Return to the Whites: Mt. Avalon, Mt. Field, and Mt. Tom

What I learned this weekend: There is no better way to combat a tryptophan-induced post-Thanksgiving food coma than to hike a snowy mountain in a blizzard.

After a few delicious days of feasting and indulgence, I was anxious to get back to the mountains, and especially to see the Whites covered in white! Simon and Jon picked me and Emily up at 7am in Boston (we brought our pillows for the back seat). We made a quick stop in Manchester (ahhh to be reunited with Deka!) to meet up with NH locals and we were well on our way north to the White Mountains. We arrived at the trail-head near the Crawford Notch Visitor Center around 10:30am. The trees and ground were dusted with snow, and there were a couple fluffy inches on the ground.

There were ten of us in total as we embarked on our 7.3 mile hike. I was a bit nervous about trying my new hiking boots (purchased for my Nepal trip in a month), but coupled with Simon's liner socks they worked really well! The first leg of the trip was about 1.25 miles, after which we reached a fork in the trail and decided to go left and climb Mt. Field first.

Along the way to Mt. Field we summited Mt. Avalon, which afforded the nicest views along the entire loop. We could see the Presidential range enshrouded in clouds in the distance.

The top of Mt. Field was a bit less exciting since it was mainly just a cairn in the middle of the woods. There was a bit of a view off to the side, but by then the clouds were thicker and it was beginning to snow. Dan managed to act as a bird feeder by holding some trail mix up in the air!

We headed over to the spur to Mt. Tom, where most of the group hiked up to check out the peak. On the way over a blizzard swept through and we all soon sported a pair of frozen, snow-covered eye lashes. The storm stopped about 15 minutes later, and we were pleasantly surprised by a beautiful sunset through the snow-covered evergreens.

Post-hike we headed to Moat (delicious restaurant in North Conway) for dinner and stopped at one of the gear consignment stores where some people found treasures!

I think I could fall in love with winter hiking...

Nepal!

For the months of December and January my blog will temporarily be dedicated to a non-kayaking subject: Nepal! On December 27th, after spending a week in Belgium visiting family, I'll be boarding a plane for Kathmandu, Nepal (with a 7 hour stop in Abu Dhabi first!). I'll meet up with the other Cornell students and we'll spend a few days exploring the city while staying at the Cornell-Nepal Study Program housing.

On New Year's Eve we'll be on an all-day bus ride to Mhanegang, a little village in the mountains, northwest of Kathmandu. We'll spend a few days living in the village and learning about the Nepali farming lifestyle. On January 4th we'll depart for a 10-day trek through the mountains (along the Phyukhri Ridge) from which we'll have views of the Himalayas (the Annapurnas to Gosainkund).

Once we get back from our trek, we'll do the whole process backwards!
Stay posted for more info!

Mapping the Cayuga Lake Inlet & Other Tributaries

A few weeks ago my graduate adviser offhandedly mentioned that there was a need to develop a more detailed outline of the south end of Cayuga Lake for the hydrologic model he and some colleagues are working on. There is a particularly high need for a more accurate outline of the inlet and other contributing waterways at the southern tip of the lake. In an effort to validate my kayaking with some sort of productive excuse, I offered to take a GPS along while I paddled as far as possible up the various tributaries of Cayuga Lake.

Last Sunday some Ithaca kayaking buddies (Ben, Rob, and Esther) and I headed down to Cass Park to attempt to map the inlet. The GPS seemed to be working and recording data as we paddled, which was a relief! The channels we paddled (from west to east) included:

#1 The "Inlet" - The widest and longest of the four, this channel is relatively unexciting. The wind was coming from the south, so we had a pretty strong breeze to paddle against on the way down. We were stopped by a dam across the channel.

#2 A nameless (?) side channel - The beginning of the channel has a long boat house where a number of big boats are propped up above the water for the winter. It was the perfect (and slightly scary) opportunity to play kayak Limbo: That red thing above my boat is a HUGE boat propped up on some little legs...

This channel also takes you past Wegmans, which is always very exciting. Before getting to Wegmans, however, you pass The Jungle. It's a little triangle of land owned by the railroad company that the homeless of Ithaca have called their home for more than 70 years. Click here to see some pictures and here for more about the Jungle.

#3 Six Mile Creek - This section of the creek is not the most scenic.. We paddled past some  suburban plazas, and were once again limited by the shallow water.

#4 Cascadilla Creek - The entrance to this creek is north a bit, right near the Ithaca wastewater treatment plant. Part of the goal of modeling the lake is to see how much of an effect point-source pollution (like wastewater treatment plants) has on the lake compared with non-point source pollution (like fertilizer runoff). Anyways, we were shortly limited by the shallow water. This channel had many more down trees blocking off sides of the creek.

