tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28289327653579986302024-03-13T07:17:19.566-07:00a life more awesomemike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-8516973134908887272014-08-05T20:55:00.001-07:002014-08-05T20:55:23.755-07:00Winter in Fast Forward Photo Form<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This winter was a scary one.</div>
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Tons of snow, tons of cold. Remember the ARCTIC BLASTS?! I remember when it was below 0 for a week. I took a screenshot of what it was one night in Williston, VT, and it was -11, while feeling like -33. I remember walking outside in Maine when it was -14 I think. -14 is cold. </div>
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I'm gonna blast through pretty much all of winter with this post. I don't know why I'm still trying to catch up, but fuck it. I'm still trying to catch up. </div>
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I went to Maine for Christmas and although it was a quiet Christmas, it was nice to be home.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7KygFibfSCE/U90XJNUEw6I/AAAAAAAAILQ/4Cc4RLphXg0/s1600/IMG_7392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7KygFibfSCE/U90XJNUEw6I/AAAAAAAAILQ/4Cc4RLphXg0/s1600/IMG_7392.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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My parents picked a beautiful tree that I decorated beautifully.</div>
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This was pretty cool. I randomly went downstairs at one point and saw something moving in the yard. We had a nice little staring contest.</div>
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A highlight of Maine was when it rained for most of the 2 days before Christmas, then got cold. It created this:</div>
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I took a billion pictures, but that's my favorite. Then on Christmas, it snowed, creating this:</div>
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So awesome. </div>
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When I drove from Maine back to NH to do our roommate Christmas, I talked to my boss on the phone. He told me what the "special gift" we had been promised was. Through 5 years of working at Apple, I got an ipod Shuffle one year. After being at Lycos for 3 months, I got a freaking ipad:</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">so awesome</span></div>
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Our roommate Christmas was absolutely fantastic. I want to post a million pictures, but it's August and I'm trying to catch up. And some of the pics have some incriminating stuff. We had a great night, opening presents for hours, listening to Christmas carols. We got Chinese food. Our tree was absolutely magnificent. </div>
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In fact, our whole setup was. Even Irwin got a stocking!</div>
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AWWWWWWW</div>
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This winter, I finally visited Stonehouse Pond. It looked awesome.</div>
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As did the Somersworth river walk.</div>
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I took this from inside my car in Winchester. I love the mess of my car window.</div>
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This was taken in the NH house, from the weeks of freezing. All our windows froze. This was looking out at the streetlights:</div>
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And this was taken in the back parking lot in NH:</div>
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As per usual, I got real anxiety ridden and somewhat depressed this winter. I just can't deal with a world without sun and outdoor activities. But this year was a little bit better because of Blue Job. </div>
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I decided to try to stay active, both to keep in somewhat shape, and also to attempt to ward off said depression. I never really do anything in the winter because I always feel like I get sick as soon as I start exercising in the cold. I still am not great at being able to breathe if it gets too cold, but this year I decided to go with the theory that it's actually staying inside all winter that makes people sick, and I forced myself to hike every weekend that I could, even if it was just tiny little Blue Job, just to get as much fresh air as I could get. </div>
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Through going there in late November all the way until April, I truly saw and experienced all of the winter season. And it helped me mentally in immense ways. Whatever was going on in my life that was stressing me out, I found absolute solace in just walking through snow and cold to the top of Blue Job, smoking a little, and wandering around playing air guitar and listening to pretty much nothing but Gates' <i>You Are All You Have Left To Fear</i>, Dorena's <i>Nuet</i>, and Caspian's <i>Hymn For The Greatest Generation</i>. Those albums meant the world to me all winter and will forever bring back images from Blue Job. </div>
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This winter made Blue Job mean more to me than I ever thought it could, and I plan on hiking it in winter every year and listening to those albums. Here's some of my favorite pictures from my Blue Job treks:<br />
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From a small stream, right as winter started to kick in:</div>
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From early December I think. I love this little pond:</div>
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Once winter kicked in, the trails started getting a bit rough, especially without snowshoes. But I fought my way up every time:</div>
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The end of the trail is awesome- it's nothing but stick trees against white snow, and it's quite the sight at sunset.</div>
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This was from the top of Blue Job, the one time I didn't make it to the top. This was after I didn't hike for a few weeks and it snowed a lot. I've never had more difficulty hiking in my life. Right away, the snow was higher than normal, and I stupidly went my usual long route to the fire tower, cutting through the woods to the second peak. I shouldn't have done it- nearly the entire trip from the fire tower to what I call the top of Blue Job (but which is really another mountain) was packed snow, which meant sometimes I'd step and sink an inch or two, and sometimes I went to my crotch. Hiking up one section, I ended up just lying down and crawling because my legs were sinking so much. It was EXHAUSTING. I made it up to the last section and the snow had been blown into cool patterns. I thought it looked like mountains from far away. I finally had to turn back at that point. Maybe I need to buy snow shoes next year.</div>
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I would often just hike around rocks so I'd have something solid to stand on:</div>
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Once the pond froze over, it made for great pics. And a great memory of finally deciding to trust the ice and running around and sliding on it like I used to do when I was a kid. It still felt great. I may have to bring ice skates up with me next year.</div>
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There were days where my beard was complete ice. Although Blue Job is small, it gets a LOT of wind, and the top was always a tundra. It's hard to really put it into words, but hiking up here in the winter was truly a movie experience. The feeling I get from hiking alone in deep woods in the summer or fall is great, but it's more about beautiful views and the pretty music I listen to creating a soundscape for a view. In the winter, through the crunching of my boots on ice and the stinging wind in my face, it was truly an epic journey just to hike up to this tiny summit. And listening to beautiful instrumental music made me feel like I was in Alaska, hiking to the top of some grand mountain by myself, the only survivor who made it this far. I'd come back to my car sweaty, face still somewhat frozen with a melted ice beard, tired only the way you can feel after fighting your way through an end of the world frozen tundra, and I'd feel like I was just in a different world completely. </div>
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As hard as it can be and as much as it can hurt, I now see the appeal of winter hiking. Your world really is like nothing else when you're out there.</div>
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This winter was big for me because of all of this. It further reaffirmed that outside on mountaintops is where I should be.</div>
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My last picture is probably my favorite from this winter. When I left family time in Maine to head back to the real world, I saw what looked like it would be a nice sunset starting to form. I drove down to my Great Aunt's summer house, a place I haven't been in probably 10 years, knowing if I was going to catch it, it would be on their beach. Their road had been plowed, but obviously nobody had shoveled anything around the house. I sludged through a waist-high snowbank and a foot plus of snow past that to get to the beach, and was met with this view:</div>
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Maybe winter isn't that bad after all. </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson- Self Titled</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-78798429591547915162014-07-28T20:02:00.001-07:002014-07-28T20:02:48.961-07:00Thanxmas 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Thanxmas 11 was at Adam and Kristy's house again this year, since it proved to be such an excellent spot for Thanxmas 9. I got there as early as I could manage, which was probably 2. Only a few people were there, but I cracked open some scotch and started the party right with Father Thanxmas: </div>
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Early on, it was a kid party, which I think was done perfectly, since I think all but Jake and Tara had people come pick their kids up after awhile. That way, kids could run around and have fun at a family friendly Thanxmas, then as drinking and rowdiness increased, they were home safely in bed. We brought a bunch of props for a photo booth that was barely used, but those props were quite the hit with the kids.</div>
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It made me very happy to see the guitar I stole from someone at Thanxmas 2 being used by the younger generation.</div>
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Zayne makes me laugh.</div>
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Eventually, it was dinner time, where Adam ate by himself in a giant dining room like a loser:</div>
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Everything I ate was great. But those pics aren't worth the blog, because things got more rowdy after dinner:</div>
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And very quickly, dancing started happening.</div>
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And not surprisingly, Kevin spent most of the night in a wig.</div>
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Here's Jake eating with a furry friend.</div>
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Here's Tobin with his Thanxmas bottle of fancy beer, where he printed out pics and taped them to the bottle the night before. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Love the effort, but spell Thanxmas right!</span></div>
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Here's where Gina lay on the ground and Wyatt was disgusted by her feet stink:</div>
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Seriously, how hilarious is this kid? </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Are Naro and Rachael singing to his beer?</span></div>
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Soon, it was time for presents. They were, as always, pretty good.</div>
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And apparently hilarious.</div>
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Lucic didn't look too psyched about the whole thing, but Kevin sure did.</div>
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Man, Tobin laughs a lot.</div>
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I can't quite tell what this present is, but it looks horrible and Dan and Lindsay should probably use this picture for their save-the-dates.</div>
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So much love at Thanxmas.</div>
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This picture is pretty wonderful:</div>
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As is this:</div>
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I don't remember who ended up taking these home, but I sure hope they are being displayed prominently, since I bought them and they're horrible. Actually, Dustin, didn't you take these? I WAS JUST AT YOUR HOUSE. WHERE WERE THESE?!</div>
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I rocked the turtle-tie look that night, made popular by Kevin and Shaun a few years back. I think it's a good look.</div>
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Just like this face is a good look for Pog.</div>
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When this group used to get together, every party would turn into a dance/air guitar party at some point, and for some reason, we kind of forgot that over the years. This Thanxmas evolved from a quiet, family friendly party with Christmas carrols into just nothing but obnoxious pop music and all of us dancing like idiots in the kitchen. I think it started with Taylor Swift, which I remember being VERY happy about.</div>
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I think these next pics pretty much speak for themselves:</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Excellent dance moves, Pog.</span></div>
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That's pretty much it. The people who stayed over all went out to an awesome breakfast the next day, which I forgot to take any pictures of. But it ruled. Then I hit up an insanely huge beer store on the way home. </div>
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This was a great Thanxmas. Other than some brief chaos when someone had had too much to drink and was apparently only going to be happy if she slept alone in a car, I have no complaints. We sure missed Shaun, Ice and Shannon though. Kids being there early was cool, everyone was in good spirits, and although the photo booth didn't really happen too much and the book I brought that people could sign was written in by like 4 people, it was another great Thanxmas. Personally, I drank a lot of whiskey but maintained a nice buzz all day without going too far, and only smoked once, which then sent me to braindead hilarity mode, just in time for dance parties and a really serious Verve Pipe singalong (that only I sang). And, I'd like to think we kind of brought dance parties back. I know that I'll be doing what I can to make that happen again this year. And whoever brought that Polaroid camera, you did a wonderful thing. I think taking pictures all night then collecting the best into some sort of book would be pretty awesome. I may just buy one myself so I can assure it will happen. </div>
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Great start to decade 2 of Thanxmas.</div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-45654620159888488142014-07-15T20:25:00.002-07:002014-07-15T20:25:53.226-07:00Ossippee Hunting and... Bigfoot?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm not really doing posts for all of the Ossippee Range, but I'm hiking all of it. There's a hiking patch available for hiking to the summit of 5 mountains and hiking a specific number of <a href="http://lrct.org/explorelearn/castle-hiker-patch-program/">trails</a>, some of which are impossible to get to and require ridiculous backtracking and some hikes where I haven't even hiked to the top of a mountain, just hiked in between them. Truthfully, I partly wish I hadn't decided I was going to earn this patch, but at the same time, I'm hiking their trails but I'm going above and beyond and hiking to all of the summits as well. That makes it worth it to me. Like the Belknaps, I can be the master of the Ossippees.</div>
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This hike was worth a post because I got a lot of sweet pics and I have a possible spot to look for Bigfoot in. </div>
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So this hike was just me hiking the Cold Spring Trail up, then taking the Faraway Mountain Trail to the High Ridge Trail, then turning around and hiking a slightly different trail down. No summit, no views. Yippee!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4PaCAf2OmM/U4_jp0DAPiI/AAAAAAAAH5s/c-qfY8qyjsc/s1600/IMG_3661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g4PaCAf2OmM/U4_jp0DAPiI/AAAAAAAAH5s/c-qfY8qyjsc/s1600/IMG_3661.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I don't normally hike past October, but I decided this would be the year that I kept going outside. It was a cool day, but still pretty sunny, so it really worked out to be a perfect day for a hike. The trail started pretty simply. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UeW_TEp0v7E/U4_jp4sjd1I/AAAAAAAAH5o/3EYzSAL4Cg4/s1600/IMG_3662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UeW_TEp0v7E/U4_jp4sjd1I/AAAAAAAAH5o/3EYzSAL4Cg4/s1600/IMG_3662.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Actually, most of the day looked pretty much exactly the same:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uyd9gfnNk-w/U4_jsA0IyTI/AAAAAAAAH6I/w4Vohw6OgFw/s1600/IMG_3686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uyd9gfnNk-w/U4_jsA0IyTI/AAAAAAAAH6I/w4Vohw6OgFw/s1600/IMG_3686.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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All leaves were off the trees, so my entire hike was walking through 3 inches of leaves essentially down a road in the middle of the woods.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWHa6sPvI8I/U4_jpxscD5I/AAAAAAAAH5w/zNMESYCiNUU/s1600/IMG_3672.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWHa6sPvI8I/U4_jpxscD5I/AAAAAAAAH5w/zNMESYCiNUU/s1600/IMG_3672.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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And staring at a forrest packed with nothing but bare trees.</div>
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At first I didn't like this, but after awhile, I started to.</div>
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The trail just did switchbacks all the way up, and was never hard- just a constant climb up super gradual hills. When I got to the top (intersecting with the High Ridge Trail), I saw my first snow of the year, still frozen to the ground at just high enough of an elevation that it stayed there. On the way down, I smoked and hung out on this section for way too long, taking a billion pictures and just enjoying being outside in a nice place. Maybe hiking past October could work out after all...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jq9hes9Jv20/U4_j5WjqvNI/AAAAAAAAH78/eFCCZB7TPlM/s1600/IMG_7504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jq9hes9Jv20/U4_j5WjqvNI/AAAAAAAAH78/eFCCZB7TPlM/s1600/IMG_7504.JPG" height="472" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is the view from there, darkened. There's views here. Sort of. Also the thickest mess of branches in history.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-79MVuBcgegQ/U6DWRQBCL7I/AAAAAAAAIDs/xLLBzzLTaVk/s1600/IMG_6842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-79MVuBcgegQ/U6DWRQBCL7I/AAAAAAAAIDs/xLLBzzLTaVk/s1600/IMG_6842.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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Shortly after this, as I left the more open branch-full switchbacks, I veered left where Faraway Mountain Trail met the Cold Spring Trail and started heading down a road towards a big intersection. Very randomly, I looked down and saw what sort of liked like a foot. A big one.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YTCqSPZp3-A/U4_jsKyZCHI/AAAAAAAAH6E/TtVQTuoOcJs/s1600/IMG_3711.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YTCqSPZp3-A/U4_jsKyZCHI/AAAAAAAAH6E/TtVQTuoOcJs/s1600/IMG_3711.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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My shoe is either an 11.5 or 12 for reference sake.</div>
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Now obviously, this could be someone messing with me. Someone could have come out here and drew out a foot or even had a fake foot with weight on it. It could be a random pattern in dirt created by something else. I don't know. All I'm saying is, this certainly looks like a bare footprint somewhere around a size 16. And not only that, look at how wide it is!</div>
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If you look closely, you can sort of see the outline of what looks like toes:</div>
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Darkened phone version:</div>
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So I don't know if this is a real footprint or not, but as a firm believer in squatches, it certainly felt like I found something that day.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AYiVUw27aCA/U4_j2g5jIhI/AAAAAAAAH7c/cJzkEGHotCM/s1600/IMG_6809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AYiVUw27aCA/U4_j2g5jIhI/AAAAAAAAH7c/cJzkEGHotCM/s1600/IMG_6809.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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I turned my music off pretty much instantly, and walked as alert as possible. Make fun all you want, but suddenly I was very aware of how alone and in-the-middle-of-nowhere I was. This is a trail that most likely, the only people who ever step foot on it are trying to earn this patch. There are 5 summits right near here that normal people would hike. And even on a beautiful Saturday, those are usually pretty empty. In my experience, NOBODY hikes the Ossipees, and it certainly seems pretty absurd that someone would come out to this random trail that doesn't go to a summit and put a fake footprint in the ground. </div>
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But I don't know. I have no way of proving anything- I just saw what I saw and you can decide for yourself. I still am not entirely confident saying that I found anything. But it certainly looks like a giant footprint to me.</div>
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It was starting to get dark fast, but I walked slowly, looking for anything even resembling another footprint. I never found anything, even in the huge section of half frozen mud I had to go through- what I was certain would be footprint gold. </div>
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As I walked, I started to feel a little less spooked, but just as I did, the sky started getting pretty weird.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">would you want to be here alone with squatches nearby?!</span></div>
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The fading sun created a weird red glow across all the bare trees. </div>
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It was pretty awesome.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">so squatchy!</span></div>
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It was great for instagrams too, cuz I could bring that red glow out even more.</div>
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I was running out of time though, so I put my headphones back on (quietly) and set off down the road.</div>
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Then I saw this cool Old Man in a Tree.</div>
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It was nice and dark by the time I got to the bottom, which meant I got to take sweet pics.</div>
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And hang out with horses.</div>
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I talked about it in my <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2014/03/mount-roberts.html">Mount Roberts</a> post, but I while I don't love the Ossippees, there's a special place in my heart for them and the Castle in the Clouds area. The quiet eerie feeling of hanging out here in the dark when you can barely see horses in the distance is just really cool. I hope the squatches leave them alone.</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: Into It. Over It.- "52 Weeks"</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-78679863060859609402014-07-09T21:11:00.002-07:002014-07-09T21:11:12.697-07:00Squamtoberfest 8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As anyone who has read my blog by now knows, Squamtoberfest is one of my favorite weekends of the year. This year, I skipped out completely on biking and focused on hiking and drinking only. This has a lot of pictures, so I'll keep the chatter to a minimum. I started by going up Friday afternoon (way too late of course) and hitting up the best place ever, Georgiana Falls. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4NR-NrFzLB4/U3akJVJezwI/AAAAAAAAHrE/YLiZuXEHJrY/s1600/IMG_3378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4NR-NrFzLB4/U3akJVJezwI/AAAAAAAAHrE/YLiZuXEHJrY/s1600/IMG_3378.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">standard tree shot I take every year</span></div>
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Now that I've gotten really into hiking and have explored some amazing places, I don't know if this is truly the best place ever anymore, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.<br />
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I got on the river as soon as I could, and hiked up the rocks.</div>
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HDR city:</div>
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When I got to the top, there was a really weird pink glow to everything that made HDRs and even regular shots really hard to get right. I had to do some tricky stuff to this one to get the background to show up enough. One of my favorite spots ever:</div>
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I left in the dark, then headed into Plymouth for a calzone. There were no pumpkins on the tower :(</div>
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I got to Kevin's late as expected, and eventually Dustin and Amanda and Tobin and Kira showed up. We drank old fashioneds and listened to terrible vinyl. I love gentleman's lounge. More people need to come up early for it!</div>
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Day 2, we all kind of went our separate ways. Nobody wanted to hike other than my Mass roommates, so we hit up Cardigan. My plan was to start working on earning a <a href="http://viewsandbrews.com/">Views and Brews</a> patch, where you have to hike a mountain, then visit a local brewery and try at least 1 beer (pretty hilariously awesome). Apparently you have to visit a local attraction or do another small hike too. </div>
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When we got to Cardigan, there were even more cars in the parking lot than I expected. We set out just the 3 of us though, and it looked like it would be a foggy hike.</div>
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As we went up, it got foggier and foggier.</div>
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And we quickly realized we wouldn't be getting any views. Bummer.</div>
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But, I'm actually really psyched about this hike. I've been in clouds at the top of a mountain before, but I've never seen it this thick. And it was windy and FREEZING up there. It was a complete tundra disaster.</div>
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So we took some cool pics.</div>
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Mike vs. the world:</div>
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Here's my instagram. This is just one black and white filter. It really was that thick up there.</div>
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We didn't hang out on top for long. We then headed down and went way too far in the wrong direction to go to 7 Barrel Brewery, the brewery listed for Cardigan. </div>
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We both got their red ale, which was pretty solid.</div>
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I also got their poutine, which... holy shit.</div>
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It was pretty much just a bowl of cheese. I've never seen this much cheese on anything. I think this may be a case of going too far. </div>
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There is a waterfall in Plymouth that I wanted to visit- recently when cleaning my room in Maine, I found an old issue of the Clock that recommended this waterfall for a small hike. I took a picture of it and have been looking for an excuse to check it out, and this felt like a good one. We of course paid our respects to the zoo on the way,</div>
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then headed into the woods again to check out the waterfall. It was pretty nice, actually.</div>
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Tobin was real excited for it.</div>
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We then headed back and it was dark by the time we got there (with calzones from AHOP of course). I think I screwed up this year. I had fun doing the 2 hikes, but there was so much driving, and so much time spent with people I see all the time. The people who went biking were back in the early afternoon and had all day just hanging out at the house. They also went apple picking on Saturday morning which I missed. Next year, I'm gonna do 1 day hike and try to leave early. Then be back to the house for partying. I learned my lesson. </div>
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Once the campfire got going, everyone was in good spirits. And we had that badass NEMBA tent too.</div>
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Christmas lights, pumpkins, chips, candy corn, beers. Hell yea.</div>
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Here's Kevin with his foot in a bucket.</div>
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And here's an action shot of Pog chopping wood in the dark:</div>
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Mysterio and Adam fighting the fire. Mysterio's head was pretty much fully engulfed in flames.</div>
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I love Kevin's moustache illuminated by fire in this one:</div>
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I tried so hard to get Mysterio lit up next to fire, but it never really worked.</div>
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Pog tried to as well.</div>
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As the night went on, things got more retarded. I love this series of photos:</div>
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Mostly because Kevin looks like my drawing of him in the last one.</div>
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Soon though, peeps started to get tired.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I love Amanda taking a picture of a pumpkin butt while Kevin is rage yawning.</span></div>
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And then as per usual, I caught Kevin retiring for the night.</div>
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Last year, I really wanted to play emo music to keep in tradition with the old Squamtoberfest vibe of sitting on Kevin's deck in Ashland, but people didn't really want to listen to it, and it caused conflict. This year, I just let whatever happen happen and I think we listened to line dancing country music for much of the night. As people started going to bed though, I put on my stuff and played air guitar. Even though it was pretty much by myself, it felt good. This may have to be the way things go from here on out.</div>
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I slept pretty horribly that night, waking up twice with horrific tooth pains. Fast forward to a week later, I had to have a tooth pulled because it was rotting out of my head and causing me some of the worst pain I've ever experienced in my life. It all kicked in at Squamtoberfest. Damn me and my need to eat candy corn. <br /></div>
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Sunday morning, I woke up still terrified about my mouth, but I had fair eating to do. So we headed out.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O6cvzubo0MA/U3akdrbvR2I/AAAAAAAAHu4/7dUeFcm5z9c/s1600/IMG_3564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-O6cvzubo0MA/U3akdrbvR2I/AAAAAAAAHu4/7dUeFcm5z9c/s1600/IMG_3564.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was super packed. Here's Kevin eating a sausage.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bPa8q-WhKjE/U3akccp_GAI/AAAAAAAAHu8/Lbr9bdKS7o8/s1600/IMG_3560.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bPa8q-WhKjE/U3akccp_GAI/AAAAAAAAHu8/Lbr9bdKS7o8/s1600/IMG_3560.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Dustin in a jacket I'm still bummed he didn't buy:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iW7S3TQGpkA/U3akeFS4AxI/AAAAAAAAHvA/6kI5fx7N7q0/s1600/IMG_3567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iW7S3TQGpkA/U3akeFS4AxI/AAAAAAAAHvA/6kI5fx7N7q0/s1600/IMG_3567.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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This stupid thing was the highlight of Amanda and Gina's day for sure. These vegetables came out and danced. One rapped. It was for little kids, yet Amanda lost her mind at it. Even Kevin's mom was all about it.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dTKQ6sc_KyY/U3akeXJ52tI/AAAAAAAAHus/ZzFGxiO4S3w/s1600/IMG_3575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dTKQ6sc_KyY/U3akeXJ52tI/AAAAAAAAHus/ZzFGxiO4S3w/s1600/IMG_3575.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here's a lovely picture of Gina with a giant doughnut.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qYJ2VtDGFPM/U3akfkRBwnI/AAAAAAAAHvE/kp2ZS6dsAAY/s1600/IMG_3583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qYJ2VtDGFPM/U3akfkRBwnI/AAAAAAAAHvE/kp2ZS6dsAAY/s1600/IMG_3583.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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That's pretty much it. Pretty standard Squamtoberfest. It was generally all a good time. I screwed up on Saturday and missed apple picking and house hangouts, but gentleman's lounge, the fire, hiking, fall, best place ever, and the fair all = awesome. Year 9 this year! I'm planning on taking a few extra days off and trying to hike 5 favorite mountains around Squamtoberfest, then hanging hard at the house this year. Fall overload + hangs will mean an even better fest.</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: Taking Back Sunday- "Happiness Is"</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-73819284680731609022014-07-08T21:15:00.002-07:002014-07-08T21:15:19.646-07:00Fall in Fast Forward Photo Form, part 2: Halloween<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here are the best pics from the later part of fall- the Halloweeny part. I stole a bunch of these from Rich. Thanks, Rich.</div>
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I had nothing to do with this decoration since I was at work when it happened, but man I love when my roommates decorate. They do a hell of a job.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K8AmxY-VzPw/U3aY1EY1kDI/AAAAAAAAHpU/3Tz3xzu4dzE/s1600/560081_10151755660512503_484517550_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K8AmxY-VzPw/U3aY1EY1kDI/AAAAAAAAHpU/3Tz3xzu4dzE/s1600/560081_10151755660512503_484517550_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I only went to 1 haunt this year,-Haunted Overload, which has always been my favorite. I didn't have as good a time as I did last year, but it was still pretty awesome. This giant skull head was about the coolest thing I've ever seen.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXd5zSFPxs8/U3aZRXy2hJI/AAAAAAAAHpo/YGKDYl7HhyM/s1600/IMG_6259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mXd5zSFPxs8/U3aZRXy2hJI/AAAAAAAAHpo/YGKDYl7HhyM/s1600/IMG_6259.jpg" height="640" width="476" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(it's probably 20 feet high and 15 feet across)</span></div>
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We went to Funspot for Buote's birthday. I hadn't been to Funspot probably since college, and it was awesome. We had a great time. Here's Heath trying to get arrested:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XYrMNkoe3b8/U3aZhnvZsdI/AAAAAAAAHqA/k-6RBE42HoI/s1600/IMG_6726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XYrMNkoe3b8/U3aZhnvZsdI/AAAAAAAAHqA/k-6RBE42HoI/s1600/IMG_6726.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">hide your kids hide your wife</span></div>
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We hit up that destroyed building in Kittery, where I took a terrifying Screammask shot.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TBMCpkQ1wjc/U3aZZyGmBCI/AAAAAAAAHpw/K7ZWC-vHpk0/s1600/IMG_6522.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TBMCpkQ1wjc/U3aZZyGmBCI/AAAAAAAAHpw/K7ZWC-vHpk0/s1600/IMG_6522.JPG" height="292" width="400" /></a></div>
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Dustin didn't really do anything for Halloween in Saratoga this year, so I went to Birthdayween. It was probably time anyway, as it had been a few years. Horseman represented. I think this is my Halloween costume forever now.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_UhJDpYSEsQ/U3abxunr2CI/AAAAAAAAHqg/IObMnid1yDI/s1600/1378032_10151734440682503_562225035_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_UhJDpYSEsQ/U3abxunr2CI/AAAAAAAAHqg/IObMnid1yDI/s1600/1378032_10151734440682503_562225035_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Half man. Half horse. All justice.</span></div>
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Here's Horseman drinking a BURR while Pat Lane looks on admiringly:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jQFWSdXq6OE/U3aV1L-cg6I/AAAAAAAAHnc/hhTXo44vCk4/s1600/1005851_10151748597502503_1857092821_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jQFWSdXq6OE/U3aV1L-cg6I/AAAAAAAAHnc/hhTXo44vCk4/s1600/1005851_10151748597502503_1857092821_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Josh's costume was incredible. He was the made-of-money guy from the Geico commercials.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PxMAHTk-M-I/U3aV2NxjzGI/AAAAAAAAHoU/RDDmmIzr16g/s1600/1385438_10151748600132503_1683546242_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PxMAHTk-M-I/U3aV2NxjzGI/AAAAAAAAHoU/RDDmmIzr16g/s1600/1385438_10151748600132503_1683546242_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bigfoot pose</span></div>
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Ridiculous!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mq4L6vOK_gw/U3aWyQeYotI/AAAAAAAAHow/KoYlQU4NHfI/s1600/IMG_3616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mq4L6vOK_gw/U3aWyQeYotI/AAAAAAAAHow/KoYlQU4NHfI/s1600/IMG_3616.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Most of Birthdayween was posing for superhero pictures.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cJyUmBsrhxg/U3aY3tj19_I/AAAAAAAAHpc/O3Z_81JTA2c/s1600/1002013_10151748597202503_1866537153_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cJyUmBsrhxg/U3aY3tj19_I/AAAAAAAAHpc/O3Z_81JTA2c/s1600/1002013_10151748597202503_1866537153_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P70Wthj-Hs8/U3aV1Dds-1I/AAAAAAAAHng/FiIZCtJmJMA/s1600/1380186_10151748600362503_1656137814_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P70Wthj-Hs8/U3aV1Dds-1I/AAAAAAAAHng/FiIZCtJmJMA/s1600/1380186_10151748600362503_1656137814_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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I particularly love this one. Jesse's face is classic.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_04Qb7qOni8/U3aV64bp6-I/AAAAAAAAHoc/HTGSRiMQfvQ/s1600/563069_10151748599312503_1108508621_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_04Qb7qOni8/U3aV64bp6-I/AAAAAAAAHoc/HTGSRiMQfvQ/s1600/563069_10151748599312503_1108508621_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">as is Ahadi's costume</span></div>
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Another good one for Jesse. Nice costume, Heath.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0JDUkfTtySA/U3aWyQKS9nI/AAAAAAAAHpI/Ynnvzezl3ks/s1600/IMG_3606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0JDUkfTtySA/U3aWyQKS9nI/AAAAAAAAHpI/Ynnvzezl3ks/s1600/IMG_3606.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jesse threw cards everywhere while pieces of money fell off Josh all night. </span></div>
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Here's everyone. How weird is it that Nintendo put the A and B buttons in that order? I never thought of that before.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4JMIaEEGdZM/U3aV5vAVv0I/AAAAAAAAHoE/Dr6Knt4V4MU/s1600/1452140_10151748597727503_1800812489_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4JMIaEEGdZM/U3aV5vAVv0I/AAAAAAAAHoE/Dr6Knt4V4MU/s1600/1452140_10151748597727503_1800812489_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another one. Horseman loves posing.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bknSVqaSIUA/U3aV8kyVKUI/AAAAAAAAHoo/wkQTgYrBnTU/s1600/1006373_10151748598172503_1142691509_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bknSVqaSIUA/U3aV8kyVKUI/AAAAAAAAHoo/wkQTgYrBnTU/s1600/1006373_10151748598172503_1142691509_n.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Oh yea, and this happened.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ai2B__2feAw/U3aWySrzgqI/AAAAAAAAHpA/XJAjsm6NHNg/s1600/IMG_3623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ai2B__2feAw/U3aWySrzgqI/AAAAAAAAHpA/XJAjsm6NHNg/s1600/IMG_3623.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is the least incriminating picture I have. Basically, someone loves drinking and getting naked at parties, and that someone decided to put stuff into a certain place in front of a lot of people, then he put something into his mouth from that place. Yikes.</div>
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I should do this pose more often:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A5tqus4_EzE/U3aZaM2WuvI/AAAAAAAAHp0/mqDc35OPi9k/s1600/IMG_6583.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A5tqus4_EzE/U3aZaM2WuvI/AAAAAAAAHp0/mqDc35OPi9k/s1600/IMG_6583.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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Here's Rich and I at Art's Halloween party a week later:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uda--pYDSN8/U3aZALl8aTI/AAAAAAAAHpg/_TRX02ma5ek/s1600/1425702_10151755660707503_112802800_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uda--pYDSN8/U3aZALl8aTI/AAAAAAAAHpg/_TRX02ma5ek/s1600/1425702_10151755660707503_112802800_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And me fighting a fire:</div>
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Josh and I, the 3 armed Horseman, after kicking butt at beer pong (pretty much all josh).</div>
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So Art's party was a little odd cuz I knew 1 person there other than the people I came with, and that was Art, who I barely know. But I think this was the 3rd time he had done this party, and there was a huge game of Slender Man that absolutely ruled. </div>
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If you don't know Slender Man, he's a character created by someone on the Something Awful forums, a site I used to go to all the time. I think a computer game was created, and somewhere down the line, this game was. It may be done by other people- I'm not sure. At this party, what it entailed was groups of 2 running out into a giant field (this party was at a peach orchard), where you have to find pieces of paper with clues on them. The clues didn't really matter- it was more just about finding the pieces of paper. Each group had 1 flashlight. And roaming the field (and all of Art's property) was a friend of his in Slender Man garb, on stilts. So he looked pretty much just like this:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iqVp-TWlSEA/U3adJErziSI/AAAAAAAAHqw/YVyUWzxe6Qs/s1600/slenderman-irl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iqVp-TWlSEA/U3adJErziSI/AAAAAAAAHqw/YVyUWzxe6Qs/s1600/slenderman-irl.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></div>
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Other people were dressed as skeletons, and they ran around finding people for Slender Man to catch. Sounds ridiculous, right? Especially after drinking? Let me tell you, it was AWESOME. Rich and I partnered up, and right away, standing in a silent field, Rich says "you hear that? THAT'S HIM!" and you could hear the creaking of stilts in the distance. But I couldn't see him at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure the person dressed as him got dressed without anyone knowing, so nobody would have seen him. I saw him once in the distance, and he was huge and terrifying. </div>
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It was weird how quickly the game got really intense. As soon as you heard Slender Man, you took off, fast. I remember my closest encounter was when Rich suddenly saw him heading towards us and we ran in different directions. I started making my way back towards where Rich had gone, and immediately saw him coming towards me. I had to jump and duck behind a rock as he walked by. Oh yea- and Art was blasting this terrifying music that was essentially a distorted machine-sounding heartbeat with weird eerie sounds in the background. You'd hear people scream in the distance, see people and not know if they were good or bad, etc. And you never wanted to turn on your flashlight, because that would alert Slender Man as to where you were.</div>
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I ended up sneaking back to home base where I found out the game was still going and there were only a few people out there. I had collected a few pieces of paper solo, so I realized I could win if I found a few more. Rich had either been caught or had enough, I can't remember. So I headed out into an uncharted area and found 3 more. I was psyched but heard Slender Man in the area, and when I should have called it a night, I headed towards 1 last piece of paper, only to have Art, in full skeleton makeup, jump up out of the bushes like 10 feet in front of me. He later said he thought I was going to walk right into him and had no idea how I didn't see him. I screamed out and took off sprinting towards the woods, where I was told I was safe. But I guess the game was over, because Art followed me right in there. I stood in silence, trying to be invisible, but I was already made. He ran in after me, and, tripping over rocks and smashing my way through trees and very thick (and wet) woods, I got my foot tangled in brush and my shoe fell off. </div>
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I yelled out that I guess the game was over and Art helped me find my shoe. Apparently he only went in the woods to get me because I was the last one out there and they were trying to end the game. So it doesn't count, and I went un-caught. I had 6 pieces of paper, which made me the winner. At least that's how I feel. Woo!</div>
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When I got out of the woods, there stood Slender Man, illuminated by the moon glow, and he was absolutely terrifying. It's hilarious how scary and intense a game of basically hide and seek mixed with a scavenger hunt was, but you put on super loud creepy music and send strangers out into a dark field with a giant guy on stilts chasing you, shit gets intense quick. What a fun party. I wish I had pictures, but it was all too intense to even bother. What a cool party though.</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">currently listening to: Yppah- "You Are Beautiful At All Times"</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-71243176988799200492014-07-01T21:38:00.004-07:002014-07-01T21:38:47.986-07:00Fall in Fast Forward Photo Form, part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Alright, time to do most of fall in fast forward photo form. These are some of my favorite photos from September-November, with very little commentary.</div>
