Hancock and South Hancock

I had to get out of my state of mourning for a little bit, so I headed up North for a hike. It's a long weekend, with Friday off, so Saturday was the perfect day for a hike. I decided on the Hancocks because the road is still opened, and because they both sounded like fun! Which they were.

The Hancocks are in the Pemigewasset Wilderness and, before the Kancamagus Highway (or, the Kanc as I like to call it) was built, they were two of the most remote peeks out there. Now there is parking right by this hairpin turn of the Kanc and you have to cross the road at this really sketchy section. So, no longer remote, but now dangerous to get to the trail head :)  I was really proud of myself because I woke up at 5:40 and was on the road at 6 am. I started out hiking at 8:30!  Of course, part of that's just because I haven't been sleeping well, but whatever, I'm still impressed with me.

The first 1.8 miles of the trail are pretty much totally flat, very pretty, a relaxing hike. There are 5 stream crossings in the hike, and the first two are in this section. There were a few rocks that were covered in ice. There were both hands and feet involved. It wasn't pretty. I got to the first trail junction after just an hour!  The second section was .7 miles. It was still pretty gentle of a hike. A few more roots in the path, and 3 more crossings. On crossing #4 I slipped on an icy rock and my foot got completely soaked! Fortunately, for once I was prepared with extra wool socks and a plastic bag to put in my boot. A little less breathable, but fine none the less. I reached the next junction pretty fast! This is where things finally started being really uphill. For 1.1 miles you could tell you were going up, but it was fine, there were roots other than the usual rocks. And then the steep part began.

You could either go .7 to North Hancock or .5 to South Hancock. There's a 1.4 mile trail up top that connects them. I decided to go up the .5 trail on the assumption that this would be the steeper trail. Much as it's painful to go up a steep trail, it's do-able. It may not be fun, but it's possible. Going down is so hard on the knees, I'd rather that be more gradual. Also, it said there were limited views and I wanted to be on the mountain with the better limited view last, and that was North Hancock. The up part was tough. Since the rest had been so gentle, the .5 up was intense; it took me 45 minutes. At the top I sat in an overlook (which was amazing, I don't know why anyone would call it "fair" - maybe because it wasn't 360 degrees?) to have a cheese sandwich. Of course, as soon as I sat down there were a bunch of people there, and a dog that really wanted some cheese. Dogs love cheese. Well, they seemed like nice people, and a very nice dog. I sat for about 15 min and enjoyed the view.

The ridgeline from South to North was the best part of the hike. It was so nice up there! I was in the woods, which was good because it was cold and windy out and the trees offered protection. There was a dusting of snow, the sky was so blue, and it was peaceful. I love a good ridgeline!

I was a little sad to get to North, but not sad to sit and have cheese sandwich #2 and a banana. I was pretty hungry!  The view from the second mountain was in a different direction. It was better, you could see the tripyramids, the osceolas, and a bunch of others. No roads, no cars, no houses. And, of course it was full of people. There was a scouting troupe I think, and they brought ramen and stoves to have a warm snack. Not a bad idea. And, two more dogs to admire my second sandwich. Dogs. I stayed for a while, about 30 minutes. Then it was time to head down.

The way down was so so slow, probably slower than going up. I had my microspikes on, it was slippery in some places and dirt in others, so it was complicated with the walking. Plus, it was so steep! It took me an hour to get down. After that, the rest was much quicker. I left the top at 1:30. Got to the bottom at 2:30, and got back to the car at 4:30! The 1.8 miles at the end I was just flying because I really didn't want to be in the woods after dark due to hunting season, crossing the road, and not wanting to drive on the Kanc in total darkness.  Total hike time was 8 hours, with about 1 hour of that sitting, eating, putting bags in my boots, etc. Book time was 6 hrs 15 min. That downhill killed me!  All and all, a really nice hike!  All the hard work was done in one hour 45 min, the rest was pretty chill.

More sad days

It's two days later and some of the acute anguish from the election has faded. The sick knot in the pit of my stomach is gone some of the time, I've stopped eating ice cream and carbs (mostly) and feeling numb. I still haven't been on social media, except to go through Facebook to make my moves on Scrabble. I haven't looked at the news in any form. I've been listening to Game of Thrones on my iPad in the car (because even stations that play music are going to talk about politics I'm sure) and so the only political shenanigans I've listened to are the Lanisters, Barathions and Starks. I was at yoga class yesterday, and the despair there was still palpable. My fav yoga teacher is headed to Costa Rica for a little bit, I hope he comes back.

