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07-15-2007, 08:04 PM
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Sunday's Hike
Quabbin via Gate-15
07-15-07 So my plan for today had been to pack up and head out to Doubleday Village via Gate 38 or 39 out on the east side of the Quabbin off Rt 32A. I was actually planning on taking off for the day by myself since I knew that Gypsy and Kate both had plans and I just plain wanted to get another hike in since Gypsy has to work on Monday and I was going to run Kate on a couple errands since we wouldn't be hiking. J decided to help me move a couple things with my dad's flatbed, one of which was a VW for parts that Ray needed moved. Kate decided that she would rather go hike with me instead of do laundry so even though it was after noon when we finished moving the car and other stuff we decided to head to a spot on the west side of Quabbin she's never been to. An old mill site down after Gate 15 off Rt 202. It's a short hike. Only about 2 miles round trip, but we knew we had bad weather coming in and that by the time we got out there it would be getting later in the afternoon. I grabbed my hydration pack and a change of clothes. Kate put her bikini on under her hiking clothes (it was hot as hellz today) and grabbed her hydration pack and off we went for a hike. When we got up into Shuttesbury it had already rained. So we were hoping that meant the storms were over. We were in such a rush to get out of town that neither of us double checked the weather. But since I had a change of clothes and she and a bikini under her clothes we figured we were set regardless of what the weather did. Well...we were not even down to the mill site when with a low rumble of warning the heavens opened up for short spurt. We actually didn't mind as the rain was warm and we were hot. We climbed around the mill wall ruins and checked out the stone work of a bridge that goes over the Atherton Brook and then headed down to the reservoir. We passed an old homestead site that we didn't go into as this time of year the brambles are grown up and pretty heavy and we were more interested in getting down to the shoreline anyhow. The view from the shoreline was beautiful and serene and foggy. We could see and hear the storm coming in from the southwest and it was awesome watching move up the reservoir. But unfortunately as the storm moved overhead we realized that we were going to be out in one hellz of a thunderstorm. Kate really didn't want to come up off the shoreline, because the storm coming in was so awesome to watch. But we were pretty darned exposed out there in the open. I practically had to drag her...when all of a sudden overhead we had one hell of a crash of thunder. At that point she pretty much boot-scooted right past me to the trail. We no sooner made it under the tree canopy and the heavens opened up on us...hard and heavy! We actually didn't mind it too much as the rain was still warm and we laughed at being caught in such a heavy downpour when just about every other sane person was probably tucked away safely out of the storms. As we made our way back up the mountain Kate said, "Watch out for.... *crack* ...falling branches!" And a branch just about came down on me! It was raining so hard that our hats and clothes and packs were dripping rain water, which isn't so bad if you haven't been wearing your hat so much recently in the hot weather that the inner band isn't soaked with sweat which is now running fast and furious into your eyes with the downpour. We trekked back up the mountain with the rain water running furiously down the trail, giving us a chance to wash the mud out of our hiking sandals as we made our way back. The storm stopped just before we got to the mill site and we both jumped in the brook to clean the hemlock needles and mud from the trail off. After getting 'cleaned up' a bit we headed the rest of the way back to the Blazer. Now luckily I had pulled the Blazer in so that it was parked crossways, blocking the view from Rt 202 somewhat if you were standing on the passenger side, and my windows are tinted. Kate decided to take off her tank and hiking shorts, wring them out and ride home in her bikini. Well...I decided that I was so soaked through that I really needed to change. Shimmying out of my hiking shorts and bikinis wasn't much of a problem, and even though I was pretty wet I had no trouble getting on my dry bikini's and shorts. And getting out of a soaking wet racer back tank was not much of a problem either. The trouble came when I had to get the dry racer back tank on over rain soaked skin...of course you know that neither one of us thought to bring towels to dry off with. Oh heck no! That would have been the sensible thing to do... There are times when being tall is a royal pain in the backside...and this time was one of them. I'm all scrunched over, half in the Blazer, half out of the Blazer finishing up changing and the stupid freakin' tank decides to get stuck on my soaking wet shoulders and pony since I had tied my hair back. I pulled that sucker off