Snow Walkers’ Rendezvous, 2009 Part 1 of 3

Nov. 13-15  in Fairlee, Vermont on the grounds of the Hulbert Outdoor Center, a decades old historic camp on the shore of Lake Morey.  It sold out, as usual,  with 100 winter campers and a few snow walker wanna bees in attendance.
Last year at this time I made an entry about the Snow Walker’s Rendezvous,  where the big event was Alan Brown “torching some tents” , generating over a thousand of hits on my YouTube channel.  The Snow Walkers’ Rendezvous (SWR) is a November weekend focused on old-school human winter travel, be it assisted by snowshoes, cross country skis, dogsleds, or rubber boots.

We had a never ending ride over there from Lincolnville, ME taking a full 7 hours due to a wrong turn that put us in Portland, where we made the best of it by decimating the lunchtime Italian extravaganza at Ricetta’s which has a huge pizza/ salad/ smorgasboard of delights.

We got to Vermont in time to indulge in libations and snacks and then settled into supper and the evening program.

The folks who are regulars at this event continue to amaze me.  Marcia and I ate our dinners next to Joel and Bev Hollis from MA, a normal looking couple who have no problem taking off for a couple of months each summer and canoeing some arduous boreal rivers that have killed a number of lesser folk.

“Hey, Joel,  where did you go this summer, “  I asked, not even considering the possibility that they do normal things, like remodel their kitchen?

“Northwest Territories,” he replied.

“And kayaked some river? “

“Yep, the Yukon” , he replied.

“How much of it”,  I asked ?

“All of it.”  So that would be about 2,000 miles, which took them some 70 days.  Unsupported.  Yep. The Hollis’s are the real deal.

Then I turned to my friend Dick Hampton, and asked him what he was up to.  He talked about heading up to do a 35 mile loop off the St. John River this winter. We’ve done a couple of winter trips together, and when I asked him to give me a call if he wanted company,  he sheepishly replied, “Every once in a while I do crazy things, like walk over frozen rivers alone.  I am thinking I will do the trip solo.”

So a small sample of what this crowd is up to.

The program ran from 7:30- 9 PM.
The talks were started up by three readings from Willem Lange, who also opened up last year.  He even asked one of my friends what he had read last year, and then proceeded to read the same three stories.   Didn’t matter, I have one of his books, with those stories, and still enjoyed the surprise endings.
Next was Sayward Chartrand’s commuter assisted presentation about the past three years she had spent teaching in a tiny high school Kangiqsujuaq, Quebec.
Zabe McEachern wrapped up the evening with a photo presentation and stories of a recent winter skiing trip she made to Norway, with close commentary of the snowshoeing and skiing cultures.
The Saturday program looked to be one of the best I’ve experienced there. Insert a bunch of sleep relted-images here and then catch Saturday’s entry.

I’m Leavin’ On A Jet Plane

Just booked a plane flight from Maine to California for mid-April, 2010.  This sets in motion a cascade of events that will lead to my long distance backpack of the 2,656 mile Pacific Crest  Trail.  No sooner did I put the phone down that I felt dually stoked, first with the excitement of the Big Walk itself, and next as a sense that the next five months will be filled with purposeful activity as I march through trip preparation as well as slog through a raft of home maintenance tasks.
I just finished reading Lewis and Clark’s  journals, where I found this uniquely relevant quote, which will be one of my main mantras in the coming year:

“I have always held it a crime to anticipate evils.  I believe it a good comfortable road until I am compelled to believe differently… “  Meriwether Lewis, May 26, 1805.

Sent from my iPod

America’s Wild Spaces: Appalachian Trail

The new full length  (50 minutes) documentary entitled America’s Wild Spaces: Appalachian Trail , on  National Geographic network TV,  premiered last night at 8 PM.   I  had to invite myself over to my friend Mike’s house to be able to see it, as I don’t subscribe to the station on this newfangled TV setup.

I have enjoyed many of the AT documentaries and this one really had my hopes up.   I have viewed other videos, and have sometimes been moved to tears watching them.

At least National Geographic had most of the requisite number of facts straight ( ” The AT is less than a 1 day drive from one-half the population of the USA”.).    I’m grading it a “C” , which was a real disappointment considering the resources that this organization has to draw on. When I heard the pilgrimage talk, against a sunset shot, with the deep strings in the background , I thought , too bad, you don’t need to do this, let the hikers themselves talk and walk.

The first section profile is through the eyes of Chad, a section hiker who does a 28 mile piece from the start at Springer Mountain  to Blood Mountain.  It was humbling to be reminded of the challenges of the formidable Georgia mountains.  The fact that that 500 people a year thru hike  isn’t correct. The numbers have varied between 300 and 400 a year for the past decade.  In the 1970’s some years saw less than 10 people a year walking the whole AT.