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We went to the Deerfield fair, which was awesome, especially since I missed it last year.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wBKWOl7if70/U3aV6eVCucI/AAAAAAAAHoI/W3MluFgff6M/s1600/528211_10151679282897503_779136160_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wBKWOl7if70/U3aV6eVCucI/AAAAAAAAHoI/W3MluFgff6M/s1600/528211_10151679282897503_779136160_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Or maybe it was miserable?</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr0hqIyNA0U/U25oo1gBetI/AAAAAAAAHjY/wfxkE4pphXg/s1600/IMG_3338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lr0hqIyNA0U/U25oo1gBetI/AAAAAAAAHjY/wfxkE4pphXg/s1600/IMG_3338.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Such a horrible picture:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XyGQxQK8At0/U3abxzDQQsI/AAAAAAAAHqo/thcnOByHAAg/s1600/1462885_10202136367028762_1992672525_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XyGQxQK8At0/U3abxzDQQsI/AAAAAAAAHqo/thcnOByHAAg/s1600/1462885_10202136367028762_1992672525_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Steph modeling some protruded cow buttholes:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMPsfbdQ3DE/U25oqOzI8FI/AAAAAAAAHjg/KyUnNeC8T8E/s1600/IMG_3346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vMPsfbdQ3DE/U25oqOzI8FI/AAAAAAAAHjg/KyUnNeC8T8E/s1600/IMG_3346.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I hiked Mount Sentinel in the far northeast side of the Ossippee Range right as fall started showing its face:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W0Bk3b_7WxA/U6DiofnH9rI/AAAAAAAAIEE/1ZNDImwbWmc/s1600/IMG_2947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W0Bk3b_7WxA/U6DiofnH9rI/AAAAAAAAIEE/1ZNDImwbWmc/s1600/IMG_2947.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Right after sitting and enjoying a granola bar, I almost walked right into this guy:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LmgPPDShaJ8/U6DionfoH5I/AAAAAAAAIEI/Bx9XlxS-7ZY/s1600/IMG_2951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LmgPPDShaJ8/U6DionfoH5I/AAAAAAAAIEI/Bx9XlxS-7ZY/s1600/IMG_2951.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It's a smaller mountain, but with the magic of HDR and iphone editing programs, I got some excellent color:</div>
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Love this one:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yff6RW4-o3k/U6DiqIlQeTI/AAAAAAAAIEc/RvYNOtkXejI/s1600/IMG_5315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yff6RW4-o3k/U6DiqIlQeTI/AAAAAAAAIEc/RvYNOtkXejI/s1600/IMG_5315.JPG" height="468" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here's a little cabin on this mountain that, once darkened, is straight out of Evil Dead:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lE_s3tspAdo/U6DiqRSsbZI/AAAAAAAAIEg/Ol-n2_QUWSc/s1600/IMG_5319.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lE_s3tspAdo/U6DiqRSsbZI/AAAAAAAAIEg/Ol-n2_QUWSc/s1600/IMG_5319.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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I visited Maine and golfed among incredible foliage:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBWtUT0GdFI/U25o9v5_mMI/AAAAAAAAHmM/ZKoMIXO0fF8/s1600/IMG_6650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZBWtUT0GdFI/U25o9v5_mMI/AAAAAAAAHmM/ZKoMIXO0fF8/s1600/IMG_6650.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ig8yVZj9WuA/U25ot5fLeDI/AAAAAAAAHkM/JQ_4V9LOCaM/s1600/IMG_6059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ig8yVZj9WuA/U25ot5fLeDI/AAAAAAAAHkM/JQ_4V9LOCaM/s1600/IMG_6059.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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Love this one from the dock at my parents' house: </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZD9Y19iTzk/U4-2-iL4EWI/AAAAAAAAH3s/JN_nGfs_QqI/s1600/IMG_6015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DZD9Y19iTzk/U4-2-iL4EWI/AAAAAAAAH3s/JN_nGfs_QqI/s1600/IMG_6015.JPG" height="640" width="476" /></a></div>
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I hit up West Quarry Mountain, one of my favorites:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3gFU12UwOKw/U25osNkpiwI/AAAAAAAAHkA/d365_lKM0tA/s1600/IMG_5776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3gFU12UwOKw/U25osNkpiwI/AAAAAAAAHkA/d365_lKM0tA/s1600/IMG_5776.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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And headed over to East Quarry, along one of the most overgrown, untouched trails ever. Look at that color!</div>
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I hit up Stonehouse Pond. It was predictably gorgeous.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XMUMwYjbrS4/U25o6hxefoI/AAAAAAAAHlo/eIV6KUxZAx4/s1600/IMG_6602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XMUMwYjbrS4/U25o6hxefoI/AAAAAAAAHlo/eIV6KUxZAx4/s1600/IMG_6602.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was taken on my driveway in Maine. Fall overload:</div>
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Another driveway shot. Love me some leaves:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9EwVaE3XiB4/U25o1i0hkEI/AAAAAAAAHlM/-ZNBJHbzG6Y/s1600/IMG_6276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9EwVaE3XiB4/U25o1i0hkEI/AAAAAAAAHlM/-ZNBJHbzG6Y/s1600/IMG_6276.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was from an attempt to get all of the colors of the fall rainbow in one picture, completely ripping off a dude I follow on instagram with like 400,000 followers. I never posted it, but it's pretty cool to see them all together:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aW0mNxIvthg/U25owRZDtGI/AAAAAAAAHkU/D79fwx7kQDo/s1600/IMG_6017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aW0mNxIvthg/U25owRZDtGI/AAAAAAAAHkU/D79fwx7kQDo/s1600/IMG_6017.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was from the woods in Maine. Yea, there was some editing. </div>
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We hit up the Topsfield fair for my first time. Josh hung out with horses.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">and they loved it</span></div>
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Josh pretended he didn't want to go to the Pig house, so Rich and Buote posed awkwardly in this thing:</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">how big do they think people's heads are?</span></div>
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Rich bought the biggest whoopie pie in history:</div>
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And saw his old friend Dan the Candy Man: </div>
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While Josh fed goats: </div>
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The sky made for some awesome HDRs: </div>
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And blood leaves photos: </div>
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I finally visited Willand Pond in Somersworth. I love this shot:</div>
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I hiked Rand Mountain and had quite a moment with this view:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4jMuyZ4U_Ic/U25o-HSwD8I/AAAAAAAAHmU/ZsE_y41NCCU/s1600/IMG_7289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4jMuyZ4U_Ic/U25o-HSwD8I/AAAAAAAAHmU/ZsE_y41NCCU/s1600/IMG_7289.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's the same view a little later, with a different edit:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Maf94aY6Vfw/U25o_10WdcI/AAAAAAAAHmk/yagkG02eo5Y/s1600/IMG_7304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Maf94aY6Vfw/U25o_10WdcI/AAAAAAAAHmk/yagkG02eo5Y/s1600/IMG_7304.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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That hike was pretty memorable, because I wandered through the woods and stumbled across a bunch of bones- this is what I'm certain is a moose skull:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBAmxDcIYyw/U25o6abL_VI/AAAAAAAAHlk/ReelUzwQfW8/s1600/IMG_6577.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UBAmxDcIYyw/U25o6abL_VI/AAAAAAAAHlk/ReelUzwQfW8/s1600/IMG_6577.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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It was terrifying because it was shredded to pieces. Then I heard something walking through the woods near me. It was the first time I've ever pulled out my knife in preparation for something bad possibly happening. But it didn't. Had a nice interaction on the way out with 2 hunters yelling at each other outside their truck while cleaning their guns too. I wasn't wearing orange cuz I forgot it was hunting season. And it was getting late. REALLY DODGED A BULLET ON THAT ONE. (yes, I already used that joke on facebook)</div>
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This was taken on a small pond in Somersworth on the way to Rochester. I drove 2 hours home from work, saw what the sky was doing, and b-lined it to this spot, hoping I'd get some fall magic. Working all day and having to earn this view made it so much more special:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WX3YXOJLyFE/U25o8NJGY0I/AAAAAAAAHl4/iK1PwZh2cKo/s1600/IMG_6646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WX3YXOJLyFE/U25o8NJGY0I/AAAAAAAAHl4/iK1PwZh2cKo/s1600/IMG_6646.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here's Heath, modeling an awesome snack that was made in his image: </div>
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And that's that. Stay tuned for Fall in Fast Forward, part 2- Halloween edition!</div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-75486518278518537492014-06-30T22:03:00.002-07:002014-06-30T22:05:22.478-07:00Mount Chocorua and the End of Vacation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It feels like it was way longer ago, but it was actually just 4 years ago, at Squamtoberfest 4, that I failed hiking mount Chocorua. Now, I don't like to say that the mountain beat me- because it didn't- but that's hard to say when you live with Rich, who hiked it 5-6 years ago and has never been the same since. To him, I was beaten by the beast. But I actually got up 80% of it, and although I destroyed my legs (I hadn't hiked like, at all before trying it), I didn't give up because I was tired. I gave up because I started hiking a 9 mile hike at 3:30 in the afternoon in October on a day that threatened rain. And sure enough, when we got to the point where we were starting to make the last climb, I saw the exposed top, covered in a cloud, soaked and windy, and decided that, since it would be a mess up there and it was gonna be dark in less than an hour, I had to give up. It was one of my most angry moments of my life, to do all that work to not actually get to the top of a mountain. So no, my ill preparedness and stupidity beat me that day. But that doesn't mean that I haven't felt Chocorua's eye glaring at me with disapproval for years since. </div>
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So, as my 2 year (27 months to be exact) summer came to an end, I decided that I would not go out as the lame guy who hated his life and didn't do anything worthwhile that stayed stuck in a job that was killing him. I decided to end my summer as the guy who quit that job and lived a life more awesome for 2 years. So rather than relaxing at home and preparing for my first day at a new job, I decided to go out in style, and beat Chocorua.</div>
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This was Tuesday, the day after Labor Day (remember, it's September in blogland), so I was psyched to see that everyone was back at work and I only had 3 cars worth of people to share the mountain with. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--nnSUGQaIFE/U4ZftuodjUI/AAAAAAAAHv4/uuJuER5tQ8U/s1600/IMG_3068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--nnSUGQaIFE/U4ZftuodjUI/AAAAAAAAHv4/uuJuER5tQ8U/s1600/IMG_3068.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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While there are several ways up Chocorua and several recommended over the Piper trail, that was the one I failed on, so that's what I would be hiking.</div>
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And off I went on my journey. 9 miles.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sDkHcWSy56s/U4ZfucI5kMI/AAAAAAAAHwE/UJSj7-7xixM/s1600/IMG_3070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sDkHcWSy56s/U4ZfucI5kMI/AAAAAAAAHwE/UJSj7-7xixM/s1600/IMG_3070.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The trail starts off pretty flat and boring.</div>
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There are a few detours I'd love to check out at some point, but on a 9 mile hike, I had only the summit in my eyes. I like this section of perfect dirt path with a giant rock:</div>
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Eventually I got to a part I remembered, where the trail goes way down to a stream. I remember Talluto lighting up a cigabutt here 4 years ago.</div>
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From here, the climbing gets more intense, but it's mostly gradual the whole way. I remembered this section of woods perfectly:</div>
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I didn't really appreciate the amount of work put into the trails here 4 years ago. Now that I'm a rabid hiker, I very much do. Lots of good stair sections.</div>
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I was happy where I was when I got to this sign. Feeling good, making good time.</div>
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And I knew I was about to have some views.</div>
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There she was.</div>
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Look closely at about an inch and a half in from the right side- those are 2 people.</div>
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I love this trail because it's pretty gradual and never insanely steep, with enough flat spots for breaks. I also love it because you basically get to hike up a side mountain and get awesome views on an exposed peak before you even really get to the real Chocorua. Panorama time:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wb-fvdyky9k/U4ZgAKNiZrI/AAAAAAAAHzU/tG0Hl26GqfU/s1600/chocorua+midway+panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wb-fvdyky9k/U4ZgAKNiZrI/AAAAAAAAHzU/tG0Hl26GqfU/s1600/chocorua+midway+panorama.jpg" height="208" width="640" /></a></div>
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I eventually got back into the woods, then out again. I was getting close.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M79u1cZZjYE/U4ZfzoxcF-I/AAAAAAAAHw8/sBKDU6qLANw/s1600/IMG_3132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M79u1cZZjYE/U4ZfzoxcF-I/AAAAAAAAHw8/sBKDU6qLANw/s1600/IMG_3132.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And soon I was at the exact spot I turned around at 4 years ago. I remember this ugly wet stretch all too well: </div>
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I was probably .5 from the summit before. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qbz_e-ete2k/U4ZfzGho82I/AAAAAAAAHw0/ldE65hl3ND0/s1600/IMG_3117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qbz_e-ete2k/U4ZfzGho82I/AAAAAAAAHw0/ldE65hl3ND0/s1600/IMG_3117.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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And soon I was out of the woods and starting up the last section towards the summit.</div>
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In the pictures I'd seen from the summit and from even being close to it, I didn't realize how big the section of exposed rock actually was. I didn't realize how long you're actually on the top with no trees. It's awesome.</div>
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One final bit of work, and then I was at the top.</div>
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I had beat Chocorua. I immediately sent this text to Rich:</div>
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True, I had to hike down too, but getting to the top meant a lot. I had already hiked mountains higher than this and with more elevation gain, but I think this was the longest trip so far. I hadn't done a 9 miler yet, so to be at the top feeling good was huge. I realized it had only taken me about 2 and a half hours to get to the top, and that's with time for picture taking too. Apparently I was in hiking shape. I never felt too exhausted, and just kept a solid pace the whole way up. What a great feeling. </div>
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It was an ugly day that threatened rain non stop, but save for a few random sprinkles, I stayed dry. And even with the ugly gray sky, the views were phenomenal. I made several panoramas of varying success:</div>
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I wandered around and just felt happy and accomplished. I took pictures, ate a PB&J and just enjoyed the view. I looked around and realized that I was on top of one of the most popular mountains in NH, completely alone. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D7SL9bw3bOo/U4Zf0jyYN4I/AAAAAAAAHxI/ATaLflOfWes/s1600/IMG_3174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-D7SL9bw3bOo/U4Zf0jyYN4I/AAAAAAAAHxI/ATaLflOfWes/s1600/IMG_3174.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I started thinking a lot. </div>
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Nine days earlier, my friend and the bassist of my favorite band, Caspian, died. I honestly only know rumors as to what happened, so I'm not gonna even bother- I just know that I woke up on August 28th to a text from a fellow fan saying he was gone. </div>
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I'd come to know Chris by just being a Caspian superfan and seeing them a lot. I eventually introduced myself to everyone and just through years of seeing them (I think I'm at 31 times now), I've come to be casual friends with them. I've only really hung out a few times, but always talked at shows. We shared a practice space for a year or so, and it ruled. Chris was always the guy I ended up talking to the most at shows. He was always so outgoing and friendly, and we always had great conversations. Hilton and I even tried to get him to be our part time bassist at one point. So while we were never really that close, I think I always felt so much closer to him because of their music. They make such beautiful and powerful music that has meant so much to me over the years, that when I saw Chris, it wasn't just him saying hi and us having a laugh- it was him playing epic, life changing gorgeous music and me getting into it to insane levels. It's hard to explain unless you have music in your life that does to you what Caspian does to me. Those moments where I'd make eye contact during shows- they mean a lot more when the music is that powerful. You feel like you have a bond that's stronger than just having things in common and getting along- it's like you've connected at a different, incredibly spiritual level that is hard to really understand unless you've felt it. </div>
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He died on the 25th, and I found out on the 28th. I decided to drive to Fernal that afternoon and have a solo swim session that day. I just floated around in the water thinking. It eventually ended up with me listening to Caspian on the side of the lake, tearing up a little while I watched the sunset. He wasn't a close friend and I had been seeing him less and less, but he was an awesome dude who I had a connection with, and I knew I would miss him. And seeing and listening to my favorite band would never be the same. </div>
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On August 30th, I officially got a job offer for the job I'm at now, and then I went to his wake shortly afterward. I hate that I was late, because even though it would have been incredibly painful to watch, I missed speeches from the rest of the band. Things other people said were incredible though. I stayed until pretty much everyone was gone, just trying to laugh with the band and people I knew through the band, even meeting some awesome dudes I'd been hearing about for years. It was actually a really nice night and the wake, as painful as it was, was beautiful. Great pictures were everywhere, and there were great memories and lots of hugs, from people I'd known for years and from people I had never even met before. I'm happy I went. </div>
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I regret not going to the funeral the next day. I had had Full Day at Fernal planned for awhile and wanted to spend one more day swimming with friends before my summer was over. If I could choose between a funeral and a wake, I'd always choose the wake. But in hindsight, I feel bad for not going. </div>
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But that night was a Caspian show that was planned long before any of this had happened. Chris wasn't touring as much, and they had already taught a new guy most of the songs for a future tour. The show was actually a benefit for a young kid who needed a heart transplant I think- I can't remember, but it was a big fund raiser at this really cool place in Manchester. I was up in the air about going originally since I'd seen them a billion times and it was the same day as full day at Fernal, but once this happened, I knew I had to go. </div>
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I sometimes think about one of the most beautiful experiences in my life. My dog Jesse had died months before in Pennsylvania, while I was in Mass. I always used to take him on long walks when I visited Maine. Our driveway is a half mile long, so I'd take him up and back 2-4 times, and he'd always love it. It was the happiest he ever was. We'd always end the walks down on the dock, just looking at the lake. I'd pet him and listen to music I loved. </div>
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When I visited my parents for Thanksgiving (when they came back up from Pennsylvania), it was the first time I'd been in that house since Jesse would no longer be in it. I knew I wouldn't feel right if I didn't go on a walk to say goodbye to him, so I went. My mom saw in my eyes what I was doing and asked me if I'd be ok, to which I said "yea, I'm fine. I just need to do this." About 20 feet into the walk, I broke into tears, and cried off and on for the entire 2 mile walk. I listened to all my old favorite songs, and eventually timed it so I'd be getting to the dock as "A Dream For Us" by Appleseed Cast played. I sat on the dock as leaves fell around me in a golden hour October sunset glow. I thought of how much I'd miss my dog and slowly, through lots of tears, came to terms with everything. Right as I decided I wasn't going to cry anymore and I was feeling ok, I stood up and turned around to walk back inside, only to see my mom standing in the pathway to the house. "Michael... are you ok?" I instantly burst into tears and we hugged while leaves fell around us in perfect fall orange light. This is still one of the most beautiful moments of my life. Even though it was sad- how beautiful of a scene it was, and the power in the love from that hug still makes me choke up today. </div>
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I bring this up because that Caspian show was basically an hour straight of that feeling. </div>
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I talked to them before the show and could tell it was going to be heavy. You could feel the tension in the air. The first band that played (Bells) was awesome, but you could tell everyone in that room was preparing themselves for Caspian's set. I talked to Erin and asked him if they were going to play "ASA," one of my absolute favorites, and a song I knew would destroy me. "We're opening with it" he said. </div>
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I made my way to the front row and waited for the band to take the stage. Phil told everyone it was a special show and asked that nobody take out their phones or take pictures. I'm so happy he did that and I wish other bands would do that too. I would have taken so many pictures that night because I would have felt like I needed to, but now I was free to just be there. </div>
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I was already having trouble the second they all walked out and the lights turned off. They launched into "The Dove" (the interlude before "ASA"), and I don't know if I'll ever feel what I felt in that moment again. No music has ever been more beautiful. They played it longer than normal, and I wish they'd played it even longer. The song just washed over everyone in the room, and I stood in the blue light, crying while smiling. It felt like the song was a summer breeze in my face. The Dove into ASA were the only songs they could have opened with that night, and they worked as an absolutely flooring tribute to Chris. It was literally the sound of friends saying goodbye to their brother while honoring him in the best way possible, through gorgeous music and love. </div>
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As the set went on, it just got more and more incredible in that room. I know not everyone there was feeling it like I was, but not everyone has music affect them the way I do. Sometimes a song that isn't even sad will make me have to start fighting back tears because of just how much I like it. The fact that a song some people wrote and recorded can mean so much to me over years and years and grow to become an instant way to reminisce about all the amazing moments I've had with that song- I know it's very American Beauty of me to say, but that power is so strong sometimes, I can't handle it. The music played that night was that power added to the power of a band of 5 people playing on when they literally put their friend in the ground that morning. It was the most powerful thing I've ever experienced and I couldn't possibly love or respect them any more for being able to do that for their friend and friends/family in the crowd.</div>
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They played "The Raven" early in the set, and I remember a completely different feeling during that song- one of anger and terrifying fury that their friend wasn't there. I remember watching Erin just absolutely destroy his guitar, rocking out more than I'd ever seen him, the whole band looking furious. It may sound lame, but it's the only way I can really describe it- it's like they were paying that song as a fuck you to God or whatever it was that took their friend from them. It was uncomfortable and freeing in an odd way. I remember actually gritting my teeth and feeling oddly furious myself. It was hard to handle. </div>
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As the set went on, Red (the guy who played bass on most of the tours Chris didn't go on (but who decided to not do it anymore)) played a few songs, which made me happy. He probably needed to do that way more than I could ever understand. They played a fantastic set of everyone's favorite songs, maintaining most of the energy and power as the opening. Or maybe I was eventually just not able to be floored to that level anymore. I remember starting out, wondering if we were supposed to be quiet and stand still out of respect, or if the band would want us to headbang and clap like we always do. Very quickly, I knew standing still would be wrong. It was really hot in that room and I had been out in the sun all day. I was quite dehydrated and by the end of the set, was drenched from head to toe in sweat. But if the band was going to play that hard, I was going to rock out that hard. Again, I don't know how they did it.<br />
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They ended with "Sycamore," and I remember watching Cal crying while playing, and it was just the most horrible yet beautiful thing. The look of pain on his face said it all, but he kept playing. He had to.<br />
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The set was eventually over, and Cal came out and played an acoustic song (what would end up being "CMF" (Chris's initials)) to a completely silent room, and it couldn't have been a more perfect ending. I have never heard a room full of people so quiet. I've never seen a band play with that level of passion. And honestly, I'm not sure I've ever heard them play better. When the set was over, they left the stage and people congregated for more hugs. It felt like the perfect way to say goodbye. </div>
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When people cleared out enough, I took a few pictures. This is the only one that really came out, of Chris's bass in front of the stage, which I stood next to for most of the set. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cbsKULCsZXw/U4Zohx6WF4I/AAAAAAAAH0Y/2-NSj0WMMrc/s1600/IMG_5305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cbsKULCsZXw/U4Zohx6WF4I/AAAAAAAAH0Y/2-NSj0WMMrc/s1600/IMG_5305.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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I bring this all up because I thought a lot about that show while I was on top of Mount Chocorua. It was only 3 days earlier that I had an experience that's still hard to put into woods, all honoring a friend I'd never see again, and here I was, alone on top of a mountain I was so happy to finally have conquered, a day before my life was going to go from a 2 year endless vacation of freedom back to a life governed by a job. </div>
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I was happy I had beat the mountain, but I was still stuck in the weird funk I'd been in for months. I didn't do nearly enough actual applying for jobs, but through trying to get 3 with friend hook-ups and 2 of them not happening, I was bummed and starting to get really scared. So I ended my grand vacation with a whimper of anxiety and depression about not knowing how I was possibly going to get my life back in order, watching money disappear faster and faster while debt piled up. </div>
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Getting the job offer from a friend at Apple to work where I work now was incredible, but I still had to go back to normal life. I'd have to commute to work. The majority of my day would now be taken up by doing things I didn't want to do. I'd have the security of money again, sure, but I'd be losing everything else. </div>
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The worry and uncertainty mixed with depression from not wanting to lose everything I had had for the last 2 years, and I was already losing some of the more awesome person I had become. Even though I knew I was going to be fine, the "fuck it!" positive attitude of knowing I'd be fine was gone. </div>
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And I sat there in a weird way, knowing deep down I would be ok but worried and depressed for the future, proud that I had finally beat Chocorua but no longer able to enjoy it the way I had for the last 2 years, knowing I had to get down to drive back so I could go to work the next day. And I sat there thinking about life, wondering if I had really changed at all, or really done anything special. And now Chris was gone, and I was still trying to fully come to terms with the experience just a few days before.</div>
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And as I thought about the good and bad of life, something wonderful happened. </div>
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The sun started coming out.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZC4qiKfNvYk/U4Zf2b8h2eI/AAAAAAAAHxk/ZjFt_nvKFL0/s1600/IMG_3194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZC4qiKfNvYk/U4Zf2b8h2eI/AAAAAAAAHxk/ZjFt_nvKFL0/s1600/IMG_3194.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was subtle at first, and I wondered, "wait, is this actually gonna happen?" and it got stronger.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fYuNu5l6goI/U4Zf1bo1azI/AAAAAAAAHxQ/ixb8AbSLoQ8/s1600/IMG_3181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fYuNu5l6goI/U4Zf1bo1azI/AAAAAAAAHxQ/ixb8AbSLoQ8/s1600/IMG_3181.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It creeped from the other mountains to the edge of Chocorua.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6sGg1qL_pnA/U4Zf2j_Qu9I/AAAAAAAAHxo/r80EQhs6oV4/s1600/IMG_3196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6sGg1qL_pnA/U4Zf2j_Qu9I/AAAAAAAAHxo/r80EQhs6oV4/s1600/IMG_3196.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And I started seeing spots peak out on the land below.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zEcbWR11VuY/U4Zf16AfwSI/AAAAAAAAHxc/51wNME3i7HQ/s1600/IMG_3189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zEcbWR11VuY/U4Zf16AfwSI/AAAAAAAAHxc/51wNME3i7HQ/s1600/IMG_3189.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And the tips of rock started glowing with light.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CqxMz7tVKJQ/U4Zf2TA2SUI/AAAAAAAAHxg/S4bA9h449Lw/s1600/IMG_3190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CqxMz7tVKJQ/U4Zf2TA2SUI/AAAAAAAAHxg/S4bA9h449Lw/s1600/IMG_3190.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was blinding.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gMHdhzwlvR0/U4Zf1s25AII/AAAAAAAAHxY/FUYj7IHXeZ4/s1600/IMG_3188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gMHdhzwlvR0/U4Zf1s25AII/AAAAAAAAHxY/FUYj7IHXeZ4/s1600/IMG_3188.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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(HDR version)</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCie9WE-MSA/U4Zf5TjIOOI/AAAAAAAAHyg/VvVCPzyGYU4/s1600/IMG_5855.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCie9WE-MSA/U4Zf5TjIOOI/AAAAAAAAHyg/VvVCPzyGYU4/s1600/IMG_5855.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's a panorama attempt:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1shkzfZbn84/U4Zk3QyOnTI/AAAAAAAAHzo/-HZjFTt6IJE/s1600/Chocorua-+top+sunlight+panorama+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1shkzfZbn84/U4Zk3QyOnTI/AAAAAAAAHzo/-HZjFTt6IJE/s1600/Chocorua-+top+sunlight+panorama+2.jpg" height="180" width="640" /></a></div>
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And just like that, it was suddenly summer again, with absolutely perfect light for HDRs. And man, the top of Chocorua was suddenly absolutely gorgeous:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--b7IaC4d6UA/U4Zf5K-CYTI/AAAAAAAAHyE/AEF1bDaKZx4/s1600/IMG_5846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--b7IaC4d6UA/U4Zf5K-CYTI/AAAAAAAAHyE/AEF1bDaKZx4/s1600/IMG_5846.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KvtoiEwVTcA/U4Zf9BbtLvI/AAAAAAAAHzE/pWKteiwZgOA/s1600/IMG_6054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KvtoiEwVTcA/U4Zf9BbtLvI/AAAAAAAAHzE/pWKteiwZgOA/s1600/IMG_6054.JPG" height="472" width="640" /></a></div>
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Another panorma:</div>
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As I walked around on top of that mountain, I couldn't help but smile. I thought about what I was able to do, and whether I changed as much as I had wanted to or accomplished what I wanted to or not, I still was able to take 2 years off from work. And right when I needed it the most, I was able to get a job that, 9 months later, is pretty awesome. I was celebrating 2 years of awesome with a mountain that has been special to me since I first saw it on drives to and from college, that I had thought about since it beat me 4 years earlier. And I was up there by myself, listening to my favorite music in the world while the sun exploded out of a dreary ugly day.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JUe9r8TCV4Q/U4ZmGdiX_lI/AAAAAAAAHz8/yd80FKCsffs/s1600/IMG_5877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JUe9r8TCV4Q/U4ZmGdiX_lI/AAAAAAAAHz8/yd80FKCsffs/s1600/IMG_5877.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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And I remembered that I should be happy, and it was ok to be happy. </div>
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I guess the roundabout point to this long post is that this day drove home something that I've been trying to really do for my whole life- find happiness. I had a ton to worry about and a lot to be sad about, but just like the sun came out, there were tons of things to be happy about. I thought about all the things that bother me and all the things I haven't been able to fix about myself and was still able to smile. If there's a moment in life where I can feel this accomplished, where I can have a mountain to myself with incredible views- if I can sit and watch the sun break through ugly and create something gorgeous- if music like Caspian's is so strong and means so much to me emotionally that I feel like crying out of happiness, then life can't really be that bad. If such beauty exists here in this moment, then such beauty exists. And no matter how much sucks or is worth worrying about, whether I'm working all day and not able to do what I want or on vacation- these moments are out there. And that fact makes everything ok. Nothing will make Chris's death ok, but he left 3 albums and an EP worth of phenomenal music that will always make something ok for me. I have to work, but these mountains are still here. I can always fall into depression and anxiety traps, but I now know the path to leaving that behind more than I ever realized before, and it's in music and mountains.</div>
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I hiked down a little and smoked, had some delicious Oreos, and started heading back into the woods. </div>
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I almost got lost at one point on the way down, but I generally kept a good pace, stopping at a few spots for more pictures.</div>
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Now that I'd hung out up there, it felt a lot better to look at the top.</div>
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I got to the bottom in the dark, drove 2 hours home, and had a glass of scotch to toast to the end of my summer.</div>
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I got up the next day pretty drained, but surprisingly ok for having just done a 9 mile hike with 6 hours or so of sleep. I drove from NH to Mass (if you didn't already know, I work in Mass and now stay with Tobin during the week and still live in NH on weekends... I have 2 places, sort of... it's weird) in 2 hours and 45 minutes, making me a full 45 minutes late to my first day of work. I wasn't entirely with it for that first day, and that first week was pretty rough in general, but it was all worth it for this hike. </div>
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I originally planned on making a really epic post when I had to go back to work. It was going to have a video of the same level of epic as my original "<a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2011/05/life-more-awesome-from-mike-alexander.html">A life more awesome</a>" video, with tons of video and pictures from the last 2 years. But I didn't make it. My depression during the last 6 weeks or so made my summer ending more sad than anything, and I wasn't going out with a bang like I had planned (after 3 months), I was whimpering my way back to society only because I had no money and had to. </div>
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Plus, when you stretch a 3 month epic summer into 27 months, freedom starts to get a little too normal. </div>
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Looking back on 27 months off, I wish I had done more. I kind of wish I had had a more strict limit on when the summer ended so I'd feel forced to do more. I wish I hadn't been so scared of burning through money faster that I'd done some sort of road trip, or at least travelled at all. But it's tough. There's a line in a fordirelifesake song that really sums it up: "It's hard to measure priorities when every day is the weekend."</div>
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I also didn't change like I'd hoped to. Sure, I got more positive, but of course I did- I didn't have to work. Now that I'm back at work, it's scary how much my cynicism has come back. And I have more anxiety than I ever did before for some reason. And I still focus on negatives. I'm still critical. I'm still judgmental. I guess I thought I'd emerge from 2 years off as a way better person, without any of the hangups and shitty things I hate about myself, but I guess people don't really change like they want to- sometimes they just change a little.</div>
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When I doubt myself, it's easy to say that I would have found the things I love now without the vacation, but truthfully, I probably wouldn't have. I always liked hiking, but would it have become what it did in my life? With such limited time, probably not. It probably would have remained something I did a couple times a year, not something I try (and usually am successful at) doing 2-3 times a month. Would I have relaxed and taken the outdoors in to the level that I do now, where just sitting with a view is something I look forward to? I'm not sure. Would I have committed as well to trying to go to everything my friends put on to try to keep friendships going? Probably not. Would I have found my way back to music again? Honestly, this one is weird because I barely made music when I was on vacation, but working again and realizing how precious free time is, I've worked on music more than I have in years in the last 6 months. And the songs that I'm working on that I'm insanely proud of? They were all written during this time. So yea, I doubt I would have gotten into music again at all if I didn't take the 2 years off. And I certainly wouldn't have these songs.</div>
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So while my vacation didn't change me as much as I'd hoped, I had a great time. I found a love for the wilderness and mountaintops like I never had before. I found a love of photography (through instagram and just forcing myself to take pictures everywhere I was). I found a greater love for beauty and peacefulness than I ever had before. I remembered how much I love to write, even when I write blog posts a year late. I re-discovered how important music is to me, both listening to and creating it. And I learned more about myself than I have in a while. I've always been incredibly self aware, but I think I understand a lot more about why I am the way I am. And maybe I didn't find the ultimate happiness or figure it all out, but I see the beginnings of a path to becoming a better person, and I now know where I'm the happiest. </div>
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I learned what I really need to be a happier person. And I learned again and again something that I need to be reminded of again and again- that there is beauty and wonder in the world, I just need to get outside and experience it.</div>
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I look back at the first pictures I took for this blog- the first pictures I took after I left Apple and drove to NH on the afternoon of May 20th, 2011. I went out of my way to stop at Willowdale, where I love mountain biking, and walked into the woods, just to take a short walk outside, to take some pics and reflect a little. </div>
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It's neat to look back and realize that the first thing I did when I quit my job was to leave a mall to follow a trail into the woods.</div>
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SO: my future and this blog.<br />
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Right now, my main goals in life are:<br />
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1. Keep hiking- earn my Ossippee Range patch (3 hikes left) and keep knocking away 4,000 footers (loong way to go). I'm planning an overnight 4,000 footer this summer, followed by a Presidential Traverse (if the overnight goes smoothly). If a traverse goes well, the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail just seems more and more obvious. </div>
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2. Record an album. I now have 2 songs that are 95% finished in demo form (which I play drums to a few times a week), and 3 more in a rougher form. I'm doing this smart- I'm figuring out beats and exact song structure the way I want slowly over time, like an actual band would do, and making adjustments to the demos as needed. I constantly listen and think about what needs changing. Once I love every second of every song, I'll record a final version in hopefully a week or 2, like real bands do. I'm incredibly proud of what I have so far, but it's always progressing. I'm not sure when it will be done, but probably not as soon as you may want. I want these songs to be PERFECT. </div>
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3. The most important- make time for myself to go on hikes and make music. Continue trying to be a more awesome version of myself, and try not to let a life governed by work swallow me whole like it did before. I may not be free anymore, but there's no reason I can't continue to try to live a life more awesome.</div>
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4. Bring this blog back! (actually, you laugh, but there's a whole mess of catch-posts coming. </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: Jonsi- "We Bought A Zoo" Soundtrack</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-65365395812027494422014-06-13T16:25:00.002-07:002014-06-13T16:25:55.929-07:00Lakerage 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
One of my favorite weekends of the summer is Lakerage weekend. This little cottage on tiny Maidstone Lake in the middle of nowhere has a very special place in my heart.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8fEB1k51zM8/U0nWRa2boQI/AAAAAAAAHfA/M-YjxJczg5E/s1600/IMG_5093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8fEB1k51zM8/U0nWRa2boQI/AAAAAAAAHfA/M-YjxJczg5E/s1600/IMG_5093.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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I got there Friday night after hiking Willard, and I played Bullshit for the first time ever. Wow, I'm bad at that game. It pretty much just became us calling bullshit on every turn. </div>
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It was a quieter night than usual, and it would be a quieter Lakerage in general. Naro called it Lakechill. No dogs were invited this time, Gina had plans, no Pinneys could come, Nick didn't come (for the first time ever), and Mysterio and Masha didn't either (for the first time ever). It would just be Naro, Sara, Kevin, Me, Pog and Simone. But we had lots of beers, lots of food, and lots of love for Lakerage. </div>
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We played Bullshit for awhile, then Pog, Simone and I hung out on the porch till pretty late, just enjoying the quiet relaxation vibe. I slept on the couch next to Kevin's couch (somehow these have become our standard couches over the years), and slept probably more than I usually do.</div>
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The next morning was pretty standard. I woke up way too early (I think before Kevin for once) and had a Blueberry Sea Dog- a solid breakfast beer. After some breakfast, we all started drinking, swimming, boating, etc. Lakerageing. </div>
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I took my GoPro out (don't know if anyone will ever see that footage) as well as my iphone, in its new waterproof case. The water looked so filthy, and I didn't find any sweet treasures. But I did find a terrifying alien plant. What the hell is this?</div>
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Darkening some underwater pics made everything look like space. Badass.</div>
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Here's an odd picture of Pog jumping into the water. </div>
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I think we went on 3 separate boat rides that day. And we attempted to use a floating Beirut table. In the middle of the lake. </div>
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I should find this footage, because let me just tell you how hard it is to shred water in the middle of the lake while drunk, trying to shoot ping pong balls into cups that are in a float. The ping pong balls just bounced out of the thing, and it was absolutely exhausting attempting to do this. I knew it wouldn't work, but MAN did it REALLY not work floating in the middle of the lake. </div>
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We attempted it in the boat, and it was just about as stupid. </div>
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It was definitely a more chill Lakerage. Having already mostly abandoned this blog, I didn't take as many pictures either. The day somehow flew by, and soon enough, it was dinner time. </div>
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Last year, Naro told us that there was a guy who bought a pizza oven and sold pizza for like 3 hours on Friday and Saturday nights to residents of the lake. We got the pizza, and it was surprisingly great. So all year, one of my big goals of the summer was to either kayak there and eat pizza in the kayak in the middle of the lake, or the less cool version, eat it in a boat. The place is pretty far away, so the kayak idea was definitely not a great one. Everyone else was totally into it, so we ordered 2 pies and headed out in the boat. It was a gorgeous day. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XYSQfWya7uk/U0nWOQyyS8I/AAAAAAAAHd0/jk2o6FE_6hU/s1600/IMG_5011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XYSQfWya7uk/U0nWOQyyS8I/AAAAAAAAHd0/jk2o6FE_6hU/s1600/IMG_5011.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">ahhhhh... golden hour</span></div>
