Huntington Ravine!!

Success! Yesterday I hiked Huntington Ravine with a friend, it was a lot of fun, a beast, and a little bit scary. But not too scary because I didn't look down :)

My friend is working on the Terrifying 25 list - she's pretty gung ho about then and has done most of them over the last year or two. She usually solo hikes, like me, but neither of us wanted to do Huntington alone, so we decided to pair up for it. We went up to the Joe Dodge Lodge on Tuesday night and actually stayed in the same room as I was in the week before! This time with a woman from Illinois who was planning a prezi traverse. We definitely wanted to do Huntington, but weren't particular about summiting or hiking back down. The challenge was really the trail. So, we were able to sleep in a little - we got up at 7 ish, had breakfast at the lodge (including bacon, because, bacon). With packing up, organizing and checking out it was about 8:45 when we hit the trail - we could have just driven up that morning and arrived at the same time, but it was much better to get a little more sleep and not have to do the driving on the hiking day. 

The first mile or so is just a jaunt on a rocky path in the woods. It's all a steady uphill, but nothing intense. It starts getting steeper and steeper, and rockier and you know it's about to get real. You really hit the boulder field at about 2.5 miles, and then it just gets rockier and the boulders get bigger as you go. There is one spot where you have to step from one massive boulder to another and when you look down it's a really long way to the bottom (it's only about a foot or so between the boulders, not a hard step) and I feel like that was the start of the main hike. The main boulder field is full of really large boulders to go over, some with a really long way down if you fall. At one point we could hear a stream beneath the boulders, and cold air came out of the holes - it was pretty cool. There was one boulder in particular that was hard to climb because there weren't any good hand holds that we could reach and if you fell there was some consequence (not huge, but enough that you wouldn't want to fall). My friend gave me a boost by holding my foot, and then I tried to give her a pull from the top, but she was worried that she would pull me off, and we would both fall. And so she found a way around. Which was a pretty simple solution. We worked our way through the boulder field, slow and steady, and other than that one spot it wasn't too hard - the trail was well marked and as long as you took your time with each of the boulders, came up with a plan and didn't panic it went well.

I've never gotten so many pics from a hike - spoiler alert, the pics are mostly in order but don't necessarily line up exactly with the text:

Finally we got to the headwall, which was both exciting and nerve wracking. One thing that was really awesome was that there was a search and rescue team there doing some training! Perfect! If we had an accident it wouldn't be an hours long wait :) 

My friend is definitely a faster hiker than me, and when I was puffing away she was just breathing a little hard. So I guess she is also a more in shape hiker than me. Also, she's 8 years younger, so that may be a thing as well. Anyhow, she led the way up the slabs and I followed, which I think both of us felt fine about (except she was sad that most of my pics of her were butt shots). 

Anyhow, one of the hardest moves was on the first section of slab - there is a beautiful looking crack there, but it actually didn't have amazing hand holds. You sort of had to go to the left first and then up. At the bottom there was a lot of slab climbing, and I was glad that I am someone who climbs because I think it really helped. I felt like taking it slow and steady, backing up if there was nothing to hold onto, and trusting you feet (and I had my nice new la sportiva boots with vibrum soles) made a huge difference. One thing that also helped was that I didn't look down at all, which I think made me feel much calmer, because a few times I got to the top of some moves and realized how exposed the climb had been. I think if I had looked down I would have been much more anxious. 

There were definitely spots on the headwall that were paths as opposed to slabs, and it was nice to have a little break from climbing. 

We knew that there was a chimney up  higher, and at one point we thought we went up it, only to discover the real chimney later. I do love me a good chimney, but this one was no joke. 

If you had slipped out of it there was a long fall. We tried going from the bottom of the chimney, but the way the rocks stuck out it was hard to get the girls through, so that didn't work. Looking at it I realized that you could climb over the side and get into the chimney a little further up, after the point where the rocks jutted out, and so that's what we did. It was a little tricky climbing over it, and I got a picture of my friend with her head on one side, her feet on the other and her butt sticking out, that she really loved. 

After the chimney it was just a little further to get to more solid ground and a point where we could walk. We were so excited to have done the trail! And hungry. We sat down on some really nice rocks and had a snack, enjoyed the view and felt like bad asses. 