I'm still trying to keep busy and active. Which includes crossfit, even though I considered not going today. It's Veteran's Day and I have a long weekend, I decided to get there early-ish, so I wouldn't have it hanging over my head all day. Once I finish this and shower, I'm going for some retail therapy. Might as well spend it, I don't think my money is going to grow over the next few years (I hope I don't look back at these words and regret them).

Since it's Vet's Day, we did a hero WOD:
Whittman - 7 rounds
15 kettlebell swings (I used the smallest one)
15 Power cleans (I lifted 35 pounds)
15 box jumps (I did steps)
my time: 20 min 26 sec

Whittman was 26 when he was killed by a roadside bomb. I hope we can avoid killing more people.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get in another hike. Hopefully it will make me feel better.

A Very Very Sad Day

We elected a new president yesterday. I'm so sad about it I can't talk about it, can't think about it, can't even acknowledge it. I feel like right after 9/11, when we knew something bad was coming, but there was an eerie quiet while waiting. Right now I think I may never look at the news or social media again. It's been so hard for me to get to this place in my life where I'm happy, I hope this doesn't fuck it all up. It's scary stuff.

I've decided to try to keep life the same as much as possible right now, keep doing things that are good for me (except that for dinner I had chips and guac and ice cream, so without complete success). I did go to crossfit. We started with back squats in sets of 3. It was a small class and I got my own barbell, so I was able to do a lot. I started at 65, then 85 then 95 then 100 for four sets!  It wasn't my highest ever, but I felt like my form was pretty good throughout, and I got stronger as I went through the rounds.

WOD: 10 min AMRAP
15 toes to bar (I did knees to chest)
20 wall balls
I did exactly 4 rounds

My mentee from Big Brothers Big Sisters is really into Strange Things, so I decided to watch it too. It's scary but good (and less scary than watching the news, let's be honest.)

Garfield

I went back and forth on what to hike today, the weather didn't look so good, but I really wanted to get in a hike. I've been seeing posts on Facebook that there's snow in the Whites, and I wanted to make sure that my first "winter" hike wasn't too hard. But I also didn't want to do a really easy one like Cannon - I figure I should save that for real winter. Garfield has all the requirements, plus an access road that closes once there's snow so it can't be hiked in the winter. The only thing is that the top is opened so there's a really nice view, and it was supposed to be cloudy....  Still, I went with it, and was glad I did!  It was a really nice hike, one to put on the list to revisit (unlike The Owl, Isolation, or Adams) on a day when it's clear out.

I did pretty well getting up. I left home at 7 am! I had put some stew in the crock pot last night, and put it in the fridge. I even remembered to put it on to cook when I left :)  I added corn when I got back, should be done in like 10 min, which is good because my stomache is rumbling. I got to the mountain at 9:30. I was pretty impressed with myself for finding it because it's on this mostly unmarked access road with pretty much no signage until you get to the parking lot and trail head a mile and a half in. When I got there, though, I was a little horrified to see a Meet up group with like 20 people gathering! Sigh. I also realized that I didn't have my 3 season boots, and was going to have to wear the winter ones, and that I needed to wear two pairs of socks with them (I confess, I found one pair in the back seat of my car, balled up from my last hike). I was glad I had them, though, because up high there was snow!

I decided to take my time and let the Meet up group go ahead. In addition, there were two groups of three guys, one of Spanish  speakers, one of whom kept whistling which was annoying and one that was three guys in like their 20's + a really nice dog.  I let them go ahead too, because I assumed they would be faster, but I actually wound up passing the dog guys!  And the Latino men too, though they passed me again.

The hike was really gradual for the first part, with two pretty nice stream crossings. The first half didn't even have a ton of rocks in the path which was refreshing. It obviously got steeper, but not too steep until the last .2 miles. There were even a few switch backs!  Eventually it started snowing, lightly. It's 5 miles up and it took me about 4 hours.

One woman from the Meet up was having a hard time. I passed her on the way up, she was eating a rice cakes with something on them, which I thought was a funny trail snack. I ran into people going down in a bit, and they were all like "do you have a purple parka? Are you with the meet up?" Everyone had a message for her on the way down, and they kept asking me because I was a woman hiking by myself. It was a little weird because in the middle of nowhere do you want to tell a stranger you are alone? Usually with hikers it's fine, but I feel like most people don't ask.

