6 pack of Old Moosilaukee

Trips to do something come first- almost always out of a certain necessity, and then the secondary step (generally the evening before) i decide to finally check out the weather. I've found that everywhere I've been in this country, I've always heard someone chime in the old saying "if you don't like the weather in _______, wait a minute." This, more often than not, always rings true- especially when you get stuck in some really lousy weather. New England in general seems to have had this phrase coined about the area, and I tend to agree, especially when you're standing on top of a mountain...

"40% Chance of Thunderstorms" sounds pretty damn ominous to be honest. What do you make of that the day before hand trying to do a hike? I guess most people would go to a mall instead. Well I still crossed more than a couple peoples paths yesterday, hiking up the beaver brook trail up Mt Moosilaukee. One could definitely make an argument than i'm much more partial to hikes with cool native american names, and I for one probably would not disagree with them.

...but what's better than this, really? Sure it required some effort (that's the trail, to the right of the waterfall) and it just kept going and going up the thing, but there's nothing like a tough hike that follows cool features the whole way- i mean taking breaks, at any point, always point out different details missed at first glance.

I was drenched in sweat climbing up this thing, but keeping a solid pace. I had read that this was a pretty challenging hike from the 2006 AMC WMNF book, and it was for the most part, but lots of maintenance and steps built into the slippery rock made it more challenging from an endurance perspective and less from a mountaineering/climbing one. I didn't care- I went up the mountain with a head thick of thoughts, walked right into the clouds, and cleared my head.

These photos do no justice to the constantly shifting weather that went on during the hike up- constantly becoming hot and sunny, to clouds whipping through the woods and turning everything much, much darker. I made good pace because I knew that the later in the day the more chance for severe weather to move in, and when the trees gave way to the last .4 miles of the summit, i knew that things could get interesting at a moments notice.

The head-high cairns stood like sleeping giants in these clouds that sprayed like a cold mist when it came by in large, sometimes dark patches. I made my way though and caught glimpses of an untold full view, which made what i did see all the more interesting. When I reached the summit there was a party of 4 celebrating...something, i didn't want to venture up that close to join- and certainly didn't want to take their photos (sorry!) There is a lot of rock piles up there indicating a foundation to a few different structures that once stood up there, and out of no where, someone said whats up to me from a Yoda-like position in the cover of one of these rock piles. "Where you coming from?" startled me, and i answered before i grasped the question (being most likely which trail i took up) "oh! uhm, er...montana" and that was the extent of that meeting. We exchanged something about the weather also, and he told me that this was the best the view was gonna get, and that the rain was coming. So I didn't even sit down when i got to the top, just said thanks, and kept going- making no eye contact with the ecstatic people taking photos of themselves next to the trailhead.

The grumbles from above began literally as I walked away from the summit. To my right something thunderous was happening, something i wanted no part of being up on that ridge. I began to think about similar circumstances and kept waiting for some imminent downfall to occur, expecting that as a prelude to the thunder and lightning. I got a little below treeline, but only felt totally confident when i was off the ridge that was flirting with the clouds the whole time. It did rain, but grumbles were the worst of the potential danger i was looking out for. Descending that trail in the rain, with wet rocks, is something i really don't recommend though, and had i not had on some climbing sneakers (which i use for biking and hiking) i would've certainly slipped a lot, and maybe even taken a ride down that waterfall....

The NH trip concluded with some pbr and some pool, laxodasical as ever. Now it's back to mass, shooting hoops at night and studying for the GRE test....

Movies I Almost Forgot About

The past few weeks have been nothing short of the definition of hair-raising, with a lot of sarcasm intended. I've been a one-man army here in southern mass, holding myself down single-handedly by trips to the local beach (the ocean-the real deal!), biking trails, and kayaking with my dad. I've also been looking less at craigslist job opportunities and concentrating my efforts on getting into graduate school in the fall for new media at emerson in boston. This opportunity has provided me with a chance to take the GRE's- and all this time I thought I was done with taking tests.....well it's been a solid goal to work towards for me, and in that pursuit I've been compiling my digi-portfolio, and these two videos are some gems i've uncovered that I almost forgot about....

"Code Name:Agent Zero" was shot back in 2003 in a day of driving around Chi with Lu, then edited/adjusted to make it look like an action movie. I totally forgot about this video, and still like it for how funny (i think) it is, and for the treatment of the video images with the multi-layered delay, something i used to mess around with a lot.

"The Swedish Meatball" still makes me laugh- it was originally an idea in spanish class back in high school with andy wright (his photo has a cameo in it), and the trailer was as far as the idea ever got. Swede-sploitation was the idea behind it- like a swedish action figure that doesn't say a word, just kicks some ass. The fake jerry bruckheimer quote says it all, "This is one meatball you don't want over for dinnner..."

