Sunday Hike — Mt. Wachusett

Last Sunday, Michelle and I continued our journey along the Midstate Trail by hiking over Mt. Wachusett. We weren’t sure that we were going to get a hike in last weekend, as it rained all day Saturday and into Sunday morning, but the sun came out sometime after noon, so we thought we’d give it a go.

It turned out to be a great afternoon, clear and around 60 degrees, but the trail was very wet (2+ inches of rain will do that). Wet enough that where the trail was steep, or near a brook, the water would run down the trail, causing us to have to hop from rock to rock as we climbed. On flatter terrain, there was frequently standing water that we were forced to go off trail to avoid.

About half way up, we encountered a garter snake with an attitude. I’ve seen garter snakes before–caught them when I was a kid–but I’ve never seen one coil up and threaten to strike. Michelle poked her walking stick at it and it attacked the end of it.

When we reached the summit, Michelle and I were the only people there for a few minutes. It is the first time I’ve ever been to the top when I’ve had it all to myself. It was quite peaceful, although the wind was quite cold, and there was a thick haze that prevented much of a view.

Total Hike: 3.6 miles.
Midstate Trail to date: 29.5 miles.
Total summer to date: 36.6 miles.

…always take the weather with you

Apparently the Republicans want to do away with the weather. From the Palm Beach Post:

The bill, introduced last week by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites.

Supporters say the bill wouldn’t hamper the weather service or the National Hurricane Center from alerting the public to hazards — in fact, it exempts forecasts meant to protect “life and property.”

But critics say the bill’s wording is so vague they can’t tell exactly what it would ban.

“I believe I’ve paid for that data once. … I don’t want to have to pay for it again,” said Scott Bradner, a technical consultant at Harvard University.

He says that as he reads the bill, a vast amount of federal weather data would be forced offline.

“The National Weather Service Web site would have to go away,” Bradner said. “What would be permitted under this bill is not clear — it doesn’t say. Even including hurricanes.”

Can you imagine a world where instead of guessing how far off Chikage Windler’s forecast is when you wake up in the morning, you have to hope that she actually gets it right?

The Me Generation

I came across The Generator Blog today, which essentially is a listing of web-based software that lets you fill in the blanks and generate, well, pretty much anything. For instance, the sign above was generated at Kurumi’s Sign Maker. Or, you might wish to have your name posted on the side of an air conditioning van.

Or you might wonder what you’d look like if you were a South Park character.

Sigh…

The Ice Cream Truck just came by for the first time tonight. Just 179 more evenings of “The Music Box Dancer” until fall….God help us all.

Sunday Hike — The Old Mill to Mt. Wachusett

Another nice day Sunday, and a difficult hike. Or rather a more difficult hike than we expected because there was a typo in our trail guide. We are using the Massachusetts Midstate Trail Guide Book to help us navigate the trail. It has been particularly useful in assisting us as we decide where to start and finish each day. We’re trying to go 6-7 miles per leg, and use the guidebook to find parking areas, etc.

Since neither Michelle or I wear a watch when we hike, and don’t really have a good handle on how fast or slow we are hiking, we also rely on the guide to help us understand where certain landmarks are on the trail in relation to where we are going, how far we have traveled, how far we have to go, etc.

The guide missed a mile in Westminster. It suggests the distance between Crow Hill and Redemption Rock is 0.4 miles, when it is actually 1.4 miles. So we ended up hiking 7.5 miles instead of the 6.5 we were expecting, which wouldn’t have been too tough a task except that 1) it was our second day in a row, 2) the terrain was more difficult, including a hike up and down Crow Hill, which is at a higher elevation than any point since Mt. Wataic, 3) It was the warmest day of the spring so far (about 76 degrees).

Other than that, I actually enjoyed the hike (Michelle was less enthralled with it). It had some nice, changeable terrain, ran along a brook for a ways, and was mostly secluded, with only a couple of short portions on town roads. We finally encountered some hikers on and around Crow Hill, and in the Redemption Rock area. We also had a nice view from the top of Crow Hill of Mt. Wachusett and the Leominster State Forest, including Crocker Pond (shown below).

Total hike: 7.6 miles.
Total Midstate Trail to date: 25.9 miles.
Total summer to date: 32.9 miles.

