Hawkwind faces life with Hashimoto's...

[Hawkwind]

AM cardio: Elliptical - 25 minutes

MA class: One-on-one with Eric. Started the Wah Lum form: Little Open Gate. Also worked with the broad swords.

We have a new adult student starting next week..and his brother may join as well. Very cool.

[Hawkwind]

North Quabbin G-30
07-04-08

Distance: Approximately 10+ miles

So we had a 'change of plan' moment on Thursday night. It dawned on us that we would be hiking on the 4rth of July and that our trail-head for our planned hike was smack-dab-in-the-middle of a camp ground! Yeah...changed that out quick!

We love the north Quabbin area, so we headed out there with plans to head up Rattlesnake for a look south down the Quabbin and then we would meander the old roads and by-ways in the area at our own pace and to our hearts content.

Our town has a Summerfest every year and has for nearly 30 years now. They close off the main street around 8:30 AM so I boot-scooted through to pick up Gypsy so we could skeedaddle out of town and hopefully through the other towns before all the parades kicked in. We did it! Hooyah!

We made good time. The trail-head we chose is off Rt 122. Gate-30 is known for it's keystone arch bridge that spans over the Swift River as it makes its way down into the Quabbin. And no one was in that area yet. Although a short time later a grandma and her grandson caught up with us. We passed and re-passed each other along the way to the old tavern site which is marked by fields, old stone walls, an old three pronged tree, a huge old growth sugar maple, old apple orchard and a profusion of day lilies. We've letterboxed in this area and that is the reason we first became acquainted with the Northern Quabbin area so catching up with them again we decided that they were great candidates to tell about letterboxing.

Unfortunately the letterbox we wanted to show them was either missing or out for maintenance, but they were intrigued enough that they were going to run back to grandma's download the clues to one of the letterboxes in the area and check it out.

We meandered off in different directions for a bit. Gypsy and I were watching out for the bright orange salamanders called red efts that are so prevalent in the area and were not disappointed at all to find quite a few of them since it was damp and overcast. The mosquitoes were out in force as well. I ended up putting my bush-hat on and spraying myself a second and then third time to slow the attacks down a bit.

Our pace was pretty brisk, so we actually managed to keep ahead of the narsty things most of the hike. We soon headed up to Rattlesnake. The trail up follow under heavy transmission lines for a bit and is wide open. The area was loaded with low bush blueberries and we pretty much just swept up small handfuls of them on the way up. Sheep's Laurel was still blooming sporadically in the area as well as the small wild strawberries and Indian strawberries (related to roses and not edible), pasture roses and sundrops. Myriad other wildflowers as well as one of my favorites the small orange hawkweed. No sign of wood lilies in the area though.

Part way up Rattlesnake we met up with the grandma/grandson pair and chatted with them for a bit more about letterboxing, they headed back down, we headed up. The view from the top was awesome even though it was overcast. We could see wisps of mist coming up off the surrounding forests below us and the vast horizon before us may have been gray with the stratus and nimbostratus but it was still impressive to watch the weather and cloud patterns change from our lofty perch.

Below us we were stunned to see just how high the Quabbin has become with all the rain we've been having. It was also rather amusing to watch the boats come and go as we were not far from one of the boat access points. It was the busiest we've ever seen this area of Quabbin and it also helped us decide which direction to go after we headed off Rattlesnake. Our destination...away from the 'crowds' of course!

We made our way back down Rattlesnake and headed left, back past the old tavern site, down to an intersection that would take us over a short causeway, past an active beaver dam and up towards the town of New Salem. It's a bit of a steep hike, but we enjoy the area and I was 'cataloging' the plants, animals and animal sign in my mind and often out loud to Gypsy as we went along. (We've gotten into the habit of 'calling out' the various signs of animal activity we see to each other.)

When we were just about on the causeway we startled a great blue heron and watched as it made its way out of the swamp and out of over the small cove we were passing. We stopped to look for turtles as we have often found many of them in this area, but only spotted small blue gills darting hither and thither among the submerged roots and weeds. The area was 'ringing' with the calls and songs of myriad wild birds. It may not have been sunny, but you could not tell by their happy melee.

At one point I thought it was starting to rain and that I was going to have to pull my pack cover out. I stopped, spread my arms wide and faced my palms up; looked up through the dense tree canopy, but other than the occasional droplets from damp leaves it wasn't raining after all. Turned out that we were crossing Giles Brook and it was burbling along to beat the band! Last time we had crossed the brook it had been barely a trickle.

