Destruction Brook Woods and the Lincoln Park Comet (RIP)

Finding leftover scraps of a dislocated and dilapidated history is, and may continue to be the theme for a minute here in Massachusetts. While I spend time pondering (and not soliciting) at this life-crossroad I've come to, there's a great opportunity to explore some places of interest- specifically to these leftover remnants of a much older past than I'm accustom to.

I stick to what I know, generally, as most do. Mountain biking is no exception. I'd walked through small parts of a town forest preserve here in Dartmouth called Destruction Brook Woods before, but I don't think I've biked it before. Well I did today. It sure wasn't the biking I was accustom to, but not much around here is. The tradeoff was the remnants of a foundation to two different houses, one of which I'd seen before, but the other had escaped me. The newer of the two foundations (to me) had a small stone shack behind it. Oh- and there was this water fountain that I didn't try pumping also.


But I couldn't find anything (online at least, didn't call shaggy) about the woods' history aside from when the town took it over to preserve it. Regardless, it was a fun local spot to ride, even though i could've pushed a wheel chair through most of the trails...


Here was another spot in the woods with another historical relic- this time from a more recent memory, but who knows why. This story probably is a less interesting one also, like how some guys ditched a car there and burned it, or something. Very random though....could be anything i guess.



Lincoln Park operated from 1894 to 1987, and all i knew about it before this afternoon was that there was a big dilapidated rollercoaster behind a fence near my parents house. After biking, and while eating a whopper (no relevance) I found a side road with a somewhat opened area to walk through. I could go into some detailed regurgitation of what i just read about this very interesting place, but anyone interested should just check it out where i did- The Lincoln Park Comet fansite. Lotta cool photos here and stories about the park. One thing I'll mention is that this rollercoaster was designed by the same guy who made the Cyclone at Coney Island, another ride I've been on.....

One Day It'll All Make Sense

The feeling that urged me to pack my things up and leave Montana felt like a virtual inevitability. Peeling the bandage off quick was the only way I could see doing it- prolonging the whole experience felt like it would only make the exodus that more difficult. In turn with those difficult feelings, clouded with a whole lot of uncertainty, I had to leave an amazing relationship, a good paying job (for the area at least), and a couple friends that could rival friends in any location that I have.

It rained most of that evening that I left. Slept somewhere I don't remember at a pull off in Wyoming (i think) and kept it moving early the next morning. I was pulling a uhaul trailer, averaging about 11 miles per gallon of gas through Wyoming and onto the Badlands of South Dakota. One trade off about the abundant rainfall was that it gave a 'dentist's office poster' quality to the badlands- one which i hadn't seen before, lush green-ness everywhere. Generally I had made this drive in the past earlier in the spring, and everything was generally very brown.

I found Chicago later that second day. Tolls were a burden unexpected because of the extra axle I was dragging, not to mention the sheer ridiculous number of them going into the city (like 4?!?) But good friends and good weather prevailed, and I did a lot of biking around the city in the two days I spent there.


..and then I got back to my family's house yesterday. Gotta tear down the old in order to build the new; We'll see how the next chapter begins...

Hello Boston

I'm going to estimate that it's been at least ten years since I've been to Boston, but it sometimes of late has felt like it's been ten years since I've done anything in New England. Regardless, all year-counts aside, I hopped onto a commuter train and went into the city by myself with the aim of checking out the Greco show at the MFA. Liking adventures as I do (that's the excuse i'm using?!?) I went with little information as to where the MFA exactly was. Sure, I'd been there, but it's been, like, ten years or something....

And it was such a nice morning in Boston. Great weather- the last thing I wanted to do, after riding that hour long commuter train in, was to go underground and take the T directly to the MFA. That would've been just way too simple to do. But in truth it really didn't matter, as getting lost in an unfamiliar city (with no schedule and beautiful weather) can be a great experience. So then what did I learn today? Boston has some really cool churches....

I was half lost in memories of field trips from elementary school with the sites while also taking in the very different architecture of how the city was built up. I was intrigued by the old, original base structures, then the towering newer ones- sometimes built into, next to, or even just on top. It reminded me of something i read the night before- something i'd learned in college but totally forgot....here...

Below is Buttonwood Park in New Bedford, Mass. I was glad to help walk my parents dogs with my moms there after I learned that the park was originally designed by the same person who designed Central Park. His name was Fredrick Law Olmsted. I guess money ran short and he never fully completed Buttonwood Park, but there's a lot of similarities between it and Central Park. He was also a main figure in the recent book Devil in a White City, which is a book about another city that I came to love for architecture after living there 4 years.

...And tomorrow I fly back to Montana...

The Return to New Hampshire

What was I doing here again? Entering into the situation reminded me of John Cusack, but I am no where near being a contract killer for hire- furthermore there was no reunion going on, no distinct reason I would necessarily see anyone, and after around 5 or 6 years of not returning to a place, its odd to walk into a ghost town of sorts.