Saturday Hike — Westminster State Forest to The Old Mill

Yet another perfect day Saturday, so Michelle and I headed back out to Westminster to continue the Midstate Trail. Saturday’s leg was just over 6 1/2 miles long, and was the easiest of the three legs so far. We started at a parking lot just west of the Westminster State Forest and hiked in about 1/4 mile to where we left the trail last Sunday. Almost immediately we came upon Muddy Pond, which ended up being the highlight of the day.

The pond is far enough away from any roads or homes that it is completely quiet, save for birds in the area. Along the shore of the pond is a shelter and a firepit, available for hikers who want to stay the night (presumably those who are hiking the entire 95 or so miles straight through, but I suppose anyone could wander out there for an evening).

The trail continued aroud the north and east shores of the pond, through some conservation land, and eventially out to Bragg Hill Road. From there we followed paved roads for nearly a mile, then headed up into some woods that were close enough to roads and homes that at times it felt like we were hiking through someone’s back yard. While the scenery was significantly less spectacular than the first two hikes (unless you are interested in viewing a variety of backyards, decks, and patios), the proximity to roads and buildable land meant that most of trail was significantly easier to traverse (flatter, drier) than the first 12 miles.

Although we haven’t seen any significant wildlife yet along the trail (and didn’t expect to see any on this leg, since most of the area we were hiking in was populated), we did again see a pair of wild turkeys and a pheasant. We did not encounter any other hikers on the trail.

Total Hike: 6.8 miles.
Midstate Trail to date: 18.3 miles.
Total summer to date: 25.3 miles.

Everybody has somebody

Boy, are there some eccentric folk out there. From a New York Times wedding anouncement:

Dr. Debbara Jean Dingman and Daniel John DeNoon were married last evening at the Commerce Club in Atlanta. The Rev. Grover E. Criswell, a Disciples of Christ minister, performed the nondenominational ceremony….

Dr. Dingman and Mr. DeNoon met at an Atlanta jazz club in 1978, where she was a hostess and he a bartender. Dr. Dingman, in the spirit of feminism at that time, called herself Debbie “Dingperson,” without cracking a smile, she said….

“Everything had to be totally discussed and negotiated,” Mr. DeNoon recalled. “What I considered courteous – pulling out her chair, opening a door – she would take as an insult.”

Dr. Dingman added: “We had an ability to argue about everything. He would order wine, and I’d be upset that he did it without consulting me. And then we’d argue about the migrant workers who picked the grapes. There was a real push-pull to our relationship.”

I’m nearly speechless, but if you want to read someone’s snark on this and other wedding announcements from the NYT, check out Veiled Conceit.

Wish I knew this three years ago…

Rene Rancourt is available to sing at wedding receptions. Where was this information before our wedding?

Chicago, Lincoln

From an op-ed piece in the Chicago Tribune:

The opening of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield this month can become the launch for an initiative to change the name of Illinois to that of the State of Abraham Lincoln.

I’m serious.

Few in the world know what or where Illinois is. Some have heard of Chicago. Yet the world knows Abraham Lincoln–the Great Emancipator; the rock who kept our Union of diverse peoples from fragmenting; the homespun, virtuous, self-educated man of the heartland; a hero, indeed, to all in the world who yearn to be free.

In contrast, our citizens have never really resonated to “Illinois,” the name of a feckless confederation of tribes of so-called superior men, who in fact fled time and again–and indeed out of our state–before smaller bands of raiding Iroquois.

Chicago, Lincoln?
University of Lincoln Fighing Abrahams?

Ashburnham+Tornado = UFOOOOOOs!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!

So while I was posting the report of our hike Sunday, I googled the words “Asburnham tornado” in an attempt to find out if a tornado or some other reported event could have casued those trees to come down. While I didn’t find anything like that, I did come across a couple of references to a woman who claims she was abducted by UFO’s in Ashburnham in 1967.

For instance, if you click this link and hit Ctrl-F, then type “Ashburnham” in the dialog box, you will get to read a version of the account. Apparently this is a particularly famous UFO story, but since I don’t run in those circles (or crop circles for that matter) this is the first I’ve heard of it.

I don’t know which I think is crazier, that UFOs have been scooping people off the streets of Ashburnham, or that the site to which I’ve linked hypothesizes that people who have abduction fantasies are actually reliving their prenatal or birth experiences…