a bloke setting off for a Sahara adventure) at the VC - had me thinking I might be on a Hollywood movie set. Come to think of it.
5. The VC, the trail in, and Tucks, were a zoo. I thought I was headed into a Buffet concert.
6. Spandex.
7. I realized (again) what a monster DogMan is...he and I were hanging, chatting it up on Cathedral, I stopped turned down to see the boys coming and turned, and DM had quietly about 40 paces between us in a matter of seconds.
8. Mutha, Tmail, and PM are trail hounds...they have this innate ability to pick out good lines.
9. Mutha running on autopilot calling out traps, placements, debris, etc.
10. There's something more weirdly appealing about first seeing the casualness, mix and number of people at the shelter. Then how the mood changes when some of the same group are prepping for descent down Hillmans.
11. I found myself, at least a half dozen times, want to go down face first, or at least slide. But the steepness and prospect of being out of control and hitting others kept stopping me. I kept thinking about our slide down Bonnie Pass and if it was steeper.
12. The creative geniuses at work, brainstorming reasons as why I would be late for that evening's dinner date. Listening to it all, I imagined I was sitting in with a bunch of writers from Seinfeld while trying to construct the next week's episode.
13. Tmail and Mutha taking me down trying to induce injury.
14. I am not supposed to (at all) so I fell off the wagon...but as ugly as it looked, the downhill double-time to the VC was pure fun. I really really miss doing that.
15. It was just a nice day out.

Mutha's Trip Report (pics here):

• The vast sea of humanity was more than impressive.  That so many people could all want to be in that beautiful setting was not surprising.  That so many people would actually go there - some looking like they really shouldn't exert themselves that much was surprising.  
• If there were over 4,000 people on the mountain today, there were 500 above treeline and 5 on Cathedral Gully.
• Why the f**k would anyone ski down Dodge's?
• MadDog!  Axe in right hand, pole in left hand - or just leave the pole on your pack!
• The PM has awesome pecs, awesome farts, awesome Bushmill's, awesome soggy bread and meat and cheese thing that looked like it got squeezed out of a bottle purchased at the mini-mart, and awesome descending skills.  The guy actually slid backwards, downhill on crampons, on purpose!
• Somebody has to communicate to DogMan that accelerating up the gully isn't normal.  He was moving so fast it made me think I was moving backwards and threw myself onto the snow to self-arrest.
• MadDog tried to pull the "I don't think I want to go up that steep stuff" thing.  The next thing we knew he had everyone by the short-hairs, pulling us up the mountain.
• tMail is going to get his car towed.  Baaaad, tMail.
• tMail, congratulations on topping out on Cathedral.  The demons are in full retreat.

The Puppet Master's Trip Report (pics here):  Memories...

1. Looking for a parking spot along the road and thinking, "Was this a good idea?"
2. Blasting out the VC bathroom to the point of rushing out of the stall and only saying to the next guy, "That one is no good."
3. Trail traffic. We needed to paint lanes.
4. French girls with French stuff
5. MD saying "Dodges, no way." The next breath agreeing the the unkown Cathedral trail was perfect... MAD DOG!
6. Dog Man blasting up the steeps like he was born to a mountain goat mother.
7. MuthaZ appreciating a flask of whiskey, a good glissade, and he has shaken the demons of the fall.
8. TMail blasting up the hill, overthinking the last 20yds but then laughing about it - f-ing animal. Showing me the ropes of the Kearsage Cafe... and what kind of destruction it causes.
9. I'm of Scotch descent, I need to wear sunblock.
10. Great fun.
11. In the aftermath... Where the F was Nate G?!!!

DogMan's Trip Report (pics here):

tMail's Trip Report (pics here):Well Well Well….what is one to say!

