The tallest mountain in England, Scafell, is 3,209 feet above sea level. By contrast, there are 48 mountains in New Hampshire that are over 4,000 feet. There is an unofficial club of people who like to climb all 48, and right from the word go, I knew I wanted to be a member of this club. I've signed up to a couple of hiking groups online, but haven't quite got up the courage (or in the case of the winter hikers, got enough experience/crampons) to go. So with the arrival of my long time hiking buddy Matt (see http://walkingtheleedscountryway.blogspot.com/), it was time to start the journey.
We spent some time researching our options for today's hike. We ruled out anything that was rated difficult or above, and were surprised to find that not one 4,000 footer is marked as anything less than moderate on most websites. After a recommendation from a family friend, we eventually decided on Osceola, reported to have amazing views from the top and measuring in at 4,315 feet. Matt, as always, downloaded a map and spent some time creating "Walkbot" which would help us find our route and give us useful stats on elevation and distance.
It was meant to be a simple 4 hour hike (2 up, 2 down), so we set off at 6am to try and catch the cooler morning sunshine ("we" also include my mother-in-law. Our previous hiking experience together included hot pastrami pizza before a noon hike, so things could only get better). A beautiful drive ensued, including going over the Kancamangus pass in glorious clear sunshine. We arrived on time to start at 8 and started to walk. It was at this point that Matt mentioned that we had 2.5 miles to the first peak, then a simple ridge walk to Osceola, coming in around 3.5 miles. This sounded like a long distance to cover in 4 hours, but we were already en route at this point.
The first 1.5 miles or so were delightful. The land rolled slowly upwards, meandering across small streams and halved tree trunks served as wide tight ropes to help us cross some of the boggier parts. At this point, our moderate hike became strenuous. The gradient sharply increased, and Matt became quickly introduced to why New Hampshire is known as the Granite State - there were rocks everywhere! We had to scramble, climb and stretch ourselves up the hill, to the point where we decided that if you didn't have to use your hands to climb, it wasn't "up". The glimpses of the Presidential range and the cool breezes made it fun, and we took many breaks to allow the lactic acid to break down and our heart rates to relax.
After a good hour of this, we reached East Peak, 4,156 feet in elevation. This we discovered meant that today was going to be a double bagger (i.e. getting two 4,000 peaks for the price of one hike), which suddenly made the sweaty t-shirt and lack of lunch more bearable. However, East Peak definitely falls under the category of "peak bagging", mountains that have poor or no view, but still measure over 4,000 so you need to tick them off. We discovered that the simple route that we had planned to go wouldn't have taken us to East Peak, so I'm very glad that we don't have to revisit it, as it's simply a cairn in the middle of some woods, with no view worthy of the name. After a quick photo stop, we were on our way to Matt's "ridge walk".
The map Matt had downloaded was a bit fuzzy as you zoomed in, which meant that it was hard to work just how many contour lines we would need to cover. The answer, as we crossed the saddle from East Peak to Osceola, was many. There was around 500 feet of descent, followed by 800 feet of climbing, including The Chimney, a vertical rock climbing experience (but with some easy hand and foot holds, so it was more exciting than dangerous). However, the ridge part was a great description, and the feeling of walking on the top of the world with the wind in your face and views glimpsed through the trees on both sides is one that isn't easily forgotten.
By the time we reached the peak of Osceola, we were in need of a break, and what a place to have one. You get around 220 degrees of view (according to websites) and the sheer height of the peak means that the sides drop away steeply, leaving you with a slight sense of vertigo. We were able to see for miles, and unlike similar views in the UK's Lake District, where you know that over the next hill lies a big town and more people, here you just know that you'll just get more of the same view of big mountains and trees. It's a view that I'll never get bored of, and it just boggles my mind every time that the whole state is one massive forest, but it's one of the smallest states in the nation and that America just goes on for miles and miles.
The walk down was tough to say the least. Our legs were still feeling the burn from the exertions of the climb, and some of the rock formations that we had to climb down were scarier than when we went up. The comment that we made the most was "how on earth did we climb up this?!". We were much quicker coming down (3 hours to the peak, 2.15 to the bottom) but we were all still pretty tired and sweaty as we arrived in the carpark. For the toughness of the hike, the view at the top more than justified the effort involved, and I'm delighted that I've started my 48 club collection with not one, but two peaks. I'm already starting to plan how many I can check off while the weather is still good enough!
Sunday 25 June 2017
Sunday 4 June 2017
Driving in the US
I've been mentally adding to this post for a few months now, and it seems prescient to post it now with the first of our summer visitors coming. This is meant as a personal guide to driving over here for people who haven't done it before, but I'm not going to start with "drive on the right" and "enjoy spending less than £20 to fill your car from empty". Instead, these are curiosities that I've found over here that I want to share ahead of time.