But there were no random encounters, no figures of the past hiding in the corners of bars that used to be frequented- in fact most of those bars were long gone, or renamed for that matter. What I did find, along with the one lone buddy i was looking forward to seeing up there, was the skeleton of a community that once was filled with people playing the roles i witnessed now. All the names and faces had changed, but the tactics and places all remained. This was the underwritten theme of the trip. The most interesting aspect was New Hampshire itself: a kaliedescope of deciduous trees with their deceased counterparts laying at their (and our) feet. So, to be concise (finally!) i went back to the woods. This was up in White Mountains National Forest at the Flume.

The forest immediately reminded me of my youth by the onslaught of black flies. Not that it was an overkill, but do i ever remember those little annoyances. Mosquito season had yet to hit, that's when it would've been simply too much I'd imagine. Below is the ice cream soda of New Hampshire summer tourist attractions- the covered bridge, in all it's glory.

Covered bridges never did a whole lot for me, to be honest, but I can recall maps for tourists to purchase that would lead them to every single covered bridge. Hopefully such a brochure came with a checklist, because theres a lot of those things all over New Hampshire. I drove over one, walked over another, and called it good for the trip. In hindsight I wished I'd found a NH COVERED BRIDGES t-shirt, because I'd wear it and it would make me laugh at least. Or a drink koozy for that matter...

I can recall the Kangamangus Highway from when I was very little, and all the natural water slides people would slide down. Back then the road was in awful shape, and it was very "Laissez Faire" national forest rules. Presently New Hampshire requires that all who park off the highway at these recreation sites pay a 3 dollar 'recreation fee'. Such things generally are handled by people paying taxes in my experience, but it's better to have these areas clean then trashed, so if 3 dollars is what it takes for those busy summer months then so be it. I, however, planned on packing out everything i brought in, and just parked off the road away from those ridiculous 3 dollar signs.

When it was all said and done the tried and true spots still remained, albeit changed in one way or another. A good sunset with a view is truly a thing to appreciate when had at the right spots. Below is at Ellacoya State Park, and above is a less-known spot (that has an open, empty house up there if anyone wants to go check it out/evaluate the purchase like we did) ill leave mysterious.

When will I go back to the lakes region? I can't say. It will be sooner than the last odyssey i spent away from it. Aside for a few friends still in the vicinity, there's not a lot up there for me anymore. Keeping these trips a good distance apart certainly makes them more interesting when looking at change, but staying away too long can be such a shock to return to- well, its like the area/memories violently put your life in perspective to where you are currently. Sometimes it's so powerful I think people purposely never want to return again.

There are places I definetly did not go back to on purpose, but maybe I just left that out for another adventure. Another time. Maybe...

The Big Picture Becomes Widescreen, with a Few Steps Back...

It's hard to know sometimes if you're keeping things in the right perspective if you don't continually check back with where you came from. All fortune cookies aside, I hadn't been back to the east in a few years. Big Sky winters and summers with working at Moonlight swept my time away in an easy, laxidasical fashion that I grew accustom to....
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park; My backyard in all sense of the term for the last few years.  The last week I spent in Montana before my trip back east I camped out most of the time, hiked when the weather was decent, and went into Yellowstone twice- mainly because my all-parks pass doesn't expire until June...

My father used to live down the street from this garden behind a church in Barnstable, Massachusetts. He took me here on a rainy day that we toured the Cape, looking at old houses we lived in together when i was growing up before elementary school. I could see the large differences in my recollections of youth, but for the most part i hadn't been back there since...who knows....

I just returned this afternoon from New York, another place i called home for 3 summers, and a place where I still have some great friends. I took it all in yesterday by myself, or at what I was looking to take in- a visit to the MOMA and the Guggenheim, and a lot of walking around observing people and architecture.

I saw some paintings that have been on my laundry list to see since art school, like Starry Night, and some Gauguin's from when he was down in the caribbean painting the native inhabitants, also some George Braque early cubism pieces I always was fond of, but some of the installation pieces were my favorite surprise....

This tow behind camper exemplified modern art because it is function streamlined. A whole new reason to appreciate and want one of those little campers....

This simulated car bomb at the Guggenheim was beautiful, but i wasnt suppose to be taking photos i guess so i ceased doing so. There was some other work i really liked there, like a pack of 99 replica wolves running up the walkway with you, rising into the air, then hitting a clear plastic wall. And some clay, chinese workers, with amazing facial expressions, bodies cracking and falling apart.

Tomorrow I return to New Hampshire, for the first time in over ten years......stay tuned....

It Can All Be That Simple...

Do Something Fun Today.

Closed Mountain

We've been closed for three weeks now and the snow continues to hit us. I heard the other day that we'd received 60 inches since closing on april 13th, and since then we've definetly gotten more. Even though on the nice days I usually see people hiking the headwaters and getting epic lines, the overall feel the town has (aside from a general sleepiness from the offseason setting in) is that we are over it, and want to be outside in some summer warmth. Yesterday I couldn't believe the amount of people taking advantage of campsites in the canyon, most all that were accessible were occupied.

Cloi is Chelsey's new chocolate lab, and is a lot bigger now than when i took that photo last week.

I've been getting out and hiking a lot lately when its been good weather, and look forward to heading back east for a couple weeks in a few days from now.