Fall Gathering 9.9999999 - Sep 21-23 White Birches

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I want to thank everyone for a great time as well and Mimi for the ride down to the gathering. It was great to see so many of my friends again! I also want to thank Mimi, Maddy, Brian, and Spencer for being such great hiking companions over the weekend - Sat. on the Wildcats/Carter Dome/Mt. Hight - Sun on Tom/Field/Wiley. :)

Really looking forward to the next one! Special thanks to peakbagger for putting it together!
 
Way to go!

I'm a nobody, too!!

Great time - one of the best. The weather was excellent and the fall foliage was starting to unveil in certain spots. Great job to Peakbagger for pulling this off - we had great rates at the campground and the area they put us in (although was far away) worked out well.

I do have photos, but they are on a one-time-use film camera that I had left hanging around (my digital camera was smooshed in the Tux fall, however I now have a digital camera thanks to one nice guy who decluttered at the gathering). I'll get them posted in the a few days.

After a nice dinner out in beautiful Berlin, Friday nite was a nice mellow evening hanging around the campfire as we all gathered -- getting in the mood. Having arrived late on Thursday nite (after a 610.2 mile drive) I had the day to myself. After breakfast in town and reading about a local hike - I climbed Mt. Crag off the Austin Brook Trail, a 2.5/3.0 mile RT hike with nice views of the Androscoggin River valley and the Northern Presidentials. After the hike I unmounted my road bike from it's roof mount and took a ride into Maine. Got back in time to clean up and ready to party.

Saturday was a fine hike up King's Ravine. Great hike with good people and fine views. I ate up the ravine rocks - loved the steep boldering up! :D My kinda hikin' for sure!

The pot-luck was one of the best I've seen. Great selection and (naturally) plenty of it!! Great jams (giggy) and excellent time to catch up with so many folks. I think there were +/- 40 of us. Dawn receiving the Leather Apron was the best... when asking who had come the furthest this little voice says "Well, I hiked 2000 miles to get here!" Way to go Dawn!

Sunday saw just about all of us finding our way to J's resturant in Gorham. Good food and a wait-staff who could handle us all with a smile. A typical end with all heading in different directions. I made it over to the Androscoggin with Sherpa, Peakbagger(NH) and Bob for a nice kayak paddle into Maine. Packed up, grabbed a shower on the way out and found out that the lot of us had behaved -- according to White Birches' owners. ;)

I had a treat on the way home as I stopped in Amherst, MA for a late dinner with my freshman daughter. :) Apparently doing very well and adjusting to University life. I headed out around 10PM and made it into central NY before crashing for the nite in the van. I was headed for the cottage in the southern tier and then home the next day. Final milage - 1364 and worth every mile. I said before the event - to me it's all about the people and I wasn't denied an ounce of it!

Next year?? Do we celebrate the 10th?? :confused: :D :cool:
 
Thanks again for coming to the rescue with your awesome sound system Bubba!! To think we almost didn't get to enjoy Bronski Beat, not to mention the Swedish Death Metal...it just really doesn't bare thinking about. :) ..who screwed up that CD player anyway??.... :p
 
Bronski Beat? Really? Bronski Beat???

It was wonderful to see old friends and meet new ones, but apparently having to leave early (friend's birthday celebration dim sum the next morning) spared me!
 
Prino,

Just for you, I'll describe what a terrible time I had...


Since my leg is not up to hiking yet, I played motorized tourist and visited a number of those places that one is in too much of a hurry to visit when going to and from a hike.

On Saturday, I stopped at:
* Franconia Notch:
- the Basin
- the Bridal Path TH,
- Boise Rock,
- Old Rte 3 (now part of the bike path, exit 34C, go NE), leads to a nice viewpoint from the bridge over Lafayette Brook.
* Rte 3
- the Mt Cleveland viewing turnoff,
* Rte 302
-Bretton Woods Motor Lodge parking lot (great view over Bretton Woods)
- Bretton Woods viewpoint (down by the road)

I then headed over to the campground in Shelburne. It was still a bit early and I didn't see anyone abound so I set up my tent in the "overflow" area. Before long people started arriving and I headed up to the potluck dinner site. As Bubba noted, we had a good feed and babble session.