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Bruno's!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Iqym7tGGaKo/U0nWFQSZ_yI/AAAAAAAAHbU/5zwrpXb1IYw/s1600/IMG_2845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Iqym7tGGaKo/U0nWFQSZ_yI/AAAAAAAAHbU/5zwrpXb1IYw/s1600/IMG_2845.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I love the cove this place is in.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZ5sEVfgraQ/U0nWFXp6KmI/AAAAAAAAHbQ/OCFALeyGv70/s1600/IMG_2846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EZ5sEVfgraQ/U0nWFXp6KmI/AAAAAAAAHbQ/OCFALeyGv70/s1600/IMG_2846.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The pizza shack!</div>
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Let me tell you, eating pizza on a boat rules. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mhvfSHfxyYQ/U0nWGdtfMUI/AAAAAAAAHbc/SYPyYXQJgRM/s1600/IMG_2851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mhvfSHfxyYQ/U0nWGdtfMUI/AAAAAAAAHbc/SYPyYXQJgRM/s1600/IMG_2851.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Pog especially enjoyed it.</div>
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So much in fact, that he decided to mimick Shaun's swimming style immediately after eating pizza. WAIT A HALF HOUR POG!</div>
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I must be the fattest pig on earth, because this is one of my favorite pictures of the summer:</div>
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But I had an idea of eating in a kayak, and I really wanted to make the dream happen. When we got back, I grabbed the last piece of pizza and my one hitter, got into a kayak and headed out to do what I had really been imagining: smoking in a kayak in the middle of the lake and eating pizza during sunset. </div>
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So yea, I'm ridiculous. I know this. But I've always been. I've always had a thing for trying to make cool things better by really going for it in the epic department. I once left a party to lie in a boat in the middle of a river and listen to beautiful music while bats circled over me. I once went to watch 4th of July fireworks with friends and got a BBQ chicken calzone, then once the fireworks started, immediately lay down and blasted Caspian in my ears, completely shutting out the rest of the world. My current favorite thing to do in the world is hike to the top of a mountain, where I smoke and listen to beautiful music, usually alone. It's like I'm in a movie, on top of the word with my own soundtrack. </div>
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Straight edge Mike from 10 years ago would probably shit all over 2014 Mike for adding weed to so many things like this. But I tell you what- doing epic, beautiful, I'm-in-a-movie stuff is awesome on its own. You can do them straight edge. But being high takes away some of the pain, makes me just that much more happier and super relaxed, and shuts out everything other than what matters in these moments. So yea, when you have an image of eating pizza in a kayak in the lake as some sort of grand snapshot of what it means to be free and happy in the summer, it's pretty easy for weed to become part of that. </div>
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I'm writing so much about this because this was genuinely one of my favorite moments of my summer. I began paddling out on a very still and quiet lake while the sun started to disappear. Naro's cousin was there too- I forgot to say earlier that he showed up in the middle of the day and hung with us. He heard what I was doing and asked if he could come along. My immediate reaction was that I didn't want him there- that this was a moment I had dreamed of and wanted to do it right, in complete silence with myself only, but I went with nice Mike and said sure, why not, he could come hang out and smoke in the middle of the lake. </div>
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We got out there and smoked, he lit up a ciggy, and I ate my pizza. I took a picture of what I had dreamt of and ate the pizza: </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7XTYf18czEo/U0nWSXjzu6I/AAAAAAAAHfE/ybvqqtQ1XtY/s1600/IMG_5139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7XTYf18czEo/U0nWSXjzu6I/AAAAAAAAHfE/ybvqqtQ1XtY/s1600/IMG_5139.JPG" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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Truthfully, it was just whatever, and the hassle of making sure my lighter and one hitter and pizza and phone all stayed dry kind of sucked, but once I had taken my picture and eaten the pizza, I settled in and just enjoyed the moment.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0Bcm_Y5AwN0/U0nWO60RAqI/AAAAAAAAHd8/3_z2g7lldUw/s1600/IMG_5028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0Bcm_Y5AwN0/U0nWO60RAqI/AAAAAAAAHd8/3_z2g7lldUw/s1600/IMG_5028.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was really just a wonderful experience out there. This wasn't quite how I had imagined it, but I made it happen, and I was proud. I wish I had found a way to bring music with me, but the utter stillness of the lake was perfect. It was just me and this dude, floating, listening to the sound of the water hitting the kayaks and our friends laughing in the distance, out in the cooler air, watching the sun settle behind a small mountain. It was perfect.</div>
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I was pretty high too. I zoned out so bad a few times, and minutes would go by where neither of us spoke or moved. We drifted slightly, but we mostly just sat in one general area until reality settled in and we realized we should probably get out of the water before it was completely dark. What a peaceful, wonderful moment.</div>
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Back on land, people were partying and cooking. It was a completely different world and it honestly did take a few minutes to adjust. </div>
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People cooked some stuff and we all hung out on the deck, listening to music and laughing, exhausted from a long day of swimming, boating, drinking, and sun. It was a calmer year, but we're older. That stuff is tiring.</div>
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We started to head inside as it got colder, and Kevin took on the DJ role, playing some awesome stuff, and going from stuff like Radical Face to The Fall of Troy. Good work, Slav.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xihbhopJMAA/U0nWI_fXoOI/AAAAAAAAHcY/4Df_mHzbGJo/s1600/IMG_2880.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xihbhopJMAA/U0nWI_fXoOI/AAAAAAAAHcY/4Df_mHzbGJo/s1600/IMG_2880.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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As time went on, Pog got wasted and became the most annoying person on earth, playing guitar and singing cover songs 3 feet from where Kevin was playing music. And over time, Sara zonked out, Naro got a lot quieter, and Kevin started making this face:</div>
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Bed time!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">always love seeing the moment kevin shuts down</span></div>
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A little before this, but still very late into the night, another of Naro's cousins showed up with his wife. He was at Lakerage 3 or 4, so I somewhat remembered him. He was pretty awesome and knew some of us a little, so we all got along instantly. He drank like a champ too, immediately tearing into that gross doughnut beer that's in those pink bottles.</div>
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Eventually, everyone called it a night. I wanted to smoke again before I went to sleep, but I wanted to do so peacefully, and it took forever for Simone to finally drag Pog away from me. Love you Pog.</div>
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Once it was just me and a silent lake, I tried to smoke but my lighter was dead from it getting wet in the kayak. I found a giant grill lighter and was a true stoner, making due with what I had. I had a really weird and oddly beautiful moment at the end of the dock. I always end up being the last guy up at every party, and at Lakerage, I always end up hanging out on the end of the dock every year. One year I even played guitar out there. This year, I meant to just look at the super bright moon for a bit, then head in. But instead, I became absolutely mesmerized by the moon. There were a lot of fairly fast moving clouds in between the moon and me, and they slightly swirled, creating this weird effect where it looked like the moon was getting closer and closer to me. Yea, I was high, but still. I swear I've never seen a moon so big, just slowly coming towards me, alone on a silent lake through swirling cloud mist. It was AWESOME.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">this picture is garbage, but the moon was big. that's the point.</span></div>
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We all slept in later on Sunday morning, and when I finally made it out to the dock to begin the quiet cleanup, Pog was already swimming. He didn't remember most of the night, only slept like 6 hours, and was wide awake and full of energy. What a pro. </div>
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As cleanup started and Naro dragged his dead body out of his bed and started up with our traditional awesome Sunday morning breakfast, we suddenly heard a splash immediately followed by 2 loons absolutely freaking the fuck out. Right away, we realized what had happened- Pog had somehow jumped off the dock into loons. </div>
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They were freaking out, making their weird call in a panicked, fast forward style. Pog said he dove off the dock, and as he neared the water, saw something black moving under the water and realized it was 2 loons right as he hit the water, hitting them and seeing them freak out as soon as he looked up. There are a lot of loons on Maidstone Lake. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4FusZx0mM6o/U0nWLwsLptI/AAAAAAAAHdA/lA6KvCJqnEg/s1600/IMG_2906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4FusZx0mM6o/U0nWLwsLptI/AAAAAAAAHdA/lA6KvCJqnEg/s1600/IMG_2906.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">not if Pog has anything to say about it</span></div>
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Naro started making his world famous hashbrowns. And I was PSYCHED.</div>
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He puts camp salt and creole seasoning on these and makes them less intense for us than he does for himself, but they have a nice little spice to them. They're seriously incredible. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">yea, I found a weird setting on my phone</span></div>
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We had bacon, fruit, hashbrowns, eggs, and beer. Perfect Lakerage breakfast.</div>
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Pog and Simone then left, and Kevin did too, surprisingly. He decided he really wanted to go mountain biking at Kingdom trails cuz we were so close. I'm bummed anytime Kevin leaves something early, but I couldn't blame him on this one. </div>
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It was just now me and Naros. We decided to do something new, and went out in the boat and drank.</div>
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We all jumped in and swam in the middle of the lake while the boat just floated. I took my biggest risk yet with my phone, and took it swimming with me, with no wrist strap or anything, in the middle of an insanely deep lake. I got some cool pics, so I guess it was worth it. But man, that's nerve racking.</div>
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Happiest perfectly round-headed Naro ever:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cro4HW9LwYY/U0nWPcft3xI/AAAAAAAAHeU/pYyXk4RekwE/s1600/IMG_5045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cro4HW9LwYY/U0nWPcft3xI/AAAAAAAAHeU/pYyXk4RekwE/s1600/IMG_5045.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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Look at these weird people and their weird bodies:</div>
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We headed back and attempted to play some beirut by the dock, which was much better but still pretty hard to do, since we were standing on slippery rocks and were getting battered by huge waves.</div>
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One Naro left, then 2 more, then it was just me, the main Naro and Sara. We sat for a few, then I packed up and headed out. They were going to go out to eat, then staying over another night. It always feels odd when everyone leaves, so I can't imagine I'd enjoy it much there with just 1 or 2 people. Although I bet it's insanely relaxing. </div>
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I drove around the other side of the lake on the way home and went to the beach. It was pretty.</div>
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And that was it. Another year, another successful Lakerage, even if it was the quietest, tamest one ever. Lakechill. Let's get rowdy this year, huh???</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: Raekwon- The Lex Diamond Story</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-61910276963944520332014-05-28T16:46:00.002-07:002014-05-28T16:46:22.565-07:00Mount Willard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In typical Mike mode, I had planned on hiking a 4,000 footer on the way to Lakerage- Mount Cabot specifically since it's super north and has a gate that closes at dusk. I figured it would be perfect to get up there early, slay a 4,000 footer, then arrive (for once) nice and early to Lakerage on Friday night. Well, maybe this year. As per usual, I didn't get my shit together, then really didn't want to get up at 7am the day before Lakerage. So I decided to hike a smaller mountain I was sure would have phenomenal views- Mount Willard.</div>
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Mount Willard is accessed from the same trailhead as <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2013/07/4000-footers-6-and-7-mounts-tom-and.html">Tom, Field and Avalon</a> right in heart of Crawford Notch. It's a small hike right in the heart of tourist country with phenomenal views. Actually, if you haven't hiked it but have driven into Crawford Notch, the top of Willard is that cliff you see right in front of you as you start driving up the hill with the Webster Cliffs on your right. I always wondered if there was a trail going to that cliff. Well, this is it.</div>
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There's really only one sign you need to see, and it's right at the beginning.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2xpQsrl2UBM/U0nP05JO4GI/AAAAAAAAHZY/8BR7WcTbxO8/s1600/IMG_2800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2xpQsrl2UBM/U0nP05JO4GI/AAAAAAAAHZY/8BR7WcTbxO8/s1600/IMG_2800.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The trail goes through a stream crossing and some turns, but eventually becomes a steady hill.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w8543cvfS_U/U0nP1Uf_mZI/AAAAAAAAHZc/o8Vw3g37FA4/s1600/IMG_4923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w8543cvfS_U/U0nP1Uf_mZI/AAAAAAAAHZc/o8Vw3g37FA4/s1600/IMG_4923.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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At one point, there's a small waterfall/cascades area that's nice.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u5ZzJkyQ9fc/U0nP1pIK4VI/AAAAAAAAHZg/lda_V8cGENY/s1600/IMG_4925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u5ZzJkyQ9fc/U0nP1pIK4VI/AAAAAAAAHZg/lda_V8cGENY/s1600/IMG_4925.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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I thought this was pretty odd- there are like 8 of these going through the trail:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rxQsKSijxH4/U0nP2-q4-uI/AAAAAAAAHZw/w0t4stQVYAg/s1600/IMG_4929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rxQsKSijxH4/U0nP2-q4-uI/AAAAAAAAHZw/w0t4stQVYAg/s1600/IMG_4929.JPG" height="298" width="400" /></a></div>
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That was the most broken through, but there were more of them in various levels of exposure. I have no idea what these could be from, but I'm too lazy to really look into it. Anyone reading this who knows- why are there giant pipes underground on a trail to a small mountain nowhere near ski trails??</div>
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I was in good hiking shape by now, but this trail is pretty easy the whole way. It's got some elevation gain in the beginning, but it eventually settles into a very tame slope, on a mostly straight trail with good footing.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtJ9ue8hpmI/U0nP3TBGtPI/AAAAAAAAHZ8/k3N9iaRY6Rs/s1600/IMG_4931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtJ9ue8hpmI/U0nP3TBGtPI/AAAAAAAAHZ8/k3N9iaRY6Rs/s1600/IMG_4931.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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These are the kinds of trails I can get down with.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3oyZ8lYtGtM/U0nP3bD9UNI/AAAAAAAAHZ4/wqSw-eObeuw/s1600/IMG_4935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3oyZ8lYtGtM/U0nP3bD9UNI/AAAAAAAAHZ4/wqSw-eObeuw/s1600/IMG_4935.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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And soon enough, after 1.6 miles of reasonable hiking, I was at the top.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--WD_0Jqtz9s/U0nRxuqHHtI/AAAAAAAAHaw/eShOqV2RYI0/s1600/IMG_2802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--WD_0Jqtz9s/U0nRxuqHHtI/AAAAAAAAHaw/eShOqV2RYI0/s1600/IMG_2802.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And the view absolutely ruled. Here's my panorama: </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SMCPKRpKck8/U0nP5hwyodI/AAAAAAAAHag/AzxvYU0nOck/s1600/Mount+Willard+Panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SMCPKRpKck8/U0nP5hwyodI/AAAAAAAAHag/AzxvYU0nOck/s1600/Mount+Willard+Panorama.jpg" height="174" width="640" /></a></div>
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Looking down, it really was quite the cliff. </div>
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To the left was Webster, which, despite what this HDR would tell you, wasn't on fire.</div>
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In the middle was 302 and the train tracks for the train that takes you up Washington (at least I'm pretty sure):</div>
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To the right was Willey:</div>
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It was awesome to be up there and know that I had conquered all the nearby mountains. One day I'll have that feeling for most of the White Mountains (at least the 4,000 footers). That day is far away, but it will happen.</div>
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The trail can fool you- it looks like it keeps going, and it basically does, but it just takes you to more mini view points that are just slight variations of the same view. I tried to find if there was an actual summit of Willard, since it seemed like there was more elevation past this point, but I didn't really find it. And besides, this view was why I hiked here. </div>
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As per usual, I hung out too long on top, and didn't get to my car until it was almost pitch black dark. I then headed to a few gas stations to stock up on hot dogs and chips for the Lakerage weekend, and eventually got there, probably around 9 or so. </div>
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Mount Willard is long enough (3.2 miles) that it's not a completely beginner hike, but it's generally pretty easy (about 1,000 feet of elevation gain over 1.6 miles) and I'd recommend it to anyone. The area up top is small, so I'd suggest not going on a tourist weekend, but if you have a day off and get somewhere up north early, this is absolutely worth the trip. The views rule and the hike won't kill you. I'm 100% hiking this again this year, but in the fall this time. YEA FOLIAGE?!! </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: Weezer- B-sides</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-22239684155785619752014-05-15T16:01:00.005-07:002014-05-15T16:01:58.743-07:00Son of Saco River Summer Brodown: The Bastard Child Camp Long Lake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
With the 3rd year in a row we've gotten a crew together to hit up the Saco River, it's officially become a yearly thing I don't see ending any time soon.</div>
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<a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2011/09/saco-river-trip-day-1.html">Year 1</a> was a quieter, colder test run of sorts.</div>
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<a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/08/saco-river-summer-brodown-sequel.html">Year 2</a>, we added 2 people and experienced it correctly for the first time (drunk).</div>
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Year 3 came about after a week of endless rain. We were granted a nice weekend forecast, and headed out, with 2 new dudes added to the crew- Buote and Ahadi.</div>
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The first picture I took told me bringing Ahadi was a good idea. </div>
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We threw all our stuff into 3 cars and met at Saco Bound, thankfully around the same time, with nobody being left at Dunks for 40 minutes. We noticed there were a lot less people than expected. </div>
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Walking in, there was a weird vibe. All I heard was how deep the water was, that there weren't a lot of sandbars to camp on, etc. I went up to talk to the guy and found out right away that this was not looking like a good year for a trip. </div>
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Because of how much it had rained, all the water pretty much comes down the mountains and joins the river. I've known since I started going to the Saco River that an inch or 2 of rain can make the river rise up a foot. The guy told me that they weren't taking people out at some spots (meaning we couldn't do our planned trip), there were barely any sandbars left and we'd have to camp in the woods, there'd be cops patrolling the river to make sure people were safe, and a lot of people had cancelled their reservations. The river had risen a lot- I feel like it was 8 feet, but I may be way off. Still though- a way longer or way shorter trip, camping in mosquito land, waaaay deeper river, no sandbars to stop at, cops everywhere, and thousands of drunk morons we can high five and drunk sorority girls we can creep out would be missing. </div>
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"So... I guess we're not doing this?" </div>
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We took a vote and I think only 2 people were still up for it. An idea was hatched immediately though- we had already put in money, we had already made the drive, we'd already packed, and we had a wide open weekend. Where could we go to drink all the beer and nips we had?</div>
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Dave and Ahadi got on the horn calling a few campsites we knew, and everyone was booked. Then Ahadi said we should camp on Long Lake in Maine, where he used to go with his family growing up. It was an hour away (and literally like 15 minutes from where I grew up), it would probably be packed, but we had to go somewhere. So we called it. They had spots available. I guess we were camping on Long Lake.<br />
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Since I'm writing this 10 months after it happened, it's funny that our trip to Walmart to get a few things we needed stands out as a big memory in my mind. It was hilarious. 10 dudes who suddenly didn't have to be in a canoe and could carry more just buying so much random stuff. So many extra snacks, a plastic washers game, a giant float, several crappy tiny floats, other dumb toys. We were there forever too. </div>
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When we eventually got to the site, Ahadi and I went in to pay, and I was sooo worried right off the bat. There were families everywhere, and even with 3 spots, we had a pretty small amount of space to get the level of rowdy we were hoping for. But we made it work great (1 site for cars, 1 for tents, 1 for grill/food/hanging out), and we immediately settled in.</div>
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And immediately started drinking.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">soooooo many nips</span></div>
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And immediately started setting things on fire.</div>
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So when we got there, the people who had the spot before us were still cleaning up. They left their fire going a bit, and Dave and Buote turned into extremely destructive people who saw a towel hanging on a line and thought "these jerks left their towel behind and a fire. Let's set their towel on fire!!" literally like 10 minutes after these people left. Only it was Josh's towel that he's owned for like 10 years. I think Buote and Dave have since bought him 6-10 new towels. But none were as good as that one. Trip off to a good start!</div>
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We sat for awhile.</div>
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Then decided it was time to swim.</div>
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Swimming was absolutely hilarious. We brought nips with us that we drank in the water, we threw the B and the Waboba, I kept trying to sink Al's float. It was windy and wavy, the water was deeper than I was expecting, there were a lot of people there, but we didn't care. We were there to party. We went back to the camp site for a bit, where I barely remember this picture being taken with Buote:</div>
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Then we headed back. This time, several of us were pretty wasted. I think back to that day and wonder how I didn't drown. I was SO hyper- just endless energy, swimming everywhere, holding my breath for long periods of time. At one point, Rich, Josh and I had a King of the Hill battle on a float that I'm still not sure we were even supposed to be on, pushing each other into deep water with barely any time to take a breath, drunk. By the time everyone had left and the beach settled down, I was absolutely exhausted. These few hours were honestly some of the most fun hours of my whole summer. But man, they were risky. Less drinking and swimming in the future maybe. </div>
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It was time for more hanging out at the camp site.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">and yawning, eh rich?</span></div>
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At some point Ahadi got pizza from the little camp store, and truthfully, I should have abandoned the Saco River spaghetti and just ordered a whole pizza from the camp store they had. But I'm a man of traditions. </div>
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We just hung hard for the next few hours as it started to get dark, playing lots of beer pong, drinking, smoking, having a blast. I cooked up some Sac River Spaghetti, others cooked burgs and snausages. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Matt and Dan were way too good.</span></div>
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At some point, Al, Buote, Josh and I ventured around the whole campsite and found the building there was an all-you-can-eat breakfast at the next morning.</div>
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We played some intense games of foosball while Josh picked his nose.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">gotcha!</span></div>
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By the time we got back, Dan was showing his normal level of partying:</div>
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As people surrendered to a day in the sun with lots of swimming and drinking, us late nighters hung around the fire. And Jesse got real weird.</div>
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I started trying to get into my tent and realized I had to go to the bathroom. This is an odd thing to write on my blog, but this was one of the great things about not being on the river- we had actual toilets that weren't outhouses. I'm sure Al, who had explosive diarrhea the whole trip, appreciated this the most. By the time I got back, I could hear lots of snoring, and other than Matt, who was still sitting by the fire (and scared the hell out of me), everyone was out. I could hear other groups talking, but it was mostly quiet. </div>
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I woke up like 4 hours later, freezing and listening to a stupid bird that refused to shut up. Ahhh... the joys of sleeping outside in a tent.<br />
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Once it was morning and we finally all collected by the fire, I lost it when I saw Ahadi, looking like a homeless piece of shit, wearing a Megadeth hooded sweatshirt and one of those silver survival blankets.</div>
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As I took more pictures, I didn't think I could capture his piece-of-shit-ness better. But he kept surprising me.</div>
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And then he hit a home run.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">most ridiculous person alive</span></div>
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We ate snacks and started to clean up our mess. You wouldn't believe what 10 not-exactly-health-conscious dudes can create when they already pack too much food, then find out they have unlimited space and buy more.</div>
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Looks like 50 people moved in for a week.</div>
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Buote and Dan finally got out the plastic washers game they got. It didn't work too well.</div>
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Then Dan stepped it up hard. While I was taking my tent down, he went and bought 2 breakfast pizzas, both solidifying that I really should have gotten pizza the night before, and making all of our days. It was awesome. I'd never had a breakfast pizza, and goddamn did these hit the spot.</div>
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During cleanup, Ahadi found the sandwich he had packed, ravaged by the water from his cooler. Since Josh ate a few bites of his soggy pizza last year, we told Ahadi that he had to eat at least a bite of his mush sandwich. And thus a tradition was born.</div>
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We packed up everything and headed to the beach to take a picture of all of us by the lake, keeping with tradition even if there weren't any canoes. I like this pic of Jesse, left behind in a barren campsite once filled with life.</div>
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We took the pic then argued about what to do next. Some of us wanted to stay and swim, others wanted to leave here since they were dry and packed up, but were open to swimming somewhere else. Others wanted to go to the pizza barn and leave as soon as possible. Forever leading the GTFO (get the fuck out) crew, Jesse took Al, Dave and the new GTFO All Star Buote to the pizza barn. Lame!</div>
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The rest of us adventurers decided to freeze to death at the Kanc, parking forever away.</div>
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It was the most packed I've ever seen it.</div>
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I probably say this every time I go, but I swear it was also the coldest it's ever been. Why do we keep going back to this place? It physically hurts! Everyone went in accept for Dan. We hung out in the waterfalls, went down a slide, I took video nobody will ever see because I was too lazy to edit it then and my imovie is broken right now and I don't want to deal with it. At one point, we saw a hot chick half in the water while her friend took pictures of her, then she started filming all the people staring at her friend. What an asshole! How are we not supposed to look?!</div>
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We then stopped at a spot Ahadi had been to before (I think) right on 16 that we'd all seen a billion times and never eaten at. I don't remember the name of the place, but it was awesome. Route 16 Diner?</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">but apparently Ahadi was disgusted with me</span></div>
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We all ate way too much. Everything was solid. I rode back with Matt and Ahadi, having some good chats the whole way. When we got back to the nerd compound, I packed up everything into my car and headed home where the horrible job of cleaning up and putting everything away awaited me. Successful trip!</div>
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So we didn't get to do the Saco River last year. No drunk canoeing, no jugamos, no Al tipping his canoe, no nips4nips, no drunk college chicks, no high fiving random dudes, no underwear cowboys (well, Rich took on the role briefly while we were packing up), no TIP games while people canoed through, but also no canoeing (more work than you want it to be), no shitting in the woods, and my butt didn't hurt all day from sitting on those awful canoe seats. I think we did a phenomenal job of saving a weekend with this, but it's time for our triumphant return to river madness this summer.</div>
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BROS</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: Scissorfight- "Mantrapping For Sport And Profit"</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-37273317651862186122014-05-14T15:52:00.001-07:002014-05-14T15:52:20.117-07:004,000 footer #8: Mount Jackson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Last summer, my last 4,000 footer of the year, which was sadly only my 8th (wow do I have a long way to go), was Mount Jackson, doing the Jackson-Webster loop. </div>
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I always love parking and being able to see exactly where I'm going. It was a beautiful day, and although late as per usual, I headed out.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bEfNDBgllwU/UwaTyjz6O9I/AAAAAAAAHOE/hX7lGreXv2M/s1600/IMG_2322.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bEfNDBgllwU/UwaTyjz6O9I/AAAAAAAAHOE/hX7lGreXv2M/s1600/IMG_2322.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">that's where I'm going</span></div>
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The entrance to the trail was less than glamorous. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1zqxBB5HBS0/UwaTzMlLfRI/AAAAAAAAHOM/OIYDNZ7fJ04/s1600/IMG_2323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1zqxBB5HBS0/UwaTzMlLfRI/AAAAAAAAHOM/OIYDNZ7fJ04/s1600/IMG_2323.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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But if I was at all confused, there was my sign.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cl9eXI4DCrg/UwaTzGvsqqI/AAAAAAAAHOI/YOCg7qbXR7U/s1600/IMG_2325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cl9eXI4DCrg/UwaTzGvsqqI/AAAAAAAAHOI/YOCg7qbXR7U/s1600/IMG_2325.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The hike climbs pretty much right away, and then about .1 into the hike, there is a short .2 mile spur to the Elephant Head lookout point.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tVMh51sYmWY/UwaT0E7bcNI/AAAAAAAAHOY/SSwNCKX_uZw/s1600/IMG_2326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tVMh51sYmWY/UwaT0E7bcNI/AAAAAAAAHOY/SSwNCKX_uZw/s1600/IMG_2326.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's short enough that I'd say it's worth it. It does add .4 miles to the trip, but the trail isn't hard (and is kind of interesting). And the view is nice.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VsVvMWKRyn8/UwaT1IVsm6I/AAAAAAAAHOk/6ZPwX_Q2Qqc/s1600/IMG_2332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VsVvMWKRyn8/UwaT1IVsm6I/AAAAAAAAHOk/6ZPwX_Q2Qqc/s1600/IMG_2332.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I was just on that road!</span></div>
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I thought I'd see some sort of Elephant head, but I guess I was standing on the Elephant head. There's a good picture of it <a href="http://northernnh.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/elepdist.png">here</a>- it totally looks like an elephant's head.</div>
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I headed back to the main trail and it got steep fast.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sE7jgOls6DA/UwaT2FIIqZI/AAAAAAAAHOw/vLHmhjNxyIw/s1600/IMG_2336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sE7jgOls6DA/UwaT2FIIqZI/AAAAAAAAHOw/vLHmhjNxyIw/s1600/IMG_2336.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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But in another .4 miles or so, there was another extremely short spur to Bugle Cliff, which was basically the same views as Elephant head, but higher up, and therefore better.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UZtK0i9bym0/UwaT3GZyELI/AAAAAAAAHPA/NAbfqcZR3EU/s1600/IMG_2341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UZtK0i9bym0/UwaT3GZyELI/AAAAAAAAHPA/NAbfqcZR3EU/s1600/IMG_2341.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Especially in HDR.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NH_Uume8p3A/UwaUN86BXeI/AAAAAAAAHSo/lx3R6y0vZmA/s1600/IMG_6459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NH_Uume8p3A/UwaUN86BXeI/AAAAAAAAHSo/lx3R6y0vZmA/s1600/IMG_6459.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s2KG2wBfCmg/UwaUNxjwBaI/AAAAAAAAHSs/j-xC9_sXEGc/s1600/IMG_6458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s2KG2wBfCmg/UwaUNxjwBaI/AAAAAAAAHSs/j-xC9_sXEGc/s1600/IMG_6458.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The trail then mellowed out a bit, and I found myself very surprised at how much of a mess it was in a lot of places. This trail is insanely popular, and I could see a lot of kids or grandmas having a lot of trouble with the amount of sharp and huge rocks.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BI6S8iBOfTA/UwaT3SQV4SI/AAAAAAAAHPE/7T2tcQtn0yw/s1600/IMG_2345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BI6S8iBOfTA/UwaT3SQV4SI/AAAAAAAAHPE/7T2tcQtn0yw/s1600/IMG_2345.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Eventually, the trail split. I could go straight to Webster or turn left to go to Jackson first. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MfLYGlwoVWU/UwaT5QJYEtI/AAAAAAAAHPc/HRS2O2u03FY/s1600/IMG_2351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MfLYGlwoVWU/UwaT5QJYEtI/AAAAAAAAHPc/HRS2O2u03FY/s1600/IMG_2351.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I knew the views on the Webster Cliffs were going to be the best of the trip, and I wanted to end with them. So on to Jackson I went.</div>
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I also went this way because an enormous group (like 20 people) of what appeared to be volunteers headed towards Webster and I like being alone. The trail got muddy and disgusting. I saw a few people working on the trail up here. I'm blown away that these people do this.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8WlaZ7Q_Dek/UwaT5h0WsnI/AAAAAAAAHPY/_MGx1pOFDJk/s1600/IMG_2358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8WlaZ7Q_Dek/UwaT5h0WsnI/AAAAAAAAHPY/_MGx1pOFDJk/s1600/IMG_2358.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The trail eventually hit a point of pretty constant rising in fairly constant woods.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ZceaHZbPZQ/UwaT65KRWCI/AAAAAAAAHPs/9PcmIe8Um-g/s1600/IMG_2361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2ZceaHZbPZQ/UwaT65KRWCI/AAAAAAAAHPs/9PcmIe8Um-g/s1600/IMG_2361.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Then I saw my first preview of Jackson. I thought I was higher up.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5bLdhJZbx3k/UwaUPAQOsGI/AAAAAAAAHS0/vgqoc2QE4rA/s1600/IMG_6462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5bLdhJZbx3k/UwaUPAQOsGI/AAAAAAAAHS0/vgqoc2QE4rA/s1600/IMG_6462.JPG" height="640" width="474" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">dammit</span></div>
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I was surprised at how much trailwork had been done this high up.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q545uRSqUpE/UwaT8F6ZwRI/AAAAAAAAHPw/Qxj0OOYMnDc/s1600/IMG_2370.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q545uRSqUpE/UwaT8F6ZwRI/AAAAAAAAHPw/Qxj0OOYMnDc/s1600/IMG_2370.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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And how helpful someone was.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wPNlEbbW8wY/UwaT-HEFvlI/AAAAAAAAHQE/ann6of3sV4Q/s1600/IMG_2371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wPNlEbbW8wY/UwaT-HEFvlI/AAAAAAAAHQE/ann6of3sV4Q/s1600/IMG_2371.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Things got dry pretty quickly, and my hike turned into rock climbing for a little bit.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FwGo97Zd1io/UwaT-vG3l7I/AAAAAAAAHQM/dPeZxtGQ97k/s1600/IMG_2374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FwGo97Zd1io/UwaT-vG3l7I/AAAAAAAAHQM/dPeZxtGQ97k/s1600/IMG_2374.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Then I knew I was close.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lssTt_HSiBU/UwaT--5YbSI/AAAAAAAAHQQ/mY2tua_Xnpo/s1600/IMG_2378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lssTt_HSiBU/UwaT--5YbSI/AAAAAAAAHQQ/mY2tua_Xnpo/s1600/IMG_2378.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Booyah.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iobEzy7R7_Q/UwaUBP1HpoI/AAAAAAAAHRE/b7nNQT3EEJw/s1600/IMG_2409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iobEzy7R7_Q/UwaUBP1HpoI/AAAAAAAAHRE/b7nNQT3EEJw/s1600/IMG_2409.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I did my best to get my standard homemade sign picture, but this was the best I could get out of like 10 attempts. It was just waaay too windy up there and I had nowhere good to balance my camera (I really need to get one of those bendy stands).</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mJDgqL2piqA/UwaUAvMSf2I/AAAAAAAAHQ0/xoii1SVswOM/s1600/IMG_2403.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mJDgqL2piqA/UwaUAvMSf2I/AAAAAAAAHQ0/xoii1SVswOM/s1600/IMG_2403.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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As usual, online hiking reports drastically undersold the views from up here.</div>
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Looking towards Willey, Willard, Tom and Field:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nAvADVzhRUs/UwaUAcdd7gI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/e7je8UsjQzw/s1600/IMG_2398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nAvADVzhRUs/UwaUAcdd7gI/AAAAAAAAHQ4/e7je8UsjQzw/s1600/IMG_2398.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Looking towards the road (these people were moving faaaassst trying to get to a shelter before it was dark):<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AjiNflkd1Dk/UwaT_GTfugI/AAAAAAAAHQY/PJwQeQy_r0U/s1600/IMG_2384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AjiNflkd1Dk/UwaT_GTfugI/AAAAAAAAHQY/PJwQeQy_r0U/s1600/IMG_2384.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The presidentials:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fkC2KLf-VVc/UwaT_r4XPHI/AAAAAAAAHQg/HY96HURC5pA/s1600/IMG_2386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fkC2KLf-VVc/UwaT_r4XPHI/AAAAAAAAHQg/HY96HURC5pA/s1600/IMG_2386.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I've been talking about manning up and doing a presidential traverse this year (over a few days), and I was surprised at how manageable it looked once I was 4,000 feet up. But at the same time, this picture is zoomed in. This was my actual view:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rfiyzuLgFVM/UwaUAOk3SdI/AAAAAAAAHQs/BwH4qfAPc-s/s1600/IMG_2388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rfiyzuLgFVM/UwaUAOk3SdI/AAAAAAAAHQs/BwH4qfAPc-s/s1600/IMG_2388.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">that's a loooong way</span></div>
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This traverse looked somehow both kind of manageable and absolutely massive and kind of terrifying, and I could only see to Washington. But then again, nobody says it's small. It is like, 20 miles of hiking after all.</div>
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This was looking in the opposite direction from Washington:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iIcbNzDuE60/UwaUB-AU8BI/AAAAAAAAHRQ/9EkCFnbI45k/s1600/IMG_2417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iIcbNzDuE60/UwaUB-AU8BI/AAAAAAAAHRQ/9EkCFnbI45k/s1600/IMG_2417.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And this was directly towards Webster, where I was now heading as daylight disappeared.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-87ALKHoRYh0/UwaUCAFw77I/AAAAAAAAHRU/i4-uvCdYZdg/s1600/IMG_2419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-87ALKHoRYh0/UwaUCAFw77I/AAAAAAAAHRU/i4-uvCdYZdg/s1600/IMG_2419.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's an HDR I like way better:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EtGfUx9-P1c/UwbvOLkiwUI/AAAAAAAAHTY/xif8b6_Qibc/s1600/IMG_6471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EtGfUx9-P1c/UwbvOLkiwUI/AAAAAAAAHTY/xif8b6_Qibc/s1600/IMG_6471.JPG" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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I spent too much time on top of Jackson, and knew I had to make great time to Webster, so I made the trip as fast as I could, which was unfortunately not as quick as I would have liked. There were some very steep, rocky sections:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gSCB22NMpoU/UwaUGBv2bJI/AAAAAAAAHRg/A5lziRTko0w/s1600/IMG_2424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gSCB22NMpoU/UwaUGBv2bJI/AAAAAAAAHRg/A5lziRTko0w/s1600/IMG_2424.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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But luckily, after the initial drop, most of the trail was flat and had boards everywhere, making it nice and fast (other than when I zoned out and walked right off the side of one into mud).</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--MHcyEZBjHY/UwaUHbEgyzI/AAAAAAAAHRs/HWlo09CGPKc/s1600/IMG_2433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--MHcyEZBjHY/UwaUHbEgyzI/AAAAAAAAHRs/HWlo09CGPKc/s1600/IMG_2433.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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It was neat doing this section, because Appalachian Trail hikers kept coming at me, heading towards the same shelter the people I saw on top of Jackson were going to. They were moving so fast, and they STUNK. </div>
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I got to the sign to either go back down or go to the Webster Cliffs, and headed right to the cliffs, as I had heard they rule.</div>
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And it very much ruled up there.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9V4CbcpIF9I/UwaUHwpm5jI/AAAAAAAAHSA/Urv4RbwYY48/s1600/IMG_2443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9V4CbcpIF9I/UwaUHwpm5jI/AAAAAAAAHSA/Urv4RbwYY48/s1600/IMG_2443.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The drop in some spots was absolutely terrifying.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">shoe for reference</span></div>
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I don't know why this picture is so dark on the left side:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LnfqbAVQGKY/UwaUJHZB0DI/AAAAAAAAHSI/GsAAg1edgVk/s1600/IMG_2473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LnfqbAVQGKY/UwaUJHZB0DI/AAAAAAAAHSI/GsAAg1edgVk/s1600/IMG_2473.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I hung out way too long and took way too many pictures, but sunset up there was phenomenal. Here's looking sort of back towards Jackson:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AR48cdWUmbs/UwaUQj3ZxyI/AAAAAAAAHTI/0dRrG1URgq8/s1600/IMG_6519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AR48cdWUmbs/UwaUQj3ZxyI/AAAAAAAAHTI/0dRrG1URgq8/s1600/IMG_6519.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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Looking at the railroad tracks and Willard:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0prqLZ2iczU/UwbvZcE878I/AAAAAAAAHTg/WnAwYpem8ks/s1600/IMG_6493.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0prqLZ2iczU/UwbvZcE878I/AAAAAAAAHTg/WnAwYpem8ks/s1600/IMG_6493.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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And here's a sweet panorama I put together that stupid Blogger doesn't seem to let me make any bigger:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hRAVj86ql6A/UwbvgfL2-WI/AAAAAAAAHTo/M8m7eyBQPYY/s1600/Mount+Webster+Panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hRAVj86ql6A/UwbvgfL2-WI/AAAAAAAAHTo/M8m7eyBQPYY/s1600/Mount+Webster+Panorama.jpg" height="182" width="640" /></a></div>