Proof that as I often say, you may hike in the same place more than once, but it is never the same hike twice. So not needing to untie my rain jacket from my pack or pull my pack cover out we headed on up to G-27 which is off East Main Street in New Salem. You can continue through the gate or hang a left and head back down to the shore of the Quabbin yet again. Of course we headed back down the mountain and were just about at a four-corner intersection noted on the map when we noticed an old road to our left that headed in towards the shoreline a bit.

Out of curiosity and thinking it was the road noted on the map that goes to the shore we followed it. It turned out the road went into an area that was forested/logged last year. Well those roads can be just as much fun if not more so than the old roads that criss-cross the Quabbin. So we stayed on it until we hit a 'dead-end' of sorts on small peninsula. Checking out across the water I could see what was either Pitman Hill or Hamilton Isle.

We decided that either way we wanted to bush-whack back to the Giles Brook area as that would just about bring us back to the old road and almost to the causeway we had crossed to get to this area. The going was tough a few times with thick stands of fern to wade through and tops of trees to be crossed, but we were rewarded with handfuls of low bush blueberries along the way, a never-ending chorus of wild birds to serenade us, a view of the Quabbin few ever see and best of all, no other hikers.

We crossed two small brooks on our way through the brush, pine sapling stands, and marshy bottom-lands before we finally met up with what I believed was Giles brook. The water was up so far that the shoreline in our area was more marsh and bog than anything, so I decided to that now would be a good time to do some aqua-blazing. Gypsy and I both had our teva's on, so I just jumped down in the brook and headed up it.

Gypsy said from behind me, "what are you doing?" I answered back, "this is the big brook, with the pipe we crossed, I'm taking it back to the road since my feet are hot." Now by this time I had managed to start a blister on each of my pinky toes since we had been in and out of wet footing all day and my sandals, no matter how tightly strapped, were just rubbing constantly. I had wrapped the toes with duct tape after we had lunch up on Rattlesnake, but the wet bush-whacking we had just done had caused the tape to let go. So I had pulled it off and stuffed it in my pants pocket.

She hopped into the brook behind me and off we went. I was actually having a grand time with the whole thing as we made our way uphill in the brook. She asked me twice, "are you sure this is the brook?" ... "Yep." We finally hit a rather sandy area so I jumped back up on the bank to keep the sand out of my blisters, we rounded a corner and I pointed to my right. "There's the pipe...and there's the road." Gypsy laughed. "I have to stop doubting you." I just grinned. Poor Gypsy. I do things like this to her a lot. But we both love to explore and bush-whack and it's a lot of fun blazing your own way through the wilds from time to time.

As we made our way back over the causeway Gypsy stopped dead in her tracks and pointed to the ground on our right. And there sitting very quietly was what she thought was a rat snake. (I checked later and it was indeed a rare black rat snake.) We watched the snake for a bit for signs of aggression, but he was so quiet we figured he had just eaten and that we could safely make our way past without upsetting him. I'm not a fan of snakes so I boot-scooted out of there in short order.

Back on the old road we made great time back, passed three pairs of moutain bikers at various spots along the way. One couple was curious as to where we had come in and which trails we had taken. On our way back we did some rough estimates and figured that we had put in at least 10 miles. We met up with a family that was looking for the keystone arch bridge and had not realized they passed right over it. We pulled out Gypsy's map and showed them where they were, and how to find the bridge and then we finished our hike back to the Blazer.

I washed my feet off well and put some meds on the blister I had pulled open (to clean) and when we started to pull out the dad of the group we met yelled, "Wait!" I stopped. "Your poles!" Once again I had the darn things against the truck and nearly pulled out without them. We hopped back on Rt 202 and stopped at our favorite little country store in New Salem to grab coffee and we meandered our way back home at our usual leisurely pace. Another successful adventure over for us until the next time.

[Hawkwind]

Been fighting off another sinus infection. So no training Monday. Awesome news though. My son-of-my-heart is getting married next fall! My oldest called from Osan to tell me his best buds happy news.

Squat day!

Squats
5 sets/5 reps - 135/155/175/185/190 PR's!
Zerchers
5 sets/5 reps - 135* Got that urge to hurl a bit on the last set.
Pin-suspended zerchers
3 sets/5 reps - 95/105/115

Conventional GM's
3 sets/5 reps - 95/105/115
Pin-suspended GM's
3 sets/5 reps - 95/105/115

GHR's
3 sets/8 reps - BW* Ugly as sin...but I did them

Hypers
3 sets/8 reps - BW
Machine back extension
5 sets/8 reps - 35/40/45/50/55

Seated calf-raises
4 sets/10 reps 1 set/9 reps - 50/70/90/110/110
Standing calf-raises
5 sets/8 reps - 40/50/50/60/60 *Positioned myself a little more forward so hopefully I won't have bruises on my shoulders tomorrow.

