Episode 153 - Welcome Carey Kish - Continental Divide Trail, Beer Hiking New England, AMC Maine Mountain Guide

[00:00:03] Here is the latest Higher Summits Forecast brought to you by our friends at the Mount

[00:00:13] Washington Observatory.

[00:00:19] Weather above treeline in the White Mountains is often wildly different than at our trailheads.

[00:00:26] Before you hike, check the Higher Summits Forecast at mountwashington.org.

[00:00:32] Weather observers working at the non-profit Mount Washington Observatory write this elevation-based

[00:00:38] forecast every morning and afternoon.

[00:00:42] Search and Rescue teams, avalanche experts, and backcountry guides all rely on the Higher

[00:00:47] Summits Forecast to anticipate weather conditions above treeline.

[00:00:52] You should too.

[00:00:54] Go to mountwashington.org or text FORECAST to 603-356-2137.

[00:01:08] And here is your forecast for Friday, May 24th and Saturday, May 25th.

[00:01:14] Friday Mostly in the clear, trending towards mostly in the clouds under partly sunny skies.

[00:01:19] Slight chance of rain showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon with a high falling to the

[00:01:24] mid 30s.

[00:01:25] Winds will be west shifting northwest at 45-65 mph with gusts up to 80 mph decreasing to

[00:01:33] 35-50 mph and the wind chill will be a cozy 15-25 above.

[00:01:40] Friday night in the clouds trending towards in the clear under mostly clear skies with

[00:01:44] a low in the 30s and wind chill will be 20 above.

[00:01:50] Saturday in the clear under partly sunny skies with a high in the low 40s.

[00:01:56] Winds will be northwest at 30-45 mph with gusts up to 55 mph and the wind chill will

[00:02:04] be rising to 25-35 above.

[00:02:09] So it looks like a really nice weekend.

[00:02:11] Enjoy your Memorial Day and beware there may be some hazy skies from the wildfires.

[00:02:19] Who knew?

[00:02:29] Broadcasting from the Woodpecker Studio in the great state of New Hampshire, welcome

[00:03:01] to the Sounds Like a Search and Rescue podcast where we discuss all things related to hiking

[00:03:07] and search and rescue in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

[00:03:11] Here are your hosts Mike and Stump.

[00:03:14] Morning Stump, so let's do this live.

[00:03:39] Literally, let's do it live.

[00:03:43] So I'm cracking a beer here Stump, it is toasty outside.

[00:03:48] How are you holding up?

[00:03:49] Oh my goodness, yeah.

[00:03:51] Summer arrived really quick and fast.

[00:03:54] I am dying.

[00:03:55] The studio has got to be at least 90 degrees right now so we have no AC in this place.

[00:04:00] We rely on those mountain breezes to cool us off.

[00:04:04] You don't get those, and I know it's a short period where it gets crazy hot, but do you

[00:04:10] put those window units in?

[00:04:13] Like at least one of those things will let it cool the place down nicely.

[00:04:16] Oh yeah, we have one of those yet to put it up and a few other just standalone fans but

[00:04:24] boy is it hot today.

[00:04:25] And we're waiting for the pool to open.

[00:04:26] Oh that's true.

[00:04:27] I'm not really worried about you and Mrs. Stump, I'm worried about the equipment.

[00:04:30] I don't want it to overheat.

[00:04:33] True, yeah hopefully not.

[00:04:36] That would suck.

[00:04:38] So for the listeners, I think everyone's aware at this point we've got a nice heat wave going

[00:04:43] here so I think that should hopefully knock out a lot of the remaining monorail up on

[00:04:48] some of these higher summits and then hopefully it'll retain its warmth into the weekend.

[00:04:55] I just took a look, yesterday it looked like it was going to get a little bit of rain and

[00:04:58] now I looked just a little while ago and it looks like from a weather perspective it's

[00:05:03] going to be pretty warm.

[00:05:04] I haven't looked at the higher summit forecast, I know you're going to record that, but what's

[00:05:08] it looking like so far?

[00:05:09] Oh yeah, there's nothing around here.

[00:05:12] Weather-wise I'm not sure, I think it may get a little damp tomorrow, but nothing major.

[00:05:19] I was out a couple days ago, there's not much at all for snow.

[00:05:23] So I think we're good, I think we're clear.

[00:05:25] Very good, very good.

[00:05:26] All right, so welcome to episode 153 of the Sounds Like a Search and Rescue podcast.

[00:05:35] This week we are joined for a segment by Cary Kish.

[00:05:38] Cary is a longtime multi-sport adventurer, journalist, and photographer.

[00:05:43] He's a registered Maine guide and a founding member of the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club.

[00:05:49] He's been on countless hiking, backpacking, and whitewater rafting trips throughout Maine

[00:05:56] He's an avid hiker having done the Appalachian Trail twice, and then he's also completed

[00:06:02] the PCT.

[00:06:03] We're catching up with him as he is about 700 miles into the Pacific Crest Trail, so

[00:06:09] it's a really interesting discussion.

[00:06:12] Cary is the writer of the Maine Mountain Guide, and he also has a new book that talks about

[00:06:22] beer and hiking, so we're going to talk all about that.

[00:06:24] We'll include all the links so that you can buy that stuff in the show notes, and I think

[00:06:28] that his book or all of his books are definitely worth checking out.

[00:06:37] So the beer book is called Beer Hiking New England, The Tastiest Way, so we'll do a deep

[00:06:43] dive on that.

[00:06:44] Plus, we've got, we're going to give you a heads up on what's going on with Mount Kerrigan.

[00:06:50] We've got to give an update on a rabid fox that Stomp has been keeping an eye on.

[00:06:58] We've got Memorial Day weekend, so Stomp's going to talk a little bit about stuff to

[00:07:01] do.

[00:07:02] And then we've got a listener correction.

[00:07:05] I screwed up.

[00:07:06] I gave false misinformation, and I got to be corrected here, so Stomp is excited about

[00:07:10] that.

[00:07:11] We're going to talk about HOKA 1s, and then we've got some recent search and rescue news.

[00:07:17] We're going to learn what a hoodoo is.

[00:07:20] We are going to also catch up on some recent search and rescue news, and then there's some

[00:07:26] interesting news coming out about the Connecticut River Valley Killer cold case.

[00:07:32] There was some police activity and a search going on, so we'll talk a little bit about

[00:07:35] the Connecticut River Valley Killer along with some rescues on Arathusa Falls, Fish and

[00:07:40] Jimmy, Mount Monadnock, and Falling Waters.

[00:07:44] So summer is here, Stomp.

[00:07:45] We've got a lot of local rescues.

[00:07:47] So I'm Mike.

[00:07:48] And I'm Stomp.

[00:07:50] Let's get started.

[00:07:51] Let's get started.

[00:07:52] So I apologize for that long-winded opening.

[00:07:53] I actually didn't write this one down, I just winged it.

[00:07:56] Yeah, that was a long one.

[00:07:59] Impressive.

[00:08:00] You took one breath and just did it.

[00:08:01] It's paying off, but it sucks because I usually write down a nice, coherent intro, and I cut

[00:08:07] and pasted in the show notes, so I'm going to have to do it no matter what.

[00:08:11] That was coherent.

[00:08:12] Okay.

[00:08:13] Very good.

[00:08:22] This has been Pease from Hiking Buddies.

[00:08:24] We are a 501c3 nonprofit committed to reducing avoidable tragedies through education, impactful

[00:08:30] projects, and fostering a community of support.

[00:08:33] You can find out more at hikingbuddies.org.

[00:08:35] We wanted to say thank you to those who have supported our mission, and most importantly,

[00:08:39] say thanks to those who speak up, who ask questions, and who are willing to provide

[00:08:43] guidance and assistance on the trails when needed.

[00:08:46] You embody what it means to be a hiking buddy.

[00:08:49] And now, for all my newer hikers out there, here's this episode's Hiking Buddies quick

[00:08:53] tip.

[00:08:59] While eating and foraging mushrooms and other plant life can be popular, there are many

[00:09:03] unsafe lookalikes and the potential for sickness.

[00:09:07] Getting sick is never good, but getting sick on a multi-day backpacking trip is very bad

[00:09:12] news.

[00:09:14] Pack your food, leave the plant life, and leave no trace.

[00:09:18] All right.