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I loved it up there- it was real scary being on ledges alone at sunset, but man, the views were great, especially being able to look at <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/10/4000-footer-4-mount-willey.html">Willey</a>, <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2013/07/4000-footers-6-and-7-mounts-tom-and.html">Tom and Field</a> and know that I had stood on top of them looking at this mountain. Willard was the last mountain with views on that side to conquer.</div>
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As it started to get dark, I hiked as fast as I could, but eventually had to turn on my headlamp and flashlight and slow my pace down a little. I don't really like hiking at night, I just always end up doing it because I'm irresponsible. Usually I don't care that I'm missing the trail, but this time I kind of did, because there was a huge waterfall in one section that I literally couldn't even see. </div>
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I checked out Bugle cliff on the way down to see how everything looked at night. Turns out, it was pretty dark. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-IyxMlTmFs/UwaUMgeR9nI/AAAAAAAAHSc/tLRL_JtgW7A/s1600/IMG_2483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-IyxMlTmFs/UwaUMgeR9nI/AAAAAAAAHSc/tLRL_JtgW7A/s1600/IMG_2483.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I got out pretty exhausted, and was psyched to have to walk down the road in complete darkness.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">NOT</span></div>
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And that was it. #8 down. Great hike in general- the trail was very interesting most of the way up, and other than some super muddy sections, pretty manageable, at least as far as 4,000 footers go. I'm psyched to start killing them off this year. I have set a completely unreasonable goal of being half way through the 4,000 footers by the end of this summer. Woo!</div>
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The short version:</div>
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Jackson is a very popular hike- not only is it the south end of the Presidentials (though not considered a presidential), but it's one of the easier 4,000 footers, and it's right in the heart of Crawford Notch- tourist central. The trail was messier than I thought it would be, but it's super easy to follow and the views from Jackson are pretty awesome. The true gold was the Webster Cliffs though, so if you're just looking for views, I wouldn't even bother with Jackson. But if you do hit it up, make sure you go to Webster too. I hope to do the Webster Cliff trail sometime, which keeps going all along the cliffs you see when you drive into Crawford Notch.</div>
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Directions:</div>
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-Take 302 west from Conway into Crawford Notch. Park at the Crawford
depot, on the left right before the AMC Highland Center, and basically
across from Saco Lake. Walk across the street to Saco Lake and walk down the road where you came from. The entrance to the trail is on the left.</div>
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-There are signs everywhere you need them.</div>
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-Hike time: I don't remember. Probably between 5-6 hours.</div>
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-Mileage: 6.9 miles including the spur trips (which are worth it)</div>
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-Elevation gain: about 2,500 feet</div>
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-Summit Elevation: Jackson: 4,052 feet, Webster: 3,910 feet</div>
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-Number of people seen on the hike: The most I've seen, probably over 30 (20 volunteers)</div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">-Number of times I fell: 1 (I think)</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: Ween- Shinola, Vol. 1</i></span></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-20879196828679770382014-05-12T19:26:00.001-07:002014-05-12T19:26:31.985-07:00Yamstein 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you're reading this, then you most likely know what Yamstein is. You're also probably saying "jesus christ mike, about goddamned time you posted this. THIS HAPPENED IN JULY!!!" </div>
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Well jerks, the benefit is that it will make you already start getting pumped for Yamstein 8. I'll try not to babble too much- the gold of this post is the pictures. Especially of Rich, The Yamstein Champion. </div>
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For those who don't know, Yamstein is the summer BBQ party to end all summer BBQ parties. It came from Matt, and at one point involved winning a stein for carving a Yam into something... or something. My first was probably Yamstein 2, when it was pretty tame and I was XSTRAIGHTXEDGEX. Then I think I couldn't go to 3 cuz of stupid work (but didn't care too much cuz it was kind of blah the year before). Apparently that year was the one where this changed from "a cool summer party" to "that party where everyone gets insanely drunk" or "that party where a ton of people who don't drink all year do all of their drinking in a few hours." Yamstein 4 was fun, but again, mostly quiet. It was a big night for Rich though, even though he blacked out for most of it. Yamstein 5 was the first one I had a lot of fun at. It was the one with Al couch and the year of Pukestein and Sadlivingroomstein. It was a mess- so much puke, so many passed out people. It was also the first I <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2011/08/yamstein-or-alcohol-cautionary-tale.html">blogged</a> about. <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/08/yamstein-2012.html">Yamstein 6</a> was the first I drank at (and smoked at) (I broke edge a week after Yamstein 5) and I got fairly wasted, but not too far. It was a rainy ugly Yamstein, and also the one where Al tried to kill everyone with fireworks. I looked like a piece of shit and Ralph tried to kill me with a tiki torch. Good year. </div>
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And Yamstein 7 certainly didn't disappoint. </div>
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We got there earlier than normal for once, checked out some snacks, had a Shot o'clock, and pretty much stood around doing nothing. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H42t7Sz8VTY/UtrkX4EsHlI/AAAAAAAAHI8/dHAG9-hkgyw/s1600/IMG_1975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H42t7Sz8VTY/UtrkX4EsHlI/AAAAAAAAHI8/dHAG9-hkgyw/s1600/IMG_1975.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The cooler collection was certainly impressive. BYOB/bring a bottle for the shot table.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8gYa8C5jU4g/UtrkX82qjJI/AAAAAAAAHI4/mnf8-mtZ7ww/s1600/IMG_1976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8gYa8C5jU4g/UtrkX82qjJI/AAAAAAAAHI4/mnf8-mtZ7ww/s1600/IMG_1976.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Soon enough, even though it was a small crowd, it was also Shot o'clock. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">fuck you al</span></div>
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We had basketball this year too- and it was a huge part of what made it so fun. We played a few epic games of HORSE. This was cool too, since it made us basically the greeters for everyone as they showed up. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">ain't no shoes fancy enough to help you with that shot buote!</span></div>
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Soon, the party officially started with Al's ceremonial unleashing of the Kraken. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ok Al, your passion for the Kraken redeems you</span></div>
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As the crowd grew, so did the amount of booze in our stomachs. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mgdCsMyQbqM/UtrkY64FZNI/AAAAAAAAHJU/SLPolQtgXlw/s1600/IMG_1983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mgdCsMyQbqM/UtrkY64FZNI/AAAAAAAAHJU/SLPolQtgXlw/s1600/IMG_1983.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And the guy with the microphone set up shop at P Matty's Burger Tent. I just made that up.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">hope you washed your hands!</span></div>
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As everything got going, so did beer pong. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tiPt4V2xalg/UtrkZwuOm8I/AAAAAAAAHJc/0L6za-tmqlc/s1600/IMG_1987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tiPt4V2xalg/UtrkZwuOm8I/AAAAAAAAHJc/0L6za-tmqlc/s1600/IMG_1987.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">how gross is that drink dude?</span></div>
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As well as.... sword fighting?</div>
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I played a bunch of beer pong, but I have a love/hate relationship with peer pong. I love playing it, but I hate that I suck at it. I've had my moments where I'm on, but they're few and far between. And that fucking guy named lazer or whatever NEVER FUCKING MISSES.</div>
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I did my standard circulate/wander all night, drinking a beer on the side of doing at least 5 shot o'clocks. Things started to get rowdy.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">hi seth</span></div>
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It was starting to become a party.</div>
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Dan got there and immediately set up a chair in our basketball court. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">lazy POS</span></div>
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The next pictures I took are all dark, so I definitely hit a world where I wasn't interested in taking pictures. I know there was lots of basketball, some beer pong, lots of talking with random people, at least 1 burger and lots of chips, a solid amount of alcohol and a few trips to the woods to smoke some trees. I saw the night as a slow build from quiet and calm to buzzy and talkative to super drunk and high fiving everyone, having an absolute blast all the way to when I started getting tired and hammered, then leaving. This is where the post starts getting good. You're my hero, Rich. </div>
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When the camera got back into the picture, the party had officially kicked into high gear.</div>
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Then Pat Lane did the robot while Rich practiced his metal air guitar routine.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xGZLDEJQb7I/UtrkfL6BAFI/AAAAAAAAHKg/bnWgyhsjTn4/s1600/IMG_2001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xGZLDEJQb7I/UtrkfL6BAFI/AAAAAAAAHKg/bnWgyhsjTn4/s1600/IMG_2001.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And Josh shut his eyes and ate imaginary cheeseburgers with his mouth shut.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3I1h-Ck2KQ/UtrkfU_qnqI/AAAAAAAAHKc/RgpO5XeqKzE/s1600/IMG_2003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w3I1h-Ck2KQ/UtrkfU_qnqI/AAAAAAAAHKc/RgpO5XeqKzE/s1600/IMG_2003.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The fireworks were beautiful, but I caught myself in a picture daze, stuck behind Waugh's brother and some other dude.</div>
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Here's Buote with his best friend for the night. Check out the ball in mid air!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BxThGobt1Cw/UtrkgJbkf1I/AAAAAAAAHLA/zz4R-RJkbms/s1600/IMG_2034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BxThGobt1Cw/UtrkgJbkf1I/AAAAAAAAHLA/zz4R-RJkbms/s1600/IMG_2034.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Matt got really into cooking.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OSzD40sY9lU/UtrkgEEv_OI/AAAAAAAAHKw/_65yi0Iq8ms/s1600/IMG_2049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OSzD40sY9lU/UtrkgEEv_OI/AAAAAAAAHKw/_65yi0Iq8ms/s1600/IMG_2049.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This guy is real psyched about his hot dog</span></div>
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Then this happened.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QSN9qNc9-Ng/UtrkhKnqfYI/AAAAAAAAHK8/cQEBhtKt5Rg/s1600/IMG_2050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QSN9qNc9-Ng/UtrkhKnqfYI/AAAAAAAAHK8/cQEBhtKt5Rg/s1600/IMG_2050.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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At this point, I was in full high five, Frank the tank mode, and in my daze, saw Dan sitting in a chair, and thought it would be funny to lean on him and joke that I was gonna knock him out of his chair. What happened instead is that Dan was sitting there comfortably, and a drunk caveman stumbled over to him and started pushing him until the chair back broke and he collapsed through a broken chair. Then the caveman laughed his ass off. The next morning, I woke up to a text from Dan with a picture of the cutbruise in his back from the metal back of the chair. Sorry Dan. But hey, I was right- it was funny.</div>
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John started getting into John mode, collapsing in his favorite wood pile (the one he slept in a few years back).</div>
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Then Gingerbread Man finally showed up to attempt to fulfill the dream Rich told him he had to complete- the Edward 40-Hands challenge, having to drink 2 40s before he can take the tape off his hands. I think I was the jerk who wrapped his hands so terribly. Sorry dude. Drunk.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">oh look, Rich is excited</span></div>
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VERY excited.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wiNINEO8854/UtrkiHLlEWI/AAAAAAAAHLc/ZeclzhUVcgg/s1600/IMG_2062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wiNINEO8854/UtrkiHLlEWI/AAAAAAAAHLc/ZeclzhUVcgg/s1600/IMG_2062.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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In fact, he even popped a 40 open himself. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Reinert having a blast in the background</span></div>
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Then he bent his finger in weird angles to entertain Tom, who was amazed.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">WOW LOOK AT THAT!</span></div>
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I actually have no idea what is happening in this picture. I'm certain Rich wasn't really bending his finger like that to entertain Tom, but I don't know what else it could be. Josh said that this was taken right after rich threw a pretzel at some girl and made her cry and leave? I certainly wish I'd seen that.</div>
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The party continued on, and some great conversations were had while John slept on the lawn.</div>
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And soon enough, Rich had found his favorite spot in the world. And this time he brought a pal. </div>
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For some reason, when Rich hits that special level of drunk, if you can't find him, just go to the truck bed cover thing. That's where he'll be. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Etn-uXxAiKQ/UtrkkJ50sVI/AAAAAAAAHL4/IRE_fBDJRXU/s1600/IMG_2081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Etn-uXxAiKQ/UtrkkJ50sVI/AAAAAAAAHL4/IRE_fBDJRXU/s1600/IMG_2081.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I said I'd climb in there and stay inside for awhile. Nobody believed I'd do it, so I said fuck it, I'll absolutely do it and hopped in. Truthfully, it wasn't that bad. Shawn even joined me.</div>
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I mean, sure, there were probably worms and nightcrawlers and slugs- well, there were lots of slugs, but I thought it would be way worse under there. I pictured a jungle, but it was mostly dead grass. Not bad. </div>
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This was when these shorts said goodbye. </div>
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I've had those shorts for a long time and really loved them cuz they were real thin. They were perfect summer shorts. But Yamstein 7 was their demise. I just ripped right through them. No, I'm not wearing spandex- I'm wearing technology underwear from Exoficio. </div>
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When I emerged, Tom had died.</div>
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I heard that he did finish the challenge, but I'm still not sure he didn't have help. But he certainly drank enough, since he was pretty much out cold and there had clearly been some puking incidences. And I feel like it had been an hour, if that.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PcRvJmqZB64/UtrknXKCoZI/AAAAAAAAHNA/4qV5IzlPTik/s1600/IMG_2111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PcRvJmqZB64/UtrknXKCoZI/AAAAAAAAHNA/4qV5IzlPTik/s1600/IMG_2111.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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But supposedly, Tom won. But he died.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-18_9XR3UOYw/UtrqNyFzrzI/AAAAAAAAHNY/KlMX_vcFPkc/s1600/IMG_2103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-18_9XR3UOYw/UtrqNyFzrzI/AAAAAAAAHNY/KlMX_vcFPkc/s1600/IMG_2103.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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And then I found Rich.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2q7DI8QtVJc/U0mflCD6sMI/AAAAAAAAHYU/E0X0FRfn1Vc/s1600/IMG_2097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2q7DI8QtVJc/U0mflCD6sMI/AAAAAAAAHYU/E0X0FRfn1Vc/s1600/IMG_2097.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Rich had sat down in a circle of chairs by himself to relax a little- he had had a lot to drink. And apparently his stomach decided he should stop. So when I found Rich after not seeing him for awhile, there was a puddle next to him with barely chewed pieces of chicken and a shit load of blueberries. And a look of "come on man" when I took the picture. Later, Rich would learn that when Matt had given him a piece of chicken, he warned him that it was real hot, to which Rich replied by rubbing the chicken on his face to prove it didn't bother him, then eating it. Then he immediately forgot he had had any chicken, going so far as to say some puke wasn't his because he hadn't had any chicken- it couldn't be his puke. The blueberries were from hours before, when he found a huge blueberry bush next to a cat skeleton. Apparently Rich doesn't chew his food. </div>
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I wandered though, and Zari and a bunch of dressed up people showed up late and asked where Al was. So we went to see him and wandered around his apartment while he, Ahadi and a few other people I'll probably never see again were sleeping. This ended with Al throwing a guy off him and saying he would kill him because he was taking pictures with Al while he was trying to sleep. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zsu9YzZ0hv4/UtrkoKNd7uI/AAAAAAAAHMw/VZBseN1qmSs/s1600/IMG_2113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zsu9YzZ0hv4/UtrkoKNd7uI/AAAAAAAAHMw/VZBseN1qmSs/s1600/IMG_2113.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was pretty shitty to wander around his place, but hey- it's Yamstein. Don't go to bed at 9pm in an unlocked house during the biggest party of the year, and you won't get messed with.</div>
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At this point, the party was quieting down and I was wasted. We lost Rich, and eventually found him sleeping in the back seat of his car. He later said he went down there to get something, but lay down for a second cuz he was wasted and it felt good. Then he slept for maybe an hour with his feet hanging out of the back door of his car. We started to pack up and say our goodbyes. I remember being wasted but not really in trouble, then Sarah gave me the "wait, you're leaving? Do a shot first!" thing.</div>
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Apparently I needed Sarah's respect that night, because even though I said I wouldn't do any more shots, it quickly became "ok, I'll do one," which quickly became "ok, I'll do 3." They were my choice though, so one of them was soda! Suck it Sarah!</div>
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But yea, one was also a mixture of like 10 kinds of booze. By the time we got to the car, I was HAMMERED. I don't remember most of the drive home other than forgetting my frisbee and I think my crocs, which fell of the roof. So we drove back to get these after only driving a half mile, then I spent the rest of the drive home with my eyes shut, trying to talk to Josh, but, according to him, babbling on and on about absolutely nothing. Having smoked and eaten a brownie earlier, Josh was pretty uncomfortable driving, and my slurring babblefest didn't help at all. I would later learn that the drive home was a complete nightmare for him. Sorry dude. </div>
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When we got back to the house, Rich got out of the car and pretty much immediately puked. I guess he had puked some when he went down to the car earlier too. I laughed and headed in, drinking as much fruit punch gatorade as I could in a small attempt to not have a horrific hangover the next day. I learned a few years back that going to sleep hammered is a large reason why people wake up and puke, then spend the rest of the day in a horrible hangover. So as dead as I was, I wanted to stay up and drink water, maybe take a shower, and try to go to sleep while the whole world wasn't quite so much of a dark, spinning mess.</div>
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Rich sat in our little reading corner for some reason, while Josh took Irwin out. I think It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia was on TV, or maybe nothing was. I just remember sitting on the couch trying not to fall asleep, just completely fucked- way more wasted than I'd ever been. I took a picture:</div>
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I drifted in and out of sleep I think. I remember at some point, I just suddenly was awake, and completely on autopilot, stood up and started going outside. I literally hadn't puked in 20 years, but I knew what was happening like it had happened that morning. I remember the last time, when I was 11 or 12, at the cabin my Grandmother stayed in when she visited Maine. My parents went out somewhere, and she had to babysit my brother and I. I ate yogurt, something else normal, and a bunch of super old easter candy for lunch. And I puked at the house and her cabin. And in the 20 years since, save for the few burps when my mouth tasted like puke, I haven't puked. People are always shocked by this, but since I have a strong stomach and I didn't drink, it wasn't hard. When I stood up and Rich worriedly asked me what I was doing, I wish I had been with it enough to say "20 years down the drain!" in reference to when Seinfeld ended his no-puke streak on the greatest sitcom in history, but nope. I think I managed "pukin!" and I went outside to our front porch. In 3 short bursts, I barfed up at least some of those shots, and a lot of Gatorade, making my drunk mind briefly terrified when I cleaned off my beard and the paper towel I used was completely red. </div>
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I was instantly a little better, but I was still destroyed. I remember watching some Sunny, then going up to bed when everyone else did, at least I think. I don't really remember Rich and Josh going to bed. I decided a shower would help me be less drunk. I was also filthy. I remember accidentally kicking the heater in our bathroom, which completely demolished my toenail and made my toe hurt for days, I remember going to bed, but not much else. I think I called it a night at like 4 in the morning. Luckily, that was it for puke for the night. </div>
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I woke up the next day and was surprisingly not as hungover as I expected, but I was still just an exhausted zombie with zero energy. We all shared what we remembered, laughed about what we didn't, texted with people at the Nerd Compound, and just tried to recover. Another successful Yamstein.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FuJsN9Svrsw/UtrkoywjftI/AAAAAAAAHM8/68gHnAQjxu8/s1600/IMG_4087.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FuJsN9Svrsw/UtrkoywjftI/AAAAAAAAHM8/68gHnAQjxu8/s1600/IMG_4087.PNG" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
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Yamstein 8 in just a few months!</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: Weezer- B-sides</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-33380097426080665522014-03-12T16:24:00.000-07:002014-03-12T16:24:00.299-07:00Mount Roberts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
As part of me trying to hike the whole Ossipee Range, Mount Roberts seemed like a great choice for a second summit. It looked like my kind of hike- 5 miles roundtrip, and around 1,500 feet of elevation gain. That perfect mix of long-enough-that-you-earn-your-views-and-feel-accomplished and short-enough-that-I'll-really-enjoy-myself-and-not-be-dead-after. Put that at the top of my list of things I learned about me and hiking this year- that's my favorite size hike. </div>
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Anyway, I parked at the main Castle In The Clouds parking area, packed up my stuff and headed out at my standard catch-the-sunset-on-the-way-down hike. I'm using a lot of dashes. I'll try to stop. </div>
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There are lots of signs.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z0D7KTO2zbk/UtrWEFIWGaI/AAAAAAAAHEM/wGbUHu1WtEg/s1600/IMG_2228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z0D7KTO2zbk/UtrWEFIWGaI/AAAAAAAAHEM/wGbUHu1WtEg/s1600/IMG_2228.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Turn left after the main horse area.</div>
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Do your best to avoid giant piles of turd.</div>
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I looped around the horse field and the road started looping to the left. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOLN_IHcRNI/UtrWE9u4nGI/AAAAAAAAHEc/L37L_QM4FrE/s1600/IMG_2233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOLN_IHcRNI/UtrWE9u4nGI/AAAAAAAAHEc/L37L_QM4FrE/s1600/IMG_2233.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I had no idea what to do here, so I decided that the right way felt more like it was going up a mountain, so I went that way. I'm pretty sure the left side met up later, but it looked gross. I made the right decision.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbXRKK6hAW0/UtrWFIcHTdI/AAAAAAAAHE0/hvqonkposiA/s1600/IMG_2235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbXRKK6hAW0/UtrWFIcHTdI/AAAAAAAAHE0/hvqonkposiA/s1600/IMG_2235.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The trail was pretty rocky and ugly at first, mixed with boring and steep.</div>
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But I liked it. Some felt a lot like a mountain bike trail.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LxBcJAj8D4s/UtrWF2-ushI/AAAAAAAAHEw/GIhsHU-JVuk/s1600/IMG_2240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LxBcJAj8D4s/UtrWF2-ushI/AAAAAAAAHEw/GIhsHU-JVuk/s1600/IMG_2240.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Eventually, there was a short spur to a viewpoint that was pretty nice.</div>
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Then it got real steep for a short section, then heavenly. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YvgnTB7bh9Q/UtrWGz9yw2I/AAAAAAAAHFQ/zu-Y7l3RcRo/s1600/IMG_2245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YvgnTB7bh9Q/UtrWGz9yw2I/AAAAAAAAHFQ/zu-Y7l3RcRo/s1600/IMG_2245.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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That's a ridiculous word to use for it, but I really loved this trail once I got to this point. It was just the perfect mix of not too step, meandering, thick woods but still kind of open, etc. I felt like I was alone in the middle of nowhere in deep woods, but had sunlight shining through everywhere. It seemed like the trees were all kind of short. What a great trail.</div>
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It started opening up after a little bit, and I was hiking faster and faster, loving the feel of coming out of the deep woods into such a pretty sky.</div>
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And turning around, I knew I loved this hike already.</div>
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You get to hike for awhile on a mostly exposed area that's still covered in brush with trees everywhere. I haven't done any of the huge ridge hikes yet where you're on top of the world, and I actually assumed I wouldn't love them as much as others because of how much I love the remote, being deep in the middle of nowhere woods feel. But I'm a view whore- how could I not love hiking long sections with views everywhere?</div>
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This was great to hike up, but I knew the real treat would be coming back down, since all the views were behind me on the way up.</div>
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The trail started making its way back into to the woods. Check out this grizzled white tree:</div>
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The trail got real thick and pretty overgrown. I immediately felt like everyone who hikes Mount Roberts doesn't bother going all the way up since all the great views are still a ways below the wooded summit. But I always go to the top of the mountain. It doesn't count otherwise.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LU326FzuUbU/UtrWJKLUV0I/AAAAAAAAHGI/o_I599PCAjc/s1600/IMG_2277.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LU326FzuUbU/UtrWJKLUV0I/AAAAAAAAHGI/o_I599PCAjc/s1600/IMG_2277.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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The trail eventually came to a sign with super grown in fire road, and I remembered that this was a big network of trails.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-czyAkDrRoAk/UtrWJAFmrWI/AAAAAAAAHF0/Di2qYVLcOuQ/s1600/IMG_2279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-czyAkDrRoAk/UtrWJAFmrWI/AAAAAAAAHF0/Di2qYVLcOuQ/s1600/IMG_2279.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then I was at the summit.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">tough in pink!</span></div>
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You have views of Faraway Mountain and some distant stuff, but you can't see the real views from here, so this is definitely not a great summit.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2eZKs-KSlvQ/UtrWJnbHYcI/AAAAAAAAHGE/7_adHI3vUaw/s1600/IMG_2284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2eZKs-KSlvQ/UtrWJnbHYcI/AAAAAAAAHGE/7_adHI3vUaw/s1600/IMG_2284.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">still love it though!</span></div>
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On the way back down, I took a break on this rock and hung out for quite awhile, texting and just sitting in silence for once (usually music is non stop in my ears).</div>
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I hit my one hitter right there, and since I'd been realizing how much I loved being high on top of mountains listening to music, I decided to do 2 when I normally only do 1. And it hit me waaay harder than I expected. I was way higher than I meant to be right away. Once I finally stood up, I realized how bad my short term memory was in my weird zone-out-and-just-keep-walking daze. I immediately understood how easy it must have been for all those people you'd hear about on the news who got high or did something stronger and got lost in the woods. I used to make fun of those people, but wow, I get it now. </div>
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Anyway, I got my shit together and focused on the trail- I had views to get to.</div>
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Coming out to this view was one of the highlights of my summer. I was up there completely alone and had a great mix of music going with lots of beautiful epic songs. I hung out here and ate a McDonalds chicken snack wrap and a granola bar, just walking around taking pictures and rocking out. </div>
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I realized that I have a severe problem with taking pictures when I'm high on top of a mountain. I took SO MANY pictures, so many of the same stuff with slightly different angles or slightly different lighting. And they were all HDRs too, so I had like 120 pictures to sort through. This hike alone is a large reason why I fell so behind on Instagram over the summer. I couldn't get through all of the pictures. I think now that I've finally cleaned up the event in my iPhoto library, it's down to like 35 pictures. But I had 60 something all in various forms of edits for months. I need to learn how to stop with the pictures. But I got some good ones.</div>
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I realized this puddle would look pretty cool with Winnipesaukee behind it. </div>
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From the right angle, it almost looked like some magical lake in Norway.</div>
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I hung up there and watched the sun mostly set, listening to music and playing air guitar, wandering around for probably close to an hour. It was absolutely wonderful. I spent most of the walk down thinking of the logistics behind trying to have a band play at a place like this- how to get instruments and fans up, how to clear it with landowners, how to keep it quiet enough and safe enough that it would work, the documentary I'd of course have to film about it, using Hilton's helicopter camera for it, the speech I'd make before the whole thing about how hard it was to put together and it's worth it to hear beautiful music with this view on top of a mountain, etc. Of course it was Caspian in my theoretical plan. I really think that would be about the coolest thing ever. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">classic self portrait</span></div>
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The whole hike down was awesome. I felt fantastic, was so into the music, and all my views were perfect. Absolutely a highlight of my summer and probably my favorite hike of the year. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wld82qO6DzE/UtrWQPwi5lI/AAAAAAAAHIM/enmyXpIwFZs/s1600/IMG_6438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wld82qO6DzE/UtrWQPwi5lI/AAAAAAAAHIM/enmyXpIwFZs/s1600/IMG_6438.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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The sky did some weird stuff.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6cjaSW_6rQ/UtrWOOf_oiI/AAAAAAAAHHo/pyoswTnIOKw/s1600/IMG_4812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6cjaSW_6rQ/UtrWOOf_oiI/AAAAAAAAHHo/pyoswTnIOKw/s1600/IMG_4812.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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I especially love this one:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FqnK-BX7Vt0/UtrWQkM_tSI/AAAAAAAAHIA/Wnuji4hhbHI/s1600/IMG_6443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FqnK-BX7Vt0/UtrWQkM_tSI/AAAAAAAAHIA/Wnuji4hhbHI/s1600/IMG_6443.JPG" height="486" width="640" /></a></div>
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As I left the exposed area and had switched from shuffle to just listening to Caspian albums, I got back into the woods that I had loved so much on the way up, and I got some awesome sunset rays shooting through the woods. It was literally like I had said "I wish this hike was even better" and the nature gods went "oh, ok- here."</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hI99GdwLmy8/UtrWK4i1c9I/AAAAAAAAHG4/o3_FSyfz8ds/s1600/IMG_2307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hI99GdwLmy8/UtrWK4i1c9I/AAAAAAAAHG4/o3_FSyfz8ds/s1600/IMG_2307.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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I always see people posting pictures of crazy sunrays on Instagram and I somehow never get to see any. I saw some huge ones shooting though large sections of woods that night. My camera really sucked at capturing any of it, but I got a few good ones, especially this one I 'grammed: </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">light sword</span></div>
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The hike got darker as it always does, and I picked up the pace to get back to my car. On the way back, I stopped at the horse area and had a weird creepy moment with this horse:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mcRnBnmYUlk/UtrWREiYNpI/AAAAAAAAHII/rkMYSyZOMMY/s1600/IMG_6449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mcRnBnmYUlk/UtrWREiYNpI/AAAAAAAAHII/rkMYSyZOMMY/s1600/IMG_6449.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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I stopped listening to music as I got closer to the horse area. I've always been freaked out by horses- I've never been a fan. But coming down from a mountain alone to an area where horses lived outside with nobody else around was really pretty cool. Since this hike, I've spent a few times walking through this area at night, just alone in the cold with horses I can barely see in the distance, and it's been a really surreal, creepy but oddly cool and kind of beautiful experience every time. I'm not sure why, there's just something about this area that's really cool at night. Just hanging with the horses. </div>
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I saw a giant horse named <a href="http://www.ridingintheclouds.com/meet_zeus.html">Zeus</a> that day too- he was in his own area and I tried to get pictures of him, but I tried to get them close, and the lighting was never right, plus, being close, you couldn't tell just how big he was. I also purposefully don't spend a lot of time with horses, so I figured he was pretty huge, but maybe not anything record breaking. Apparently, he was one of the biggest horses in the world- some sites say the biggest, some say the tallest, some say the second tallest. I'm not sure which is accurate, but he was huge and pretty well known. He died about a month ago (which, after reading his facebook page almost just made me cry), and there's talk of having a life-size statue of him on the Castle in the Clouds grounds. I really hope they do that, and I'm happy that I got to see him that night.<br />
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So anyway, yea. I really loved this hike. Even taking my state of mind, music, having the mountain to myself (other than one older couple I saw on the way up) and it being August and an absolutely perfect summer night out of the equation, this is still a pretty awesome hike. It's one of my favorite finds and I'd absolutely recommend it, especially for people who want awesome views without a ton of effort. I plan on hiking it again this year- possibly twice as I imagine it would be awesome in the fall, and I'm planning a massive Ossipee Range traverse. Stay tuned.</div>
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Oh- so here's one. </div>
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I hike alone 95% of the time. And 75% of the time I'm hiking, I'm listening to music. I don't blast it, but it's loud enough. I've had a few scares where I thought I heard a growl and after pausing the music after coming to from my brief heart attack, it's either been a distant plane, thunder, a rock I stood on shifting weight, or, the scariest time, a pheasant flying at me through the woods. But other than almost walking directly into a porcupine, I've yet to have any real scares with any dangerous animals. </div>
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I checked a site I often use to make sure I got the mileage and elevation gain right, and clicked one of the trip reports- <a href="http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/NewHampshire/mtroberts-2013-0805.php">http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/NewHampshire/mtroberts-2013-0805.php</a></div>
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I laughed and thought "wow, that first picture could have been taken by me- it looks exactly the same. Then I scrolled down and saw a picture of a bear. The trip reporter had seen 3 bears on their way up the mountain, and had sent a cub up a tree with the mother very closely growling at him/her. I looked to see what day it was on, and it was August 5th. I knew that was close to when I had hiked, so I checked my iCal (where I keep track of hikes and everything else in the world), and saw that my hike was on Sunday, which was August 4th. That's pretty damn close. I had no idea bears would be in the Ossipee Range, right on the trail. Time to start turning that music down a little more.</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: We Vs. Death- "Postneoliberalparadise"</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-16854798609044227002014-02-20T15:36:00.002-08:002014-02-20T15:36:05.959-08:00The First Annual Inaugural Blue Zoo Pro-Am Invitational<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So last year we created a new weekend that I am gonna do my best to get to stick- the First Annual Inaugural Blue Zoo Pro-Am Invitational. Yes, every year will be called the inaugural one. </div>
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What is it? A family friendly weekend full of fun where the dudes escape to play golf and drink beer then we all get together for fun the rest of the weekend. I love this not only because we've been talking about golfing together for years, but also because my Dad has weekends like this with a few different groups of friends and he always loves them. Now I have my own. </div>
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We met at Gina's Dad's place for some swimming and family friendly beach time, i.e. ladies drinking fancy drinks on the beach while kids play with sand. I jumped in, we drank a few beers, and Damien was majestic.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oBtBpXpq0yw/UtBRBUlVzuI/AAAAAAAAG_s/0ohy3n_xKF8/s1600/IMG_3817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oBtBpXpq0yw/UtBRBUlVzuI/AAAAAAAAG_s/0ohy3n_xKF8/s1600/IMG_3817.JPG" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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Then it was golf time. The only other time I've golfed with this many dudes was at Voss' bachelor party weekend, and it was with a lot of the same people. It also involved more drinking than golfing.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N3BCfxxzOJs/UtBQ8F1kjbI/AAAAAAAAG-I/OTeZYCuV2-E/s1600/IMG_1896.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N3BCfxxzOJs/UtBQ8F1kjbI/AAAAAAAAG-I/OTeZYCuV2-E/s1600/IMG_1896.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Right off the first tee, I could tell this was gonna be hilarious. </div>
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I was trying to stay hydrated so I brought water, but everyone else brought a lot of beer and demolished it. I went my own way though, and smoked up on hole #3. Golfing high is weird.</div>
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After 2 holes, we combined our different groups (just to appease the golf course) into a retarded mess of a six-some.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_bQxjIdQxfU/UtBQ9XTLz1I/AAAAAAAAG-0/zgg-sMFpWmA/s1600/IMG_1908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_bQxjIdQxfU/UtBQ9XTLz1I/AAAAAAAAG-0/zgg-sMFpWmA/s1600/IMG_1908.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was a mess.</div>
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Especially for Jake.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">this was like 4 inches deep of water</span></div>
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It was a gorgeous day and I had a lot of fun. We had great weather that was prime for instagrams.</div>
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Triple Instagram HDR. Booyah.</div>
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It was a lot of fun and truthfully, I kind of wished I hadn't smoked- while it's fun to be retarded and party, I really like golf way more when I'm doing well. I think we all generally tried our best, but I definitely felt like I was a little more serious than others. That was good enough for 2nd place, losing to Shaun by 1 stroke. I don't know if he's gotten worse and I've gotten better, or he wasn't entirely at his best, but I'll take it. We knew our scores going into the last hole, so it literally came down to one shot. And he didn't blow it. Bastard.</div>
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This was a fully posed shot of Kevin scouting his shot:</div>
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I remember I had about 10 years to take pics during this hole, because Tobin had never played golf before, and was easily the worst golfer I've ever played with. For someone who had never swung before and was part of a sixsome, he should have taken 1 practice swing, fucked up, tried again, given up, etc. Play fast. If you hit a ball into the woods, pick up and drop farther down the hole. Don't take 8 practice swings, spend 2 minutes staring at the ball before you hit it, then hit every shot out of the woods and follow exact dropping rules when you're on your 15th shot of a part 4 and you're not past the women's tees yet. </div>
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I think we spent 2 hours on 3 holes. We nearly ran out of light.</div>
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But no, we just got gloriously perfect light:</div>
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The original plan had called for possible mountain biking after the golf- we'll have to reconsider that for next year if people are interested. It just got too dark too fast, so we headed home for campfire and sweet jams under the giant NEMBA tent. I love that thing.</div>
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HAPPY</div>
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FRIENDS</div>
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Jake had a nice highlight that night when he decided to step into a giant candle.</div>
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Guy can't have fun unless he's on fire!</div>
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We drank and were merry. I eventually hit the hay, probably with cats crawling all over me.</div>
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Day 2 started out cute:</div>
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Shaun, Ice, Le Tobin and I decided to go for a small hike as it was hot, we didn't want to do too much, and Ice was hella pregnant and wasn't looking for a marathon. We hit up (I think) Eagle's Ledge? It's a small hike nearby that goes to a nice viewpoint and is pretty nice but still makes you work a little. It was one of the worst hikes of my life. The bugs were absolutely horrific, just all over us every second. The view was nice though. </div>
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As was the hike down, as I talked with Natalie about her business and her life in general. It was a nice way to reconnect with her, since I don't see her enough. </div>
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We got back and everyone went their separate ways. I wasn't ready to call it a day though, so I went back to Gina's Dad's with her and Kevin and swam some more, even though swimming was pretty much just sitting in water and trying to avoid slime. </div>
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I headed out eventually and was met with this gorgeous rainbow.</div>
