#6 Boston - None of that Nature Crap and Other Tales from the Fruit Sherpa - July 15 2005
Toe woes, schmoe woes - promises and resolutions all were tossed out the window this weekend, and adequately bandaged up I decided to hike up Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire after all. Never pass up a good hike, right? Monadnock, reportedly the second most hiked mountain in the world (right after Mount Fuji), is considered by many a rehearsal hike before heading up the king of the White Mountains, Mt. Washington (the highest peak in the Northeastern US with 6288 feet - I will attempt to hike up there at the end of this month). http://www.nhstateparks.org/ParksPages/Monadnock/Monadnock.html
As is normal with hiking in the granite state, you take a pounding, no matter how high the hill - 3100-some feet in this case - boulders, roots, holes - not an easy stroll up. Our group (a collection of regulars from the AMC) decided to stay away from the mass of hikers scrambling up the main White Cross Trail, and picked a less traveled, and thus a bit more challenging sequence of trails: White Dot to Cascade Link to the steep Red Dot Trail and then along the ridge line of the Pumpelly Trail. Red Dot provided some excitement for those of us who like rock climbing, and who do not mind a bruise or two, but Pumpelly, which guides you to the summit by a progression of rock cairns, rewarded with spectacular views all the way over to Mt. Washington (http://www.qcc.mass.edu/brink/qcc/mmpumpelly.html). Once you reach the summit, of course, you are surprised at the huge mob of people hanging out, and for many of them you cannot figure out how in the world they made it up there in the first place. It's like a convention up there!
Martin, our fearless trip leader, led the group up at a nice clip, with no time to smell the roses and ooh and aah the blueberry bushes ("none of that nature crap"), water breaks were restricted - slave driver - and only his kind (and somewhat reluctant) offer to carry an apple up (and down) the mountain ("What am I, your fruit sherpa?") got him a couple of small brownie points. Despite the chain-gang-like experience :-), a good time was had by all, and plans were hatched for future outdoors adventures. The day ended with a lumberjack-size meal at the railroad-car style Peterborough Diner, which left us all in a food-induced coma and restored some of us to moderately decent human beings.
I had carefully tested my abilities to wander about the day before when I joined my friend Linda in an outing to the Blackstone Valley near Sutton, Mass. After a bug-infested hike along the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park (http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/blst.htm), we zipped over to King Farm for the Blackstone Valley Celtic Festival which turned out to be a most exquisite event (http://celticfestival.blackstonevalley.org/). Situated on a hillside with a marvelous view of central/northern Massachusetts and with Mt. Monadnock in plain sight, this turned out to be a splendid day and an experience I can certainly recommend. Thousands of revelers enjoyed knockout performances by the Glengarry Bhoys, Robbie O'Connell and Aofie Clancy, and Pendragon among others. Of the many diversions offered, Linda and I were particularly enticed by the "Men in Kilts" competition, which turned the somewhat well-behaved crowd into a hootin'-and-'hollerin' pack of troublemakers. A jury of fair maidens in Celtic outfits needed to be impressed, and aside from overall and most authentic appearance, it was the category of "best knees" that garnered quite an enthusiastic response from the crowd, and led a few of the competitors to reveal more than some of us anticipated. Marriage proposals and money bribes were also used as implements to sway the voting.
After having some cold drinks to calm ourselves down, it was time for the sheepherding demonstration with border collies - [picture from the 2004 festival (http://celticfestival.blackstonevalley.org/gallery04/festival/collie02.jpg)) - this is a must-see! I am sure most of you have seen the movie "Babe" and have a bit of an idea, but these dogs are fantastic! http://www.bordercollie.org/bcchar.html. They worked together in teams of five and herded the sheep exactly where their owners wanted them to (and the sheep did comply in most cases....). The sheep kept gathering in some kind of a huddle, quite possibly hatching escape plans, but the collies made no secret of the fact that they were definitely in charge here.
The week started out with some soreness (toe recovery - and NO, I did not have to call the toe truck!! - and a few Monadnock aches and pains), but jogging activities have commenced, and on Wednesday night a solid contingent of the Running Partners bustled over to Charlestown for a nice three-mile dash. This left us utterly and completely exhausted and in need of some brewskis which were obtained at the Tavern on the Water (http://www.tavernonthewater.com/). The place was a virtual beehive of the swank and preppie that night, which made us drink even more. There was a small incident with the seating list, and a schmuck named Rusty received immediate disciplinary action by the hostess for his rather overt bullying tactics.
Boston's social summer programs have definitely hit their full stride, and free events are everywhere. Last night I attended the WBOS free concert series at Copley Square which featured singer Ari Hest (www.arihest.com), and tonight I am meeting some friends from Boston Cares at the Charles River Esplanade, where the Free Friday Flicks (sponsored by radio station WBZ-AM) are shown at the Hatch Shell - tonight's program: "The Wizard of Oz", which should be fun after a beer or two.
