Arethusa Falls and King Ravine

Since I'm on vacation this week I decided to do a couple days of hiking in the Whites, with an overnight at the Joe Dodge Lodge. Spoiler alert, King Ravine was a bit of a bust for me, but the rest of the midweek weekend went pretty well.

I decided that I would do a shorter hike for the first day so that I could take my time in the morning and go up whenever. I was going back and forth about what to hike, when I remembered that I had a book of waterfalls of NE, and hadn't done a single hike from it - seemed like a perfect waterfall day, and I chose Arethusa falls because it's the largest single drop waterfall in NH, is a 3 mile out and back hike, and is pretty close to the lodge. It wound up being the perfect hike for the day - I got there around 1:00 and was done by 3:30. The out-and-back hike has 869 feet of elevation gain, which isn't that much, but over a 3 mile hike that means it's pretty consistently uphill on the way in and downhill on the way out. The falls were really nice. I am pretty sure it's where I went ice climbing the one time I went ice climbing. The one bad thing that happened is somehow my iphone locked me out for excessive attempts at logging in, and I couldn't access it for an hour, which isn't really helpful when you are relying on it for the maps - trail and road. Fortunately there was only one trail that was easy to follow and I knew where I was going to get to the lodge - there was only one turn to make.

I decided the easiest thing would be to get both dinner and breakfast at the lodge, and I was pleased that it was salmon night there, with a really tasty dill sauce and some rosemary honey bread. I was a little surprised when I got into my bunk room and there was a guy in it, but I guess they don't sort by gender. It was fine, he seemed like a nice kid. But the room was a little smelly. I kind of wanted to open the window, but wound up not doing so, which I regretted at night because it was stuffy and I didn't sleep well.

The next day was the big hike - King Ravine, one of the terrifying 25 up Adams. The plan was to go up King Ravine to the AT, go over to the hut, and then go down via Valley Way with a bike spot between the two trailheads. I wasn't planning to summit because I didn't really see the need, I've summited before and didn't love it. I couldn't figure out the parking at King Ravine (turns out that you park at the store across the street) so I parked at the end of the Valley Way and started with the two mile bike ride, and then folded my bike and locked it to a tree. The start of the hike was quite lovely - a little jaunt through the woods. I really enjoyed it - especially the mossy waterfall. There was one water crossing that was a little high, and I dropped one of my hiking poles while going over it. I was so sad watching it zip downstream, but fortunately it got caught on some rocks and I was able to recover it. Soon I got to the really uphill bit, and things got real.

It was a pretty cool (but humid) day out. It had rained the day before and the rocks were still a little slippery and wet. Because of the dampness I decided to skip the subway and just focus on the main trail. I was very glad I did because I could hear people in the subway trying to figure out where to go, and they all sounded pretty stressed. Even not in the subway there were a lot of big boulders to go over, and very little in the way of markings. I had a really hard time finding the path a couple of times, which really stressed me out. Also, I could see clouds coming over the top of the ridgeline. The final nail in the coffin, though was that my phone locked me out again! So, I couldn't access it for an hour to make sure I was on the route. I did have a paper map, but that doesn't tell you if you are on the trail... Each time I couldn't find the trail I got anxious, and then I talked myself down, and then it happened again. Eventually I decided that there was some serious potential to get myself into a bad place, and made the difficult decision to turn around about a third of a mile from the top. Here is the recording from my hike at that point (phone still kept track even if it didn't open!):

I really did not want to have to climb down all of those huge boulders again. I sat and ate some chips and a peanut butter sandwich (no jam, sad), looked at the view and psyched myself up for it. It was pretty rough going down the rocks, and I scraped up my legs. To keep my spirits up I sang the King George song "I know him" from Hamilton - stupid mountain. Eventually, though, I made it down and took the short line path out. I got to my car, stopped for my bike, and then drove straight home where I took a really long shower and ate a huge amount of watermelon.

Today I have a little bit of a hiker hangover. I ate some salty chips, eggs, and had a protein drink and am feeling a little better. Tomorrow I'm getting a new phone - mine is over 6.5 years old - I was hoping to keep it a little longer, but the battery needs replacing and the phone locking thing is a real issue. I'm not having it do that again!

