Life from the Rockpile: April 2009

Mount Washington from south of the auto road (Ed O'Malley)

I hiked a mountain this week! Ryan, Mike, Chef John Bauhs, cat driver Wayne and I made our way up the Lion's Head Trail last Tuesday before our shift. It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day with lots of picturesque clouds and gusts that certainly didn't feel that bad --but were apparently into the 40's or 50's. We rented plastic boots and crampons, and I used my brand new hiking pack and ice axe. There was one part which was pretty vertical and got my heart going a bit, but other than that it was a relatively easy trail. I definitely want to go at least one more time before I leave here! There are lots of trails that go up to the summit, so maybe I'll get to try one or two of the others... It was also nice to spend some time with the other shift on Tuesday night. I hadn't really gotten to talk to any of them other than at shift change. Very cool people! I sort of wish that the internship program allowed us to work with both shifts for a bit.

Going up a little semi-vertical stretch of the Lion's Head Trail (John Bauhs)

Ryan, me, Wayne, and Chef John Bauhs headin' on up (Mike Finnegan)

Ryan, Chef John, Wayne and I at Lion's Head, overlooking Tuckerman Ravine and a nice K-H cloud (Mike Finnegan)

Ryan and I at the summit sign after our hike (he's definitely taller than me in this pic; John Bauhs)

The eastern facing wall of Tuck's from Lion's Head (John Bauhs)

Our volunteers, John Bauhs (a personal chef from Maryland) and Ed O'Malley (an IT guy/photographer from New Jersey) were excellent cooks, and made some really nice meals. We had: lamb, steak tip fajitas, french onion soup (yay!), ham, and a nice, big breakfast on almost all of the mornings. Brian also made his secret family recipe ribs --very tasty-- and Mike made us some sushi. Mike's girlfriend, Chris, came up for a bit so I had another girl my age on the mountain to hang out and gab with. We played bag-o (bean bag tossin') and soccer in the rotunda a few nights, and of course watched a good amount of scrubs. This was our last week of overnight trips, which all of the crew members were pretty excited about, and we had some good laughs with and about the hikers and edutrippers that came up this time.

Sunset with a few clouds over the valley (Ed O'Malley)

Brian and the kitty mitten

This was the first week that I had seen Marty go outside. He doesn't really seem to like getting his paws icy, but he does pretty well for a cat in the wind and on slick surfaces. As Brian puts it, he has built-in crampons --although he doesn't always think to use them. Ed and I successfully did a couple of photo shoots for posters, postcards, and other gift shop goods. His long, black fur looks really neat on the white snow and amongst all of the black rocks on the summit. He's also a really good little cat for the summit because he sticks close to you as you walk around, and meows for you if you get too far away. I'm hoping that I might see him take a bit of a hike before I leave.

Me with Marty before a photo shoot (Ed O'Malley)

Marty as he's slowly coaxed away from the tower door... (Ed O'Malley)

Marking his territory on the staircase at Tip Top House (Ed O'Malley)

Getting Marty into the perfect shot required us to lead him around, snap a few shots, and round him up again. He didn't like having his feet in the snow very much, so he didn't stay in one place for too long and didn't often sit down. (Ed O'Malley)

Coming out from under a boulder in front of Tip Top House (Ed O'Malley)

Washing in front of the summit sign (Ed O'Malley)

Waiting for Marty at the summit sign (Ed O'Malley)

Sliding down the Yankee drift (Ed O'Malley)

After our grand adventure on Tuesday, I didn't really get out much the rest of the week. The weather was still a bit wintry, with freezing rain a few days and freezing fog a few others. On the last night of our shift, Mike and I took a little hike down to the Great Gulf. There was a gorgeous undercast sunset and the Gulf was filled with fog afterward. The clouds lapping at the mountains remind me so much of the ocean I can hear the Yaquina Bay fog horn sometimes. We followed the cairns back up and hardly used our headlamps because the moonlight was so bright.

We went out to the Red Park Pub across the street from my house when we got back, and then progressed to Flatbread Pizza (excellent food --sustainable, too!). The volunteers, Mike, Brian, Cara, Ryan, his parents and I chatted for quite a while there. It was great to meet Ryan's parents and to have him come out, as he lives out of town and doesn't often come out with us.

A few days later, my cousin Pat came up for a visit. We did some shopping in North Conway, hung out with Brian a bit at his new pad, and Pat made some excellent Italian food for me. I'm hoping I'll get to hang out with him again and possibly Jay (he's doing his residency at Penn State Hospital right now) while I'm out here.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll be heading over to Portland for a Gaelic Storm concert before our next shift. It promises to be an excellent night of good music and good friends, then on to week seven! Only a few more shifts to do all my research and enjoy New England. I'm still looking forward to sunny weather out here! The river out front is running beautifully and the rain is bringing some green back to the area. Can't wait to explore more now that the snow cover is leaving.