#3 Boston - The Home Depot Owns Me - June 24 2006
Yep, that is where my money goes - plopped down $180 dollars there yesterday for a dehumidifier, plastic containers, light bulbs, dust pan (the old one gave up on me) and now the next trip is coming up to buy yet a second dehumidifier for the basement (this one bigger and more expensive), a pump and a hose. The next installment of a monsoon is arriving tomorrow, and all my weekend plans are being re-evaluated and shuffled around. Maybe I'll just lock myself in the house and watch the entire length of "Lawrence of Arabia", who knows!
We are actually coming off a very nice week with record temperatures in the mid-90s this past Sunday and Monday, and a solid 75-85 degrees the rest of the week. Everyone was glistening, the runners were sweating it out along the Charles River Esplanade, yours truly included, and the flip flops have come out. Now, I have to set the record straight - I do own flip flops, actually two pairs, and in general, I am very much in support of the concept. What I gripe about on a regular basis is the fact that they are worn as footwear with a business suit......
After hitting the wall last weekend, and fleeing the city as quickly as I could last Friday, the jolly group of Rick, Jay, Steph and Dan, accompanied by the ever loyal animal crew of Phoebe and Oscar ,arrived in Franconia, New Hampshire for a weekend of big plans. Jay topped the list by heading out early Saturday morning to run in the Mt Washington Road Race - for those of you who don't know, this is a major mountain (6288 ft) to even hike up - so running competetitively a distance of 7.9 miles with an elevation gain of 5000 ft is no small accomplishment. And to put it in perspective, the winning runner did this in 1 hour and 1 minute! Jay did fantastic, so congrats go out to him!!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we were no slackers either and headed for the big mountains - Little Haystack, Lincoln (http://www.hikethewhites.com/lincoln.html) and Lafayette (http://www.hikethewhites.com/lafayette.html) - which means two more 4000-footers of my list. Lincoln with 5089 ft is the second highest peak in New Hampshire outside of the Presidential Range - it is named after Abe Lincoln, though one source states that "the name was originally given to the small summit between Mount Lafayette and today's Mount Lincoln. (A few people refer to this small peak as Mount Truman, though this name is far from official.)" We hiked up a trail called Falling Waters which was absolutely spectacular, littered with waterfall after waterfall, and unfortunately also a most obnoxious bus load of French Canadians, who were screaming into their walkie talkies whenever possible, and had no sense of personal space. At some point Steph had to point out to a couple of particulary smelly and sweaty members of "la groupe" that it is not cool whatsoever to hike that close to her derriere - we're just not that kinda people.
From Little Haystack's beautiful open summit (4760 ft, but not ranked as a 4000-footer on the NH list because there is not enough elevation difference between it and Mt Lincoln) you can follow a spectacular trail along the ridge to Mt Lincoln, and only once you get there, you can see Mt Lafayette and the next leg of your journey. Mt Lafayette at 5260 has the honor of being the highest peak in the Franconia Range and was originally called "Great Haystack" but underwent a name change in honor of a foreign nobleman, the Marquis de Lafayette, who supported the colonists' cause in the American Revolution. Needless to say the view from all three summits is breathkaing in particular if you were able to tune out the Canadians and ignore the black flies (one of which almost made it onto my sandwich... don't ask!).
What always amazes me is the carelessness and unpreparedness unexperienced hikers display in their hikes up these mountains. There is plenty of information out there that tells you to not take hiking in the Whites litely. More than often you see folks heading up a 5200 ft mountain with one tiny bottle of spring water and sandals. Winner in this category this past weekend was a character from Italy with no water whatsoever heading up to Mt Lafayette in Kenneth Cole dress shoes. Good one!
Saturday night we were exhausted, and hungry and after replenishing our sorry selves with some decent grub in form of the traditional spaghetti and meatballs, it was time for Scattergories. The game definitely had an interesting spin to it, in particular since I kept questioning the liberties the other contestants took in interpreting the rules.... if you think "killer" is acceptable as an occupation starting with the letter K and "just a goat" counts as a farm animal starting with J, go right ahead, side with them....
