Miscellaneous Moments

 I am building a workshop in my back yard. One day, when it is finished, I'll do a few blog entries on the process. At the moment, I want to share a random detail of that process. I was building forms for the concrete slab we are going to pour. I picked up a 10' 2 x 6, and out of habit, eyed the length of it for crown, bow, and twist. I don't think that I have ever seen a board this straight.

I felt bad about using it for such a humble thing as a concrete form.

How many people do you know who have a benchmark for their computer screen background? This BM showed up in a blog entry in the past year? Do you know what state it is in?

I was mowing grass and needed gasoline from the crawlspace. Look what was guarding my crawlspace latch? (I made this picture extra-large, so that LF and BST could enjoy it.) It is not a wolf spider. It is a water spider of the genus Dolomedes. It is also a pregnant female.

Walking along a country road near my house, I spied this raggedy old Eastern Redcedar. Tain't beautiful but there sure are a good number of cedar chests in that log. This tree has prospered on a steep, dry, rocky site at the edge of an abandoned field. What changes has this slow-growing tree seen in its 100+ years? Cedars grow extra well on limestone because they compete well on these basic soils (pH above 7). The bottom branches are all dead because they are very shade intolerant and easily shaded out by shade tolerant deciduous varieties.

Several trees next to each other at the edge of the street in the neighborhood near where I work appeared from a distance to have been planted. But upon further inspection, I doubt it since they are definitely not the same species. The cone on the left is Eastern White Pine, while the one on the right is probably Scarlet Pine. Have you ever counted how many scales there are per rotation? These spirals are always an odd number, usually between 7 to 15. 

I enjoy random little things in God's creation. They remind me to be thankful for all of the beauty and variety God has made, and the little surprises that await the observant and curious.

Last Morning in Baxter

The gravel road was again deserted this time of morning. Just before the I pond, crossed this erector set bridge, so practical, so functional.

All of the world seems black and white, simple and right, on a bright, cloudless morning. It is good for sorting out thoughts, praying about the significant concerns, and coming to a place of peace with God's good providence for all of my circumstances. Oh, to hold that thought!

I know that there were people and cabins over there, because I just walked from there where no one was stirring at the time. Not seeing or hearing them is almost as good as them not being there. Don't get me wrong, I like people, but I also need time alone.

The water was perhaps 18" deep, amazingly clear and barely disturbed.

At first, I thought the blooms were not yet or just beginning to be open, but upon further inspection and observation of insects coming and going, I would say that this is open.

Then it was time to go, "many miles before I sleep" (2), and a poem was coming to me but without anything on which or with which to record it. It was largely composed by the time I returned to the vehicle to write it down, and I was ready to travel.

1. "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

 

Pond, Peak, and Falls

After my long day on Katahdin, I was tired and hot (88 degrees at the base of the mountain that day). So, on the ride back to camp, I stopped at Ledges Falls, waded up to the most pleasant looking pool and submerged. Like how food tastes better when you are hungry, a cool stream feels to an achy body. The pools flow. I am sure that during snow melt, these pools really flow.

The sun was low but this cool stream raised my spirits.

I scrounged up some deadwood back at camp. A good fire keeps the bugs at bay.

This camouflaged critter is harder to see than the toad in the last post. Part of the problem is the dim light, but if you are sharp and creative, you can make out something between the Sugar Maple leaves. I don't recall ever seeing one of these in the wild (1).

After 9:30, and the sky is still light above the evergreens surrounding my campsite.

Up again by 4:30 for another day of hiking. At a parking spot along the way, I spied this little guy making his way across.

I went around to Roaring Creek Campground, 22 miles of gravel from my campsite and started up the Chimney Pond Trail. Very near the trailhead were these Lady Slippers lining the path.

The stream looked so docile. The seriousness of this new bridge tells me that it is not always so. Near steep slopes that hold a winter's worth of snow, these streams must roar during Spring thaw.

My goal this day was two cirques (2). I wanted to see Chimney Pond from its shore rather than the vantage point yesterday, 4000' above it. When I stopped at a viewpoint along the way, I met the guy in the fluorescent green T-shirt. We ended up hiking, seeing the sights, and talking for 2 hours.

Downslope and still out of the Katahdin cirque is Brian Lake. These ponds are windblown, cold, and dark-watered.

The ponds are glacial scoured potholes. These flat spots also leave may boggy spots. Frequently the solution is a log pathway.