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Awesome weekend. For this summer's edition, I'm hoping to have some trophies, at least for the winner and last place loser of the game. Maybe worst shot, I don't know. Hopefully we can have this stick as another thanxmas/squamtoberfest/lakerage/saltzmcdrunkingtons, etc. </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: With Dead Hands Rising- Behind Inquisition</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-75846574119767165682014-02-08T10:02:00.002-08:002014-02-08T10:02:44.745-08:00Ossipee Patch Hunting 1: Bald Knob Mountain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
After earning a patch for hiking all of the <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/06/hiking-belknap-range-in-new-hampshire.html">Belknap Range</a>, I started looking for other patches I could earn. I used to make fun of people who have to always be training for something- people who like to run but don't feel complete if they aren't running marathons or doing mud or zombie races, but now that I'm in the middle of trying to earn 3 different hiking patches, I think I get it. It's nice to have a goal. And years later, to be able to look back and say that I did something I set out to do- it's pretty cool. </div>
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Someone actually commented on my Belknap post with the link to earn the Castle in the Clouds patch (info <a href="http://www.lrct.org/hiker-patch.html">here</a>). So, I decided I would do everything they asked while reaching the top of all the main summits outlined <a href="http://www.franklinsites.com/hikephotos/nhossipee10.php">here</a>, and that way I could earn the patch by hiking all the specific trails Castle in the Clouds asks for, while feeling that I could confidently say I owned the whole Ossipee Range (since CITC only requires you to hit 5 summits). </div>
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I decided to start with one of the smallest with good views and a really terrible name: Bald Knob. The entrance is right on Route 171 in Moultonborough, only a few miles from the Castle in the Clouds entrance. I'd never been on 171 before. I've been there a lot now. </div>
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You walk a ways into the woods on a boring fire road, then you can see where you're going right away. I love when you can see where you're going.</div>
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The trail got steeper and was incredibly rocky right away.</div>
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Here's some people who passed me:</div>
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After awhile of hiking through some pretty rocky and surprisingly steep stuff, you come out to a lookout, which I felt made the hike worth it already.</div>
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I had to stop a lot on the way up- it was very humid, and this was steeper than I was ready for. I was a sweat machine. The trail loops back into the woods from that lookout, then starts to get real ugly:</div>
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But then it was over. The internet says it's 1,116 of vertical gain in 1.1 miles, which is the steepness of a lot of the bigger hikes I've done, so while this was short, it was certainly a work out. Rather than going straight to the lookout, I went to a higher section that I felt should be the summit, but there was no marker. The view was pretty rad:</div>
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But walking towards the viewpoint, I knew I already loved this mountain:</div>
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I saw a gigantic Turkey Vulture flying around too. I tried to get better pics, but even though it came super close, this was the best I could do:</div>
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Quite the nice view up there. I bet you can't tell which pictures are edited HDRs and which came from my normal camera:</div>
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I walked way down the rocks and all around for different views. All were damn fine. I especially liked this road, with a view of Castle in the Clouds in the distance: </div>
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This was taken from that road. Awesome.</div>
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I had places to be though, so I started heading down. The entire way down, I went though scenarios in my head for how my 5 interviews the next day at Hubspot (the job I didn't get) were gonna go. I just completely zoned out the entire way down the mountain, worried about everything but excited at the concept of having income again at what could be a very cool job. I was quite the mix of emotions, and actually (and sadly) essentially practiced interview questions the entire way down the mountain. What a loser. </div>
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I drove as fast as I could to get to Albee Beach for what could possibly be the last Swim Thursday of the year for me (it wasn't even close to the last). When we got there, it was looking a lot like rain. And there was a weird sand babe made in the sand: </div>
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Very cool. </div>
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We threw the B while it started raining on us. After awhile of freezing to death and getting rained on harder than we wanted, a command decision was made, and we packed up and headed to Brewster Beach too. I have no pictures of this expedition, but it turned out to be probably my favorite Swim Thursday of the year. Crap weather, just the 3 of us, and the annoyance of getting dry, getting right back in soaking wet clothes, only to then try to dry off with a soaked towel again after- none of it mattered, because we had an absolute blast. The lines were set up for the Brewster High School swim team, so we practiced swimmer dives and made a thousand jokes about how we were on the team, just training for our next match. </div>
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We did flips in the water over the lines, we threw the B hard, and we had a blast. At one point, we swam to someone's giant float that was anchored in front of their house next to the swimming area. I thought this was a bad idea and didn't think we'd ever be able to get on, but we all managed, and couldn't stop laughing at the concept of us thinking we were all incognito in this person's giant float, but the reality of them very possibly just standing in their living room watching 3 fat guys climb into their float and lie there as obviously as possible, thinking nobody would see them. The float couldn't have moved more for the 10 minutes we were hanging onto it, but we thought we were sneaky. </div>
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It was finally time to leave, and I was absolutely exhausted. I don't remember what we did for dinner, but I went to bed super late after trimming up my beard and hair, laying out interview clothes, finalizing my resume, etc. I drove to Tobin's the next day to get dressed (so I wouldn't get my clothes all wrinkled) and make my hair look nice, then sweat through everything on the 2 block walk to the interview I barely made it in time to since it was 90 out. I was there for 3+ hours, going through 5 half hour interviews and being made to wait for another 20 minutes just to have the main recruiter guy walk me out. I met up with Shaun and Natalie for a celebratory dinner because I was so certain I would get the job, but also out of relief of such an exhausting day. I didn't get the job, but in hindsight, I'm very happy about that. </div>
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I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's pretend it's still AUGUST. </div>
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So yea, Bald Knob is steeper than you'd think, but totally worth the effort and generally a pretty short hike for awesome views. And the Ossipee patch hunt begins!</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: The Mars Volta- B-Sides</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-39305938262993107952014-01-27T18:18:00.002-08:002014-01-27T18:18:17.575-08:00Warped Tour 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
It should have all been a disaster. </div>
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A 32 year old who has never been to Warped Tour, who was only able to find 14 bands I cared about seeing at all (out of a list that seemed to grow every time I looked) who hates big crowds, who has only experienced a multi-stage show once (with a whopping 2 stages), who generally hates any amount of standing for long periods of time, who burns easily in the sun, who instantly turns into a grumpy old man who hates everything at the mere presence of 5 consecutive teenagers in a row... </div>
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"Man, this is going to suck" I thought to myself as we drove in and parked in the seemingly miles long parking lot. "How did I get myself into this?"</div>
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Over the last year, I've slowly started to follow a path I should have been on for years. My show buddy Lambert has connections that get him into shows for free for either photos or reviews of the show. He had me cover an Into it. Over it. show way back in October (for Performer magazine), and although my review apparently got lost in spam folders, it was still kind of fun to do. From there, I said I'd go to a few more for Performer, but because of 2 snowstorms, I had to bail on 2 of them. I helped Lambert edit/re-write some of his reviews, but other than a review of a Balance And Composure show (<a href="http://issuu.com/performermagazine/docs/1304_web">page 34 if you really want to read it</a>), my ratio of shows I reviewed vs. shows I said I would review was a tad off. </div>
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So when Lambert asked me if I wanted to go to Warped Tour with him (he was getting a photo pass for theywillrockyou.com), I told him I had no interest in going. But then I thought about this blog and my life after work- my once-dead-and-now-revived desire to get content- to experience things solely for the purpose of experiencing them and seeing if my assumptions were right or not. And I thought that I owed him one for not going to some others. And I said "I'll tell you what, if you can get me in for free too, I'll go with you." I ended it there and hoped that would be the end of it. I wanted to be forced to go and experience it, but mostly, I just didn't want to go. </div>
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After the hike-drive-phish-phish-drive-weezer week, I was not only exhausted and looking for a few boring days, but also pretty much showed-out. I didn't want to see any concerts- at least until Caspian played the streets of Beverly on Saturday. </div>
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So of course when I got out of Weezer, I had a text from Lambert saying "this will make your day- I got you into Warped. We're going." Ughk.</div>
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I did my best to pretend I was excited to go, but a forecast that called for rain all morning and thunderstorms varying between 50 and 70% for the rest of the day, it was hard. I began to lose my mind searching the internet to see what bands were actually playing the Boston (Mansfield) date. I didn't understand how a tour that featured so many bands that played some dates and not others didn't have a list of bands for each date. Lambert sent me what he thought was the list, but I balked at him: "that's like 70 bands dude, there's no way there's that many playing." I was wrong.</div>
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Watching the rain crash down on my car on the way to his house made me feel sick. What the hell was I getting myself into? Driving through dark clouds on the way there, flying past the hundreds of cars full of what looked like 14 year olds driving that were in the right lane (the exit has 2 lanes, warped tour virgins), I prepared for the worst. 80s with humidity in the instant-pit-stains regions, and all these annoying kids. This would be my life for the next 8 hours. And I didn't want that.</div>
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Getting out of the car, I packed up my backpack: crocs I prayed they'd let me have in case my feet started to hate my shoes, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (the website said I could bring in "one small homemade snack"), a granola bar and Clif Shotblocks I hoped they wouldn't see, my point-and-shoot camera, and a 1 liter sealed bottle of water. Since I was quite broke, I planned on making this water and sandwich last all day. </div>
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As soon as we began walking, the sounds of excited teenagers yelling for no reason popped up sporadically throughout the parking lot. And the first picture I took, I already saw some jerk wearing a shirt with huge swears printed on the back. What a rebel.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FBAO-EGXPGg/UeR76N83J8I/AAAAAAAAGnY/mjznnNg7S_4/s1600/IMG_3553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FBAO-EGXPGg/UeR76N83J8I/AAAAAAAAGnY/mjznnNg7S_4/s640/IMG_3553.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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We went to the press pass/guest list line and stood there for a surprisingly long amount of time. See the dude on the right with the square shaped, short brimmed greenish hat (what the hell are those called?)? That's none other than NH hardcore legend and Coat of Arms bartender Rob, who was on Defeater's guest list. Already I knew someone there. We proceeded to shoot a lot of shit, then he headed in. He cared about seeing 2 bands that day. I felt some comfort in knowing that the only other person I knew there wanted to be there less than me.</div>
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We hit the line, and I took off my bag to be inspected. I don't know what they were searching for, since once I showed them my crocs and water bottle, they were pretty much done with me. I could have brought in SO many drugs. I think they were solely making sure I didn't bring in an unsealed bottle of water. Weird.</div>
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Immediately upon entering, there was a stage facing me, with a band who I was shocked to find I really liked. "One band into this and I'm already enjoying myself?" I thought. Hmmm... </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">They turned out to be Gates, who I've heard once before, and are, in fact, now that i've listened more, excellent</span></div>
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I stopped watching though, since we needed a schedule. See, for some reason, Warped Tour doesn't have the same order every day. In fact, they don't announce the schedule of bands and stages until 11am the day of the show. Now, I assumed that all the huge bands would end the show and the morning stuff would be stuff I didn't care about. Incorrect.</div>
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After buying a piece of paper from a dude for 2 bucks (I saved money on the marker since Lambert had an extra pen (or I just stole his all day, I forget)), I immediately saw that 2 of the bands I wanted to see most; The Chariot and Oh, Sleeper had already played, at the same time on 2 stages nowhere near each other, at 11:15am. Great start to the day. </div>
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Oh, and I also saw that it wasn't what I thought was an absolutely ridiculous 7 stages with 70 bands- no, it was 10 stages and 118 bands. THAT IS TOO MANY BANDS.</div>
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After circling who I wanted to see, and taking note of who Lambert wanted to see, we were in somewhat good shape in that we wanted to see a lot of the same bands. But still. I immediately hated Warped Tour. From the hours of 12:55 to 5:25 or so, every band I wanted to see overlapped each other. </div>
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I could watch Motion City Soundtrack, but only for 20 minutes if I wanted to see Letlive, who I would be able to see nearly all of if I missed all of Reel Big Fish, before walking way back to see August Burns Red, who I'd have to leave halfway through if I wanted to see Upon a Burning Body, who I'd have to leave a few songs early if I wanted to catch The Used, who I'd be able to see most of, but would then have to find another stage where Story of the Year was playing at the same time as We Came As Romans, who I'd only be able to see some of if I wanted to catch any of The American Scene, who I'd have to only see some of if I wanted to catch The Wonder Years. </div>
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Jesus. </div>
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So it looked like I'd have a complete mess of 4 and a half hours, then from 5:30 to 7:10 (when Bring Me The Horizon played) I couldn't care less about any bands. And of course, one of the bands I wanted to see most (The Story So Far) was playing last at 8:15, ensuring that my tired fat old body would not only not be leaving early, but would also be leaving at the same time as thousands of other people. </div>
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But I said fuck it and embraced the chaos. I decided my best option (other than walking around and trying to figure out where stages were in the maze of stages) was to catch some of Silverstein, and immediately saw an old friend from Apple, Jimmy Reynolds like 20 feet away from me. He loves generic metalcore and pop metal, so I don't know why I wasn't expecting to see him, but there he was. He was with friends who had also played at 11:15 and I still haven't checked out. </div>
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I got to see Silverstein end with an American Nightmare cover they were only playing because we were in Boston (or 45 minutes from it (same thing)), with Jason from Letlive adding vocals. I was happy I caught it, but at the same time, that meant missing the beginning of Motion City Soundtrack's set. </div>
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I went over there, caught 4 songs or so, then immediately went back to where I had come from to catch Letlive's set, which was one set left I didn't want to miss any of. </div>
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This was where the day became very fun. Since Lambert was there to take photos with his DSLR camera, he had a photo pass to stand in "the pit," a designated area right in front of the stage where you can take pics a few feet from band members. And I apparently had a photo pass too.</div>
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I try to maintain some sort of grizzled old man attitude- the hardcore scene lifer who complains about everything and doesn't give a shit about meeting bands or taking pictures of them up close. I make fun of Lambert all the time for being excited about that kind of stuff. I pull the age card and say that when you're past your mid twenties, these kinds of things aren't important. "They're just regular people, dude. They just happen to be in bands. Big deal."</div>
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But that mindset quickly changed. Seeing Jason, the singer of Letlive flat out freak the fuck out on stage mere feet from me, it was kind of exciting. Turning around to see all of the people crammed against the gate, having people crowd surf over them, trying their best to be close to the band, and realizing I was not only way closer than they'll ever be, but even had security making sure nobody hit me... that's a pretty cool feeling. And watching bands I've listened to for years from that close... yea, it was pretty damn cool. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvKJ40r9R1E/UeR77LAtWVI/AAAAAAAAGn8/rA4WxqFWd3U/s1600/IMG_3583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvKJ40r9R1E/UeR77LAtWVI/AAAAAAAAGn8/rA4WxqFWd3U/s640/IMG_3583.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">photo pit: the space in between that cushioned stage extender thing and dudes in yellow shirts</span></div>
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I unfortunately didn't get any good pics of Letlive with my point-and-shoot, but at least got one I kind of liked from the side.</div>
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We then left early, knowing that it wouldn't be easy to get in the photo pit for Chiodos, sure to be one of the more popular bands of the day. But it was pretty smooth, and there I was, leaning on the stage, feet away from Craig Owens, who probably every girl and a lot of guys there wanted to get nice and cozy with. </div>
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I got an awesome one of him in the crowd with my iphone, but most of my time up there was spent trying to get out of the way of the 10 other photographers, trying to get my crappy camera to do anything I wanted, and figuring out what songs they were playing based on the PPPPBBBB PPPBBB PPBB PBBB PBBB bass farts I was hearing through the tarp-covered crate I was leaning on. I'll tell you this, the sound up there is not the best. </div>
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I did get one solid one of him screaming though.</div>
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They were frustrating though, because they were super high energy and I was immediately bummed out I didn't have a real camera to catch some of it. Stuff like this happened a lot, even though I love this one. Look at the guitarist's mouth! </div>
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You only get to shoot for 3 songs though. I'm not sure why, but it's probably a combination of the band/front row people not wanting to deal with a bunch of cameras and the security guys trying to limit the amount of people they have to deal with when they're pulling crowd surfers out. I was ok with that though, since although a band usually saved their best songs and maybe best stage moves for the end, after a few songs from that angle, I began to feel like I couldn't possibly get any more shots unless they looked exactly like every other one.</div>
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We walked over to August Burns Red and hung out in the pit for a bit. They were predictably pretty awesome, but for whatever reason, they sounded way better too, sound-wise. Chiodos sounded like a mess.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">OOOOOOOOOOKLAHOMAAAA</span></div>
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At this point, Lambert had interviews scheduled with a frontrunner for worst band name of the festival, Rdgldgrn and the classic Big D & The Kids Table, so he gave me a brief lesson in how to use his camera, abandoned nearly everything he taught me in favor of having it be as automatic as possible, then actually let me use it for a few bands.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lambert, thankfully being covered in red, therefore easy to find.</span></div>
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I went over to see Upon a Burning Body, the band responsible for this ridiculously awesome <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWGVh4TUaes">song</a> featuring a CHUG chant (at 2:00) and saw that there was only 1 other person in the photo pit for them. For my first attempt at using a DSLR to shoot bands, I had a good time and got a few decent shots. This was my favorite.</div>
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They were pretty awesome but had a pretty small crowd for what I was used to so far. As had become the norm, I had to leave early if I wanted to catch The Used. And I only got into the photo pit because the woman guarding the entrance let me in (apparently I went in the wrong way) and I am surprisingly good at making my way through crowds. </div>
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The last time I saw The Used, Bert (the singer) was fairly normal and had long black hair. He apparently now had a pink mohawk and was throwing around what seemed to be chalk. I was just psyched to be so close to him to get this shot:</div>
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I felt like bands hated us- we were press (not fans) who just swarmed the singer and ignored the rest of the band for 3 songs and then were gone. I felt like he and Craig Owens came right out and sucked it up to let us take pictures of them, but I still felt like something I didn't want to be- someone who was there just taking pictures and not caring about the music. So I tried my best to not be that person. I was singing along, throwing my arms in the air, and really having a blast being that close. At one point Bert looked at me as I was singing along and looking at him, and he kind of smiled. Right after that, he crouched super close to me so I could get these shots. I may be reading more into it than I should be, but it really felt like he was like "oh wait, one of these annoying photographers is actually a Used fan? Well alright, I'm gonna give him some good shots." Even though this world was new to me, I had to remind myself that I was there to be having fun too, and decided that I would be the guy in the pit who was having the most fun. And when Lambert took the camera back, I even let people with expensive cameras in front of me to get THE SHOT while I just had a good time. Out of nowhere, I felt super lucky to be up there. I had space and the band was RIGHT THERE. It was awesome. I was having fun.</div>
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I had to leave early though, since I wanted to catch Story of the Year, a band who really hasn't done anything I cared about since their second album, but a band who I knew I had to take pictures of (they do a lot of stage moves). I wandered out of the main area I had been in and attempted to find the Tilly's stage. Literally other than the first band I saw, and the Acoustic Basement Stage and Kevin Says stages I saw in passing, every band I had seen were next to each other- the Kia Soul stage and Kia Forte stages were right next to each other, with the Monster stage (where most of the metal was) just a short walk along the same line.</div>
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I went as far in one direction as I could and saw the ampitheater- the gigantic stage where most people who have been here have seen shows. I went in and saw bands, but wasn't convinced that was where it was. I asked the woman guarding the press area entrance and she said she wasn't even sure, but thought that maybe there were actually multiple stages in there. </div>
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And after walking back, she was right. Such a weird thing to see 2 stages set up on 1 stage. And I even got to catch the end of The Early November's set while I waited.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(obviously the bands played at different times)</span></div>
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In there, I saw 2 dudes who had really committed to the day and decided to take a picture of them. I don't know how any human being, no matter how skinny could spend 8 hours outside like this, but more power to them. </div>
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I saw a Batman later, but his costume wasn't as good as Spiderman and Kick-Ass's were. Sure wish I had seen a Hit Girl.</div>
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I fought my way up to Story of the Year, and as predicted, they did a lot of stage moves. Man I wish I had a DSLR. Look at that spin kick!</div>
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Lambert showed up right before they started playing and took his camera back (bastard), but he let me use it for 1 song. I missed one of the guitarists do a backflip, but managed to get a mid jump shot, which Lambert told me later he hated me for (since he's never been able to time those right). Apparently I'm a natural.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">clearly I have to work on my framing though</span></div>
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They were fun, but once I was out of the photo pit, I was in "gotta keep moving" mode and decided to check out what I thought was going to be The American Scene, but just turned out to be the singer in the acoustic tent. Going from a crazy world of a million people and always at least 6 stages going at once to literally a tent with a dude playing acoustic guitar was quite odd. I immediately felt like it wasn't worth it and had the instant need to move on.</div>
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I fought my way through the crowd to get to the photo pit for The Wonder Years, and they ruled. They were pretty crazy, as was the photo pit. Apparently at one point, the singer jumped into the photo pit area to help a girl out of the crowd who security wasn't helping. He glared at them with a "why am I doing your job?" look and moved on. Lambert saw this, and shortly after had a breakdown and hated being at Warped Tour. He apparently couldn't stand one girl in the pit who I thought was pretty cute who was using her phone to take pictures. I have no idea why that bothered him so much, but it did. He thought the crowd was too aggressive or something, I don't know. He just was fed up. I was too busy rocking out and singing along to give a shit about anything, and after he left to go wander around being mad, I just kept on rocking out.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Soupy from The Wonder Years owning it</span></div>
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I caught up with Lambert in the press area a little later. On the way, I ran into the guitarist from Every Time I Die, who apparently lives in Medford now. Weird. The press area was an odd place- in one direction an interview with the drummer from August Burns Red was happening, in another, people were sitting on a rock wall eating, and through the middle of the area was a long winding line of people buying food from Warped Tour catering. I was curious about this world as I've heard a lot about it, but it was a long line and it was $15 to eat, so I didn't bother. In the distance, I could see someone getting their hair cut in a chair next to people doing yoga. The idea of Warped Tour being a living, breathing thing suddenly started to make sense.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">bands and press together as one</span></div>
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I decided it was finally time to find a porta potty to pee (and although there were probably a hundred of them, I had a lot of trouble finding one), drink more of my water, and finally eat my sandwich, now that it was 5:30pm. On the way to the press room, I caught some of Years Since The Storm, who were extremely heavy and pretty awesome sounding. They even covered a small section of Korn's "Blind" at the end of their set. Once they were done, I walked across the place again and ate my sandwich while watching the first song of Black Veil Brides, a band Lambert was asked to photograph, and who were even worse than I thought they'd be, forcing me to leave after half a song. </div>
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It was very odd to suddenly be in "what band do I watch?" mode after running back and forth between so many in a short time. I decided locals Defeater would probably be the best option and watched the end of their set while trying to figure out if a dude to my left was the singer of a band I used to watch back in my hardcore days in the Maine scene. I met Lambert back at the stage we walked into and we watched a band I wanted to check out solely because I liked their name, Great American Ghost. They were a metal band from Mass who were solid but nothing new. We randomly ran into Joe, the singer from Transit, a band I love. Lambert has known him for years, so we talked for awhile while I watched people walk by and realize who he was, waiting to talk to him. </div>
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We were told by promotions people to check out Crossfaith, since this was (I think) their first show in the US (they're from Japan). Or maybe it was their first tour. I had heard them before and remembered them as a basic rock band that was just really fast, had occasional screaming and breakdowns, and weird electronic parts. I was wrong. They were basically super heavy metalcore with dubstep breakdowns, and honestly, as ridiculous as that may sound, they were quite awesome. I've been waiting for a band to do this since I first heard dubstep. Why not extremely short Japanese guys wearing makeup? The dude wearing a blood red leather jacket over no shirt was my favorite.</div>
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They killed it. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with their look and his pronunciation in between songs, but they got the crowd into it more than any band I'd seen, and were a blast to watch. They were also the only band I watched on the Ernie Ball stage, which was one of the smallest ones there was. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Austin 3:16 says Crossfaith's dubstep breakdowns are a mean SONOFABITCH</span></div>
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I left them early to try and catch Bring Me The Horizon. I got into them pretty heavily this spring and even though I'd be using my crappy camera (Lambert was watching other bands), I still wanted to see a band as popular as they were that close. But oops. They're apparently HUGE.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">that's them, a mile away</span></div>
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I walked all the way around to the side and fought my way to the front, but when I gave the security person the look of "can I get in here?" she shook her head and immediately looked away. Now that I think of it, I don't think I showed her my press bracelet, so she probably thought I was just some piece of crap trying to get up there. Oops. So I tried to watch them from forever away, but after being so close to so many other bands, I decided it wasn't even worth it. I might as well just be listening to the albums at home. Plus, they played a lot of stuff I didn't want to hear. </div>
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Lambert texted me that he had just met the singer from Letlive and that he was super nice, and as I wandered back to the ampitheater area to catch The Story So Far and end my day, I ran into the singer from Letlive. And he was super nice. </div>
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I don't know if I've ever taken a lame picture with someone from a band before, but I almost just took a picture of him for the blog and decided it made more sense to pose with him. I loved their first album instantly and was incredibly impressed with his stage antics, his ability to still hit notes while running around on speed and screaming his lungs out, and his general friendliness and "damn, that's a good dude"ness he showed onstage. What a frontman. </div>
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I had time to kill before The Story So Far, so I wandered around a little bit and realized that this was the first time I really spent any time looking around. Earlier when I had downtime, it was all "find lambert, go to press area, pee, eat, go to next band, etc." But here, I suddenly had 40 minutes or so where I didn't care about any bands. I finally noticed just how many band merch areas were set up and how ridiculously randomly they seemed to be placed, how many random booths were selling lighters and bandannas with pot leaves on them, how many dead tired people were just sitting in random places, how much trash had accumulated everywhere, etc. Walking, I was literally either stepping on or kicking trash with every step. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Monster stage way in the back</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">trash, the Kia stages, people starting to take stuff down, and NATTY DREAD JAH</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Kevin Says stage, more people, one of the Kia stages way in the distance</span></div>
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I decided I really wanted to try one of the fruit smoothies Lambert had gotten, so I spent the 7 bucks on it. It was old and not as thick as I had hoped, but it was generally pretty awesome, and I'm sure it helped me out more than I ever thought it would. I then went in and watched 1 song of Big D and decided I really wasn't a ska fan. I wanted to see Big Chocolate, who used to be the singer of a disgusting metal band called Disfiguring The Goddess. We used to watch his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmNc1ZEaxcU">vocal videos</a> in the break room at apple, and I knew he was doing electronic music now. I had thought he mixed in death metal vocals, but nope. He just sucked.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">sweet stache though</span></div>
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The Spotify stage he played on was a weird one- they had rap and electronic artists all day, which was a very odd thing to see sectioned off in its own place at Warped Tour. Looking back, it was surprising to see how little of the classic Warped Tour punk sound there was in 2013. Not only that, but there was no legendary headliner like a Green Day or Blink-182. Instead, it was just a very odd collection of metal, pop punk, pop, EDM/dubstep, acoustic, and bands I've never heard of. It was pretty much: </div>
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Kia Soul Stage: Big bands, mostly metal and rock, to the left on the line of huge stages</div>
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Kia Forte Stage: Ditto, but arguably the biggest bands, middle of the line</div>
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Monster Stage: All metal of various types, at the far right of the line, facing a somewhat different direction<br />
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Acoustic Basement Stage: In between the back line and the smaller ones closer to the entrance, literally a tiny tent with acoustic sets. Very out of place.</div>
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Kevin Says Stage: Literally watched maybe 20 seconds total at this stage. It was smack dab in the middle and mostly had bands I've never heard of (maybe that's where the punk was).</div>
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Ernie Stage: To the right of Kevin Says, facing a somewhat different direction. I had heard of 4 bands and watched 1.</div>
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Spotify Stage: By the end of the day, I was able to find it to watch Big Chocolate, but for most of the day, I would swear I didn't even see it. It was kind of in a line with Kevin Says and Ernie. </div>
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Mass Concerts stage: The only stage with no identification as to what stage it was, it was the one I saw first when I came in, and I ended up at more than I thought I would. It also had way bigger crowds than I was expecting, but I think that's because a bunch of the bands were local or semi local. I had heard of 3 bands that played here.</div>
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Tilly's Stage: The right side of the Ampitheater, featuring what I'd describe as medium size bands (in terms of popularity). </div>
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Domo Stage: The left side, featuring more medium size bands. It surprised me that medium sized bands had probably the most space to watch, most of which was seats. </div>
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And somehow, with all of those stages, a band playing in the distance was exactly that. The people who designed this place really did do an excellent job of facing stages in the right direction and just far enough away that you couldn't really hear other bands. I mean, you always hear them a little, but it's just distant noise. That impressed me a lot.</div>
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After leaving Big Chocolate and noticing the swarm of people coming from the back line of stages, I took a few final pictures of the parking lot mess and tipped my hat I wasn't wearing to a surprisingly fun day. But I had one more band to watch, and the place was filling up like crazy.</div>
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I'm still not sure how I got to the front to get in the photo pit, but I did. Other than one double take from a professional photographer who saw me using a point and shot camera in a press pit, nobody really seemed to notice or care that I didn't have a REAL camera. But now, a stage guy walked up and asked me if I even had a camera. "yea" "where?" "In my pocket, it's small." "Come on, let me see it." "It's just a small one, I don't have a real one." And I showed it to him, which he laughed at. "I'm writing for a website! I don't need a camera!" and he just kept laughing. He then told us that we may only get 1 song before we have to get the hell out of there. And he was right. </div>
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The crowd was crazier and the security people didn't want to deal with having to protect us, so we were kicked out after 1 song. I guess that's why we only got 3 songs per set. </div>
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The Story So Far have a top 3 contender for my favorite album of the year in <i>What You Don't See</i>, but were honestly pretty boring to watch. The singer kind of just stands there flexing. It was also pretty weird to suddenly see a band with 2 to 3 times the crowd of any I had seen that day, on a stage that, now that it was starting to get dark, looked like it was inside. Once he said "this is gonna be our last song" and it was an older one I didn't know, we decided it was time to go. Maybe we could get ahead of at least 40% of the people who were there that day. We booked it pretty quickly to the car, I changed my shirt, Lambert dug out the waters he had kept in a cooler all day (brilliant idea Lambert, BRILLIANT), and we took off. We were on the main road to get out insanely fast, and it probably only took 10-15 minutes to actually get on the highway. He said he'd seen Pearl Jam there and it took 2 and a half hours to get out of the parking lot. We talked about music the whole way home.</div>
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I ended up back at my house at 11:30, and that was it. It was a looong day, but I had survived my first Warped Tour.</div>
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I had shown my high pain threshold survival skills and had survived. I got up at 7:45 after about 4 hours of sleep, ate a dunkin donuts chicken sandwich and vitamin water, and stood outside and walked surprisingly long distances over and over again, watching bands almost non stop for nearly 8 hours, only eating a PB&J, 2 shot blocks (not packages, the actual squares), 1 liter of water and a fruit smoothie. I knew I was severely dehydrated, but other than feeling fairly drained and my left heel and shoulders starting to hurt, I was actually pretty fine. I certainly felt better than I did at those 2 phish shows.</div>
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It was overcast and ugly all day, but it never rained. And I remarkably went all day with no sunscreen and had only a little pink under my eyes and on my nose to show for it. I never needed to change my shoes, never really felt like I needed to sit or lie down, and had only spent 7 bucks. Maybe I'm cut out for all day festivals after all...</div>
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The trick is to just accept it. Warped Tour is a lifeforce that's been around for 19 years: it shouldn't have to change for me. I remember past tales of bands fighting, bands being kicked off the tour for bad attitudes, etc. It's bound to happen with so many bands playing such different styles of music to such different types of people. I caught some of a speech from (I think) rapper Mac Lethal while I was walking past the Spotify stage, where he was making fun of a bunch of bands, saying half of them are wimps who were crying into microphones and half were guys trying to sound like monsters. But I left half way through his set and almost booed him. Because I started this day out negative- even though I like a lot of the bands he was talking about, there were a lot I'd call boring or generic. There are a lot I think flat out suck and shouldn't have careers in music. If I didn't like metal as much as I do, I probably would have hated just how much of it there seemed to be this year. I hated the fact that there were 118 bands playing. I hated that there were 10 stages, all of which were impossible to find (how about a map? Would that be so hard?). But I was wrong to feel that way, and Mac Lethal shouldn't have been on the tour if he hates all the bands so much. If you don't like it, don't go. If a band sucks, go watch another one. It's Warped Tour, a force that gets stronger every year. Either don't go, or just go with it. </div>
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I watched a song or two of 24 different bands that day, saw at least another 20 in passing, and only watched 1 full set by any band (The Wonder Years). I missed at least 6 that I was at least somewhat interested in. I wanted to check out more booths, I wanted to eat some food, I wanted to try to meet some people in bands, and I wanted to spend time at every stage. I wanted to walk around more and really see everything there, not only since this was my first time at something I've been hearing or reading about since its formation, but since I was responsible for writing a report about the day. But Warped Tour happened, and that means my plans were constantly changing all day.</div>
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You're not going to see every band you want to see. Some of your favorite bands you are most excited to see are going to play at the same time. They'll probably play across the world from each other. Your favorite quiet part of a song will be ruined by the sound of a band playing in the distance. You're going to have to fight through a million teenagers wearing YOLO shirts. Unless you spend a lot of money, you're going to leave hungry and dehydrated. You're going to get stuck in traffic going in and leaving. You're going to stand in line. You're going to have a bad view for the bands you want to see. And you're going to love it. </div>
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Warped Tour truly is the perfect show for the ADD generation. It's a day long clusterfuck of sweaty people and loud noise, with 118 bands fighting for your attention, organized by people who want you to be there all day, running around trying to fit too much into too little time. And if you accept it- if you play by its rules and just go along with it, it can truly be a blast. I can't imagine how great this was for people in the right age range where maybe this truly is the best day of their summer, but I bet it rules. As a 32 year old fat guy who hates long and outdoor shows, who hates standing up for long periods of time, who has concerts ruined for him by bad sound, who hates all of humanity more with every "Keep Calm and..." shirt he sees, I had an awesome time and want to go back next year. I can't imagine how great it must be for people who belong there. But maybe anyone belongs there, as long as they love music and are willing to go along for the ride. Maybe that's the whole idea. Or maybe this was all a fluke and the stars aligned just perfectly enough that I am able to look back on this day as a highlight of my summer. I guess I'll find out next year.</div>
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Oh yea- this was shortened a lot but has completely different pictures. It's <a href="http://theywillrockyou.com/2013/07/review-photos-warped-tour-diary-comcast-center-mansfield-ma/">here</a> on the internet. I think that's pretty cool. And yes, I already know I need to write reviews that are about 85% shorter.</div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-13567156624168807642014-01-14T20:01:00.000-08:002014-01-15T14:16:05.864-08:00Phish 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Life happened again, and with each passing day, it became easier and easier to ignore my once thriving blog. Why sit down and finish a really long post when it's from JULY? I actually wrote 75% of this blog in September and just kept puting off posting it cuz I was hesitant about some stuff. But oh well, fuck it. And because I believe in continuity, I'm forever behind now. I could have given up entirely, but I feel like keeping this thing going. </div>
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So, people who check this blog at all regularly, all the stuff you've been waiting for is coming, because I'm finally posting this one. </div>
