sapblatt
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- Oct 22, 2004
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Well, you knew it would not be pretty the day after Thanksgiving - Eric (tuco) and I met up at our usual 30 minutes early at exit 4 ( that made it 4:30am) on Saturday and headed up to Waumbek for what if we made it, would be Eric's 39th peak. We had a nice ride listening to the blaring heavy metal of our youth and were ready to hike by 7am. The skies were crystal clear and the temps were very pleasant - around 25 degrees with no wind at all.
My lack of excercise outside of hiking the past few months, coupled with a few easier hikes and a day or two of over eating were to make a slow day - the only consolation was that Eric was feeling as strong
as I was. The first 150 yards uphill were about all we could manage before we needed to stop and catch our breath - this cycle would continue to the summit of Starr King...I have been in malls that are harder to walk that this trail - this was going to be a much tougher morning for us that we ever figured on...
Soon, after one mile and 15 breaks, a friend from the past, adamiata stormed by us on his way to an ambitious day of hitting the Weeks on an out and back. Young and fit are two words that are not used when describing Tuco and me - I assume Adam made it without much trouble. He so motivated us to get going though - I figured it he did the 17.5 mile round trip faster than I did the 7.2 miles we had planned it was time to get and new hobby and get to Walmart and get in line for a Playstation 3.
Eventually, the snows cleared, the flowers bloomed, summer arrived and we made it to the summit of Starr King. This day was spectacular - clear as possible and around 30 degrees. There was insignificant patches of snow and ice that posed no problems. The views were incredible today. We did not linger on the summit long as we knew that the next mile was easy for most hikers - but most hikers are not us...
Truth be told, after Starr King we seemed to get into a much better rhythm - well, actually any rhythm would have been a major improvent. We got over to Waumbek and ate and drank and took some pictures, including one of some writing in the snow...we soon started to head back just before 11am.
On the way back we would see a number of people including drewski, Tom & Atticus, Sherpa John and Sherpette. It was nice to finally meet Tom and Atticus, and it was nice to see everyone again. A few more groups passed us and we went by a large group of about 20 on the summit of Starr King. We kept motoring (we can do that when gravity is working with us) and passed a few more folks on the way down. By now it is over 50 degrees and we are wearing t-shirts - it seemed like spring. The descent from Waumbek only took us about two hours and we changed and enjoyed a quick beer and we were on our way. The pics are nice - no videos this time...be sure to check out the few I took from the Israel River Valley - really nice day out there!
PICTURES
On the ride home we made a VFTT sighting on I-93 - none other than Pat and Audrey on their way back from Sandwich Dome - we can only assume Genie was napping in the back!
My lack of excercise outside of hiking the past few months, coupled with a few easier hikes and a day or two of over eating were to make a slow day - the only consolation was that Eric was feeling as strong
as I was. The first 150 yards uphill were about all we could manage before we needed to stop and catch our breath - this cycle would continue to the summit of Starr King...I have been in malls that are harder to walk that this trail - this was going to be a much tougher morning for us that we ever figured on...Soon, after one mile and 15 breaks, a friend from the past, adamiata stormed by us on his way to an ambitious day of hitting the Weeks on an out and back. Young and fit are two words that are not used when describing Tuco and me - I assume Adam made it without much trouble. He so motivated us to get going though - I figured it he did the 17.5 mile round trip faster than I did the 7.2 miles we had planned it was time to get and new hobby and get to Walmart and get in line for a Playstation 3.
Eventually, the snows cleared, the flowers bloomed, summer arrived and we made it to the summit of Starr King. This day was spectacular - clear as possible and around 30 degrees. There was insignificant patches of snow and ice that posed no problems. The views were incredible today. We did not linger on the summit long as we knew that the next mile was easy for most hikers - but most hikers are not us...
Truth be told, after Starr King we seemed to get into a much better rhythm - well, actually any rhythm would have been a major improvent. We got over to Waumbek and ate and drank and took some pictures, including one of some writing in the snow...we soon started to head back just before 11am.
On the way back we would see a number of people including drewski, Tom & Atticus, Sherpa John and Sherpette. It was nice to finally meet Tom and Atticus, and it was nice to see everyone again. A few more groups passed us and we went by a large group of about 20 on the summit of Starr King. We kept motoring (we can do that when gravity is working with us) and passed a few more folks on the way down. By now it is over 50 degrees and we are wearing t-shirts - it seemed like spring. The descent from Waumbek only took us about two hours and we changed and enjoyed a quick beer and we were on our way. The pics are nice - no videos this time...be sure to check out the few I took from the Israel River Valley - really nice day out there!
PICTURES
On the ride home we made a VFTT sighting on I-93 - none other than Pat and Audrey on their way back from Sandwich Dome - we can only assume Genie was napping in the back!
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