Another wet area that is common in these forests are fens which are stream or spring fed, non-acidic, and flow. Bogs are precipitation fed, acidic, and stagnant. Probably the moss is growing on a rock or something, but I took this picture because the clumps appeared to be floating.

This location is what started me thinking about snow melt off. There is no water here, but there are obviously water stains up to a certain level. There is some serious flow that would be very dangerous at times.

Ah, here is Chimney Pond at last.

It is certainly backed up against the slopes of Katahdin, here shrouded with thick cloud cover.

In fact, it is so close into the cliffs that boulders have rolled down into the water numerous times in the past.

I passed some rock climbers who said the climbing is good here.

Baxter is Peaking out. The rangers were highly recommending that no one attempt the summit this day as there were supposed to be high winds and numerous lightning strikes. I was so thankful for having done it yesterday.

Old Glory and the State of Maine flags at the Chimney Pond Ranger's Station. I wondered how logs were moved to bridge making projects like the one pictured earlier. Just near the Ranger Station is a small clearing and volunteer worker's cabin. In this clearing were two large bags of gravel (large as in 1/2 ton or more). Evidently, these were dropped onsite by helicopter.

More Canada Bunchberry

The second cirque, Katahdin now on the left

Fully built of boulders, this knoll at the entrance to the cirque seems to be more of a terminal moraine. Looking off in the other direction, you can see Brian Pond that I was at earlier on the right and larger ones in the haze of distant hills. The small fir trees are curious with needles only at the top. Is it disease, wind, or something else? My temporary hiking partner suggested that perhaps winter snows are so persistent as to kill the lower branches. I don't know if this makes sense or not.

I know that I am lichen me some growth on the boulders in green, gray, black, and occasional yellow.

Spring comes later to the north and high elevations

I took this picture for no other reason than it looks like many a section of trail in the high elevations of Southern Appalachia (3).

An interesting leaf pattern on the stem and beautiful lily-like blooms

Eastern White Cedar does not grow in my neck of the woods.

I had to go see the "Great Niagra Falls" in another part of the park. It was a nice cascade and probably roars during Spring thaw, but I hardly think that it deserves such a grandiose name.

Wilderness has both a beauty and a loneliness about it.

I had borrowed a vehicle for the trip because mine quit before leaving. I was thankful for its functionality, particularly on these gravel roads.

Last evening in Baxter State Park

Where do you find quiet to listen to and converse with God? Wilderness is not a substitute for "church" as some proclaim, but it is a retreat for the concrete-encased, schedule-harried soul. Come apart to rest, recreate, and reconnect with your Creator and God.

1. Woodhen

2. An amphitheater shaped valley formed by a glacier

3. That does not start with a long a but a short one.

Mt. Katahdin

After traveling an hour over the gravel road from the entrance gate to Nesowadnehunk Campground, setting up for the night, eating supper, and conversing with the attendant ranger about hiking Katahdin, I settled down just after 10 PM. Upon that ranger's advice concerning the heat the next day, I determined to be on the trail early. Being two days before Summer Solstice, I knew it gets light early this far north. I arose a 4 AM with good light, ate breakfast and departed for a 45 minute road trip to the trailhead. One of the things that I desired to see while in Baxter State Park was a moose. I rounded a corner, startling a young male moose with antlers in velvet. He galloped at 20 mph for easily a mile. I slowed down several times to give him space to exit the road, but he kept right on trotting. Every now and then he would break into a canter for a moment, only to go back to galloping again. At a group campground with perhaps an acre of field, he made his escape. My picture is not good, being taken one handed out the window, but it shows the beast scurrying.

The trail I had chosen is the shortest one up, the Abol Trail. You are required to sign in and sign out at trailheads, preventing someone from having to search for you. I started at 5:30 AM. Knowing that I would be in sunlight all day, I appreciated the fact that the trail was at first in trees and then attacked the west slope of the spur ridge out of sight of the rising sun.

Can you pick out the toad? It is certainly well camouflaged.

The day was a bit hazy but bigness of the rocky peak above the surrounding low hills and numerous lakes was not obscured.

White and pink beauties thrive in the lee of boulders.

I wish that I could do more justice to this illuminated, wind-blown cloud.

At last, there was no avoiding the sun or the boulders. Mt. Washington is just over 1000' higher elevation than Mt. Katahdin (6288' vs. 5269'), but both hikes that I did gain about 4000' elevation from trailhead to summit. Abol Trail accomplishes this in about a mile less distance which means it is considerably steeper. Without constant blue blazes, one would quickly be wondering without confidence through this large boulder field. 