[00:09:27] Starting off the show, Stomp, we've got breaking news.

[00:09:30] We've got a ... This isn't so much a search and rescue hiking related incident, but the

[00:09:34] Lakes Region Emergency Alerts put out an update about an incident that went down ... It looks

[00:09:43] like it was at ... So this would have been on ... Let me see here.

[00:09:50] 19th.

[00:09:51] The 19th.

[00:09:52] So that's Sunday, Sunday morning at 1145 in the morning?

[00:09:55] Yeah.

[00:09:56] Yeah.

[00:09:57] This is really unusual.

[00:09:58] It's a rescue.

[00:09:59] Yeah.

[00:10:00] You want to talk about it?

[00:10:01] Well, I mean, you don't see this too often, but it's an unusual incident that was posted

[00:10:07] here at the Lakes Region New Hampshire Emergency page.

[00:10:10] And apparently a person was trapped ... In a box.

[00:10:15] Pretty scary.

[00:10:16] Pretty scary, yeah.

[00:10:17] In a box.

[00:10:18] And it was a female magician.

[00:10:19] Yeah.

[00:10:20] Which I think when I hear someone's getting caught in a box, there's two things that come

[00:10:24] to mind.

[00:10:26] One is a kid that's playing in a toy box, and then the other is a magician that his

[00:10:32] magic trick went wrong.

[00:10:33] Oh, absolutely.

[00:10:35] Yeah.

[00:10:36] So this seems as though it's a magician that got stuck in a box.

[00:10:39] And we don't know what kind of box it is.

[00:10:41] I'd like to know.

[00:10:42] Was it wooden?

[00:10:43] Was it a safe?

[00:10:44] I feel like there's only one type of box for magicians though, Stomp.

[00:10:47] It's like they always do the same thing where they'll ... They get inside the box, and then

[00:10:52] somebody will be ... Here's the thing.

[00:10:55] If she's stuck in the box, what's the person outside the box doing the trick doing?

[00:11:00] What if she's solo?

[00:11:01] What if she's just a solo performer?

[00:11:03] Oh, so she's doing that thing where she's standing up and then she's in the box and

[00:11:07] then ...

[00:11:08] It just disappears.

[00:11:09] It just disappears and then she walks out on the stage the other way?

[00:11:14] Yeah, possibly.

[00:11:15] How does that trick ... How do you think that trick happens?

[00:11:17] I feel like there's got to be a trap door under the stage or something, right?

[00:11:21] Absolutely.

[00:11:22] Do you remember the Cabot Cinema in Beverly?

[00:11:25] No.

[00:11:26] Le Grand David?

[00:11:27] No.

[00:11:28] It was that famous, world famous actually, magic show.

[00:11:32] It's since been sold.

[00:11:33] It's at the Larcombe Theater.

[00:11:35] But as a kid I saw that performance many times.

[00:11:40] You could actually see the trap door open and they would go through because sometimes

[00:11:46] we'd set up higher in the balcony so you could have that eagle eye view onto the stage.

[00:11:53] You could actually see the trick.

[00:11:54] It was pretty funny.

[00:11:55] Yeah, yeah.

[00:11:56] My only inside info ... I used to work at Prince Restaurant in Saugus and as a matter

[00:12:00] of fact I got a story to follow this.

[00:12:03] And then they had this guy Calvin the Clown.

[00:12:05] I don't know if you remember him but-

[00:12:06] I remember Calvin.

[00:12:07] Yeah, Calvin the Clown.

[00:12:08] So he did ... His name was Tone.

[00:12:10] His real name was Tone.

[00:12:11] He was a nice guy but it was kind of funny because he was like a ... It was similar to

[00:12:15] The Simpsons where he would swear in the kitchen and stuff and it was like, whoa, the kid's

[00:12:19] clown guy is swearing and talking badly.

[00:12:22] It was shocking for me.

[00:12:23] I was a 15 year old kid.

[00:12:24] But he used to pull a bird out of his hat and he literally would just stuff the ... He

[00:12:31] would show the hat.

[00:12:34] So he would start the show and he would do 10 minutes worth of stuff and then he would

[00:12:39] take his hat off and then release the bird somehow.

[00:12:45] The bird would fly up and then I think somebody like his assistant was in charge of getting

[00:12:49] the bird.

[00:12:50] It was a little canary bird.

[00:12:51] But what he would do is he would show ... He actually would show us is that he would stuff

[00:12:55] the bird inside of like a fabric flap in his hat and then I guess when it was time

[00:13:05] to release the bird, he would just pull the flap and the bird would release.

[00:13:09] But he would be walking around for 10 minutes with the bird shoved into a little section

[00:13:14] at the top of his hat.

[00:13:15] I feel like that's the animal-

[00:13:16] Sounds cruel.

[00:13:17] Yeah, it sounds cruel but the bird seemed fine.

[00:13:19] Interesting.

[00:13:20] If not, maybe a little cozy.

[00:13:21] Maybe he thought it was cozy.

[00:13:22] I don't know.

[00:13:23] I don't know.

[00:13:24] But yeah, I find magicians interesting.

[00:13:27] My parents had a ... I'm getting off on a tangent here but my parents had a party at

[00:13:32] Prince.

[00:13:33] This was within the last six months or so.

[00:13:35] My father's ... It was his 80th birthday.

[00:13:37] He put together a family reunion and we're all older.

[00:13:42] Some of us have younger kids but there was maybe two or three younger kids.

[00:13:45] For whatever reason, my mom and dad decided that they were going to hire a balloon artist.

[00:13:52] It was very weird.

[00:13:53] It was a family reunion so a lot of us hadn't seen each other in a long time and then we're

[00:13:57] at a restaurant and then we've got a balloon artist that's doing magic tricks and a comedy

[00:14:02] show.

[00:14:03] But the funny thing is, is my mom and my dad, they both worried that the other one's going

[00:14:09] to screw it up.

[00:14:12] My dad booked a balloon artist magician and then my mom went on the same website and booked

[00:14:19] another balloon artist magician at the same place at the same time.

[00:14:23] The two balloon artist magicians show up and they must have known each other because it

[00:14:26] was tense.

[00:14:27] They're arguing over who's going to stay and who's not because they know they got double

[00:14:32] booked and everything.

[00:14:33] So it was kind of like the ... And then no one was going up to get balloons so I decided

[00:14:39] to go up and I was like, can I have a sword please?

[00:14:44] That's so weird.

[00:14:45] It was pathetic.

[00:14:46] It was so fun but my kids were like, this is so weird that it's funny.

[00:14:50] Yeah, whatever.

[00:14:52] So one of them popped off?

[00:14:54] Yeah, one of them popped off.

[00:14:56] It was kind of sad, the one that decided that he was going to leave.

[00:14:59] It was like, how many balloon magicians are there in eastern Massachusetts?

[00:15:06] It's only got to be two of them.

[00:15:07] Yeah, exactly.

[00:15:09] Anyway, but that show biz stomp.

[00:15:13] I wonder if COVID killed in-house magicians, you know the ones that you bring to your home?

[00:15:19] I bet it destroyed that whole career.

[00:15:21] I would think so, yeah.

[00:15:22] I mean, that's going to be a tough career.

[00:15:25] There's usually only one guy that's the famous magician.

[00:15:30] Absolutely, yeah.

[00:15:32] No question about it.

[00:15:33] All right, anyway, we went way off on a tangent here, stompable magicians.

[00:15:37] There's no update on the trap magician in New Hampshire other than they're free and

[00:15:42] we have no other details.

[00:15:43] But if anybody knows any details about it, it was in Meredith, New Hampshire.

[00:15:49] So our Meredith listeners, get the scoop, find out what's going on there.

[00:15:52] All right, stomp.

[00:15:54] Now moving on, we touched on this a little bit the last week or two but Mount Carraghan,

[00:15:59] so Sawyer River is not opening.

[00:16:02] Based on the chatter I'm seeing online, it is not opening this year at all.

[00:16:06] If you're going to be hiking Carraghan, you're talking a minimum 14-mile round trip hike if

[00:16:14] you do the traditional route where you connect Sawyer River to Signal Ridge.

[00:16:22] So that's a long day.

[00:16:24] I mean, granted, a lot of it in the beginning is pretty flat and even Signal Ridge is a

[00:16:28] pretty gradual climb.