Not having had enough exercise, Stephanie and I peeled our sorry selves out of bed on Sunday morning to run 9 Miles (marathon training) along the bike path that starts at the Flume Visitor Center in Franconia Notch. It is a wonderful bike path, every mile is marked, only problem was that we were sore as can be and that the first 4.5 miles were uphill. I was huffin' and puffin', but did make it back to the start, and was darn proud of it. Back at the visitor center we were surrounded by the less outdoorsy folks, who prefer to drive around and for whom even the guided nature walk around the center seemed too much - "Two miles???!! Is there a shuttle?".
Back at the house, after Dan and Steph decided that they had enough of this nonsense, I let myself be talked into yet another hike (Why oh Why?) - this one 4.6 miles, moderate to very steep. When I realized I ran completely out of gas , I turned into a bundle of joy, let me tell you - every steep section was greeted with "you must be f...ing kidding me!!!!" I think Rick was afraid at that point and kept pointing out that the flat part should be coming up shortly. Past Kedron Flume we reached our goal of Ripley Falls, the second largest waterfall in New Hampshire, and it was sooo worth it! Just fantastic!! (http://www.northeastwaterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=336&p=0) The hike back along the bug-infested Saco River presented another highlight in the form of a couple of very cute looking skiiny-dipping girls and all was well again.
Our hike ended where it began at the Willey House in Crawford Notch - interesting story there - The Willeys were a family living there in 1826 and since this is the mountains they has built an avalanche shelter. Sad story: avalanche came, Willey family ran to shelter, avalanche shelter gets flatttened, kills everyone inside, family house still standing. (http://www.nhstateparks.org/ParksPages/CrawfordNotch/CrawfordNotchWlyHse.html).
That about covers it, of course not without listing yet another altitude-induced "Petraism". I was trying to expressing my displeasure over the mileage marker on a trail and announced loudly "That 0.4 miles is certainly longer than that 0.1 miles!" Sure Petra - and your point is?
With that note, addios for the weekend, I am calm as a brand-new pump is sitting in my basement waiting for the deluge to come.
pet:)
We are actually coming off a very nice week with record temperatures in the mid-90s this past Sunday and Monday, and a solid 75-85 degrees the rest of the week. Everyone was glistening, the runners were sweating it out along the Charles River Esplanade, yours truly included, and the flip flops have come out. Now, I have to set the record straight - I do own flip flops, actually two pairs, and in general, I am very much in support of the concept. What I gripe about on a regular basis is the fact that they are worn as footwear with a business suit......
After hitting the wall last weekend, and fleeing the city as quickly as I could last Friday, the jolly group of Rick, Jay, Steph and Dan, accompanied by the ever loyal animal crew of Phoebe and Oscar ,arrived in Franconia, New Hampshire for a weekend of big plans. Jay topped the list by heading out early Saturday morning to run in the Mt Washington Road Race - for those of you who don't know, this is a major mountain (6288 ft) to even hike up - so running competetitively a distance of 7.9 miles with an elevation gain of 5000 ft is no small accomplishment. And to put it in perspective, the winning runner did this in 1 hour and 1 minute! Jay did fantastic, so congrats go out to him!!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we were no slackers either and headed for the big mountains - Little Haystack, Lincoln (http://www.hikethewhites.com/lincoln.html) and Lafayette (http://www.hikethewhites.com/lafayette.html) - which means two more 4000-footers of my list. Lincoln with 5089 ft is the second highest peak in New Hampshire outside of the Presidential Range - it is named after Abe Lincoln, though one source states that "the name was originally given to the small summit between Mount Lafayette and today's Mount Lincoln. (A few people refer to this small peak as Mount Truman, though this name is far from official.)" We hiked up a trail called Falling Waters which was absolutely spectacular, littered with waterfall after waterfall, and unfortunately also a most obnoxious bus load of French Canadians, who were screaming into their walkie talkies whenever possible, and had no sense of personal space. At some point Steph had to point out to a couple of particulary smelly and sweaty members of "la groupe" that it is not cool whatsoever to hike that close to her derriere - we're just not that kinda people.