and 'rolled' it a bit and tried to get it on again hoping to roll it down over my shoulders. As I'm doing this Kate decides she better hold up her hiking cargo shorts to kind of block the view from northbound traffic... I get ticked off, have this stupid tank half on and stuck on my wet hair and shoulders and finally turn to her and say, "Would you please pull this freakin' thing down off my shoulders!" She's flipping out because that means she has to put the cargo shorts down that are sorta hiding me from view. I grumble something about, "I don't freakin' care...they don't know me anyhow!" As she's standing there by the side of my Blazer unsticking my dry tank from my wet skin and hair and pulling the back down so I can finally pull the front down. Yep...we probably gave a few Sunday drivers a thing or two to talk about. So...with our wet clothes slung all over the back of the Blazer we jumped in and headed back home. I ended up driving barefoot since I had gotten my feet all sandy while I was changing. I thought about stopping for a coffee, but didn't want to put my wet, sandy feet into my now drying sandals. I mentioned going through a drive thru. And then decided against it. A short time later Kate said, "I'm glad you skipped the drive thru, I don't mind people on the road passing us seeing me in my bikini...but I don't want someone from the drive thru window seeing me in my bikini!" I nearly split a gut laughing. Chicks...go figure, we'll just about get naked on the side of the road to change. (Well actually...I did.) But lordy don't let strangers see us up close and personal when we are just about sans clothing! Lmao! Anyhow, we had a great time and it was a good thing Gypsy wasn't with us...she probably would have fainted when I decided that I just had to change. (It drives her nuts when I do that on the trail.) She: "Someone might come along any minute and see you changing!" Me: "Eh...so what, they don't know me and I'm hot and need to strip off some layers!" Although, come to think of it...she probably would have had a towel in her pack! 
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 07-15-2007 at 09:45 PM. |
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07-16-2007, 05:11 PM
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Break is over! So back 'toit'.
This time around the break was from lifting, cardio, and a strict diet. I'm not sure how I felt about the whole thing since I have a habit of mulling over things to smithereens...and don't you know that today I ended up splitting my 3 ring binder training journal into three binders. One dedicated to my lifting notes and sheets that I keep, one dedicated to my diet notes and one for my alpine conditioning routine sheets and notes that I pick up again when my backpacking season slows down. I really tend to be a little bit too intense about my training... Anyhow...over the past two weeks I was having a lot of stiffness and some pain in my right shoulder. I was putting it down to frequent weather changes and sleeping pretty poorly a couple nights. But the 'glitch' just wasn't going away and I am a bit concerned how the shoulder will stand up to my return to training. Cardio 1: 35 minutes heavy bag work Some leg work. A lot of work on my triple strikes as I tend to loose the power on that third strike. I also want to put a nix to clipping my chin, so I worked slow to fast and from low to high. I also worked on getting my body behind my hooks a bit more as well. My bruises had finally all faded off my elbows and knees. I might have some forming on the knees again, but the elbows took the work just fine and even though I didn't wrap my hands/knuckles under my gloves my hands held up fine as well even through my backfist work, so I was pretty well pleased with that. The right shoulder is a bit sore from the impact, but nothing out of the ordinary that I can tell. Tomorrow is lower body/leg day.  Still re-evaluating my diet. I probably should give myself a couple weeks before I make any changes though...especially since I just got through my break and need to settle back into clean eating. Cardio 2: 30+ minutes power walk
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 07-16-2007 at 06:27 PM. |
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07-17-2007, 01:07 PM
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Tuesday - Lower body
Lower body
week 1 - day 1 Squats set 1/12r 95# set 2/12r 100# set 3/12r 105# Leg Press 2 sets/8r 170# Romanian Deads 2 sets/12r 55# Hip abduction 2 sets/12r 140# Hip adduction 2 sets/12r 140# Standing BB calf raises 2 sets/15r 55# Calf machine 2 sets/15r 110# Machine back extension 2 sets/12r 130# Abs - V-ups 2 sets/15r
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
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07-18-2007, 04:59 AM
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So...last night I ended up doing 2 sets of Zercher squats. (55# - 12r each.) I was experimenting. I like them, but getting them off the floor was interesting. I think perhaps I should try them on the rack at the gym...