[00:16:29] But I wanted to just, I guess, maybe get your take on the alternative routes because if

[00:16:35] you're going to hike 14-15 miles, there's two alternative routes that are 18 and 20

[00:16:40] miles that maybe it's worth considering.

[00:16:42] Yeah, so what are the options?

[00:16:46] Let's say you could take the long ass route from Nancy Pond and loop your way around through

[00:16:51] Carraghan Notch.

[00:16:52] Correct, and that's actually not even the longest option.

[00:16:56] So that's the second shortest option is Nancy Pond to Carraghan Notch to Desolation and

[00:17:03] that's 18 miles out and back.

[00:17:05] Okay, all right.

[00:17:07] Yeah, that's a hell of a jaunt.

[00:17:10] The other one, and I suppose you could sort of tag on, I think you could do Ethan Pond

[00:17:16] to Shoal Pond and then to Carraghan Notch and Desolation and that's 20 miles.

[00:17:24] So I mean, I feel like both of these are either super long day hikes or backpacking trips,

[00:17:33] but it's also like I said, you got a 14-mile hike, just the traditional route.

[00:17:37] So your mind should start opening up a little bit and saying, all right, well maybe I should

[00:17:42] consider going another route that's a little less traveled.

[00:17:46] Right, yeah.

[00:17:47] How about through Hancock, from the Hancock's Inn?

[00:17:51] That's a long way in.

[00:17:52] So I think from the Hancock trailhead until you get to Signal Ridge, I think that's about

[00:17:57] seven or eight miles.

[00:17:59] So that's not a day hike.

[00:18:01] You could do like a super long hike where you start in Hancock and then end up in Nancy

[00:18:06] or Ethan Pond or something if you want.

[00:18:09] That's another backpacking trip, I think.

[00:18:11] So are they discouraging people from using the road for hiking?

[00:18:16] I don't think so.

[00:18:17] I don't know that.

[00:18:18] I don't think so.

[00:18:19] Somebody posted pictures of the washout and there is one bad section where it's like the

[00:18:23] roads basically cut in half or even more than half.

[00:18:27] The thing I don't know too is what I would potentially do is, especially if you're a

[00:18:33] weekend warrior and you're trying to get your 4,000 footer, getting there on a Friday

[00:18:37] night or a Saturday night and then hiking in at five, six o'clock and then setting up

[00:18:42] camp at the parking lot right outside of Signal Ridge.

[00:18:49] I don't know what the rules are there, but that to me would be another option is take

[00:18:54] all your overnight stuff and then just leave it there and then hike up Signal Ridge.

[00:19:01] Yep, yep.

[00:19:03] I mean definitely this may provoke some more backpacking rather than day hiking for sure.

[00:19:10] Hammocking or whatever.

[00:19:12] But yeah, Kerrygaine now becomes a, and again it's an extra four miles and it's a road walk,

[00:19:18] but it does become like the difference between a 10 mile hike and a 14 mile hike is significant.

[00:19:28] Having just done Garfield from the actual trailhead, I was like talking to my daughter

[00:19:32] about how like, oh yeah, this road hike is tough in the winter.

[00:19:36] Yeah, it's a bummer.

[00:19:39] I got to get out to the captain this summer.

[00:19:42] So maybe a long one.

[00:19:45] It's calling him.

[00:19:46] All right, Stomp.

[00:19:47] So let us know if you're doing Kerrygaine and you're going to do it from Ethan Pond

[00:19:52] or Nancy Pond, definitely tag us as a notable hike.

[00:19:55] I haven't been in either one of those areas, so that's sort of on my mind.

[00:19:58] I'm kind of thinking, well, my daughter, she's got to get it.

[00:20:01] Maybe we'll go that way.

[00:20:03] Well, sounds good.

[00:20:05] All right, so next up Stomp, we've got a listener sent us in some 411 info on the Dry River.

[00:20:14] So this listener is Izzy Rizzitano, a nice Irish man.

[00:20:23] Completely opposite.

[00:20:24] Rizzitano.

[00:20:25] Yeah.

[00:20:26] Izzy, I believe, hikes occasionally with Liz Faye and Dave.

[00:20:31] So yeah, she is associated with them.

[00:20:36] She sends along some nice day trip reports from her adventures in the Dry River because

[00:20:43] as a follow up, that place is so intense and there's a lot of information in there.

[00:20:47] We can't cover it all now, and I think we did a fairly good job talking about it last time.

[00:20:51] So there's just a little bit of extra info for you from Izzy.

[00:20:55] And Izzy, thank you very much for sending that along for us.

[00:20:59] Is there anything else you want to highlight about it, Stomp?

[00:21:01] Not really.

[00:21:02] No.

[00:21:03] Nope.

[00:21:04] It's just she does go into greater detail about the particular trails, which we couldn't

[00:21:09] do since we haven't been there.

[00:21:10] All right.

[00:21:12] Yeah.

[00:21:13] So I'll link her blog.

[00:21:14] So her blog is called Where's Izzy?

[00:21:17] And she's got a bunch of trip reports here and stuff.

[00:21:20] So sounds pretty good.

[00:21:23] She's a nice photographer, I'll give her that.

[00:21:26] So definitely worth checking out and adding this to your list of white mountain bloggers.

[00:21:33] That's right.

[00:21:34] That's right.

[00:21:35] All right, Stomp.

[00:21:36] So now we've got Memorial Day here.

[00:21:37] This is the unofficial start of summer.

[00:21:40] You were nice enough to go ahead and link some events that are from New Hampshire Magazine

[00:21:45] here.

[00:21:46] So you can run these through.

[00:21:48] There's a bunch of Memorial Day parades and celebrations.

[00:21:52] So Rye, New Hampshire, which is in my neck of the woods, you can take a Memorial Day

[00:21:56] historic trolley tour.

[00:21:58] Sounds cool.

[00:21:59] Yep.

[00:22:00] Then you got Hampton Beach also by my neck of the woods.

[00:22:03] They've got fireworks popping off on May 26th.

[00:22:07] And Meredith, New Hampshire has a three-day celebration for their Craft Day festival.

[00:22:14] So that's pretty cool.

[00:22:15] And then Jackson has a duck race and a music festival on May 26th.

[00:22:21] That sounds fun.

[00:22:23] Yeah.

[00:22:24] Portsmouth has a Cisco Brewers 5K race.

[00:22:29] And then, oh, this sounds good, Stomp, in your neck of the woods.

[00:22:32] Doesn't it?

[00:22:33] And then, Bill Valley has their 34th annual Chowder Fest.

[00:22:38] Oh, that sounds so good.

[00:22:39] Have you gone to one before?

[00:22:41] I have not, but it sounds fantastic.

[00:22:43] They're also doing a similar topic.

[00:22:46] They're doing a fishing derby for kids.

[00:22:48] I believe it's this coming Saturday.

[00:22:50] So those are always fun.

[00:22:51] Oh yeah, the Chowder Fest.

[00:22:53] Yeah, that sounds tantalizing.

[00:22:56] And then they also put in a plug for some old standard favorites.

[00:23:00] Stomp, we've got the Polar Caves.

[00:23:02] We've got the Lost River Gorge and Boulder Caves, the Mount Washington Auto Road, and

[00:23:07] then America's Stonehenge in Salem, New Hampshire.

[00:23:11] Awesome.

[00:23:12] Yep, the unofficial start.

[00:23:15] Yeah, essentially from a weather perspective.

[00:23:18] Usually the last month of spring is summer-like.

[00:23:21] Although I will say the issue you're going to deal with is there's going to be a lot

[00:23:24] of bugs and mosquitoes out there.

[00:23:26] Yeah, no, that's a really interesting question.

[00:23:29] I've yet to see a mosquito this year.

[00:23:30] I don't know what's going on with the mosquitoes, but they are not present.

[00:23:36] You think a recent frost might have killed them off?

[00:23:39] I don't know.

[00:23:40] I don't know.

[00:23:41] I had some bug activity when we were on Garfield that I'll talk about, but it was mostly down

[00:23:45] low by the way.

[00:23:47] I mean, maybe you're not hiking in enough wet areas, Stomp.

[00:23:50] Yeah, maybe not.

[00:23:51] I'm not sure, but the blackflies are certainly out, but nada on the mosquitoes, which is

[00:23:56] a blessing.

[00:23:57] Cool.