Fun day of rowing

I guess a lot of people are on vacation, so there were only 12 rowers there tonight - an 8 and a 4. I was in the 8 (rowing port again) and there were some of the good rowers with us. It was delightful! We've been really struggling with getting the boat set in our practices - on Monday I was rowing starboard and my oar was dragging on the water so bad, it wasn't very fun. And, it's really hard to get better when you can't really practice. It's been frustrating. But today we weren't perfect but we weren't totally off, and so it was a delightful row!

We started with some drills, but the big thing was the workout - we did 4 minutes on, 4 minutes off for 5 rounds of rowing. We started at 24 strokes per minute and got up to doing race starts and 30 strokes a minutes. It was really hard and I have a massive blister on my hand, but I was so happy to row and not drag my oar on the water. I feel like I have to work harder to get into the better boat, but there is no possible way to get the hours of experience that the experienced rowers have because they've spent so much time rowing. Anyhow, it looks like the next two weeks might be quiet, and I'm going to try to go as much as possible.

Weekend in the Birkshires

In March I was thinking that I had never seen YoYo Ma live, which is kind of silly because he lives in the Boston area, is amazing and seems like such a kind person. So I decided I would have a long weekend over the summer in the Berkshires and hear him play when he was at Tanglewood. Which was over this weekend, and was amazing!

He had a special concert celebrating 250 years of America that was YoYo Ma and friends, and his friends included James Taylor and Jon Batiste, and others - like Bryan Stevenson and Heather Cox Richardson. After I bought the ticket I decided that staying at Kripalu might be nice since they are right next to each other, and then it turned out that they were having a program on mindfulness and classical music, where we all went to the concert - perfect!

I decided to go a little splurgy, and bought a ticket inside the shed - second row! Which I have never done before and probably won't again, but wow! So worth it. I've been to a few orchestra performances, and it always surprises me how the musicians all just wander on and turn up their instruments, set up their music, ect, like they are there for a practice. At one point they were all standing around for a bit, and then the oboe section just kind of wandered back in and then they could start. 

Anyhow, the concert started out with Fanfare for the Common Man, which we listened to at Kripalu, and so I heard a lot more from it that I would have otherwise. Next, YoYo Ma came out and the first thing he said was "I am an immigrant" which set the tone for the night, which was really magical. He left the stage and there was more music, but soon he was back playing. Because I was so close I could see his hands moving and the expression on his face. The conductor for much of the evening was Ken-David Masur and I loved watching his dramatic flair. At one point YoYo Ma came out with a special violin that the first violinist played - apparently it belonged to one of the performers and had been owned by a freed slave many years ago.

For me the best part of the evening was when James Taylor came out - there was Jon Batiste, YoYo Ma and James Taylor on stage, and James Taylor was right in front of me. They started with Hard Times Come Again No More, and then You've Got a Friend. During You've Got a Friend James Taylor was like "sing along" and since he was right there it was like we were singing together. There was a planned encore which was We Shall Overcome, with everyone but YoYo (who I think snuck out early) that was just incredible. And, the musicians were like "shine your light" which of course everyone did with their phones, while recording. Because of course you would record that. I tried to post the video, but no dice.

After the concert I walked back to Kripalu, chatting with some other people who had gone to the concert and thinking what a special evening it had been. I really liked the Kripalu time as well. I got really lucky with my room, because I stayed in a dorm and wound up in a room with 3 beds - 2 bunk beds and a single, and only 2 other people. So it wasn't as crowded as the other bunks I was in. And, the two women turned out to be totally cool. I did a yoga class on Friday when I got there, and then I didn't sleep well on Friday night so I got up and did the 6:30 am class on Saturday, and then Yoga Dance on Sunday before I left. The program was really nice too. We did a lot of listening to the music that we would hear at the concert, and some gentle yoga. The instructor was really good - one thing she had us do was label our emotions. She said "labeling things can take away the intensity," so she recommended labeling things "pleasant" and "unpleasant" which I thought was weird hippy freak woo woo goo, but then today I was in a boring meeting and I thought "unpleasant" and she was right, I felt so much better. So, I'm going to keep that habit I think.

