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The weekend of walking
Oh, my, I haven't posted in a dog's age. Well, been busy. For now, I will regale you with a summary of the recent adventure in the mountains and sunshine.
We left the thriving metropolis of Portland somewhere about 9:30pm on Thursday. Both of us started out grumpy from a week of work and the added stress of getting things done before leaving. That passed as we headed further into the country and had to pay more attention to possible impending moose than to stressors growing more distant by the mile. We saw no moose on the way out, or the entire weekend.
We stopped at Big Rock campground and found it not yet opened for the season, so I drove on to the fallback position two miles down the road, Hancock campground. We drove in and found a spot that looked nice. Since it was pitch black the decision process went like this: "There's the bathroom, I want to be close to the bathroom." "Okay, I'll back up into this one." On Thursday night we were the only people in the campground other than the host. It was neat walking down to the pay station to pay for our spot at midnight with the moonlight shining through the trees. It was chilly, but not unreasonably so.
Friday morning we woke up late, that happens when you don't go to bed until 1am and don't use an alarm. We wandered into town and had breakfast because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
derien wanted breakfast out and I wasn't going to disagree with a hungry derien. When we got back to the campground we paid for two more nights and set up the van a little more permanently. Then we took a hike down to the Lincoln Woods trailhead, visited the cabin, and took a walk down the Wilderness Trail. The bugs weren't too bad, although we did put on head nets for one portion of the trail. We didn't make it very far, somewhere between three and four miles round trip, but it was good. In the afternoon we hung around the campsite making a late lunch and having a campfire with very damp wood in the evening.
Slept nine hours on Friday night and woke to another beautiful morning. After breakfast and cleanup we took another walk down to the trailhead and went further down the Wilderness Trail. This time we made it out to Franconia Brook (6 miles round trip). The weather was wonderful and most of the bugs must have been taking the day off. When we got back to camp we had tea, late lunch, more tea, and generally puttered around the campsite. When you're camping a lot of time is taken up with just doing simple things like cooking and cleaning up after cooking.
We got up early on Sunday, closed up camp, and drove into town for a wonderful breakfast. Then we drove back and parked at the trailhead. Yes, once again we walked the Wilderness trail. This time we hiked all the way to the old railroad trestle just beyond the relics of Camp 16 and the Bondcliff Trail (9.4 miles round trip). Once we got past Franconia Brook there were many moose tracks along the trail and a few tracks of something canine. The day was wonderful and the clouds didn't start gathering until we were already back at the trailhead.
During the tourist season I avoid the Wilderness Trail like the plague. The leg from the trailhead to Franconia Brook is usually thick with people looking for an easy walk for the day. But this early in the year we only saw a couple of groups during each of our hikes. We'll go on to more adventurous (and vertical) hikes from here on out, but it was a nice start.
The weather was incredible. We didn't expect such warm sunny weather for all three days so early in the season. Overall, we had no major problems with aches, pains, and being out of shape. It was a good warm up trip. My to-do list on the van got longer, but most of the things are achievable in short order.
Van to-do list additions from trip: find leak in sink, improve dish strainer design, make rope tensioners for tarp ropes, find a third pad for stove lid, make tarp brackets for front luggage rack, get heavy duty clamps for heater exhaust/intake pipes, get hose for grey water that isn't all crimped to death, change house battery, rig up bypass on house to starter relay (optional)
Oh, the lilacs are blooming in some places and starting to bloom in others.
We left the thriving metropolis of Portland somewhere about 9:30pm on Thursday. Both of us started out grumpy from a week of work and the added stress of getting things done before leaving. That passed as we headed further into the country and had to pay more attention to possible impending moose than to stressors growing more distant by the mile. We saw no moose on the way out, or the entire weekend.
We stopped at Big Rock campground and found it not yet opened for the season, so I drove on to the fallback position two miles down the road, Hancock campground. We drove in and found a spot that looked nice. Since it was pitch black the decision process went like this: "There's the bathroom, I want to be close to the bathroom." "Okay, I'll back up into this one." On Thursday night we were the only people in the campground other than the host. It was neat walking down to the pay station to pay for our spot at midnight with the moonlight shining through the trees. It was chilly, but not unreasonably so.
Friday morning we woke up late, that happens when you don't go to bed until 1am and don't use an alarm. We wandered into town and had breakfast because
derien wanted breakfast out and I wasn't going to disagree with a hungry derien. When we got back to the campground we paid for two more nights and set up the van a little more permanently. Then we took a hike down to the Lincoln Woods trailhead, visited the cabin, and took a walk down the Wilderness Trail. The bugs weren't too bad, although we did put on head nets for one portion of the trail. We didn't make it very far, somewhere between three and four miles round trip, but it was good. In the afternoon we hung around the campsite making a late lunch and having a campfire with very damp wood in the evening.
Slept nine hours on Friday night and woke to another beautiful morning. After breakfast and cleanup we took another walk down to the trailhead and went further down the Wilderness Trail. This time we made it out to Franconia Brook (6 miles round trip). The weather was wonderful and most of the bugs must have been taking the day off. When we got back to camp we had tea, late lunch, more tea, and generally puttered around the campsite. When you're camping a lot of time is taken up with just doing simple things like cooking and cleaning up after cooking.
We got up early on Sunday, closed up camp, and drove into town for a wonderful breakfast. Then we drove back and parked at the trailhead. Yes, once again we walked the Wilderness trail. This time we hiked all the way to the old railroad trestle just beyond the relics of Camp 16 and the Bondcliff Trail (9.4 miles round trip). Once we got past Franconia Brook there were many moose tracks along the trail and a few tracks of something canine. The day was wonderful and the clouds didn't start gathering until we were already back at the trailhead.
During the tourist season I avoid the Wilderness Trail like the plague. The leg from the trailhead to Franconia Brook is usually thick with people looking for an easy walk for the day. But this early in the year we only saw a couple of groups during each of our hikes. We'll go on to more adventurous (and vertical) hikes from here on out, but it was a nice start.
The weather was incredible. We didn't expect such warm sunny weather for all three days so early in the season. Overall, we had no major problems with aches, pains, and being out of shape. It was a good warm up trip. My to-do list on the van got longer, but most of the things are achievable in short order.
Van to-do list additions from trip: find leak in sink, improve dish strainer design, make rope tensioners for tarp ropes, find a third pad for stove lid, make tarp brackets for front luggage rack, get heavy duty clamps for heater exhaust/intake pipes, get hose for grey water that isn't all crimped to death, change house battery, rig up bypass on house to starter relay (optional)
Oh, the lilacs are blooming in some places and starting to bloom in others.