The best part of this video is what is impossible to appreciate as a hiker, the documentary’s aerial shots, which were truly amazing.

There was a wavering focus to this story.  The acid rain segment  about the Smokies was informative, but there were  three other “environmental messages” that seemed forced in. Why did the video take up  several valuable minutes showing a remote camera being set up to verify that there are many different animals present out in the woods?  Yep, there are bears, deer, and racoons out there.  Could that time been used to interview the fabled Bob Peoples, whose Kincora hiker hostel and whose decades long devotion to trail building demands coverage ?

It was also strange that you were whooshed from Harper’s Ferry  four hundred miles up to Bear Mountain Bridge in New York.  There was no mention at all of those middle Atlantic states. I guess the message is those places don’t merit a word or a video footage?  At the Maine section  there was this bizarre rapid motion segment of being whooshed down some greenery amidst quiet reflections of fall.  It was jarring, and sure didn’t fit.

This film didn’t touch my heart.   I won’t be adding this one to my AT documentary collection. If you really want to get a taste of what  hiking the AT  is all about I’d suggest you check out Michal Daniel’s  ( AKA Lion King) Walking With Freedom : A Hike Along the Appalachian Trail instead. But, check this one out for yourself.  The next EST National Geographic Channel airing is scheduled for Nov. 17 at 4 PM.  I’d appreciate comments from other viewers.

For extensive commentary on this topic, get over to the Whiteblaze forum concerning this show.

Dark Days Ahead

Now that it is dark by 5 PM, I have to make a shift in my exercise approach.  All those daylight hours made riding and hiking  easier in late afternoon and evening.  I’m now getting up as I usually do at 5-5:30 AM ( no alarm required)  and for three mornings this week went outside and walked High St.,  starting in the pitch black and coming into the hacienda at daybreak an hour and 15 minutes later, with just about 5 miles walked before breakfast.  It makes for a good day.

Me and my favorite" road" bike

Riding my bikes is harder now than in the summer. I rode 20 miles Friday, back and forth to a meeting in Camden.   It was my maiden voyage on the new single speed road bike I won in a raffle.  Yes, no shifting, but we have all these hills here and I was able to grunt up all of them except for a 20 foot steep section of Moody Mountain Road where I was just not able to turn the pedals.  My heart was pounding so that I felt like my chest was going to explode.  I had to walk the bike!  So, I may trade out the rear gear for a slightly larger one just to be able to most all the hills around here.  I live at about 420 feet elevation, and Camden is at sea level. Heading north, I have to get up and over Moody Mountain at over 900 feet.  I think the single speeds are more for flat roads, the bike it might be good for training.   Maybe the bike is made for Florida and it made a mistake coming to Lincolnville, Maine ?

Maggie Nesciur: The Walker

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html#maggie_nesciur

Ms. Nesciur, a waitress, walks up 20 miles a day within the heart of NY City. Beautiful brief video documentary in her own words. I would love to talk to her about why she called a cab after walking 5 miles outside of the city.

Pushing Past the Pain of Exertion

From yesterday’s New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/fashion/29FITNESS.html

Chrissie Wellington of Britain

I had my first visit with my new physician this past week.  It was a sign of the times.  I have been fortunate enough to have had just one doctor, Richard Kahn, M.D. since moving to Maine in 1973.  It has been 36 years of excellent care, from a man who was one of the first in our area to ride his own bicycle bike to work from his home in Union some fifteen miles out.  He sold his practice to Dr. Anderson, and she will be fine. She had been practicing way up in Aroostook County for the past two years.   She read my chart with me, to be sure she hadn’t missed anything.  I was thrilled when she started asking me about my 2007 Appalachian Trail through hike, when she disclosed that she and her husband were avid day hikers and also backpackers.  We learned that shared some trail experiences in Yellowstone as well.

She is an osteopathic physician, and after deciding that my blood work did not indicate any serious problems, encouraged me to schedule my next appointment sometime next Fall after I ( hopefully) return from my 5- 6 month, 2,700 mile Pacific Crest Trail  backpacking expedition, where we could recheck those numbers.

Then we talked pain, something I have been increasingly familiar with.  I consulted about putting together a backup medical kit that would prepare me for any emergencies.  I  did hear her when she made the observation that pain is often a signal to the body that something is wrong and that stopping may be the best solution, rather than to dose pain with analgesics or stronger ( opiates) and push through  to some preset goal.

Then this article came out and it assisted me in placing pain into  a better perspective.

Endurance athletics exposes one to eventual pain.  It is important to train for the ability to sustain exertional pain, while at the same time accepting that the acute pain of an injury, such as  shin splints, a broken metatarsal bone,  or a bad back is a message from the body to stop for a while and heal.

 

Fitness facts: What’s up with cooling down?

Personal Best

Is the Exercise Cool-Down Really Necessary?