Tripyramids

This was my second time doing the tripyramids - it's a pretty intense but fun route that goes up an avalanche slide. I would do it again, but probably not for a while. I did it yesterday and today I'm beat! I'm working my training for Huntington Ravine, and I have to say that this one did feel easier than the last two (Holt trail and Cap's Ridge) mostly I think because it was a little cooler out, I wore shorts, brought my bike for the road walk part, and brought gatoraid with electrolytes and potato chips. All things I will plan to do for Huntington's.  

Two days ago was my birthday and once again I celebrated with Shakespeare in the Park with some friends. They did Midsummer Night's Dream, which I've seen them do before. This version was so different - I like how creative they are in keeping with the classic play, but also adapting it. Anyhow, I got home around 11 and decided to sleep in a little - I got up at 7 ish and headed out a little before 8 because I hadn't packed. Which was possible to do because #1 it's still getting dark pretty late and #2 I brought my folding bike and rode it up the gravel road to where the loop ends. I was so glad I did that!

The start of the hike isn't nothing - I started at 10:15 on my bike and it took me about 40 minutes to get the 2.6 miles to the loop. It's over 400 feet of elevation gain on a gravel road to get to the real start of the hike. A friend of mine told me she rode her bike there, and I thought it was so brilliant! There were a few times that I had to get off and walk my bike up on the way in, but for the most part it was a little uphill but not too bad. I did bring my bike lock (and the key - imagine forgetting the key and having to walk back to the car for it, and then having to walk back to the bike!!) though I didn't really think it was necessary. When I got to the start of the loop I saw I wasn't the only one with that idea - there were about a half dozen other bikes there.

From that point it's another mile on the gravel road, which was kind of uphill, but not bad. It was kind of a nice stroll in the woods, and I enjoyed it. Once you turn off the road the path follows a pretty brook for a little bit before getting REAL. It was about noon by that point and I was getting hungry. I knew if I did the hike without eating something I would be sorry, so I stopped and sat on a rock and ate this delicious and probably very junkie power bar while getting mentally prepared for the climb. At first it follows a narrow path over the rocks, but soon it spreads out to the North Slide, which is both the most fun and most intense part. Once I got there I put my hiking poles away and did a lot of slabby climbing on hands and feet. Because I am preparing for Huntington's I didn't take the easiest way, I looked for places that were a little exposed and a little rock climby, and I have to say it made the hike both more fun and more exhausting. I did actually pass a couple, with a woman who was struggling with the climbing parts! Anyhow, the slide took me about an hour and a half to get up, mostly because I did have to stop and breathe a lot. And plan my route. There were one or two spots that kind of sketched me out, but I think they were avoidable if I had gone to the side. There were a couple times that I thought I was getting close to the top, but wasn't. Eventually, though, it started flattening out a bit and there were a couple of cairns that directed you off to the side.

From my previous time hiking I remember the top of the slide being the best view point. It was really nice up there with a beautiful view. The weather was really perfect, with some clouds and a little breeze, but not too hot. There was a big rock near the top that of course I had to climb on to rest. I called it "potato chip rock" because I opened my pringles and chowed down. I sat there for about a half hour and during that time a solo woman came up as well as the couple. The woman was like "I was so terrified" and the woman of the couple was like "that's a one and done for me." Which was interesting for me because I hadn't really been nervous, mostly because I was so busy planning my route that I didn't really look down - a strategy that I recommend. A couple times when I was on a little bit of a ledge I did look down and though "this would be a bad place to fall." Anyhow, we chatted a bit, I ate half my can of chips, and enjoyed the view. The picture above is shamelessly stolen from the couple that I passed and the picture below below is from the rock, I was too in the zone to take a photo while hiking.

