Mountain Quest 13: Wachusett 5

Today, on an unseasonably warm (62 F) afternoon, from 2:47 pm to a little after 5 pm, I completed "Mountain Quest 2011" #13, hike number five of the "Wachusett" series.

I began on the West Side Trail. The beginning of it was a couple of steep scrambles up some treacherous rocks (with several inviting slabs that wobbled under my weight), and then a leveling out as I came to the junction with the Semuhenna Trail. That leg of the hike was pretty smooth and rather boring, as there was no discernible incline for much of it. Then when it met the Harrington Trail, it was all near-vertical scrambles again, as expected from MQ #4 (Wach 2). It took me an hour to ascend, and while I was at the summit the sun began to slowly set. I ate my apple, talked to an older gentleman about hikes we have both completed, and then I began my descent.

I raced the sunset back down to my car and lost, but I enjoyed every minute of the hike down. I listened to Kristin Cifelli, Shania Twain, Mojave 3 and Vanessa Kafka. I took photos of the spectacular sunset. And I had great fun with the spooky downward scrambles in the near-dark. I have great night vision, so I was always able to see the trail blazes, and the fallen leaves that had filled in the trail kept it lighter than the surrounding brush.

If my day off next week is as unseasonably warm as today was, I plan on climbing one of four peaks: Gap Mountain in southern NH; Bald Mountain near Bennington, VT; or one of the last two peaks I need for the entire Wapack Trail series, Kidder or New Ipswich.

Eye See You...

Wishful Thinking

I got up at 11pm for a 3am work shift (total hours of sleep: 4), busted my butt at work from 3am to 1 pm, and spent 40 minutes (not bad at all) in sunny day traffic, and all I could think about is my next hike. If I wasn't so tired, I would have kept on going to Mt. Wachusett to climb the 5th side. It's 60 degrees out in central Massachusetts on November 25th!

Monday is supposed to be in the mid 50s (if a bit cloudy). Don't be surprised if I wind up atop a local peak that day...

Happy Birthday to Me

I turned 43 today.

I closed up shop at my one-year experiment, Voyage 42, and am back to an ongoing blog. I've decided not to pick up where I left off at the blog I kept before V42, and to begin anew here, which makes sense since I've been establishing Kenozoic as my online moniker for well over a year now.

I had cereal & coffee for breakfast at 6:30, went online for awhile, and then read issues 2 and 3 of "Legion of Super-Heroes" before showering and heading over to Dad & Ma's for Thanksgiving. I watched the Packers/Lions game with Dad, then all three of us ate dinner with Jean Marie. Dad & Ma gave me a birthday card with a $50 bill inside, and then I had a huge slab of chocolate cream pie. I left around 4 and headed home to wind down for tonight's early bedtime in anticipation in tomorrow morning's 1 am awakening (to be at work for 3 am, and Black Friday's 4 am open time). Comics, television, and bed ended my day.