 Cardio: 30+ minute power walk So I made it back from my power walk without getting caught in the storm...but don't you know it would start to rain when I'm out with my 'prissy' aussie/great pyr cross that doesn't like to get wet! Aight...so after getting back from my walk a bowl of oatmeal with a 1/2 scoop of egg protein powder was just not going to cut it for my second breakfast. Tuna with chive ricotta and romaine lettuce on a whole wheat wrap did though. Kate is going to die when she starts trying to make me breakfast! I don't eat like a 'normal' person at all anymore!  Anyhow...I loved being out so early,  I missed being able to do that. I'll be going to back to work nights pretty soon though...so I doubt I'll want to be getting up at 4:30 after crashing at 1:30!
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
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07-18-2007, 05:44 AM
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Quote:
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07-21-2007, 11:09 AM
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Week 1 - Day 2
And wait until they decide to eat like you!
It's pretty cool when they start to make enough for both of you and it's what you would normally eat!  Upper body Week 1 - Day 2 W/G reverse lat pulldowns 2 sets/12r - 60# C/G-V handle rev. lat pulldowns 2 sets/12r - 60# Face pulls *Forgot them!  Alt. Arnold presses 2 sets/12r - 15# Lateral raises 2 sets/12r - 10# Machine bench 2 sets/12r - 56# DB flyes (Flat bench) 2 sets/12r - 15# Alt. Hammer curls 2 sets/12r - 15# *Starting to feel gassed out here. The diet is definitely effecting my training. S'okay...I was warned it might. Concentration curls 2 sets/12r - 10# C/G bench set followed immediately with skull crusher set. set(s) 1 12r -22# set(s) 2 8r - 22#
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
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07-22-2007, 09:25 PM
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Sunday's Hike - Quabbin via Gate-38
Quabbin via Gate-39
07-22-07 I've been Jonesing for a hike. Gypsy couldn't go out on Friday as she was feeling a bit under the weather and Kate and Ray just headed to North Carolina for the week. Yesterday I was feeling exhausted after my training thanks to the adjustments I'm making to my diet so I just bummed around the studio working intently away on "In the Dragon's Lair" and listening to music as I worked. I had made up my mind on Friday night that come hell or high water I was going out on a hike this weekend. So last night before I crashed I packed my hydration pack and put on the rest of my hiking gear so that all I had to do this morning was dress, eat, feed the critter crew, and get the heck out of town! I took Rt 32 and 32A out to Gate-39. Gypsy and I had scoped it out a bit early in the year so I knew where I was headed. It was a nice ride out. I drove out in silence. I do that a lot actually. I don't mind my own company I guess. The parking area for G-39 could possibly handle two vehicles or maybe three very small ones so I wanted to get there earlyish. When I pulled in, no one was there. Yeah! Makes me a happy camper! I had pre-planned most of my route. "Eye-balling" my map route would give me at least 8.50 miles with 10 easily possible. I wanted to get in a good hike today and planned on boot-scooting along between pictures as I knew that I would be stopping when I spotted foundations, or wild walls, wild flowers or animals of interest. That and I figured a good half hour on the shore of the reservoir for lunch. The route was pretty straight forward and there wasn't a trail up to Rattlesnake Hill #2 (Yes, there are two Rattlesnake Hill's in the Quabbin, the one I would pass today has no view or trail to the top.) so I wouldn't need my second trekking pole...or so I thought. Hey, just how much trouble can one hyper and curious lone hiker get into on a straight forward trail anyhow? Well...this is "ME" we are a talking about. The answer is: Plenty! But once again I digress. So lets get back to the hike. I took my obligatory "trail-head" picture thinking of Gypsy and Kate. I had brought my MP3 player and decided to use it later if I got bored. I found that the armband of my little Lyra fits perfectly around my camera case. On the other side of my belt I had my binoculars. Oh! BTW...my hydration pack, camera case and binocular case were dry! It took most of the week for them to dry as they hung upside down along with my hat in the cellar all week. Not long into my hike I found the best looking bunch of Indian Pipes I had ever seen so I took a moment to get a nice macro close up of them and then headed out to the intersection that lead either deeper into the Quabbin or to Gate-38. We had not been able to gain access to the G-38 road (Camels Hump Road...how weird is that for New England!) this past spring as the snow still had it blocked in. So I had decided to walk to it from G-39 to see if it was a viable parking area to come into the reservoir from. Well, right