1. The drive up was enjoyable….conversation centered on population and the ability for food sustainability…we are doomed.
2. Speaking of population PNVC was a mosh pit of people, vehicles, dogs and the highly educated and uneducated.
3. PM and I enjoyed some people watching as MD overslept at the dog kennel.  The most interesting thing I saw was a guy wearing those girl type shorts that look like a skirt
4. The DB who said there is no such thing as avalanches in Tux in April…….
5. Mutha “You couldn’t be so wrong”
6. The DB girlfriend “I don’t want to put my backpack in the snow”
7. The guy who witnessed the destruction the PM did in the bathroom when opening the door was quoted as saying “That baby is fried”
8. MD “I am not going up Dodge’s”
9. MD “Let’s go up Cathedral” completely unknown, never before trampled on, nobody had skied it or been on it.
10. Exercising the demons going up Cathedral, learning much more about snow stability and gaining more respect for the Snow Rangers
11. Topping out on Cathedral and having the PM open the bar, Whiskey from Granddaddy’s old liquor chest!
12. Mutha going down Hillmans, “self arresting isn’t that good” okay lets continue to proceed.
13. Giving DogMan his self arresting lesson in 4 seconds part of which was given by MadDog while he was glissading down.
14. Planning MDs story of why he was a no show for dinner with his friends
15. Taking PM to the mother of all burrito places in North Conway
16. PM and I consumed about 6 liters of liquid at the Irving station at the end of Rt. 16 (Gatorade, Chocolate Milk, SOBE, Ice Cream, Lemonade)
17. PM and I had our Easter Bunny trot on Sunday 5 miles through Frank-vegas
18. Mutha great job exercising the Dodge’s Demons!
19. Cathedral Gully Maximum Pitch 45 degrees, sustained 35 degrees and dominant aspect North.
20. Great day boyz thanks for the patience and support.

Vermonts Love Their Freedom

The Vermont Natural Resource Council (a private, secretive, non-profit representing a secret client list) does not believe that Vermonters should be free to simply enjoy the great outdoors.  While the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail Committee is struggling to convert an old, decrepit railbed into a 94-mile recreation trail, the VNRC is throwing up barriers because it believes that runners and cyclists will pose an environmental hazard.  But Vermonters are not standing for it.  We're gathering in Senator Bartlett's office on Thursday, April 1 (April Fool's Day) at 9am to debate the issue.  On one side, the VNRC is arguing that this should be a highly regulated project with the same strict controls that are imposted on waste-treatment facilities.  On the other, the Citizens of Vermont are pleading that this is just an existing railbed, that just needs a fresh surface.

Where do you stand on the issues?  Contact the VNRC and to see their position paper.  Contact Senator Bartlett or you local congressman and tell them you want to take back Vermont's Great Outdoors from the Zombie Obstructionists!

Francona Ridge: The Iceman Cometh

Spanky and I did the Falling Waters/OBP loop (Pics Here):

• The monorail is developing nicely
• Trail is bare on F.W. in patches in the deciduous forest low down, but where there's cover, it's hard ice until a little elevation is gained.  
• Snow is as deep as its ever been up in the conifers.  Off trail, snowshoes aren't necessary at this point - soft snow on firm re-frozen base.
• The ridge is an icy hell.  Crampons everywhere.  Chose micro-spikes on the ridge.  Crampons necessary from Lafayette summit all the way back to car.  Only exceptions were a few burned out south-facing spots up high in the ledges, totaling about 100ft.  Down low in the woods, lots of bare spots - but sporadic.
• Windy as hell.  Had a hard time breathing on the Lafayette descent.  Had to drop and hold onto the dog when winds got really high.  Felt like sustained over 30.  Hard time walking - wind picked up snow off windslab - felt like sleet.

Cross-Vermont (Lamoille Valley Rail) Trail Opposition: The VNRC?

A minor controversy erupted in Vermont in the last month over the Vermont Natural Resource Council's (VNRC) opposition to a railbed conversion project which will create a recreation trail.  The "Cross Vermont Trail", also known as the LVRT ("Lamoille Valley Rail Trail") is going to be a 94 mile, 4-season trail across three counties in northern vermont.  I'm on the board of the conversion committee.