Decline bench plate crunches
5 sets/10 reps 1 set/9 reps - 15/20/25/30/35/40*ugh failed at 9...But! Almost to the 45 plate.

I. AM. TOAST. But I'm happy!

[Hawkwind]

Meds update:
30 mg Armour Thyroid in the AM and 30 mg at noon were not 'doing it'. I'm now at 45 mg in the AM and 30 mg at noon.

Have a hike log to finish from Friday...

Sunday: Qigong/Tai Chi/Kung Fu/Yoga...4 hours...seriously. I needed some stress relief and started training and just kept going...

Monday
MA: 1 hour
Cardio 1: 20 minutes - elliptical
Cardio 2: 20 minutes - heavy bag work

Tuesday
Missed my 2 MA classes...sinus pressure was so bad I was dizzy all afternoon.

Wednesday
What a wash...
Oh ugh...no training, ma, cardio, riding, or backpacking for me until next week.

I did an eval on that abused/starved rescue horse that I let my friends daughter bring here a few months ago to find out if he would be safe enough under saddle for my friends daughter to start working him...(She's a 'beginner' rider.)

The answer is no...
And I washed the grit/sand/gravel out of the back of my head and out of my elbows to prove it. Darned head abrasions finally stopped 'leaking' and I'm keeping myself awake until at least midnight and then waking myself on the hour until tomorrow AM to be sure I didn't end up with a concussion. Thankfully I've done so many emergency dismounts over the years that I was completely relaxed when that horse went up and I had no choice but to slide off.

The hardest part was having to explain to my friends daughter that the old gelding she saved is such a basket case emotionally from the abuse he took prior to getting here that he is not emotionally stable enough for her to ride and may never be. An expert rider could handle him, but he's probably always going to be 'hair-triggered' and unsafe.

Frick. This is one of the reasons I got out of doing this...I worked with local rescues for horses and GSD's for years and getting an animal this messed up emotionally and physically and knowing they will never be stable rips my heart out and leaves me wanting to hunt down the idiots that abused the animals that end up in my care and beat the daylights out of them.

/rant over...thanks for listening.

[Hawkwind]

Quabbin Reservoir Gate-54
07-18-08

Since I managed to rattle my noggin a bit earlier in the week Gypsy and I decided that we would stay closer to home and get in a shorter, easier going hike than the one we had originally planned across the state.

So we headed out to the Quabbin intent on heading down through the fields at Gate 54 to follow the old dirt farm road down to the shoreline and then follow the shoreline to our hearts content. There is in fact a gold-dot trail through part of that section. But the trail heads up off another old abandoned dirt road to make its way up to the Enfield lookout and we like to continue on along the shore. Making our way past "Syb's" memorial (A former Enfield resident.) around the point and along the shore until we can see the point of the Prescott Peninsula.

We made our way out along two small rock outcrops that we had relaxed on a few weeks back and were excited to find the water clear enough to watch the comings and goings of the local fish population. From the first one we watched a loon hunting off shore. A bit to far away to get a good picture. But close enough to see the loon diving and surfacing minutes later. The second outcrop is located near a gravel beach of sorts and we made our way along the beach to find that the pickerel we had noticed 'hunting' in the shallows (or one like it) from our previous visit to the area was still patrolling the shore waiting for unsuspecting fingerlings to swim within reach. We didn't stay as long this time around as we had a destination of sorts in mind for lunch.

Along the way would be an abandoned well where we had found the skeletal remains of a deer during a past hike of the area and we've tried unsuccessfully to hunt for the house foundation at least twice since that particular day. We also have been very intrigued by a wild wall that runs along the hill for a good part of the way. One of these days we are going to climb along that wall and follow it out to its end 'just for the heckuvit'.

As we were making our way through the pine forest this time I noticed a promising looking 'mound' surrounded with hawthorn, a common planting near old foundation and farm sites. I decided it would need to be investigated further on our way back as we wanted to get out a bit further and have lunch on one of the 'points' overlooking the reservoir.

It seemed as if it took 'no time at all' to reach "Syb's" memorial. And in short order we arrived at the old well site a bit further beyond her memorial. We cast around for a bit looking for the house foundation. We are all the more convinced it sits beneath the waters of the Quabbin and unfortunately the sun hit the water in such a way as to prevent us from seeing very far out from the shore in our search for that foundation.