There were still three peaks to hit, so after about a half hour I headed out. It turned out that the cairns and potato chip rock were all near the end of the slab, and soon I was in the woods headed up to North Tripyramid, which was no joke. I think it took about 45 minutes to get the rest of the way up - it's a viewless peak so I just tagged it and headed down. I do like a good ridgeline, and this one was really nice, so I enjoyed the walk to middle tripyramid which I didn't realize was the second 4000 footer - I thought south was. So when the trail went crazy uphill I was sad. But it wasn't that bad. I didn't see the viewpoint from middle, though I know I ate lunch there when I did it 9 years ago. Maybe it's become overgrown? Anyhow, I decided not to stop and just keep going to south, which was definitely uphill but not bad.

From the top of south you start the steep descent. Because I didn't see the viewpoint at the top, I decided to sit on a rock at the top of the slide to eat my sandwich. I'd brought PB&J, with the jam I'd made from my raspberries from my garden, and it was delicious! The view from the top of south isn't as big as the one from north, and it's in a different direction so you can't see all the tall peaks you've hiked and feel like a bad ass, but still it was really nice and I enjoyed eating and viewing.

The way down is just as hard as the way up, and took me just as long. There was a lot of butt sliding though fortunately this time I didn't tare the seat of my pants :)  At the top I put my hiking poles away so I could fully use my hands, but about half way down it became much more skree, and so I took them back out because I could walk again. By the bottom my legs and knees were killing me! I was so glad to see a real trail again, and to go down at a little slower pace. 

The last bit is a really pretty walk in the woods. If you hadn't just done that crazy hike you would think it was just a lovely little path. For the most part I enjoyed being in the woods and feeling good about what I'd accomplished, though I have to confess I was so excited to see my bike. Riding my bike out was amazing. I barely had to pedal, I just got on and went downhill. The folding bike has tires that aren't quite as fat as a mountain bike, but are good enough for a gravel road and it did really well on the trail. There was one place where it was a little sandy where I slid around a bit, but it was totally fine. I passed two couples who were hiking out and got to ring my gnome bell at them. At the very end of the trail there was a couple standing there, right by the parking lot, blocking the trailhead. I rang my bell at them and they looked at me like I was the jerk, but believe me I was giving them the same look. Anyhow, it took 15 minutes to do the last 2.6 miles - highly recommend! I folded up my bike, put it in the back of my car, changed my shoes and headed out.

I was a little low on gas and it's cheaper in NH anyhow, so I stopped for some gas and food. I was trying to decide what to eat and noticed this pizza place and thought "I wonder if they sell slices," when I noticed a neon sign that said "slices". Which I knew would be better than whatever I got in the gas station. When I looked at the "slice" though it was actually a small pizza cut into 4 little triangles, which was perfect for eating while I was driving home. I got a drink at the gas station because I'd gone through all my water and headed out. Really good hike, fun day, but totally exhausting. Today I'm meeting a friend in the park for a jazz festival - we are going to bring a blanket and picnic, and I think that is going to be the perfect speed for me.

Second regatta

This year I was a little smarter about the regatta, having all that experience and such. Coach asked folks to be there at 6:30, but I was only in one race scheduled for 2:10, so I was like "nope, not a chance" and instead did my usual Saturday morning parkour, coffee, farmers market routine. Then, because things aren't always on time I went at about 1 ish. Much better strategy and one I will keep if I do the race again, which I probably will.

This year I was only in one race in the women's eight. It was actually the last race of the regatta, so some of the folks in the boat had already rowed. One thing that was nice this year was that it wasn't a million degrees out, it's pretty cool and the sun is blocked by some smoke from fires in Canada, and the a bunch of storm clouds came in. So, much cooler than last year. 

The race before us was an eight and we hopped into their boat - I knew about half the rowers again. This year I rowed port and was in the 4 seat, which isn't my usual spot but was fine. We rowed out to the start and were really well set - it was so nice! I was thinking it would be great if we all rowed together all the time. This year our start strategy was 3/4 row, 1/2 row, 1/2 row, 3/4 row and then a power five. Which I kind of got. The two seat I think caught a crab because I was hitting something and didn't understand what, and when I looked her oar was all in my space. And then I figured she would get it on the next stroke, but she didn't, which I assume means that she was recovering. Anyhow, she wasn't rowing for a while, but eventually picked up again. When we crossed the finish our stroke seat was completely exhausted and couldn't row any more - not sure if it was the same woman as last year, but way to put it all out there. Also, maybe be a little more careful with that?

