nature-you.org Blog

Funs on a Frozen Lake
January 23, 2010

We had Philip’s 9 years old son, Chen joined today. But the craziness of playing on a frozen lake didn’t limit by age. The other 17 adults went onto the lake and most of them had so much fun in those 45 minutes. If I ranked them in descended order, it would be Max, Rose, Esther, Harry, Raymond, Philip, Susie, Clara, Simon, Lacey, Jolly, Lovett, Moon, Shawn, Melody and Fang. Fang stepped on the ice for only 5 minutes for taking group picture.

When we started at 9:45 am, Susie’s car was still on the way. I gave them the hiking plan and expected not too much to meet them at Lake Skenonto. It was quite windy cold at the parking lot. We started along R-D Red and reached the trail in half a mile. There were a lot of upslope on the first mile. It was disappointed that the trail was basically clear of snow and ice. We were exciting to see a big piece of thin icy spot so most hiker stepped on to show off their leg power. They were liked breaking a sheet of glass. Since the wind had gone at this side and the sunshine was so rich, we enjoyed a long break at the little pond. Little Chen, Rose, and Esther had been unable to resist the temptation of going onto the frozen water. I shared them some snacks. As it was a perfect day for hiking and the last trip before the 3 weeks break, I decided to give out the bonus by upgrading the trip into 8 miles. We continued on R-D Red to capture 2 more viewpoints before turning back to Lake Skenonto. Moon realized a super big rock at the trail so took the challenge of climbing it up. Simon found the easy way so most hikers met at the top to take pictures. Some hikers were exhausted because of chains of upslope. As it was closed to noon time, Harry suggested taking lunch at the viewpoint of Yellow Trail. I gave them some snacks again but insisted to take lunch at the Lake because I knew they would like to spend more time over there.

Rose played sliding on a side trail because she didn’t want to switch back to the trail. After 20 more minutes on the Yellow Trail, we reached Lake Skenonto around 12:30 pm. Susie ran to us liked greeting friends from the airport. What a surprised to have a reunion at the Lake. Raymond, Clara and Susie were here 30 minutes ago because they were guided by an experienced hiker who could show them the easiest route to reach the Lake. We also met the AMC hiking team at the Lake which was led by Judith King. We saw someone were ice-fishing in the middle of the Lake. Before I could finish my lunch, I saw Max, Little Chen, Rose, Harry, Esther, Philip had started their party on the icy lake. Raymond, Susie and Clara joined to share the fun. It wasn’t a bad idea to take pictures on the ice, this attracted Moon, Lacey, Jolly and Simon to participate. Lovett was the last one to join under the request of his friends. Max and Susie even walked to the island to claim the colony. Raymond found the change on water level when stepped hard on the ice. Philip pulled Chen on the ice. Harry lied down as a sleeping Buddha. Rose and Esther demonstrated their technique of ice skating. I saw a lot of human stars on the ice. Max suggested to take group picture on the lake so Shawn, Melody and Fang finally stepped onto the ice. That was so much fun for 45 minutes and it was time to go back to trail.

We finished the Yellow Trail and linked to White Bar. I was told that Lovett needed to take rest because he was cramp. I was ready to give him choice of short cut but he was tough enough to keep up with the group. We reached Dutch Doctor Shelter from White Bar. As time was running out, we kept on T-MI immediately. There were up and down slopes on T-MI so I gave them a longer break at Claudia Smith Den. I found Melody, Fang, Lovett and Clara were exhausted. My automatically upgraded might have created a big challenge on someone but we had no choice but kept going. Luckily, it was mainly downhill after this point and we still had enough sunshine before 4:30 pm. We finished T-MI and switched back to R-D before 3:45 pm. I knew we could make it because the endpoint would be within 15 minutes. We finished 8 miles and reached the parking lot by 4 pm.

Small Ticks Frightened the Giant Max
January 17, 2010

As this trip was scheduled in the middle of the long weekend, I had only Feng, Max, Chung Kwong, Rose, John and Moon on the field. I led the same trip last year with only 3 other hikers. That trip was beautiful because the whole area was covered with deep snow. It was also painful for Rose because we did extra mile due to my mistake. Too sad that the trail was 40% cleaned today. We had no big challenge until the last mile when the ice storm started.

We started at 9:45am from Blue Trail climbing Conklin Mountain. There were hard snow on the trail but not slippery. We moved slowly uphill under very cloudy weather. The forecast said rain or snow shower at 1 pm. We switched to Yellow Trail which was basically flat. Moon and Rose took pictures with the same fallen branches and stone crack which they did last year. There were little snow on the trail and Moon pointed out those little dots on the snow was ticks. Max didn’t believe until he bent down to investigate. His eyes opened wide after knowing we were surely surrounded by trillions of ticks. He was so eager to ask on prevention of bringing home the ticks. I told him I sprayed before hiking. I usually put my hiking stuff in the garage and washed the clothes separately. Ticks could not survive under high temperature. No matter what I said, I just didn’t see him sat down for the whole day, even during our half hour lunch time.