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I casually listened to Phish in high school, then finally went to a show with Joe, Dustin and Amanda in 2010. I wore an Allman Brothers Band shirt and a pink headband with stupid glasses. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8OMcWw21i7I/UjJP8Yj1ZQI/AAAAAAAAG9Y/Qc5EL73eEjk/s1600/IMG_0007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8OMcWw21i7I/UjJP8Yj1ZQI/AAAAAAAAG9Y/Qc5EL73eEjk/s400/IMG_0007.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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We went to one show, and even though our traditions (riding our bikes in, setting up at Camp Hogan (where Dustin's brother in law leaves his car parked all weekend) hanging out for hours before, then riding to D'Andreas after) started then, it was a pretty tame experience. Sure, booze and especially weed is everywhere at Phish shows, but I was straight edge, and therefore didn't partake. I proved that you can not be on anything and still have an awesome time at Phish. You just have to love their music and love an insane culture of weirdos. </div>
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2 years later, I went again- this time for 2 shows in 2 nights. I decided to look like this that year: </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4cz4wgzRL6o/UjJP72KoemI/AAAAAAAAG9Q/0qeNv7hR6DQ/s1600/IMG_7218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4cz4wgzRL6o/UjJP72KoemI/AAAAAAAAG9Q/0qeNv7hR6DQ/s400/IMG_7218.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I can't believe my hair was that long. this picture refuses to center.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">In fact, as I was a blogger by then, I wrote fairly long recaps of the shows (</span><a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/08/saratoga-springs-and-phish-part-1.html" style="text-align: left;">Day 1</a><span style="text-align: left;"> and </span><a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/08/saratoga-springs-and-phish-part-2.html" style="text-align: left;">Day 2</a><span style="text-align: left;"> if you feel like going back). We partied for like 12 hours on night 1, Pog almost died, and we spent time on both days at Shakedown Street, which was a hilariously good time. Nothing but nasty hippies aimlessly wandering in zombie dazes mixed with some of the weirdest people imaginable, all selling or buying weird stuff, art, food, and drugs. Good times.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">And speaking of drugs, I alluded to it a bit in those posts, but yes, I smoked weed on both nights. The first night, I had a few hits off of a friend's joint, and on night 2, I smoked my own weed for the first time, given to me by a friend the night before, and smoked through the one hitter/dugout I bought at Shakedown Street on night 1. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Sorry Mom. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I'm not going to say how often I smoke, but I'll admit it, I love weed. It's fantastic. The first time I ever smoked was actually in New York, on <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2011/11/halloween-in-saratoga-springs.html">Halloween night</a>. I blogged about that night too, but didn't want to share the biggest part with the world because I was worried what people might think, but I was mostly worried what my mom might think. I know that my parents don't read this blog, but at the same time, they know about it, and if they randomly decided to read it, I didn't want them to find that out. Sure, we've had conversations about how weed should be legalized (which they agree with) and how it helps sick people and that recent studies show that it can actually kill cancer, but I've been careful to not be too pumped up about it- I didn't want to be the standard hippie guy who goes off on tirades about how mother nature gave us a miracle plant that can do anything AND makes you feel wonderful, (as I'm sure all of my friends that I've been public about this with has heard me talk about), so I kind of just do it sarcastically. I didn't want to essentially waive a flag in their faces that says HEY LOOK AT ME I SMOKE WEED. <br /><br />Truthfully, my parents probably should have guessed long ago that I've probably smoked before. I used to be an an antisocial, angry metalhead straight edge kid who never wanted to do anything and went off on tirades about how much I hated everyone. And at the same time, (although I don't do enough) I've been somewhat of an artist for most of my life and somewhat of a musician for half. In the last 3 years, I've become a full blown hippie, at least my own variety. I get more into music than I ever have before, I've started to hate the government and nearly any type of authority more than ever before, I'm a conspiracy theorist, I've grown to realize just how much I love the outdoors, I've become obsessed with hiking, and I've grown more positive, happy and outgoing, all while (even though it started as a complete joke) trying to live my life based on The Secret (which is really just living with positivity and hope). The last thing that was tying me to my old ways was that I was straight edge, which <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2011/10/straight-edge.html">ended</a> 2 months into the 2 and a half year vacation I decided to take at age 30. How could they not assume I'd eventually find weed?</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I'm not going to flat out tell them, but if they find this, then I guess it's time for them to know. It's time for everyone to know- I can't bitch about how ridiculous it is that it's illegal without sharing with the world how much I like it. But still- please don't tell my parents. I'm not ready to have that conversation yet. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">So anyway, that first night, the 2nd time I saw Phish, I started to get Phish a little bit more. I wasn't super high, but I was high enough that the music was better to me than it probably would have been if I was sober, and all the weirdos around me were certainly more interesting. I got higher on night 2 and became obsessed with capturing weird timelapse shots of lights during the show. It was fascinating and awesome, but I also learned how weed can actually hurt an experience if you zone out too much and forget to focus on the reason you're there. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">So now, a year later, Phish was playing in Saratoga again, and even though I was shockingly broke, I started up some nice credit card debt by buying tickets to both nights and driving all the way to NY for a weekend of awesome. It was time to party. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I got there at about 2:30 I think, and of course Dustin and Amanda were still out biking. Once they were back, we packed up and headed to Camp Hogan. This time, since the D bones had moved, we actually drove to the parking lot near D'Andreas and rode in from there. It was a shorter, flatter ride, which I was happy about because it was pretty damn hot. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><br />We got there, cracked some beers, and after some hanging out, headed straight to Shakedown Street. This is the bridge from where SPAC is (Saratoga Performing Arts Center) to where the weird is:</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mb46pVG_Keo/Uh9-pjh_YCI/AAAAAAAAG4g/k3dBX-sm77A/s1600/IMG_1572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mb46pVG_Keo/Uh9-pjh_YCI/AAAAAAAAG4g/k3dBX-sm77A/s640/IMG_1572.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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All along the bridge were people selling various drugs, edible weed snacks, beers, jewelry, etc. I think I've decided to start referring to this as the Drug Bridge. If there can be a Drug Bridge at the Gathering of the Juggalos, then there can be one at Phish too.</div>
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Once in the beast, it only got more insane.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--gC3JkZYzDA/Uh9-qOmHu7I/AAAAAAAAG4w/3gKfXFL41_M/s1600/IMG_1576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--gC3JkZYzDA/Uh9-qOmHu7I/AAAAAAAAG4w/3gKfXFL41_M/s640/IMG_1576.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was the most packed I've seen Shakedown Street, and we spent more time there. It was hilarious and I took lots of pictures.</div>
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This chick's dreads ruled:</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">yes, I still love dreads</span></div>
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This may have been the same "band" that I <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc4vly_ZXbw">videotaped</a> last year:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ri8319BLZZw/Uh-AUFlgf0I/AAAAAAAAG6c/vdoSEQWwjkE/s1600/IMG_3407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ri8319BLZZw/Uh-AUFlgf0I/AAAAAAAAG6c/vdoSEQWwjkE/s640/IMG_3407.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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Check this dude out. Hogan was a big fan. As was Llona.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-szcPcNpVDWQ/Uh-AUS5urZI/AAAAAAAAG6k/I4TmtHWsNoo/s1600/IMG_3411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-szcPcNpVDWQ/Uh-AUS5urZI/AAAAAAAAG6k/I4TmtHWsNoo/s640/IMG_3411.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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This guy actually frightened me a bit. I don't trust him.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Actually, now that I'm looking again, this guy scares the shit out of me</span></div>
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This guy may be the oldest, grossest hippie I've ever seen. So I took a picture with him:</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">there's my chippy</span></div>
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Speaking of my shirt (it's a Tim & Eric shirt, based on a very odd <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiXGS3jlr5E">skit</a>), a few people freaked out about it. The most notable was a dude who stopped me and told me how much he loved the show, wondering where he could get the shirt. We said our goodbyes, then he came back and was like "actually, now that I have you here, I'm looking for a girlfriend."</div>
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"You want me to find you a girlfriend?"<br />
"No, no, um... I'm looking for my girlfriend."<br />
"Ok, what does she look like? I don't know how I would help dude"<br />
"Um... her name starts with an M."<br />
"Ok. Mary? Marcia? Melissa?"<br />
"No, that's not it..."<br />
"Medussa?" (I can't remember the names I came up with, but they kept getting more ridiculous)<br />
"It's like M.O... like mah...."<br />
And then, much after Dustin was already laughing his ass off, I got it.<br />
"OH MOLLY. Yea, no, I don't have any molly. Why didn't you just ask dude? Nobody gives a shit. Go to the drug bridge, you can get anything there."<br />
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Yea, so I guess I'm not as experienced with this kind of stuff as most people here. In fact, the first time I ever heard of Molly was when like 3 people asked me for it the first time I saw Phish. "Dustin, what's molly?" was probably his favorite part of that show.<br />
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It's true though- nobody gives a shit. Cops would have to arrest everyone there if they were really gonna try to arrest people for drugs. But still, even going into it knowing that, it blew me away how open everything was at Shakedown Street. There were people walking though the crowd saying "nugs... nugs here. 10 bucks" and they literally were holding big buds of weed in their open palms. Probably 75% of the food booths had coolers of beer, from garbage for a buck a can to Heady Topper for like 10 bucks a can. All of this is illegal. All of it. And that's not even getting into all of the mini drug deals on the side, the amount of people carrying weed lollipops, brownies, cookies, etc. It's a crazy, crazy world, and no authorities do anything about it. And it rules.<br />
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This food station was super awesome, but their pizza didn't honestly look that great. I tried to get a slice later on, but they didn't have much selection.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3yaC9Wfo3Q/Uh-ASQPQyiI/AAAAAAAAG6I/lC0JlxPmc3E/s1600/IMG_3404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q3yaC9Wfo3Q/Uh-ASQPQyiI/AAAAAAAAG6I/lC0JlxPmc3E/s640/IMG_3404.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Just realized now- does that dude have a rat on his head with Hulk Hogan riding it?</span></div>
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This also blew my mind- sure, it's kind of just like a hot pocket, but still. PIZZADILLA!</div>
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It was great to see the return of this stupid yard sale booth:</div>
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And for the first time, I spent some time looking at some of the art. These were incredible:</div>
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We eventually realized we had had enough and started heading back. It was getting close to showtime anyway, and we wanted to drink some more and maybe even sit a little bit before being stuck in the show for 2-3 hours. </div>
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There's a dude on Instagram who found me somehow and liked a lot of my pictures. I usually only follow random people back if their pictures are awesome, and at the time, he had just started hiking all the 4,000 footers. Not only did he hike a lot and took a lot of solid pictures, but he always took a picture of his celebratory summit joint, which I thought was pretty funny. So I followed back, and we started talking back and forth here and there. I knew he loved Phish and had moved to VT, so I started to wonder if I'd randomly run into him. And sure enough, when we got back from Shakedown, there he was, wearing a flourescent green vest thing, his name badge from work, and a giant sombrero, looking wasted and honestly, lost. In this gigantic place, he had found himself standing 20 feet from Camp Hogan.</div>
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I decided I couldn't miss the opportunity to have an instgram meetup, so I went right over. "Jayshredspow?" "yea..." "Lifeofdirtymike, what's up man?" His mind was blown, but at the same time, he seemed pretty gone already. He said he got 4 free tickets by dancing on the street... like, literally someone saw a drunk guy dancing like an idiot and was like "hey, I can't go- take these tickets." Only at a Phish show.</div>
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I introduced him to Amanda, who he also follows (I think he follows Shaun too... weird), then he wandered off somewhere and I never saw him again. What a hilarious small world we live in. </div>
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Eventually, we started going over to the entrance, and I got completely separated from Dustin and Amanda and actually, the rest of the group. I found Steve (one of the crew whose name may have been changed per his request), and he said to follow him- he was gonna get us in the VIP way somehow. I didn't believe him for a second. Also, even though drugs are rampant there, I was trying to follow Dustin's suggestion of "yea, nobody cares, but you should still try to hide it a little- they do pat you down afterall" and I had my one hitter jammed in my shoe, which was now effectively digging into my foot. </div>
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Oh yea, I forgot to say- an hour into my 4 hour drive to Saratoga from NH, I realized I forgot to bring any shoes with me. I had developed a hiking routine of just leaving my hiking boots in the car and just wearing them for the hike while driving to and from the hike in my crocs (I told you- full blown hippie). I really liked wearing crocs, but I really wanted to bring shoes. I called Dustin and told him of my concern in having only crocs for support all weekend and he laughed out loud: "What do you think EVERYONE there is gonna be wearing?" He had a point, but I wasn't sure they would work for several hours of standing for me, Mr. Endless Footpain (they worked beautifully- best shoes ever). </div>
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So anyway, I followed Steve in while my foot was throbbing, and it somehow worked. I immediately got to text Dustin, asking him why it was taking him so long to get in, which blew his mind.</div>
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Earlier, when we got there, I asked Steve if he had any shrooms. </div>
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Sorry mom. </div>
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Yea, last year, I told him I was curious about shrooms, but was still too scared about them. A few hours later, he turned around at the beginning of the show and said "hey- eat this" and handed me a tiny little thing that looked like a pecan or something. Looking back, I don't know how I didn't get this, but at the time, I thought it might have been some weird type of weed snack, and said "ok" and ate it without putting up any fight or asking any questions. As soon as I was chewing, I said "what is this, anyway?" and they both laughed. "Come on, what is it?" to which Dustin replied "shrooms" and immediately turned back to the show, laughing his ass off. </div>
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I was terrified, but realized that whether I liked it or not, I was already on the ride. I had such a small piece that it probably didn't do anything to me, even though I was hyper sensitive out of terror. </div>
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But now I was curious again, and willingly looking to take a little ride. He said he didn't have any, but he had talked to a dude the night before about getting some that night. He said that while we waited for everyone else to get in, we'd meet him and pick some up. I was now a part of a drug deal with a random dude. Wow, what a difference a few years make.<br />
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The dude kept texting saying he wasn't able to get in, that he wasn't sure if he could get the shrooms in, etc. While we waited, Steve took me to a part of SPAC I hadn't been to before and started rolling joints on his lap in the middle of a field with security people nearby. He was trying to be a little hidden, but generally didn't care at all. I'm not sure I had ever even seen anyone roll a joint before. </div>
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Eventually, we started wandering back to the main crowd area, and the band started playing. Shroom guy eventually got in, and they did the deal without me really even seeing it. We then tried to get to a super low spot, but the people guarding the stairs kicked us out and told us we weren't allowed to get to the spot we wanted to be in. We fought our way through the crowd to a decent view, and then I saw Dustin across the main walkway, which sent us out and all the way back around. </div>
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Once everyone was together, Steve was ready to do shrooms. My plan was to smoke on night 1 and just take it easy, and night 2, I'd give shrooms a shot (but not a lot). I told him I was terrified to eat them- that everyone I'd talked to and everything I read on the internets said to eat them in a safe, secure place with a friend who had done them before and was hanging out with you, making sure you didn't freak out or hurt yourself. I said that, and Steve replied with "look around you- these are all your friends. This is EXACTLY the environment you should be doing shrooms in." And man, he is a convincing dude. So I said fuck it and went for it.<br />
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We didn't do the full shroom experience though- the plan was to eat 1, see how we felt, then maybe another, repeat. I was scared so we split 1 individual shroom. Of course, we'd already smoked and we were planning on smoking more, so I guess the plan was to have the shrooms just kind of enhance the weed and vice versa. Later that night, when I told someone that this was how I did them, they said "oh, so you did them right." Apparently this is a way some people do them even though I had never heard of it. Incidentally, since talking to other people about this, they almost always hit me with a "that's too little- they probably didn't even do anything." So who knows, but for that night, that's how things went- I think in reality, I only ate 2 actual shrooms, and for the standard "lets do shrooms' experience, 2 grams is the recommended dose. So I had waaay less than that, but I also was smoking a considerable amount, so I certainly felt like they did the trick. </div>
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My experience through the first set was good- it was basically like being very high, and every now and then I'd feel much higher. People who have done shrooms will read this and say that I was mostly just high, but I think my experience was definitely different, and definitely stronger than weed normally is. Maybe it was just the environment, I don't know. After the first set ended (and it was a great set), I was extremely psyched, talkative, hyper (way more than normal) through the intermission. And then after eating another shroom at the beginning of set 2, I felt fantastic. There was a part where Steve and I were scream laughing in someone's ear because... I don't know why. We were probably annoying, but whatever, we were having a great time.<br />
The notable experience that was definitively a bit beyond weed was when I disappeared from reality for a bit during set 2. This sometimes happens to me with weed too, but when I came to during the song, it was completely different than when I come to with weed. Basically, I started thinking about how much I loved these Phish weekends in summer- how their sound is perfect for a setting sun in the dead center of summer, dancing and high in a field with a bunch of people having a great time in great weather, etc. I realized how much the song they were playing at the time fit that theme, and I started wondering why the lights guy, who is usually perfect, was using reds and blues when I wanted greens and yellows to match the summer feel. Thinking about the colors made me think about listening to this music on an island, maybe under a waterfall, then on a beach with palm trees around me and an ocean breeze in my face. Suddenly, the song kicked in harder and lights guy switched to greens and yellows, and suddenly I had a weird "oh shit, I'm at a concert" moment where I suddenly felt like I was in a hole in the sand on my beach- I literally felt like I was a few feet shorter than everyone at the show. It was weeeeeiiird. It didn't last long as I quickly realized how I had imagined I was super short out of nowhere. But that was pretty funny.<br />
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I tried to sway as much to the music as I wanted to. I tried to ignore the fact that there were people there and just let go, let the music in me, etc. I do that pretty hard anyway, but this was more of a "ok, I'm under the influence of things, I should see what this is all about." It was recommended to me to shut my eyes while the song built, then open them right as the crescendo exploded in. It was pretty awesome. I definitely found myself swaying more and zoning out more, and man, Phish is PERFECT for that. </div>
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Here's a horrible blurry shot of people throwing glow sticks for good measure: </div>
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The show was super awesome. Definitely one of the best of the 5 I've been to. Maybe the best. When the show ended, I still felt a little off, but in a good, fun way. We hung out for a minute waiting for it to be a little less crowded. Eventually, Dustin and Amanda jumped over the fence of our area to go to the main area. I thought about it for a second. I believed I could jump the fence, but I didn't want to be the fatass who didn't pull it off and everyone laughed at, so I said, "yea, I'll meet you at the tree at the top of the hill" and headed up in the area I was in. </div>
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I somehow went just enough in the wrong direction that by the time I realized I wasn't that close to the tree, they were long gone. I couldn't see them anywhere, so I walked around the tree a little bit looking for them. I realized pretty quickly that there was no way I was going to find them, and I should just walk through the millions of people back to Camp Hogan.</div>
I suddenly realized just how ridiculous these crowds are- how it literally is thousands of people all walking in different directions, sweaty and exhausted, still high or drunk or worse, trying to find their friends and the way out with barely any light in a place that was super loud with music for hours and was now just this weird, scattered chaotic world that still somehow retained some sort of order. I decided to film this mess, and really got into it, changing directions randomly, walking against the crowds, sideways to the crowds, etc. I just walked around in circles and began to think about how this full blown mind confusion mess must be to someone who's on some serious drugs. They must get so lost, or think they're in some weird alien world where everyone looks the same and nobody is fully there. Then I started to wonder if people were looking at me- this guy wandering around a crowd, shifting direction abruptly, staring straight ahead in a daze, holding a camera up the whole time, fascinated by the whole thing- and I wondered if they were thinking I was that very person I was pretending to be. Then I realized that, oh wait, even though I'm doing this on purpose, I actually am on drugs, wandering around aimlessly, and at the moment of this realization, I didn't know which way the exit was. I was realizing that people were thinking I was the person I was thinking I was pretending to be. And I was that exact person. Mindfuck.<br />
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I had another amazing moment where my mind disappeared as I neared the entry gate, and I started to realize what a weird thing this was that I was doing. I was looking up at the entry signs and above people's heads without looking around me at all. People on both sides of me were looking at their phones. And yet, we were all going in the same direction at the same speed to the same place, and we all knew exactly how much space was between us, and the exact direction we needed to be moving towards at the exact right speed. Nobody bumped into each other, we all just moved perfectly to the gate with our brains completely off- zombies staring at the lights and signs and heads above us like we were marching toward an inevitable future we were programmed to move towards and had no way of breaking out of.<br />
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Yup.<br />
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So that's real shit though- that's an interesting observation and I stand by it. But yea, I was still pretty high. Here, I made a short film about the whole experience. Enjoy:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="0" height="400" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/78393951?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="500"></iframe></div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/29503754">"Phish 2013"</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user7239778">Mike Alexander</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>
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We all met up pretty perfectly at Camp Hogan, and I played with my camera, realizing that I had finally accidentally stumbled on the setting to get weird timelapse shots. This one was neat:</div>
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This one was my favorite. She can stand still very well: </div>
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The end of Phish shows are weird things. It's pretty much everyone having the same conversation with very different opinions. "This was one of the best shows." "Friday was better." "Dude the encore was SICK." "Dude that part when they played ____ into ____? HOLY SHIT." "They're playing like '84 Phish."etc etc. It's amazing how many people freak out and say it was the best show ever, yet the older crew is insanely jaded, saying that some songs were incredible, but the overall vibe was wrong. "Gordons playing better than ever." "Fishman is off, I don't know what's going on with him." It's fascinating. I went back to Camp Hogan thinking it was incredible, but the Phish vets who have seen them 30 something times were all in conversations bitching. Or at least bitching about part of the set. And the next day, when a code on your ticket gives you a free download of the song, you can view the comments section, where it's nothing but people criticizing it. I guess that's the difference between someone who has seen them 5 times and 30+. But in my crew, most agreed it was a pretty awesome show.</div>
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After talking about the show a bunch, we hopped on our bikes and I realized I still felt pretty weird. It was an interesting ride into the city, made terrifying by Hogan riding in and out of traffic, off of curbs, doing tricks, etc. I was insanely happy to finally get to the only place I'll go after a Phish show, the wonderful D'Andreas pizza, where I wolfed down some slices and we headed home. </div>
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I stretched and took a shower and felt the kind of exhausted you can only feel if you do a 5 mile hike the night before, sleep not well in a way too hot house, drive 4 hours, bike several miles and walk around drinking and smoking and doing shrooms without sitting down on anything but a bike for like 8 hours. Finally lying down, I was out pretty instantly. What a day.</div>
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Waking up the next day, we decided to chill hard. We had breakfast, talked about the show, then headed to Hogans for a hang out/frisbee throwing session with a freakout stop at Burger King (actually not my doing) on the way into the city. We then packed up and switched to bikes, then headed into Camp Hogan for day 2. </div>
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We were there early enough that Dustin and I decided to take a walk through SPAC- I had been there 5 times but had only seen about half the area. He asked me if I wanted to see a sketchy spot where hippies got high by sniffing sulphur. Duh, of course I wanted to see that. </div>
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On the way from the parking lot area to there, we passed through a wedding. It was a hoooot day and as we walked though, the wedding party was heading out to have their pictures taken. One of them said he was so mad he was there and he wanted to be at the show. We considered photo bombing, but it was too obvious. Clouds started looking... doomy. </div>
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We eventually got to a section of woods where we walked under a giant bridge down a super steep woods section towards a river. I was still wearing just crocs, so the walk down the hill was a tad frightening, but after passing through garbage filled woods and arriving at a river/stream, I was happy I just had crocs on. I decided to just wear them in the water and we made it across with no issues.</div>
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The water flowed to a section with huge rocks that people were considering jumping off, but they had security down there to remind them that they'd probably get split in half by the rock shards below if they tried. Here's douchebag Dustin walking around with no shirt on all day:</div>
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We then looped around to the sulphur part, and it was weeeeird.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">what planet is this?</span></div>
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The ground was surprisingly slippery to a mini cliff towards the water. I was waiting to wipe out and slide into it at any second, but thankfully, it didn't happen. It seemed like most people down here were either exploring, rinsing off (the water was freezing and it was super humid out), or looking for a place to do drugs. I didn't see anyone sniff the sulphur to get high, so I did.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">sulphur rock butthole that smells like farts</span></div>
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Just kidding. I'm not doing that. It was time to head out. It stunk as much as I thought it would. Just a giant pile of weird this-can't-be-from-earth rock with a huge hole in it just leaking stink all day. What a weird place.</div>
We then walked up the rock as there were somehow footsteps that developed on it over the years. Pretty cool.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NZhwjeI4IQw/Uh-ASv_DPXI/AAAAAAAAG6M/uCgk7lSu-Z4/s1600/IMG_3396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NZhwjeI4IQw/Uh-ASv_DPXI/AAAAAAAAG6M/uCgk7lSu-Z4/s400/IMG_3396.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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We then walked back to the parking lot and got a group together to go to Shakedown Street. I suddenly realized I'd be getting wet tonight.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Idcf4igoMbo/Uh-AXfuyE0I/AAAAAAAAG7c/k7UTLYe-rx8/s1600/IMG_3719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Idcf4igoMbo/Uh-AXfuyE0I/AAAAAAAAG7c/k7UTLYe-rx8/s640/IMG_3719.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">get your mind out of the gutter</span></div>
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We spent less time there, but we went farther back than we had the day before. I even got a french bread pizza (sadly the cool pizza place barely had anything when I tried again) and Dustin bought a weird shirt. We couldn't spend much time there though- it was showtime. </div>
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This time, Steve was trying to sneak in and I went in the standard entrance with Dustin and Amanda. I stated to wonder if Dustin was playing a trick on me when he told me to hide any drugs, because I finally got to see just how ridiculous people were with this stuff in line, just not caring AT ALL that there were security people everywhere and they were like, next in line to get patted down at the gate. They were smoking joints or little electronic weed pipes literally up until they were the next person in line. People were chugging beers and throwing them out right next to the ticket taker. It was just weed smoke, beer chugging and people getting rowdy and we weren't even inside. Truly a lawless place. </div>
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Once inside, we did what we did last year on night 2 and what I wish we did every time- we fought through the upper crowds trying to catch glimpses of the band from the hill and headed down as far as we could get, admitting that we may not see the band as much, but we'd have a giant screen right in front of us and a flat spot to stand on that somehow doesn't seem to ever be crowded. </div>
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It got crowded very fast though, because it started to rain before the band was even on stage. Suddenly I had absolutely no room. Why? We were under a bridge.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ggmt5uKeJAY/Uh-Yh972r0I/AAAAAAAAG8A/mRyLRFswG2Y/s1600/IMG_1624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ggmt5uKeJAY/Uh-Yh972r0I/AAAAAAAAG8A/mRyLRFswG2Y/s640/IMG_1624.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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The show started and was generally pretty solid for the first set even though they opened with a song I think I've now realized is my least favorite Phish song, "AC/DC Bag." Weed was smoked, fun was had. Actually, Steve had given me 2 joints as a thank you for supplying him with my one hitter so many times the night before, even though I said that was way too much and he didn't have to do that at all. He said "then share." And I did. I thought I smoked something else the previous year when I finally smoked a joint that was passed to me. I said no a few times and told Dustin that I didn't know what would be in it- he had told me horror stories he'd seen in his many years going to Phish shows. At some point he said "dude, it's probably fine" and I said fuck it and smoked some a dude passed me and felt very odd later- like waves of high then nothing, and an odd sensation of tingling down my spine I haven't really felt since. It could have been all in my head, but I was weirded out about my first "hey stranger, want to smoke?" experience. Now I was that guy, and you know what? It rules being that guy. I got to be the guy that said "hey, just have the rest of this, I'm done" to some dude whose night I made. Oh yea, he looked exactly like a mini version of WWE Superstar Edge. </div>
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The rain sucked though. I was only getting rain blown towards me on one side, but I could feel the rain starting to form puddles under my feet, slowly creeping into our dry area as wet smelly hippies jammed themselves under the bridge and took away all my space. But it was still a fun time.</div>
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There was one pretty amazing moment that would have been pretty amazing sober, but probably blew my mind more because I was high. During "The Divided Sky," thunder started happening. And it was terrifying for me, yet everyone cheered every time it happened. I started to realize the weird irony that a song called "The Divided Sky" was being played as the sky opened up and thunder and lightninged all over us. Then I noticed how the song was building as the storm was, and Trey was playing the high notes while looking towards the sky. Sure, he always looks up when he gets going, but it really felt like he was looking towards the sky, saying "ok, do your thing, but this music and all these people are going to will these storms away- so get it out now while I provide you with a soundtrack." The song worked perfectly with the storm, and everyone in the crowd seemed to be feeling the same things I was. It was pretty incredible. Later in the parking lot, it was theorized that because the band was inside, they may not have even known it was even storming, and the band was building the song because of the cheers people were doing because of thunder claps and lightning flashes- that Trey was actually looking up to the crowd, thinking that they were cheering and freaking out more because the band was playing the song so well. So they were building the song based on how the crowd's reactions were building, which were building because of the storm and how awesome the band was playing in relation to the storm. This whole thing was amazing anyway, but this added a whole other level, and I really hope I hear someone years from now talk about that show so I can say "I WAS THERE MAN. It was SICK."</div>
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Set 1 ended incredibly and I realized how awesome the sky looked with my camera doing its weird long exposure thing (that I got into by accident). So during the break and during set 2, I took a lot of pictures. Here are some of my favorites.</div>
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take me to the bridge downtown</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x_LpZQW6pko/Uh-AWzxlRkI/AAAAAAAAG7E/T6aMXj4k7Qc/s1600/IMG_3436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x_LpZQW6pko/Uh-AWzxlRkI/AAAAAAAAG7E/T6aMXj4k7Qc/s640/IMG_3436.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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my screen view</div>
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zombies</div>
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glowstick wars and weird lights</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3VZ7b4wIOg/Uh-Yh5k-uiI/AAAAAAAAG70/0weJdU8kPSY/s1600/IMG_1644.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3VZ7b4wIOg/Uh-Yh5k-uiI/AAAAAAAAG70/0weJdU8kPSY/s640/IMG_1644.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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An incredible sky</div>
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glowstick snake, which happened in the exact same spot where it happened last year</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nXrPoYMTIoM/Uh-Yi_Yz_oI/AAAAAAAAG8I/QpMfCqHkzGg/s1600/IMG_1653.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nXrPoYMTIoM/Uh-Yi_Yz_oI/AAAAAAAAG8I/QpMfCqHkzGg/s640/IMG_1653.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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this is probably my favorite</div>
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Set 2 was pretty incredible, and I verged on smoking too much. I definitely was on the border of not paying enough attention to the music, where I don't really want to be, but I felt fantastic. What an incredible show. Dustin said it may have been the best he'd seen. We were all blown away, exhausted and psyched, and there's a certain weird feeling of relief and closure I've started to notice on the last night of a 3 night stay in Saratoga (and probably everywhere). You're dead, but you're psyched and you now have a great memory of a band playing 2 nights (for me, 3 for a lot of these people) of 2.5-3 hour shows in an awesome place. You somehow feel accomplished yourself, and you're all warm inside from something you looked forward to working out so wonderfully.</div>
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The second the show ended, things got very odd.</div>
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Actually, a better description is that it became nightmarish. I was in this wonderful blissful world where I was with friends, dancing to super loud music with bright lights everywhere, super high and happy, and literally like 10 seconds after everyone was done clapping and the lights came on, it was a hell hole. 10 feet away, a dude who was tripping hard on something was fighting security, trying to climb over the barricade that separated the lawn from the indoor seating. Through lots of yelling and people staring in horror, they eventually let him go and he ran into the crowd, completely lost. I watched him as he wandered through people, looking around like he had never been on this planet before, barefoot and filthy, just completely gone. As soon as I stopped looking at him, I saw that a chick was puking HARD 10 feet in the other direction. And there was trash everywhere. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HOgxvLWibHo/Uh-YjVpOXUI/AAAAAAAAG8Y/n3u_DNYsCxY/s1600/IMG_1675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HOgxvLWibHo/Uh-YjVpOXUI/AAAAAAAAG8Y/n3u_DNYsCxY/s640/IMG_1675.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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So, wonderful bliss into a lunatic fighting security, puke puddles, people in various stages of trashed acting like assholes, trash everywhere, people slipping in mud and the sudden realization that I also had to walk up a mudhill, wearing soaked crocs. Ughk. </div>
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I made it though, and I randomly got into a conversation with a dude who had an insane laser light. I thought he was going to give it to me, but no dice.</div>
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major lazers</div>
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We walked back to the parking lot talking about how awesome of a show it was, and my high (both a good life high and also a weed high) was still fantastic. I had forgotten about the slap in the face the end of the show was, but things suddenly got REALLY weird when we got back to Camp Hogan. </div>
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"Wait... are those dudes with the balloons all..."</div>
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"yea, nitrous."</div>
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"wait, this is a thing?"</div>
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In my sheltered straight-edge-till-30 lifestyle, I had heard about nitrous but had never actually seen it. So I stood and watched as 3 or 4 dudes hung out by the tree inhaling it in fast forward. I then realized that there was a line of people sitting where we usually sit, all doing the same thing, completely obviously in the wide open. It was fucked up. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1EFObcW6x48/Uh-YkSNTR8I/AAAAAAAAG8w/cWh2AOJu6wY/s1600/IMG_1683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1EFObcW6x48/Uh-YkSNTR8I/AAAAAAAAG8w/cWh2AOJu6wY/s640/IMG_1683.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Apparently this has been part of the Phish culture all along, I just didn't know how rampant it could be, and I somehow had gone 4 shows without seeing any of it. I started looking on the ground and realized there were tons of canisters everywhere. I watched from the shadows as a few dudes leaned on the tree, taking hit after hit (are they called hits?). I asked friends about it and they all said it was basically like a super strong high that hits you instantly, but the immediate effect disappears just enough that they immediately want to do another hit. I may have made that part up- I honestly didn't really understand why they were taking hits SO fast. It was literally taking them like 30 seconds to go through a whole balloon. And I watched as a normal dude took 1 hit, giggled and sounded high, to a few later where he wasn't making any sense and sounded retarded, to a few later, where he was barely able to stand up or walk in a straight line. I watched a few guys just hanging out having a good time turn into shells of people, stumbling over each other. It was honestly pretty scary. To see someone willingly making themselves go from normal to a retarded mess that quickly, by sucking in a balloon... crazy.</div>
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One of the dudes saw I was taking pictures of him and was all "heyman DON pUT thisson facebook!"I joked around with him, saying I didn't even know who he was, I couldn't see his face, etc. and I watched as genuine concern turned into him not even knowing I was there. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">party hard</span></div>
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It was scary to see this many people getting this fucked up this quickly in this public of a place, then I noticed why they were all in this one spot. The giant thingamajig that was filling up the balloons was right across the street, sandwiched and hidden between 2 cars. </div>
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When we got to Camp Hogan on night 1, we watched as 2 guys got arrested within a half hour of us being there, all in that same spot. They were playing loud music and smoking and drinking obviously. But that was it- the only difference between them and us was their brazenness. And now, as the whole thing came to an end, the exact spot cops were concerned about 2 guys smoking weed in public, there was a line 20+ people long, all waiting to inhale gas and go braindead.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvf2GvXfcWg/Uh-Ykv98QOI/AAAAAAAAG84/_ZKugP_EiaQ/s1600/IMG_1685.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvf2GvXfcWg/Uh-Ykv98QOI/AAAAAAAAG84/_ZKugP_EiaQ/s640/IMG_1685.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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When I took this picture, I saw the true horror of mankind. In the woods to the right of me were several people peeing, and in every other direction were people either already doing nitrous, already retarded from doing nitrous, or were in line, actually fighting each other to get to the nitrous faster. I watched the main person (the guy filling the balloons) yell at people who were cutting in line, pushing people, yelling to get the fuck to the back of the line, and people were pushing each other, squeezing tight to get a glimpse of the thing, trying their hardest to be next in line. I've never seen such zombie drug behavior, and it's pretty crazy. </div>
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I walked back in awe, and we got out of there before it got any more terrifying. </div>
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We headed to D'Andreas where we closed the experience out correctly, then headed back. It was Sunday and Dustin and Amanda had to go to work the next morning. I slept incredibly again. </div>
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After hanging with Dustin a little the next day, I headed out around 11. I was going to Warped Tour on Wednesday (stay tuned for that post), and I was psyched to have a drive/recover day, then 2 days off. I stopped by at Keith's new bike shop, then stopped and bought Yeungling for my dad. I eventually found a Wendy's for some much needed and delicious lunch, and headed home, to another show. </div>