So slightly disappointed at not finding more than part of a brick along the gravel beach below the well we headed back out on the trail. At this point I should point out that the trail pretty much becomes a game trail. And it goes through low bush blueberries. Lots and lots and oh! Did I mention lots of low bush blueberries? So much so that our legs were getting rather scratched up. At one point we both looked up the mountain side to notice a wide inviting swath of fern. The decision was then made to make our way back via a higher route than the one that teeters along the shoreline that is so heavily berry bush covered.

We did stick to the lower shoreline route as we were on the lookout for promising shoreline to 'boulder bounce' along and we soon found some. We climbed down to the shoreline via the help of a handy exposed root system of a nice secure tree and proceed to boulder bounce along the shoreline until we met up with a run-off stream. The game trail going up on the other side of the run off stream was very clear and headed up steeply into a fern covered area. Before heading up we oriented ourselves with the distant shoreline and realized that we had hiked along the shore farther than other hikes.

Quite pleased with our progress and with me still feeling fine we decided to head up that steep section and see what was beyond it. As there seemed to be a bit of open sky. On our way up we spotted a block of concrete with what looked to be an iron footing bolted to it. We cast around figuring there had to be three more 'footings' and didnt' find any! We really cannot decide just what in the heck it was we found. No sign of a well, foundation, or anything else. Just that one single concrete and iron footing sitting back-a-ways from the shore.

Still talking that oddity over we headed out again following the game trail closest to the shoreline, and from time to time orienting ourselves with the distant shore. We eventually noticed buoys, and then coming around the point we spotted the docking and beach area for one of the boat access gates. Beyond that we spotted power lines. Gypsy thought we were looking at the gate area we had hiked last year...but as I thought about it I was sure it was the access gate off of Route 202. I just couldn't remember the gate number at that particular moment.

We continued up the mountain and found that we were now starting to climb up ledges and that the ledges dropped almost straight down into the reservoir. I was now convinced that we had to be somewhere below the Quabbin Hill Tower. We continued up along the ledges until the brush beyond seemed to be heavier than the brush we had been working our way through and decided that between the breeze and the view and the covering canopy from the trees we had found our lunch spot.

After settling in; taking off our Teva's to give our feet a break, we pulled out Gypsy's Quabbin map and found that we were indeed somewhere below the Quabbin Tower and that we had been looking across the reservoir to the Gate-8 boat ramp and beach. If we continued to bushwhack our way over the ledges we would eventually make our way to the Windsor Dam. Not something we were interested in doing this particular day.

As we munched happily on our lunches a beautiful large red-tailed hawk in its light phase flew by us. It was so close it was almost as if we could reach out and touch it. And of course neither one of us had a camera ready and we missed what would have been a gorgeous close up shot. Oh well. You have to eat sometime or another on the trail! After relaxing we packed up, put our Teva's back on and headed back down the mountain side.

This time we took game trails that led through the ferns, sometimes down and at others up, but always very manageable. The deer know what they are doing we decided as all the trails led to very easy stream crossings in the many gorges we had traversed on our way out to the ledges. We still had a good view of the shoreline and we also found that we had a very good view further up the mountain that had us wondering from time to time just how close we might have been to the fields below the tower and to the Quabbin park area and some of the the trails at the top of the mountain. But since we are not fans of crowds we kept to the woodlands.

Along the way we found one last curiosity. Old electric cable fencing. The really heavy duty stuff. The game trail followed along past a few trees that had the old insulators wrapped around the trees orr nailed into and now being 'absorbed' by the trees. We figure that at one time the tower area must have been 'roped' or cabled off to some extent. But the line is mostly down now and only a distant visual memory that will soon be absorbed by the trees and woodlands.

We made good time back, and as it was getting hotter I finally took my hat off. (I had been keeping it on to avoid bugs biting at my 'war wounds from earlier in the week.) Happily the biting bugs were not around so my poor sore head was safe from attack. Just before getting back to where the trail officially is marked we detoured to check out that mound I had noticed and were delighted to discover we had found another old well. We plan on exploring that area much further at a later date and continued back to the trail head at a good clip going through the fields where we had seen the turkey hens and chicks and the moose sign on our previous visit. Turkey sign was everywhere, but there was no recent sign of the moose.

Back at the truck we decided we just were not quite ready to leave the shores of the reservoir. So we made our way down through the old fields to a shady beach area where we once again took off our Teva's, this time digging our toes into the cool damp sand of the shoreline, and relaxed. We dug around a bit along the shoreline. I found an old hand wrought iron barn nail and some shards of pottery and china that I tucked into my pocket. No telling what I can do with the pottery shards sometime in the future in my art studio. (I am in fact amassing quite an interesting collection of small items from along the trails of my various hikes. One of these days I'm going to have to settle down and put together the trail collage I've been planning.)