Soon we had to figure out if we were going to the top and how we were going to get down. I was feeling physically and emotionally pooped, and so wasn't particularly excited about going to the top, which is just a parking lot. By the time we finished eating it was 2:30, and the last shuttle down from the top is at 3, so my friend wanted to get going and try to make the last shuttle - I would have preferred to sit on my rock and eat for a little longer, but I agreed and we headed off to the end of the trail. Looking at the top, I was like "there is no way we are going to make it up there, buy tickets, and then get on the shuttle in a half hour." So, our options were to hike down, walk down the road, or find a ride. Given that we were tired and still had to drive home we decided against hiking, and eventually started walking down the auto road. My friend was all "come on, we can walk it" and I was like "we can, but..." and I stuck out my thumb and the first car coming down stopped for us! The second time that I have hitchhiked and it was amazing!! The couple that picked us up was from fire island off long island, they were very nice and moved all their stuff to let us sit in their back seat. It was so easy going down, and we chatted with them about our hike and they told us about their trip. 

My friend wanted to get a "cooling down" hike in, so we asked them to let us off at Old Jackson Road (and by "we" I mean my friend, I would have been happy with a ride back) and we walked the last two miles back. But it was pretty much all downhill, and a chill trail. Still, I was so happy to see the lodge. I felt so grose and was really excited about the pay showers downstairs, but when I got to them they were being cleaned, and out of service. Tragic! My friend was like "we can have a snack and wait until they are done," but I was not having any of that, so we went back into the lodge and snuck into the showers there. Well, there wasn't really that much sneaking because there wasn't anyone at the front desk, or anyone who worked there to stop us. Anyhow, that was the Best Shower Ever. It felt so good to be clean. After we sat outside and ate some food we had with us and enjoyed the lodge. Soon it was time to go, sadly. My friend had driven because she doesn't mind driving in the dark (I get nervous about all the animals) so I got to just sit and chat with her the whole way home, which was lovely. 

All and all a really great experience. I will say that it's probably a "one and done" for me, though never say never. Today I have a little hiker hangover, but not too bad. It was nice hiking with a friend, and maybe I should try to hike with others again from time to time. 

Somehow I paused my all trails for part of the hike, and I didn't pause it when in the car, but here is what I did record:

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.

Holt Trail

We finally got a break in the heat - though it's still warm out it's not 100, so I headed off to Mt. Cardigan to do the Holt trail again. A friend and I have been talking about hiking Huntington's Ravine up Mt Washington, so I thought this would be a good prep hike. It was a lot of fun, but also pretty exhausting.

I meant to get up early and get out early and beat traffic and blah blah blah, which totally didn't happen. I left around 9:30, drove up without stopping and got there a little before 11:30, used the bathroom and headed out. The first mile or so of the trail is very chill, it starts on a dirt road and then goes up a pretty easy path. You go over this bridge and then things start getting real. Soon you come to the first crack of the slabby parts - the spot where the guy climbed over me 6 years ago - and the fun begins. I feel like this crack is the second hardest of the slabby bits. It's not that hard, but there was one place where I had to think about where to put my feet. Still, I enjoyed it and was excited to head up the rest of the slab.

This time I remembered that the relentless uphill continues after the first slab. It's not just slab connected by trail, it's slab connected by slab. Most of them are pretty fun, like this one below has some good spots to grab and put your feet.

This one, though is the last one by the top, and it's the spot that I struggled on the first time and accidentally bypassed the second time. This time I tried it a different way, going up towards the left, but then over to the right to the little flake and then traversing to the left over the bit of rock that gave me trouble the first time. Well, I made it successfully, there were no casualties, and no injuries, but there were definitely a few moments up by the top where I decided to not look down and not think about what would happen if I slipped. It was definitely a no-fall zone. Fortunately I didn't fall - I got to the side safely and let out a big sigh. 

I feel like it was still pretty hot out there, even though the heat wave is over. By the time I got to the top of the mountain I was feeling pretty pooped. During the last bit I had to take a lot of breaks to breathe and rest. I was so glad to see the tower at the top. I made myself do the last little bit of uphill and then sat in the shade of the tower for a bit eating. Unfortunately, although I had only seen one person that day (a woman who decided to go down Holt for whatever reason) of course there were a million people up top, including a noisy family with a pretty young kid singing pink pony club. As soon as I was feeling cooler I moved over to another section of rock and ate a bagel with peanut butter and some of my home made raspberry jam. It was delicious!

