The Notch at Rossiter Ridge

If you look for the V shaped rock in the centre of the picture you are looking at the "notch" of Rossiter Ridge, a fairly distinctive landmark in the West Koots. Today we hiked to the Ridge - I didn't attempt getting up into the Notch - it's pretty much a hike for an accomplished scrambler. What I loved about today was leaving the house at 11:30 a.m. (after we each completed our community service work - me for the library and Dave for Pine Ridge Water Users) we headed out hiking. We were at the high point by 2:30 p.m. We had lots of time to pick huckleberries on the way down (and they are fantastic up there) and still got to sit down for a wine-soaked supper at 7:00 p.m. Proximity is everything.

Macbeth Icefields: Take Two

After a very gruelling walk into MacBeth Icefield last year (see August, 2008 post called 115 Deadfalls) we made a second journey this year. That's because Dave and a small crew went up to the trail in July and cleared out a ton of deadfalls. We only had to climb over two of them on the entire trail (falls that occured during the past 3 weeks). This time, we hiked with the Sunday Hikers and made it all the way to the icefield - a really nice hike. It was a a fine day for a trip like this - quite cool, although next time I'd like the woods to be a little drier. We figure it's about 1200m of vertical gain and I have to say I had difficulty doing stairs on Monday.

Newport Camels

Couldn't resist taking this photo at one of the Newport mansions in Newport, RI. It was our first day in a very hot and humid New England and we enjoyed a lovely coastal walk along the Atlantic Ocean with views of the seacoast to one side, and stately mansions to the other. It's the kind of hiking that I always love. Now if only those mansion owners would build gardens right down to their fence lines!

On Walden Pond and Beyond

Spending a day in MA in August is probably not the calmest thing that a person can do. However, getting to Walden Pond relatively early in the morning (about 9:30 a.m.) allowed us to walk to the homesite of Thoreau and enjoy the calm of the lake - I was surprised to see how many people actually swim across it at that hour - probably all triathletes! It's really very picturesque before the crowds arrive AND if you can ignore the commuter train passing to the west of the "pond".

From Walden we walked to Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott. The tour here was one of the highlights from my trip. I had always loved "her book" as a child, and learning more about the author and her wonderful home on the outskirts of Concord, MA was a fine way to spend a couple of hours. I'm currently reading March by Geraldine Brooks, a novel about what is happening to Mr. March while he is away from "his girls". It won a Pulitzer a couple of years ago. Doing the "author's tour" at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery was another favorite bit of time. It is true; there can be peace and quiet in some parts of New England.