Maine again...

Took another trip to Maine this past weekend. Weather wasn't quite as nice as the last time, but still pretty nice. Also, on the way there, stopped by Oakland to pick up the last of my stuff from Kristen's mom's house. Got to meet Kristen's new puppy "Pandora" and check out her new car. She's doing quite well.
Anywho, paddling was fun, here's some pictures and a video.

Back side of the Presidentials (White Mountains, NH) from Rt. 2 near Gorham.

Somewhere between Bethel and Paris, Maine. A classic "roche moutonnee". Glacier moved left to right.

Obligatory sunset picture, from Townsend Gut.

Another one, from sort of across from the Ocean Gate Inn, Townsend Gut.

Bunch of islands. Left to Right: Indiantown, Green, Boston, The Spectacles (both of them), Isle of Springs.

Bow shot.

Investigating a cove on the west side of Indiantown.

Cool tree on the Back River.

More paddling.

First of all, Happy Earth Day! I think our planet certainly deserves more recognition than a single day. Hopefully people appreciate what a great place it can be.
Anyway, don't really feel up to writing a bunch this time, so here some photos. In short, drove to Boothbay on Friday, paddled out to Spectacle again, camped. Woke up, paddled back to the harbor, went for a short paddle with my friend Melissa and her friend (I worked with Melissa last summer). Had lunch. Drove over to Knickerkane Park, paddled around a bunch, back to Spectacle Island. Paddled back in the morning. Dropped off the boat, and headed home. Good times. On to the pictures...

View of Squirrel Island from Burnt Island.

Mouse Island from the beach on Burnt Island.

North Spectacle and Indiantown Island.

Isle of Springs and North Spectacle Island.

South Spectacle Island and the Sheepscot River.

I love this island.

Quite a scramble to get up there in 10 seconds... Looking SE towards Southport.

The air might have been warm (70's), but the water was still frigid.

Glacial Striations.

Home sweet home.

Isle of Springs at dusk.

See if you can guess what this is...

Looking towards Townsend Gut with a nearly full moon.

Nerd picture. Rock hammer for scale.

Indiantown Island and Townsend Gut another night with the moon even brighter.

Sure beats waking up to an alarm clock.

The backriver near "the terrible tube".

Took a couple videos too, but haven't had the patience to upload them yet. Maybe later.

Hooray for being able to ride again!

Yes that's right, I'm finally able to ride again. No mountain biking for some time yet, but the back roads are finally free of ice. In fact, I rode 4 times this past week. I think that's more than I've ridden in the past 5 months combined! I've been scouting some nice gravel road routes as well. And you know how much I love gravel road riding. Don't know why that is. Anywho, you probably remember me previously bitching about all the hills around here. After just a week of riding, I'm starting to get used to them. I'm no climber, that's for sure, but it's not killing me anymore. An interesting thing about all the gravel roads I find is that a lot seem to have "hill" in the name. Towne Hill Rd, Cherry Tree Hill Rd, Molly Supple Hill Rd, East Hill Rd, Culver Hill Rd, and my favorite (discovered today) Lightning Ridge Rd. There's one road called Vincent Flats Rd. Bit deceiving really. Sure, there's no ups and downs to it, but it's a nice gradual climb. There's not many flat sections at all, even on the roads that don't have "hill" in their name. But that's ok. It's good for me. It's just taking some adjusting. I've been riding the good ol' 'cross bike and it's pretty much ideal for this type of riding it seems. A lot of the roads on northern hillsides (out of the sun) are still surrounded by snow and the roads are still thawing. They're incredibly spongy and it totally sucks your speed away. No worries though, they'll dry out and harden up eventually. I went out and rode for 2 hours today. Not a very long ride by most people's standards, but the longest I've done since I left Mississippi. Pretty beat and muddy by the time I got home, but I'm not complaining. Hooray for bikes!

Looking east from Cherry Tree Hill Rd. This field was covered in snow a week ago. Yay!

Ah, gravel. This is still pretty close to town, but I got way out in the boonies this time. And you know what? Instead of people out in the sticks giving me dirty looks, they smiled and waved. Vermont's pretty cool.

Spring?

First forecast I've seen in a loooooooooong time that didn't have snow in it! Now it just needs to stay above freezing at night to melt even more snow. By the way, snowed a couple inches yesterday...

"Spring Break" Part 2.

Onward to Boothbay. Rolled into town and headed straight to Ocean point for some quiet reflection time. It's become a custom for me to do so whenever I'm in town.
On the way back into town, I saw that Steve (kayak shop coworker from the summer) was home, so I dropped in and we caught up on stuff. After that, hung out a little bit in town, then headed to the shop to pack up a boat. Before long, I was ready to go.

Ready to leave the shop.

I hadn't been in a kayak since late September, so I was just a little concerned about feeling uncomfortable or tippy or something. Not sure why, because I felt right at home. I guess those 15+ years of paddling and all the paddling I did this summer has sunk in (so to speak). I was a little worried about my hands getting cold and numb. I had some lightweight neoprene ("hydroskin") gloves I'd used before as well as some pogies I found kicking around at the shop. The gloves were fine. Hands got plenty wet, but stayed warm enough. The paddle out was quite nice.