I had planned to go over to firescrew and down from there, but I was feeling hot and tired, and decided I was better off going down a faster way on clark trail, which is what I did. I actually really liked that trail - it started with some slabby parts, then went into the woods on some nice trails, and the joined up with Holt before all the craziness begins, so I didn't have to down climb any of it. I got back to my car and I was so hot and gross, I figured that if I went into the lodge and cleaned up I would be sweaty again in seconds because my car was so hot, so I just headed out. It's always a little tricky there because no GPS, but I'm getting the hang of it and only made one small wrong turn. I stopped at a gas station and got gaiter-aid and some super salty chips, and chowed down in the car on the drive home. I was so hungry!

Given that it was the end of the long weekend I was worried about traffic, but actually it wasn't that bad. It took about 2 hours to get home. I took a shower, ate some watermelon and ice cream (that's a healthy dinner, right?) and have been on the couch since. So glad I didn't do the hike during the heat wave - it was kind of slow going, but fine. All trails still thinks I went 5 miles, but it was less because I took a different route down. It was a little slower than the last time I did it due to the heat, but I'm OK with that. 

Established an outdoor exercise temp range

We are in the middle of a heat wave - I mean, even hotter than NOLA today! Yesterday when I went rowing it was 98 with a feels like of 104, today it was 99 with a feels like of 107, which is just a silly temperature for going outside to exercise. So, my range for outdoor exercise is 11 degrees/feels like -4 to 99 degrees/feels like 107. 

After my trip to NOLA I came back and was feeling kind of cruddy, I slept a lot on Sunday and just couldn't get myself to do anything, and then wound up with a migraine that went until Tuesday - fortunately not a killer one, but uncomfortable and tiring. So, I had to miss Monday rowing. Yesterday I was questioning my judgement in planning to go rowing, but I had missed a week and didn't want to miss more. And it turned out to be just fine - we went up river to where we were in the shade and there was a breeze. I was still soaked with sweat when we finished, but I felt fine at least. Tired, but fine.

Today there was a lot of discussion about rowing, and if we should in the heat. Coach sent out a poll and asked if we wanted to practice - he said it would be a really technical practice. I thought that would be really good for me, and also I had been inside all day and just wanted to get out and move, so I said yes. We wound up with 16 of us, plus 2 coxes and 2 coaches. Today's workout was really hard. Everyone was hot and cranky. We got stuck with the coach who is usually cranky anyhow, and so she was extra cranky. And it was clear that the cox isn't a fan, because coach was saying to do one thing and the cox was saying to do something else and they were just arguing back and forth and it was really stressful. And then the woman who was behind me was talking to herself really loud, and I couldn't decide if she meant for me or for her - it turned out sometimes both. 

There were also all these boaters out and so we had to go close to shore, and then the rudder got covered in seaweed and the cox couldn't use it to steer, so she asked me to stop rowing. But then the coach came over and was like "why isn't she rowing??" It was a thing. Also, we didn't do all the technical drills. We rowed almost 5.5 K, which is less than we usually do, but not nothing. I think 107 may be my limit - if it gets hotter I may not go. Although now that I'm back on my couch I'm glad I went.

After I went to my garden and gave everything a good watering. This plant showed up and it turns out it's camomile, and so I've been cutting the flowers for tea. The amazing thing is that the more you cut, the more they grow.  I think my raspberry run is over, but so many berries this year! I will be eating jam until spring :)

Conference but in a fun place

In 2020 our annual conference was supposed to be in New Orleans, but of course then COVID happened and it was cancelled. This year we finally got our NOLA conference - it was my first trip there and for the most part I really enjoyed it. I went with one of my coworkers, who got there first, and was like "it's a feels-like of 104" which is pretty insane. It was like that most of the time there. I'd known it was going to be hot, but it was HOT. Which limited how much I got out of the hotel. I was pretty psyched when I got my hotel room because I had a view of the Mississippi river right at Algiers Point, which is the deepest part of the entire river. It's also super tricky to navigate, and there are no pleasure boats on it, just working boats or big tour boats.