The whole row I couldn't see any other boats, apparently we caught up to one of the other ones a little once the two seat started rowing, but we were third. Of three. So, we were last. But still in pineapple contention, we won a can of pineapple, which I didn't stick around for because it was starting to rain and I kind of didn't feel like it. It was a nice experience and I got a free tshirt, so I think I would do it again, but not ready for regular race days.

Two days of coxing

They are having a huge learn to row program this month, with hundreds of new rowers, and so they asked for volunteers to cox. Coach marketed it as a good way to improve your coxing skills, so I signed up to do it twice - this week and in two weeks. I don't know if it was coincidence or planned, but then I also was assigned to cox for regular rowing on Monday. Which actually worked well for me because my legs were killing me from the hike, and I didn't know if I could row. Might as well get the coxing over with.

So, Monday was my first day to cox an 8, and sadly it was really really windy. It was so stressful, because trying to steer is stressful on its own, and then trying to tell everyone what to do is stressful, but doing those two things while the boat is being blown around is so much harder. But, we didn't hit anything, no one fell into the river or lost a finger, so I call that a success. 

Since it was my first time coxing, everyone was trying to be helpful, which was nice of them, but actually also added to the stress. The stroke seat was the woman who talks to herself a lot, and so there was a lot going on with that. When we pulled away from the dock she was like "have 2 seat row" which I didn't think was right, but I did it anyhow, and in fact it wasn't right - it was mean to be bow rowing. Anyhow, coach had to guide us through the bridges and around the biggest bend in the river. And in a couple other places. And stroke kept giving advice on what to do, that wasn't alway right. Finally after she told me to have ports pull harder when in fact starboards needed to I was like "the backseat driving isn't helping," which wasn't very diplomatic of me, but whatever, it wasn't helping.

We did make it all the way up and back on the river, mostly just rowing at a steady state for the entire time, and when we were moving and I could be offering smaller corrections that I saw (and really, I only saw a few of them) it was actually pretty nice! We made it back, and coach guided us into the dock and everyone gave me a round of applause, which felt awesome. :)

At first I thought today might be cancelled because it was windy again, and with the high winds and beginners it would be hard to row. So, it was hard to row, but it wasn't cancelled. There are two guys who are really really good rowers who organized the big learn to row program, and they were also coaching. Poor guys, there they were, elite rowers, with a boat full of people who had no idea of what they were doing. I mean, some of the rowers were holding their oars upside down! We were the last boat out, and we rowed across the water and then got stuck almost hitting the dock and shore and rocks for a while. Fortunately the woman in stroke seat had rowed in high school and had some idea of what she was doing. Because she had to keep rowing us away from shore - I mean at one point I was really nervous we were going to be blown into a dock. 

The moments that we were actually out there and I could explain things to people, like how to set the boat, or how to push your handle down to keep it from getting caught in the water were kind of fun. But the wind and the fact that half the rowers had no idea what they were doing was so stressful. And then the coach kept being like "I'll call this." And so I wouldn't say anything, but then he would be like "are you going to tell them to row." I was so confused! Anyhow, we made it back to shore again, no one caught a finger (which apparently happened on Saturday - it might have been broken) and the stroke seat knew to hold onto the boat so it didn't float away. Taking the boat out of the water and walking it up proved to be stressful as well, because usually folks know what they are doing and just need some guidance, but these guys didn't know - soon one of the more experienced rowers came over and guided them on how to put it away. And we all survived! After, I came home and ate ice cream. I'm coxing for this group again in two weeks - I hope it won't be so windy.

Mt. Jefferson via Caps Ridge

It's been a while since I was up on the rock pile - I forgot how hard those hikes are! Caps Ridge is the highest trailhead in the white mountains - the out and back is only five miles, but that's so deceptive! It's 2700 feet of elevation gain, almost 2000 of those feet in the last mile and a half, which is intense. I did the hike yesterday and today I'm totally wiped.

