Black bear attack in the Adirondacks...

Sunday, October 6, 2013

I started the morning as I always do when I visit Donnie; making French toast for breakfast.  We ate plenty and talked some more.  My nephew Eric was there doing some roofing projects for Donnie, but mostly for the fishing.  Like his dad, my brother Jim, he’s a fanatical fisherman and loves to fish the Grasse – Donnie’s property abuts it and he has a boat ramp.  Eric had landed a 41” Muskie the night before – a rare accomplishment.  He said it would be nothing to spend several days fishing the river and never getting one, so his weekend was already made when he put his boat in that morning.

While we ate, Donnie shared a story he’d heard about a woman who’d been stalked by three black bears on the Northville-Placid trail a couple of weeks earlier.

“She said they were following her for several miles.  She tried turning and yelling at them, but they kept following.  She took out a pocket knife and kept it ready and when the one was right on top of her and ready to bite her in the shoulder, she stabbed it in the jaw,” he said.

I had no reason to doubt the story, which is extremely unusual, but we googled it and found the entire tale and it went pretty much the way Donnie related it.  It was likely a hungry mom with two older cubs, habituated to humans by raiding camp sites.  The fact that she was stalking is an indicator that she was undernourished and struggling for food.  The young woman did exactly as she should have, which is to fight back.  Black bears are much smaller and less aggressive than grizzlies, but when they do attack, it’s likely because they mean to eat you.  The stab to the jaw did the trick; the bears retreated quickly.

I was on the road for the long drive home by 11 a.m.  Though disappointed in the weather and the lack of view from the peaks, any time in the Adirondacks is time well spent.  I’ll return in two weeks with Heidi and John Heer and Donnie will join us for some camping and hiking.  The fall foliage may have peaked by then and it could be much colder, but I’ve got the gear and will enjoy the time regardless.

Another overcast day in the Adirondacks...

Saturday, October 5, 2013

The wind had picked up and the rains fell heavily during the night and I was quite glad for the rain fly protecting us snugly in our tent.  Geese had gathered in the hundreds during the night on the pond and were communicating noisily throughout.  There were no stars to be seen.

We were up around 7 and Paul moved to the edge of the pond in an attempt to get some pictures of the geese.  I see too many of these in Ohio and have become desensitized to them.  They are powerful fliers and beautiful birds and make for great photo opportunities when they aren’t shitting all over your lawn.  Paul’s presence seemed to disturb them and before he could snap his shutter, hundreds were noisily passing overhead.  I ducked inside the tent to avoid their bombs.

We hiked out and returned to the Noon Mark for a pancake breakfast with real, New York maple syrup.  A light, misty rain was falling and the mountains surrounding the town were completely shrouded in fog.  My plan was to drive to Heart Lake outside of Lake Placid and take the short hike up Mt. Van Hoevenberg, which offered tremendous views of Mt. Marcy and the MacIntyre Range – something that could be spectacular if the clouds lifted. 

We arrived at the trailhead around 11 a.m. and began the 2-mile hike as the mist continued to fall.  It’s an easy hike with only 900 feet of elevation change and although there were many cars parked near the trailhead, apparently none of the occupants were headed for our peak.  We arrived on top in an hour, but visibility allowed us to see only portions of the meadow below.  No peaks were visible.  We stayed on top for 30 minutes before returning to our cars and beginning the drive to Potsdam and a visit with my relatives.

We arrived at my Uncle Bill’s by 3 p.m. and enjoyed a 13-bean soup he’d been preparing.  “I like beans and I figured adding more kinds could only make it better,” he surmised.

He was right and since I’d had two different kinds of bean soup at Noon Mark and now this; was determined that I’d make one of my own when I returned home.  We left after a shower and dinner and drove to my cousin Donnie’s place where we’d spend the night and swap family stories for as long as we could stand it. 

Hike duration:  Two hours.

Training Heart Rate:  90-120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  1000.

Climbing Hurricane Mt.

Friday, October 4, 2013

I’d woken many times through the night, but as light was starting to dominate the morning sky, decided it was time to pack up and head for the diner.  It was 6:30 a.m.

I’d just begun rolling up my bag when Paul’s Toyota pulled into the lot.  He drove over and parked next to me.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” I asked.

“Yeah…stopped for a few hours a little ways from here and nodded off,” he said.

He doesn’t seem to need much sleep; one of his many abnormalities.  I packed and we drove to Noon Mark where I had a ham and cheese omelet and looked over the map to determine our climbing destination for the day.

