You know, I think I'd like blogging a lot more if I didn't feel obligated to write some sort of stupid title every time. I think I'll just try to post this entry without one and see what happens.

I took a walk this morning on the linear trail, and that was refreshing. It brought back a lot of old feelings too, of when I used to be outside a lot more. I'll have to keep at this. Though I won't say that I wish Jackson didn't have his adorable, wandering attention, it does make it difficult for me to bring him on walks like this. It might be hard to make this a habit, much as I might like to.

I think I might add "take a nice photograph" on to this weeks to-do list.

Eh

So Tuesday is over and I haven't done much yet. I did take Jackson to both the pet store and the park today, which he loved, and that made me happy. I also got an email from a job that I applied to which I'm shying away from; the position was Administrative Assistant / Data Entry, but the company is apparently based in Mumbai, and I can't find anything about it locally. The email itself was very canned, and though it told me they were interested, they didn't use my name (they CCed everyone else who applied), and they want to have some sort of online interview at "time ASAP" (their words). So no.

Oh hi... It's been like 2-1/2 years?

Here's a little experiment: I've fallen into crappy habits again (being lazy, mostly; and eating poorly). I'm on spring break this week. Can I get to a point again where I'm not constantly worrying about several little things at any given time? I'd like to:

• Make a dentist appointment. I haven't had a cleaning in... too long. I also need to get my wisdom teeth out.
• Make a doctor's appointment! I've been waking up with a slightly bloody nose almost every morning. I probably need to get it cauterized again. There are a couple of other things I need to talk to my doctor about too.
• Apply for more jobs! This isn't something I can explicitly finish, but the more companies I apply to, the better I'll feel about my chances of landing a job that will support my wife, son, and soon to be second child. Crossing my fingers for an entry-level actuary position.
• I need to buy some stuff for Jackson (my son). It would be nice to have a fridge lock so that he's not constantly getting into the fridge. Also a new diaper trashcan, our current one is broken and stinky.
• I really want a big blender or something. Since Aimee's pregnant, I'm not eating quite as well as I'd like, and Jackson simply doesn't eat well at all, I would love to have a way to make smoothies. That way, Aimee might be able to stomach more fruit and veggies, I'll have a convenient and quick way of downing more too, and we can actually sneak healthy food into Jackson's drink and pretend it's just juice!
• Who knows if / when I'll be able to hike again, but there's a linear trail nearby that's be perfect for just jogging or walking or whatever. Considering how many times I haven't followed through with the couch-to-5K thing, I won't make any sort of huge goals, but it will be nice to get out and moving (and the weather is halfway decent too).
• Along similar lines, I keep wanting to get a canvas bag and fill it with rocks or gravel.  The basic idea is that I can use it to do exercises which approximate going to the gym. While I might not be able to reap quite the same benefits, it's close enough where the money and time saved and the satisfaction of avoiding the gym (which I just dislike overall because I don't like being around people in those settings) more than make up for that.
  
  Idea came from this awesome book: http://brainoverbrawn.com/
  
  
• Study for actuarial exams. Something I've been really putting off. Which is stupid, since passing more exams means higher salary, typically.
• ...and I suppose I should do my homework. Have to rewrite a case-study on econometric models that estimate the price of commercial buildings.

I guess we'll see what happens. The main problem is that, though I don't have to go to school, I'm at home all week with Jackson while Aimee works. Ironically, I actually have less time now, since at school I at least have breaks in between classes sometimes. I'll try to do some of these things today.

Cannon Mountain

Cannon Mountain
36 of 48
4100 feet

The drive in to Franconia Notch State Park was pretty awesome and surreal! The day was really sunny and the foliage got progressively better as I drove north. However, as I got closer to the Notch, I noticed that there was a thick gray cloud sheet over the entire area. This was actually kind of neat, as the foliage colors were sandwiched by the gray sky and the slate color of the cliffs on the side of Cannon and... Lafayette (? on the right).







The trailhead started at Lafayette Campground (getting there required me to switch directions on 93), and started out by crossing a cool bridge. It had rained a TON the past couple days, and I was surprised that the water wasn't higher.

So I decided to reach the summit via the Hi-Cannon trail, which, it turns out, isn't quite as popular as the Lonesome Lake trail. In fact, of all the dozens of people that were behind and in front of me at first, I was the only one who took the Hi-Cannon trail when it split off.






Most of the first half of the trail was wooded and close enough to 93 where I could constantly hear traffic. It was also extremely steep, even with the constant switchbacks (seriously, the whole way up this section was switchbacks).

Eventually, the trail opened up and went along a nice open ridge (from which I could see my stupid car) and eventually gave a nice view of Lonesome Lake. To see a lake stuck in the mountains like that is great, especially since you would never suspect it was there from the highway if you didn't know about it.

Also awesome was this ladder that is actually a lot bigger than this picture makes it out to be. It's the first time I've seen anything like this on a hike.






After this, the trail went back into the woods and got a lot narrower and a lot wetter. It was also a lot less steep.

