Whitewater Rafting

July 29th--Day 3
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all" - Helen Keller

People have told me whitewater rafting is an incredible adrenaline rush. Since we were up North, we had to couple the hike with some rafting. Hit the Penobscot, aka the 'Nob, a class V river. It was good, but let me tell you...rafters have no idea what adrenaline is. You want an adrenaline rush, a high, being at one, feeling totally stoked? Then I suggest you hop on a board and try surfing. No comparison...Night and Day. There were good waves back home today too!!!

Anyway, we hit a waterfall which the guides said was a 13' drop. If that was thirteen feet, then I ride 20' waves--and we all know better than that.

Got home in time for the Thursday Night Fireworks which are getting progressively better with the Season. Felt good to get out of sneaks and boots and slap on the slippahs!

Wildlife seen on the trip: a turtle, bald eagle and a moose.

Mt. Katahdin

July 28th--Day Two

Katahdin is the highest mountain in Maine and the Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail. We hit 'em bright and early. This was no problem, I don't think I slept at all in that shack. We hiked the Abol Trail,the shortest and steepest trail at Katahdin--also the oldest. Abol is rated as a III/IV trial, the only trail having a class IV rating. There is about a 1.8 mile section called the Abol slide or the rock slide.
The footing is sketchy at best. With each and every step, rocks and sand slide from beneath your feet. In fact, the trail was created from a rock slide. We hiked down with a kid who was just finishing a 5 month hike of the A.T. (2,178 miles from Georgia to Maine).

Lousy Accommodations

July 27th--Day One
Fred hooked us us with these lousy accommodations. An 8 x 8 lean-to with no running water. If you look to the right, that's Fred's spread with a queen-sized air mattress. That's my little nook over to the left. I slept with a 2 x 4 jambed in my back and another pressed up against my head. Expert outdoorsman Fred failed to tell me I would need a pillow, so I stuffed all my clothes into the sleeping bag case to create a make-shift pillow (Fred's suggestion). Fred also tossed, turned and got up all night...I woke up in a cold sweat thinking a bear was in our hut!!!
Fred did, however, utilize his boy scout/military experience to stoke the flames and create a blazing fire. The second pic is inserted simply to show that I am rocking it old school with the Gazelle's

Fred, I forewarned you that you would get dissed in this entry!

Awesome Evening Session

"Can I hit in the morning", in the evening...what more do you want. Sometimes I get too far ahead of myslef. Tonight everything was in focus. It's called a bottom turn. I had been trying to do the turn during the drop. Tonight, I felt the calmness. I attribute much of this to today's yoga class. Eliminate the chatter in the mind. I have a lot of chatter upstairs. I've told you before...yoga and surfing go hand in hand. Tonight was Awesome!!!

Spent

Hit Higgins at 6:00 am. Yoga at 9:30. By noon, I am toast. I've made that mistake before. Despite what you may think, yoga can be grueling. Time to rest up so I can hit an afternoon session.

Forecast

Whenever I'm done surfing and walking back to the surfmobile other surfers ask, "how is it out there?". I always have a tough time describing the conditions. Today, it was easy. One foot and flat! Just as the forecast predicted.

Goat Island

Went out to Goat Island Lighthouse this morning You can see Walker's Point from the Lighthouse. For a brief period, I acted as the keeper and made sure everything was o.k.

Baby Waves and Bad Eyes...
Went to Higgins tonight. It was the worst conditions yet. I should have gotten a refund on parking. Boy my eyes are bad. I asked a kid what was that black thing out there. I thought it might be a seal. He told me it was a duck. WOW! Then I see something jump and ask him what that was. He kept kidding, saying it was a shark. I figured it was some sort of fish. When walking back to my car, I'm talking to a girl and she asks if I saw the shark jump? I told her I think it was a fish. Besides, I don't think sharks jump.

Thursday Night...you know what's next. That's right Fireworks!!!

What a Blast

That's what I was thinking as I paddled through some crazy waves...what a blast. I couldn't hit the home surf as the water was infested with swimmers,etc. I am going to Goat's Island or something tomorrow with Fred so I had to surf tonight. I went to Higgins around 7:00--couldn't let the day pass without some surf. The waves were real choppy and stacked together about chest high.

As soon as I left, the skies turned, "black as night, darker than a shadow". The drive home was like a war zone. I drove over a rather large tree limb which I couldn't see. The surfmobile has been ticking like a time bomb ever since. I was gonna take a picture for the blog but I had to focus on the road. As much as I am afraid of sharks, I was seriously afraid of the lightning tonight. It was striking real close. They say you have better odds of being struck by lightning than being eaten by a shark (not everyone goes in the water--so the shark odds are skewed).

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

The waves were small today. Hey, you gotta have fun in the small stuff too. Remember, there are gonna be more small days than big days. Besides any wave is better than no wave!!!

Bunny Slopes

Wasn't much out there, but had to hit it. Days without waves(like the past two) are long and boring. The waves were small. I had to turn to avoid swimmers and boogie boarders. Back home I have a newspaper clipping in a scrapbook where I was riding the the bunny slopes at Lost Valley. Many years later...much remains the same.

Share the Stoke

That's one of the rules of surfing. The crew/vibe at Higgins is really good. Last night in Old Orchard I ran into a wave hog. That's why I caught my last ride under moonlight. Today I hit two nice drops. I haven't hit a drop in a while. Hitting the drop really elicits the stoke!