Anyhow, conferencing was fine. I learned some good stuff. But the food! It was soooo good. I ate my mandatory crayfish, bread pudding and beignets. All delicious. My coworker asked the uber driver for restaurant recommendations, and so we went to this place that was a little outside the city called Katies, where the special was a massive plate of crayfish for $20, which I got. It was not at all graceful to eat them, but so delicious. After we went to this jazz club called the Spotted Cat (because where else would a cat lady go?) and the music was so good. It was really fun just being in a jazz bar in NOLA. The band was selling tshirts because it's kind of a gig economy, so to help them out I got one :)

The next day my coworker went home and I walked to the original Cafe Dumont for my mandatory beignets, which were delicious. The cafe was outside, covered and with fans, but still so hot. I tried to walk around a little, but it was a feels like of 99, which was impossible for me. So I went back to my hotel room and watched the boats on the river for like 3 hours. I now know a lot more about boating in NOLA because I googled a lot of stuff while I was sitting there. Anyhow, it's nice to be home on my couch again, but glad that I had the chance to go! (Oh, and my upstairs neighbor looked in on the cats and Tigger didn't throw up once! Or she cleaned it up.)

Rainy row and raspberries

I pride myself on being weatherproof, and today was a good test of that. As I headed out to rowing the sky opened up and it rained. When I got to rowing, everyone was inside the garage there, and each person who came in was running and totally soaked. We stood around for a while, not sure if we were going to get out there, but after about 15 minutes coach said that it actually wasn't really windy, just raining. And we row in the rain. So, out we went. We were all immediately soaked and a little chilled, so there was no warm up, it was just 45 minutes of rowing back and forth in the area by the dock. We are finally set and not down to starboard, which is awesome. I'm still in the 2 seat, which I'm just fine with. There were a million blue herons, and at the end of the row there was this amazing rainbow. After I came home and took a shower, and it was so nice to be warm and dry when I was done.

My raspberries have gone crazy! I was at the garden over the weekend and they were starting to ripen. When I went back a couple of days ago there were so many that I had to go to star market and get a container to put them in - I got a 9 cup tupperware and filled it more than half way. And then I went back today with a different container and filled that. I bet I have about 10 cups of raspberries. It's so much - I think I'm going to have to make jam.

Mt. Paugus

I've been kind of cranky lately and thought a good hike might help - I think it did! A friend of mine did Mt. Paugus recently and really loved it. It's one of the 52 with a view, it's 8 miles long and 2500 feet elevation gain - so a solid hike but not killer, and it's a 2 hr 20 minute drive each way, which is a lot but not so bad. So, I decided to check it out.

For some weird reason I woke up a little before 5 am. On a normal day I guess I would have just gone back to sleep, but today I was ready, got up, and left a little after 5. I've been listening to hamnet, and that made the ride go so much faster. Before I knew it I was up there. I stopped for gas, so by the time I parked it was a little after 7:30, which I guess is the time everyone gets there? So many cars arrived right around the same time as me - I was worried. I also thought I had been there before, and I had - it's also the start of Passaconaway. I was so relieved to realize everyone else was hiking a different mountain. Anyhow, after a stop in what has to have been the cleanest portapotty ever, changing boots and being a little OCD I started off. 

It was a beautiful bluebird day - nice and cool in the morning, though it kept getting warmer throughout the day. The hike I did had a loop option, which I did going up Kelly and down old Mast road (which I felt was the right way to do it). The loop was about half the hike, there was a little bit at the start that was combined, and the last 2 miles or so are both on the same path. The walk up Kelly was so nice - it was a steady uphill, but not so hard that it was exhausting or anything. There was a creek next to the trail, everything was super green, the trail didn't have a ton of boulders on it, and the light was coming through the trees and looking shiny. For most of the hike up the trail lulled me into a false sense of security that it was going to be pretty moderate - ha! The last mile or so was pretty tough - I was getting hungry also, and so it just seemed to take forever. The worst moment of the hike was when I realized that although it was 8.1 miles, it is a loop, so that means it could be more than 4.05 miles up. Anyhow, I got up to the top and, although I had only seen one other person that day, there were three people and a very nice dog up there. And like a million bugs. I sat where they had been sitting, and it was really nice (except for the bugs), but I think I may have missed the nice view. Dope. I think I need to get the 52 with a view book if I'm going to do the rest of them, which I think I may.

