Trail Dog

August 24, 2008

Oscar's been my faithful sidekick these last two weeks. Here he is bravely fording one of Maine's numerous rivers.

Family Time - Part 2

August 18, 2008

Louisa and Li Zhuang came to Maine and we camped at Mt. Blue State Park - miraculously we had perfect weather for three days and capped it off with a thunderstorm the last night for a taste of real camping.

After a couple of days of hiking, now I can count the two of them on my team of AT helpers.


Here we are going down Moody Mountain - a steep cliff descent which included a new landslide that wiped out part of the trail! Oscar impressed everyone with his mountain goat skills.
























Louisa made this great early birthday present - it works as a brow-mopper and also as a pot holder in camp.

* Sweat Rag - http://ye-xiao.blogspot.com/2008/08/sweat-rag.html

Oscar finally got tired - here he is resting on the Trail.

Family Time - Part 1

August 14, 2008

We're jumping around a bit here - moving Trail-south, I met Bob and Oscar in Kingfield to do a hike in the Stratton area. Here is a view of Bob looking down at the cirque on Crocker Mountain with its little beaver pond. Oscar is enjoying the woods - lots of water and mud which he loves.

[Note looking back in hindsight - little did I know when Bob blew out 2 tires on his rental car by driving over a rock, why he was so distracted - this was the period of Deception - I wish I could delete him entirely from the record of this season - but alas not it's possible]

Coming attractions: more family time ...

August in Maine - means BLUEBERRIES!

August 12, 2008

Finally the rain has let up - I made a tour of a couple of Maine's state parks. Peaks-Kenny on Sebec Lake had a gorgeous sunset view of the Chairback Range ( my next destination - it's in the 100-mile Wilderness ) with pink and blue clouds on the far side of the lake. Perfect Maine.

Then I went on an overnight backpack over Chairback Mountain to Third and Fourth Mountains - here is the top of Third Mt. with a view north to Long Pond. See the white Trail blaze on the rock?
It was blueberry heaven on the ledges - being part bear by nature, I made slow grazing progress through these patches!

Then I toured briefly north to Moosehead Lake and spent a night at Lily Bay State Park listening to loons in the night.

Monson Slate

August 7, 2008

Here I am in the mountains of Maine, where this summer has seen a lot of rain - 6 inches over last year. This is the southern end of the 100-mile Wilderness.

The Trail goes through the Slate Belt here - many local houses and barns have black Monson slate roofs. The slate is very slick to walk on. Even when on it's been turned on edge by geologic forces, it was later carved smooth by glacial action. Here are scenes from a ridge-top east of Monson.



As a result, I'm leery of hiking in the rain. Today was rainy, so I stayed "home" in the tent and did some reading and email - the campground caters to the RV set, and has wifi.

All Together Now ...

August 1, 2008

To celebrate the summer birthdays and have time together before Mabel and John (in the red Phillies cap) and Bea (in the splash) move to Texas ... we were trendy "staycation"-ers right here at home. Pizza and beer at Bar, more beer at Delaney's, lots of hang-out time.

Here we are having a picnic at Lake Wintergreen - a great place for dogs to swim, and good for canoeing too. The bottom picture is Abby and me at Martha's Vineyard where we went to see Abby's friend Noli and slept in her yurt in a pouring rainstorm.

A Different Kind of Waterfall

July 20, 2008

I'm hanging out at home for most of this month. Yesterday Bob and I took our bikes on the train to New York City where with our friends Steve and Bonnie we rode the bike path along the East River to view the waterfall sculptures. Here is the one under the Brooklyn Bridge (Manhattan Bridge in the foreground) with Lady Liberty in the distance. The waterfalls are an interesting conceit, but in my opinion they don't have enough presence to compete with the cityscape of New York. 

But public art projects are fun - we also went to "Playing the Building - an Installation by David Byrne" where an antique organ amplifies sounds generated by elements of the building.

The bike path goes down to the Battery and continues up the West Side along the Hudson. The Esplanade and gardens of Battery Park City - at the speed of a relaxed bike ride with all the people out playing, picnicking, and sunbathing - that's a fabulous spatial experience!