Why does the VNRC oppose the project?  Their mission, in part, from the VNRC website:  "From the State House to your Town Hall, VNRC keeps Vermonters informed on the environmental issues that you and your family care most about. We keep a constant presence in the Vermont State House to promote a vision of a Vermont that is healthy and sustainable. We empower our members to take action when the voice of concerned citizens is needed to make a difference."

The VNRC is having their lawyers try to delay and/or scuttle the project, however they have not published a position on the project.  This is causing quite a stir because even though technically, the railbed is 'railbanked' which could allow for it to revert to rail use, we have a 99-year lease on the railbed and our goal in creating a recreation trail is to promote a vision of Vermont that is healthy and sustainable, and to prevent ATV's and motorized use of the trail in all seasons but winter (when it opens to snowmobiles).  Our management plan (already approved by the state dept of transportation) includes use policies and law enforcement - features that are missing on the trail currently, which is used by ATV's, used for dumping trash, etc.  This is a grassroots project and we're almost done with the permitting.  We have wide support from all the landowners (except one).


Lately, a series of posters have been making the rounds (see pic at right for an example) that, perhaps unfairly, characterize the VNRC as jack-booted thugs, hell-bent on crushing the very people it claims to serve.  The authorship remains unknown, however it is clear from the VNRC's lack of response that rumors have surfaced that one of the board members is being paid by a single landowner to scuttle the project.  Rumor has it that this organization also has close ties to folks that are trying to open public land to ATV's, which are expressly forbidden on the Cross-Vermont Trail.  There is also talk of close ties to housing developers (hit hard in the last year) and hush-money.

These are rumors, and completely unfounded, however the VNRC's aggressive (and unexplained) opposition to a project that is entirely in keeping with their stated mission goes on unabated and they refuse to explain the rationale to their financial supporters, members and the public.  This is so weird.

If you live in Vermont, feel free to contact a board member (see this list) or a state legislator and ask for an explanation.  Tell them you want the trail.

Winter-Spring Transition: Variety is the spice of life

Everyone was off and running in their own directions this week.  For whoever posts a TR in the comments I'll repost the TR here on the main page.

Mutha's Trip Report (Pics Here):  The Chic-Chocs and Burt Ravine Ski

Drove for 9.5 hours and skied for three days and out there you only ski what you climb.  We hit Champ de Mars, Hogsback and a long ski into the bowl of Mt. Albert.  For the latter, a storm blew in before we had time to ascend the flank and we had to ski back out the 7k long drainage.  Scenic, but not epic (except for distance).

For the two summits we successfully ascended, skiing down included finding glades or sections that we could yo-yo.  On Champ de Mars we found a glade that we (or at least Greg and I) skied 8 runs at least (kind of lost count).

Conditions were challenging (snow cover was melted out on some summits and in the heat of the day the snowpack (varying from 1-5ft) turned real soft.  With the storm arriving, it rained all night and we cut the trip short a day early to head down and hit Mt. Washington.

As for Mt. Washington and Burt Ravine, well, let's say my skills were not up to it.  I skied  down from the summit down into the top of Burt and pretty much called it a day.  I skied back to the cog and headed down on a more comfortable angle.  Minor disappointment, however, since the Blue-Bird day was cause for celebration on its own.

Interesting note:  in the Cog parking lot, there were bats out - flying around, crawling on the ground and the snow and on the building.  Probably white-nose fungus infection - and they're no doubt dead by now - but the ground wasn't littered w/ dead bodies so perhaps that was the first day of slaughter.

Tragic loss:  One fellow on the Mt. Washington trip dropped his snowboard (he had removed it to traverse an ice/rock section near the summit).  The board landed flat and shot across the surface and over the edge and down into the Great Gulf.  I'm kind of tempted to go in and look for it as a little spring snowshoe project.

4 days of quad-burning workout.  I'm tender, although I could certainly ski more.