I had a cheese and avocado sandwich on the delicious bread from bread obsession and an apple. But it was so buggy that I only wound up sitting up top for about 20 minutes. Which I knew might happen, so I was prepared to not be upset about it, which I wasn't. 

I thought the way down was going to be hard because I was kind of dying on the way up, but it was actually really nice. There were a few rocky areas, but for the most part it was all a dirt path, and it had switchbacks. The one down side to it was that there were 500 feet of elevation gain on the way down because the trail goes over a little peak. I thought that was going to suck, and it did. I was so glad when I was done with it. The way down was nice too, but I think I liked the way up more. 

I got back to my car and it was so so hot. I realized that it actually was pretty warm out. Which I should have know because I was sweating like a pig, and really grose. Anyhow, with all the bugs I turned the car on and the ac on and let it run while I changed my shoes and such outside with the door closed. By the drive back I was starting to get tired and stressed about the other drivers, but I bought some energy drink and a snack and held it together until I got home. Two thumbs up, would recommend!

Saving lives

I've done the Charles River swim three times now, and liked it less and less each time. The thing is that you have to swim a mile, and that's far for me. But they do have really nice tshirts. So, this year I signed up to volunteer on the safety team as a kayaker. And I rescued someone!

The hardest part of the volunteering was that you were meant to arrive at 6:30 am, which is really early for me. I just got a new folding bike (yay!) and so the plan was to ride the bike to the hatchshell instead of driving since it would take about the same and cost way less. Surprisingly I actually woke up at 5:30 and was ready to get up, so it wasn't that hard to leave at 6:10 and get there at 6:30. It's so much nicer than riding a blue bike - they are very convenient, but super clunky and heavy.

I was assigned to share a kayak with a lifeguard, and when I saw her standing on the dock I went over and introduced myself. We stood around together waiting for the safety briefing, but not really talking because it was just about 7 am. Then they took us by boat to where the kayaks are (I thought they were across the river, but actually they were at the community sailing place right next door). For some reason, though, I wound up switched out of the boat with the nice quiet lifeguard and being put in one with this other woman. We got in our kayak and instead of using her kayak paddle like a kayak paddle, she used it as a canoe paddle, doing 5 strokes or so per side before switching to the other side (Yes, I counted, because I was so surprised). So, of course we were zig zagging along, and then occasionally she would stick her oar in the water to steer. In my head I was like "and this is why I don't do team sports."

Anyhow, we got set up in our zone and soon the swimmers were off. The ones in front were so fast! It was amazing. And soon the big group was coming through. We were sitting and watching everyone when I spotted a swimmer just hanging out and yelling for help. And we were off - fortunately we were supposed to raise a paddle to get the attention of the safety boat, so I told the woman to hold her paddle up while I rowed. At one point she was bringing it down and I was like "lift it back up" because the last thing I wanted when someone was struggling was for her to take us zig zagging around. But then she was all "you are going too fast, you are going to hit her!" and slowing us down (I was not going to hit her, and even if I came close to her it would be better than having her drown). Anyhow, the woman was OK, she just had a cramp and wasn't feeling well. She grabbed onto the side of the kayak while the rescue boat came over. Another woman who was just tired of swimming but looked fine got in with her. So that was my save :)

A friend of mine was swimming and she was near the end of the pack. I found her and she was going a little off course - I wanted to spot her in, because there were plenty of extra kayakers so we could do that, but of course Ms. ZigZag couldn't help with that. I was so glad to get back to the paddle place and get out of that boat with her.

After my friend took me to Burlington because my car was in the shop there and she doesn't live that far away. But then it turned out that although it was about noon, my car wasn't going to be ready until like 4. It was really hot out and I didn't want to waste my Saturday, so I decided to ride the 12.5 miles home. I questioned my life choices for a bit, but actually it wasn't that bad - I had been thinking I would bike out to get my car, but decided not to because it was so uphill. But the way home was mostly downhill, which was awesome. Today I'm pooped.

Climbed a 5.11 B!