1. Right on red - Jeremy Clarkson once described this as America's only contribution to Western civilization, and while I disagree with the word "only", I do think it's one of the better road rules over here. The basic gist is to keep traffic moving, especially in rural states like New Hampshire, when you could be waiting for ages for a light to turn green with no traffic coming for miles. If you're at a red light and turning right, you may proceed if it's safe to do so after stopping. There are some intersections where you can't do this, and there will be a big sign saying NO RIGHT TURN ON RED to remind you. If it doesn't say it, you're free to go. It's exhilarating the first time you "run" a red light, but after a while, I wonder how I'll cope without it when I leave the US.
2. Stop means stop - again, this tends to apply to back roads and quieter city streets where the cost of a traffic light intersection isn't worth it for the traffic volume. Instead, you end up with big red STOP signs on each corner. Unlike the UK, where you can proceed at a junction like this if there's no oncoming traffic, here you are expected to stop fully for 3 seconds before moving on. In moving traffic, this rule allows for "zipper" movement, allowing one car in turn from each road to cross so no one road gets blocked by others. On a quiet night, however, it feels strange - made stranger still be item number 3:
3. Police as speed traps - each town has it's own police cars (each one is marked differently) and they are in part responsible for traffic safety within their borders. This includes the usual looking at missing tail lights and dealing with accidents, but also setting up speed traps. In somewhere like my hometown, where there's very little crime, the 3 police cars will often spend their time trying to catch people speeding (and not stopping fully at stop signs). On the one hand, it reduces the pressure of remembering where all the speed cameras are, and as you know there are very few police around, it's tempting to speed everywhere. However, the number of trees and winding roads means there are some great hiding places, so you do have to be careful how fast you go, especially given item 4:
4. Slow speed limits - this applies everywhere. Most roads in New Hampshire look like single lane highways to me, which indicates a 60 mph speed limit. In fact, most of them are 40 (or 45), and those designated as high population (lol) are even 30. It can feel like a snail's pace, especially as you know it's highly unlikely that you'll get busted due to the low police to roads ratio, but the fines are high and it's hard not to giggle (having watched Super Troopers too many times) when you're asked for your license and registration (for the record - this has happened once to me here for a broken tail light). The highway speeds in New Hampshire are 55 or 65 (with a minimum of 45) which makes number 5 even more frustrating:
5. Highway driving - this is one of the things that will drive my friends Vicky and Dave insane; they're from two different circles of friends, but equally irate about motorway driving rules. As far as I can work out, the rules are still the same as the UK, just mirrored. Right hand lane slow and for exits, middle for overtaking the right and left lane for overtaking the middle. However, this isn't the way it works at all. Most Americans refer to the left lane as the "fast lane" and treat it as such. I've happily been driving in the right lane and watched someone move from the middle to the left with no other cars on the road. I've also been driving in the middle lane overtaking one car and watched every single car stay in the middle lane, forcing everyone into 2 lanes. There's no sense of needing to move over, even when you're merging on, and people seem confused when I move to an empty right lane even when I'm driving at 75.
6. Move over for emergency vehicles - this is another one of Vicky's bug bears in the UK. However, in the US, it's the law that you are expected to pull over for an emergency vehicle with sirens on, even if you're on a two lane highway, and even if you're on the other side of the road. It seems excessive to me, but I guess the idea is that if you make it a big deal all of the time, then there's no ambiguity and everyone just gets out the way.
I think that's it for now. I'm sure there are other things that I've just added to my driving repertoire and now no longer consider strange, but they will be brought into sharp relief when I get behind the wheel of a British car again in July.
1. Right on red - Jeremy Clarkson once described this as America's only contribution to Western civilization, and while I disagree with the word "only", I do think it's one of the better road rules over here. The basic gist is to keep traffic moving, especially in rural states like New Hampshire, when you could be waiting for ages for a light to turn green with no traffic coming for miles. If you're at a red light and turning right, you may proceed if it's safe to do so after stopping. There are some intersections where you can't do this, and there will be a big sign saying NO RIGHT TURN ON RED to remind you. If it doesn't say it, you're free to go. It's exhilarating the first time you "run" a red light, but after a while, I wonder how I'll cope without it when I leave the US.
