alspal
New member
I had the honor of hiking with Albe when he got his 100th on July 1.
Here is my take on the weekend…
This weekend stood out from all the rest for this spring and summer because I didn’t have a race planned, so of course I had to find something unusual to do.
Al and I met up on Saturday morning at five and drove to Bernardston, MA. I’m working on running in every town in MA and had not run there yet. We ran into the section of town called “Satan’s Kingdom”. I’m still not sure why it is called that, but it sounded interesting. We also did a detour out to the Tri-State marker. I had never been to a Tri-State marker and since it was close by it seemed worth the trip. We knocked on the landowner’s door and despite the early hour she pleasantly greeted us and allowed us passage to the monument.
We then motored up the road to Mt Equinox where we met up with the UnFrozen Caveman for the hike. “UFC” is a yoga fanatic named Steve from Vermont that Al has hiked with in the past. I knew we’d get along well as the first few words out of his mouth were expletives. He was fired up for the hike. Al gave him a moment of worry by taking off at a jog at the beginning of the hike. Caveman didn’t hesitate to go with him, very tough guy.
The climb was nice with very few people on the trail despite the picture perfect day. The temps were in the 60’s and the sun was in and out of the big puffy clouds. We took it at a relaxed pace and were on the summit in 1:16. Caveman went into his traditional headstand (did I mention that I like this guy?) and then proceeded to shimmy up a pole to the second story of the hotel. We spent about 15 minutes on the summit taking in the view and an aborted climb up one of the rickety radio towers. Our hike down was uneventful, but we did bump into one of the biggest porcupines I’ve ever seen. We met up with a lady who asked “how far is it?” We told her, but after she left we wondered if she was headed all the way to the top. She seemed ill prepared, hiking with no map or water. We were back down in one hour, giving us a total of 2:31 for the round-trip.
We quickly got into our vehicles and headed over to Dorset. I bottomed out a couple of times driving up the dirt road a little further than I should have. We took off at a moderate clip up the sometimes steep dirt road/trail. We came across a hiker who noted “I haven’t seen anyone out here in a few years”. I think our minimal clothing may have surprised him. Al and I were both in running shoes (I was in racing flats); race t-shirts, and running shorts. Caveman went with lightweight hiking boots, shorts, and no top. Not exactly your typical garb for a bushwhack in June. We paused for a moment at the remnants of the tower where Al checked out the barbecue grill and Caveman did a handstand. We got to the summit in 1:20 then bushwhacked to the West summit in 1:10. At the West summit we had a short discussion on the best way to head back with the nod going to “cutting the corner”. That meant more bushwhacking and less time on the trail. The woods were very open and easy, although quite steep in places, and we were back at the cars in 1:18. The total time for the hike was 3:50.
Our plan was to head up to Maine via Littleton, NH where we’d pick up a friend of Al’s. James had expected us to be there, but Al’s timing was a bit off. We were already over 2 hours behind schedule, but the drive to Littleton was uneventful. James piled in and we were off to Rangeley. The sunset as we passed Twin Mountain was spectacular with the clouds lit up in red. The drive became a bit nerve wracking once we crossed into Maine and I saw my first Moose by the road side. Every shadow became a moose and I white-knuckled the drive to Rangeley. We had some trouble staying on the correct logging road and I continued to hit rocks even at 5 MPH. We finally reached mile marker 22 on Wiggle Brook Road and settled into the tent for a little more than four hours sleep.
We were up and heading for our first peak at 6:15. Al led the charge as we cruised up the logging road. It had sprinkled overnight and everything was a bit damp, the top of Snow Mountain was shrouded in clouds and the temperatures were in the upper 40’s. We all dressed a bit more heavily than on Saturday. Al has an amazing sense of direction and navigated us up to the top with little hesitation. We were on the top of Cupsuptic Snow just 1:05 after we started. We signed in to the register and were met with the first glimmers of sun as we bushwhacked back down. We jogged in the last mile plus and were back at the car in 47 minutes (total of 1:52).
We then drove over to another logging road for the bushwhack up N. Kennebago Divide. James wasn’t very happy about not getting to go on this long hike, but his recovery from patella tendonitis would have been hampered had he gone with us (not to mention we wouldn’t have the car at the next trailhead). Al and I took off at an easy jog up the logging road heading for N. Kennebago Divide. We got in a solid run and I finally got warmed up. Al somehow found a way to get his feet wet in the very first stream we crossed; I gave him a pair of dry socks as I carry a few extra pair at all times.