“I’d like to tackle Sawteeth, but its 15 miles round trip and 2,500 feet of elevation change.  I don’t know if my hip can take that, but more importantly, I don’t want to climb it if there isn’t going to be a view,” I said.

My biggest concern was the weather report.  We were looking at a 30% chance of rain, which could mean none at all, but often meant foggy conditions and limited views.  Sawteeth was renowned for its fabulous views and I didn’t want to spend an entire day on the trail only to be looking at pea soup from the summit.  The pain in my hip I felt I could deal with.

We drove from the diner to the trail head for Round Pond; our camping destination.  It was a short hike – about 25 minutes – but a wonderfully secluded camping area seldom used and offering complete serenity.  We saw a notice posted at the trailhead indicating that a hiker from Mass., Scott Haworth, was missing.  He’d parked his car and signed the trailhead book at this location on August 30^th and never been seen again.  It said that he often hiked alone.  If he came to this trailhead, he may have been headed for the Dix Mt. wilderness area and been doing some bushwhacking to visit the four peaks above 4,000 feet.  If he did and managed to get lost, I suspect he will never be found.  The area is too vast and once off trail, practically impossible to travel.  Few people do unless skilled with map and compass and plenty of time to burn.  The undergrowth is so tangled and thick that traveling through it takes extreme patience and caution.  I avoid it at all costs.

We arrived on the pond to find our site empty and quickly pitched our tent, loaded in our sleeping gear, put up the rain fly, and headed back to the car.  On the hike back, I decided that between my hip and the overcast conditions, I’d forgo a trip to Sawteeth and climb a lesser peak, Hurricane Mt.  It was a good choice because it had a clear summit with, on a clear day, tremendous views east of Lake Champlain and the Green Mts. of Vermont.  It had a 2,000 foot elevation change in a 2.6 mile hike, so would prove to be challenging, as well.  We hiked about half a mile and were crossing a bog when the first drops began to fall.  We both put our cameras in the day pack and I congratulated myself on the decision not to head for Sawteeth.  The trail would become slippery from the rain and with the leaves that had already fallen, additionally hazardous.  Not a good day for a 15-mile climb.

We reached the summit in a little less than 2 hours and spent almost an hour on top.  It had an aging, unused fire tower, which Paul climbed in spite of the missing steps.  The views were decent, though clouds blocked most of the lake and the Vermont mountains.  I’d broken a vigorous sweat on the climb, which meant I began to cool quickly in the wind and from the cooler temperatures on top.  I know how quickly hypothermia can kick in, so I hunkered down behind a large boulder and had some lunch.  We were alone on the peak, but met some other hikers on our way down, reaching the car in about the same time it took to climb.

Since it was too early to return to our campsite, we drove to Lake Placid and visited the historical site of John Brown’s Adirondack farm.  His wife was living there when he conducted his ill-fated attempt at Harper’s Ferry in 1859.  After dinner at Noon Mark and some site-seeing in Lake Placid, headed back to the trailhead into Round Pond.  It was 9 p.m. and pitch black.  We walked in with head lamps, discussing that if they both went out, we’d be unable to take another step and would have to sleep on the side of the trail.  We would have returned in daylight and scoured the woods for firewood and sat around a fire for several hours, but since the rain was falling this was not an option.  The forecast for Saturday was more of the same, so climbing options would be limited again.

Hike duration:  Five hours.

Training Heart Rate:  90-140 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  2500.

On the road to the Adirondacks...

Thursday, October 3, 2013
I suppose it was the result of running two times in four days, but my left hip was extremely painful as I drove.  I knew from experience that I only needed to get out of the car and walk around for a few minutes to relieve this, but I wanted to make good time and so kept shifting the position of my butt constantly to find relief.

The drive was beautiful.  I reached the foothills before dark and enjoyed the winding, mountain roads with virtually no traffic on them.  I arrived in downtown Keene Valley and the Noon Mark Diner at about 8:30 p.m. where I had a dinner of bean and bacon soup and a turkey burger.  Paul called to say he was in Pennsylvania and driving through the night, expecting to arrive in Keene Valley in time for breakfast at the Diner.

I drove to the public parking lot, a small gravel parcel that can hold about 15 cars.  It has a grassy area adjacent and I parked at the far end, the only vehicle.  It was dark and I quickly unfolded my ground cloth, put down my bed roll and sleeping bag and climbed inside.  It was a cool, completely clear night and so I laid there, glasses on, and searched the sky for shooting stars – of which there were many. 