On our way back to the truck for the final time (Yes, we really were going to head home this time.) we decided that it was just too much to resist walking up an old abandoned and shady farm lane without being barefoot...so with our Teva's swinging in our hand we took a last leisurely stroll. Finding one more foundation on the way up the lane that we had not noticed before.

Another day of hiking and exploration successfully completed.

[Hawkwind]

Today's dead work and such...

So going into my workout today I knew I had to try and KISS things a bit. Good thing I did. I forgot my workout journal. And I'm a fanatic about keeping notes on my training so that was a bugger.

Took my 5-Tetra and on the way over I felt it 'kick in' like never before! Maybe due to the head injury??? I dunno, but it was strange to have that happen.

Plan was 3 sets of 5 reps for most lifts today...Got in and got to work:
Rack pulls
3s x 5r x 95/115/135# *Felt so good I tossed in one more set of 5 at 155#.
Hex deads
3s x 5r x 95/115/135#

Pin-suspended GM's
3s x 5r x 95/115/135#
Conventional GM's
3s x 5r x135/155/155# *Yikes came up a bit woozy/nauseas on that last set.

Machine Rows
3s x 5r x 50/70/90#
Assisted Mil Pull ups
3s x 5r x 70%
Assisted W/G Pull ups
3s x 5r x 70%

**Tossed in dips for the heckuvit since I was there and will not be lifting again this week with that long-assed hike coming up on Friday.
Dips
3s x 8r x 70%

Plate Hypers
3s x 5r x 25#
Decline plate crunches
3s x 15r x 25#

***Left the gym a bit woozy. Might have done a bit too much.
I have 2 hours of ma tonight. Hopefully I will hold up okay. We'll see!

[Hawkwind]

So, well...ever have one of those days...that turns into one of those weeks...and proceeds to become one of those months? Yeah...

Tonight as we were doing our run in the combo class two of the little charmers in front of me get hacking around, tangled up and went down right in front of me...I had them to get over and a wall to evade.

I jumped up and over at an angle to evade all noggins and body parts spread out under me, pulled up the jump to evade the wall...landed and rolled the right foot...

The right foot I rolled on the trail week before last...
The right foot the horse landed on last week during his meltdown...

Needless to say, I saw stars. I tried to walk/run it out, but it kept giving out on me with shooting pain. I finally asked Sifu for ice, pulled my shoe and sock off and sat with ice on it for 1/3 of the class. My buddy "J" needed a partner, so I pulled my sock back on, realized the foot had swollen and would not be going back into my shoe tossed the other shoe and got up and balanced on one foot during our grab/hold/evasion work.

I could not put any weight on the foot and decided to just observe my weapons class.

I am now sitting here with more ice on my elevated foot. Somewhat freaking out because I have an elevation training hike on Friday and I'm wondering if my foot is going to be able to handle it. I don't want to miss this training hike because my three-day backpack/canoe trip is coming up soon and I need the time on the trail.

Argghh! So anyhow...the plan of action is to keep the foot elevated. Keep icing it. Smooth arnica over the bruising and be prepared to tape the foot up on Friday and keep the hike pace a tad bit slower

[Hawkwind]

Leg Machine Massacre Day

Hack squats
3s x 8r x 90# *Knee held up ok today.
45 degree leg press
3s x 8r x 90/180/270

45 degree calf-raises
3s x 15r x 90/140/190
Seated calf-raises
3s x 15r x 50/70/70

Romanian Deads
3s x 8r x 135
Seated Ham/leg curls
3s x 8r x 70/70/50

Glute machine
3s x 8r x 70/90/110 *The foot rest position really bothered my right foot...kept these light today.

Leg ext. Toes out
3s x 8r x 50/60/70 *Knee was fine.

Hip abductions
3s x 8r x 95/110/125
Hip adductions
3s x 8r x 65/70/65

Machine back ex
3s x 8r x 40/45/50
Plate hypers
3s x 8r x 25

Oblique crunches on the hyper stand
3s x 15r each side x B/W
Machine ab work
3s x 15r x 55/65/75

Forgot GHR's...s'okay. I was toast.

[Hawkwind]

Brooks Woodland Preserve
07-25-08

So Gypsy and I both were going into this hike with injured feet. She had a bruised heel and I had turned my foot in my Kung Fu class and was still having some residual soreness and pain. So we chose to do another section of the East Branch of the Swift River that was also a Trustees of Reservations property.

