D-Bone Fantasy Camp Days 1-2: Incubus, Phish cover band, D'Andreas

My friend Dustin is probably the most messed up person I know. He wakes up every day with absurd amounts of energy, and from what I saw, works out or bikes in the morning, then teaches little kids to play piano or records gangsta rappers in the studio for like 9 hours then comes home crazy, and repeats. He never runs out of energy. He's a lunatic. I enjoy spending time with him, and spending some time at his house was on my list of things to do this summer.

I've also been wanting to record some music or at least learn how to use Logic and the recording gear I bought. So, awhile ago, the perfect plan showed up in my head and I said "Dustin- you have a big house and work... could I just create a ghetto little studio and record music while you're at work and then hang out with you after?" So that's what I did. I went to go live the D-Bone lifestyle while recording sweet tunes for an entire week.

Wednesday was spent gathering everything I needed- all the recording stuff I had, my computer, clothes to last a week, etc.

A small pile that cost a lot of money

I threw everything in the car, stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods to get a bike rack, and headed to Talluto's, to get my drumset which has been living in his basement since I moved. I then proved how amazing I am at packing. Boy, were my back tires low to the ground. 

After a solid 5 hours of driving, I arrived in beautiful Saratoga Springs, NY at around 11pm. Dustin and I talked and watched some late night tv. I decided to see if he could help me with a piano song I was writing. After realizing that I had already figured out what the last chord would be, he started fiddling around with the progression, and I started playing some random high notes as he played. We both stopped when we heard some shuffling and a weird squeek noise that we both heard as Amanda quietly saying "hello?" to us. We were both confused though, since all sound stopped when we stopped playing. And upon investigating, Amanda was still sound asleep and it was just us alone in the living room. Awesome. I was there for 40 minutes and we were already conjuring ghosts. This ought to be an interesting trip.

Dustin woke me up the next day by reciting (in a super high voice) "I'm eating breakfast outside your room! It's delicious!" and then, in a super low voice that kept getting lower, "DON'T MISS THE BUS" over and over again. He's insane. I let him do this for 10 minutes before I finally got out of bed. He worked out and I played some more piano, then when he went to work, I went to work setting up my drums and playing them some. But boy was it easy to get distracted (by the piano, my computer and a random visit from his dad). It was nice to play drums again. It's been about 4 months since I have. It was also nice to see that it didn't seem like I lost anything- I was just as bad as I've always been.

drums and horse paintings

Amanda and Dustin both got home around the same time, and after one of Amanda's friends showed up, we all rode our bikes down to Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) to see Incubus. 

and I continued my smart habit of helmet-less picture taking on my bike

We got balcony seats for 31 bucks, which was pretty sweet, especially since it looked like it was going to rain. We met Dustin's sister and her kids there, and while we waited for Incubus to start, one of said kids figured out that the giant screens on either side of the stage were broadcasting whatever was typed on Incubus' twitter page. So, after "POOP POOP" and "POOP PEE POOP PEE POOP PEE" failed, I tried the even more mature, "I AM SEVERELY GAY" and that showed up. And stayed on the screen for very long. I'm 30. 

Incubus were good and their light show ruled. They played way too much new stuff (only 1 off of S.C.I.E.N.C.E.? Come on!), but they sounded perfect and were entertaining. I hadn't seen them in over 10 years (when they opened for Korn and ORGY). I've only been to 2 shows this summer, and both were of bands I've been listening to forever and both featured bands I haven't seen in a very long time.

trippy

We then did something I'd been looking forward to all summer- riding our bikes out of the crowds and through the streets to one of the best pizza places in the world, D'Andrea's. We did this last summer after the Phish show, and I don't know why it's so wonderful, but it is. There's just something about flying through traffic and over sidewalks in a beautiful summer night that makes me feel incredible and maybe a little bit invincible. And delicious pizza as a stopping point? Heaven.

Maybe my favorite picture from the trip: Happy D-bone, a clusterfuck of bikes, and floating pizza deliciousness.

We then hit up a BAH and headed home. Good first day. 