[00:23:59] And then, Stomp, you were kind enough to pull the current Winnipesaukee lake temperature,

[00:24:03] which is 55 degrees.

[00:24:04] I suspect after today that's going to warm up pretty quickly.

[00:24:08] Right.

[00:24:09] Isn't the threshold about 60 for safety that they recommend?

[00:24:14] I think it's somewhere around there.

[00:24:16] I don't know.

[00:24:17] My threshold is about 80 degrees before I like to go swimming.

[00:24:22] Good luck.

[00:24:23] I think the high average in August for the lake is about 64.

[00:24:28] Yeah.

[00:24:29] Although there's something about being on the lake.

[00:24:31] So, well, Sebago, they have, and again, I don't go to Winnipesaukee too much, but Sebago

[00:24:37] has these sandbar areas where the water is pretty shallow, so it's not deeper than three

[00:24:44] or four feet.

[00:24:45] And that's a deep lake, so even if the middle of the lake is cool, the sandbar areas are

[00:24:51] nice and warm.

[00:24:52] The water is pretty good there, so I like to stick to that.

[00:24:54] Oh, I bet.

[00:24:55] Yeah.

[00:24:56] Yeah, for sure.

[00:24:58] Cool.

[00:24:59] And then shout out to you, Stomp and Mrs. Stomp.

[00:25:02] It's eight years for the Stomps living in New Hampshire.

[00:25:05] So congratulations.

[00:25:06] Yep.

[00:25:07] Yep.

[00:25:08] Excited about that.

[00:25:09] It seems like yesterday you guys moved up here.

[00:25:11] Doesn't it?

[00:25:12] Yeah.

[00:25:13] So every Memorial Day weekend, we try to get out and do some nice hiking and we plan to

[00:25:17] do a surprise hike, who we'll talk about next week, this Friday.

[00:25:22] But yeah, eight years, man.

[00:25:23] It's wild.

[00:25:24] Time flies.

[00:25:25] Crazy.

[00:25:27] It's crazy.

[00:25:28] Me and you catching up and running the hills of Lowell to prepare for Mount Washington.

[00:25:32] Which was fantastic, by the way.

[00:25:34] I think about that a lot.

[00:25:35] That area was really good for training.

[00:25:36] Oh yeah.

[00:25:37] Yeah, Lowell is nice, that side of town.

[00:25:40] Right, right.

[00:25:41] So it's cool.

[00:25:42] Eight years.

[00:25:44] Very good.

[00:25:45] And then did you say, so you've got a special hike planned, you're going to report back

[00:25:50] and then is Nobby joining you?

[00:25:52] Is that what's going on?

[00:25:53] No, it's actually really funny.

[00:25:55] I'll reveal all this next week because Mrs. Stomp is really excited about it and she wants

[00:25:59] to keep it top secret.

[00:26:02] We did some 411 reconnaissance on it and the only thing that popped up about it was a Nobby

[00:26:07] video, which is unbelievable.

[00:26:08] Oh, got it, got it, got it.

[00:26:09] Okay.

[00:26:10] Got it, yeah.

[00:26:11] And just, I mean, selfishly, Stomp, for the listeners, so we've talked about, I mean,

[00:26:17] our friend Mark Lindbergh, Nobby Hikes, is his YouTube channel and Instagram, you can

[00:26:21] check him out.

[00:26:24] He's been on the show and we hike with him a fair amount.

[00:26:27] And I just personally wanted to extend my condolences to him.

[00:26:30] He's lost both of his parents recently and in quick succession, and it's always hard.

[00:26:37] And I think about that a lot.

[00:26:38] A lot of people our age, their parents are getting up there and everything.

[00:26:41] So Mark, if you're listening, I just wanted to extend our condolences to you and your

[00:26:44] family and let's get out and hike and hopefully better days ahead.

[00:26:51] Yeah, condolences, Mark.

[00:26:54] All right, now moving on to a listener correction.

[00:26:57] So I screwed up, Stomp, so I need to be corrected.

[00:27:00] And I didn't know, we did a news story about this Miracle Springs, which is in California.

[00:27:05] And lo and behold, who knew we got a listener that lives out there?

[00:27:12] I figured I could lie and be safe, but I don't know, you want to explain the correction?

[00:27:17] Yeah, so if you remember back, we covered the Miracle Hut Springs controversy.

[00:27:25] They closed this place indefinitely because apparently a couple people died recently.

[00:27:31] And this is in California, Sequoia National Forest.

[00:27:37] And apparently the latest body was discovered February 17th.

[00:27:42] You can check out the story, but we did get a message from a listener who wanted to just

[00:27:49] add some insight into this.

[00:27:51] And it's listener Pat, who writes, the springs are in my neighborhood.

[00:27:57] It's not known how the two people died.

[00:27:59] Best guess is they passed out while hut tubbing alone.

[00:28:03] There's no acid involved, Mike.

[00:28:06] Miracle is not an official Hut Springs maintained or permitted by the Forest Service.

[00:28:12] It's maintained by Hut Springs Angels.

[00:28:14] So there you go, that's pretty interesting.

[00:28:16] That's good.

[00:28:17] I screwed up, I admit it.

[00:28:18] I just assumed that someone gets melted by acid when they die in a hut spring.

[00:28:23] I didn't know.

[00:28:25] And also Pat, if you're living over by Sequoia National, where's my invite?

[00:28:29] I want to come visit you.

[00:28:30] You can come show me those things.

[00:28:34] In person.

[00:28:35] I need to come investigate.

[00:28:38] I mean, it says on the Newsweek article that the Hut Springs are in California's Sequoia

[00:28:45] National Forest.

[00:28:46] So you would just assume that there was some federal presence there, but apparently not.

[00:28:51] Yeah, no, that's interesting.

[00:28:55] And I guess given the fact that like, I just assumed that these were like acidic, like

[00:28:59] dangerous hot springs, but now it makes sense why the locals would be upset that they're

[00:29:05] closing it down because who knows what went on with these people.

[00:29:09] They could have been drinking, they could have been doing drugs, they could have just

[00:29:12] had a heart attack and it has nothing to do with the overall safety of the spring.

[00:29:19] So to try to shut that down, to me it's just like over, this safety-ism sometimes gets

[00:29:25] to be a little out of control.

[00:29:27] Sorry, you see me shake my head?

[00:29:29] Yeah.

[00:29:30] Oh, I'll talk about it.

[00:29:31] I'm drinking a sour ale and it's like really sour.

[00:29:34] Oh boy.

[00:29:35] Holy moly.

[00:29:36] Anyway, well, I appreciate listener Pat.

[00:29:38] I want to know more, send us more info about your situation because I might want to come

[00:29:43] out and visit you and tour around there.

[00:29:45] Sounds like an awesome place.

[00:29:47] You can correct me on this rail.

[00:29:49] Yeah, take him to the springs for a dip.

[00:29:52] Yeah.

[00:29:53] We'll go check out these hotels.

[00:29:56] Too funny.

[00:29:58] Next up we're going to talk about two grizzly bears.

[00:30:03] So we are not talking about man and beer, we're just talking about beer.

[00:30:06] Two grizzlies.

[00:30:07] That's right.

[00:30:08] Oh geez, this is, so my friend Tom is trying to get us to go out here.

[00:30:14] So this is a man survives surprise attack by two grizzlies at Grand Teton National Park.

[00:30:20] I'm not going in this.

[00:30:21] Right?

[00:30:22] Hell no.

[00:30:23] Hell no.

[00:30:24] Yeah, they're moving in.

[00:30:25] Yeah.

[00:30:26] They're taking up shop and moving in and chomping on people.

[00:30:30] Yeah.

[00:30:31] Can I tell you two stuff by the way?

[00:30:32] Like, so this guy's from Massachusetts.

[00:30:33] Massachusetts people are everywhere because the first people we met when me and my friend

[00:30:38] Tom went to go hike out in Yosemite was three mass holes.

[00:30:42] They come walking through and we're talking to them.

[00:30:45] And then I met when I was in Iceland, I met people from New Hampshire, but I think they

[00:30:50] said they were originally from Massachusetts.

[00:30:51] So you can't escape us.

[00:30:52] Yeah, I guess not.

[00:30:54] Maybe they're all trying to escape mass.

[00:30:56] I would think so.

