Winooski River and news from Keith.

Well, I wound up doing that canoe trip on the river after all. Sunday morning, I met up with my co-worker Lee at his house in Plainfield. We were originally going to run it from Marshfield to Plainfield, but after driving the road and seeing the river along the way, we decided the water was too low for it. So we wound up going from Plainfield to Montpelier instead. There were a few spots where we had to get out and push, and lots of rocks were scraped, but it was a great time. Most of it was super tame flat-water stuff, but as the river gets past E. Montpelier, it gets a bit steeper. There are a few little rapids which were no problem at this water level, but looked pretty scary back when all the snowmelt was coming down. There's also a couple dams we had to portage around, which was also no problem. Got a bit better at controlling a canoe. And by that, I mean being able to keep it in a straight line without constantly switching sides. Not sure if I was doing it right, but it worked for me.
It's 10 miles on the road from Plainfield to Montpelier, and it's probably twice that on the river. It meanders quite a bit. The whole trip took about 4 hours. We didn't go hard, but we didn't just drift either... Anywho, here's a couple pictures.

The first dam we had to portage around. Maybe a 6 or 7 foot drop. The next dam, closer to town, is probably a 20 or 30 foot drop.

Looking downstream from the dam. The river had been mostly tame before this. Afterwards there were lots of fun little rapids.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that Keith Lannom (our old Team Green soccer coach, sometimes riding buddy, super host when I was in Utah, and all around good dude) is moving to New Hampshire! He's been in East Tennessee for the past couple years working for the Forest Service. He'll be working in White Mountain National Forest up this way. Not sure where he'll be living yet, but it'll be great to have him in the area. He's been married a few years now, and his son is nearly a year old! Time flies...

I went riding another new place this afternoon, and broke my chain again! It was the same chain I broke on Friday, so I was going easy on it, but still... I really don't get it. I've never had this problem before. I used the same chain the whole time I was in Mississippi. Replaced it last summer because it was worn out. I had to replace the middle chainring this spring (ripped a tooth off), and I thought maybe I had an 8spd one on there or something. Nope. So I don't know what's going on. I'm going to try either a Shimano or KMC chain next time and see how that goes. It's really making me mad! ARGH! Not to mention banging up my knees! Argh, ARGH! Which reminds me, on that canoe trip, a lady was on a bridge we went under at one point. She had a patch over one eye. She was friendly and said something like "Good for you guys" or something like that. I had a hard time resisting the temptation to say, "Avast!" or "Ahoy there!" or other pirate speak. She was sitting in a car, so I couldn't see if she had a peg leg...

Recent Fun Stuff.

I've been enjoying some outdoor time lately. Still nothing going on at work (for me anyway), though I have learned how to operate a Geoprobe. Last Saturday, I rode at a place nearby called "Millstone Hill". You may know that Barre (Montpelier's next door neighbor) is world famous for its granite. Well, Millstone Hill is where all that granite came from and still comes from. There are lots of old quarries up there, most filled with water. I think the only active one is the famous "Rock of Ages" Quarry. Anywho, there's a nice trail network up there. Nothing too difficult, but there are a few really technical parts of it.

A view from "Grand Lookout" at one of the old quarries.

My old pal Meredith (fellow kayak shop worker for years) is back home (in NH) after her winter in Aspen. Her and I took a quick trip up Mt. Cardigan in central NH. The hike was really short, maybe 6 miles, but the last half mile to the top were a scramble up bare rock. Would have been super sketchy in the rain. However, the wildest part of that little outing was getting there! Turns out Google map directions aren't quite foolproof. The last leg of their directions had me following "Knowles Hill Rd". I'd been on gravel roads for a while, so I didn't think much of it, when that road seemed to be a rarely used jeep trail. Didn't worry about it much at first, but the "road" kept getting worse and worse, to the point I was driving down a washed-out, overgrown, rutted, boulder-strewn, abandoned skidder trail. I consulted the NH gazetteer (should have sooner) to find out that "Knowles Hill Rd" is marked as a "trail" on their map. Hmm. I got to a point where I couldn't go any further due to trees, so I decided to backtrack. Wasn't any room to turn around, so I had to gun it backwards back up all those ruts and rocks, which I could no longer see coming. So I just hoped for the best. Mud flying everywhere and bouncing like crazy, I made it to a spot I could turn around, but not before smacking several rocks and causing the engine oil light to turn on. I thought I was screwed. Fortunately after turning around, shutting the car down, and checking things out, everything worked out ok. Light turned off and started up fine. So anyway, needless to say, I found a different way to get where I needed to go. It's really good that I still had my snow tires on, or I definitely would have gotten stuck. Fordo, you would have loved it.