I slept in a little the next day, but started my nights of not being able to sleep well. I am blaming either spirits, or Dustin just making me so scared to sleep too late- I was always anxious about when I had to get up. Bastard.  I set up my computer and recording interface and started fiddling around with Logic and trying to learn how to record correctly. I had planned everything perfectly for this trip, but didn't bother learning Logic at all in the THREE MONTHS I could have. I also didn't buy enough mic stands. This is pretty much when I learned that this trip would be more a learning experience than a recording trip- how Logic works, how my interface works, where to place mics to get the best sound, what I need for the future, etc. 

at least I did something

Shaun and Natalie showed up somewhere around 9, and we pretty much made them instantly go out to some hidden bar I'd never seen which reminded me of the old clubs I used to see super sketchy metal shows at. 

We were going to see the High Peaks Band though, who did mostly Grateful Dead and Phish covers. We were all pretty certain that Pog was the singer/guitarist.

The hippies were out in full force, and eventually everyone was dancing. But nobody was dancing as hard as Dustin's brother-in-law, Hogan. 

10 hours drunk and loving life

When we got out, we saw that it was somehow 1:40am. Hippie bands make time warp, I think. There was some unbelievably sketchy food "place" that opened up next door right when we got out. It was a guy serving some form of Asian food out of a garage. Yea, that sounds safe. Natalie tried to photobomb the picture I took, but a demon spirit took over her body. 

demon

It was nearly 2 in the morning after partying all night in Saratoga Springs. Where did we end up? You guessed it. D'Andreas. So good.

Amanda, Chicken bacon ranch (my favorite), Shaun looking confused.

Solid first 2 days of the D-Bone lifestyle.

currently listening to- Dredg- Leitmotif

Lakerage

Wow, over a week without a post! As you'll see by future posts, I wasn't slacking- I was busy. I lived with Dustin for a week, which was quite busy and therefore not very conducive to blog writing.

So anyway, lakerage.

After going to bed at like 2 or 3 after hiking Mount Hale and swimming in very cold air, Kevin and I heard Pog walking around outside at about 7:30 in the morning and decided that we would join him in beginning complete ownership of the day. This has become a tradition, and while I used to argue against it ("seriously, you're on vacation and stayed up till 3 drinking... you're gonna get up at 7 in the morning? GO TO SLEEP!!"), I have since changed my ways and agreed that if you're gonna drive all the way up there and basically only have 1 day to party (Sunday is usually a clean-up-hang-out-for-a-bit-and-leave day), you might as well party hard.

Maidstone Lake at 7:30am

So with that in mind, I ate a cliff bar, drank some water and iced tea, and jumped in the lake before 8. I have been threatening for years to swim to the other side of the lake and back, and had decided that this would be the year that it had to happen. I mean, jeez, I have a blog now. I can't back out of it! And I actually practiced by swimming a ton all summer and making sure my arms were super strong and ready to go. So, I slapped on the GoPro and began the swim. Simone randomly joined me- she had said on facebook that she would swim it as well a week earlier, but I didn't fully believe her. Kevin and Pog trailed along in a boat to make sure we didn't drown (i.e. drank beers and didn't pay any attention to us 500 feet away).

Kevin on duty, staring into space and filming god knows what while we drown

It was great, and a beautiful way to start the day. We took our time. Simone did the breaststroke the entire way (must.. hold... back... jokes...) and I switched back and forth between backstroke and sidestroke. I was relaxed and happy, took some time to shed water and talk in the middle, and still flew. It was great.

See those dots? That's me and Simone.

At the other side, I met a wicked awesome dog that was freaking out at the creature that was swimming towards her.

Look next to Pog's left cheek for me and the dog. If it wasn't already obvious, some of these pictures came from Pog. Thanks Pog!

We sat around a bit and swam back. It was both shorter and longer than we thought. It's amazing how much the distance can change when you're in the middle of the lake and you realize how much a trick of the eye it is to think it's much closer than it is. This is often how many people drown during long distance swims- they freak out when they realize how deceptive water is. But considering by every map I looked at, it looked like about a half a mile across, we felt pretty good for starting the day with a mile swim. I now had done the 1 thing I HAD to do, and loved every second of it. I was wide awake, strong and tired at the same time, and felt like I owned the day. And it was like 9am.

Naro cooked some bacon and eggs while Pog sang him a song,

 

I ate this:

Kevin experimented with his GoPro,

And we sat around for a bit while Pog danced for us.