[00:30:57] The taxes here, it's crazy.

[00:30:59] So anyway, so Massachusetts survived a surprise attack by two grizzlies.

[00:31:04] That's surprising.

[00:31:05] Two.

[00:31:06] We need them in.

[00:31:08] We need them in.

[00:31:09] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:31:10] This guy's got, hopefully he listens to our show.

[00:31:11] So 35 year old man, he has not been identified.

[00:31:14] He was in stable condition.

[00:31:17] He had a surprise encounter.

[00:31:20] I mean, is anybody expecting to encounter grizzlies?

[00:31:23] After all the stories lately, I would think you would have to start being cautious.

[00:31:28] Yes, but so surprise encounter with two grizzlies in the Signal Mountain area of Grand Teton

[00:31:36] Park Sunday afternoon, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

[00:31:39] My favorite.

[00:31:40] Yep, your favorite.

[00:31:43] One of the bears attacked the victim, inflicting serious injuries.

[00:31:48] Rangers and search and rescue personnel responded to the scene to provide medical care, and

[00:31:53] they were able to airlift the patient via helicopter to an awaiting ambulance where he was transported

[00:31:59] to the hospital.

[00:32:00] So grizzlies are typically territorial and solitary animals.

[00:32:05] It's unclear why the two were together at the time.

[00:32:09] Imagine this guy just, you know, dumb luck stumbled upon two grizzly bears fighting over

[00:32:13] territory or something.

[00:32:14] Yeah, possible.

[00:32:15] If you go to the very end of the article, read the last paragraph.

[00:32:19] It's actually really interesting.

[00:32:20] There's one in here.

[00:32:22] It talks about prior events with grizzlies in 2007.

[00:32:25] There was one, but it mentions one in 2022.

[00:32:29] Check this out.

[00:32:30] A black bear in Teton pushed a camper out of a hammock.

[00:32:35] Oh, now that would be pretty terrifying.

[00:32:38] Oh my God.

[00:32:39] The bear looks at somebody in a hammock and is like, it's a taco.

[00:32:42] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:32:43] It's a hot dog.

[00:32:44] Absolutely.

[00:32:47] It would be terrifying.

[00:32:48] Yikes.

[00:32:50] But anyway, so glad to hear that the guy is recovering.

[00:32:53] That's got to be scary.

[00:32:56] Scary, scary.

[00:32:57] So good for him.

[00:32:58] Yeah.

[00:33:05] Are you ready for Slashers Gear Review?

[00:33:16] All right, Stomp, moving on to gear review.

[00:33:19] So you want to talk about Hoka 11 Kaha GTX?

[00:33:22] Yes, I inherited a pair of Hokas and I was always very skeptical about them.

[00:33:27] And I do have some comments that I'd like to share.

[00:33:30] This is the Kaha GTX.

[00:33:33] They're a nice Hoka, black, full Gore-Tex boot.

[00:33:37] And, you know, after wearing them for a month or two,

[00:33:41] I would solidly put them in the day hiker category.

[00:33:45] I would not dare venture any further into backpacking or technical terrain,

[00:33:51] that type of thing.

[00:33:52] They're just not, I guess, sturdy enough.

[00:33:54] They're very flexible.

[00:33:56] They're the soft uppers that cover your ankles.

[00:34:01] They float.

[00:34:02] So I found that the wide sole was just moving under my sole left to right.

[00:34:08] It was super annoying and they fit perfect.

[00:34:11] But when you put them under stress, they were just way too flexible.

[00:34:16] Other than that, I think they're great.

[00:34:19] You know, for traction, if you're just walking straight,

[00:34:23] not on a side slope, on side slopes, they're not great.

[00:34:27] But if you're just walking straight up an ascent,

[00:34:29] the traction was absolutely top-notch, five stars.

[00:34:33] Descending, four stars because if it was just slightly wet,

[00:34:37] it would slip a little bit.

[00:34:40] But Hoka's not bad.

[00:34:42] If you have problems with your ankles, they have such a wide heel counter.

[00:34:48] The heel counter itself juts out from either side of your heel

[00:34:52] by about half an inch.

[00:34:53] So the support, if you do roll, is tremendous.

[00:34:58] So there you go.

[00:34:59] The Kaha GTX by Hoka.

[00:35:02] Not bad.

[00:35:03] Well, Hoka's doing pretty well.

[00:35:05] I guess apparently, and I didn't know this stomp,

[00:35:07] and I'm always...

[00:35:09] Excuse me, listeners too, by the way.

[00:35:10] I'm still kind of sick.

[00:35:12] My illness has turned into a persistent cough,

[00:35:15] so I apologize ahead of time.

[00:35:17] But I didn't know this stomp.

[00:35:18] But Hoka is owned by a company called Decker's Outdoor,

[00:35:25] and they were mostly well-known for Uggs boots.

[00:35:28] Do you remember those Uggs boots that the kids all wore,

[00:35:31] the girls all wore them in winter?

[00:35:32] Yep, yep.

[00:35:34] Super flimsy.

[00:35:36] Yeah, yeah.

[00:35:37] So their market cap has swelled to like $23 billion

[00:35:41] on the back of Hoka run-and-shoot.

[00:35:43] So there's an article that talks about

[00:35:48] how Under Armour has struggled.

[00:35:52] So Under Armour's market cap stands at $2.9 billion,

[00:35:58] whereas Lululemon is at like $43 billion,

[00:36:03] and then Nike's at $138 billion.

[00:36:06] But this Decker's Outdoors company

[00:36:09] is growing significantly,

[00:36:11] and the stock price is popping pretty well.

[00:36:16] But yeah, definitely the Hoka brand

[00:36:20] is owned by a larger company for sure.

[00:36:23] Interesting.

[00:36:24] I found that interesting here.

[00:36:26] This is some big numbers, man.

[00:36:28] Big numbers.

[00:36:30] I wish I had that market cap stomp.

[00:36:32] No kidding. Billions.

[00:36:35] We all know that hiking a mountain can be hard at times.

[00:36:39] So here's a corny dad joke to help you get over it.

[00:36:44] Ba-dum-bum.

[00:36:49] Yes, billions.

[00:36:51] All right, Stomp.

[00:36:52] Now is the part of the show where I read a dad joke

[00:36:55] from my friend Lance and Camilla.

[00:36:58] All right, here we go.

[00:37:00] All right, so...

[00:37:02] What's an astronaut's favorite part of the keyboard?

[00:37:08] Let's see.

[00:37:11] I don't know, I give up.

[00:37:14] The space bar.

[00:37:16] Oh, damn it.

[00:37:17] You know, I was looking at my MIDI keyboard,

[00:37:19] like the piano keyboard,

[00:37:20] so I was way off.

[00:37:21] I had a different frame of reference.

[00:37:23] Damn it.

[00:37:24] That's a good one, I like it.

[00:37:26] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:37:27] Actually, I'll do a two for one tonight.

[00:37:29] So what do snowmen wear on their heads?

[00:37:33] Snowmen...

[00:37:35] I give up.

[00:37:37] Ice caps.

[00:37:39] Nice.

[00:37:42] Nice.

[00:37:43] All right, Stomp, so this is the part of the show

[00:37:45] where we're going to do an advertisement.

[00:37:47] All right, let's hear from CS Coffee.

[00:37:49] Our podcast is supported by CS Instant Coffee,

[00:37:53] makers of premium compostable coffee.

[00:37:55] It's straightforward and eco-friendly perfect

[00:37:58] for anyone who loves the outdoors as much as we do.

[00:38:01] Great for backpacking, day hiking, and camping.

[00:38:04] And here's a little bonus for our listeners.

[00:38:06] If you want a free sticker,

[00:38:07] just shoot them an email at info at CS,

[00:38:11] that's the letter C and S, instant.coffee.

[00:38:16] And their website is the same, csinstant.coffee.

[00:38:20] Thanks, CS.

[00:38:23] Speaking of coffee, we have a coffee donation.

[00:38:27] The podcast uses a platform called Buy Me A Coffee,

[00:38:31] and if you want to support us in our work that we do here,

[00:38:36] work with rabbit ears,

[00:38:38] you can certainly do that at Buy Me A Coffee.

[00:38:41] And this week we actually have a donation from Eric J72,

[00:38:46] and Eric donated three coffees.

[00:38:49] So thank you very much, Eric.