I got a nice early start - I woke up at 5:30, was out the door by 5:50 and at the trailhead at around 9. It's actually only a 2 1/2 hour drive up there (for some reason I always think of it as longer) but I had to stop a couple times - first at the rest stop and then at the base of Washington at the start of the cog. Anyhow, I started hiking at 9:15, which was pretty good! The first .9 mile of the trail was really enjoyable - it went though a nice pine forest and was uphill, but not killer. I was feeling good and really enjoyed it. There's a viewpoint at .9 mile and I stopped to look at what was to come, including the three "caps" which are scrambly rock faces. I actually chose the hike for the caps - it's on the terrifying 25, though, spoiler alert, I didn't find them at all terrifying. After the viewpoint things started to get real.

The forest quickly gave way to the little shrubs that are only ankle high, and you could start to see the view. Even from the lower point on the trail it was amazing, and every time that I stopped to catch my breath I turned around to admire behind me, and then looked over to Washington where I could see the road up to the top. Every now and then I could hear the cog railway - apparently someone hurt his ankle and was rescued and brought down on the cog while I was hiking. Anyhow, out of the treeline the trail looked like this for some of the way:

Which is just kind of silly and not really a trail. It didn't take long to get to the first of the caps, which I thought was the most scrambly - I actually put my hiking poles away so I could use hands and feet to get up. The rock was pretty rough so there were plenty of footholds and I didn't find the climbing part hard, in fact I quite enjoyed it.

But it was just relentless! I think it was maybe my slowest hike ever. And, instead of playing the "50 steps game" where I take 50 steps and then rest, I played the "Let's not have a heart attack on the mountain" game, where I tried to keep my heartbeat below 155. 

Although it wasn't that hot out I still somehow was sweating buckets and wound up feeling pretty dehydrated even though I was drinking water the whole way. I started feeling a little nauseous, which didn't help the situation. Even though I brought some electrolytes that I drank at the top my mouth was still dry. In retrospect I think that I should have brought more salt, probably in potato chip form - the salt that I brought was mixed nuts, but from whole foods, so of course they were lightly salted.

Anyhow, once you complete the caps you still have a ways to go to get to the top. It was a lot of rock scrambling, which I enjoyed but again was exhausting. As you go up there is a false summit, which would have made me want to cry if I had any water left for tears. Anyhow, I finally got to the top and just sat for a few minutes catching my breath and enjoying the view. It's stunning up there, and so incredible to look down at the valley. From the top of the peak you can see lake of the clouds hut - there was a big group that was headed there. I sat up top for about 45 minutes, enjoying the breeze and eating a little of the sandwich I brought (a really amazing egg bread with cheese and avocado).

I knew that the hike down was going to be no easier because of all the rocks and scrambles, so reluctantly I eventually got up and headed down the mountain, again thinking about the ephemeral nature of hiking. I really enjoyed the rock hopping up top, using my parkour skills and trusting my feet. There were a few times I needed to scootch, especially once I got to the caps again. I started feeling really tired around the caps, and that was slow going, with a lot of using my butt as a 5th limb (I wore my hiking tights that I had torn a hole in before, and tore the seam wide open so my underware was showing most of the way down, which was pretty awesome. Every time someone came along I tried to turn so my butt was to the trees, but I couldn't really prevent people who were passing me from getting a view.)

I was so happy when I got back to the viewpoint rock, and from there the hike was a bit faster, though my legs were exhausted so I couldn't move super fast. For most of the way down I was dreaming of potato chips and a gatorade, and I decided to go to the cog station to get them because it was Sunday evening and I thought some of the stores might be closed. I tied my puff around my waist and headed inside, only to find out the cafeteria was closed - so tragic! Fortunately there was a little store downstairs where I bought an energy drink, chips and one of those disgusting uncrustable pb&j's that tasted so amazing. I changed, cleaned up a little and then drove on home - I got home around 8, took a shower, foam rolled, and went to bed.