Since we didn't have far to travel (for us) we decided to head out of town at 9AM instead of 8AM. There would be no rushing today. I woke uncharacteristically tired for this hike and I would be dismayed to find that tiredness would plague me throughout the day. Gypsy on the other hand was in rare form and had me laughing before we even pulled out of her driveway.

The ride over was as enjoyable as ever. I had mentioned previously that we love the ride through Gilbertville and Hardwick and this time around Gypsy reminded me of a shortcut to Gilbertville via Ware. So we headed out that way and saved ourselves a bit of time on a pleasant country road.

We found the road off of Route 32 that we needed, a narrow backwoods road, barely a lane wide. The kind we love. In short order we found the parking area to our trail head. Which started very close to an old foundation. I had once again printed out a map of the area that I had found online and once again it was a good thing as the map boxes at the information board were empty of maps.

Like our last hike the map showed numbered intersections. Always nice to have...IF they are indeed numbered. This week we found that the numbers in the early section of the trail were indeed in their correct locations. We decided on a trail that would take us northeast along the preserves boundary up to Indian grinding stones according to the map.

It had rained pretty heavily throughout the week so we were fully expecting to find water-logged trails. And indeed, quite often in the early part of the hike we slogged through little run-off streams that were the trail. We crossed Moccasin Brook, which was running very fast, and hiked along the outer boundary of a beaver pond. Gypsy wondered if Moccasin Brook was so named because someone lost a moccasin or because so much of the area that we were hiking had been inhabited by Native Americans. The area is a bit famous due to a rebellion led by King Philip (A local Native American chief.). I figured it was so named due to the later.

We found the next couple of intersection markers with little trouble, but along the way noticed an unmarked side trail and wondered if that was the trail to the grinding stones. Of course we chose to trek down it and we found the moss covered stones. We headed back out and up the trail after getting some pictures of the stones and wondering about them for a bit. When we arrived at the next intersection there was a sign to the stones! We laughed. Only us! We cast around a bit for the foundation that was supposed to be at this intersection and could not really decide just where it was.

From there we decided to head up to the vista was saw noted on the map. There was supposed to be a loop trail up, we found one side and what we think was the other side was very faint. We took the more traveled side. The area going up was criss-crossed by beautiful abandoned moss covered wild walls and we lost count of the many old growth trees we found. The vista was pretty, but a small one and we decided to keep on going instead of stopping for lunch. So we followed a trail down over the other side of the small mountain we had just come up. It was a rather nice descent with some very pretty rock outcrops along the way. At one point Gypsy wondered if we were still in the preserve. I figured we were and a while later we found a numbered intersection.

When I pulled the map back out so we could re-orient I started to laugh. For some reason I had not noticed that there was indeed a trail down from the vista. I was so groggy I didn't see the trail when I looked at the map before we headed up the trail. I am not normally so unobservant so we laughed about that for a bit before deciding on a trail that would take us in a more northwesterly direction along the other border of the preserve.

We headed down the trail as it once again followed the Moccasin Brook and followed that along to the point, literally, were the Moccasin meets the East Branch of the Swift. And were those rivers ever running fast after a week of heavy rains. We stood at the confluence of the two rivers and contemplated a crossing. I mulled it over for a bit and said rather flatly to Gypsy, "The water is at least hip deep and running fast with very little bottom visibility." And started to turn back up the bank. I stopped as she said, "We're going to face this in Maine." I turned back and considered the matter for a bit.

Then very uncharacteristically for me, I replied, "Yes, but I'm worried about ripping my foot up again and I'm tired. I have a feeling that today of all days I would have a major wipe out..." She thought about that for a moment and she also turned up the bank. I guess you could say that this one is 'for the books'. The ole' Hawk turned down a challenge. Flat. Gypsy was rather amazed as normally I would have just walked right into that river and started to make my way across. On the way back up the bank she said, "you really are much more tired than usual today." I nodded.

So now we know that I can indeed be simmered down a bit. It doesn't happen often. But it can happen. I'm sure that is a relief for Gypsy to know! The trail out along the Swift was delightful! So even though we skipped a challenging river crossing we were still treated to some wondrous findings along the trail. Now last week we had noticed that in a couple places the local beaver population had tried unsuccessfully to dam the Swift.