[00:38:51] It's much appreciated.

[00:38:54] Thank you, thank you, Eric.

[00:38:55] You know, Stomp, I was thinking like we could,

[00:38:57] instead of Buy Me A Coffee,

[00:38:58] maybe me and you could start our own company

[00:39:00] and get big market cap.

[00:39:02] We can call it, send me some shekels.

[00:39:08] We could do that.

[00:39:11] We might be sued for copyright or trademark infringement.

[00:39:15] True, drop me a dollar.

[00:39:17] To come up with a million rhymes here.

[00:39:24] Anyway, so this is the part of the show

[00:39:26] where we're going to do another advertisement.

[00:39:28] This is our friends, Volclus.

[00:39:29] I got to tell you,

[00:39:30] this is probably the time of the year

[00:39:31] where you got to start wearing this thing.

[00:39:34] Oh yeah, I had it this weekend and it was very valuable.

[00:39:38] Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[00:39:40] So Volclus is cool.

[00:39:43] My new pack, by the way,

[00:39:44] doesn't have the Volclus for 65 liter.

[00:39:47] It's 65 liters, so I'm relying on what it's built with,

[00:39:50] but my back has been soaked.

[00:39:52] You should try to double up, double it up.

[00:39:56] I think it would be like four feet long.

[00:39:58] Yes.

[00:39:59] Oh man, all right, but check it out.

[00:40:00] So this is a long running sponsor of ours

[00:40:03] and they're fantastic.

[00:40:04] So Volclus, does your backpack not provide enough ventilation?

[00:40:08] Does your back sweat too much when backpacking?

[00:40:12] As you know, sweat can be extremely uncomfortable on the trails.

[00:40:15] Plus sweat is a serious risk factor

[00:40:17] in both hot and cold climates.

[00:40:19] As your clothes get wet,

[00:40:20] your core temperature can dramatically fluctuate

[00:40:23] and this can result in hypothermia,

[00:40:25] heat exhaustion and dehydration.

[00:40:27] Let's not forget very uncomfortable.

[00:40:29] Today's your lucky day because we have good news for you.

[00:40:32] There's a piece of gear that solves the sweat

[00:40:35] and ventilation problem,

[00:40:36] making your backpack more comfortable.

[00:40:38] Volclus Gear's Ultralight Backpack Ventilation Frame.

[00:40:42] This ultralight frame is a backpack accessory

[00:40:45] that easily installs in your favorite pack,

[00:40:47] size 15 liters to 45 liters

[00:40:49] and creates a ventilating airflow gap

[00:40:52] between you and your pack.

[00:40:53] It's also ultralight weighing around three ounces

[00:40:56] or equivalent to a pair of wool socks.

[00:40:59] So whether hiking in hot or cold temperatures,

[00:41:01] the Ultralight Backpack Ventilation Frame from Volclus Gear

[00:41:05] is a real game changer regarding airflow and ventilation.

[00:41:08] So visit them at volclusgear.com

[00:41:11] to order an ultralight ventilation frame today.

[00:41:13] Use promo code SLASHER to enjoy a $5 discount

[00:41:17] and let them know that Mike and Stomp sent you.

[00:41:20] And if I remember,

[00:41:22] we'll bring some of these things

[00:41:23] to some of the upcoming events this summer

[00:41:26] if anybody wants to check them out.

[00:41:27] Yeah.

[00:41:28] Yep, yeah, definitely.

[00:41:29] Absolutely.

[00:41:33] Hold my beer.

[00:41:41] It's time to find out what Mike and Stomp are drinking

[00:41:45] on this week's beer talk.

[00:41:51] All right, Stomp,

[00:41:56] now we're going to talk about what beer we're drinking.

[00:41:57] I'm back on the beer wagon here.

[00:41:59] All right.

[00:42:00] I'm off the wagon and back on the beer express.

[00:42:03] I don't know.

[00:42:04] Well, what you got?

[00:42:05] What you're cooking with there?

[00:42:07] I've been working on finishing up these.

[00:42:13] It's a New England IPA from Mighty Squirrel Brewing

[00:42:18] and it's called Magic Rain.

[00:42:20] So I think I've been working on these

[00:42:22] for the last month or so.

[00:42:24] Okay, okay.

[00:42:25] Well, I saw this earlier and it's,

[00:42:29] let's see, it's called Funk Daddy

[00:42:31] and it's by Greater Good,

[00:42:33] one of my favorite beer companies

[00:42:36] and it's a sour ale.

[00:42:38] It's 8% and what caught my curiosity

[00:42:42] was that it's mixed with blueberry and lemonade

[00:42:44] and boy is it sour.

[00:42:46] I'm shocked.

[00:42:47] It's actually, I'm not going to lie,

[00:42:49] it's a little bit difficult to tolerate.

[00:42:52] It's like literal lemonade without sugar.

[00:42:56] What's it called again?

[00:42:58] It's a Funk Daddy Sour Series.

[00:43:02] Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:43:04] So Greater Good is right around the corner

[00:43:06] from where my daughter went to college

[00:43:07] so we would go in there

[00:43:08] and my daughter's boyfriend, he's a big sour guy

[00:43:11] and I'm pretty sure that that's what he gets.

[00:43:14] Oh my God, yeah, it's shocking.

[00:43:18] Yeah, I'll have to ask him to confirm but yeah.

[00:43:21] Good stuff.

[00:43:22] So we are both back to having a drink

[00:43:25] while we're chilling out here, stop,

[00:43:26] and then now as a part of the show

[00:43:27] we talk about recent hikes.

[00:43:29] Why don't I go first

[00:43:30] because mine's not as exciting as yours

[00:43:32] because you survived the hike

[00:43:34] with Dave Schitt's in the woods.

[00:43:35] Yeah, yeah, unscathed.

[00:43:38] Very good.

[00:43:39] So well, I'll go through mine first

[00:43:40] and then you can do yours.

[00:43:41] So I got out on Saturday.

[00:43:44] Basically that was the only day I had as an option

[00:43:46] and my daughter and her boyfriend were around

[00:43:50] so she wanted to get out and work on her list

[00:43:52] so she's now completed 28 of the 48.

[00:43:56] So she was proud to tell me

[00:43:58] she's 7 12ths of the way through the list.

[00:44:01] So we just did Garfield,

[00:44:03] we went up to the main parking lot of Garfield Ridge Trail

[00:44:06] and got there, it was pretty crowded actually.

[00:44:08] We had to park on the road

[00:44:09] which I was surprised given the weather

[00:44:12] and pretty uneventful hike.

[00:44:16] It was kind of gray and dreary.

[00:44:19] Saw a lot of backpackers,

[00:44:20] probably saw, I don't know,

[00:44:22] two, three groups of backpackers going up that we passed

[00:44:25] and then it was buggy by the river crossing,

[00:44:31] the water crossings

[00:44:32] and then after that it just chilled out pretty much.

[00:44:36] We got right probably to about 4,000 feet

[00:44:39] and the monorail started showing up

[00:44:41] so Caroline and Devin put on their spikes

[00:44:44] and then I just kept barebooting

[00:44:45] because I ripped my spikes up

[00:44:47] and I didn't bring them

[00:44:48] so I just barebooted which was fine.

[00:44:51] You could get away with barebooting

[00:44:53] but that last section of the climb

[00:44:56] is a lot of holding on to trees and stuff like that.

[00:44:59] To get over the snow?

[00:45:01] Just to get up, yeah, it's steep,

[00:45:03] it was rotten snow, it was ice,

[00:45:05] it was slipping.

[00:45:07] What is that, like a tenth of a mile,

[00:45:08] that little section?

[00:45:10] Yeah, it's not bad.

[00:45:11] You get up to the little rock section

[00:45:14] and then you do like a 180

[00:45:15] and then it's maybe, I don't know,

[00:45:17] a couple hundred feet,

[00:45:18] maybe 200 feet or something like that

[00:45:20] that you just climb up

[00:45:21] and then you pop right out onto the summit.

[00:45:24] Nice, yeah, I like that.

[00:45:25] But I ran into Rhonda Willett

[00:45:28] who we're going to try to get her on the show

[00:45:31] at some point soon

[00:45:32] but they were gearing up

[00:45:34] and putting their spikes on right below the monorail

[00:45:36] and then we were doing the same

[00:45:38] so we just kind of connected when we got to the summit

[00:45:41] but it was a great, dreary day,

[00:45:42] zero views,

[00:45:44] you know, kind of windy but not too cold

[00:45:47] so it was just okay.