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Right when I left Dustin's, I got a text from one of the 2 people I still talk to from high school, the guitarist of my freshman year nu metal band Chewtoy, Murphy. He asked me if I wanted to see Weezer for free at the Hampton Beach Casino. 2 different people had bailed on him and he just wanted someone to go with. I told him that I was 4 hours away, and I honestly didn't think I could even make it. I was exhausted and just wanted to get home, but left it as this- if he could find anyone else, go with them. If not, I would step up and might just be a little late. He didn't find anyone, so I literally drove 4 hours straight, directly to Hampton Beach, and walked in and found him, with Weezer starting about 10 minutes after. </div>
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What a weekend, and what a perfect ending to it. </div>
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I've since thought about how my Phish shows have been for me. </div>
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First show- straight edge, one night, calm</div>
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Second show- first Phish high experience</div>
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Third show- first time very high for them, first shakedown street experience</div>
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Fourth show- really explored shakedown street, first shrooms experience</div>
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Fifth show- Explored sulphur hole, ate at shakedown, first time even seeing nitrous</div>
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This has been a pretty incredible evolution of experiences. No, I don't plan on my 8th show being me high on acid and nitrous and following Phish on tour afterwards, but I can tell you this, I'm considering exploring more- maybe bringing a good camera and spending a day at Shakedown or seeing if I can find even weirder, darker worlds. I'm excited about seeing them again. Who knows, maybe there's even a short book in the evolution of my phish posts over the years. Time will tell. Can't wait for next year (Dear Phish, please play the 4th of july weekend in Saratoga again in 2014 and every year after that).</div>
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mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-47823052950183065822013-08-19T19:37:00.002-07:002013-08-19T19:37:37.140-07:00Hedgehog Mountain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
In my post about <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2013/07/mount-potash.html">Mount Potash</a>, I said how I didn't understand why everyone hiked Mount Hedgehog and not Potash (since they share a parking lot). Well, it was time to find out!</div>
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I parked at the same parking lot,</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-25JBO-bG8nI/Ug7j-uqBYbI/AAAAAAAAGyw/hsleEssj6Fs/s1600/IMG_0969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-25JBO-bG8nI/Ug7j-uqBYbI/AAAAAAAAGyw/hsleEssj6Fs/s400/IMG_0969.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">and used the same picture</span></div>
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But instead of ignoring this sign, I turned left to go to the UNH trail.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sEbCVQrIINk/Ug7j-aFcUAI/AAAAAAAAGys/DZFuWdjouLU/s1600/IMG_0971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sEbCVQrIINk/Ug7j-aFcUAI/AAAAAAAAGys/DZFuWdjouLU/s400/IMG_0971.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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It was a calm walk through the woods.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ghDx79i-6X8/Ug7j-nqZQLI/AAAAAAAAGy0/zT1PJ3tGwFY/s1600/IMG_1509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ghDx79i-6X8/Ug7j-nqZQLI/AAAAAAAAGy0/zT1PJ3tGwFY/s400/IMG_1509.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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After just a bit, I hit a giant trailhead with a ton of information. I didn't even know there was a cross country ski trail. I turned right to follow the trail (I don't know where straight would have gone).</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sab3oksmv10/Ug7kBmKV82I/AAAAAAAAGzc/oerS0AATRJg/s1600/IMG_1510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Sab3oksmv10/Ug7kBmKV82I/AAAAAAAAGzc/oerS0AATRJg/s400/IMG_1510.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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After a bit of climbing, the trail came out to this giant clearcut area that was pretty sweet. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AVoI03nxJ2Y/Ug7kAOb6RXI/AAAAAAAAGzE/-dqY0BbuoEE/s1600/IMG_1512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AVoI03nxJ2Y/Ug7kAOb6RXI/AAAAAAAAGzE/-dqY0BbuoEE/s640/IMG_1512.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I had started out the trip wondering if I was following the guide I found online correctly or not. I was worried I'd follow it backwards and confuse myself, which is exactly what I ended up doing. This sign confused me, and even though I have dealt with this several times, I did it wrong. Rather than take the longer trip up the mountain (assuring less steep inclines), I decided to take the straight line to the summit. Why hike 2.1 miles when I can hike .9?</div>
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I mostly made this decision because I felt it would be ridiculous to hike up to Allen's Ledge on the way back, when I could just hit it on the way up. This made sense, but in hindsight, maybe the other way would have been better. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Yo1ByI_1ts/Ug7j_71rRKI/AAAAAAAAGzA/xO6Jo9vakys/s1600/IMG_1513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Yo1ByI_1ts/Ug7j_71rRKI/AAAAAAAAGzA/xO6Jo9vakys/s400/IMG_1513.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The hike got surprisingly steep right away, and I was having another one of those hiking days where I just had zero energy. Oh, and it was also in the mid 90s with pretty high humidity- temps I like to claim are perfect conditions for exercise, which is a statement I'm starting to feel doesn't apply to me anymore. I was exhausted.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-auikQS7d1rM/Ug7kBlB0-NI/AAAAAAAAGzY/Wr82_KJ_GXo/s1600/IMG_1515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-auikQS7d1rM/Ug7kBlB0-NI/AAAAAAAAGzY/Wr82_KJ_GXo/s400/IMG_1515.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I took the small spur trail to Allen's Ledge.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hDrBK6ow6tk/Ug7kBjlplzI/AAAAAAAAGzU/8HjT18XHcPA/s1600/IMG_1516.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hDrBK6ow6tk/Ug7kBjlplzI/AAAAAAAAGzU/8HjT18XHcPA/s400/IMG_1516.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I was met with a giant rock face, and it made sense to me that the views would be from the top of the rock. Incorrect.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WIaS6OOSmCk/Ug7kDdFDeDI/AAAAAAAAGzs/hSLi2NPVqBU/s1600/IMG_1520.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WIaS6OOSmCk/Ug7kDdFDeDI/AAAAAAAAGzs/hSLi2NPVqBU/s400/IMG_1520.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The farther down and to the left I went, the views got better. THIS was the ledge:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-15Os0adc370/Ug7kMRRtpPI/AAAAAAAAG1k/yDC5H5-7ANs/s1600/IMG_3507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-15Os0adc370/Ug7kMRRtpPI/AAAAAAAAG1k/yDC5H5-7ANs/s640/IMG_3507.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Not bad- only a little bit into the hike and I was getting awesome views already.</div>
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After getting back on the trail, it started to open up out of the woods pretty quickly. It also started to get quite steep:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vdPbYo72XMU/Ug7kDxAwXWI/AAAAAAAAGz8/jZ0GTZi8iFY/s1600/IMG_1530.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vdPbYo72XMU/Ug7kDxAwXWI/AAAAAAAAGz8/jZ0GTZi8iFY/s640/IMG_1530.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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And insanely rooty:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gE-MYbK-pEw/Ug7kEAi-3kI/AAAAAAAAG0E/HfsH_B27cuM/s1600/IMG_1531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gE-MYbK-pEw/Ug7kEAi-3kI/AAAAAAAAG0E/HfsH_B27cuM/s640/IMG_1531.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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But with enough breaks and enough focus, I started to come out to the top of a mountain:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o08jD1cY_uA/Ug7kEJlaU-I/AAAAAAAAG0A/dll2PGOnnrE/s1600/IMG_1537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o08jD1cY_uA/Ug7kEJlaU-I/AAAAAAAAG0A/dll2PGOnnrE/s640/IMG_1537.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And after a nice section partially above the tree line, I got to the true summit. Here's an HDR I love that I make a nice shadow appearance in:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F6LHO2prbww/Ug7kN4MEnPI/AAAAAAAAG14/j5019sCGFrg/s1600/IMG_3538.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F6LHO2prbww/Ug7kN4MEnPI/AAAAAAAAG14/j5019sCGFrg/s640/IMG_3538.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">The true view up there was looking straight towards Passaconaway, which was an absolute monster this close. I was impressed by it on Potash, but here, you're right next to it, and it's frightening. Here's a mini panorama:</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zl3X4r6QiKA/Ug7kQ31UE5I/AAAAAAAAG2k/ybVR0XZmbDc/s1600/Mount+Hedghog+Panorama+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zl3X4r6QiKA/Ug7kQ31UE5I/AAAAAAAAG2k/ybVR0XZmbDc/s640/Mount+Hedghog+Panorama+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And a much wider one of the view to the left:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-994C3yNa0Ks/Ug7kQlGRkQI/AAAAAAAAG2g/BpCasnftk7s/s1600/Mount+Hedgehog+Panorama+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-994C3yNa0Ks/Ug7kQlGRkQI/AAAAAAAAG2g/BpCasnftk7s/s640/Mount+Hedgehog+Panorama+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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There are two lookout points at the summit, and while the most obvious one is better, turning around and hitting up the other one is definitely worth it. The views are more similar to Potash's:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--_6vGkEteng/Ug7kGSheH-I/AAAAAAAAG0c/qk6ty5SpIiM/s1600/IMG_1547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--_6vGkEteng/Ug7kGSheH-I/AAAAAAAAG0c/qk6ty5SpIiM/s640/IMG_1547.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I loved this little tree fighting through the rocks. Yea, I might have edited it a bit:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TS5w0fxk7YY/Ug7kPS_Ro3I/AAAAAAAAG2Q/9jEANDog8-E/s1600/IMG_3547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TS5w0fxk7YY/Ug7kPS_Ro3I/AAAAAAAAG2Q/9jEANDog8-E/s400/IMG_3547.JPG" width="298" /></a></div>
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I hung out up there for awhile. I had tons of views, and even though black flies were trying to ruin my moment, my PB&J was still fantastic. But it was getting dark and I had planned on driving to NY for the weekend after this hike. I needed to get going. </div>
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I followed the same trail over the edge of the summit since I knew it would loop around to that sign in 2.1 miles. Right away, I started to understand why people go up this way rather than down. There were tons of sections of rock with very little grip- stuff that's fun to go up but pretty hard to go down:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bxZoha6Rzs/Ug7kGR_GRuI/AAAAAAAAG0Y/bsYiV0lzLsc/s1600/IMG_1551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9bxZoha6Rzs/Ug7kGR_GRuI/AAAAAAAAG0Y/bsYiV0lzLsc/s400/IMG_1551.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I could have taken a billion pictures getting back to the tree line. This section was awesome. The entire way was just walking towards Passaconaway over giant rocks, in and out of the trees, with ledge views everywhere. While it was probably harder to hike down, having those views the whole way rather than having them behind me started to make a lot of sense. Maybe I had made the right decision.</div>
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Eventually, I was back in the woods, walking around a giant rock wall.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hpAoJvjyUyw/Ug7kGFxcWmI/AAAAAAAAG0U/oS36eVRVEnU/s1600/IMG_1554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hpAoJvjyUyw/Ug7kGFxcWmI/AAAAAAAAG0U/oS36eVRVEnU/s640/IMG_1554.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And after awhile of hiking in dead silence after I thought my backpack scraping against my back was loud grunty breathing from a bear or sasquatch (and didn't realize until later that I had completely fooled myself (.... or had I?)), I was back on ledges. This spot was pretty incredible. It was nice to be able to look up to where I had just come from:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7A1eOFk-0w/Ug7kHirKAOI/AAAAAAAAG0w/bMPnP9NjiC0/s1600/IMG_1559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7A1eOFk-0w/Ug7kHirKAOI/AAAAAAAAG0w/bMPnP9NjiC0/s640/IMG_1559.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Passaconaway and the valleys around it made for a pretty glorious view. So it was time to take a Mike vs. The Mountains shot:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zB-iaoWRMYI/Ug7kHyUSh0I/AAAAAAAAG08/NyHkRe8HBRI/s1600/IMG_1562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zB-iaoWRMYI/Ug7kHyUSh0I/AAAAAAAAG08/NyHkRe8HBRI/s640/IMG_1562.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I feel like camping up here would be pretty cool.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vbnsOWisFy0/Ug7kJoOKr1I/AAAAAAAAG1E/xwrfO3_l_QI/s1600/IMG_1563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vbnsOWisFy0/Ug7kJoOKr1I/AAAAAAAAG1E/xwrfO3_l_QI/s640/IMG_1563.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This section lasted awhile, and it made me hike insanely slowly. I couldn't stop taking pictures. It was just nothing but open faces, ledges and views for quite some time. I don't even remember where I took this picture, but the sky was just dark and cloudy enough that it was making for incredible HDRs:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HKTArUsgVPc/Ug7kNVx3n5I/AAAAAAAAG1w/20ro5D4HLnc/s1600/IMG_3511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HKTArUsgVPc/Ug7kNVx3n5I/AAAAAAAAG1w/20ro5D4HLnc/s640/IMG_3511.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>
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Once back in the woods, I got into a case of Down Syndrome. Let me explain: when I finally got to the parking lot, I saw a guy I had seen at the top of the mountain who was either just really weird or super high. He was quite psyched to see me. "DUUUDE YOU MADE IT!" I told him that yes, I had. I had enjoyed the hike, but going the way I did, I had to deal with a lot of ups and downs, and I didn't understand why they made the trail that way. "Oh, you got a case of down syndrome huh?"</div>
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I am now going to call it this all the time. I just wanted to be at my car, and the hike down just never ended. I just kept going down, down, down. Down Syndrome.</div>
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I'm assuming these trails are called the UNH trails because people from UNH made them, probably for a class or something. I don't know what they were thinking on that 2.1 mile section. I like a small climb on the way down every now and then just to give my muscles a break, but jesus, this was ridiculous. I thought I was climbing back up the mountain a few times. Not only that, but it felt like the trail went around stuff a bunch or meandered randomly when it absolutely didn't need to. Maybe they designed it for people who love hiking and being in the woods, and not the jerks like me who are sick of hiking as soon as they're a half mile down from the summit. </div>
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But all in all, this hike was awesome. I got some nice beginnings of sunset on the way down, and there were views everywhere. I now understand why people hike Mount Hedgehog. Potash is awesome and worth it- the summit views are better in my opinion, but Hedgehog had all those ledges, and just tons of rock sections to hike around/over. Definitely an awesome mountain that I will absolutely be hiking again- maybe in the fall so I can peep tons of leaves. </div>
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I got in the car and started heading north up the Kanc to go to NY, when I realized how stupid of an idea it was. I wouldn't get there until probably 2 in the morning, and even though Dustin and Amanda would be out late at a Phish show (which is why I was going), it would have been a huge pain in the ass to drive that far when I was that tired only to bother them and be that guy who shows up that late. So I called an audible and called Kevin and Gina to see if I could just stay at their house. I stopped at Wendy's on the way and destroyed some JBCs.</div>
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Their house was maybe the hottest house I've ever been in (BUY AN AIR CONDITIONER YOU LUNATICS), but I got a shower, some nice unexpected hang time, and once I set up my travel fan, I slept pretty damn well. I also got some cute overload:</div>
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I got up fairly early the next day and started making the 4 hour trek to NY for a crazy weekend. </div>
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Hedgehog Mountain is awesome. Go hike it. Here's probably my favorite shot from the trip, all instagramed. This would have been my view after coming out of the trees if I'd hiked up the way the online guide told me. That small ledge with Passaconaway staring down at me was quite glorious. </div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: Those Who Lie Beneath- "An Awakening"</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-37647252812840103872013-08-05T17:57:00.001-07:002013-08-05T17:57:05.186-07:00Caverly MountainAfter doing some huge hikes, then sitting through a week of rain, I decided late in the day one Saturday to get out and hike a small mountain I'd been curious about for a few years, Caverly Mountain in New Durham, NH.<br />
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Heading north on King's Highway, shortly after a small pond on the left, the road bends to the right, and there is a gated dirt road on the left. This is Caverly Road, apparently. I parked here and headed out. Here's an atrocious picture of the starting point:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dgcQDYSMPtM/UgBDtWOcLxI/AAAAAAAAGyM/o0qg3x30Ozc/s1600/IMG_3185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dgcQDYSMPtM/UgBDtWOcLxI/AAAAAAAAGyM/o0qg3x30Ozc/s400/IMG_3185.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's just a dirt road for awhile, but I'm glad I didn't try to drive up it, since there are huge rocks and loose sand. Follow it for probably a half mile, and you'll reach the trailhead.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jAufbqv8aTY/UgBDfHmrF1I/AAAAAAAAGwo/CA5Lc_wd0eQ/s1600/IMG_1426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jAufbqv8aTY/UgBDfHmrF1I/AAAAAAAAGwo/CA5Lc_wd0eQ/s400/IMG_1426.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Turn left here, this is the start of the "trail."</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ToEXvspL0Q/UgBDezetrYI/AAAAAAAAGwg/4zdwKgOFhVA/s1600/IMG_1427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7ToEXvspL0Q/UgBDezetrYI/AAAAAAAAGwg/4zdwKgOFhVA/s400/IMG_1427.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I put trail in quotes because this is basically just a dirt road up a mountain. I wasn't expecting much since this is a pretty unknown and small mountain, but I was hoping for more than this.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Yy2MTza-xY/UgBDfQatGsI/AAAAAAAAGww/zasYsRh-QUQ/s1600/IMG_1431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8Yy2MTza-xY/UgBDfQatGsI/AAAAAAAAGww/zasYsRh-QUQ/s400/IMG_1431.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">thanks for the arrow though!</span></div>
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It's very wide the whole way up, with increasingly bad footing:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I7yBaREJlk4/UgBDf9p4B2I/AAAAAAAAGw8/l_pAi6r28mo/s1600/IMG_1435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-I7yBaREJlk4/UgBDf9p4B2I/AAAAAAAAGw8/l_pAi6r28mo/s640/IMG_1435.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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And, since it had rained so much, a lot of that footing was quite wet:</div>
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Eventually, the trail got a bit flatter and opened up into some nice woods. It then got a LOT wetter:</div>
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But shortly after that, I was at the top. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gs2Muuc_TFM/UgBDgmsjBKI/AAAAAAAAGxM/1OsjRy4qL9c/s1600/IMG_1447.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Gs2Muuc_TFM/UgBDgmsjBKI/AAAAAAAAGxM/1OsjRy4qL9c/s640/IMG_1447.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I was immediately happy. This was exactly the hike I wanted- short and easy with not a lot of elevation gain, but still enough so that I felt like I was hiking a mountain. Due to the high humidity and temperatures (it was 90 if I remember right), I was pretty soaked by the time I got up there. I also had had almost zero bugs on my last few hikes, so I stopped bringing bug spray. Whoops! The entire hike up, I was battling 10 deer and horse flies who thankfully mostly didn't bite me, but still annoyed me to death by just flying all over me the entire hike. Always bring bug spray. Always.</div>
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The top of Caverly was pretty open rock with a lot of sporadic trees and sections of grass. It was very nice and I thought about how it would probably be a great place to camp. Someone had even set up a sweet fireplace and left a chair!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f89rn0i_l_w/UgBD5G_HRiI/AAAAAAAAGyQ/Rg_DEkYyPIg/s1600/IMG_1443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f89rn0i_l_w/UgBD5G_HRiI/AAAAAAAAGyQ/Rg_DEkYyPIg/s640/IMG_1443.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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There was also this awesome rock that looked like a Graboid from Tremors or the worm monster from Star Wars: </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5urC7CsZDA/UgBDg4rusDI/AAAAAAAAGxU/DRAoT-YHlSE/s1600/IMG_1449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5urC7CsZDA/UgBDg4rusDI/AAAAAAAAGxU/DRAoT-YHlSE/s640/IMG_1449.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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But what ruled about the top was the view. This immediately gets thrown in the book of hikes with awesome views with minimal effort. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5ugpzIUxgjo/UgBDhyI0MxI/AAAAAAAAGxw/tjFkqlIO014/s1600/IMG_3236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5ugpzIUxgjo/UgBDhyI0MxI/AAAAAAAAGxw/tjFkqlIO014/s640/IMG_3236.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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To the right was Winnipesaukee, but the sun was so brutal, it was hard to capture, even with HDR skillz:</div>
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I hung out for awhile and enjoyed the views, then headed down. On the way down, I thought about coming out here with a tent and basic survival stuff and food and just living in the woods for a month, and the logistics of all that. What would I do all day? What would I do when someone wandered over and found me, a haggard mountain man living in the woods on a tiny mountain in New Durham? I think about weird stuff while hiking.</div>
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I stopped on the way home to take pictures at that little pond. It was pretty gorgeous:</div>
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And I turned around and drove past this again just to get a picture. Apparently this has been like this for a long time. I love it, and I love that the town kept it.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-erewIFW8gj8/UgBDhu8a-jI/AAAAAAAAGxo/qWmyW0jSTzU/s1600/IMG_3225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-erewIFW8gj8/UgBDhu8a-jI/AAAAAAAAGxo/qWmyW0jSTzU/s640/IMG_3225.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Was this the Graboid from the top of the mountain?!?</span></div>
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I pulled over at Sunrise Lake too, since we all know that my hiking trips are really just photography trips/instagram fuel.</div>
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All in all, great little semi-local hike. Once I decided that where I was parked was in fact the right place, and found out that the trailhead really was the trailhead, it was only about a 3 mile round trip hike with somewhere between 700 and 968 feet of elevation gain. I say this because the sites I use have drastically different numbers- I'm guessing the higher elevation gain number takes into account the walk up Caverly road (which is pretty hilly) and the other only starts counting at the trailhead. So the higher number is probably the right one. Either way, this is a great small hike with a crappy trail but fantastic summit. Definitely a good warm-up or last-minute hike for a pro, and a great option for a n00b looking to get into hiking. </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: The Story So Far: "Under Soil And Dirt"</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-5437705803480714402013-07-31T14:58:00.000-07:002013-07-31T15:04:01.695-07:004,000 footers #6 and 7: Mounts Tom and Field (and Avalon)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Next on my list for 4,000 footers were the comparatively smaller Mounts Tom and Field, easily done together (according to the internet). I got up early, but took forever to get there (with stops for food and a stop at EMS for shotblocks), but when I got there, it was a perfect and gorgeous day. </div>
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The trailhead for these bad boys is at the Crawford Depot, the first building/train station on the left once you've driven into Crawford Notch (going west), somewhat across from Saco Lake and just before the giant AMC Highland Center. In other words, plenty of parking. </div>
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I got my stuff together, stretched and headed out. There were a lot of people in the parking lot, but they were either tourists using the bathroom or people walking to the AMC center and parking here instead. To get to the trailhead, just cross the railroad tracks and you're good to go.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zLe0vjBsOFc/Ue9Ek-4FewI/AAAAAAAAGpE/I9b5xS5_nWM/s1600/IMG_1219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zLe0vjBsOFc/Ue9Ek-4FewI/AAAAAAAAGpE/I9b5xS5_nWM/s640/IMG_1219.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mount Jackson to the left, Willey in the distance</span></div>
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The main trailhead:</div>
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The trail started out pretty flat, then gradually gained elevation. I hit a nice stream crossing.</div>
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After a little ways, there was a sign for the Cascade Loop, something I hadn't really read about on any online guides. I decided since I had no idea where it reconnected, I'd skip it for now.</div>
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But right next to the sign, there was a section of fast moving water and almost cliffs. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">this is steeper and more badass than it looks</span></div>
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A few minutes later, I came across where the Cascade Loop went. Since this was clearly just a section of trail that visited sweet cascades and was only a brief section, I decided if it was light enough on the way home, I'd hit it up. Unfortunately, it wasn't.</div>
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I eventually came across 3 or 4 filthy young people working on the trail. They were re-routing it to get away from the river a bit- I guess it got a bit too wet. The guy I asked didn't seem to have much of an answer. The trail they were making was a mudfest that generally sucked to walk on. I prayed this section wasn't long. </div>
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I saw 2 tents set up deep in the woods. I guess these were volunteers who just camped out off the trail then worked on it all day? I hoped they were getting paid, it looked like awful work.</div>
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The trail went back to normal and I hit another nice stream crossing in a bit, this one with a nice little rock bridge:</div>
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And then the trail got much nicer- clean, dry, well maintained and not too rooty or rocky.</div>
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And then I was at the intersection I had been looking for. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lSxeCHTmCPY/Ue9Ep5lQ4hI/AAAAAAAAGqM/CflGLOxFPgI/s1600/IMG_1237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lSxeCHTmCPY/Ue9Ep5lQ4hI/AAAAAAAAGqM/CflGLOxFPgI/s640/IMG_1237.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Every online guide I read took the left here, hiking a half mile to the summit of Mount Avalon, a much smaller mountain than Tom and Field that apparently had the best views. Since I'm a supreme view whore, I had decided to do the hike the opposite direction the guides took- take the more gradual, less steep (at least seemingly so, based on a topographic map) trail to Tom (which supposedly had a mostly wooded summit with not much views), then over to Field (which were better), and end my trip with the best view. </div>
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So I went right, now following the A-Z trail.</div>
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The trail almost immediately went steeply downhill, the thing I hate the most when hiking up a mountain. And almost right away, I stepped on a rock wrong and ate shit down the trail. Only like a mile into the hike and I'm already falling! Awesome.</div>
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The trail was going down to what was probably once a raging river, but was now mostly just rocks. This spot was awesome, and honestly, the woods were so busy, it was really hard to capture in a picture.</div>
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The trail then climbed very steeply to make up the elevation I had lost,</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W5wCmK8FbaI/Ue9Es1Udb3I/AAAAAAAAGqo/7NhTGH0GwWQ/s1600/IMG_1241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W5wCmK8FbaI/Ue9Es1Udb3I/AAAAAAAAGqo/7NhTGH0GwWQ/s640/IMG_1241.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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and continued this way for awhile. Over more stream crossings,</div>
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over boulders, getting steeper and steeper,</div>
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and even turning into stairmaster land too. I was PSYCHED.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v5AhmZaxLbs/Ue9Et1LMjwI/AAAAAAAAGq8/ZVfgG7SiJU0/s1600/IMG_1256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v5AhmZaxLbs/Ue9Et1LMjwI/AAAAAAAAGq8/ZVfgG7SiJU0/s400/IMG_1256.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Shortly after this picture was taken, I almost puked from a giant bug flying into my throat. I was scream choking and making barf noises, with spit and boogers hanging off my beard. These are the kind of moments where it feels very weird to be completely alone in the middle of the woods.</div>
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I was starting to hurt pretty bad. I was trying to hike smart and take my time, but the trail just didn't let up. It wasn't insanely steep by 4,000 footer standards, and was generally pretty gradual, but I'm in generally terrible shape for someone who thinks he's a hiker, so this trail was never-ending and painful.</div>
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But as I've learned with hiking, the cooler looking the woods got, the closer I knew I was:</div>
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And soon enough I was at an intersection of flat, somewhat open forrest.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U_QIIt9jKJ0/Ue9EzNhbhiI/AAAAAAAAGrU/o3rRY5CyRd0/s1600/IMG_1261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U_QIIt9jKJ0/Ue9EzNhbhiI/AAAAAAAAGrU/o3rRY5CyRd0/s640/IMG_1261.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I sat on a tree and ate a banana, then headed to the summit of Mount Tom, following the sign for the Mount Tom Spur trail.</div>
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The trail immediately climbed, but I was in the almost-there zone, and I elevation gain really didn't bother me at this point. I was also in the wow-these-woods-are-awesome zone, where as long as the woods are thick enough and I'm hiking over crazy rocks and roots and feel like I'm in the middle of a remote and dense forrest, I don't hurt as much. If only all of hiking could feel this way!</div>
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It was a hard-enough half mile, but I only needed a few short breaks, and then I began to see sunlight. There was a clear right turn to what was obviously a lookout, but in my save-the-views attitude, I decided I should worry about the summit first, then views later. This blinding sun was what I wanted right now:</div>
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I walked right past the cairn marking the true summit, deciding to see if there were views beyond the mountain tops I could barely see over the tips of trees at this spot. Luckily, there was a spot with a tree trunk that got me just high enough to see some decent views.</div>
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There's sort of a bench up there, but generally it's just flat ground with trees everywhere, and views you have to really work to get. But they were nowhere near as limited as I was assuming based on what I had read online.</div>
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And #6 was summited. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">wow</span></div>
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I spent as little time as possible up there (I had to take like 10 pictures before I got that awful one), then hit up the small trail for the outlook. It was pretty sweet:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PReR0smip78/Ue9FASmkWDI/AAAAAAAAGvE/74uhCS-1sXY/s1600/IMG_2933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PReR0smip78/Ue9FASmkWDI/AAAAAAAAGvE/74uhCS-1sXY/s640/IMG_2933.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And I got to see where I was going next. It looked very far away.</div>
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I flew down the trail, slipping for the 2nd time, then hung out at the clearing just to catch my breath. I then followed the trail right, down a hill.</div>
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The woods had a thickness that was oddly silent and creepy.</div>
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I then turned onto the Willey Range Trail, where it was .9 to the top of Mount Field.</div>
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People who are in great hiking shape will often follow this all the way to Mount Willey, then either walk up the road from its parking lot, or do a 2 car Willey Range Traverse. I imagine the 1.3 miles from Field to Willey are probably pretty awesome, but that's quite beyond my skill set. Plus, Willey was <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/10/4000-footer-4-mount-willey.html">#4</a> for me. No need to go back already! </div>
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This trail was as good as the others in terms of footing and elevation gain, but I was pretty damn tired at this point, and all this climbing was killing me. I did my best to listen to music and just pace myself, but I needed a lot of breaks. I spent a lot of time wondering why someone who hates walking uphill so much keeps going hiking.</div>
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At one point, I reached a fairly flat spot, and found myself walking downhill for a lot more distance than I was comfortable with. I didn't see the trail going up at all, and actually walked by, wondering if I had somehow missed the summit sign/trail. I was freaking out, immediately wondering if I was lost.</div>
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Nope. The trail does go downhill more than it seems it should, but eventually, it climbs a little, and then this sign told me where to go:</div>
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Apparently the summit is a small crown of this mountain, which, now that I look back, you can clearly see in the picture of Field from the outlook on Tom. This true summit is reached by hiking up a very steep section right after I thought I didn't have to hike up anything more. Ughk.</div>
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I did most of this before gasping for breath. Turning around revealed a pretty sweet view:</div>
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A quick turn to the left was nice too:</div>
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And then I was at the summit cairn,</div>
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and I was happy. </div>
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There's a very obvious trail to a somewhat cleared out outlook with even a sort-of seat. I loved the view from there.</div>
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It was made a world better with a PB&J too.</div>
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I ate a lot of the food I had, happy that, after I was starving and weak on my last 4,000 footer, I had finally brought enough food. I took too many pictures of the same thing, wandered around the top a little, then headed out. I almost screwed up real bad though, since I just started blindly following the trail I had taken to get here as it continued past the summit. I had completely forgotten that I had hiked a Spur Trail, and I needed to go back to the sign to get to the Avalon Trail to Mount Avalon, which would not only take me to Avalon, but also my car. That could have been bad. I wonder when I would have noticed that I was hiking up Willey? </div>
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I hiked back down to where I was supposed to be, and the sign told me it would only be a mile to Avalon, and 2.8 to my car. Ok pain, go away.<br />
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This trail felt like it was steeper than the trail I had taken up. It was also a lot more slippery, with way more exposed rock sections. I was happy I had taken a less steep route on the way up (since I'm pretty good hiking down steep stuff), but I saw why most people go up Avalon first, since the footing hiking down was pretty atrocious or non-existent a lot of the way.</div>
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This section took me longer than I was expecting because of the footing, but I eventually reached a pretty sweet clearing:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ekWmvzZZSPs/Ue9E8zvX7tI/AAAAAAAAGuQ/Pl85iU3V6gE/s1600/IMG_1350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ekWmvzZZSPs/Ue9E8zvX7tI/AAAAAAAAGuQ/Pl85iU3V6gE/s640/IMG_1350.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Hey, I was just up there!</div>
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And after climbing down more, I hit yet another "summit 100 yards" sign. </div>
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And holy shit, this was some steep stuff.</div>
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This is me flipping off the trail, but I apparently don't know how angles work when it comes to photography:</div>
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Not only was this 100 yards steep, but it hit rock climbing levels. This was not what I wanted to deal with at this point in the hike.</div>
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But it was extremely worth it.</div>
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I even made a panorama that for the most part works. This is the full view from the top of Avalon: </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jaF4hKv9QNs/UfmIRbleNYI/AAAAAAAAGv4/TmMfOcIFpKM/s1600/Mount+Avalon+panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jaF4hKv9QNs/UfmIRbleNYI/AAAAAAAAGv4/TmMfOcIFpKM/s640/Mount+Avalon+panorama.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I don't think stupid blogger lets you view this huge anymore. Too bad, it rules.</span></div>
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Even the other side (looking at Field) was gorgeous, especially with the golden hour sun hitting the trees the right way.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bUGm9GLf15s/Ue9E_Qf-RPI/AAAAAAAAGvA/B8iMuPa6nHQ/s1600/IMG_1375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bUGm9GLf15s/Ue9E_Qf-RPI/AAAAAAAAGvA/B8iMuPa6nHQ/s640/IMG_1375.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Hiking down this section was pretty tough, and this was also when it started to get a bit dark. I still had 1.8 miles to go!</div>
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I immediately was so happy I had hiked up to Tom first. The trail from Avalon back to the intersection with the A-Z trail was absolutely brutal: just boulders and roots on insanely steep stuff. I wished I had had ski poles. This section took a long time, and I'm still feeling lucky I didn't slip at all. This was like pure break-an-ankle terrain.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U8_WZkF6x88/Ue9E_jBR-2I/AAAAAAAAGu4/sB7v1EblTYA/s1600/IMG_1380.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U8_WZkF6x88/Ue9E_jBR-2I/AAAAAAAAGu4/sB7v1EblTYA/s640/IMG_1380.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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By the time I got back to the sign, it was starting to get pretty dark, and I was pissed I had killed my very short hike-down-in-daylight streak. The last section seemed to never end, and just got darker and darker. By the time I got back, it was night. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WY2I6wWMUCw/Ue9Rj1V0HQI/AAAAAAAAGvg/3e7Pp1iCGS8/s1600/IMG_3005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WY2I6wWMUCw/Ue9Rj1V0HQI/AAAAAAAAGvg/3e7Pp1iCGS8/s400/IMG_3005.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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But I was alive. I stretched, put on my crocs (lifesavers), changed my shirt (why did it take me so long to think of this?), tried to ignore the stink from the bathrooms, and got in the car to begin the 2 hour drive home. Although not as steep as some other hikes, this had the most elevation gain I've done, and it was my first 3 peak hike too. I hurt, but I was generally alright, and it was a solid day of hiking. 6 and 7 in the books! And not only that, I'm done with the Willey Range! </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x4ATQCD_DCs/Ue9Rnj24nxI/AAAAAAAAGvo/UXJF-Q_J7kI/s1600/IMG_3249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x4ATQCD_DCs/Ue9Rnj24nxI/AAAAAAAAGvo/UXJF-Q_J7kI/s400/IMG_3249.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The short version:</div>
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These mountains are right in the middle of tourist land, but they're also across from Jackson and the beginning of the Presidentials, so they don't seem to be anywhere near as popular. I'd say they're definitely a great introduction to multiple peak hiking, and a great and fairly reasonable way to cross 2 4,000 footers off your list. If you're just looking for views, Field is the better one in terms of 4,000 footers, but Avalon absolutely takes the cake if you are only interested in views and not 4,000 footers. Unfortunately, the trail is extremely steep and I don't know how soon I'd want to try to hike up it for that view. It's great, but that's some STEEP hiking. </div>
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-Take 302 west from Conway into Crawford Notch. Park at the Crawford depot, on the left right before the AMC Highland Center, and basically across from Saco Lake. Take the Avalon trail, which starts right over the train tracks. </div>
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-There are signs everywhere you need them, but I did the Avalon Trail, A-Z trail, Mount Tom Spur, Mount Tom Spur back to the intersection, Willey Range Trail to Mount Field, then A-Z back to Avalon, back to the car.</div>
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-Hike time: A little over 6 hours with solid time at 3 summits.</div>
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-Mileage: 7.2 miles: 2.9 to Tom, 1.5 to Field, .9 to Avalon, 1.9 to the parking lot</div>
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-Elevation gain: 3,091 feet (I think- one site says 2,750, so maybe somewhere in between)</div>
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-Summit Elevations: Tom: 4,051, Field: 4,340, Avalon: 3,442 feet</div>
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-Number of people seen on the hike: 4 workers, and 1 older guy who was only about .5 miles to the parking lot when we met. The rest of the hike was all mine.</div>
-Number of times I fell: 2<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Music listened to: I attempted to start playing every song on my ipod (everything I've gotten over the last year) on shuffle, which would be a fun thing to keep going all summer, but my ipod froze and undid all of my work on the next hike I went on. :(</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: Snoop Lion- "Reincarnated"</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-62332131875838854012013-07-19T17:14:00.004-07:002013-07-19T17:14:25.016-07:004,000 footer #5: Mount Waumbek<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
4 days after hiking <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2013/07/mount-potash.html">Mount Potash</a>, the weather was good enough and I decided I had good enough muscles by now to try and attempt a 4,000 footer. Having only done 4 with a goal of 48, I needed to get one under my considerable belt early in the year. I decided to try a smaller one, or at least one that looked like it had a good mileage to elevation gain ratio. Waumbek fell into that category, and I also felt like it was a good one to do since hopefully I'll be working soon and wanted to knock out one of the most northern ones. I thought it was the most northern, but nope, that's Cabot, which I plan to do at the end of August. I left too late (weird) and really had no clue it would be so far away (I tend to look at times on maps and instantly subtract 20 minutes, forgetting that not only are those times very accurate, but I also stop several times on the way up). I wanted to start by 1 at the latest, especially since I had been pulled over a few days earlier for my car that's registered in the wrong state having a headlight out, which I hadn't fixed yet. </div>
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I started at 2, meaning unless I somehow finished this hike in 4 hours, I'd definitely need to use my lights on the way home, making me an obvious target for jerk cops everywhere. So yea, I started out bad from the beginning. </div>
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Here's the sign for the road, which is too dark and I took on the way out. The directions for Waumbek are quite simple- drive forever north up route 16, and turn left onto Route 2 West. You'll be driving north, kind of across the top of the White Mountains, looking at Washington and the presidentials the whole time. Turn right onto Starr King Road, and the trailhead is at the end. No fee either!</div>
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I talked to an older couple who had just come down. They didn't hike the whole thing, I think they just hiked to Mount Starr King, a mountain you have to hike over to get to Waumbek.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YjjOXg7YJf8/UeRGnAyVeEI/AAAAAAAAGh0/mqNyHWeeD-E/s1600/IMG_1104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YjjOXg7YJf8/UeRGnAyVeEI/AAAAAAAAGh0/mqNyHWeeD-E/s400/IMG_1104.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I got my stuff ready, stretched, sprayed bug spray all over me, and headed out. The guy was very nice, telling me I'd have no problem getting to Waumbek. Sure, buddy.</div>
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The trail starts off like a dirt fire road, just meandering through the woods at a very reasonable pitch. A little ways in, there's a huge well. Here, 4 guys in their low twenties came down the trail. I was blown away that them coming down meant they probably started hiking at 7 or 8 in the morning. Shouldn't they be just getting wasted all day?</div>
