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July 9, 2020
Hi Folks,
WOW - we had a real gully-washer of a thunderstorm on Wednesday evening! It started out with my phone repeatedly pinging and beeping out alerts of severe thunderstorm activity on the way. Looking at my radar it sure did look like something intense, and yup it was. Thunder, lightening and some pouring rain. But it blew through pretty quickly, without any local damage that I know of.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/radar.jpg
I was hoping to get up to Mt Forest in Berlin this week, but unfortunately that didn't pan out. However, I was able to get out locally for a few hours again with Brad. Nothing of any real significance, but it was fun nonetheless. In between the bike and that little bit of climbing, I keep on collecting wood in the neighborhood. I've gotten the better part of a cord cut and stacked, with probably about a third more to cut. If I can put up anywhere close to 2 cord, coupled with the 1/2 cord I have left from last year I will be in good shape. It feels pretty strange to think about winter and the wood stove now, but this is the time. And I got the chimney swept as well, so it's all coming together.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/wood.jpg
I've been hearing about the new Danish that my friends, and sponsor, at Bagels Plus have come up with. So I put in my order for a whole one that I could cut up and freeze. Well let me tell you it was all I could to to not eat the whole thing at one sitting. This is to die for folks! And BTW, they are only doing take out - drive through right now, and they are doing it right. if you want a bagel, danish or a sandwich to go, this is THE place. They also have outside seating in the back if you want to do that. Recommended...
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/BagelsPlus.com
I got an email the other day with an amazing blast-from-the-past picture of my dear friend, George Hurley. This was from him guiding Thin Air sometime in the mid-70's. Thanks to Dave Selsky for this great bit or climbing history.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/GeorgeHurley.jpg
For obvious reasons I keep an eye on where things stand in New Hampshire, the county and in Conway. Like much of New ENGLAND, we're in fairly reasonable shape right now. However, last weekend was the 4th of July and it was really insane up here. Every swimming hole was packed, all the lakes and the river were insane, the hotels and campgrounds were full and the restaurants were hopping. My neighborhood is full of people I've never seen before, from "away". For the most part I stayed at home, working on stuff around the house and taking obscure bike rides. Basically playing the "hunker down" game. I can tell you that all the locals are pretty nervous right now. Sure, all the businesses need the money, but at the same time the workers are worried that this is what will bring the virus here. And as I've mentioned before, IC beds here in northern NH are in short supply. Only 5 beds at Memorial and 5 at Littleton Hospital. Not a lot of slack in those numbers. If you're up here visiting, please wear a mask and be respectful to the local business owners. They are working hard to keep things going and keep their employees and themselves safe.
This was from the Thursday morning news:
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/covid.jpg
They said that there were 2 new cases in Conway, and that 5 of the 20 new NH cases were under 28 years old! As I look around I do see a fair number of younger folks hanging together unmasked and not distancing. There is a big rally on Saturday in Portsmouth, and politics said I can tell you that the area officials are pretty concerned, even tho it's more or less outside.
Climbing numbers in the area seem to be down this summer. I'm not hearing about a lot of guiding going on, and I'm not seeing the numbers on the cliffs that I'm used to seeing, even last weekend. Rumney opened on the 6th, and I haven't heard how that went...
WEAR A MASK, SANITIZE, WASH YOUR HANDS AND STAY PHYSICALLY DISTANT FRIENDS!
I decided I need to get out and do something like ride, even on the hot days. It seems that it's probably the only way I'm going to knock off the close to 10 pounds of extra winter/quarantine weight I'm still carrying around right now. And WOO WOO, it's actually starting to work! This week has been pretty toasty, and there's nothing quite like working up a sweat, pounding up a hill on the MTB. I rode the Albany Town Forest on Monday, including the new-fish loop on the other side of the road. It really was quite enjoyable riding alongside the Swift River for a while. I also saw Rick & Celia Wilcox and the crew working in the fields of the Littlefield Farms behind the Middle School. BTW IME has amazing veggies right now if you're looking for fresh! Then on Tuesday I did about an hour in Whittaker Woods. It's quite surprising just how many trails there are and how many hills there are in there. It was really nest to spot a deer grazing under the power lines. Today, Thursday, I knew it was going to be really hot and humid so I decided I was going to see if it was cooler up above Crawford Notch - and it was. 88 in the Valley and a balmy 79 on the Base Road at the start of Jefferson Notch Road. It rained last night so the road wasn't even dusty and ride up the hill was really pretty nice. A handful of cars were coming down, but none passed me going up. The Caps Ridge lot was almost full and there were quite a few cars along the road near the bottom where there are some nice swimming holes.
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/Bike_2.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/Bike_3.jpg
http://www.neclimbs.com/wmr_pix/20200709/Bike_4.jpg
The bug rating really is location dependent. Not many black flys in my area, but they were annoying on my ride today up Jefferson Notch. the Deer flys were quite annoying a few days ago riding in the woods behind Walmart. And the mosquitoes were really bad sitting out in the back yard Tuesday night! Go figure... I've been cutting down trees in my yard and there is a lot of brush where I'm doing it, so the ticks are very stealthy. So we're still in Bug Dope mode... Just sayin!
Up on one of the Mount Washington Valley's finest crags and want to know what that climb you're looking at is? Or maybe you're on your way up from Boston and want to check out the Ice Report for your upcoming weekend plans. Or more likely, you're at work just want to daydream about your next adventure. Well if you have a smart phone handy, you can get to NEClimbs from anywhere you have cell service. While it doesn't offer every single feature of the site and it's not an "app", in mobile form, it does do a whole lot and is very useful. Here is the live link to the mobile version of NEClimbs:
http://www.neclimbs.com/mobile
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
Join us and LIKE us on Facebook. I'll try and post interesting pix every Thursday and the latest Ice Report in the season, tho certainly not the whole Report. Here's where you can check it out:
http://www.facebook.com/NEClimbs/
Remember - climb hard, ride the steep stuff, stay safe and above all BE NICE,
Al Hospers
The White Mountain Report
North Conway, New Hampshire
| The best part is getting to the top 'cause the pain's all over. |
| Dan Osman |
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