The first two days of the four-day motorcycle trip down to the Delaware Water Gap in PA/NJ.

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Hiked on Friday, June 18, 2010.  Co-written by Steve and Jocelyn.

The weather forecast suggested that Friday would be a beautiful day, if a bit warm, so we woke up early and headed up to the White Mountains, with a quick stop to get lunch and snacks on our way.

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Jocelyn and I took a relatively long motorcycle trip over the weeked, mostly centered around the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont. I ended up doing 411 miles over the weekend, and Jocelyn somewhat less because she had to drive a short bit of the trip to fetch her motorcycle.

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Rather late in posting, but here are some photos from a North Pack hike we did back in early April.

Did a nice day hike up North Pack with Chris and Sarah, my old friends that have lived out in Oregon for many years.  They happened to be in town for another mutual friend’s wedding, so we got together to hang out and do a hike.

We hiked up what I believe is the Wapack trail and hung out on the summit for a bit.  Then we hiked down the Cliff Trail, and used a mix of Ted’s Trail and Caroline’s Trail to come back to Mountain Road.  When we realized we weren’t back at our car, we deduced which way to walk on the road to get back.  On the way, Sarah decided to ask a bearded gentleman if we were going the right way.  She recognized him as Roger Swain, former host of the PBS show “The Victory Garden.”  Weird and small world.

I think we did 7-8 miles.  All in all a great day for a hike – good foliage, nice weather, good company, weird coincidences.

I just completed  a full rebuild of my mountain bike over the last few days.  I hung on lots of new bits like chain, chain rings, cassette, derailleur cables, brake pads, grips, tires, and tubes.  Also overhauled the rear shock and replaced all of the seals, hoping it will clear up the rebound damping issue I’ve been having with it.  I tore the whole bike down to bare frame and literally gave the frame and wheels a bath, then built it all back up with the new parts, and did a rough drivetrain tune.

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Day 5 – 12.0 miles

Another hot and muggy night for sleeping, but it was nice and quiet except for the loons. Woke up around 8 and wandered down to the dock for 10 minutes to see that it was quite overcast and looked like rain was probably imminent. We quickly broke camp and re-packed the boats for the last time, and we were on the water by 9:45, easily our earliest day.

We paddled away from Bear Island towards Meredith Bay, going around Stonedam Island and through Sally’s Gut. We hooked around Spindle Point, and checked the time. Since I have such a tight schedule today, we decided to paddle into Meredith Bay for a half hour, going as far as we could, then turn around to head back to our lunch spot near Weirs Beach.

Nothing too exciting to report about Meredith Bay, though we did round out our carved bear statue count for the week, having seen at least one each day.

We made good time back from Meredith Bay to Weirs Beach, and ducked into the channel that connects to Paugus Bay, and onward to our lunch spot in the channel.

We’d been looking forward to having lunch and a drink at Naswa all week. The Naswa is made up to look like a tropical beach bar, complete with Jimmy Buffett, fake palm trees and cardboard parrots. Nevertheless, our well-earned adult beverages and lunch hit the spot.

Just as we were squaring up our bill with the waitress, the skies opened up, so we knew we’d have a damp few miles back to our final destination. We donned rain gear and made the final push of about 3 miles back to the beach that we launched from on Monday morning. Just as we pulled up on the beach, we heard thunder rolling in, so we really could not have timed it more perfectly.

Sarah’s mom dropped off Sarah’s car for us, so we loaded the boats and gear and we’re heading back to sort gear and get me back on the road so I can start my preparations this evening.

All in all quite an adventure. I’m sure I’ll have something at least marginally more profound to say later on once it sinks in, but the immediate impression is that Winnipesaukee is indeed a large lake, and we pushed through most of it with our own muscles. There’s something very cool about experiencing the lake on a human scale, as in a kayak, and it gives me a respect that I don’t think I’d have if I just powered around it in a motor boat.

Thanks to everyone who followed along! Stay tuned next week, and I’ll hopefully be able to blog about the bike touring.

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Day 4 – 13.2 miles

Much better night’s sleep last night with the cooler weather, though some screaming kids at the campground did their best to keep us awake. We were up reasonably early to break camp and were down at the boats by around 10 to pack up and head off. We ran into a nice woman who had a touring kayak, so we chatted for a bit about what we were doing. In addition to scaring the bejeezus out of Sarah by startling her, she recommended we try touring in the Everglades, despite the alligators.

We had nice calm water on the lake this morning as we paddled away from the camp site. Little boat traffic or wind made for several miles of peaceful kayaking.

We made our way to Center Harbor and arrived around 1PM. Sarah set off to get lunch for us at a local sandwich place, and was nearly run down by her mom who was in the area doing errands. After enjoying our lunches and lounging for a bit in the shade, I took a walk up to the grocery store and picked up supplies for our last supper, and we hit the water again.

More nice paddling in the afternoon, stopping to pick blueberries from the water on Mile Island. We made a loop by Beaver Island and Pine Island as we made our way the last few miles to Bear Island, where we’re staying tonight. Thankfully friends of Sarah’s family agreed to let us put up a tent in their back yard, as there’s really no public camping to be found on this side of the lake.

We took a swim immediately after pulling the boats out, then set up camp. Sarah had some business to attend to with someone “in the neighborhood,” so I rested on the dock for a while and watched the world go by and contemplated big questions and found few answers. It was quite relaxing, however.