2. Stop means stop - again, this tends to apply to back roads and quieter city streets where the cost of a traffic light intersection isn't worth it for the traffic volume. Instead, you end up with big red STOP signs on each corner. Unlike the UK, where you can proceed at a junction like this if there's no oncoming traffic, here you are expected to stop fully for 3 seconds before moving on. In moving traffic, this rule allows for "zipper" movement, allowing one car in turn from each road to cross so no one road gets blocked by others. On a quiet night, however, it feels strange - made stranger still be item number 3:
3. Police as speed traps - each town has it's own police cars (each one is marked differently) and they are in part responsible for traffic safety within their borders. This includes the usual looking at missing tail lights and dealing with accidents, but also setting up speed traps. In somewhere like my hometown, where there's very little crime, the 3 police cars will often spend their time trying to catch people speeding (and not stopping fully at stop signs). On the one hand, it reduces the pressure of remembering where all the speed cameras are, and as you know there are very few police around, it's tempting to speed everywhere. However, the number of trees and winding roads means there are some great hiding places, so you do have to be careful how fast you go, especially given item 4:
4. Slow speed limits - this applies everywhere. Most roads in New Hampshire look like single lane highways to me, which indicates a 60 mph speed limit. In fact, most of them are 40 (or 45), and those designated as high population (lol) are even 30. It can feel like a snail's pace, especially as you know it's highly unlikely that you'll get busted due to the low police to roads ratio, but the fines are high and it's hard not to giggle (having watched Super Troopers too many times) when you're asked for your license and registration (for the record - this has happened once to me here for a broken tail light). The highway speeds in New Hampshire are 55 or 65 (with a minimum of 45) which makes number 5 even more frustrating:
5. Highway driving - this is one of the things that will drive my friends Vicky and Dave insane; they're from two different circles of friends, but equally irate about motorway driving rules. As far as I can work out, the rules are still the same as the UK, just mirrored. Right hand lane slow and for exits, middle for overtaking the right and left lane for overtaking the middle. However, this isn't the way it works at all. Most Americans refer to the left lane as the "fast lane" and treat it as such. I've happily been driving in the right lane and watched someone move from the middle to the left with no other cars on the road. I've also been driving in the middle lane overtaking one car and watched every single car stay in the middle lane, forcing everyone into 2 lanes. There's no sense of needing to move over, even when you're merging on, and people seem confused when I move to an empty right lane even when I'm driving at 75.
6. Move over for emergency vehicles - this is another one of Vicky's bug bears in the UK. However, in the US, it's the law that you are expected to pull over for an emergency vehicle with sirens on, even if you're on a two lane highway, and even if you're on the other side of the road. It seems excessive to me, but I guess the idea is that if you make it a big deal all of the time, then there's no ambiguity and everyone just gets out the way.
I think that's it for now. I'm sure there are other things that I've just added to my driving repertoire and now no longer consider strange, but they will be brought into sharp relief when I get behind the wheel of a British car again in July.
Saturday 3 June 2017
June
As can be seen from the date of this post, this year is absolutely flying by. I had intended to write this on June 1st, but somehow time just seems to slip away too easily. That's probably because the pace of life is picking up, with my wife starting back into roller derby, my masters course starting and Jake's T-ball season continues. However, I wanted to stop and think about this month in particular, as it feels like an unusually important one in a variety of ways:
1. End of school
This feels bizarre to me still. Part of my brain is so deeply ingrained in the UK education system that the end of May feels like it should be holiday time (for Whitsun), but the end of school is then another 7+ weeks away. It feels strange to have 12 days left on my calendar, and that's even after the extension of 5 days due to the snow in the winter (which feels like a lifetime ago now!). The start of the school year in the end of August seems impossibly far away, and while last year I didn't really notice the change as I worked at a summer school, the long vacation seems both enticing (for me) and daunting (for my upcoming students to forget everything). While I'll never complain about a 10 week break, there is something to be said for multiple short vacations to keep everyone fresh.
2. Sophie turns 2
This is the craziest feeling. I could just about handle Jake turning 5 (this will feel more problematic when he starts school in September, but more on that in another post), but Sophie still feels like my little baby, so the idea that it's been 2 years since she was born seems mad. It's been a big year for her though, learning to walk, becoming much more sociable and learning to communicate (sometimes through sign, sometimes with words). Her birthday party is unlikely to be on the same scale as Jake's, most likely hanging at the lake like last year, but I already can't wait to see what her 3rd year is like.
3. Visitors
Beyond my immediate family, and a fleeting day visit from Dan in October, we have had no visitors since Mei Ying, James and Robin just after we arrived last year. This will change when our best friends arrive in New Hampshire later this month and stay for a couple of weeks. We always said that the biggest challenge of moving here is losing our tight knit group of friends in the UK, and this has proven to be the case. Even with faster internet making Skype calls manageable and enjoyable, there is something to be said for face to face communication, and the opportunity to generate new memories. This will be their first time out here, and we've always talked with them about the many different experiences that we can't wait to share with them. It's going to be great to have finished the school year and start the vacation by hanging out with my favorite people, showing them our new home and getting to act like tourists again.