We were amazed and amused to find that they had not given up in their endeavors and had in fact been successful to some extent along this section of the Swift. As we made our way along the trail that followed the Swift we noticed what we suspected was an open marshy area. We climbed up over a natural dike of sorts that had probably been deposited over time by the heavy rains pushing the river to its limits and found ourselves on a small peninsula of sorts. We noted a freshly broken through beaver dam. (It was too new to withstand the rains of the previous week.) We made our way along the peninsula and spotted the beginning of a small oxbow. I was rather excited by the find as it is not often you get to see an 'old river' do what comes naturally. A 'new' ox bow forming is almost unheard off now-a-days.

I was so enchanted by the ox box and the discovery of what may soon be a second ox bow that it took Gypsy to bring my attention to the trees in the area. In particular the size of them. The beavers were attempting to take down quite a few old growth trees to dam up the Swift. I cannot say enough how amazing those little buggers are! Gypsy and I would have had to join hands to breach the girth of a couple of those trees. And those beavers knew just which direction to fell those trees. My brother Wayne was a forester. I often watched him notch trees in just such a manner to cause them to fall where he wanted them to fall.

After thoroughly checking the area over we headed back to the trail along the Swift to make our way to a bridge crossing that would head us out along the other side of the Swift, past another old foundation site. When we arrived at the bridge we discovered that it was in the midst of repairs and huge sections of the old bridge were under and along side the new bridge as well as washed a bit down the Swift.

I crossed over merrily without much thought to the wreckage below and happily took pictures of the stone work that was the bridge abutments. I looked up and Gypsy was still on the other side of the bridge and her eyes were wide as saucers. "Amy" Look at this! Look how rotten that old bridge was! Do you realize how often you just cross over these bridges with no thought to their condition?" She paused for a breath here. "Can you imagine if you had been standing on this when it gave way?" I shrugged and started to laugh. "I would have gotten washed away with the bridge?!" Yes, I really do give Gypsy gray hair.

We noticed that it was rather marshy on ones side of the bridge, but we really couldn't see far around the river bend. We figured we would get a chance to check it out a bit later as the trail meandered back to the river. We followed the trail to a nice old house and barn foundation and up as it wound its way up a hillside. We had a couple choices of trails at the next intersection but decided to stay with the Swift and take the other trails back.

As we made our way down through a bit of a ravine we noticed that it was very bright to our right at the top of the ravine. So we climbed up the side and when we reached the top we stopped absolutely stunned! The beavers had indeed been successful at some point in damming the Swift and we were now looking down a beautiful pond and marsh. There was a nice sunny spot along the hillside near the water so we made our way down there to take our break and to watch the wild birds as we ate.

Not long after we sat down and started to recline against the hillside a bit Gypsy sat straight up and said, "Do you smell that?" I shook my head in the negative. "What do you smell this time?" I asked her. "That 'horsey' smell." she replied. Well, that 'horsey' smell usually means moose are in the area. So we quieted down a bit and scanned the vast area of the pond and marsh while we munched our lunch. The area we picked to sit and have lunch was right next to a beaver lodge of sorts and at one point we saw something heavy move under the water. But it never came up to the surface long enough for us to see if it was a beaver or a large snapping turtle. But it was large.

We waited long moments and saw no sign of moose so we continued our conversation and wondered over that large 'thing' in the water. Now this particular hike Gypsy decided to bring bing cherries with her. She offered me some but I had a cherry pie Lara bar. She told me that the good thing about cherries were the pits you could spit and she proceeded to show me her pit-spitting prowess. I started to snort. Snorting with food in ones mouth is never a good thing. I did manage to swallow my mouthful of Lara bar and then laughed myself silly. Good thing I had my feet well planted in the hillside. I was laughing so hard that I could easily have rolled down into the pond.

After a fine lunch, a needed rest, and good laugh it was time to stretch a bit. I stood up and was startled by a rather loud slapping sound. Gypsy and I turned our heads to see something large and dark disappear into the pond a short distance from us. I also saw what looked to be a nose, just barely above the water moving away a short time later. We went over to investigate the area on our way back up the hillside and to the trail when we noticed the beaver slide on the hillside. We suspect that my standing up took a beaver rather by surprise and it slapped the water with its tail as they are known to do as a warning that there are intruders.

Up and over the hillside then back down into the ravine we went. As we went along I spotted first one, then a second print. Moose print. A cow and a calf! Once again moose had come up the trail behind us and passed within feet of us. And still we have not seen them. We followed along behind the pair for a ways, quietly watching the marshlands to our right for sight of them. But the brush was a bit too heavy to see much of anything other than rich green plant life and after a while we lost their trail as they moved further into the marsh and we moved up the mountain side again.