Calm waters passing Juniper Point and into Townsend Gut.

After a little over an hour, I made it out to Spectacle Island. This has been my favorite camping spot for years. I used to like Ram Island, but there's always the possibility of powerboaters joining you out there. Not in the winter I suppose.

Ashore on Spectacle Island.

Not long after landing, I had the epiphany that hark, my camera can do videos. So I decided to play around with that. Let me know what think...


Got camp set up, decided to give you all a little tour of my chosen spot.

And don't worry, I hardly drank any of that alcohol. Though, I drank most of the bottle of wine last night when I got home, but who's keeping track? Anyway, not the best night's sleep I've had. Warm enough, but like I said before, I'm not used to sleeping on the ground anymore. Also, I had arranged myself with my head slightly downhill, which never works for me, but I couldn't be bothered to rearrange everything. It snowed a little overnight, and I woke up to all sorts of birds making a racket. Quite pleasant really. First thing that woke me up was a crow, then I heard chickadees, geese, and a loon splashing around. Lots of loons around, but I didn't hear them calling at all. Lots of Eider ducks as well. Saw a couple seals too. Here's a look at things in the morning.


Took my time getting out of bed and packing up. Really was a pretty morning. Wandered around and took a couple pictures.

Campsite in the morning.

The beach and a view toward the east (as if the sunrise didn't give that away).

Looking towards the southern part of Spectacle Island with the connecting sandbar, Boston Island beyond, and Southport beyond that.

All packed up and ready to roll. Yeah, I'm wearing shorts. Better than wearing wet pants. Spare me the hypothermia lecture... I know.

The Scirocco looking pretty.

Eventually got in the water and headed back towards the harbor.

Stopping for a self-portrait on a lobster trap float in the Gut.

Nice smooth water until I rounded Juniper point and headed across the open part of the harbor. By then, the wind had picked up and was gusting pretty strong. No worries usually, but I wound up fighting the boat a little bit. Apparently, dragging the boat across the snow must have jammed ice into the skeg (retractable fin thingy) slot. Must have frozen overnight, because it wouldn't budge. Usually, when you're paddling across the wind like I was, you can just drop the skeg, and it'll keep you from pointing into the wind. It's sort of cheating I suppose, but it saves you a lot of work. However, since that wasn't working, I edged a little bit to windward (leaning to one side makes you turn the opposite way, so leaning to windward helps prevent weather-cocking). But, since I'm already a big dude, and the boat was fully loaded, I was riding low in the water. Not only does a loaded boat respond like a bloated pig, I also got soaked. So I basically just paddled on one side for a mile or so to keep from turning into the wind. It would have been nice to have a greenland paddle, so I could extend the stroke a bit more, but whatever. No worries. Made it back safe and sound.

Safe and sound back at the shop.

Changed out of all my wet stuff, threw all my gear in the car, and headed home. Actually, headed home a different way since I was going to meet up with Kristen. She is thinking of getting another puppy and wanted to have Zephyr's dog bed and kennel. So I got to see her and meet her boyfriend and his dog. Not that I had any expectations about it, but it went very well. We were laughing and smiling and being goofy, and it didn't feel forced at all. Her boyfriend seems like a really nice guy too. Cute dog he's got too.
Anyway, headed home after that, unloaded the car, ate some dinner, drank the aforementioned bottle of wine, and went to sleep. Unpacking the gear and drying things out comes next. It's going to be like when we were little and made forts out of blankets and chairs around here for a while. Have to hang things up to dry somehow! Overall, a much needed little break. Good times.

"Spring Break" Part 1.

The cabin fever has lately taken a bad turn for the worse. So, instead of waiting for it to run its course, I decided to do something about it. Nothing like getting out and being active to cure that miserable ailment. I decided to take Thursday and Friday off from work. I didn't really have a definite plan, but I wanted to head towards Maine to do some snowshoeing/backpacking around Grafton Notch, then head to Boothbay for some kayak camping. So here's how it went...

Loaded up the car with all the gear I'd need and then some.

Backpacking stuff, snowshoeing stuff, XC ski stuff, paddling stuff, sled, snow shovel, etc, etc...

On the way to Grafton Notch on Rt. 2, you pass NH Rt. 16, which leads through Pinkham Notch. Pinkham Notch lies between Carter Dome and Wildcat Moutain, and the Presidentials. I've only been up Mt. Washington once, in the summer. Thought it might be neat to go up in the winter as well, but you need some mountaineering gear and more importantly, skills, that I just don't have. However, there is the auto road. Hmm. Unfortunately, it is still closed for the season, so it was a no go. Oh well...

View of the Presidentials (White Mountains, NH) from Rt. 16.