On Sunday most of us went into town for breakfast. Suitably fueled up, I went back to the CG, packed up my now dry tent and headed off toward Grafton Notch. Stopped at:
* Grafton Notch
- Screw Auger Falls
- Moose Cave
- Grafton Notch AT trailhead
* Umbagog Lage
* Dixville Notch
I then returned to Errol to follow the Androscoggin River and recall some easy whitewater that I did ~30 yrs ago. (Eroll Dam to Pontook Res.) Darkness overtook me as I passed through Berlin, but the sunset was rather pretty.

No hikes, but I got in a number of short walks and took quite a few pics. (I'll post some when I get them organized.) The trees were beginning to turn, particularly N of Rte 2.

So, all in all, it was pretty terrible. I highly disrecommend it. :)

Doug
 
MichaelJ said:
Bronski Beat? Really? Bronski Beat???
Click to expand...
Trust me, that was the least of our problems. What was most interesting is that Sherpa could identify all of the 80's pop stuff in 5 notes! :eek:
 
DougPaul said:
Prino,

Just for you, I'll describe what a terrible time I had...


Since my leg is not up to hiking yet, I played motorized tourist and visited a number of those places that one is in too much of a hurry to visit when going to and from a hike.

On Saturday, I stopped at:
* Franconia Notch:
- the Basin
- the Bridal Path TH,
- Boise Rock,
- Old Rte 3 (now part of the bike path, exit 34C, go NE), leads to a nice viewpoint from the bridge over Lafayette Brook.
* Rte 3
- the Mt Cleveland viewing turnoff,
* Rte 302
-Bretton Woods Motor Lodge parking lot (great view over Bretton Woods)
- Bretton Woods viewpoint (down by the road)

I then headed over to the campground in Shelburne. It was still a bit early and I didn't see anyone abound so I set up my tent in the "overflow" area. Before long people started arriving and I headed up to the potluck dinner site. As Bubba noted, we had a good feed and babble session.

On Sunday most of us went into town for breakfast. Suitably fueled up, I went back to the CG, packed up my now dry tent and headed off toward Grafton Notch. Stopped at:
* Grafton Notch
- Screw Auger Falls
- Moose Cave
- Grafton Notch AT trailhead
* Umbagog Lage
* Dixville Notch
I then returned to Errol to follow the Androscoggin River and recall some easy whitewater that I did ~30 yrs ago. (Eroll Dam to Pontook Res.) Darkness overtook me as I passed through Berlin, but the sunset was rather pretty.

No hikes, but I got in a number of short walks and took quite a few pics. (I'll post some when I get them organized.) The trees were beginning to turn, particularly N of Rte 2.

So, all in all, it was pretty terrible. I highly disrecommend it. :)

Doug
Click to expand...

Doug...

That is one heck of a lot of fun for someone who is not even able to hike properly yet.

I'm afraid to say I had far more fun :mad: :mad: :mad: hammering and nailing on a renovation project I've been promising to do for the last 12 years....

Hiking and drinking and having fun with my buddies had to take second place for once....
It's all good though!! :D

So glad you had such an awful time Doug... catch you at the next one.
Talking about the next one are there any plans afoot to do Acadia at the end of OCT?
 
DougPaul said:
I'll describe what a terrible time I had...

So, all in all, it was pretty terrible. I highly disrecommend it. :)

Doug
Click to expand...
Doug - You really did get in a lot of stuff. Glad that you were able to show up and see that your leg is learning all over again - quite nicely as I see it! ;)

Prino said:
I'm afraid to say I had far more fun hammering and nailing on a renovation project I've been promising to do for the last 12 years....
Click to expand...
It's all in the timing, my man!! Planning and timing! You missed a good one that was way closer to you than me! [of course I should talk about planning after missing Spence's BBQ w/end last month! :( ]
 
David Metsky said:
Trust me, that was the least of our problems. What was most interesting is that Sherpa could identify all of the 80's pop stuff in 5 notes! :eek:
Click to expand...

Snork!! LOL!!!

MAN you people are SLOW with the pics!
 
Gillian said:
....what? not like like Jimmy Somerville! oh, I think MichaelJ is confused...because this was THE best band in the 80s.... ;)
Click to expand...


Mother will never understand
Why you had to leave
But the answers you seek
Will never be found at home
The love that you need
Will never be found at home

Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.
Run away, turn away, run away, turn away, run away.
 
Mad Townie said:
They sound like hikes to me. Distance doesn't matter, enjoyment does.
;)
Click to expand...
The walks probably added up to a fairly short hike. In any case, the leg tolerated them pretty well and, as stated earlier, I had a terrible time. :)

I suppose I should now start a thread on hiking with a cane vs hiking with poles...

Doug
 
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