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I know we're heading toward fall since I can see the leaves starting to change here & there. However, temperature-wise you'd never know it. Yesterday was a tough and frankly it never cooled off last night. But this morning was worse. It made me wish I had air conditioning g in the house! The front moving across from the west brought very humid air that had an acrid-ozone smell to it. It certainly felt like one of the proverbial bad air-quality mornings!
The sky was robins-egg beautiful when I got up and I'd originally planned on doing a little climbing this morning, maybe at the Little Classroom or a quick run up Beginner's. But looking at the radar at 7AM made me opt for a short bike ride here in the hood, rather than a climb. And it turns out I made the right decision since right around 10 the storm clouds rolled across the Moats and at 10:30 the bottom dropped out of the sky. My weather station popped up "It's raining cats and dogs" on the display and I had to agree. While the boomers only lasted about 30 minutes, it's been drizzling pretty steadily for about an hour. I think we've gotten close to 1/2" of precipitation, and considering just how dry things are, I'm really not complaining. Plus the best part is that it's cooled things off quite a bit. WHEW
AN ACTIVE LIFE, LIVING ALONE:
Some of you probably know I got divorced this spring. It's not really a bad thing overall and we're still friendly, so that's a plus. The EX moved to San Diego, but I love my life here in the Valley and have no intention of leaving. Especially after having lived here for the past 21 years, and been coming up for 10 before that. But being single, living alone and having an active outdoors lifestyle has raised some interesting issues. I do all sorts of outdoor activities year-round, many by myself. Riding my mountain and fat-tire bikes in all seasons and all kinds of places, solo ice climbing hither & yon and even the occasional rope-solo and solo-top-roping. When I was married I would just leave a note on the kitchen counter saying where I was going, or occasionally sending her a text message before I left. Since now there isn't anyone around, the former doesn't make any sense - no one would see it. I remember several rescue events where people went missing, and no one had any idea where to start looking! Up here in the hinterlands, that's not really a good thing. In one case I remember it took a couple of days to find the person, ending up finally found on the Nancy Brook Trail and ultimately loosing both legs to frostbite!
Ice Conditions Report:
Selected Ice Conditions effective April 24, 2024
It's all over for 2023/2024.
Huntington Ravine
OUT
Repentance
OUT
Standard Route
OUT
Dracula
OUT
For the full current conditions report, CLICK
HERE
That said, I'm sure I'm not the only active single person in this situation. So far I have got a friend that I ride with a lot who I send a text to when I'm going out alone. I just say where I'm planning to go and then I text them again when I'm done. It means I can't change my plans in mid-ride, but that's not the end of the world. And they know the places I'm riding so would know where to look or where to send the hounds. I'll do the same thing with a climber friend like Brad in the winter. There are a couple of folks like him who would know where to look at Frankenstein, Mt Willard, Shoestring or the like. At least they would have a place to start looking.
Of course there's still the issue of what happens if I have an accident in the house or a medical emergency. Hmmm... Just a lot of things to think about now. I know I'm not ready for the "I've fallen and I can't get up..." button yet, but stay tuned tho! LOL
VALLEY CYCLING:
I've been out several times this week in a variety of different places, both east and west side. There are a few trees and branches down here & there, but overall things are really good right now. There are some new trails here & there and the ones we already have are well ridden in and doing great. I can't recommend the Marshall Trails any higher. They are a great example of what's going on here in the Valley mountain biking community. I've ridden a lot of other places and I do think we have as many great places to ride as any place in the country. If you want to know where I've been riding, check me out on Strava.
INSTANT BUG REPORT - BUGCon 1:
Except for the occasional tick or mosquito, I'm just not seeing hardly any bugs right now.
Mobile Version Of NEClimbs:
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:
Check it out and if you have issues on your specific phone, please feel free to let me know.
NEClimbs & White Mountain Report On Facebook:
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:
Climbing is a very dangerous sport. You can get hurt or even kill yourself. When you go climbing, you do so of your own free will. Everything on this site is to be taken with a grain of salt. Don't blame us if you get up some totally heinous route, in over your head and fall and hurt yourself.