4. Our first trip to the UK
One of the first posts on this blog was about the nature of home, and I've continued to discuss and think about this over the last 15 months. New Hampshire definitely feels more like home, and our house is becoming home more and more. Just typing the title of this paragraph made me pause, as my instinct was to say our first trip home, but that doesn't feel right either. We fly out on the 30th (the same day as our visitors, who we will see in Leeds the following day (no prolonged and sad goodbyes just yet!)) and spend a week in Leeds before flying to Italy to see my parents. Our time in Leeds already feels stressful, as we left so many good friends behind, we feel the need to see as many of them as possible for as long as possible. Because it's been so long since we've been there, people are taking time out of their schedules and travelling to see us, so it feels like our schedule is already squeezing tight. I just worry that we'll end up not seeing enough of everybody and that our time in Leeds will be over before we know it, and it will be a year (bar a couple of fleeting days in December) before we're back again. But this is one of the negative consequences of making the move, and hopefully we can do a good enough sales job on our friends that we persuade them to come visit and spend some longer quality time with just us.
It's going to be quite the month! My brain can't plan anything beyond the end of this month, so when people ask me about July and August, I just nod and write it down somewhere. As for next school year; well that just feels like another planet right now. I'll be glad when school is out and I can focus on the fun start to the summer vacation.
1. End of school
This feels bizarre to me still. Part of my brain is so deeply ingrained in the UK education system that the end of May feels like it should be holiday time (for Whitsun), but the end of school is then another 7+ weeks away. It feels strange to have 12 days left on my calendar, and that's even after the extension of 5 days due to the snow in the winter (which feels like a lifetime ago now!). The start of the school year in the end of August seems impossibly far away, and while last year I didn't really notice the change as I worked at a summer school, the long vacation seems both enticing (for me) and daunting (for my upcoming students to forget everything). While I'll never complain about a 10 week break, there is something to be said for multiple short vacations to keep everyone fresh.
2. Sophie turns 2
This is the craziest feeling. I could just about handle Jake turning 5 (this will feel more problematic when he starts school in September, but more on that in another post), but Sophie still feels like my little baby, so the idea that it's been 2 years since she was born seems mad. It's been a big year for her though, learning to walk, becoming much more sociable and learning to communicate (sometimes through sign, sometimes with words). Her birthday party is unlikely to be on the same scale as Jake's, most likely hanging at the lake like last year, but I already can't wait to see what her 3rd year is like.
3. Visitors
Beyond my immediate family, and a fleeting day visit from Dan in October, we have had no visitors since Mei Ying, James and Robin just after we arrived last year. This will change when our best friends arrive in New Hampshire later this month and stay for a couple of weeks. We always said that the biggest challenge of moving here is losing our tight knit group of friends in the UK, and this has proven to be the case. Even with faster internet making Skype calls manageable and enjoyable, there is something to be said for face to face communication, and the opportunity to generate new memories. This will be their first time out here, and we've always talked with them about the many different experiences that we can't wait to share with them. It's going to be great to have finished the school year and start the vacation by hanging out with my favorite people, showing them our new home and getting to act like tourists again.
4. Our first trip to the UK
One of the first posts on this blog was about the nature of home, and I've continued to discuss and think about this over the last 15 months. New Hampshire definitely feels more like home, and our house is becoming home more and more. Just typing the title of this paragraph made me pause, as my instinct was to say our first trip home, but that doesn't feel right either. We fly out on the 30th (the same day as our visitors, who we will see in Leeds the following day (no prolonged and sad goodbyes just yet!)) and spend a week in Leeds before flying to Italy to see my parents. Our time in Leeds already feels stressful, as we left so many good friends behind, we feel the need to see as many of them as possible for as long as possible. Because it's been so long since we've been there, people are taking time out of their schedules and travelling to see us, so it feels like our schedule is already squeezing tight. I just worry that we'll end up not seeing enough of everybody and that our time in Leeds will be over before we know it, and it will be a year (bar a couple of fleeting days in December) before we're back again. But this is one of the negative consequences of making the move, and hopefully we can do a good enough sales job on our friends that we persuade them to come visit and spend some longer quality time with just us.
It's going to be quite the month! My brain can't plan anything beyond the end of this month, so when people ask me about July and August, I just nod and write it down somewhere. As for next school year; well that just feels like another planet right now. I'll be glad when school is out and I can focus on the fun start to the summer vacation.
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