We reached the summit in 1:44 and then started the whack over to White Cap. We got to White Cap in 51 minutes. Al got the last of his New England Hundred Highest at 11:30 AM on July 1, 2007. Congratulations Al! While signing in we found a plastic flask of brandy (?) and each took a celebratory shot. Then off we went for the next bushwhack to West White cap. At about half-way there we heard voices. Al gave a call, but we never heard a response. It was weird as we didn’t see anyone out there all day, but we must have been close to a group. We continued hiking and quickly made it to the border (50 minutes) and then hiked/jogged along the swath. I was amazed at how far you could see and took a bunch of pictures of the cleared zone that indicated the border between Canada and the US. The slog along the swath was the beginning of the end for me. My heel was blistered despite moleskin and lube and my energy levels were plummeting. We made it to Boundary Peak in 57 minutes and were relieved to find Kevin and Jess waiting for us.
The plan was for K & J to drive into Canada and hike to Boundary and then all of us hike out together and drive back to the trailhead in the US. The timing worked out well and they had only been waiting for us for about 30 minutes. We hiked on a nice trail for 7K (1:17) and were on our way back. I zonked out most of the drive back to our car.
James was fired up to climb Chain of Ponds Snow, but I was done for the day. I took a nap while they did the 6.6 mile round trip in about 2 hours. With dusk not too far off and the logging road looking a bit rough for the Civic we called it a day. We got home a bit quicker than the trip up as the moose weren’t as plentiful (at least I saw fewer moose), arriving back in Bradford at 12:30 AM on Monday.
Splits:
Equinox – Summit via Burton trail 1:16, on the summit :15, down 1:00. Total 2:31.
Dorset – 1:20 car to Dorset + 1:10 from Dorset to W Dorset + 1:18 from W Dorset to car via bushwhack = 3:50
Cupsuptic Snow – From mile marker 22 to summit 1:05 + summit down with jog at the end :47 = 1:52
Big hike – Run up logging road then bushwhack to N. Kennebago Divide 1:44 + whack to White Cap :51 + whack to West Whitecap :50 + hike/run :57 to Boundary Peak + hike out 1:17 = 5:39
Totals:
807 miles driven
6 New England Hundred Highest peaks climbed
8 Moose
5 Deer
1 Porcupine
3 giggling teens (Equinox)
1 screaming version of “Add it up” – Violent Femmes very late at night
Here is my take on the weekend…
This weekend stood out from all the rest for this spring and summer because I didn’t have a race planned, so of course I had to find something unusual to do.
Al and I met up on Saturday morning at five and drove to Bernardston, MA. I’m working on running in every town in MA and had not run there yet. We ran into the section of town called “Satan’s Kingdom”. I’m still not sure why it is called that, but it sounded interesting. We also did a detour out to the Tri-State marker. I had never been to a Tri-State marker and since it was close by it seemed worth the trip. We knocked on the landowner’s door and despite the early hour she pleasantly greeted us and allowed us passage to the monument.
We then motored up the road to Mt Equinox where we met up with the UnFrozen Caveman for the hike. “UFC” is a yoga fanatic named Steve from Vermont that Al has hiked with in the past. I knew we’d get along well as the first few words out of his mouth were expletives. He was fired up for the hike. Al gave him a moment of worry by taking off at a jog at the beginning of the hike. Caveman didn’t hesitate to go with him, very tough guy.
The climb was nice with very few people on the trail despite the picture perfect day. The temps were in the 60’s and the sun was in and out of the big puffy clouds. We took it at a relaxed pace and were on the summit in 1:16. Caveman went into his traditional headstand (did I mention that I like this guy?) and then proceeded to shimmy up a pole to the second story of the hotel. We spent about 15 minutes on the summit taking in the view and an aborted climb up one of the rickety radio towers. Our hike down was uneventful, but we did bump into one of the biggest porcupines I’ve ever seen. We met up with a lady who asked “how far is it?” We told her, but after she left we wondered if she was headed all the way to the top. She seemed ill prepared, hiking with no map or water. We were back down in one hour, giving us a total of 2:31 for the round-trip.
We quickly got into our vehicles and headed over to Dorset. I bottomed out a couple of times driving up the dirt road a little further than I should have. We took off at a moderate clip up the sometimes steep dirt road/trail. We came across a hiker who noted “I haven’t seen anyone out here in a few years”. I think our minimal clothing may have surprised him. Al and I were both in running shoes (I was in racing flats); race t-shirts, and running shorts. Caveman went with lightweight hiking boots, shorts, and no top. Not exactly your typical garb for a bushwhack in June. We paused for a moment at the remnants of the tower where Al checked out the barbecue grill and Caveman did a handstand. We got to the summit in 1:20 then bushwhacked to the West summit in 1:10. At the West summit we had a short discussion on the best way to head back with the nod going to “cutting the corner”. That meant more bushwhacking and less time on the trail. The woods were very open and easy, although quite steep in places, and we were back at the cars in 1:18. The total time for the hike was 3:50.