away I noticed that the road was very rarely used. So I was not surprised to find that you would need a four-wheel drive to get to the gate and that you would just about be able to turn and park something like my Blazer there. The only cool part of that section of the hike was finding the old granite Petersham/Dana town marker just before the gate. There was evidence of a very nice farm all along the trail, but I never did zero in on any foundations. The brush and brambles were pretty heavy along the trail though and even spreading into the trail. I kept having baby wild raspberry brambles scrape along my toes, feet and ankles. Enough so that I was slightly regretting leaving my 'legs' to my hiking pants back in the Blazer. The trek back to the main trail was almost uneventful...I got a gnat in my eye and was sorely wishing that I had Gypsy or Kate with me to help me get the wretched thing out! It took me a good 10 minutes of blinking with my eyes watering madly before it worked out to the edge of my eye so I could wipe it away with my bandana. I really despise gnats and wonder what in creation their importance here on this green earth is anyhow! Turning the corner to the Dugway Road trail brought me down a gently sloping hill and into an area that had once been beautifully 'manicured'. The walls were nearly perfect and I found an old farm lane going off to the left. It was driving me nuts that I hadn't spotted a foundation and there were grand old growth maples lining the road. Finally! I spotted a granite wall with a short curving set of stairs leading up off the road to what would have been the foundation of a house. It was a beautiful spot. I made my way carefully back down the nearly hidden steps and barely a few steps further down the road found the remains of what had probably been the barn foundation. I grabbed a couple quick pics and headed down to where the map showed power lines passing through the area. As I crossed beneath them I could hear the 'hum' of electricity. Gypsy and I always stop for a moment and listen to that 'hum'. Just as I got to the edge of that area I spotted something that really surprised me. Telephone lines! I'm not sure where they head off to or if they are even in use any longer, but it was one of the few times in all my Quabbin hikes that I've come across phone lines! And beyond the mysterious phone lines I spotted a beaver pond! The first one of the day. As I made my way in I stopped a moment to photograph it and spotted a Great Blue Heron fishing on the far side. I made my way down a bit further and took a couple nice pics of him. I kept moving slowly hoping to get a closer shot and wouldn't you know, just as I got behind some brush and was changing the settings on the camera he decides to take off! Dangit! I missed a really good shot of that bird flying over the pond. Taking my focus off of him and looking ahead of me I noticed that the trail became submerged for a short ways, and the edge of the pond was at least a foot above the road on my left. I love when that happens as I can get some very cool shots of pond plants from close to eye level. The walk through the flooded area was a bit easier than that marsh Gypsy and I had to make our way through recently. I was able to get a couple nice pictures of beautiful white fragrant water lilies and on the beaver hutch closest to the road I believe I photographed purple wing-angle loosestrife. Unfortunately I couldn't get quite close enough to get a really clear shot to be sure. I was a bit loath to leave such a beautiful area, but it was still pretty darn early in the hike and I had taken quite a few pictures. So I boot-scooted out of there and trekked up and over another hill only to find when I came down to the bottom...another beaver pond! This one a bit tinier and once again the trail was flooded part way across, but it never got more than mid-calf deep. I found some fresh coyote pug marks on the far side and that was pretty cool since we very rarely see fresh coyote sign. I only took a few pictures in this area as I really wanted to get some more trail under my feet before stopping again for any length of time. I really hadn't gone very far when I started to hear rushing water. I knew I had the East Branch Fever Brook coming in on my right sometime soon and was a bit surprised to find that I had come upon it so soon. This would bring me about a third of the way into my hike. I was making pretty darn good time for all the stops I had made thus far. I had figured that I would boot-scoot through that area until I came down another hill and around the bend. In front of me to the left was the biggest darn beaver marsh I had ever seen and on the right was an old mill site with an over grown meadow and pond behind it. I could still hear the water rushing into the area from somewhere beyond the meadow and old mill pond. The whole area was gorgeous! Brilliant blue sky with puffy white clouds over head, literally hundreds of fragrant white water lilies, pickeral weed, which is