We then loaded everyone up and went on a boat ride to some huge rock at the other end of the lake.

Sarah's dog Moxie stopped moving for 2 seconds for me to take a sweet picture of her, 

and I jumped in to swim some more. I headed to the rock to explore, and quickly realized that Naro had never dropped the anchor that I thought he had, and by the time I decided to turn around, the boat was twice as far away as it had been when I jumped in. Awesome.

When we got back, Pog and I decided to go explore and see if we could find weird stuff underwater. The water was pretty clear, and rocks are amazing in this lake. They are in some of the weirdest shapes I've seen and are ENORMOUS. It was actually pretty scary, just seeing how huge the rocks were next to how fast the lake goes from fun and interesting to immediate drop offs to evil blackness. I'd have amazing footage (since I was swimming with my GoPro), but of course this was when I ran out of space and the stupid thing shut off on me. Pog found quite the treasure though, which we left it for the Naros to find later.

A plastic headless toy found underwater in slime?! Who wouldn't want that?!

Then, while relaxing on the deck, Sarah suddenly freaked out as Moxie was missing and nobody knew how long she had been gone for. After lots of yelling and running, we found her next door surprisingly quickly and we settled back into porch relax mode almost immediately. It was then that I got to see one of my favorite things at lakerage- the moment when we realize how long a day actually is when you start raging at 7:30 in the morning. Naro started fiddling with the grill and asked what people wanted with their chicken. 

"Naro, what are you doing dude?" 

"cooking dinner." 

"dude, it's like 3:30" 

"no... wait, are you serious?"

"actually, now that I'm actually looking, it's 2:45"

So he decided to go on another boat ride. I had hiked a 4,000 footer less than 24 hours ago, swam across a lake and back with a leg that I could barely walk down stairs with, and swam on 3 different occasions. My arms probably wouldn't work the next day and my legs definitely wouldn't. SO, I decided that it was time not to relax, but to continue raging and kayak all over the lake, following the boat. 

When it came time to go back, I took Naro up on his offer to get towed back (my arms were pretty dead), and we invented extreme boat kayaking. It was fun and hilarious, especially when Naro floored it and completely soaked me. Jerk. 

I love kayaking. It felt great to be out there. But, it turns out the real party may have been on the boat:

I swam one more time when we got back, and as darkness settled, I had some nice moments of peace, watching how beautiful the lake can be. I had a feeling here 2 lakerages ago of a supreme bliss I often try to emulate. I had been working extremely hard and felt stress and panic all the time. Work was killing me and I was living a life of walking into my room at the end of the day and just collapsing in my bed and sleeping instantly. Even during lakerage, I felt like I had to do all this stuff and be crazy. Finally, towards the end of the day, I just lay on a float and stared out at the other side of the lake while everyone else prepared dinner and changed into night mode behind me. I just lay there, shutting everything out and doing nothing but existing- there, in that moment. Just me, the lake, my view, and peace. I somehow shut everything off and just realized in that moment, that I was at perfect peace with the world and nothing was bad. "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt." It was glorious. I've tried to have as many moments like that as possible this summer, and although they mean a little bit less without stress, they are still important. 

Loons LOVE this lake.

Pog loves this lake.

How could anyone not love this lake? It's gorgeous.

Come on.

Night set in and we ate and had happy times. Pog stepped it up and surprised us with some glowsticks.

works as a beer holder

or just a sketchy tribal space costume

And Nick surprised us with some fireworks.

I think the last 2 lakerages I've gone to, Nick has brought a pretty serious collection of fireworks, but it had been 2 years since I'd been to one or seen Nick, and he's pretty quiet. So when I suddenly saw him on the neighbors deck messing around with something, I was extremely happy. Nothing says "end of summer party" than fireworks, and he didn't skimp. These were incredible. 

4 people left that night, since we had been watching Hurricane Irene all weekend and had already decided we would be leaving very early on Sunday to avoid it. I stayed and talked some more and slept in a very small room with 4 people and a dog. We got up at 7:30 again the next day and hit the road by 9. It turns out we should have left much earlier, as the worst I saw of the hurricane/tropical storm was while driving from pretty much the top of the white mountains to my house. It was AWFUL driving and I found out half way through the drive that the safe haven I was fighting my way to already had lost power. 

right mike, don't focus on the road while driving through a hurricane- take pictures. 