I paddle like a motha to catch a wave (and don't always catch 'em). One guy didn't paddle at all (not even one stroke) and caught every wave he wanted. Now that's good.

Fred hooked up Samantha with some sea glass. Boy is he making me look bad.

Last Wave

The sun had already set and I caught my last wave of the night under the moonlight.
Same deal as last Thursday....surf in the morning, surf in the evening and fireworks at night. No complaints.

Scared Straight

At first I thought it was gonna be one of those days where I didn't have it. Then things started coming around. Today was the first time, I think, that I did a legitimate bottom turn. Sitting waiting for the waves, I see something jump out of the water (it was about 5 feet long). Also for the first time, I caught the very next wave out of there...my heart was racing.


I was cleaning my board (removing old wax) when I noticed all these little cracks. I was afraid they were dings in the board. So I drove down to Kennebunk to have the guy check it out. He said everything was fine--Phew!! He also told me if I removed two fins my board will turn much easier. It will be loosey goosey! I can't wait to go out with one fin.


This is the window we had to pass my board through when I bought it

Good Crowd

I watched a bunch of surf tutorials online today. I think it helped. There was a good crowd at Higgins tonight--people were cool, courteous and offered good advice. Surfing is weird. Some days it clicks and others well...not so much. Either way it is always FUN!!!

Back to Basics

After getting rocked the past few days...I decided to get back to basics. I surfed knee to waist high today. If you remember a while back I told you this is my cup of tea. Tonight the waves at Higgins were shoulder high but I decided to stay home. Good call on my part. It was nice to ride a wave again!!!

Crushed

Another nice way to wake up...turtle in the Atlantic at 5:45 am. Alright, here comes a beauty...over the falls. Here's another...in the washing machine. When you are in the washing machine you have plenty of time to think about your mistake. Wow. the waves are so sweet and I don't know, maybe I need to see a sports psychologist. Hopefully yoga will set my mind straight. Summer session begins today. We'll see about catching waves tonight!

Amateur Hour

I helped my friend, Mary, install some windows this morning. First window, right off the bat, I get stung by a hornet/wasp (or something) right on the tip of my nose--easy target!

Went surfing tonight--good-sized waves. I don't know what's going on, I'm so confused. Ride the inside, hang way outside 'cause you got a longboard. If I'm hangin outside, I'm gonna wait for bombs. That's what my instructor, Justin, told me at the 'BU. Barry tells me to move up on my board. Yeah, I'm pearlin so hard. I was doin' fine just a few days ago...even yesterday. Like I said, I'm really confused right now. I may even skip dawn patrol tomorrow ('spose to be good too).

Even walking back to my car, I hear something. Nah, nothing. Wait, I hear it again. Yeah my leash is dragging on the ground--what a Kook!!! I really think I am being tested today.

Scarborough Beach

Samantha gave me a mission. I have to look for sea glass. She tells me to definitely hold onto any purple or blue that I may find. If the sea glass is sharp, I'm to throw it back.

There was some small stuff at home, but I wanted something bigger. The forecast is calling for good stuff over the next 5 days. I headed to Scarborough Beach (first time there). The waves were chest high. Parking is $6.50 but if you surf it is $10.00.
Seems like a scam to me!

Fort Gorges

Look at that bushy head of hair on Gorges.

We kayaked out and toured Fort Gorges this morning . I surfed the home break this afternoon. Fireworks on the beach this evening.

"If you cannot convince them, confuse them." - Harry S Truman

Boardshorts

It's been a whole week since I've caught a wave. I went out today in boardshorts. It sure beats being out there in a wetsuit. I've been having trouble catching the real small stuff (which you should be able to do with a longboard). I met this guy Barry (really knows his stuff) who lives two streets down and holds surf school. He told me I was lying too far back on my board. I was hesitant all day yesterday being that far forward on my board. Did some research last night and sure enough...Today I caught the small stuff which was cool. Now there are always waves out there for me!!!!

To everyone who has been calling me a beach bum. Thank you for the compliment!

Smalltown USA

The best part about 4th of July on the beach is...well yeah the beach...but it's the kids who are poppin' em off all around you! Some kid shot this one off right behind me. Macy's has nothing on the Ocean Park Parade. Look at this little pirate trying to attack me.

Mt. Washington

Mt. Washington is the highest summit in New England and until recently held the record for highest winds at 231 mph.

Half way up the mountain I had to lose the bucket hat and glasses because it was getting too windy and opted to go grunge. There was still some snow on the ground. When we got to the top it was freezing. I thought I was gonna get frost bite on my fingers.

Fred tells me that we should do Mahoosuc Notch next year. Mahoosuc is the hardest/slowest mile of the entire Appalachian Trail, known as the "Killer Mile" or the "Toughest Mile". I told Fred, I may be retiring from Hiking. Then he hung me out to dry on the descent. He was so far ahead of me. Afterwards, I find out that he thought I was in front of him and he was trying to catch up. I don't know...sounds a bit fishy.




When hiking down a young couple yells, "put your hands in the air" and they begin snapping pictures of me. They must be blog viewers!!!

Saco River

Another day another adventure... Today I kayaked the Saco River with Fred and his friend, Paul.


Fred was gangbusters. He kayaked solo...especially difficult going up river with a head wind. If we had taken 2 cars we could have gone all the way to the river mouth at Camp Ellis.