N/S Hancock 1/31/10 or A Tale of Two Scrumpies

vftt.org

Help Support vftt.org:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

michael

New member
Joined
Jan 28, 2006
Messages
177
Reaction score
22
Location
Richmond Maine on the mighty Kennebec!
Another day another beer for the summits. But this day left me wondering WTF? All these years drinking what I thought were scrumpies - a mixture of whiskey and cider turned out to be nothing but lies! well, ok, not lies but certainly a misrepresentation. False advertising. Faux scrumpage!
Whilst out hiking the Hancocks this past Sunday - in fine conditions and near perfect snow
attachment.php


- me mate and I were passed by two strangers on the final approach to N Hancock. We had been enjoying a beer in a sunny spot along the trail

attachment.php


and were looking forward to our real break at the outlook and never did we realize that our summit ritual
attachment.php


was to be forever changed by this chance encounter with two strangers. The harsh reality came tumbling forth from the mouth of the stranger who identified himself as Swamp Yankee. Not being malicious, of course, he merely inquired if the scrumpies we were enjoying were true to the scrumpy heritage. With puzzled looks, between gulps of this same brew, Andy and I thought 'well, hell ya. why wouldn't it be?'. But then the man called Swamp said in effect, 'true scrumpies are made with raw meat' and I could feel the cold sweat of fear wash over my body. Not a true scrumpy you say? Preposterous! But in fact the Swamp Yankee was correct.

The following is a recipe I found here http://www.devon-calling.com/food%20and%20drink/cider.htm

I'm not sure that I will ever look at our ‘Faux’ scrumpy the same way.
Not sure I have the stomach for a true scrumpy. Has anyone here ever had true scrumpies before? I'm just wondering how that meat presents itself after the year or so.

But anyway, back to the TR...so we met Dr Wu and Swamp up on N. Hancock. And as the Dr mentioned in his trail conditions report, we entertained some Canada Jays - which were very aggressive, btw.

attachment.php


Almost bit through a leg as I was lining up another bite of burrito! We shared some yuks and then the Dr and Swamp were off. Andy and I lingered a while longer observing some squalls that had developed further west, then continued our walk over to S Hancock. Truly a fine walk. Very little wind really and the snow was perfect. Sun was bright. We got down from the south peak to the loop jct in 15 minutes. All elementary after that and back to the car by 4pm.

Big thanks to my big brother (49 yesterday!) and his wife for sharing their space at the InnSeasons resort. Our winter camping experience forever tainted by luxury and excess!! ;) We will now have to redeem ourselves with some sort of post-decadence ritual like sleeping with my head on a pillow of Pete's poly-pro :eek: or my hat that doubles as a cod-piece when the wind cuts through my thread bare fleece pants. :rolleyes:
The penance will be steep!
 
Last edited:
Love the pics man! Got me itching to get up there this weekend! Love the beer for the summits idea, might steel it someday!
 
Excellent trip report Michael. It was a pleasure meeting you two this weekend on such a fine hiking day.

But in fact the Swamp Yankee was correct.

You don't spend as much time at Barnes Field as I do without acquiring some familiarity with mixology. I can attest that as vile as cider "con carcass" may sound, it can't possibly be as bad as Swedish Bitters.
 
well thanks Shawshank. I certainly didn't invent the idea but I can certainly advocate for a moderate consumption of malted beverages at any elevation. Time and place for everything as you know ;).

Cheers! (and welcome to VFTT!)
 
Top