By GINA KOLATA

Published: October 15, 2009

There is pretty much no science behind the cool-down advice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/health/nutrition/15best.html

Yellowstone: Walking !

Finally.

We decided to head on over to Yellowstone today in the hope that the snow would not be too deep for hiking.  Plan B was to drive east past Mammoth Hot Springs and cruise through the Lamar Valley hoping to see big animals, like buffalo, elk, and bears.  An inquiry with the ranger at the North entrance at Gardiner resulted in advice to head on over to the Lost Lake Loop.  We were looking for a 2 hour hike that was in an area that would be out of the wind, as much as possible.

Lost lake Loop–Roundtrip Distance: 4.0 miles (6.4 km)

Time: 2-3 hours

Level of Difficulty: Moderate

The trail starts behind Roosevelt Lodge and climbed through forested hillsides to a trail junction. Veering right (west), the trail reached Lost Lake in 0.2 miles (0.3) km.). From there we followed the trail around a hill to the Petrified Tree and Petrified Tree parking area. The trail left that parking lot at the northeast corner and continued through open sage hill tops and then descended to the Tower Ranger Station. Roosevelt Lodge was only  a 0.2 mile (0.3 km. walk from the Ranger Station.

The most treacherous portion of the hike was negotiating the ice between stepping out of the car and  our arrival at the top of the 360 foot elevation portion of the switchbacked trail.  There was plenty of ice in the streams that passed under the trail.  Once we hit the end of the firstclimb, things got much better:  the sun came out, the trail was more trodden, and it was actually  warm as we approached Lost Lake.

Lost Lake

Soon we skirted the Lake, and felt like we could do this.

Walking along Lost Lake

Eventually we left the Lake and entered a valley that swung us in a loop past high hills on either side.  Here the wind picked up again, the cold came on strong, and I put my new cowboy bandana across my face for protection.  We had to go up again for just a short bit, then entered a beautiful expanded area that eventually brought us back down to the car.

Uncle Tom at end of Lost Lake Loop

Checking our watches, we saw that we completed the 4 mile loop in just 1 hour.  We were able to slide and trot down the last mile long descent, which was the major factor in our scooting right along.

On the way back, we saw two bald eagles, one huge buffalo walking along the road, and numerous elk and bufalloes in the scrub brush and fields feeding on the dry frozen grasses.

The magic of the day did not end.  Our evening stop was at Chico Hot Springs, where we were able to soak in the heated pools for a hour and then we we were all salivating at the door for our 7 PM reservation, primed for prime. Actually , Lincoln was the only one who had the 12 oz. prime rib.  I had the 8 oz. tenderloin with gorgonzola, Marcia had a strip steak, and Stephanie the rack of lamb.  Three of us maintained our good standing in the clean plate club.   Chico and Yellowstone is a double punch duo that is easily accomplished from our base in Livingston.  Loved it today!

Montana: Strike Two!

Montana Road

Thawing out tonight.

Lincoln and I were thwarted in our quest to climb up Elephant Peak, MT this afternoon, due to 18 degrees, 12 MPH wind, and the snow on the gravel road too deep to reach that trail head. We did walk along the plains for an hour. I ending up freakin’ freezing.

I had on three layers on top: Ibex wool  t-shirt, Patagonia Wool II midweight zip crew, and North Face 7 Summit softshell.  My Ibex winter gloves were a joke, as my hands were painfully cold walking back to the truck, and in agony as they thawed out in the heated cab.  It’s full blown winter conditions here.

Paradise (Valley)? No backpacking this week!

Went for a 7 mile, two hour walk this afternoon along the Yellowstone River, here in Montana.

Yellowstone River

My hands froze inside my winter gloves and the footpath alternated between slippery clay , squishy ruts and solid ground that was actually frozen mud. Nevertheless, it was totally satisfying to walk in this huge landscape, with views off to the south of Livingston Peak. It is likely that the watercourse of River had not changed in any appreciable way since the Lewis and Clark expedition came ashore here below Sheep Mountain. Clark and his party stopped in present-day Livingston for a few hours rest on their way through here.
I had a list of outdoor things I wanted to do here that are not going to happen, due to the weather:
-mountain bike ride
-off road motorcycle ride
-overnight backpack trip in Yellowstone
-climb Bunsen Peak in Yellowstone

There is now  two and half feet of snow in the mountains that has accumulated since October 1. The weather here is comparable to what they experience here in January, with the temperature dropping to 3 degrees tonight.  Whaaa?

Montana is a trip .  The front page  of the newspaper has advertising about  game processing.

Front Page News

Instead of recycling, at the dump glass is stashed in a pile that is ground up and mix in with landfill.

Recycling? Naahhh!

I like the smaller footprint of the houses here, and what can be better than walking out the door in the morning,  head two blocks over to the local convenience store where I can get a hot cup of coffee and purchase daily newspapers.