I made the best of it though, by taking a much needed 4 hour nap, then capitalizing on Rich and Holly's idea to make grilled cheeses by the stove.

3 cheeses and bacon? I'm disgustingly full right now and just got starving. 

We stayed up until the power came back on, reading and talking with a crank radio as our entertainment. This obviously wasn't the best way to end the weekend, but Saturday was awesome enough to fill several weekends. Thank you once again Lakerage, for ruling.  It was a smaller turnout this year, but those who went loved every second, and a smaller turnout meant I got to talk more to people who I don't talk to enough. All in all, another excellent lakerage. 

happy

Here, I made a video. It's good. 

"Lakerage" from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

Kevin made one too. Short and to the point. And featuring dogcam. 

currently listening to: Owl City, Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire, Conditions

4,000 footer #2: Mount Hale

Last weekend was a weekend I look forward to all year- the semi annual trip up to Naro's parents' cabin on Maidstone Lake, VT we like to call Lakerage. That post will be next though (I'm still waiting on some video and pictures). I decided that if I was going to drive super north through the White Mountains to get there, and would be going solo and whenever I wanted, what better way to make the trip more awesome than with another 4,000 footer knocked off the list? Turns out, just going to Lakerage probably would have been more awesome.

I chose Mount Hale- it was the closest to the junction between 302 and Route 3 (meaning it was right on the way), it was 4,054 feet (meaning it was on the short side of the list), and it looked like it had the right amount of mileage and elevation gain.

I left late (WEIRD!), had trouble finding the trailhead, and set off at 5, knowing full well that I'd be finishing in the dark. Did I learn my lesson from the last trip and bring my headlamp? NOPE! (it's in my car right now).

Right away, the trail started up with some climbing, and my lungs started off with some panting. I stuck with my plans- hike for 2 songs, rest with water for 1. I noticed an immediate problem though- I was using old bottles of poland spring water filled up with our sink water from home (which is usually good). I don't know if it was the water or the bottles, but good lord was this some of the worst water I've ever tasted. But I hiked on and figured I'd just have to deal with it.

Awhile in, you cross the very end  of Hale Brook for the first time.

A ways after that, there is a small trail branching off to the right, which takes you to a decent view.

After some more climbing, at about 35% of the way through the hike, you cross the Brook again, and this time it's much nicer. The whole climb leading up to the crossing was really pretty and reminded me (at the steep parts) of the waterfall mountain stream Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins have to cross in The Edge (only with a bear chasing them). 

purdy

This was a nice section.

After more climbing and more awful water, I was punched right in the face by a horrible, horrible realization. I was very tired. I was much more tired than I felt on Tecumseh. And I looked to my left and saw this:

Surely that giant orange mass of mountain wasn't what I had to climb?! Yea, it was. Ughk. Why do people go hiking?

The trail finally got a little more interesting as it started to switchback some and have a lot more rocks. I crossed the Brook again, and this time it was much wetter and more dangerous. This was definitely a cool section, but I had misread some websites before coming, and thought that this second big crossing (3rd overall) meant I had about a half mile left. Nope! This was pretty much half way up. The switchbacks and climbing after this were torture. I almost feel like I would have been better not reading anything before I headed out.

tired

but next to this? not so bad.

The trail started flattening out a little bit, and there was a nice section where I could see some mountaintops (no idea which ones).

Then, more climbing and FINALLY, after 2 hours of pain, false horizons and crappy water, I saw this:

Not only was this the coolest and prettiest section of the trail (and something right out of Middle Earth), but I knew that what lay in that glowing orb of light could only be the summit. Suddenly, I had energy again. 

And I was there. 

There's not much to look at at Hale's summit. I definitely appreciate the endless work it must have taken to build up that pile of rocks- they helped me feel like I conquered something and gave me the ability to at least see some views. 

Rocks and wasteland

This is with my camera held up as high as I could get it.

I went down the other side for a bit because I had read that there's another summit that gave better views. But hiking down some very thin trails and going further into nowhere was a bad idea. I decided at this hour, the only thing I should be doing was going back the way I came. 

