Mountain Warm-up

 

  Summer is fading... But Gail and I had a trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire still ahead of us, so I did a hike I like to do before going to the mountains.  We don't have the elevation changes in a mile that are experienced there, so I make up for it by doing a 18-mile hike that takes in three gorges with plenty of ups and downs.

   Our friend, Kyle, met me at Buttermilk at 6 am on a muggy morning, and we headed up the Gorge Trail.  I was hoping to see them working on the new stone steps, but they weren't at that hour nor on my return.  These massive stones are staged on the other side of the creek and sent over to the Gorge Trail on a cable, just like they do in the mountains.

 

  Sadly, Kyle had a stupid work thing to get to (she's a teacher too, summers are not for work, but she's dedicated) and had to turn back before seeing all the improvements I and others have made to a spur of the Finger Lakes Trail.  She was quite impressed with what she saw.  As a regular trail runner, she'd been in races on this trail and knows how bad it could get.  By no means can I claim the improvement of having South Hill Cider adjacent to it, but I did help plant some of those trees.

  

Lick Brook barely had enough water to make licking the rocks worthwhile.  Still a beautiful place, and a steep hill to descend and climb.

  Since I was passing through the section of trail I am maintaining, I had a few tools with me.  I wasn't surprised this spot between Lick Brook and Treman was overgrown, it often is in August.  A few minutes spent with my machete meant the return would be wide open. 

   It was strange that the overgrown section was only about 50 feet, and then the trail was freshly cut the rest of the way through a couple fields.  I figured the person cutting had run out of battery or gas on the weed whacker.  But when I got back here later in the day, this sign was posted, and the orange marking tape was tied to a branch I tried to break off but couldn't.  Thankfully, I didn't see any bees anywhere.

 

  Andy joined me for the loop up Treman and back to Rt. 13.  He vetoed the infamous Red Pine Trail and we stuck to the Gorge Trail past Lucifer Falls.  We returned on the Rim Trail and the FLT.  Despite an annoying infection that messed with some of the muscles or tissue around my knee, I felt good and ready to climb some mountains.