I love the big skies and sleeping under them without a tent is reason enough to drive the 8 hours to get there.  It seems that the stars were too plentiful for the sky; they were so crowded together.  I dozed off until around 1 a.m. when another car pulled in the lot and two campers disembarked.  They went so far as to pitch a tent; something I’d never considered because I wasn’t even sure I should be sleeping there.  Good to know since I’d be returning in two weeks with Heidi and John and if it was raining, would need a tent.  They finally got settled in and I returned to a restless, but wonderful sleep.

Back to the Survival Workout...

Wednesday, October 2, 2013
I’d received an email from my friend Nancy Desmond of the Cleveland Metroparks asking about Tour Ohio and thinking it was time to try the Survival Workout.  I invited her to North Chagrin, warning her that I was out of shape and getting into it only gradually. 

I arrived early and got in a 35-minute run.  I'm trying to prepare my body for Adirondack hiking, which I'll be doing this weekend, and felt I needed the extra work.  I'm still concerend about my hip and feel I need to strengthen it with weight bearing exercise.  It went smoothly and I jumped in the car at the conclusion and quickly drove to our meeting point for the Survival Workout.  She was waiting when I arrived.  When she exited her car, she looked worried.

“I’m afraid.  I think you’re going to hurt me with this thing,” she said.

She’d been off most of the summer with a back issue and had been going through extensive physical therapy.  I surely didn’t want to be responsible for a relapse…but if it occurred, I assured her I’d leave her deep in the woods so no one would know.

“Nancy…I don’t like to hurt people.  I’m going to show you many of the different things I incorporate into the workout, but don’t think you have to do them all.  Pace yourself,” I cautioned her.

We did some push-ups, pull-ups, core work and bounding and then moved off down the trail.  She did extremely well throughout the workout and really enjoyed doing all the muscular endurance work outdoors – which is the point, of course.

“The Metroparks wants to do more with introducing and educating people about fitness and wellness and how they can achieve those things using the park.  Would you be interested in working with us on that project?” she asked as we hiked.

“I can think of nothing I’d enjoy more.  I’m all about finding ways to use outdoor recreation to meet fitness needs and using the park is my first choice…obviously,” I said.

I’m hoping more comes of this.  I explained my philosophy of using a fitness evaluation to know where you are as the best way to know where you want to be and outlining a plan to get there.  It could easily be done in the park and then use the park’s resources to design programs to meet needs.  What could be better?

Survival Workout:  60 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm.
Calories burned:  600.

Alone in the dark...

Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Since leaving for Tour Ohio, I have stopped writing my blog.  Like exercise and other things we do without thinking about it too awfully much, it was a habit – and a good one.  I found many times over the past several years that I was doing my exercise so I’d have something to write about.  Lately, I’ve been skipping workouts and with nothing to hold me accountable, realized this could become a bad habit.  Well, time to end that pattern.

I’m planning a trip to the Adirondacks this weekend and hoping to climb Sawteeth, which will be a rugged 15-mile hike with a few thousand feet of elevation change in one, 2-mile segment.  My hips have continued to bother me since the Tour and are far from healthy at this point.  Off and on, I’ve been hiking in the Metroparks with a 30-pound pack to get some conditioning for the trip.  Last night was one of those efforts.

I arrived at the park around 7:30 p.m. after having Dan change my oil for the drive.  Earlier, I’d had a late lunch with Heidi, who was celebrating her 25^th birthday.  I’d eaten a big burger and fries and both were still with me as I strapped on the pack.

It’s October and the days are much shorter.  It was practically dark as I walked across the rugby field, waving to Jason.  I stuck to the bridle path as I entered the woods since I didn’t want to risk a twisted ankle so close to my trip.  I made my way to karaoke hill, the steepest in the park, and headed up in almost total darkness.  The climb took a little more than 3 minutes and once on top, I turned and came back immediately.  Once at the bottom, I performed 60 step-ups on a boulder nearby and then headed up again, repeating the step-ups when I returned.  I was breaking a good sweat as I returned to the car and once there, realized only Jason remained of the rugby players.  He walked over as I took off the pack.

“I can’t believe you were walking in the woods when it’s this dark.  It gives me the creeps,” he said.

“I never think about it being creepy.  I kind of like hearing the sounds of the woods and knowing I’m the only person listening,” I said.

He wasn’t convinced and had no intentions of finding out.  I headed home with only 35 minutes of hiking, but it something and now knowing I have to write again tomorrow means I’ll do even more then. 

Hike duration:  35 minutes.

Training Heart Rate:  90 bpm.
Calories burned during workout:  200.