I did get some nice sunset-off-the-trees shots though

And that was it. It had taken me about 2:15 to get to the top, and with staying around and taking pictures, it was now 7:40, which, at this time of the year meant there would be no sun in about 30 minutes max, and my twilight night vision would probably only last another 30 past that. This was not a hike worth any views, but it was another 4,000 footer off my list. And this time I brought a sign. 

almost looks like I'm standing on the trees!

I left the dark, lonely summit knowing that I would never be here again. It was kind of a sad feeling to put so much work into something and then just leave 20 minutes later with no plan of ever returning. 

I headed down FAST. Like, 1 mile in probably half an hour fast. I was tripping over some stuff, but I had energy and felt good. I made it to just about the third river crossing when my leg started hurting to the point where I had a moment of panic, realizing it would be very long and very painful before I got off the mountain. 

I guess it's called an IT Band. It's the tendon-like muscle that goes around the outside of your knee. It's what hurt the most towards the end of the Tecumseh hike, and apparently, a week later, it's what decided to hurt 100 times worse on this hike, 1.3 miles up into a dark mountain. I tried to ignore it. I tried to stretch it. I tried to massage it. I hit it. I sat and rested. Nothing I did did anything. After a few moments where I felt like I was going to cry (more out of frustration than pain), I soldiered on, basically taking a small step with my right leg, and then swinging my left around. I basically couldn't bend my left leg without it killing, so I figured this was the only way I could get down. So, I hobbled. I hobbled down the mountain for another hour or so, swinging away, resting, swearing, hurting. I rolled both my ankles several times. One was on my left leg, and I swear I heard it crack as it sent me reeling to the ground in pain and curses. I sat in the dark, just miserable, not being able to do anything. I imagined what it must be like to have this happen on the Appalachian Trail. Ughk.

I poured out all of my water because it was just adding weight to me and I decided I'd rather never drink again than drink that water. I kept having to pause my music and turn it lower because I kept thinking I was hearing bears or demons stalking me. This was a long, long hike down the mountain. I don't think a parking lot has ever looked better in my life. I sat down, laughed a little bit, thanked my lucky stars I had made it, and set off to Lakerage, where I had already said I was going to swim across the lake the next day- which I would apparently now be doing without being able to bend my leg. 

Here's something you may not know about northern NH and VT- there's no cell signal. Anywhere. Doesn't matter what carrier you have, doesn't matter what type of phone. There is no signal. I don't know how an area this big has so many people living in it without cell phones, but I guess people up here just hate being able to call people while they're driving or follow a map on their phone. In case you haven't figured out where I'm going with this, it took me about an hour and a half to drive what should have been a half hour. My GPS on my phone worked, but it was placing me in a tan grid of boxes, since maps refused to load. I didn't see signs, I didn't see turns. It was awful. Having no ability to find anything or call anyone meant I literally just had to drive around until I found signal or found the turn. Lesson learned? Have paper maps in your car. You can't always rely on technology. 

But I finally made it (at 11:30). I missed the night boat ride, but got to have some laughs when Kevin read what we had written in the guest book 6 years ago (the first Lakerage) that we had all forgotten about. 

Pog played guitar very awkwardly

And I decided- fuck it. I had planned on swimming when I got there all along. I was sweaty and muddy from the hike and I wanted the relief of cool water. So what if it was 55 degrees out?

It was GLORIOUS.

My arms change length while night swimming:

super long

super short

__________________________________________________________________________________

The short version: 

The reason you've probably never heard of Mount Hale is the same reason most people only hike it if they're local or if they're knocking another notch off their 4,000 footer belt. There is no view from the summit, and although short in miles, it's a lot of climbing for essentially nothing. The brook crossings were pretty, and the pathway to the summit (above) was unique and beautiful, but completely opposite from Tecumseh, the trail itself is just incredibly dull, uninteresting, and boring. It's a lot of work with little to look at. 

-Turn off 302 onto Zealand Road. A few miles in, there is a small parking lot before a bridge. Drive past this and continue on the dirt road to the next parking lot on your right. The trail (Hale Brook Trail) is marked and on the right side of the parking lot. 

-$3 for parking.

-2.2 miles up.

-2300-ish feet of elevation gain.

-4,054 feet above sea level.