There’s no other way for me to describe the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont. It is the promised land, the stuff of post cards and mountain bikes. After three days biking and camping up there with a group of buddies, I’m done – sore, tired and ready to watch some football on the couch. Fortunately, I can let pictures better tell the story thanks to Jeff Scher. His great eye and his desire to lug his camera around for a 24 hour gonzo trip full of bikes, fires, beer, bacon, and Goldschlager (why, Chris? why?). Thanks for the great mountain bike and scenery photos, Jeff!
As an added bonus, we also shot two much less professional videos on Old Web on Sunday morning around 10:30. The air was chilly, maybe 40° F, and the woods were pretty much silent as we had the trail to ourselves.
Mary and I spent the first few days of September paddling the Bow River Trip in Jackman, Maine. Our goal was to paddle across Attean Pond and portage our canoe and gear 1.25 miles to Holeb Pond (we needed roughly three trips to get everything across the portage!). Then we would cross Holeb Pond and follow Holeb Stream to the Moose River. The Moose River would eventually flow back into Attean Pond where we would “re-enter” the grid after a few days on the water.Here are some quick stats:
Total miles paddled: 34
Rapids run: 2
Rapids lined: 2
Rapids portaged: 2
Total miles portaged: 8.5
Total muskrats seen: 2
Total owls seen: 2
Total herons seen: 4
Total moose seen: 3
Fellow campers seen: 0
Sagan-esque mosquito count: Billions and billions
Distance covered before bugs got to us: 14 miles
Total days before bugs got to us: 1.5
Distance covered after bugs got us: 20 miles
Time to cover final 20 miles: 10 hours
Distance to hotel in Jackman from Attean Pond: approx. 5 miles
Sure, our thumbs are opposable, our tools are cooler than a saliva moistened twig covered with termites, and, for the most part, we don’t fling poo. But, when you get down to it, we’re really nothing more than a bunch of complicated monkeys.