[00:45:48] It was just a check it off the list type of hike.

[00:45:51] Yeah, for your grid.

[00:45:55] Yeah, my grid,

[00:45:56] I got a May Garfield on my grid too

[00:45:59] so my spring grid is pretty weak

[00:46:02] so this helped.

[00:46:03] Yeah, yeah, oh nice.

[00:46:05] All right, well I got out Sunday morning

[00:46:08] with Dave Schitt's in the Woods

[00:46:10] and it's a bushwhack that I had longed to do with Dave.

[00:46:16] I just wanted to get out with the guy in general

[00:46:18] for quite a while

[00:46:19] and get to know him

[00:46:20] and see what he's all about

[00:46:21] because he's always out there crushing

[00:46:22] all those bushwhacks for the 500

[00:46:24] and others along with Liz

[00:46:27] and so yeah, we got out at like a Mike McLaughlin hour.

[00:46:32] We were on trail by seven

[00:46:34] and we started,

[00:46:35] we determined we would do the Actaeon Ridge

[00:46:38] which is something I've done before

[00:46:39] and we've probably talked about before

[00:46:41] and it was great

[00:46:43] and this is part of his 69 list.

[00:46:48] Oh yeah.

[00:46:49] So Bald Knob is the first one closest to Route 49

[00:46:55] so basically, you know,

[00:46:57] we didn't see anybody.

[00:46:58] It was just so early.

[00:46:59] We took the Yellow Jacket Trail

[00:47:01] to the first wooden bridge

[00:47:03] then started ascending a climbers trail

[00:47:06] which really is amazing

[00:47:07] at about 1200 feet or so.

[00:47:10] There's two ways to go.

[00:47:11] At this point, you know,

[00:47:13] to get to Bald Knob

[00:47:14] or to Actaeon,

[00:47:15] you can follow a pretty established trail

[00:47:18] at this point

[00:47:19] that goes through more of a bowl

[00:47:21] and it cuts between the call

[00:47:22] between the two peaks

[00:47:24] but I had discovered a climbing area

[00:47:28] on Bald Knob

[00:47:29] and Dave agreed that we would go that route

[00:47:33] and it was fantastic

[00:47:34] so you know,

[00:47:35] you come across these gigantic boulders

[00:47:38] that are just massive.

[00:47:40] I mean, 100 foot by 60 foot by whatever.

[00:47:45] They're just massive

[00:47:46] and it was really impressive.

[00:47:49] Found one or two scrambles

[00:47:51] that were hilarious

[00:47:52] because when you're looking up at a scramble,

[00:47:54] it looks easier

[00:47:56] than when you're actually in it doing it.

[00:47:58] Have you ever had that experience?

[00:48:00] Oh yeah.

[00:48:01] Oh man.

[00:48:02] So we found this crack

[00:48:03] and maybe had to be 20 foot long

[00:48:05] and the grade looked reasonable

[00:48:08] and I think I posted a picture

[00:48:09] of Dave stuck in this thing

[00:48:11] but the second you get nearing

[00:48:13] to the top of this crack,

[00:48:14] it got really sketchy

[00:48:16] and was fairly exposed

[00:48:17] with a good 50 foot drop to the right.

[00:48:20] So anyway, we had a lot of fun.

[00:48:22] So hit Bald Knob

[00:48:24] and then we made our way over

[00:48:25] to Actaeon Ridge

[00:48:26] and searched around for the register

[00:48:29] which is now missing in action unfortunately.

[00:48:32] Looked around the summit cone.

[00:48:34] Actaeon itself is 2,400 feet.

[00:48:37] Super cool little spot

[00:48:40] but yeah,

[00:48:41] I honestly think somebody took the register.

[00:48:43] I just couldn't find that damn thing anywhere

[00:48:46] and then for the big enchilada,

[00:48:48] we went over to Satchim Peak

[00:48:50] which is 2,784 feet

[00:48:54] and Satchim is essentially

[00:48:56] just a series of giant cliffs.

[00:49:00] You know, it compared...

[00:49:01] Those are the cliffs

[00:49:02] that are very prominent

[00:49:03] when you get out to Jennings, right?

[00:49:05] You can see when you sit out at Jennings,

[00:49:07] you can look right out to Satchim.

[00:49:09] To the right.

[00:49:10] Peaks or whatever there.

[00:49:11] Correct, yeah.

[00:49:12] So Eric taught us

[00:49:13] when he was on,

[00:49:14] he was mentioning how fantastic it was

[00:49:17] but yeah,

[00:49:18] I don't know.

[00:49:19] The span of cliffs themselves

[00:49:20] maybe run about a good half mile

[00:49:23] and some of the highest points,

[00:49:25] it has to be at least like a 600 foot drop.

[00:49:28] I don't know.

[00:49:29] I'm sort of a bad judge at that

[00:49:31] but comparing it to say

[00:49:32] the Old Man of the Mountains,

[00:49:34] it had to be at least 500-600 feet high

[00:49:36] and it's a maze of stepwise ledges

[00:49:41] and just vegetation

[00:49:42] that you have to work your way through

[00:49:44] and then eventually

[00:49:45] you break out to the last section of cliffs

[00:49:48] and it's massive.

[00:49:49] It's like flat tabletop granite

[00:49:53] where you could put a tent up

[00:49:54] and then the final, final peak

[00:49:57] just has this incredible view of Jennings

[00:49:59] and again,

[00:50:00] a precipitous drop

[00:50:02] just inches away.

[00:50:04] So it was a great time.

[00:50:06] After that,

[00:50:07] you know,

[00:50:08] it started raining a little bit

[00:50:09] when we got to that final point

[00:50:10] and we made our way back down.

[00:50:11] We bailed on trying to make it over to Jennings

[00:50:14] and decided to just go

[00:50:16] in between the call of Jennings and Satchim

[00:50:19] and just go back down

[00:50:21] about half a mile

[00:50:22] to Smarts Brook Trail itself

[00:50:25] and that worked out really well.

[00:50:27] That's some gnarly terrain in there.

[00:50:29] You know,

[00:50:30] it's not,

[00:50:31] it really is thick,

[00:50:32] bouldery

[00:50:33] and just gnarly

[00:50:34] and Dave decided

[00:50:36] that we would just follow a contour line

[00:50:38] that took us closer to Smarts Brook Trail itself

[00:50:41] and we got out quicker.

[00:50:42] Had we like just beelined it straight down,

[00:50:44] we would have been in Hell's Kitchen, man.

[00:50:47] I'm telling you,

[00:50:48] it's tough bushwhacking in there for sure.

[00:50:50] But yeah,

[00:50:51] we had a great day.

[00:50:52] We didn't see anybody.

[00:50:53] We saw one or two people on the way out

[00:50:54] but nobody bushwhacking that day

[00:50:56] and Dave didn't anticipate.

[00:50:58] Any snow in pockets of coals or anything like that?

[00:51:01] Zero.

[00:51:02] Literally zero.

[00:51:05] So yeah,

[00:51:06] I mean,

[00:51:07] acting on a ridge is clean.

[00:51:08] I would anticipate that Jennings

[00:51:10] and Sandwich Dome

[00:51:11] probably have some rotten snow

[00:51:12] heading up to the dome

[00:51:13] but nothing on the ridge.

[00:51:15] All right,

[00:51:16] well,

[00:51:17] as you were talking,

[00:51:18] I was looking up an article.

[00:51:19] So,

[00:51:20] Phillip Warner,

[00:51:21] who is,

[00:51:22] you know,

[00:51:23] he's got a nice article

[00:51:24] about acting on ridge traverse as well.

[00:51:26] Really?

[00:51:27] I can include that in the show notes.

[00:51:28] Yeah,

[00:51:29] yeah,

[00:51:30] it's pretty good.

[00:51:31] He went a little bit earlier.

[00:51:32] He went like May 10th.

[00:51:33] This is from 2017

[00:51:34] but he went a little bit earlier in the year

[00:51:35] so there's a little bit of snow

[00:51:36] but the way he describes it,

[00:51:37] he says like

[00:51:38] the bushwhack over to Jennings Peak

[00:51:40] is like blowdown nightmare.