I'm not sure how successful it was from a GPS standpoint (I haven't had a chance to look at the data yet). It was hard to maintain a constant distance from shore due to super shallow water, docks, and fallen trees. We were, however, successful in having an enjoyable kayaking trip. Rob demonstrated a new feat: kayak pull-ups on low bridges:

He also tested his cold water rolling abilities... even later in the year than last time!

Date: November 14th, 2010
Distance: 10 miles
Weather: Partly cloudy, pretty windy, 60ish degrees F

Elbow & Straight Jacket Rolls!

At the pool session last week, I decided to try these two new (for me) Greenland-style rolls (no... I'm not talking about sushi... that would be gross). Luckily Ben was there to film it when I unexpectedly surfaced. This little boat is a magical rolling machine!

 

Elbow Roll

Watch Cheri Perry do it here. I didn't realize that I could extend my left arm out at the end. It also looks like I should tuck a bit more at the beginning. Yay for movies!

 

Straight Jacket Roll

Watch Cheri Perry do it here. I crossed my arms a little differently than she does, and I probably need a bit more snap at the end. But yay for managing to get up in the first place!

Majestic Clay Cliffs at Chimney Bluffs State Park

The tired wipers pushed aside the sleet clumps and rain drops landing on my windshield. My toasty seat heater made it hard to believe the thermometer that bounced between 35 and 39 degrees as I made the two hour trip north from Ithaca to Sodus Bay.

The plan was to meet the rest of the Surf Rangers at a launch site just east of Chimney Bluffs State Park at 10am. We shivered as we pulled on our extra warm kayaking gear. As the only one without a dry suit, I was lucky that Dennis had an extra one. Although it was meant for surfing and looked goofy next to the kayaker-specific dry suits, it fit well and kept me quite warm!

The eight of us (Dave, Morgan, Jeff Berry, Jeff Houck, Heather, Sue, Dennis, and I) launched into Lake Ontario around 11am. The waves were about 3 ft high - enough to make it interesting, but not enough to make it nerve-wracking since all the paddlers present are very comfortable in medium surf conditions.

We paddled about a mile east, around the point and towards the entrance to East Bay. Last year when we paddled the same route the point created some interesting interference patterns - with the 6- 7ft waves breaking farther from shore. It was much calmer this time around.

The entrance to East bay was mostly closed (it gets filled in at the end of the season every year), so we beached and portaged over to the bay-side. Here's a picture of Sue and Morgan coming into shore in the surf. This is seconds before Sue (who almost never capsizes) flipped over as she was trying to keep from running into Morgan...

The wind was much calmer on the bay. We paddled as far as possible through the wetlands - until we reached a bridge blocked off by a beaver dam. At this point we stopped to warm up and have some lunch. It was still drizzling slightly, so some of us huddled under Dave's emergency igloo and snacked on Morgan's delicious cookies to stay warm!

On our way out of the bay we decided to try and shoot through the small opening in the wall. A quick turn into the surf and we were all safe and bobbing out on lake again. The paddle back was enjoyable - it was warming up slightly and the rain had stopped.

We continued past our launch site to check out the Bluffs from our boats. Chimney Bluffs is a set of jagged clay cliffs lying on Lake Ontario's southern shore. Over time, rain, wind, and waves have eroded a glacial drumlin (see Wikipedia for a good description) to form the cliffs. As time goes on, they get smaller and smaller.

In true Rough-Rider style, we finished our paddle with some fun group pictures:

Once we were all dry, changed, and packed-up, we headed up the trail to check out the cliffs from the rim trail. By this time the sky was clearing up and the sun was shining on the cliffs, making for some very majestic views.

We walked back along the beach. The pebbles on the beach have been polished and rounded over thousands of years, resulting in a very beautiful mixture of colored stones. Dave and I had a strange urge to sort the beach into different colors...

We all headed to a Heather-recommended Mexican restaurant (El Rincon Mexicano) in Sodus for dinner. The food was spicy but delicious. Jeff, whose specialty is Salsa dancing, taught some of us to dance Salsa! This also happened to be the day the restaurant was celebrating El Dia de los Muertos, so we were entertained by a bunch of dancing children!

After a fun-filled day of wintery kayaking, I decided to invest in a pair of paddling gloves and pogies. With these and the dry suit that Dennis is letting me borrow, I will continue paddling into the winter. I won't let kayaking season end!

Date: November 6th, 2010
Distance: 8 miles
Weather: 37 degrees, a bit drizzly, a bit sunny