After the tough row I was so tired. I woke up in the middle of the night with my legs and back twitching and had to take some advil and a hot shower before I could fall back to sleep. Then Friday I was tired all day and instead of going to yoga I took a nap. It was pretty brutal.

Today it's been raining all day and super windy, perfect couch weather for the morning. In the afternoon I met a friend at the climbing gym and had an awesome climb! We started with a 5.8 which went quite well, then a 5.9, also clean. There was a new route that was labeled "5.Friday" which who knows what that means, but it looked interesting so I tried it. It was hard. Especially there were a couple of moves that were really difficult. But also it was pretty fun. After I did a 5.10a - clean until the overhangy bit, and two 5.10b's, both clean (though I have done them before and don't really think they are 5.10b's). Then there as a pretty nice looking 5.9, which I had to take a break on because my arms were becoming toast. After, I was going to do this other 5.10a, but right by it there was a 5.11b that didn't look that hard. It was kind of pinchy and fiddly, but not overhung, so I decided to try it. It was definitely hard, required a lot of rests, and wasn't pretty, but I got up it! I think if I climbed it earlier in the session I could have done it with a few lest rests and slightly less ugly. I'm going climbing with a friend on Thursday, so I'm going to try to get it again.

I can definitely tell that all this rowing is making me stronger, especially my legs. There were a few moves that were basically getting up from a one-legged squat. So, I felt really good about that. It's really nice to be back into climbing regularly again.

Bad Day of Rowing

The learn to row class finished and four participants registered for the regular rowing, so now we have a novice boat. Which of course I am in. I thought it would be great because we would have time to focus on things like early roll ups and such, but so far it completely sucks. It's only been two rows, so hopefully it will get better.

Today I was actually in the five seat! I don't get be in the center of the engine room often, so I was pretty psyched about it. It was also super windy, which kind of sucked. The thing that was no fun, though, was that we were down to starboard the entire row, so the release my oar was dragging on the water. It was so hard, and after a while it just made me so cranky. By the end I was so glad to get out of the boat.

We went over all the ways that the boat gets offset - different catch timing, different handle heights on the recovery and something else and tried to focus on them individually. Occasionally it improved for a few strokes, but then it went back to how it was. Which was sucky. By the end I was so annoyed I didn't want to focus on technique or timing, I just wanted to snarl at people. But I didn't. I hope we can improve, because it would be a whole lot of no fun to row like this for the rest of the season. 

Cox

Today was my first time coxing - we all survived, I didn't hit a bridge, and I even managed to get us back to the dock, so I'm considering that a win! We have a few people who cox sometimes, but mostly we just have to take turns doing it. I knew it was coming, and now I'm glad it's over with for a bit :)

I was assigned to cox in a 4, which I think was easier in some ways because there are fewer people in the boat to get confused about and because you sit up front and can see really well. It's also harder because you are up front and can't see the rowers. I kind of forgot, though, that the bow was right behind me and the stern was in the back because I was in a different space, which was really confusing. Otherwise, though, I did get everyone to turn correctly and figured out the steering of the boat pretty well.

I arrived a little early and asked someone for help with it, since I had never coxed before. She showed me where to get the cox box, headset, basket and emergency kit. And then she was like "all set!?" and I was like "no! How do I steer the boat?", so we went over and she showed me how to plug everything in and steer. When I got into the boat I realized how small the cox spot was and had to go get something to sit on - it's clearly not designed for a person with hips. Fortunately for me, while I was trying to get settled one of the other rowers accidentally set her boat adrift, and so we had to wait for her to catch it and get in, etc. 

At first I was super unsure about what was going on and how to steer, and about all the commands for the drills. And, I kept thinking I was going to hit the other boat. So things were a little slow. But once I got the hang of it we did a lot better. The woman who was in bow gave me some reminders, in a very nice way, and fortunately the workout was mostly just rowing at a steady state. I even was able to share the stroke rate with the rowers, and sometimes call the power 10's correctly. I have to say that they were really well balanced and in rhythm, especially once we got settled in - it turned out to be a good row.

There is a swan's nest right by one of the bridges and every time we have gone by there for the last few weeks there has been a swan sitting on eggs. I keep waiting for her to be either gone or sitting with her babies, but she was still there. I'm loving that it's definitely spring!