very pretty in spite of such an uninspiring name, and yellow bullhead pond lilies as well. As I got in closer for to the mill site I finally found a bit of a path into the wild raspberry brambles. It went right past a crooked little maple that had made its way up through a couple granite boulders. I scrambled through the brambles carefully and nearly stepped on the most perfect specimen of a fully flowered Pipsissewa (Spotted Wintergreen) that I have ever seen. I carefully took a couple pictures and continued along the path over a wild wall, spotting some old galvanized tin pails and other odds and ends of metal that I couldn't quite identify. Making my way into the meadow I had to really watch my step, there were wild baby raspberry bushes all over the place. At one point I felt a very sharp 'bite' and tried to continue walking thinking I had once again gotten tangled in the brambles. But when the pain didn't abate I picked my foot up out of the brambles to see that a lone red ant was hanging on for dear life bitting the hellz out of the top of my ankle. It's dead now...little rotter! Those things hurt! Once again...leaving me wondering just what the importance of such a nasty ill-tempered little creature is anyhow. Wait, never mind. Ants have plenty of good uses and not all of them are so ill-tempered! After taking care of that offensive little creature I was just about at the ponds edge and could see the East Branch Fever Brook cascading down into the pond from a natural 'stairway' of rocks and boulders on the far side. Now I knew were the sound had been coming from. Curiosity satisfied I turned and headed back to the trail which I happily discovered meandered for quite a ways along the beaver marsh giving me the chance to see quite a bit of the marsh. As I went along I was looking for a trail that should have been pretty much directly 'in front' of me that would lead me to the shore of the reservoir where I intended to stop for lunch. What I discovered was that there were a couple intersections that are not on the map. After mulling this over a bit while still on the go I figured I would just trek along until I found the shoreline or made my way into an area I was already familiar with. Not long after making this decision I rounded a bend to find another hiker! The first I had seen all day. I stopped to chat as he looked to be getting his bearings and come to find out he, Tom, was doing a scouting hike for an upcoming hike planned with the Springfield Explorers Club. (I had no idea such a club existed in our area.) He was also a member of the AMC's Berkshire chapter. The very chapter Gypsy and I plan on joining in the near future. After finding out that he was in charge of finding a decent hike with ample trail-head parking I pulled out my map and showed him the trail to Soapstone Mountain, which he had not realized was so close, and showed him the Gate-36 access through the Women's Federated Forest. He was looking to do an 8 mile or so hike with the club and low and behold. The loop Gypsy and I had just done was perfect for the group. After spending about a half hour or more chatting with Tom I head out only to find that I was now on the trail that comes down from Gate-37. Dangit! I over shot that trail to the shore somewhere along the line. No biggie though as I've been wanting to take the trail that I was on. So I turned it around and headed back to find the road that goes along Rattlesnake Hill #2. I had no trouble finding that trail, and in finding it discovered that the reason I overshot the trail to the shore was because it is no longer there! The trail that goes along Rattlesnake Hill #2 is not used very often and I turned on to it just as an older couple on mountain bikes made their way past me. So that made two more people in the area. I figured that I would probably happen upon other hikers sooner or later as I was now getting deeper into the old Doubleday Village area. On the map it shows that the trail comes down almost to the shore of the reservoir, but crosses East Branch Fever Brook just before it ends in the reservoir...like I said, that is what the map shows. The trail was pretty grassy, deep grass, and of course lots of baby brambles to scratch my feet up. I was rather oblivious to it though as I discovered that until I started the ascent along the east side of Rattlesnake Hill #2 I could still catch sight of that huge marsh! And at one point the road passed close enough along it that I could see way back down to the other end. Along the way I started to find rather fresh sign of two moose. Probably a cow and calf by the looks of the prints. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of them. I didn't, but just knowing the possibility was there kept me in high spirits. (Not that I'm often in low spirits on a trail!) Continued:
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
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07-22-2007, 09:27 PM
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Quabbin via Gate-39 cont.