We ate like somewhat civilized people tonight, as we had the use of a charcoal grill. I made marinated grilled steak tips, grilled zucchini, and boiled potatoes with dill and salt. We were even able to have our stern light-lit meal on the porch of the cabin where Sarah stays every year, so by camping standards, it was quite an extravagant meal.

Warmer temperatures seem to have stuck around and it might be another uncomfortable sleeping night. Hopefully not too bad, as we’ve got our last dozen or so miles to finish up tomorrow. Then I have a mad dash to get back home, wash and re-pack gear, and get on a plane for the next part of my adventure!

Sarah is contemplating a night swim to try to cool off and I am about to contemplate the backs of my eyelids. Until tomorrow!

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Day 3 – 11.9 miles

Miserable night for sleeping last night – it was way too hot and humid and neither of us could really get comfortable. I actually tried to sleep with my head hanging out of the tent for a while, to no avail. Eventually it cooled a little bit and we managed to sleep, but it was a fairly restless night.

Today was to be our “day of rest,” though that is really a relative term since our mileage is about what we would do on a normal “recreational” kayaking day. Indeed, we did about four miles more than I had planned. This is obviously some new kind of “rest.”

We set out and headed for Union Wharf in Tuftonboro, stopping along the way at a small rock grouping for a swim. We had some friends at the spot, in the form of various small fish, who swam with us and put up with me fiddling with the underwater camera to shoot silly fish movies. Jacques Cousteau I am not, but I had fun anyway. We had originally joked about trying to catch fish for dinner, and I have a feeling these little ones would have been about what we would have come up with, if anything.

The swim was just the thing, as the morning was quite warm in the direct sun. Once sufficiently cooled off, we paddled off for Union Wharf to grab some lunch and survey our options for dinner supplies. Lunch was rather unhealthy – burgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes. Seemed like a good idea at the time! Dinner options were in short supply at the convenience market, and eventually we settled on stuffed pasta shells, sauce and broccoli. It was not to be our best meal, but it could have been worse I suppose.

After lunch and supply gathering, we headed off to at least try to peek into Moultonborough Bay. Throughout the afternoon the skies were darkening a bit, and we had a bit of rain. The wind that came with it was quite welcome for cooling us down, but it was doing our tired and sore muscles no good as we paddled into it, making a much slower pace than average.

We stopped for another swim on a big flat rock in between the Twin Islands, and used that as our turn-around spot as we headed back to our 6PM appointment to meet the photographer/publisher from Lakes Region Spirit magazine.

As we approached the Long Island bridge, he was waiting for us, cameras and long lenses at the ready. We did a few passes so he could get some photos, and then met him back at our landing spot and chatted for a bit while we unloaded the boats.

Our schedule was a bit more relaxed today and thankfully that carried over into the evening. We had a leisurely dinner, went for a swim before dark for once, and it feels like it should be a comfortable night for sleeping. Definitely looking forward to that after last night’s sauna conditions.

Tomorrow morning, we break camp, re-pack the boats, and head off for Bear Island with a stop in Center Harbor for lunch and supplies. If we hold to our plan, our last couple of days should be reasonable mileage, and we just might survive this crazy journey.

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Day 2 – 16.3 miles

The camp site last night was quite rustic, but adequate. We both slept somewhat restlessly due to the heat and humidity, as well as a particularly obnoxious crow that woke both of us up this morning. No matter, we awoke around 8:30 and I had my usual camping breakfast of oatmeal and tea. We broke camp, repacked the boats, and we were on the water by around 11:30 – a lot later than we expected, but we were not exactly rushing around either.

Setting out from Robert’s Cove this morning, the mountains on the far shore line could not be seen due to the haze, giving the illusion of an endless lake. Perhaps a fitting image for this trip! We paddled into Wolfeboro in about an hour and a half, going under the bridge into back bay where we pulled up at the public boat launch for lunch and supplies.

Sarah procured some tasty crepes and smoothies from a local creperie (I made that up just now) for lunch, which hit the spot. After lunch, I ventured out and hit the post office for stamps, and the grocery store for supplies for our dinner tonight. As we were packing up the boats to head out, Sarah checked her voice mail and found a message from a reporter from Lake Spirit magazine. Apparently her mom made good on the idle threat that she was going to inform the local media of our adventures, so we have an appointment to meet him tomorrow evening.

We departed Wolfeboro to continue our journey, and we found that the winds had picked up significantly while we were stopped. The water was quite choppy and we were paddling into the wind for some of the trip, but I enjoyed myself quite a bit playing in the waves, and the water and breeze were quite refreshing on a warm day.

The chop continued until we were protected by the small cluster of islands that are southeast of Long Island (Cow, Little Bear, etc.). Once in the protected waters, things were much calmer and we paddled out our remaining several miles, ducked under the Long Island Bridge, and arrived at our camp site.

Again, we had quite a trek up a hill carrying our heavy gear. This is getting a bit tedious, but once it’s done it’s done. We made camp and I started in on making dinner. Tonight’s meal was similar in construction to last night’s meal, though it was ostensibly Thai instead of Indian. I had picked up some chicken and veggies in Wolfeboro, and made a Satay with lime rice. It wasn’t my best camp food creation, but it hit the spot anyway.

After dinner cleanup we went for a nice night dip, and here we are writing up this post. Tomorrow we have a “day of rest,” playing around in Moultonborough Bay area. We’ll keep the mileage down, and try to get a bunch of swiming in. We stay at the same camp site tomorrow night, so at least we can play in unladen boats, and we don’t have to break and set up camp again tomorrow.

Today basically marks our planned halfway point for mileage!

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