We reached the junction of 2 Yellow Trails but one indicated with a line in black. I decided to take the striped Yellow because we could be closer to the parking lot in case bad weather kicked in earlier. We reached a ski trail which was 90% cleaned from snow. When the ski trail brought us to a junction, Rose remembered where she sat for lunch last year. We switched to another ski trail and found T-MI Red Trail in 5 minutes. We would follow Red Trail all the way to Seven Lakes Drive. There were more snow and slopes on T-MI so it made the trip more interesting. Moon recognized a rock liked a rolling chair so most people took turn to sit on the dragon seat. When we were at a spot with a lot of clean rocks and less wind, I decided to stop for lunch. Feng ran back from the hill top after experienced the coldness from strong wind. John prepared healthy food and served us his colorful pepper dessert.

We never saw the sun for the entire day so likely rain or snow would start soon. We continued on Red Trail after lunch. I was scared by hearing someone screaming at the back. Luckily, it was only 2 trail runners. There was a special human construction off the trail which attracted our curiosity. After 10 minutes investigation, we guessed it was an abandoned furnace which was built to burn garbage or branches in the mountain. We were lucky that we didn’t find any clues of crime. I led the group kept going on the unmarked until we hit the Blue Trail. I was here intended to locate the Monitor Rock which was indicated on the map. We found a Black Trail led us to a giant rock. Chung Kwong and Rose were brave enough to climb up the rock but disappointedly found nothing special. I led the group entered the Blue Trail and connected back to T-MI in 15 minutes. At the spot closed to the Red Trail, we found a big rock with an open mouth. Rose and Chung Kwong tried to enter the mouth to see what was inside. John took a lot of picture of the sceneries and other hikers because he said he was unable to hike every weekend.

The weather turned bad at 1:30 pm. Ice shower started at this moment but the ice particles were very fine. We were still about 1.5 miles from the parking lot. When we came across a stream, John and Rose were attracted by a special ice formation at a fallen trunk. Feng, Max, Chung Kwong and Moon were busy shooting to other huge ice formations at the dam. Max finally took out his camera because he recognized an ice formation that liked a tiger. We took group picture in front of the dam. After we climbed the last slope and saw the huge frozen Lake Sebago, we could not stop going in. We were interrupted by a ranger at a car so we had to leave. The wind turned stronger that made it an ice storm now. Our faces were painful because we were liked hit by needles. We passed through a picnic area which equipped with BBQ grills. It would be a perfect location for BBQ in the summer if they installed restroom facilities. We finished 6 miles by 2:30 pm.

There Was Snow Over Ice
January 9, 2010

It was the coldest winter ever that had turned all still water into ice. It used to be a very risky situation because the trails were slippery. Standard hiking equipments under such weather were hiking poles and stabilizers. I had 17 hikers in this trip that only about 10 of them were equipped with stabilizers. We all were blessed with continuation of snowing in last few days so the icy trail was covered by a layer of powdered snow. The weather was luckily so cold that the snow was not melted. All hikers included Ken, Simon, Emily, Chung Kwong, Dodo, Susie, Rose, Esther, Eric, Yat, Karen, Philip, Raymond, Clara, Moon and Sherry enjoyed a nice and safe hiking trip.

We met at Silvermine Lake and started at 9:30 am after putting Raymond’s car at the Tiorati Circle. I intended to finish the trip at Tiorati Circle because there might be a chance to see Ice Cave. The trail was covered with 3 inches of snow that made the hiking really enjoyable. We followed Yellow Trail and found some questionable big footprints on the snow. Simon dared not go at the front because the size of that animal might be over 10 feet if we proportioned its feet size. We reached the white Lake Nawahunta which was so pretty under strong sunshine. It was white because it has been frozen. Most hikers wanted to find out how hard was the ice so no hesitate to walk on the Lake. Eric preferred to stay on land to take picture for Sherry and others because he didn’t want to be the last piece to break the ice. We passed the pine tree forest and climbed along Yellow Trail to hit Long Path. Before we saw the hippo, Chung Kwong realized a bear liked animal hidden behind a tree. This bear was not scary because it was just a piece of wood that looked liked a bear from a certain angle. I led the group walked closed to the bear and arrived at Hippo Rock in 5 minutes. After taking photos with the hippo, we turned back on the same trail to target at Stockbridge Mountain Shelter. Even it was a little bit too early, taking lunch at a shelter would be top priority at winter hike.