Now remember when I said that according to the map the trail went almost to the shoreline? Well, as I started to hear the brook to my left as I found myself at a fork. But neither branch looked all that promising or well used. So I figured I would take the fork that probably lead to the shore. And it did dump me on the shore...at an interesting little inlet. That was of course surrounded heavily with...more wild raspberry brambles. Now earlier in the hike I had been thinking to myself, "man I love the smell of wild raspberries..." So now I have to tell you I was thinking, "more freakin' brambles!"
Not much slows me down though and I may gripe in my mind for a moment or two, but it never lasts long because I'm always too busy casting ahead for a trail of some type. I did a game path that took me to the edge of a dried up brook that obviously only runs during the spring melt off and storms. Up to this point I had managed just fine with one trekking pole. Well now here I was trying to make my way up a dried up brook outlet to the main brook through some very heavy brambles. And the ground was pretty difficult to see down through the brambles. It was also along this spot that I was thinking that pants legs would be nice or even gators. But as I just about reached the main brook I was brought up short by the sight of Cardinal flowers! Aight! That was just so cool that I balanced precariously on rock edges with my single trekking pole buried in mud and fished out my camera with one hand to get a picture. Just in case it was the only Cardinal flower of the day. It wasn't, but hey you never know! The other ones proved just as tricky to photograph, because by the time I found them I was now committed to bushwhacking up a rushing brook with very low visibility due to the rushing water. So after getting some pictures of Cardinal flowers I put my camera away so that I could concentrate on my journey up East Branch Fever Brook. Early on wasn't too bad as the water was shallow, no more than mid-calf deep in places, but as I approached a more open area the water suddenly got deeper according to my trekking pole which I was carefully setting down step by step ahead of me so that I wouldn't accidentally walk off into deeper water. By now I'm balanced precariously on rocks thigh deep in this rushing brook and to make matters worse I'm heading into a gorge! I'm standing there griping to myself in my mind about having one trekking pole with me when I could have had two trekking poles with me and mulling over the possibility of moving my map and my camera into my waterproof map case which is in my pack of course and considering that I would have to accomplish this balanced on slick rocks in thigh deep water soon if at all when suddenly it occurs to me that one side of the gorge is man made! So I turn my attention to the rock walls on the right of me and find that I just might be able to make my way across a very swift and deep running section to that wall. Thankfully this lady has some insanely long legs. Gypsy and Kate probably wouldn't have been able to make the cross over to the wall, and on top of that, the darn wall was pretty steep. As I climbed up I found myself nose to nose...well make that nose to flower, with a perfect tiny little Checkerberry, which is also part of the wintergreen family. And there I am hanging on for dear life with one hand, my trekking pole dug deeply into what little ground there and no way to get out my camera! Oh the unfairness of it all! I made it up to a fairly level section and realized that I was looking at an old mill site! The gorge I had planned to make my way though had probably been where a giant waterwheel had been located. Which also meant that I probably would have ended up swimming against the current if I had not sought out an alternative route. By this time though I was getting rather grumpy. Here I was bushwhacking my way up this brook, climbing steep embankments out of a gorge and still there was no freaking sign of the trail anywhere! I made up my mind to jus t stick to the brook edge as best as possible in spite of the brambles because the darn river crossing was somewhere ahead. Not long after clearing the mill site I spotted what looked to be an old bridge abutment up a head and sure enough it was my crossing. I tell you what, I now know why that particular route is hardly used! The crossing is not much better than what I had just been through! I almost sat down and laughed a good one over that...but I spotted another rock wall that marked where an old mill sat and behind that was the marsh! Okay...that was totally cool and redeemed the fiasco of the brook trek in my mind. It would have been nice to go check out the second mill site. But the path from where I was standing to the wall was, you guessed it, all brambles. I looked down at my thoroughly scratched up legs that I had just providentially