From Little Haystack's beautiful open summit (4760 ft, but not ranked as a 4000-footer on the NH list because there is not enough elevation difference between it and Mt Lincoln) you can follow a spectacular trail along the ridge to Mt Lincoln, and only once you get there, you can see Mt Lafayette and the next leg of your journey. Mt Lafayette at 5260 has the honor of being the highest peak in the Franconia Range and was originally called "Great Haystack" but underwent a name change in honor of a foreign nobleman, the Marquis de Lafayette, who supported the colonists' cause in the American Revolution. Needless to say the view from all three summits is breathkaing in particular if you were able to tune out the Canadians and ignore the black flies (one of which almost made it onto my sandwich... don't ask!).
What always amazes me is the carelessness and unpreparedness unexperienced hikers display in their hikes up these mountains. There is plenty of information out there that tells you to not take hiking in the Whites litely. More than often you see folks heading up a 5200 ft mountain with one tiny bottle of spring water and sandals. Winner in this category this past weekend was a character from Italy with no water whatsoever heading up to Mt Lafayette in Kenneth Cole dress shoes. Good one!
Saturday night we were exhausted, and hungry and after replenishing our sorry selves with some decent grub in form of the traditional spaghetti and meatballs, it was time for Scattergories. The game definitely had an interesting spin to it, in particular since I kept questioning the liberties the other contestants took in interpreting the rules.... if you think "killer" is acceptable as an occupation starting with the letter K and "just a goat" counts as a farm animal starting with J, go right ahead, side with them....
Not having had enough exercise, Stephanie and I peeled our sorry selves out of bed on Sunday morning to run 9 Miles (marathon training) along the bike path that starts at the Flume Visitor Center in Franconia Notch. It is a wonderful bike path, every mile is marked, only problem was that we were sore as can be and that the first 4.5 miles were uphill. I was huffin' and puffin', but did make it back to the start, and was darn proud of it. Back at the visitor center we were surrounded by the less outdoorsy folks, who prefer to drive around and for whom even the guided nature walk around the center seemed too much - "Two miles???!! Is there a shuttle?".
Back at the house, after Dan and Steph decided that they had enough of this nonsense, I let myself be talked into yet another hike (Why oh Why?) - this one 4.6 miles, moderate to very steep. When I realized I ran completely out of gas , I turned into a bundle of joy, let me tell you - every steep section was greeted with "you must be f...ing kidding me!!!!" I think Rick was afraid at that point and kept pointing out that the flat part should be coming up shortly. Past Kedron Flume we reached our goal of Ripley Falls, the second largest waterfall in New Hampshire, and it was sooo worth it! Just fantastic!! (http://www.northeastwaterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=336&p=0) The hike back along the bug-infested Saco River presented another highlight in the form of a couple of very cute looking skiiny-dipping girls and all was well again.
Our hike ended where it began at the Willey House in Crawford Notch - interesting story there - The Willeys were a family living there in 1826 and since this is the mountains they has built an avalanche shelter. Sad story: avalanche came, Willey family ran to shelter, avalanche shelter gets flatttened, kills everyone inside, family house still standing. (http://www.nhstateparks.org/ParksPages/CrawfordNotch/CrawfordNotchWlyHse.html).
That about covers it, of course not without listing yet another altitude-induced "Petraism". I was trying to expressing my displeasure over the mileage marker on a trail and announced loudly "That 0.4 miles is certainly longer than that 0.1 miles!" Sure Petra - and your point is?
With that note, addios for the weekend, I am calm as a brand-new pump is sitting in my basement waiting for the deluge to come.
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
10:32 AM
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