It was a very sunny day without strong wind. There were pretty ice formations on the rocks so all photographers and models were crazy about them. Ken, Esther and Rose were the last ones to reach the Shelter. We shared the Shelter with 2 Korean hikers but too bad they wouldn’t share us their Korean hotpot. There were accidents happened at this Shelter. Emily fell because she walked on the bare rock with her stabilizers and Simon hit his head against the roof because he forgot the roof was so low on that corner. This was the place you could act liked a Kung Fu master because you could jump on the roof so easily. A few hikers made the pose of sitting on the roof. Philip was very quiet as usual also because he was the only Mandarin speaker of today.

I announced we had to climb down the slope after lunch. This probably was the painful time for Karen because she didn’t like downhill. She would never join Ken’s downhill skiing trip. We hiked on gentle up and down slopes on Long Path. The trail condition was perfect because the snow condition was perfect. Yat made himself the only snow angel of today when we were taking a break. No other one would like to be the copy cat. While we were taking group picture at a hill, Rose’s camera shot at the sky because the tripod was fallen. It might be time for her to replace the weaken tripod. It was very flat at the end of Long Path which was the most dangerous spot. Since the snow layer was thinner and the water underneath had been frozen, Raymond fell at an icy spot. Karen and Esther demonstrated their stabilizers by walking back and forth on that icy spot. Esther was so proud even showed us her dancing steps. Susie and Clara were discussing about what would be the next item on their hiking equipment shopping list.

We reached the auto road at 2 pm. By looking at the snow condition of the area, I decided to bring the group to re-visit Ice Cave. We climbed to the spot and found the ice formation was grand. I graded it a Class C which still far away from the best I had ever seen. Dodo was first hesitated to go closer but finally posed happily at the Ice Cave. Most hikers were happy inside the Ice Cave so they didn’t want to leave. I brought Clara, Raymond, Susie, Rose, Esther, Simon, Chung Kwong and Karen to go closer to a fallen branch with hanging ice cones by climbing up a steep slope. The icefall was also a special feature that caught most shoots. We walked back to Tiorati Circle for the shuttle car at 3 pm. It was a typical moderate level 6 miles winter hike with enough snow or ice features to view.

When it is -10 degrees F
January 3, 2010

Happy New Year of 2010. I had 10 hikers joined in order to have a record on this first trip of a new year even the weather was definitely not suitable for outdoors. The low temperature and strong wind further pushed the temperature at Perkins Tower into -10 degree F. All the huge trees nodded their heads and agreed that it was one of the most extreme weathers they had ever experienced. Simon, Max, Harry, Chung Kwong, Helen, Rose, Philip, Moon and Eric would probably be fearless to any weather situations after this trip.

We arrived at the parking lot at Seven Lakes Drive before 9:15 am with definitely no other cars in it. As the wind was so cold, we didn’t have too much time for briefing. Rose helped distributed the first stamp of this year which she had almost caught a cold in that 3 minutes because she had to remove her gloves. Due to the coldness and windy situation, I planned cautiously. We would first go and took lunch at Bear Mountain Recreational Area by easy trail. We then would decide to climb Perkins Tower based on the weather and trail situations. I picked the house of Merry-Go-Round to be the lunch point because we could have a good shelter away from strong wind.

We started along 1777 W and connected to 1777 E in a mile. It was Eric’s first trip with Nature You and he was exciting to lead the group at the front. When we were at the junction of Yellow Trail, Max, Rose and Simon remembered the trip that we had got lost 3 times last year. We took pictures at the icy stream and bridge. When we were passing the frozen Doodletown Reservoir, I invited Harry to go into the lake to try ice skating. There were lots of paths within Doodletown so I was mistakenly led the group off the trail. This gave us a chance to see the demolished settlements. When I found we were at the auto road, I knew we had to walk to the Recreational Area by Seven Lakes Drive. We always hiked on the trail underneath so we never saw the area from this altitude. As the sceneries of the neighboring mountains were not bad, so no one complained. In addition, Moon realized there were 7 deer moving at the front and would cross the road to go uphill. It was the first time that we could see a group of deer and luckily we had Chung Kwong and Rose to put them into their cameras. When we were a hundred feet from the Recreational Area, we were welcome by a strong wind mixed with snow. Moon felt she was slapped on the face when she didn’t turn around quick enough. We first visited the restrooms and met at the house of Merry-Go-Round.

The game site was so quiet. We saw only a few workers and no any other single visitors. The wind outside was so strong liked a fierce snowstorm. We were lucky to have an enclosed shelter to enjoy our lunch. All hikers had their thermo containers of hot or warm food except Chung Kwong. Helen brought out a very dedicated new metal container which was pretty but not a good one to keep the food warm. Photographers had time to take pictures of the colorful Merry-Go-Round and hanging origami animals. After knowing we were not too old or heavy to go into the Merry-Go-Round, we decided to merry-go-back to our childhoods. With Eric and Max decided to be our photographers outside the game, we all 8 people had beautiful 10 minutes into the time machine. Philip picked a colorful turkey while Rose picked a tamed deer to be their rides.