soaked in cold brook water and were no longer bothering me and figured, "eh...digital zoom works!" So I headed uphill and soon enough came to the trail that would take me to the shoreline! I got down there in short order, but it was pretty well flooded and I really couldn't get very far out to take pics. And then I noticed I could hear voices. I looked through the trees and spotted a couple fishing boats. Well, in my mind voices just were not what I wanted to be hearing. So I swung it around to head back up the long stretch of hill that would take me back to the where I could pick up a side trail that swung back to the trail to my Blazer. I was now a good two-thirds of the way through my hike. Just as I put away my camera and passed the last fishing boat a huge red-tailed hawk took flight in front of me and wouldn't you know I didn't have time to get my camera back out. I seriously boot-scooted up this long hill for one very good reason, the deer flies and mosquitoes were brutal in this area. Even with a second application of my Off they were coming at me fast and furious. I have decided that I really can't stand to hear the 'ping' of deer flies as they collide with the brim of my hat and once again I found myself thinking, "just what purpose do these narsty biting creatures serve on this green earth anyhow?" Never did come up with an answer. But I did find a couple beautiful groups of day lilies standing sentinel over gorgeous farmstead sites that I would love to come back and visit in the autumn when the bugs are dead and the leaves are turning. As I was going along up over the mountain I looked down to my left and there, way down below, I could see the sun and brilliant blue sky reflected off the waters of that huge marsh once again. To my mind that was pretty darned impressive. Once I crested the top of the mountain I got a wee bit of a break from the deer flies. Not much, but enough that I figured I would break out some trail mix since I hadn't had anything for a couple hours other than a packet of GU and a Pria bar as I was trekking along just before I met up with Tom. (I'm getting good at getting what I need out of my hydration pack while on the move!) Well, eating trail mix when you are boot-scooting along and dodging narsty biting deer flies is interesting to say the least. At one point I'm trying to maneuver said bag to my mouth without spilling the contents or having a deer fly slip in between the bag and my mouth when one of the little rotters decides to land right on the bridge of my sun glasses. So there I am, trekking pole tucked under one arm, both hands balancing the bag, moving along at a decent clip and I'm glaring at this little demon as it's contemplating how best to bite me. I did manage to kill the narsty little thing. That is what it gets for daring to stare me in the eye! (But I guess now is a good time to admit that a couple slipped past my guard and bit the hellz out my side and shoulders so I don't feel badly about killing the one that landed on my face with ill-intent.) Shortly after the battle with the deer flies I found that I had once again reached the power lines. This time I was on a different part of the trail and I felt a little blue to realize that I was now less than 30 minutes from my Blazer when out of the corner of my eye I spot something bright orange smack dab in the middle of the field under the lines. It was a wood lily! I nearly did a jig! They are very rare now and here was a beautiful and perfect specimen along the side of the trail! So you know I took a few moments to get a couple pictures of it before continuing on. The rest of my journey was all down hill from there, quite literally, but it was a gentle descent and gave me a chance to slow my pace a bit before I hopped in the Blazer to head home with Carlos Santana blasting from my MP3 player. Hey...I think I was enough company for myself today. So I easily got in ten miles today...okay well, a mile or so of that trek wasn't quite so easy, but hey! I wouldn't have found that cool gorge that I thankfully did not have to swim up, nor would I have found that old mill site. And...uhhh...yeah, even hiking alone I can get myself into plenty of trouble. Note to self: Next time you bring the zip-off legs to your trekking pants and you bring your second trekking pole and you do not leave your Lanacaine in the darn Blazer! Will I listen to myself...probably not! BTW...I ate my lunch for supper when I got home. So much for lunch on the shoreline today!
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07-23-2007, 08:37 AM
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Thanks MG! I agree, of the whole day the bugs were the killer! Having them swarming around my face and head aggravates me the most. What was really irritating was the fact that I do have a bug net to slip over my hat. It was back home in my big trail pack.