So anywho, that diversion failed and I continued on towards the Grafton Notch area, just over the border into Maine. Coming into Bethel, I spied the strangest thing. A huge tower of snow. What the hell? Turns out (I was told later by several people) that this is the biggest snow-woman in the world. Seriously, it's huge! That tree that is an "arm" is bigger than the average christmas tree. The other side actually had a face on it. I think it had car tires for eyes or something. Pretty wild...

Largest snow-woman in the world. Bethel, Maine.

Anywho, eventually got to Grafton Notch. I was thinking of heading up and over Old Speck (3rd highest peak in Maine) and on to Speck Pond Shelter or Full Goose Shelter via the A.T. The closer one would have been 8 miles or so, but up and over a big climb. I've done it in the summer a couple times, and it's a tough hike, so, since it was late in the day, and I'd be going slower, I decided to try something different. Instead of heading that way (south) on the A.T., I decided to go the other way (northbound, gasp!) and head up to Baldpate mountain. I wasn't packing much weight, but man, I sure did heat up fast and go slow! Winter boots and snowshoes really slow things down.

Easy part of the climb up Baldpate along an old road bed.

Made it uphill the 2.3 miles to the shelter to find 3 other guys there. Some whitewater guides from N.C. doing some hiking in their off season. Was hoping to have the place to myself, but no worries. I dropped off my sleeping gear and snowshoes (since the snow was mostly firm enough to go without them) and headed up to the summit of West Baldpate. Only another 0.8 miles, but man, steep! Not to mention I sunk up to my crotch in snow several times. Sure was feeling out of shape.

How the hell did I ever make it all the way to Georgia?!

Made it to the top of Baldpate. Not as nice of a view as I was expecting. The other time I was up here, in 2000, it was a during a wild hail/lightning storm, so better than that at least!

Sign pretty much sums it up eh?

Didn't linger up there too long, since it was rather chilly and windy...

Looking sort of west from the summit of Baldpate.

After descending a little bit, there was a pretty good view of Old Speck. You can't really make it out in the picture, but there's an observation tower up there. Awesome view from there, but there was some weather on the way, so it wouldn't have lasted long if I had gone that way.

View of Old Speck from W. Baldpate.

Made it back down to the shelter about 3x faster than it took me to go up. Sort of jumping and skipping most of the way down. Sort of felt like I was skiing at times. Anywho, you might remember that my trailname during my thru-hike was "CornDog". I was given that name by two goofy dudes who had named themselves "Porkchop" and "Jackass". I didn't really like the name, and didn't actually start using it until Connecticut since I hadn't been given another one. Well, this is the shelter where I was given that name. They had been working on a rap song called the Chili-Dog Song, or something like that, just goofing around, and decided I should be "Corndog" to go with it. And the rest was history... Never saw those guys after that, but I'm pretty sure they made it the whole way too (they were also southbounders).

Baldpate leanto.

Got back down to the shelter by about 5:30. The other guys had decided to follow my example and had headed up to the top as well, so I had the place to myself for a bit. Not much to do but change into some dry clothes and hop in the sleeping bag. I hadn't bothered bringing a stove or anything since I knew it was just overnight. So, chomped on some bread and settled in...

Nice and toasty.

A while later, the other guys came back, including their cool dog, which I forgot to mention. Awesome dog, made me want another one even more. I had been laying there in my sleeping bag and I think the dog forgot about me. After she'd been up on the platform with me for a bit, I stirred, and she got all excited again and started licking me in the face. Of course, I was all zipped up in my sleeping bag, so all I could do was squirm and try to roll over. Silly dog. It was funny. Anyway, not sure when I went to sleep, but it was probably before 9:00. Stayed pretty warm, but not used to sleeping on a hard surface anymore.
Woke up a bit after the sun, packed up, and headed back down. It had snowed a few inches overnight. No problem, but I was the first person on the trail since, so I had snow falling down the neck of my jacket all the time. Brr. Hopefully the other guys appreciated it! Fun stuff. Back to the car by around 10:00 or so.

Two Subys (the N.C. dudes and mine) in the parking lot at Grafton Notch. The "eyebrow" of Old Speck looms in the background.

Also posed for a picture of me in action. Then changed into dry stuff and headed off to Boothbay.

Abominable snowman?

Funny LOTR.

Also, while watching the first Lord of the rings movie, especially the beginning part with Gandalf in the wagon, as you watch Gandalf's face, pretend that he's just smelled a fart. Sounds crude, but it's hilarious. My friend Christine pointed that out to me...

Format change...

Decided I'd change things up a bit. The code for this one is much more dense, and since I don't know what the hell I'm doing, the trial and error to make it look the way I want is tougher. What do you think? The Bahamas image just didn't seem appropriate anymore... Also considering a new title. Any ideas?

Whoah.

Just occurred to me that I've had this thing going for nearly 3 years. Any input about what you'd like to hear more about? More pictures, more words? I try to keep most of what goes through my head off of here, because I never know who reads it, and who wants to hear that garbage anyway? Trying to work things out in my head usually works, but acting on them is another problem. Oh well...
I think I'm going to try to set up a blog for the old man. He's always got interesting things to say and stories to tell. What do you say?