Eventually, I got stuck behind a group of people who were pretty much oblivious to the fact that I was going about twice as fast as them (the trail was too narrow for me to pass them). One older guy noticed me but he was too busy explaining some weird pretentious shit to a younger woman to realize that I wanted to pass. The guy actually looked me in the eye after I said, "excuse me," and he ignored me and kept talking and walking slow. I eventually plowed past them all the first chance I got, and one or two of them stepped back into a deep puddle. Heh.

Sooo anyway, the Hi-Cannon trail ended soon after this and joined the Kinsman Ridge trail on its way to the summit. Right around this point I entered the clouds and it became pretty cold. The summit and observation tower was another 5-10 minutes, and by that time it had to have been around 30°. The wind up on the tower was absolutely insane... I felt like I could blow over. I asked some guy to take my picture and he sort of freaked out because he was so cold and wanted to get off the tower. He still took it though.




Also neat was the fact that it was sunny everywhere except for where I was. This meant that I could occasionally look out of the cloud to sunny trees far below. After, I wandered over to the cafeteria and tram. I was pretty tempted to sit down for a meal and take the tram down, but I decided that it would be sort of... cheating.

Overall, probably one of the more enjoyable hikes I've done, and it's my first new 4,000 footer in 6 years and 362 days (2 days short of 7 years).

Mount Tecumseh

Mount Tecumseh
48 of 48
4003 feet

It's been just over 12 years since I hiked Tecumseh. It's the mountain where Mel fell off the path and caught her chin on a tree or something.

I got up fairly early, forgetting my AMC guide and baggies for sandwiches. Oops. I ended up just making peanut butter sandwiches and throwing them back in the bread bag, meaning I had to carry the whole thing.

Anyway, I got to the Waterville Valley Ski Area, where I drove around confused looking for both the trailhead and a place to park (this is why I needed my guide!). I ended up calling my dad, who assured me I could park anywhere since it was off-season, and that the trailhead was to the right of the main lodge.

I didn't go quite enough to the right however, and ended up hiking halfway up a ski slope before turning back. The trailhead was sort of hidden off the road with no real signs that pointed it out obviously. I found it though (the Tecumseh trail, 2.5 miles to the summit).



On the way up, I didn't see a single person coming down. Halfway, there was an open ski slope or logging road or something (where the old Tecumseh trail used to run) and I saw a mother turkey with her four babies walking in line behind her.











The rest of the trail from here was steep and unrelenting, but I made it. The view from the top was a small window in the trees that afforded a nice view, from what I could see.











There were lots of enormous flies on the summit, which were loud and annoying, so I listened to music to drown them out and ate lunch.

Two guys reached the summit as I was leaving. They had come from the other, longer route. On the way down I saw maybe three dozen people coming up, so I definitely made it before the crowds.












< Some weird fungus

Summary: My ass got kicked, but I did over-pack and push myself a little, so I'm somewhat happy with how I did.

Oh hi.

It's September 14th, 2010. I am now a dad and am actually GOING to school. Things are nice. I'm trying to get back into shape, I'm going to hike a lot this fall, and maybe, MAYBE get back into photography.

I'm doing the Couch to 5K thing again.

I want to finish a lot of 4,000 footers this season. I'll probably start by redoing Tecumseh.

Oh, I also cleaned out a lot of old entries. They made me sound whiny. Which I was! So they're gone. Yay!

How the Heroes Season 1 Finale should have gone down: (Protip: don't read this if you haven't seen the finale)

Everyone arrives in Kirby Plaza around the same time they normally do. Matt shoots at Sylar, Sylar returns the bullets at Matt. Noah Bennet hits the wall as usual. Peter and Sylar engage in something more epic than the one-sided fist fight that unfolds in the real episode. Peter doesn't tell Niki to leave, Niki stays and starts beating up Sylar while Sylar is fighting with Peter. Sylar uses telekenesis to hold Niki at bay, though her superhuman strength is helping her out. Hiro appears and steps in to help fight, but Sylar uses telekenesis to pick up a piece of scrap metal similar to a katana and begins to sword fight Hiro with it (thereby actually validating all that time we see Hiro training, rather than Hiro just appearing, yelling, and stabbing Sylar).

Even with all three Heroes battling Sylar, he still seems to have an advantage. Suddenly, Claire, with her gun, shoots at Sylar, who finally seems overwhelmed and barely has time to block the incoming bullets. He shoots them all back into Claire like he did to Matt, but the in the fatal distraction, he loses control of the "sword" he was using to fight Hiro, Niki and/or Peter punches him, sending him reeling backwards right in the path of Hiro, who takes the opportunity to finally stab him.

Now, Claire is in the process of healing and is incapacitated and can't stop the inevitable explosion (thereby bypassing the often asked question "why did she hesitate to shoot him if she knew he would heal"), Peter is freaking out, and mentions something about how he can't seem to use any of his other powers (thereby answering another question "why didn't he fly away"). Nathan shows up as usual and flies Peter away, this time making a lot more sense, because he would be the only one left that could really prevent devastation by flying Peter away.

This would be a better finale.