 I think from now on that is also going to be transfered into my hydration pack. Normally I only bring my first aid kit, bug spray, lunch, camera, compass and binoculars from my big pack! Ugh...I felt some soreness in the pecs and triceps yesterday...I'm really feeling it today. Anyhow...on to the training musings: I've been rather bored with my upper body routine and even though 'it works' if it was something tangible I would take it out back and shoot it. I was really enjoying my conditioning routine this past winter. But the whole routine as I wrote it is too much to do even one day a week when I'm backpacking. So I decided to just take a couple of things I know I need to work on and focus on them. Pull ups and push ups. I suck at them...big time. And as I was pulling myself up that wall yesterday I was reminded just why I had put together that conditioning program for myself for the winter. So...pull ups, push ups, lower back work and abs will be what I work on starting Thursday. Cardio: 30 minutes - elliptical 5 HIIT intervals
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 07-23-2007 at 12:05 PM. |
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07-24-2007, 02:11 PM
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So today my pecs finally are back to normal. Still sore, but at least not hard as a rock like they were the past couple of days! My egg creation from yesterday re-heated nicely and was just as delicious. (Can you believe I actually said egg and delicious in one sentence?
 )Today I left the gym walking on a cloud. I'm very happy with my progress this summer.  Week 2 -Day 1 Lower body Squats set 1/8r - 115# set 2/8r - 120# set 3/8r - 125# Zercher squats set 1/8r - 65# set 2/8r - 70# set 3/8r - 75# *Nice! What a difference off the rack! I got some seriously strange looks from the guys and gals in the gym today...guess they haven't seen someone do zerchers before. Romanian deads set 1/8r - 75# set 2/8r - 75# set 3/8r - 75# *After I finished up with these one of the older guys approached me to say: "Next week they are bringing in a 1,000# for you." I just looked at him for a moment and then started to laugh. I told him it just takes practice. He looked at me and said, "honey you do a helluva lot better than I ever have!" I turned really red by that time and noticed that a bunch of the guys in the gym were grinning at me. So much for keeping to myself and being unnoticed! (This is why I normally face the wall...) Leg press was in use so I moved on to: Hip Abduction set 1/8r - 140# set 2/8r - 145# Hip Adduction set 1/8r - 140# set 2/8r - 145# *I seriously thought of going up another 5# and doing 8 more reps on each. But I really wanted some energy left for the LP. Leg Press set 1/8r - 170# set 2/8r - 170# *Forgot to bump that second up 5# Machine calf raises 3 sets/15r - 120# Machine back extensions 2 sets/8r - 135# BB Good mornings 3 sets/8r - 65# I really should have kept going up 5# on these. I could have handled more. Abs Machine out of order. I'll do jack knives tonight. So hellz yeah...today rocked!
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07-26-2007, 12:27 PM
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Week 2 - Day 2
Wednesday's cardio: 30 minutes on the elliptical. 5 HIIT intervals.
Week 2 - Day 2 Upper body Reverse pull ups/palms face me 1 set/6 reps - bw Palms face out (As they would be when I'm climbing a rock face.) 1 set/6 reps - bw Horizontal pull ups 3 sets/6 reps - bw Bent-over BB rows 2 sets/6r - 55# Alt. One-arm Bent-over db rows 2 sets/6r - 23# Push ups 3 sets/6 reps - bw Seated BB military press 2 sets/8r - 22# DB bench 2 sets/8r - 15# DB flyes 2 sets/8r - 10# BB concentration curls followed immediately by close grip bench 2 sets/8 reps - 22# BB reverse curls followed immediately by overhead triceps extensions 2 sets/8 reps - 22# Medicine ball jack knives 3 sets/12r - 8# *Dropped back on a few things and knocked the shoulder work back as well. Push ups brutalize my shoulders enough as it is. Came away a bit wobbly...so it was a good challenging workout today. I'm happy.
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07-30-2007, 02:48 PM
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Gypsy has been wipped out from work so we did a nice easy going 4.50-5 mile loop up and around Soapstone Mountain down in Shenipsit State Forest on Friday.
Sunday I took off on another solo hike at Quabbin via Gate - 40 and got in 15+ miles.  Still have to write up my hike log on that one. Tomorrow is leg day!
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