Mt Lafayette via the Skookumchuck Trail

The clouds completely covered the sky yesterday morning, occasionally overflowing down in to the notches. A woman at the WMNF visitor center in Lincoln recited to me the very descriptive high-summit forcast for the day, complete with jargon in the entire range of pressure possibilities here and there- "So, you're saying it's not going to be sunny" i joked, really only being concerned if there was lightning to lookout for, which seemed a possibility in the look of the day. It had been a last minute decision the night before to drive up to New Hampshire to stay with a friend before doing this hike, and a rainy drive at that. Really, my only objective was to go on a lengthy walk in the woods. Keepin' it simple, right?

The lower forest was towering, old, and saturated. Birch trees shed bark like litter on the grounds while trail crew worked to clear channels so the trail wouldn't be washed out. I past 5 workers on the way up the Skookumchuck trail that morning, and made pretty decent time for what was described as a 5 mile/4 hour hike each way. Still had some snow to contend with in a few areas, and a lot of slippery rocks.

I had flashbacks of high school, hiking though the cloud forest in Costa Rica at times on this trip. The higher I got into these mountains the more the trees started to shorten, and look as if they were the only things holding the clouds away from the ground.

At 4.2 miles the Skookumchuck Trail summits onto Garfield Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Trail. From here I walked the ridge until hitting the top of Mt Lafayette, only 0.8 miles away. Looking at what the trail generally appears to be, from others photos online, gave yesterday's experience more appreciation from the ghostliness of it all. Visibility was short, understandbly, but it really made the ghostly bluffs more exciting. I guess imagination has something to do with that though....


Once there was an old building up atop Lafayette that's long since burned down. The old foundation was where I ate my lunch. Occasionally on the way down there would be breaks in the clouds, well enough to give small areas some definition in the distance, and by the bottom of the trail it was full-blown partly cloudy conditions, and with that warm enough to wake a few pesky bugs up. Really simple, fun and easy hike. Next time up there I'm taking a pack and going for a few days though, but i guess it's never 'long enough', for me at least. Started at 10:15, ate lunch up top at 12:45, went down from 1:45 to 3:15...10 miles, elevation gain of 3300 ft is what the gps told me...



Oh- and I saw a porcupine. But he kept moving, so the pictures were of a fuzzy porcupine, so no luck there....

When In Rome....

Truth be told, I've never been to Rome. Give me the opportunity and I wouldn't pass on it, but that offer hasn't popped up on the radar quite yet. Nevertheless, while beating on with my boat against the current, I continue the search- and lately it feels like I'm searching for everything, yet again. Mainly for a job, but the infrastructure that goes along with ripping a plant out, roots and all, and waiting for the transplant to occur seamlessly in the new location.

"A Walk in the Woods" has been my early summer reading, and I swear that Bill Bryson has been subconsciously telling me to hike the Appalachian Trail. The 'keep going' mentality relates to me in a long-distance driving sense, something I'm very familiar with, except in a much more entertaining fashion. Plus there's no griz out here on the east coast, which makes me much more apt to do some solo backpacking excursions. Not to mention how cool/different the forests are around here....

"Ohh my gaawwwd, John Singah Saaawwwgent...." echoed through some of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts hallways, and less in others understandbly. I did correlate between supposed infidels first arriving in ancient rome and hearing the boarish language, and listening to massachusett's accents talk about art, but I really tried not to let it bother me. As with most things lately, these are things I just need to get more used to hearing, since one can't live in the woods forever. Plus they were enjoying it- which is better than no attendance at a museum i guess, but damn- this was not the most impressive museum i've been to. Wish I'd took a picture, but I seriously walked by a guy sleeping on a bench that was working there. Oh, and someone needs to teach these school groups the difference between a gymnasium and an art museum! I'm getting old- look at all this complaining i'm doing, jeez....

I once heard that time was cyclical, and I was interested in the concept and wrote about it, some time ago. I only bring it up because, looking back at what I wrote then seemed so premature compared to now. I guess in the future this will take the same position as that writing, because I suppose it's an ever-developing concept that becomes larger and larger as life goes on. That's the big point though, no matter what, life goes on. I guess i get a bigger definition of that the longer it does, if that makes any sense....

...and I keep playing the "Will it Float?" game, but in a more extended-metaphor fashion than a literal one, if that makes sense either....

Edit: I have to mention my friends in LA's new work, The Glorious Internet Presents.....Porn Star Insurance, featuring Ron Jeremy....hilarious...