Search and Recovery Mission

Saturday, December 7


OK, so if you read my last blog entry, you may recall that I lost my water bottle.  This was the first Nalgene bottle I ever owned, and it has been through a lot.  The first time I remember losing it was hiking on South Mountain in the Lehigh Valley.  But I retraced my steps and eventually found it in the leaves.  It has almost floated away more than once on kayak trips when my boat overturned, but I always got it back.  Just last spring, I lost it orienteering in Carlisle, but when I went back to look for it, a young lady doing the same course as me found it and returned it.  The strap connecting the lid broke years ago and I was ready to throw it out.  Then I found a replacement part for it at REI to extend its life.

Needless to say, all during this past week, I was going over in my head where it might have fallen out of my day pack.  Unfortunately, since it gets dark just after 4pm, I was not able to get out to look after work any day.  Today's mission was to find that water bottle!  

I am starting from Redemption Rock in Princeton and heading north on the Mid-State trail (see map from last week's hike).

It's going to be a little harder than I thought to look for this water bottle.  Besides all the leaves, we got a little snow last night.  And it looks like they got a little bit more here than we had in Leominster.

I rarely travel north on this section of the trail, and I don't recall ever seeing this sign.  I'd better check it out.

Yup.  It's a glacial boulder alright, although not as impressive as Sampson's Pebble or Balance Rock.

At this point, I'm thinking it's not much further to where it fell out.  Looking back toward Mr. Wachusett, you can see there's a some snow even off the ski trails.

As I'm walking along, I keep seeing these tracks.  Ahh - these are made by wild turkeys.  They are all over the place this time of year.  However, I didn't actually see any today.

Alas, I walked for 30 minutes, well beyond where I thought it might have fallen out.  No luck in finding it, though.  On my way back I have to navigate snow-covered roots and rocks.  Even with trekking poles, it's a bit of a challenge.  I wound up falling on a big piece of granite on this steep, rocky hillside.

I hiked for about an hour (a little over a mile), but in the end I guess it was finally time to say "So Long" to my old water bottle.  Which is a shame, because it still had water in it and I was getting kind of thirsty.

Thanksgiving Family Hike

November 30, 2013

For the first time in 26 years we are in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.  Betsy is in White Christmas this weekend, so traveling to PA just won't work.  Instead, everyone gathers at our Johnny Appleseed home for the holiday.  And apparently, everybody's up for a little hike on Saturday afternoon.  Nathaniel brought his hiking shoes home just for the occasion (assuming he gets a break from homework and projects).  Matt (coming up from Philly) just assumed we would be taking a hike.  Betsy stayed home to rest to she could give a great performance, singing, acting, and dancing (see photo on her web site).

For this hike, we did a small section of the Mid-State trail.  We dropped a car at the Wachusett Mountain parking lot ("down" arrow on left side of map) and then headed back to our starting point, the Crow Hills parking lot in Leominster State Forest ("up" arrow on right side of map).  The ski area is open with a few trails already.  I hope to behitting those slopes soon myself.  But today, we hike!

Cassandra joined us at the last minute with Dominic.  First he has to be loaded into the baby backpack.

It is a steep climb from the parking lot to the base of the Crow Hills.  Nathaniel & Matt had colds so were struggling a bit to breathe.  Once there, Alex suggested we go up to the top of the cliffs to enjoy the views.  That was an even steeper climb.

But Alex is right about the views.  Directly behind me is a 100' cliff and Crow Hills Pond in the distance.

After a bit of a walk, we get our first glimpse of Mt. Wachusett.  You can see the ski trails clearly.

Nathaniel tests the ice at the edge of this frozen brook.

You think crossing a brook in the summer is fun?  At this time of year, it's frozen on top, but still very cold water just beneath.  It's beautiful, but don't fall in.

The brook cascades down between the granite boulders.  The shadows are long even though it's only 1pm.

We make it to Redemption Rock, where James joined my last May.

The water formed hair-like icicles near these rocks.  Cool!

We're finally near the end, crossing "tick field".  Fortunately, no ticks at this time of year.  You can see snow from the guns on the mountain just across the road.

All told, it was only about 3 miles of hiking, but with the cold and the colds, it took us over 2 hours.  There was one casualty - I lost my favorite water bottle, and I'm not sure where. I don't have time to go looking for it now, because we have to make dinner and then we're off to see Betsy in her show.  Despite the loss, everyone welcomed this bit of outdoor exercise.