August 10th 2013: Waterfall Rappelling in the White Mountains

I woke up really early today to go waterfall rappelling with Northeast Mountaineering on the Ripley Falls in Hart's Location NH. After arriving at the Bunkhouse in Bartlett NH and signing a few forms, we waited for everyone to arrive before the initial lesson started on how to attach the rope to the harness, and how to rappel properly by always leaning backwards.

After the briefing, we followed the instructor to the trailhead close to the Ripley Falls in Hart's Location NH,

then hiked in full gear

along the Ripley Falls Trail

to get to the beautiful waterfall that we were going to climb down. The path we took to get to the waterfall is shown below in pink.

The waterfall itself is beautiful.

After we climbed to the top of the falls, we waited while the instructors set stuff up, so  I took the opportunity to take more pictures of the beautiful scenery from up here.

When my turn came, I became a little apprehensive, having a fear of heights. Climbing down the waterfall was pretty slow and arduous, as leaning back made my back tire and hurt after a while, forcing me to take frequent breaks, with the instructor constantly yelling at me to lean back, which was the one thing I did not want to do.

Getting drenched by the cold water from the falls, which was more intense today because of the rains yesterday, was pretty refreshing though. Looking down to my final destination from the top was not as fun though. I was just glad when I finally reached the end of my journey. Because of my injured wrist, I decided to not take any more risks and waited while my friends tried rappelling a few more times before we finally headed back to our cars for the day. After our rappelling adventure, my friend and I decided to grab some chow at Bart's Deli and General Store nearby, with me getting the Black Russian Panini (Turkey, Pastrami, Swiss, Russian Dressing),

while my friend got the Loaded Steak and Cheese Sandwich,

which were both pretty good, if not for the peppers and onions on my friend's sandwich.

After lunch, we decided to go visit the Arethusa Falls, parking below near the trailhead below the Frankenstein Cliffs.

From here, the path we walked to get to the falls and the Frankenstein Cliff Overlook along the Arethusa Falls Trail is shown below in pink.

The Arethusa Falls themselves were pretty impressive, much better than the Ripley Falls. I'm glad we did not rappel down this one though.

The views from the overlook were pretty awesome as well, even though we had to walk a long arduous journey to get there,

and we were able to spot our car parked in the lot far below from there as well.

The only way from here was down, and it was really tiring for me, especially on my knees. Thankfully, the constant going up and down allowed me to rest different parts of my legs while going uphill or downhill, so it made it a little easier, although I did have to stop a few times along the way to rest them so I did not injure myself. Some pictures I took along the way here follow.

We were just extremely exhausted and happy when we finally got back to the car after a long day of fun hiking and rappelling. I'm just disappointed that even after all our efforts, we missed out on the Bemis Brook Falls, the Coliseum Falls, and the Falcon Cliff Overlook. Oh well, guess I'll come back again sometime in future.

July 6th 2013: Hiking at Mount Agamenticus, York ME

After a day of hiking in Massachusetts, it was time for more at Mount Agamenticus in York, ME, passing by Chase's Pond in town along the way.

Unlike my other hikes, we started off at the top instead of at the bottom of the mountain, as that was where we were able to park. The views from the top were excellent though.

When everyone finally arrived, it was time to set off. The path we took today walking through the woods is shown below in pink.

We headed down Witch Hazel path to get to the major intersection, going to the Goosefoot Trail to start off the Bear Loop. Next, we turned onto the Cedar Trail, following it until it intersects with the Porcupine Trail, whereupon we turned right onto it. One of my friends had brought her dog along, and it made the hike all the more fun, with the dog constantly running around, laying down tired, or heading into any puddle of water it saw to drink and cool down.

As we neared the Second Hill, I decided to take the group on a detour to see what was there at the top. Unfortunately, there was nothing much to see, although we could see our start point from here.

From here, we headed back to the Porcupine Trail and resumed our hike of the Bear Loop, going into the Chestnut Oak Trail to get back to the initial intersection. This time, we chose to go back up to the top using the Sweet Fern Trail, which was pretty steep, but we still managed to make it back in good time.

Finally done with our hike, a bunch of us decided to head into the York Beach area for dinner.

After finding parking, we had a hard time finding places to eat for a large group of people, so some of us decided to just go to the beach first, while a few of us headed to a small seafood takeout place called the Surfside Restaurant at County Street near Beach Street, located right next to the beach, where the fried dough and Clam Bellies I got were pretty good, although the fried dough was a little too big for me to finish.

After my quick dinner, I decided to head to the small but scenic beach to find everyone else.

From here, we decided to grab some ice cream at Sweet Josie's Candy Shoppe at 7 Railroad Avenue, where I got a cup of Maple Walnut ice cream, which wasn't too bad at all on a hot day like today.

After chatting for a bit longer, with people getting lobster to eat, it was finally time to head home. I had a great time meeting friends, and glad for such an opportunity to get out to Maine for a day.

July 5th 2013: Learning to Surf in Narragansett RI

Today I had an appointment to learn surfing at the Narragansett Beach in Narragansett RI with Narragansett Surf and Skate. When I finally arrived, I was told that the shop itself was far from the beach, and that I was to meet my instructor at the beach instead. I was a little early, so after finding a free parking spot, I walked around the beach area for a bit to take pictures of the beautiful beach,

the Narragansett Towers

and other monuments in the area.

Canonchet Memorial Park,

Ocean Road and Beach Street

Village Inn Hotel

Memorial Square

Casino Courtyard,

Kingstown Road and Ocean Road

Lila Delman Real Estate

Coast Guard House

I did not step onto the beach itself, however, as there is a fee to use it.

Finally, it was time for my lesson. After putting on my wetsuit, I carried my board somewhat awkwardly down to the beach as it was the largest my instructor provided to give me extra stability, and my hands were not long enough to stretch out and hold its entire width. I apparently could choose not to pay the beach fee as I was taking surfing lessons, which I did happily. 

While still on the beach, I learned how to lay face down on the board in the correct position for maximum balance, and to paddle to go forward or change directions, much like doing so in a kayak, except with hands instead of oars. Here I also learned how to get to a standing position to ride the waves that came along.

Finally it was time to head into the water to put what I had learnt into practice. The water was freezing, although after a while of surfing, I did not feel it as much any more. It was also good that the water was shallow here, although it was rocky at some parts and hurt the soles of my feet when I accidentally trudged upon them. Paddling in the water wasn't too bad an ordeal, although in order to see the waves coming, I had to be parallel to the beach and the waves, and once I saw a wave coming in the distance, I was to change directions quickly to face the beach, and paddle forward to match my speed to that of the wave, and when the wave finally caught me and sent me forward, I was to stand up and ride the wave back to the beach. 

The last and most important part, was something I found really hard to do.

I kept falling off my board at first (thank goodness for the shallow water), but after getting the hang of it, I managed to balance myself while standing, but had a hard time letting go of the board with my hands. By the end of the lesson, I managed to stand up completely, but my feet were still too close together.

Oh well, next time then. After a fun time of learning how to surf, I headed all the way back to Boston for lunch. Feel free to continue reading about the rest of my day here.