The point of no return. Didn't stop the Suby though!


Meredith scrambling above treeline.


Looking back at Mt. Cardigan. The upper part of the trail just goes straight up that left side of it.

Last time I was in Boothbay, I borrowed Travis's canoe (with his permission of course). My coworker Lee and I have been planning to paddle down part of the Winooski river in it, but so far our schedules haven't matched up. So, some afternoon this past week, I forget which, I took it out to a local reservoir with my neighbor Brandi. I'm not much of a canoer, and she's even less of one, but it was still a nice laid back little paddle. It sprinkled a bit, and once we got back to shore, the sun was below the clouds and created a gorgeous double rainbow. It was really pretty.

Brandi reaches for her raincoat.


Sun on the opposite shore. Sure would make a nice rainbow if it rained right now...


Shazam! Remember the awesome rainbow we saw that winter out at Long Beach? This was about as good as that one.

Yesterday, after work, I went riding with 4 other folks from work at a place in nearby Waterbury called Perry Hill. Holy crap, some awesome riding! Lots of roots and rocks, made treacherous by several afternoon showers, but some awesome trails nonetheless. I kept up with them all just fine too. About an hour into the ride, I broke my chain. I've been doing that a lot lately. After running a half mile or so to where they were waiting, I fixed it real quick and impressed them with that. They're not really the mechanic sort. In fact, I've worked on two of their bikes in exchange for a six-pack of microbrew. Anywho, after that, I had to baby it up the hills for fear of snapping it again, so I wound up running a lot when it was uphill. Going down though, whee! Some pretty rippin' downhills. There was one called "Butt-crack". Super steep and some pretty harry parts too, especially since it was wet. Everyone but Lee (mentioned earlier) and I were on full suspension bikes with quick releases on their seatposts, which was definitely an advantage on this descent. I was wearing baggy shorts over my spandex out of modesty, and I kept getting stuck behind my saddle! I'd get way back behind the seat on a steep part, then couldn't get back on top of the saddle because my shorts caught the back of it. Skipping the baggies next time I ride there. There were even several skinny bridges with some serious consequences if you screwed them up. There were some super sharp banked turns that were a total blast too! The final descent (and initial ascent) has lots of big dirt waterbars, which tried to buck you off on the way down, going wicked fast. At one point there was a straightaway with two waterbars pretty close together, followed by a sharp left turn. I couldn't slow down enough, since the waterbars threw me in the air, and totally blew through that left turn. It was pretty funny I though. Anyway, great ride, even if it was wet and nasty and I had a mechanical and had to run a bunch. Followed by some beer and hotdogs in the parking lot. Good times. Unfortunately no pictures of that though. Maybe next time.

Horn of the Moon.

First of all, Happy Mother's day mom!
I've been riding a lot lately, thanks to the motivation provided by Ford's training plan he made up for me. No real specific goal in mind, just get in good shape, maybe do some casual racing this summer, who knows.
Anyway, went out for my longest ride yet (since I've been in Vermont that is) on Friday, about 30 miles. Rode what's becoming a usual loop, then decided to add something else onto it. That something else, Horn of the Moon road, turned out to be a long, steep climb. Then it intersected North St., climbed a bit more, crossed some fields along the crest of a ridge, then descended steeply back to town. A pretty great section I think. The climb up Horn of the Moon road (cool name eh?) is about 20 minutes of grinding the granny gear (which is a 34 x 25 on the 'cross bike). Some great views from up there, and the following pictures don't do it justice.
Headed out for a mountain bike ride today and broke my chain twice right the base of the first climb. Broke it the first time, slammed my knee into the stem. Fixed it beside the trail, decided I'd do something more mellow instead and rode some double track along the river. Going up a slight rise, it broke again. Fixed it again, and headed home. Walked up the steep hill that leads to my apartment. Hopped on the 'cross bike and headed out on a road ride. Good stuff. I think I'm starting to somewhat enjoy the climbs. At least not dread them. I'm sure it'd be different if I were riding with someone else and had some competition, but for now, I'm liking it a lot.
Here's a couple pictures from the ride today.

About 2/3 up Horn of the Moon Road.

Yay Spring!

Camel's Hump in the distance.

Killington is visible, but hard to make out.

Sparrow Farm.

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.