Anyhow, the top was cold and windy and no view. I walked around for about three minutes and then went and stood in a  grove and ate something. There was actually a tent set up - it's right on the AT, I wonder if someone's still through hiking? It's an in and out hike, so after a snack and a chat with a few other people in the grove (I was alone on the summit for my 3 min, but you are never alone up top), I headed back down.  My 3 guy and a dog friends were headed off to Galehead. Brave. 10 miles is good for me!

The top was slippery, and I got to use my spikes! I was about 2 hours down and starting to have dark thoughts, when I realized I hadn't sat down, and I really hadn't had much to eat. So, I through a jacket over a rock, sat, and ate a power bar. I felt so much better! The last hour was a lot easier. Must remember for future.

Didn't jump on the box

Today was the big day when the Dean visited campus - it turned out pretty awesome, there were just the right number of students, and I only said one totally bone headed thing. All and all, a big success! I confess, I was kind of nervous all afternoon about things working out. After, I went to crossfit just to complete my stalking and debrief. Also, it was a pretty good WOD-ish.

We started with front squats. Sadly, everyone else was lifting way more than me - there were two groups of women, the first group said that they would probably lift like 200 pounds. Ha! I went and joined the other group. We did 5 sets of 3, and I got up to 88 pounds with reasonable form for 6 lifts, and 93 pounds really horribly such that it really barely counts (it was like a demi plie). I think that might be a new front squat record for me.

WOD:
50 box jumps (despite my 3 successful jumps last week I did steps)
40 thrusters (I did 35 pounds)
30 box jumps
20 thrusters
10 box jumps
my time: 13 min 16 sec

I'm hoping to get in a hike this weekend, Sat looks like the better day. Maybe Cannon, Garfield, or Lincoln.

Tuesday is the election. I can't wait for it to be over, and I hope that people have enough sense to make a good decision. Electing Hills isn't going to make for smooth running of the country, but the other option, it just makes me wonder who we are?

Stanky Legs

Today's WOD involved a lot of running, a mile in the WOD and a third of a mile for the warm up. In the WOD it was broken into three loops of a third of a mile, the first one I did took me about 3 and a half minutes, which is about a 10 min 30 sec mile, which is OK I guess. I was puffing pretty hard!  First we did Power Snatches, 5 rounds of 3. I got up to 55 pounds, which I did for my last two rounds. I actually felt a little bit like my form was good for a few of them.

Stanky Legs WOD: 3 rounds
535 meter run
15 overhead squats (I did 15 front squats with 45 pounds)
my time: 15:56

It was supposed to have a cap of 15 minutes total. After, my legs did feel pretty stanky. Looking at the board, there were some people in the morning class who did the entire workout in about 10 minutes, which is faster than my running time! Wow!

Thursday the Admissions Dean is coming to Northeastern to talk to the students. I saw him today and was all, "we're so excited" to which he responded "yeah, I'm not coming." Funny.

Rock Circuit Trail

Never underestimate the Middlesex Fells. I've said that before, and I say it again today. I was thinking about going to the Whites and doing one of my 4000 footers, but I wanted to sleep in, and the weather in NH said views from the mountains wouldn't be that good. So, I decided to hike in the fells instead. My favorite hike over there is the Rock Circuit I think, anyhow, that's what I decided to do.

I guess I decided that since it wasn't a 4000 foot mountain I didn't need food, water or a map. Dumb! I also forgot how long the trail is - it's 3.7 miles, which isn't that far, but it's not short either. It was a really nice day, and the walk felt good (until the last 45 min or so, when I started getting really hungry and thirsty). I took one small wrong turn, which turned out really well because I found this guy rock climbing - I knew there were a few places to climb in the fells, but this one was pretty nice. The climbs were easy, he wasn't using a rope and he was alone. I don't know that I would be that brave - the top moves looked a little hard for so high up.

I was getting to what I hoped was the end, and turned on what I hoped was the trail back to the road, only it wasn't. I walked an extra 5 or 10 min to get to the wrong road. That was a bad moment on the hike. I cut one little corner out of the trail, but I decided it still counted as complete and blogable because of the extra walk on the wrong trail.

The entire hike took me about 3 hrs and 20 min, which I guess is OK. I talked to the climbing guy for about 10 min and I looked at views for 5 or 10 min on the way. So, that's probably 3 hours of hiking. After I was so hungry I went to Whole Foods and pigged out on the free samples - they had crab legs that were really good, and cheese! I bought coconut water, sushi, and pretend healthy chips. That's good post hiking food, right? :)