The trail meandered up coming once again to an intersection. We chose to keep going along the outer border and as we made our way up the mountain we found some granite slabs just sitting along side the trail. Rather nice pieces of slab actually. Gypsy paused by them and asked, "Do you think I can fit one in my backpack?" I raised an eyebrow at her and said I was not helping her carry that thing out. She dead lifted one and I then told her, "Hey! You were jonesin' to train this week! Now you can do your deads." (She's been on her break from lifting.) She dead lifted the slab a few more times and as she sets it back down on the stack nice and neat it dawned on me that I should have gotten a picture of her antics. Oh well!

As we made our way up the mountain and around a corner the mystery of the granite slabs was solved to some extent as we found a rather new memorial granite bench along the trail. We are not sure why 4 or so pieces of slab were left a ways down the trail, but it was obvious they were part of the bench or at least leftover from the bench.

We headed out on what we thought was the last part of the outer loop only to find that we had taken a middle trail instead. Eh, not a problem as we still had a ways to go to get back to the Blazer as we were now on the far end of the preserve from where we had started. So we kept heading down the mountain. Gypsy was in the lead and she suddenly stopped to say, "I see a turkey!" And indeed a turkey shuffled off into the underbrush. I went through the area slowly looking to see if the turkey was a hen with chicks. I only just saw a bit of movement and it was a lone turkey so probably just a Tom.

As we made our way further down the moutain we passed a beautiful rock fall. Now, rock falls are rathe common in New England due to the glacial activity that contributed to them. Some of them are 'bald' meaning out in the open and bright with almost not plant life growing up between the boulders. But others are like the ones we found this time. Richly covered in a green blanket of fern, and vines and mosses and lichens with large and small trees growing up between or clinging precariously to the sides of the boulders. Either type of rock fall tends to be breath taking and so we spent some time admiring the rough hewn beauty of a past age spread out before us.

Continuing down the mountain we found ourselves back at the bridge in short order so we decided to take a trail up the Swift again and go up and over the vista again on our way back. As we started up the trail I noticed movement to our left and was thrilled to spot a Great Blue Heron. We watched the heron for quite some time and as we finally were turning back to the trail were startled to see a second heron explode from the marsh, the first heron took flight with the second and we wondered if the pair had a nest nearby although it is rather late in the year for herons to nest.

Back at the trail loop up to the vista a while later we decided to take the 'trail less traveled' and it faded fast to become a game trail and then to completely drop out! We cast around a bit and having no luck finding the trail I decided to jump over wild wall that lay before us and head for the open sky I could see ahead of us. Within moments we were back on the trail.

We crossed over the vista again and not learning our lesson about the trail less traveled the first time...you guessed it. We did it again. And once again found ourselves doing a bit of bushwhacking through the woods to pick up a trail. We were not worried about getting lost quite honestly because the outer trails were very well traveled and marked and we knew we would eventually meet up with one of them and that is just what happened.

Back on the main trail we took an intersection we thought would bring us to the Blazer. It went through a lovely fallow field with an abundance of wild black cherry trees growing. To our delight we watched a colorful yellow breasted Vireo dance among the leaves of a cherry tree as he sang his delight at the feast. The trail dumped us a bit unceremoniously onto the road we had driven along to get to the parking area. We only had a short road walk back and since it was such a nice old shady back road we strolled along admiring more old growth trees. We have decided that we are going to return to this area and explore more of the trails in the fall.

And so we once again made it back in one piece to my Blazer. I was a bit more tuckered than normal. It had been a rather lethargic day for me. But still a delight. We are completely charmed by the East Branch of the Swift River. Before heading out we pulled out my atlas and chose a slightly different route out to Route 32 than we took in. Giving us the chance to admire some beautiful old New England farms as we meandered our way home.

More miles under our feet and another delightful hike completed.

[Hawkwind]

Today's cardio: 40 minutes - elliptical while listening to Joe Satriani's Super Colossal CD. I adore Ten Words and A Love Eternal.

Tonight I have two hours of ma. 1 hour in the combo class, the second hour of broad sword work.

My right foot is killing me today. Tonight should be interesting.

[narcsarge]

Originally Posted by Hawkwind

Today's cardio: 40 minutes - elliptical while listening to Joe Satriani's Super Colossal CD. I adore Ten Words and A Love Eternal.

Tonight I have two hours of ma. 1 hour in the combo class, the second hour of broad sword work.

My right foot is killing me today. Tonight should be interesting.

Well don't be like that Wiccan priestess I read about and stab yourself in the foot w/ you sword! Hawks need their feet to operate their talons you know.....