4-17
temps in the 50's, windy day went for a ride up to Willoughby. A lot of pics below:
Found some moose tracks along the road. The car tire track in the picture gives some scale. I'd say medium sized moose.
I've been reading books about the natural and cultural history of vermont. One of them had this funny picture of beaver drawn by soemone who had never seen them but knew of their reputation:
I almost feel the same way. I see their results everywhere but rarely see them. Just a few miles from the lake there's a swamp absolutely full of gnaw marks. every twig, sapling or tree no matter what size (vertical or horizontal) has some gnawing done on it. If you enlarge this pic and look in the background you'll see what I mean.
When I got there the view was spectacular as usual. The lake seemed clearer than I remember. My books tell me that's because it is oligotrophic and its rocks don't deal well with the acids from runoff.
Couldn't resist a little hike, so I took off the shoes and walked the trail along the Mt. Hor south cliff trail. In the following shot you'll see the first trillium, lush ferns, and old looking guy a waterfall and my feet:
4/15
Warm spring day, just finished getting some squash in the ground in my little portable hoop-house. I made it out of 1x4's. 1/2" conduit and clear insulation for around 20$ and I can pick it up and move it when I need to. I also got onions, peas, kale, radish, and carrots in the ground. My garlic had me worried, but it's looking strong now. Here's the hoophouse:
Even though it looks grey in the background, the grass is turning green and the trees have buds on them. I spent a day or so getting the ski stuff stowed and the bikes out and cleaned up.
I always like to get a shadow shot. This is while riding up Burke Hollow road (not the steepest part).
I wanted to get some pics of snow still on the ground. You can find it if you look in little shady spots in the woods and fields. The mountain obviously still has some on the slopes.
This one and the one below are from a ride Zack and I did a few weeks back when the temps were in the 60's. It got hotter and all the snow went away.The one below was meant to be a contrast shot for ones I shoot as the year goes on.
Below are a few from today's ride up East mtn from the Victory road. The elevation there is much higher and it has gotten cold so there is still snow up there.
It was even snowing as we rode. NOt real cold, but grey.
The last pic should show some bicycle tire tracks in the snow, which I always wanted to do.
Just a few from my mt. washington hike in reverse order as usual because I am not as savvy as I think I am
here's on of Greg Kim and me at the summit
This is one as we started down from the summit. That is Lake of the clouds you see shining down below. It was sunny to the north and cloudy to the south. You can see the clouds rolling in from left to right.
Me, Greg and the ubiquitous Coco at the foot of the waterfalls.One of many- the trail follows a stream as it makes its way up the mountain.
First two pics are from a recent cross country ski trip up Mt. Hor. This is the road up. I only went 45:00 or so up before turning around and skiing back down, but this road goes on for miles and miles and miles and there is nobody at all out there.
This is the view from one of the overlooks on the way up. That is Mt Pisgah and later in the winter you'll be able to see ice climbers on that cliff.
Some shots from our recent trip to Quebec with my dad:
A few from a visit to my grandmother's place in N FL
Burke mountain ascent:
First, this from the Northeast Cycling website climb reviews, which says all that needs to be said:
"Burke Mountain is located in the Northeast Kingdom area of Vermont. This climb starts from the village of East Burke on Rt 114. You can park at East Burke Sports or the MTB parking lot across the street. The first two miles of climbing are mellow. Then you hit the toll both and you start to feel the burn in your legs. Around the 2.5 mile mark, you hit a half mile of 18% grade! This really hurts and you think it’s never going to end. The toll road is only 2.7 miles of the 4.7 mile climb, but this 2.7 miles averages 13-15% grade. The entire route up has recently been repaved, so the descent is not as white-knuckle as some of the others. The potential for on-coming cars, very narrow road, steep grade, and tight switchbacks will keep you on your toes. You will need to reduce air pressure and/or let your rims cool on the way down. The annual hillclimb race here starts at the ski base area, just below where the toll road starts."
For a visual, the chart below shows the climbs in vermont. The grey straight line is the 10% reference line, burke is the bright blue.
now my pics:
This is a view from a spot right between the lower and upper ski lodges, about 1 mile from the toll road where it gets really steep.
Here is a view back down from the halfway point of the toll road. You can see the red buildings below that are in the previous picture from the base lodge.Also in the far distance on the right is Willoughby Gap:
Here's a view back down onto the farm and road of Kirby Ridge:
Finally a shot of me because I couldn't resist. It was probably mid 50's up there on a day when the heat index was over 100 in central FL:
Just got in froma quick 10 miler- cut it short because of rain. The theoretical purpose for the ride was to mark miles for upcoming runs.
A few pics to update the happenings in Kirby. We got 15 chicks in the mail
They live in a tupperware bin with heat lamps. Here are a few of them:
and one particularly cute on up close:
The weather has been condusive to kids being outdoors a lot:
Here's our new firepit. It is by where I split wood and there is lots of dead brush around to burn. The boys like eating breakfast out there.
I would be remiss not to include a pic of Zack. Notice Leon is ubiquitous.
(older posting below)
4/20/10 40 miler into Lancaster NH. All the flags said the wind was going to be at my back on the retrun trip and it was sunny/mid 50's (the inside of the greenhouse almost felt too hot before I left).
First pic is of a groundhog right there at the old carpet place where I park. He lives right by the road so he wasn't to skittish when I biked up next to him and got a pic.
I'll spare you all the beautiful long range shots, but I just included one by way of contrast with yesterday's ride. You can still see some snow on the ground between the trees on the hilltops:
I took this one myself as I was riding. I had been gazing at the geometry of the frame while listening to the hum of the tires. Thought I would share.
This is very near the end of the ride in Lunenburg VT. Old church, not quite derelict but in need of some work. This is the steeple, as you can see supported by what looks like 2x4s nailed together.
Most of the way you could see mt Washington, 3rd highest peak in the east ad windiest place on earth. It wasn't until almost the very end of the ride that I could get the camera to focus on it.
This is the Connecticut River at the end of the ride. On the other side heading south into NH was a flat country road that, despite my tiredness, made me want to keep riding forever.
I had to head off the main road a little but I wanted to cross at the covered bridge linking Lunenburg and Lancaster.
I stopped for some beef jerky and a honey bun at the country store in Lunenburg with about 20 miles left to ride. I felt pretty good despite the increasingly steep climbs towards the end, but it had gotten a little gloomy and windy and I had a chill. Luckily, there is way more descent than ascent on the way back (though the wind shifted and was against me both ways- I confirm this by the motion of flags, not how strong I felt) so I got back a good bit faster than I went out. There were two or three persistent creaks as I rode and about halfway back I discover one very loose spoke on each wheel. That HAS to be my fault.
Let me know when you have read this so I can delete and do another....