Our plan was to head up to Maine via Littleton, NH where we’d pick up a friend of Al’s. James had expected us to be there, but Al’s timing was a bit off. We were already over 2 hours behind schedule, but the drive to Littleton was uneventful. James piled in and we were off to Rangeley. The sunset as we passed Twin Mountain was spectacular with the clouds lit up in red. The drive became a bit nerve wracking once we crossed into Maine and I saw my first Moose by the road side. Every shadow became a moose and I white-knuckled the drive to Rangeley. We had some trouble staying on the correct logging road and I continued to hit rocks even at 5 MPH. We finally reached mile marker 22 on Wiggle Brook Road and settled into the tent for a little more than four hours sleep.
We were up and heading for our first peak at 6:15. Al led the charge as we cruised up the logging road. It had sprinkled overnight and everything was a bit damp, the top of Snow Mountain was shrouded in clouds and the temperatures were in the upper 40’s. We all dressed a bit more heavily than on Saturday. Al has an amazing sense of direction and navigated us up to the top with little hesitation. We were on the top of Cupsuptic Snow just 1:05 after we started. We signed in to the register and were met with the first glimmers of sun as we bushwhacked back down. We jogged in the last mile plus and were back at the car in 47 minutes (total of 1:52).
We then drove over to another logging road for the bushwhack up N. Kennebago Divide. James wasn’t very happy about not getting to go on this long hike, but his recovery from patella tendonitis would have been hampered had he gone with us (not to mention we wouldn’t have the car at the next trailhead). Al and I took off at an easy jog up the logging road heading for N. Kennebago Divide. We got in a solid run and I finally got warmed up. Al somehow found a way to get his feet wet in the very first stream we crossed; I gave him a pair of dry socks as I carry a few extra pair at all times.
We reached the summit in 1:44 and then started the whack over to White Cap. We got to White Cap in 51 minutes. Al got the last of his New England Hundred Highest at 11:30 AM on July 1, 2007. Congratulations Al! While signing in we found a plastic flask of brandy (?) and each took a celebratory shot. Then off we went for the next bushwhack to West White cap. At about half-way there we heard voices. Al gave a call, but we never heard a response. It was weird as we didn’t see anyone out there all day, but we must have been close to a group. We continued hiking and quickly made it to the border (50 minutes) and then hiked/jogged along the swath. I was amazed at how far you could see and took a bunch of pictures of the cleared zone that indicated the border between Canada and the US. The slog along the swath was the beginning of the end for me. My heel was blistered despite moleskin and lube and my energy levels were plummeting. We made it to Boundary Peak in 57 minutes and were relieved to find Kevin and Jess waiting for us.
The plan was for K & J to drive into Canada and hike to Boundary and then all of us hike out together and drive back to the trailhead in the US. The timing worked out well and they had only been waiting for us for about 30 minutes. We hiked on a nice trail for 7K (1:17) and were on our way back. I zonked out most of the drive back to our car.
James was fired up to climb Chain of Ponds Snow, but I was done for the day. I took a nap while they did the 6.6 mile round trip in about 2 hours. With dusk not too far off and the logging road looking a bit rough for the Civic we called it a day. We got home a bit quicker than the trip up as the moose weren’t as plentiful (at least I saw fewer moose), arriving back in Bradford at 12:30 AM on Monday.
Splits:
Equinox – Summit via Burton trail 1:16, on the summit :15, down 1:00. Total 2:31.
Dorset – 1:20 car to Dorset + 1:10 from Dorset to W Dorset + 1:18 from W Dorset to car via bushwhack = 3:50
Cupsuptic Snow – From mile marker 22 to summit 1:05 + summit down with jog at the end :47 = 1:52
Big hike – Run up logging road then bushwhack to N. Kennebago Divide 1:44 + whack to White Cap :51 + whack to West Whitecap :50 + hike/run :57 to Boundary Peak + hike out 1:17 = 5:39
Totals:
807 miles driven
6 New England Hundred Highest peaks climbed
8 Moose
5 Deer
1 Porcupine
3 giggling teens (Equinox)
1 screaming version of “Add it up” – Violent Femmes very late at night
Major Kudos all around.
