Mt. Osceola and East Osceola

On March 16th, our group of hikers, Greg, Tom, Chris and myself headed to the Greeley Pond Trail to climb East Osceola and Osceola. This is an out-and-back hike with 3100 feet of climbing over 7.6 miles. The day was slightly overcast with the temperature in the 20's. There was hope that the afternoon would bring clearer skies.

The hike started with a pleasant 1.3 mile walk through hardwood forest before it meeting up with the Mt. Osceola trail. This trail climbs the steep slope of East Osceola with most of the climbing over a 0.5 mile section. Crampons were required and Greg broke all sorts speed records when he finally decided to put them on.

The climb was very steep and tiring. Each time we rounded a bend, there was another long steep section. Finally, we reached the ridge and the climbing was over - for now. By this time Greg and Tom had eased into a leisurely pace in preparation for their "picnic" lunch.

Chris and I followed the ridge and after crossing the summit of East Osceola (don't blink or you missed it) we descended steeply to the col and headed toward Osceola. On the way, we came to a very step section where we were presented with two options - a steep climb up an icy "chimney" or a steep, semi-exposed climb around the "chimney". Since the chimney required the use of an ice axe, something we didn't have, we opted for the path around the chimney.

Continuing on, we reached the Osceola summit, which was completely in the clouds, paused briefly and started our return. The descent around the chimney was more exposed than we recalled and we nervously descended, hoping our crampons would hold tight.

The steep descent of East Osceola was a lot of work and Chris was overheating. After some encouragement, he decided to cool off by making a face print in the snow.

Being just before the start of spring, this was the last winter hike of the season. It was a great way to finish.

Back on the Water

After several months away from the water, I finally returned this past weekend. I enjoy many outdoor winter activities, so I usually wait until the weather warms up and the snow is gone before I load the canoe on the car. With all the snow we've received this year and the fast approaching race season, I couldn't afford that luxury this year. So on Saturday morning, I cleared yet another snowfall off of my car, mounted the Yakima rack on the roof and loaded up the canoe.

I headed to the Charles River in Newton to meet my brother Seth. The water was high and cold, so we would be paddling our most stable single canoes (Wenonah Advantage). Seth had already paddled a few times this year and I was still suffering from a rib injury. I expected to struggle to keep up.

From the start, my ribs were hurting, but I did my best to block out the pain. We paddled up river as far as we could, battling strong current in many spots. Of course, the return paddle was a lot of fun.

Along the way, we spotted numerous swans, ducks and geese - and a very large fake alligator.

We ended up paddling about 8 miles and finished loading the canoes onto the cars just before the suddenly vigilant state police came to chase us out of the parking lot before dusk.

Laziness Turns Into Stupidity

As a bike commuter, this is the time of year where difficult decisions need to be made concerning the choice of tires. Many days the roads are wet from snow melt, but it is warm enough that none of the snow melt freezes. On other days, there can be icy patches as temperatures drop overnight and turn all that snow melt into black ice.

Today was one of those days.

Over the weekend, there was substantial rainfall with the temperatures dropping on Sunday. There also was a lot of wind, which did a good job of drying everything out. I had several debates with myself about putting the studded tires back on my bike. I had just removed them last week, as it seemed spring was coming round the bend. In the end, I convinced myself that everything would be dry and any icy patches could be avoided. Mostly, I was being lazy.

As I rode in, I was confident I had made the right choice since the roads really were dry and the few trouble spots were mostly slush. Even where there was ice, it wasn't very smooth, so the tires crossed it without problem.

That would all come to an abrupt end later in the ride.

As I approached one of the worst sections of road on my whole commute, I could see that there was ice spanning the entire road. It was similar to other ice I had encountered earlier - crusty with some slush. I slowed down and proceeded cautiously. I was about two thirds of the way across when my front wheel started sliding out from under me. I went down hard, bounced, flipped over and spun around on the ice. Fortunately, the approaching car had stopped before the ice and as I lay there trying to unclip out of my pedals, the driver was asking me if I was OK - earning high marks in my book.

Mechanically, the end result was a broken rear fender, a broken headlight (Dinotte 200L) and broken handlebar mount for my other light (L&M Arc Li-Ion). Physically, I have two sore wrists, a bruise on my knee, a sore chest and a slight abrasion on my chin. Mentally, I'm just angry with myself for being so lazy and stupid.

Tonight, the studded tires go back on the bike.