It was time to be back to our trip. I decided to go to Perkins Tower even it would be very windy. As all of us were equipped, we could just leave the summit right away if the situation was very bad. We passed the Hessian Lake and climbed on AT all the way to the Tower. The wind was not too strong but the snow was quite deep. It was comfortable to climb up steep slope under such cool weather. The temperature was low so photo taking had become a complicated chain of actions. We had to pull out the hand from the glove and finished the shootings before the fingers frozen. There were some ice formations on the route and Eric was energetic enough to try to break them all. We reached the summit at 2 pm but no chance to stay for more than 5 minutes. The wind was so strong and rough that I thought the trees would be pulled out. The whole area was as noisy as the sky was going to break apart. I pushed everyone to follow me to descend along AT before any accident might happen. Harry likely had got cold cut because his face was so red.

It was much colder and more windy on this side of the mountain. We took no rest until we reached the auto road. Helen questioned why we met auto road at least 5 times today. We took a group picture at the spot before going back to the trail. The trail at last half mile was turning into more icy. It was a perfect time to be back to the car because the trail might be turned into more risky when the temperature was dropped rapidly after dusk. We finished a 6 miles adventurous hike under very extreme weather.

Autumn Comes after Winter
December 27, 2009

A big blizzard hit East Coast last Sunday that made me felt there should be a lot of snow accumulation in the mountain. I changed the location to Tiorati Circle intended to see the Ice Cave. It was too bad that the 24 hours rain on Saturday had washed away most of the white stuff, both snow and ice. I had Chung Kwong, Fang, Helen, Susie, Rose, Esther, Philip, Eric, Raymond, Clara and Moon in the group. It was Eric’s first trip with Nature You but it was already the last trip of 2009. Hopefully, he wouldn’t wait too long to join again next year.

We met at Tiorati Picnic Area at 10 am which was not new for most hikers. Actually, Clara’s group was here 2 weeks ago. In order to give them some new experience, I decided to hike on the other trails. I first announced the top three hikers of 2009 who were Rose, Moon and Esther. Once again, all positions were won by female hikers. We reached the water tank along Blue Trail and climbed up to Ice Cave from a steep slope. The loose stones on the trail had frightened some new hikers. As I had predicted, we found only some mini sized ice formations at the Cave. The water splashed down a small waterfall was even more attractive. Rose, Esther and Eric were so happy to take picture with an ice trophy. I led them turned into Long Path afterwards in order to complete a 7 miles trip. The Long Path was flat where water had no place to flow. Susie was nice to lend Eric a hiking pole because the wet trail might be slippery. There was always a rule of not getting the feet wet during hiking, we crossed the swamp by switching side to side or walked on dry edge of the trail. We took a break at the junction of AT and R-D where Esther remembered it firmly.

I picked AT and started climbing up to a viewpoint. It was quite tough even the trail was cleaned. After taking the group picture at the viewpoint under good sunshine, we descended the hill. Esther brought a camera which was so new that she wasn’t clear about the functions. We heard machine gun shoots when she pressed the shutter. When we reached a spot with less wind and more stones, we decided to take lunch there because it had been noon already. Chung Kwong was so happy to claim it was the best lunch this year because no any rain, wind, snow or coldness. The weather today was a perfect day for outdoors. The climate was so strange that we had experienced Autumn hike after Winter hike of last week.

We crossed a bridge before hitting Seven Lakes Drive. The water level was so high that the bridge was almost submerged. We continued on AT to climb the slope. Susie almost got lost by going into an unmarked trail. I saw parts of the trails were turned into streams because of snow melt. We had to pay more attention when crossing streams because the stepping stones were wet. I led the group switched into R-D at the junction and started climbing Goshen Mountain. Fang said she was sure very tired after these ups and downs. I knew now she wasn’t so strong for difficult hikes even she had come from cold province of China. We descended the mountain and hit again the Seven Lakes Drive.

Eric found a big animal in the stream and Susie shouted to us it was an otter. The frightened animal sank back into the water before everyone came closed. I led the group climbed a slope and went back to the same tree that Esther could recognize. They knew now we had made a big circle and exercised 4.5 miles after we reached this spot in the morning. We climbed the last mountain with the trail full of ice. This probably made Fang and Clara more exhausted. We experienced mixed trail conditions today which included normal, wet and icy. The difference was made due to terrain, direction and duration of sunshine. We finished 7 miles and reached the parking lot by 4:15 pm.