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.