Other plans for the weekend are crystallizing slowly - for starters I am participating as an extra in an independent movie tomorrow -don't get your hopes up to high, I assume the flick will most likely show in about five years in some obscure movie theater!!
Have fun my friends - and enjoy the summer!
pet:)
As is normal with hiking in the granite state, you take a pounding, no matter how high the hill - 3100-some feet in this case - boulders, roots, holes - not an easy stroll up. Our group (a collection of regulars from the AMC) decided to stay away from the mass of hikers scrambling up the main White Cross Trail, and picked a less traveled, and thus a bit more challenging sequence of trails: White Dot to Cascade Link to the steep Red Dot Trail and then along the ridge line of the Pumpelly Trail. Red Dot provided some excitement for those of us who like rock climbing, and who do not mind a bruise or two, but Pumpelly, which guides you to the summit by a progression of rock cairns, rewarded with spectacular views all the way over to Mt. Washington (http://www.qcc.mass.edu/brink/qcc/mmpumpelly.html). Once you reach the summit, of course, you are surprised at the huge mob of people hanging out, and for many of them you cannot figure out how in the world they made it up there in the first place. It's like a convention up there!
Martin, our fearless trip leader, led the group up at a nice clip, with no time to smell the roses and ooh and aah the blueberry bushes ("none of that nature crap"), water breaks were restricted - slave driver - and only his kind (and somewhat reluctant) offer to carry an apple up (and down) the mountain ("What am I, your fruit sherpa?") got him a couple of small brownie points. Despite the chain-gang-like experience :-), a good time was had by all, and plans were hatched for future outdoors adventures. The day ended with a lumberjack-size meal at the railroad-car style Peterborough Diner, which left us all in a food-induced coma and restored some of us to moderately decent human beings.
I had carefully tested my abilities to wander about the day before when I joined my friend Linda in an outing to the Blackstone Valley near Sutton, Mass. After a bug-infested hike along the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage Park (http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/blst.htm), we zipped over to King Farm for the Blackstone Valley Celtic Festival which turned out to be a most exquisite event (http://celticfestival.blackstonevalley.org/). Situated on a hillside with a marvelous view of central/northern Massachusetts and with Mt. Monadnock in plain sight, this turned out to be a splendid day and an experience I can certainly recommend. Thousands of revelers enjoyed knockout performances by the Glengarry Bhoys, Robbie O'Connell and Aofie Clancy, and Pendragon among others. Of the many diversions offered, Linda and I were particularly enticed by the "Men in Kilts" competition, which turned the somewhat well-behaved crowd into a hootin'-and-'hollerin' pack of troublemakers. A jury of fair maidens in Celtic outfits needed to be impressed, and aside from overall and most authentic appearance, it was the category of "best knees" that garnered quite an enthusiastic response from the crowd, and led a few of the competitors to reveal more than some of us anticipated. Marriage proposals and money bribes were also used as implements to sway the voting.
After having some cold drinks to calm ourselves down, it was time for the sheepherding demonstration with border collies - [picture from the 2004 festival (http://celticfestival.blackstonevalley.org/gallery04/festival/collie02.jpg)) - this is a must-see! I am sure most of you have seen the movie "Babe" and have a bit of an idea, but these dogs are fantastic! http://www.bordercollie.org/bcchar.html. They worked together in teams of five and herded the sheep exactly where their owners wanted them to (and the sheep did comply in most cases....). The sheep kept gathering in some kind of a huddle, quite possibly hatching escape plans, but the collies made no secret of the fact that they were definitely in charge here.
The week started out with some soreness (toe recovery - and NO, I did not have to call the toe truck!! - and a few Monadnock aches and pains), but jogging activities have commenced, and on Wednesday night a solid contingent of the Running Partners bustled over to Charlestown for a nice three-mile dash. This left us utterly and completely exhausted and in need of some brewskis which were obtained at the Tavern on the Water (http://www.tavernonthewater.com/). The place was a virtual beehive of the swank and preppie that night, which made us drink even more. There was a small incident with the seating list, and a schmuck named Rusty received immediate disciplinary action by the hostess for his rather overt bullying tactics.
Boston's social summer programs have definitely hit their full stride, and free events are everywhere. Last night I attended the WBOS free concert series at Copley Square which featured singer Ari Hest (www.arihest.com), and tonight I am meeting some friends from Boston Cares at the Charles River Esplanade, where the Free Friday Flicks (sponsored by radio station WBZ-AM) are shown at the Hatch Shell - tonight's program: "The Wizard of Oz", which should be fun after a beer or two.
Other plans for the weekend are crystallizing slowly - for starters I am participating as an extra in an independent movie tomorrow -don't get your hopes up to high, I assume the flick will most likely show in about five years in some obscure movie theater!!
Have fun my friends - and enjoy the summer!
pet:)
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