Welcome to the September 15th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Welcome Hiking Fans!

This past week we hiked Mt. Monadnock.

Bill and Becky picked Deb and I up at our house at about 2:30pm on Friday afternoon in preparation of staying the night at Becky's brother Duffy's house in Hinsdale, New Hampshire before our hike on Saturday morning.

We traveled north through Springfield, and continued on over the New Hampshire state border, chatting almost the entire way, enjoying each others company. Eventually we made it to Keene, NH where we planned to meet Duffy and his wife Linda at Papagallos Restaurant for dinner. Introductions were all around. We finished up our dinner and then drove over to Duffy and Linda's house, watched a little tv, and then climbed into bed.

Because of the rainy weather during the night, we decided to wait till mid morning to head out so that the sun could dry the trail out as much as possible. After a few cups of coffee, with a shot or two of Bailey's of course, and a little breakfast, we thanked Duffy for his hospitality and headed for the base of the mountain.



We arrived at the base of the mountain at about 10:30am, mounted our backpacks, water jugs, and cameras, and planned on hiking the White Dot Trail to the top.



Here we are, below, at the half-way point.



After we climbed above the tree line, we took a good break and snapped the following shots.









We continued on to the top and then celebrated with another "feet around the world" shot.



And again, celebrations all around with us at the summit.



We eventually made it back down the mountain while following the White Cross Trail.

After spending some time at the Mt. Monadnock gift shop, we changed out of our wet shirts and socks and leasurly headed back south toward home to find something to eat. We ended up at a very casual restaurant called the Four Leaf Clover in Bernardston, Massachusetts. Very highly recommended.

ok, folks... Lets do it again next week.
Next we do Mt. Washington!
Joe

Welcome to the September 8th edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Hiking Fans!

This week, Deb and I met my brother Rich and his daughter Ashlyn at Salmon River in Colchester.

After our morning greetings and donning our water and backpack/hiking accessories, we headed across the Comstock Covered Bridge. For your pleasure, here's some history about the Comstock bridge in Colchester.

Comstock Bridge served travelers on the main road between Colchester and Middletown for nearly sixty years, until a new concrete bridge was built downstream in 1932. Now situated in a public park, Comstock Bridge is a well-preserved example of the Howe truss, an innovative design patented in 1840. The Howe truss combined vertical iron rods and diagonal timbers and was widely used in railroad construction as well as for highway and factory bridges.

The 30'-long east span is significant in its own right as the only remaining example in Connecticut of an enclosed wooden pony truss, that is, one with no overhead roof or other bracing. Generations before any covered bridges were built, bridge builders protected trusses from the weather by covering them with boards, and the technique continued in use for shorter spans such this one throughout the 19th century.

In the 1930s Comstock Bridge was extensively renovated by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a federal program that put unemployed young men to work improving parks and forests. Among the changes introduced at that time were the present wooden gates and new siding salvaged from an old barn. In the early 1970s the bridge was again renovated. Steel gusset plates were added to reinforce the original wooden joints. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The Salmon River Trail follows Salmon River up a fairly steep incline, and continues towards the intersection of the North and South Loop. We have recently hiked this trail going a bit faster when Rob was with us, but we did keep up a good brisk pace. We stopped and snapped a few shots at the first overlook, as you can see here.



Sunday was a very nice day, and we took in the outdoors as much as we could. Here, we stopped at a good picturesque spot overlooking a stream rushing by from the rain the previous day.



We eventually reached Day Pond and snapped a few shots there as well.



On our way back, we talked about where to have lunch, and we decided to travel out to Windham, CT and mingle with the bikers at the Back Door. There must have been 200 - 250 Harley Davidson motorcycles out front, with everyone wearing matching black tee shirts and blue jeans... except us. But lunch was only $2 for a double serving of roast beef, mashed potatoes, and corn. An Amstel light topped it off, and we all had a grand time of it.

Deb and I headed to the nearest Starbucks afterwards, and called it a day. It was a very interesting adventure indeed.

ok, see everyone next week!
And don't forget... Next week we have plans with Bill and Becky to hike Mt. Monadnock!
Joe

Welcome to the September 1st edition of our Hiking Adventures in Pictures

Welcome Hiking Fans!

Well, Labor Day weekend has come and gone, signaling the last few desperate days of summer. And also another hiking adventure has made it into the record books. Here is how it went.

It was raining during the night and lightly into Saturday morning as we contemplated on what our plans for the day's adventures should be. I knew we were going to get wet out there, but I didn't suspect Rob to suggest that we should wait and hike on a dryer day. Rain has never stopped us before. But we were beginning our three day weekend, and the weather was supposed to be much better very soon. I was a bit surprised that we were not going hiking that morning, but I could also imagine that it was raining in more earnest on the other side of the phone.

After our plans for a Saturday morning hike vanished, Deb and I sat in front of the TV, with our dueling laptops, watching a good old western. We had our breakfast, and talked about what should be done next to complete the kitchen in the first floor apartment. Eventually, my friend Dave (who we hired to help us get that done) drove into our driveway and continued working on just that. Because he was going to finish putting the sub-floor down that day, I really couldn't do much work cause I'd be in the way. And Deb decided to go shopping, I believe for a 34" door. Ultimately, because Deb had mentioned to me that she would be gone for a few hours, I was left at the house with not much to do, and allot of time to do it in. I then decided to go and conquer the rain and hike Lantern Hill.

I arrived shortly thereafter at the intersection of RT2 and RT201, parked my truck across the street from the trailhead there, and started my stopwatch in anticipation of a quick assent to the top. I rushed across the street, trotted over the bridge traversing the Gallop Pond Dam, and got completely soaked wading through 2 - 3 foot high grass and weeds filled with the rain water from the previous night. I then walked across the wet field after that, lifting my knees up high. My leather boots have never been more soaked, but my feet were fairly dry. At the end of that wet grassy field, I entered into the woods and started my assent up the first hill.

There still were clouds in the sky, and also a little bit of precipitation coming down, but it was mostly very light and misty. And... every single branch that hung across the trail held out it's leaves, straining with an abundance of rain water that had yet fallen all of the way down to the ground. It wasn't long before my clothes had soaked up all they could, from head to toe. But I was not uncomfortable. The temperatures were likely in the high 70's to lower 80's.

I reached the entrance to the North Stonington Dump in 36 minutes and the top of Lantern Hill in 51 minutes. I took a short break there at the top and then snapped a few pictures. I then quickly started back.



At the bottom of Lantern Hill I twisted my left ankle pretty bad. I even heard it crack. I thought I broke it for a minute there, but I was able to put some weight on it, loosen it up a bit, and was able to continue on without much trouble... thank God. I made it back to the truck while my stopwatch read 1 hour and 49 minutes.

I eventually made it back home, enjoyed a good cup of coffee enhanced with a shot or two of Bailey's, and a juicy tomato sandwich made from the tidings of Joy's garden. Deb and I look forward to this time of year, when we can enjoy fresh tomatoes from the garden. The fruits from our labor. Maybe this time of year isn't that desperate after all.

ok, see everyone next week!
Joe