The near ridge shows the steepness of the trail that I took.

After gaining the ridgetop, the trail is nearly flat for about 1/2 mile before rising more gently to the summit. Because of ecological concerns, the trail is lined with string in this flat section in order to keep hikers off of the fragile, weather-beaten vegetation.

Snow, ice, thawing, refreezing, strong solar gain, incessant wind conspire to split, crack, and disintegrate every boulder, pebble, and sand grain. It is a starkly beautiful landscape that albeit causes me to appreciate my Southern Appalachian Mountains all the more.

Yonder is the peak.

Even poets and philosophers like to climb mountains. Thoreau did it in 1846 (hard to read).

Approaching the summit, I hoped for a clearing of the cap cloud.

Yeah, I arrived at 9:30 AM after 4 arduous hours of hiking. 

I had the summit to myself for 1/2 hour, basking in the sun and the views.

The most jaw-dropping views are of the north/northwest slopes which have 1000'+ feet cliffs around a circ overlooking a glacial pond (Chimney Pond).

I enlarge this triangulation point so that you may see "KATAHDIN" written on it. I found it also curious that this says "NO.7s". I thought the number represented which triangulation mark it was, usually not more than 3.

Once again I was foiled from photographing the main benchmark. Based on this triangulation mark arrow, I would say that it hides somewhere underneath the large cairn on the highest point pictured earlier.

This is real estate of the steepest kind.

A quick turnaround gives you stark contrast with the flatness of the top of the ridge.

I hiked over to the South Peak about 1/2 mile away. You can see the cairn looking back at Baxter Peak. This is the beginning of the Knife Edge Trail. If I had more time and was not alone, I would have liked to hike it. Pictures can't capture all that you feel or experience. You can imagine awe at these scenes, but it was on this South Peak that I had my first significant interaction with black flies. They were swarming, crawling, and biting. I was swatting, grunting, and bleeding. Later a ranger said that they think that the high elevation flies had a major hatch because of the heat. It brings a little balance to the glorious scenery.

The trail is a bit rough in places.

When I returned to Baxter Peak (highest point on Katahdin), there were people gathering. A neighbor took this must have "end of the AT" shot.

By the time I left the peak there were nearly 2 dozen people there and more coming. I met several groups on the way down. I crossed the flat back to Thoreau Springs. At this point I decided to follow the AT back down to Katahdin Springs Campground. I thought since it was a mile longer that it wouldn't be as steep, but I was wrong. The additional mileage was eaten up on the flat ridge and below the descent approaching the campground. Here is what greeted me at the end of the flat.

There are other mountains immediately around Katahdin. Can you believe that what is in the foreground is trail?

There is no scale to reveal that this is a 4-foot step-up, or down in my case. There were actually 3 places where the trail was so vertical 5 to 8' that there were steel pegs inserted into the boulders as steps. I can't imagine getting to the end of the AT and doing this final stretch with a full pack. Without the steel pegs it would be rock climbing.

As I lost elevation and the afternoon sun droned on, I could feel the effects of the heat. Finally, I came to Katahdin Stream Falls. This a pool just below it.

There was certainly some feet ache, but more importantly I was feeling overheated. I think that I was sufficiently hydrated since I had drunk 3 L of water to this point, but I could feel the heat in my face and was feeling drained. Soaking my feet in this mountain stream restored me to a pleasant humor (1).

Katahdin Stream Falls (280')

The Appalachian Trail is called the Hunt Trail at this point. Several things mentioned in this post appear here.

I knew it before I descended the AT that I would have a 2-mile gravel walk back to my vehicle. The heat and fatigue, I just wasn't feelin' it. I thumbed a ride in the back of a pick-up truck, arriving back at my vehicle in minutes. On the ascent, even before I reached timberline, I had lost my hat off of my pack. I wore a spare shirt over my head most of the time alone above timberline. The sun can be brutal. When I arrived back at Abol Campground, I dutifully went to sign-out on the trail registry. There on a bench in the screened-in porch lay my hat. Some kind hiker had returned my hat. There are many times that God allows us to experience loss of various kinds for His glory and for our training, but there are other times that He carries us along, allowing no harm to befall us small or great. This was just one of those days. I think that I am reminded that He is a good Father on such days so that I may remember that He is a good Father on those harder days. He deserves the glory on all days. This was certainly memorable day for me.

1. This is intended to be a pun. Check out the archaic meaning of the word "humors".