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The trail continues in very boring fashion for awhile, slowly gaining elevation. It was pretty muddy too, since it had rained for pretty much 3 days straight. Eventually, it started getting a little more pretty.</div>
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I had eaten what I had thought was a good breakfast for hiking- a liter of water on the way up, a banana and granola bar right when I got in the car, and a small coke and 2 chicken snack wraps from McDonalds (now I know you're laughing at that, but sugar and caffeine help me wake up and feel more energized, and I hadn't made a lunch so a chicken wrap seemed to make sense). I've done this before and felt great, with the addition of shot blocks before I start hiking and periodically during the hike. </div>
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Today was different. Maybe I didn't eat enough the night before, or eat enough carbs, I'm not sure. But I felt EXHAUSTED right away, just completely drained as soon as I had to start climbing. This wasn't good.</div>
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The trail started to level out a bit though. At one point, it starts to look a lot more like other hikes, and it starts veering to the left more. Rocks and roots made for short climbs, but generally, the trail was very reasonable and felt like it was slowly going around a mountain (looking at a map, I basically was).</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qOp5wPjNbGE/UeRGoseM9bI/AAAAAAAAGiM/ZLgOsaAVdz8/s1600/IMG_1114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qOp5wPjNbGE/UeRGoseM9bI/AAAAAAAAGiM/ZLgOsaAVdz8/s400/IMG_1114.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I had to take way more rests than I wanted, because I just didn't have anything in me. It was at this point that I started to feel STARVING too. And this was where I learned that you really do need to eat a lot when you're trying to walk up a mountain. I've slowly gotten better at eating the right things, not eating too much that I get cramps, drinking tons of water, etc. But I have been blowing it on giving my body the amount of energy it needs. Today would be a learning experience.</div>
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Look how psyched I am!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">sweet apple shirt mike</span></div>
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But eventually, after taking much longer than I wanted, I reached a brief section of almost rock climbing,</div>
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and I was at the top of Mount Starr King.</div>
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I had read reports that said there were decent views from Starr King but none from Waumbek, so I took a lot of awful pictures, holding my camera as high as I could and angling it from the top of the rock I was standing on. After a minute, I realized that where the trail was going to take me would offer much better views. </div>
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The sort-of view from Starr King:</div>
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This spot was pretty neat though, as it was completely clear cut, with exposed rock and a... chimney?</div>
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Apparently there used to be a shelter of some sort up here. There were remnants of fires too, from people who must have stayed here.</div>
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I only hung out here for a while though, and I was confused the entire time. Every trip report I had seen said to just follow the trail, and you'd get to the top of Waumbek. But in every direction I could see, I was at the highest point. I could see where the trail took me (it continues behind the chimney, to the right), and it looked lower than where I was. </div>
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But there was really nowhere else to go, so I just went with it. At this point, I was exhausted from battling Starr King and wanted to just be at the top of Waumbek so I could turn around. I started hiking extremely fast, the whole time weirded out that I was either walking downhill, or completely flat.</div>
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The woods ruled though. Very moosey/squatchy, and tons of old man's beard all over every tree. I really felt like I was in deep wilderness.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QkMni1qDxSE/UeRGruzcK0I/AAAAAAAAGjU/8zHTt7Y_aH8/s1600/IMG_1148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QkMni1qDxSE/UeRGruzcK0I/AAAAAAAAGjU/8zHTt7Y_aH8/s640/IMG_1148.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Eventually, the trail started climbing again, and I knew that I was on the right track. Apparently there are technically only 239 feet of elevation gain over the mile you hike from the top of Starr King to Waumbek, but you lose a lot right away hiking in between them, so it feels like a lot more. I was once again exhausted, soaked and panting, wanting to be at the top of my 5th 4,000 footer.</div>
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And then I was!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">I don't know what my face is doing.</span></div>
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In hiking, there's nothing quite like that feeling where you know the top is in view, just a short ways away. I usually stop, regain my breath, and really try to enjoy the last pitch since I know the reward is up there. This was a pretty blah summit though, just a clearing with a cairn. But damn, it felt good.</div>
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In my few years of being into hiking, I've learned that most online guides that say "limited views" or "obstructed views" or "no views" aren't entirely accurate. Whether they were posted years ago before people cleared out space, or people are just only happy with unobstructed 360 views, I'm not sure. But I decided to see if there was anything here, and kept following the trail.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qpXSj8TwI0w/UeRGs-cnpgI/AAAAAAAAGj4/pcfmVKe2DCI/s1600/IMG_1153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qpXSj8TwI0w/UeRGs-cnpgI/AAAAAAAAGj4/pcfmVKe2DCI/s640/IMG_1153.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I was surprised to see this sign, since I assumed people only hiked this trail to cross Waumbek off their list and get the hell out of there. Apparently there's a LOT more hiking to do if you want it.</div>
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And right after that, there was a clearing where a bunch of trees had been knocked down, and A VIEW.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5abAPqSAuEA/UeRGvsKZb5I/AAAAAAAAGks/l_KamN-Lgv0/s1600/IMG_2874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5abAPqSAuEA/UeRGvsKZb5I/AAAAAAAAGks/l_KamN-Lgv0/s640/IMG_2874.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">HDR makes everything better</span></div>
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I took too many pictures and hung out too long here, just psyched to actually have a view. It was weird how the presidentials (at least I think that's what I was looking at?) seemed so far away, and in turn, seemed so big. I felt like I wasn't really that high up at all. And that's a very odd feeling, since this was my 6th hike of the year and was absolutely the highest up I'd been.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">ABMM: Always be mean-muggin.</span></div>
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I said goodbye to the summit (I don't see me hiking this one again), and headed out. I felt like I truly flew through this section. Maybe it's because I was trying to figure out why my headphones were suddenly only giving me sound out of one side.</div>
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I saw some sweet stuff like a root that looked like a hand,</div>
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and this stump which looked to me like a Swamp Thing-esque woods monster,</div>
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and once I switched ipods (yes, I hike so prepared that I bring a second ipod in case one breaks (and it wasn't my headphones, my main ipod's headphone jack is now broken and only gives you sound from one channel)), the rest of the way down was pretty uneventful. I settled into "go as far as you can without stopping" mode since I was trying to get down before it was dark, and just flew. I think I only stopped 3 times, one of which was at the top of Starr King again, where I ate the last of my food.</div>
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I got to the bottom in daylight (although it was 7), stretched as best as I could. switched my shoes, changed my shirt, took advil, and got out of there as fast as I could. I felt like my heart was still beating fast as I drove out. </div>
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I made it to Conway before I felt I had to turn on my lights, and miraculously, my headlight that was out decided to work again. So I had had a successful hike and my car performed miracles to keep me from getting pulled over. Good day!</div>
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I stretched a ton before I went to bed and took it easy the next few days. I never really felt that stiff or hurt, which means, somehow, with way less hiking than last year before my first big hike this year, and with no real weight or diet change, I was somehow in way better shape this year than previous ones. Maybe my body has finally learned that I'm gonna keep doing this to myself, and it's just finally gotten used to it. I don't know, but I'm happy about it. 5 down, 43 to go! haahha</div>
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The short version: This is another of those 4,000 footers that most people will only hike if they're going for them all. It's waaaay up north, the trail is pretty unexciting, and there's not much for views, or at least the views aren't THAT great. But, the trail is mostly reasonable and forgiving in the elevation gain aspect of things. Other than the bottom section which can get pretty muddy, it generally has pretty good footing too. This is definitely the 4,000 footer I needed. It's still a lot of work, but out of the 48, it's one of the more easy ones- if you're not sure if you're in shape to try any of the others, this is a great starting point, or at least a great first-of-the-season hike. </div>
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-Directions: Take 16 north to Gorham, turn left to go West on Route 2. Starr King Road is several miles down there (on the right), and is almost directly across from a golf course. There is only one trail which is extremely easy to follow.</div>
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-Hike Time: About 5 hours.</div>
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-Mileage: 7.2 round trip (2.6 to Starr King, 1 to Waumbek, repeat)</div>
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-Elevation gain: 2,628 feet</div>
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-Summit elevation: 4,006 (Starr King is 3,907)</div>
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-Number of people seen on the hike: 6 in the first 20 minutes, then I had the mountain to myself</div>
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-Number of times I fell: 1</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Music listened to: Koji- <i>Crooked In My Mind</i>, My Chemical Romance- <i>Conventional Weapons</i>, Lydia- <i>Devil</i>, Dorena- <i>About Everything And More</i>, The Wonder Years- <i>The Greatest Generation</i>, Killswitch Engage- <i>Disarm The Descent</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: The Story So Far- Under Soil And Dirt</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-20242968030924541032013-07-15T12:56:00.001-07:002013-07-15T12:56:24.361-07:00Mount Potash<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I'm an idiot. </div>
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Last <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/11/squamtoberfest-7-part-1.html">October</a>, on one of my favorite weekends of the year, I randomly found out about Mount Potash at night, then decided to hike it the next day using 1 trail guide. To be fair, it was the only one I could find at the time, but I followed it like a true idiot. It recommended ignoring the "UNH trails trailhead" and walking up a gated off fire road instead. It said it was shortly after Bear Notch Road. SO, being an idiot, I found Bear Notch Road (off the Kancamagus Highway), then drove back and forth for like 2 miles looking for this famed fire road. Never once did I consider that maybe whoever put together the guide had a different definition of "shortly" and that maybe it's more like 2-3 miles. I also had never heard of the "UNH trails" (UNH is in Durham, not the White Mountains), so I guess I thought it was slang or something? I don't know. There really is no excuse. I'm just one of the stupidest people alive. The trailhead couldn't be more obvious:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VGBlOq0Rc-8/UeGa24zqpbI/AAAAAAAAGe4/SfaEKDJbmf4/s1600/IMG_2660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VGBlOq0Rc-8/UeGa24zqpbI/AAAAAAAAGe4/SfaEKDJbmf4/s400/IMG_2660.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">IT EVEN SAYS THE MOUNTAIN ON THE SIGN</span></div>
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and the fire road shortly after was just as obvious too. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XJbGT5nV-wg/UeGa3edbByI/AAAAAAAAGfA/7NlVBOlGWW0/s1600/IMG_2661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XJbGT5nV-wg/UeGa3edbByI/AAAAAAAAGfA/7NlVBOlGWW0/s400/IMG_2661.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">to be fair, the hike guide had a picture of pretty much just the gate, and it looked almost exactly like what I walked up. But still. I suck.</span></div>
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So I had a miserable time, cursed the internet and hated everything, all because I'm dumb. Truthfully, in hindsight, I'm kind of happy I didn't hike it back then though, since it poured all over us, and if we had actually been hiking the mountain and not just some road in the woods, we wouldn't have been able to enjoy what is truly an awesome hike. </div>
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After laughing at my stupidity, I parked and got ready. There's a lot of parking.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xHglMyg-jLg/UeGaxYeg8EI/AAAAAAAAGc4/U3ilblSS8JM/s1600/IMG_0969.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xHglMyg-jLg/UeGaxYeg8EI/AAAAAAAAGc4/U3ilblSS8JM/s400/IMG_0969.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Immediately to the right (behind the sign) is a sweet little pond with a billion frogs.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rntCRSF5YdM/UeGax-fy1XI/AAAAAAAAGc8/knL7BTqZSzc/s1600/IMG_0970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rntCRSF5YdM/UeGax-fy1XI/AAAAAAAAGc8/knL7BTqZSzc/s400/IMG_0970.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And immediately to the left is a very helpful sign.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-IsJgM89lQ/UeGax_MCD6I/AAAAAAAAGdA/HqGLMOFwtvk/s1600/IMG_0971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F-IsJgM89lQ/UeGax_MCD6I/AAAAAAAAGdA/HqGLMOFwtvk/s400/IMG_0971.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I went straight up a very boring road for a bit,</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PMwiIKnUf9c/UeGayPYAAOI/AAAAAAAAGdM/E9Sah9iAeT8/s1600/IMG_0972.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PMwiIKnUf9c/UeGayPYAAOI/AAAAAAAAGdM/E9Sah9iAeT8/s400/IMG_0972.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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then turned right onto the very obvious Mount Potash trail.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vo94LAf8lnQ/UeGayTcacXI/AAAAAAAAGdU/toRrTRnDAlQ/s1600/IMG_0973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vo94LAf8lnQ/UeGayTcacXI/AAAAAAAAGdU/toRrTRnDAlQ/s400/IMG_0973.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTTcd_RYyak/UeGayveVgbI/AAAAAAAAGdc/t08qam2mDSE/s1600/IMG_0974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CTTcd_RYyak/UeGayveVgbI/AAAAAAAAGdc/t08qam2mDSE/s400/IMG_0974.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And then I hit the almighty brook crossing that online guides recommended I avoid. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iBbJdVB7B7k/UeGay2VeYUI/AAAAAAAAGdk/tGeIk1O4ras/s1600/IMG_0975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iBbJdVB7B7k/UeGay2VeYUI/AAAAAAAAGdk/tGeIk1O4ras/s640/IMG_0975.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was NOTHING! To be fair, I could imagine it getting a lot worse after a lot of rain. And I ran into an older couple here too, who had given up and decided to not try to hike Mount Potash afterall, since they didn't know how to cross the river. I grew up on a lake and ran and jumped across rocks through my whole childhood, so I already know that I feel much more confident and balanced doing this than a lot of people, but still. This wasn't bad at all. And you can always take your shoes off if necessary. Don't bother with the avoid-the-brook-way. Just hike the regular trail. It's way better.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J3dDbi8Im-c/UeGazNYXWDI/AAAAAAAAGds/TxqdGF27ysg/s1600/IMG_0977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J3dDbi8Im-c/UeGazNYXWDI/AAAAAAAAGds/TxqdGF27ysg/s640/IMG_0977.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">the other side</span></div>
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The trail then started climbing a bit (it had basically been flat so far).</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DEnPmgsegt0/UeGazT1xWQI/AAAAAAAAGd0/2qioK_fShmU/s1600/IMG_0978.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DEnPmgsegt0/UeGazT1xWQI/AAAAAAAAGd0/2qioK_fShmU/s400/IMG_0978.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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and after seeing a dog and a young woman (I was certain I'd see nobody on this hike and I was already at 3 people and a dog), I eventually came to where the boring fire road meets up with the trail. I'd rather hike almost any trail than walk up this:</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bLa0LfDavas/UeGaz31AgDI/AAAAAAAAGd8/4v4UsRu46g8/s1600/IMG_0982.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bLa0LfDavas/UeGaz31AgDI/AAAAAAAAGd8/4v4UsRu46g8/s400/IMG_0982.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The turn onto the trail was very obvious:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e3yo4CZ1-DI/UeGa0Hj-PLI/AAAAAAAAGeE/XzONCERFQ0g/s1600/IMG_0983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e3yo4CZ1-DI/UeGa0Hj-PLI/AAAAAAAAGeE/XzONCERFQ0g/s400/IMG_0983.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And although not that steep, the climbing continued.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OVCcerBwnsA/UeGa0TqlYzI/AAAAAAAAGeM/S3hHOglD5IE/s1600/IMG_0988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OVCcerBwnsA/UeGa0TqlYzI/AAAAAAAAGeM/S3hHOglD5IE/s400/IMG_0988.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I loved the amount of roots and leaves showing. I am a huge fan of hiking lesser-known mountains, and the messiness of the trail added to the remote feeling. Although, soon, it started to turn more into an exposed rock climb with a billion roots. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s1YpeufyMkw/UeGa1E4iRwI/AAAAAAAAGeY/mb54WTvan1E/s1600/IMG_0992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-s1YpeufyMkw/UeGa1E4iRwI/AAAAAAAAGeY/mb54WTvan1E/s640/IMG_0992.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KpgwdYV8L6M/UeGa1NTTpLI/AAAAAAAAGec/2krQ_heXjc4/s1600/IMG_0995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KpgwdYV8L6M/UeGa1NTTpLI/AAAAAAAAGec/2krQ_heXjc4/s640/IMG_0995.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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This was a great hike so far. It started very flat, gradually built up, had a few switchbacks, and then just climbed in a straight line, which normally I hate, but because the surrounding woods were so awesome, it was actually pretty cool. </div>
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I then came out to a view that's better than a lot of summits I've been on:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X9HKnV49Tdg/UeGa3-LNUFI/AAAAAAAAGfM/VOrWcIHzNJs/s1600/IMG_2738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X9HKnV49Tdg/UeGa3-LNUFI/AAAAAAAAGfM/VOrWcIHzNJs/s640/IMG_2738.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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You get to walk along an exposed ridge with Passaconaway Mountain and Whiteface staring down at you. It's an awesome spot that I hung out at for awhile. Looking the opposite direction, you can even see Chocorua in the distance.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KeXebTpNa6Y/UeQw07oUXzI/AAAAAAAAGfo/nMQ-VhNBWO8/s1600/IMG_1014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KeXebTpNa6Y/UeQw07oUXzI/AAAAAAAAGfo/nMQ-VhNBWO8/s640/IMG_1014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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But this wasn't the summit, and although I was tired, I wanted to get there. Online guides had said there were views, but they didn't talk much about them, so I assumed this would be the best view I'd get- I just didn't want to hike half a mountain. Immediately I was back in the woods and climbing again.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QcdCqxJ1CRQ/UeGa1eKyOLI/AAAAAAAAGeg/xwS9uqNpsGQ/s1600/IMG_1006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QcdCqxJ1CRQ/UeGa1eKyOLI/AAAAAAAAGeg/xwS9uqNpsGQ/s640/IMG_1006.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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This trail was great though- after a steep section, it turned left and gradually climbed over a lot of big rocks and roots. Slow going yes, but much more interesting and friendly than straight up. It then went along a ridge a bit, and came out to exposed rock. Things got steep.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T0IkHFEjabg/UeGa2BKUK6I/AAAAAAAAGew/JuOTUue_jfM/s1600/IMG_1016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T0IkHFEjabg/UeGa2BKUK6I/AAAAAAAAGew/JuOTUue_jfM/s640/IMG_1016.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KCphQVw_Wig/UeQw0rtDpuI/AAAAAAAAGfs/uFySM2Wu86c/s1600/IMG_1019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KCphQVw_Wig/UeQw0rtDpuI/AAAAAAAAGfs/uFySM2Wu86c/s640/IMG_1019.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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I was starting to really feel like I was getting some good elevation. Turning around, Passaconaway watched. I began to feel afraid of this mountain.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTBmyh4ZJhg/UeQzT2WwjsI/AAAAAAAAGhY/SUFJffvSvEY/s1600/IMG_1056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LTBmyh4ZJhg/UeQzT2WwjsI/AAAAAAAAGhY/SUFJffvSvEY/s640/IMG_1056.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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After some solid climbing and exhaustion, I was at the top.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bdK1tLVQjc4/UeQw1fjzn-I/AAAAAAAAGgA/Jvrb5v9G5Tc/s1600/IMG_2606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bdK1tLVQjc4/UeQw1fjzn-I/AAAAAAAAGgA/Jvrb5v9G5Tc/s640/IMG_2606.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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And it was glorious. This immediately became one of my favorite hikes I've done and an instant addition to the "I will absolutely hike this again" department. Here are a bunch of ridiculous HDR shots.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RJCiM8vvJxY/UeQw2gP-NNI/AAAAAAAAGgY/E-TJF1xIg_Q/s1600/IMG_2740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RJCiM8vvJxY/UeQw2gP-NNI/AAAAAAAAGgY/E-TJF1xIg_Q/s640/IMG_2740.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The sharp ones are the Tripyramids.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3M7UNqAgdPA/UeQw3UoMwYI/AAAAAAAAGgc/LMaRenf4-RE/s1600/IMG_2742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3M7UNqAgdPA/UeQw3UoMwYI/AAAAAAAAGgc/LMaRenf4-RE/s640/IMG_2742.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-owlPOxT2178/UeQw38Cc3nI/AAAAAAAAGgk/YG_GKeUUWeY/s1600/IMG_2743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-owlPOxT2178/UeQw38Cc3nI/AAAAAAAAGgk/YG_GKeUUWeY/s640/IMG_2743.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Passaconaway from the summit</span></div>
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I love this one. Any time I can take a picture where it looks like the trail takes you off a cliff, I'll take that picture. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0qSdOfy_jwA/UeQw4Ux-ywI/AAAAAAAAGgw/u8feqFWxMLc/s1600/IMG_2754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0qSdOfy_jwA/UeQw4Ux-ywI/AAAAAAAAGgw/u8feqFWxMLc/s640/IMG_2754.JPG" width="478" /></a></div>
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I attempted to get some sort of panorama using iphone apps, but they never work. So I just took a bunch of pictures with my actual camera and did the best I could in photoshop to connect them. This isn't perfect but it came out way better than it should have. I absolutely loved the view- tons of mountains to the East (left), a valley of flatness, and then monsters in the distant north (right). Click the picture, it's huge.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9erHj_Sx0tg/UeQzMIf7s8I/AAAAAAAAGhQ/eVAj3Pw09vY/s1600/mountpotashpanorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9erHj_Sx0tg/UeQzMIf7s8I/AAAAAAAAGhQ/eVAj3Pw09vY/s640/mountpotashpanorama.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I spent a long time up there and took way too many pictures. The black flies were out in full force, and I tried my best to not let them ruin my time. But they worked HARD. Eventually, I forced myself to leave to get away from them and to stop taking HDR pictures I'd have to put together and edit later on. I still had like 30 pictures though. Ughk.</div>
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Going back down the open rock face was awesome, but further made me terrified to attempt to hike Passaconaway. It's a monster. Once back in the woods, the rock trail going downhill was extremely interesting.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jSGinwmixYg/UeQw1UKR4dI/AAAAAAAAGgE/H4an6QAPAWU/s1600/IMG_1058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jSGinwmixYg/UeQw1UKR4dI/AAAAAAAAGgE/H4an6QAPAWU/s400/IMG_1058.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I stopped and hung out on the ridge again, and took some terrible pictures.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">sweet apple shirt!</span></div>
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The hike down was uneventful but not bad. I never got too dead, and going with my theme this summer of not hiking down mountains in the dark, I was happy to finish in daylight. What a great hike.</div>
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On the way home, I decided I didn't have enough pictures and pulled over on the side of the road to catch some early sunset pictures. I wish I had found this valley somewhere and it was some great secret, but nope. This is just the beauty of the Kanc (with HDR)</div>
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From there, I took the mandatory "it's sunset, go take pictures" stop at Chocorua Lake and wow was I happy I did. It was like this guy knew I'd be there. Or he just really gets life and spends every sunset fishing with this view. If I lived on this lake, I certainly would.</div>
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Man, what a great hike. The pictures I took on the way home helped, but even without them, I couldn't be happier with Mount Potash. Based on online guides, most people parked at this trailhead hike the UNH trails to Mount Hedgehog. I don't know why Potash isn't insanely popular. It's a very reasonable mountain for elevation gain and footing, and has an amazing ridge and near 360 degree gorgeous views from a mostly exposed summit. I loved it and couldn't recommend it more. </div>
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Directions: Heading west from Conway on the Kancamagus Highway, look for the trailhead on the left, a few miles after Bear Notch Road and some visitor's center (which has bathrooms). The trail has signs everywhere you need them. </div>
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Summit: 2,680 feet</div>
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Mileage Round Trip: 4.4 miles</div>
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Elevation gain: about 1,500 feet</div>
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$3 to park unless you're a jerk</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: Jimmy Eat World- "Damage"</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-89141821663171254662013-07-10T12:11:00.004-07:002013-07-10T12:11:42.204-07:00The Belknaps part 2: Piper Mountain from Whiteface trail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Waaaaay back, I hiked Whiteface Mountain. (Click <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/04/mount-whiteface-belknap-range.html">here</a> if you want directions.) It was a pretty blah hike with a pretty blah view, but at an intersection, there were signs for Piper, another mountain I hiked last year (along with <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/05/piper-belknap-and-gunstock-mountains.html">Belknap and Gunstock</a>). I wanted to see what that trail was like, so I decided to (I think for the first time in my hiking career) hike a mountain from an opposite side to see if it's a better route. It was.</div>
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I started at the same trailhead for Whiteface, got barked at by a dog, felt awkward as I walked into the woods between 2 houses, began the ascent, and visited the old destroyed house again. It looked about the same, but perhaps a little more destroyed.</div>
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I was feeling good and happy, knowing that the intersection wasn't far away, so I just listened to my music and enjoyed being in the woods.</div>
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I got to the intersection pretty quickly. It's quite obvious.</div>
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I took a break here, then headed up. The trail started out almost at the width of a fireroad, and was also much steeper than I was expecting- not bad at all, but still- I started to feel exhausted and out of energy, and it was only getting steeper. After a short while, it did something I wasn't expecting at all, and opened up into open rock face which was pretty awesome. </div>
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At this time, the black flies started to annoy me to the point where I was visibly crazy from them. I don't understand these bugs. They never bite me. They barely even land on me. They just fly around me and get in my face for NO REASON. I eventually just shut my eyes and sprayed bug spray in my face. It helped, sort of.</div>
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Look at this sweet bug!</div>
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As I climbed, the mountain started to open up, and turning around, I saw how awesome of a hike this had now become.</div>
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This was a very unique view of Whiteface and the flatter land in between the Belknaps and Winnipesaukee, and it was quite pretty. The trail was too. I'm not a big fan of open rock face climbing- often they're way too steep with bad grips, and I basically just spend the entire climb waiting to slip. But this one was great- not very steep, tons of grip, and lots of trees, rock pileups and cairns everywhere. This is a good hike.</div>
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I saw a sign I didn't notice last time I was up here. Man, I love trail signs and stuff like this. </div>
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And then I was at the summit.</div>
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It's no grand 4000 footer view, but for an hour drive and an easy to medium hike, it's pretty solid.</div>
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I spent awhile on those rocks, thinking of how cool it would be to have a concert up there. That rock formation could absolutely be a stage, and the fans would have the band with a sunset behind them, while the band got to look out over the mountains. I played air guitar to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYMeQripObM">this song</a>, and imagined how awesome something like that would be, then spent the next 20 minutes hiking wondering if something like that would even be possible. The logistics alone are absurd, and I'm sure it's illegal. Maybe something acoustic? I'm putting it in the idea hat.</div>
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On the way back down, I noticed another sign, and wondered what South Piper and Swett Mountains were. </div>
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I took the trail and either I'm terrible at following trails, or it pretty much stopped after a very short while. It came out to a sort of clearing that could actually be South Piper/Swett, but I'm not sure. I was happy I took it though, because there were some great spots for pictures in there. </div>
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Like this skeleton arm tree coming out of the ground. If it had been dark when I was up here, this might have been a problem.</div>
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There was also a small puddle pond that, after some editing, became absolutely glorious. What a pretty spot.</div>
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But the highlight of the hike for me was this view. On the way back down, you come out of the woods and there is a skijump-esque ledge to tree tops. I sat there for awhile and really took it all in. </div>
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Seriously, backcountry ski bums need to make a jump out of this. </div>
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I decided to be that guy and take a picture of me staring out at the great beyond. It worked with surprising results. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">King of the Belknaps</span></div>
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I really loved this hike. It was harder than I was expecting though. I can't find mileage, but I'm guessing it's 3-4 miles roundtrip with around 1200 feet of elevation gain- certainly not hard by hiker standards, but I was thinking it would be smaller. I was very surprised at how much of a hike was left when I reached the split, and I thought of the random dude we hiked with when we did Piper, Belknap and Gunstock, who, while we sat and chilled at the top of Piper, claimed to have hiked down to Whiteface and back, and still caught up with us halfway up Belknap. The guy was either an absolute monster of a hiker (which he did seem to be), or he didn't go all the way to Whiteface (as I think it would have added like 3 miles to the trip). I'll probably never know. I'm going to choose to believe that he was a monster.</div>
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Anyway, yea, this was a beautiful hike with unique perspectives, a sweet ledge/skijump with an amazing view, a great long trip across fairly flat rock face, and an awesome view from the top. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a hike in the Belknaps who doesn't want to hike Major- this, along with West Quarry and Major are probably my favorites. It didn't hurt that I didn't see a single person the entire time either. Love those Belknaps!</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: xx-small;">currently listening to: Dorena- "Nuet"</span></i></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-13785632959737370002013-07-04T12:22:00.000-07:002013-07-04T12:22:02.552-07:00The Belknaps part 2: West Quarry Mountain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;">After hiking Blue Job for probably the 10th time, then Agamenticus for the 4th, I decided the next logical step in my get-leg-muscles-working-again-after-not-moving-for-4-months hiking progression was to hit up something in my treasured Belknap Range. Since I got no view the </span><a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/06/west-quarry-mountain.html" style="text-align: left;">last time</a><span style="text-align: left;"> I hiked West Quarry Mountain, I decided to get the view I had already earned. </span></div>
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This time, where the trail splits (left is "easier" but no ledges and advised when it's raining, right is ledges and "steeper" (I put both in quotations cuz I'm pretty sure they're equally both quite steep)), I went right to the ledges. If there was a view on this mountain, this is where it would be. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">turn right for ledge views</span></div>
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The hike turned quite steep instantly, just as I had been warned. It looked sweet though.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0wGLQWZIHm0/Uc8_fDPntYI/AAAAAAAAGYI/7JyM3IrBPCY/s1600/IMG_2211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0wGLQWZIHm0/Uc8_fDPntYI/AAAAAAAAGYI/7JyM3IrBPCY/s640/IMG_2211.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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And sure enough, there were some damn fine views (for a smaller mountain) along the ledges. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SAGIBw5k3iE/Uc8_fH0ZWII/AAAAAAAAGYA/3d4ePH-ds6w/s1600/IMG_2215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SAGIBw5k3iE/Uc8_fH0ZWII/AAAAAAAAGYA/3d4ePH-ds6w/s640/IMG_2215.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I took an HDR directly into the sun, looking at what I'm pretty sure is <a href="http://alifemoreawesome.blogspot.com/2012/06/rand-klem-and-mack-mountains-loop.html">Rand Mountain</a>. I'm pretty happy with the results.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nT-w3ovaRU4/Uc8_iN1y0kI/AAAAAAAAGY8/iNHskK0llXI/s1600/IMG_2275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nT-w3ovaRU4/Uc8_iN1y0kI/AAAAAAAAGY8/iNHskK0llXI/s640/IMG_2275.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I was instantly happy that I had revisited West Quarry. The trail was just as overgrown and remote as before, possibly even more so. It's just a solid smaller hike with a cool trail (once you get off the boring fire road) and finally, some awesome views. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DTxHCiqh4Qc/Uc8_fAuKsjI/AAAAAAAAGYM/zBEhTp3xpZs/s640/IMG_2226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DTxHCiqh4Qc/Uc8_fAuKsjI/AAAAAAAAGYM/zBEhTp3xpZs/s400/IMG_2226.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">still don't understand why every mountain doesn't have a summit sign...</span></div>
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I decided that it was early enough and I felt good enough that I would follow the trail for a bit past the summit, in the direction of East Quarry Mountain, one that isn't part of the group you have to hike for a patch, but still in the range. </div>
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From on top of a huge rock, I could see water below, which someday, I may bushwack my way down to. It looked pretty awesome even though I could barely get a picture.</div>
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At this point, I decided I would see if I could get to East Quarry, and continued on, losing a lot of elevation gain right away (ughk). The woods opened up into a weird field of crushed grass and a very clear path. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MW9DcFzg2LM/Uc8_g3R9G2I/AAAAAAAAGYc/DEBwpNdqvwc/s1600/IMG_2228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MW9DcFzg2LM/Uc8_g3R9G2I/AAAAAAAAGYc/DEBwpNdqvwc/s400/IMG_2228.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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Do UFOs land here?</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KPU57OXABuE/Uc8_f9mp-qI/AAAAAAAAGYQ/O157CHi8t_Q/s1497/IMG_2227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KPU57OXABuE/Uc8_f9mp-qI/AAAAAAAAGYQ/O157CHi8t_Q/s640/IMG_2227.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The trail was pretty awesome the whole way- just as remote and solitary as the rest of West Quarry. Eventually, it came out to a clearing where trucks had been years ago, probably for clear cutting based on the ugliness and randomness of it. It did allow for a pretty awesome view of Winnipesaukee though, one that I absolutely wasn't expecting to find:</div>
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I almost missed where the trail went from here, but there was a small cairn to mark it. </div>
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I continued on for awhile, until I came to a steep drop, and realized a mountain was staring me in the face. It was a steep drop into a steep climb, all to a mountain I've heard there are no views from. Someday I will climb East Quarry, but at this point, it was starting to get late and I was determined to not hike down any mountains in the dark this year, so I decided to save my legs and start walking back. </div>
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Other than a pretty awesome view of the beginnings of sunset the entire walk back (which was hard to capture),</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xztIE1Rs0Fc/UdCL40ziXkI/AAAAAAAAGZg/s_fpSan_y_k/s1600/IMG_2261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xztIE1Rs0Fc/UdCL40ziXkI/AAAAAAAAGZg/s_fpSan_y_k/s400/IMG_2261.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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and the awesome trees-are-on-fire effect it created on the tops of trees,</div>
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the way down was pretty uneventful. It was a solid hike though- exactly what my legs and lungs needed to prepare for bigger mountains, views I didn't get the last time I was up here, and some exploration. </div>
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And of course, on the way home, I had to stop at Alton Bay to spend some time with the gorgeous sunset. </div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>currently listening to: The Used- "In Love And Death"</i></span></div>
mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2828932765357998630.post-75164603703977492842013-07-03T17:02:00.002-07:002013-07-03T17:02:27.116-07:00HEY!Remember when I updated this blog?<br />
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2 years and 5 weeks ago, I quit my job of 5 years, moved out of the basement I was living in, and tried out living in NH with 2 of my best friends. This blog started as a way to document me taking the plunge into vacation-life. It was a way to show my friends at Apple what I was doing (and make them jealous)- that I wasn't just hanging out and sleeping all day. And it was a way to keep track of my life in a way I could fully control and explore. And perhaps most importantly, it was a way of reminding myself to do my best to be more awesome than I was.<br />
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Initially, nearly everything I did deserved a blog post. Some posts were "I went swimming today, here are pictures." I very quickly realized that this blog was basically a collection of pictures I took when I did things, whether they were things worth writing about or not.<br />
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Over time, it became more of a replacement for facebook. Does a party really warrant a "I changed my life for the better" post on a blog called "A life more awesome?" Probably not. But it was easier and more fun to post the pictures in blog format instead of a facebook photo album. As time has gone on, I've clearly updated this less and less. In fact, regular readers will agree here- it's basically become a mixture between hiking recaps/guides and facebook photo albums.<br />
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Some of that has to do with people reading it less, and the excitement wearing off. Not working has become my regular day to day life, and people don't necessarily care about everything I do. Last fall, I entertained the idea of having a separate blog for essays- stuff I wanted to rant or rave about that didn't necessarily fit the theme of this blog. But I never did it. I was stuck in a weird "does anyone care? Do I even care?" funk.<br />
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And sadly, I fell into the same depressed, "I don't want to do anything" lazy hole I fall into every winter, and I just stopped updating it all together. I didn't even pretend. I've listed out albums of the year for the next year, I've done a bunch of art that I was saving for a post and still haven't posted, and I'm now up to like 7 hikes that I took pictures of and kept note of key things to write about. But I just haven't. I wasn't excited about the blog. I felt that unless I got comments on here or at least likes on facebook, nobody was reading it. And if nobody was reading it, what was the point of continuing to update it? The fact that it should be for me- the fact that keeping a blog like this is a way of having everything important to me documented forever- the idea of looking back on my life and reminiscing as well as seeing growth towards becoming more of an awesome person- that was all lost on me. I just got lazy, bored, and started to think of the blog in all the wrong ways.<br />
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This babble entry is to say that I'm officially going to start writing in this blog again. You may not care. Honestly, most of the posts will be about hikes. I have a weird love/hate relationship with hiking, and somehow in the last 2 years, hiking has become a real passion to me. I'm still planning on hiking all the 4000 footers in NH, and am still unhappy with a lot of the online guides I've found for hikes in the area. I want to use this blog to help anyone who may find it by giving good guides and recaps for the other people like me who research the shit out of hikes they're about to go on.<br />
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I'm also going to try very hard to have more art and more music stuff on here. I'm debating trying to sell some of my art, and have been working (not enough) since November on a solo album where I play every instrument. Part of the reason for the blog was to have it help to keep me focused on stuff like that. It hasn't done that for awhile, but rather than give up on it, I'm going to simply try again. I got into the mindset that unless it was a huge accomplishment or a big party that would ensure a lot of views, it wasn't important. But fear not, those who care- it will still document the big weekends and parties that I attend- because they're important.<br />
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I guess not much has really changed, I just wanted to write again and say to the few people who really paid attention to this thing: just as lives change and have ups and downs, so do blogs. And I'm ready to start this up again.<br />
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It also makes a lot of sense to start blogging again now that my never-ending summer of awesome is officially coming to an end. Money is very low and I just spent several hours doing something I haven't really done in 7 years- writing a resume. I hope to have a job by August (if I don't, I'm in trouble), and the only way to keep the blog alive and keep reminding myself of not just mine, but everyone's ability to make things more awesome and live on the positive side of things is to keep blogging through the process of what became normal over the last 2 years dying.<br />
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But that's just the point- it's not going to die. I have something awesome planned for the next 2 months of weekends, and a lot of 4000 footers left to conquer. So, my life is about to change a lot and the content of this blog probably will too, but I'm going to try my damned hardest to keep living a life more awesome. Sometimes just typing this stuff out really brings the feelings home- I absolutely feel like a different person after these last 2 years, and there's no reason I have to go back to being a miserable, overly sarcastic prick who does nothing but go to work and play on the internet. I struggle to not be that person every day, and I think it's taken me writing this out to realize just how much writing this blog helps.<br />
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Blog round 2, begin.mike alexanderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256780587201251794noreply@blogger.com6