[00:51:43] Oh yeah,

[00:51:44] no question about it.

[00:51:45] I did that once

[00:51:46] and yeah,

[00:51:47] it's not fun

[00:51:49] but what can you do?

[00:51:52] And also,

[00:51:53] shout out to Phillip Warner too.

[00:51:55] Matter of fact,

[00:51:56] Section Hiker.

[00:51:57] So,

[00:51:58] I saw on social media

[00:51:59] he posted he completed his grid

[00:52:01] so

[00:52:02] nice accomplishment for him.

[00:52:04] Wow,

[00:52:05] congrats.

[00:52:06] That's fantastic.

[00:52:07] Yeah,

[00:52:08] yep.

[00:52:09] All right,

[00:52:10] stop.

[00:52:11] So,

[00:52:12] we got Fieldstone Kombucha here.

[00:52:13] Fieldstone Kombucha,

[00:52:14] New England's

[00:52:15] premier craft kombucha company.

[00:52:17] If you're in the heart of New England,

[00:52:18] you need to drink

[00:52:19] a New England style kombucha.

[00:52:20] Softer,

[00:52:21] less acidic

[00:52:22] and truly enjoyable.

[00:52:23] Our kombucha is naturally effervescent

[00:52:25] and boasts full-bodied flavor.

[00:52:27] Fieldstone crafts

[00:52:29] the best seasonal flavors.

[00:52:31] When we tell you there are strawberries

[00:52:33] in our garden blush flavor,

[00:52:34] it's like biting into a sun-ripened strawberry.

[00:52:37] Women owned and operated,

[00:52:39] we brew in Rhode Island

[00:52:40] using locally sourced ingredients.

[00:52:42] Fieldstone Kombucha

[00:52:44] is the perfect replenishing drink

[00:52:46] after a day on the slopes

[00:52:47] or a trek in the woods.

[00:52:48] It's chock full of probiotics

[00:52:50] and healthy acids

[00:52:51] to keep you in top form.

[00:52:52] Find us at Sunflower Natural Foods

[00:52:55] in Laconia,

[00:52:56] La Tasse Cafe

[00:52:58] in Waterville Valley,

[00:52:59] the Concord Food Co-op

[00:53:01] and Granite State Food Co-op

[00:53:02] in Concord and more.

[00:53:04] Check out our website

[00:53:06] for the full list of New Hampshire

[00:53:08] and New England wide locations

[00:53:10] and again,

[00:53:11] you can use code SLASR

[00:53:13] on our website

[00:53:15] for 10% off

[00:53:16] an online order

[00:53:17] shipped straight to your door.

[00:53:19] That's fieldstonekombuchaco.com

[00:53:22] Very cool, very cool.

[00:53:28] It's time for SLASR's

[00:53:30] Notable Hike of the Week.

[00:53:32] If you want to be considered

[00:53:33] for the hike of the week,

[00:53:34] simply tag SLASR

[00:53:36] on your social media post.

[00:53:39] And let's see,

[00:53:40] we're moving into the notable hikes.

[00:53:44] I just have to reiterate,

[00:53:46] I mentioned this about a month or two ago,

[00:53:48] but we're getting slammed

[00:53:49] by notable hikers

[00:53:51] and we appreciate the tags for sure.

[00:53:54] But I think a while back,

[00:53:56] I said we might limit it to like 10

[00:53:58] or say 15 or so.

[00:53:59] And I think that's what we're going

[00:54:00] to have to do here today.

[00:54:02] I will make an effort

[00:54:04] to post your tags on the Instagram

[00:54:06] so that people can see what you're doing.

[00:54:08] But moving forward,

[00:54:10] we got to narrow this down a little bit.

[00:54:12] And what we're looking for

[00:54:13] is some really unique hikes

[00:54:15] and something sort of off the radar

[00:54:17] that people may not anticipate

[00:54:20] or be aware of.

[00:54:21] So let's get into it.

[00:54:22] We have Dr. Nancy Q

[00:54:25] did Whiteface and Pasquanaway

[00:54:27] with Bruno the dog.

[00:54:29] Let's see, Liz Faye.

[00:54:31] I had to add this one.

[00:54:32] Plymouth Mountain Trail to Plymouth,

[00:54:34] West Peak,

[00:54:35] and then back to Pikes Peak.

[00:54:36] If you haven't done Plymouth Mountain,

[00:54:37] you really should.

[00:54:38] It's a beautiful, beautiful trail.

[00:54:40] It's a beautiful ridge traverse.

[00:54:42] Absolutely great.

[00:54:44] Oh, yeah.

[00:54:45] That's a good tip, actually,

[00:54:46] for the listeners.

[00:54:47] Listen to the stuff that Stomp does,

[00:54:49] all the off-the-beaten-path stuff

[00:54:52] around Waterville Valley

[00:54:53] and where he lives

[00:54:54] and then just repeat those

[00:54:56] and then he'll be sure to highlight you.

[00:54:58] Yeah.

[00:55:00] That's right.

[00:55:02] Or do like Burnt Meadow,

[00:55:03] Pleasant Mountain, Cutler Mountain

[00:55:05] near where I am

[00:55:06] and I'll be like,

[00:55:07] oh my God, I'm so proud of you.

[00:55:10] Oh boy.

[00:55:11] All right.

[00:55:12] So here's a good one.

[00:55:13] So Jude Hikes the Whites did Mount Parker

[00:55:16] and didn't get lost.

[00:55:17] I think that might be a dig.

[00:55:19] That might be a dig, Mike.

[00:55:21] Yeah, I know, I know.

[00:55:24] EC Banks Hikes.

[00:55:26] Check this out.

[00:55:28] A classic Franconia loop times three.

[00:55:31] He says he killed 24 miles,

[00:55:34] 12,000K vertical gain

[00:55:36] and listened to two episodes.

[00:55:39] Wow, can you imagine that?

[00:55:40] Dedication.

[00:55:41] Yeah, no kidding.

[00:55:42] That's awesome.

[00:55:43] That's some serious work there, Ethan.

[00:55:46] And Dan DePiro, I love this one.

[00:55:49] He posted and tagged us.

[00:55:51] He did Tri-Pyramids

[00:55:52] but it was actually soaking wet.

[00:55:54] I know, I saw the pictures here.

[00:55:56] Did you see the video?

[00:55:57] I didn't see the video

[00:55:58] but I saw the pictures

[00:55:59] and I was like, oh man.

[00:56:00] Yeah.

[00:56:01] I think I went hiking the same day as he did

[00:56:03] and I was like,

[00:56:04] this is not the day to go up

[00:56:05] the North Tri-Pyramid slide

[00:56:06] but hey, kudos for him.

[00:56:09] Yeah, no kidding.

[00:56:10] Yeah, it's so scary.

[00:56:11] Yeah, it's so sketchy.

[00:56:13] Sager TJ and Carrie Burrell

[00:56:20] did a sandwich traverse

[00:56:21] and I actually reached out to them

[00:56:23] to get clarification

[00:56:24] just to know exactly what that was

[00:56:27] and apparently it's past

[00:56:28] the Conaway White Face,

[00:56:29] Mid Tri-Pyramid, North Tri

[00:56:32] for 36 to 38 out of the 48

[00:56:35] so that's a nice adventure.

[00:56:37] That's a beast of a hike.

[00:56:38] Yeah, because in theory you could,

[00:56:40] isn't Chakora in the sandwich range?

[00:56:43] It is but it's a little farther east.

[00:56:45] Yeah, so you don't really hear about people

[00:56:47] doing a true traverse of the sandwich range

[00:56:50] because that would be

[00:56:51] a hell of an undertaking.

[00:56:53] Because that would be Chakora

[00:56:55] all the way over to

[00:56:58] Welch Dickey, right?

[00:57:00] I don't think Welch Dickey's on it.

[00:57:02] I think it ends at

[00:57:06] the other side of 49 here

[00:57:07] which would be

[00:57:08] Smart's.

[00:57:10] I don't even think the Osceolas

[00:57:11] are in the sandwich, are they?

[00:57:13] I think so.

[00:57:14] Let's take a look.

[00:57:15] Yeah.

[00:57:16] I'll do some research.

[00:57:17] Alright, let's see.

[00:57:18] So Dave Schitt's in the woods

[00:57:20] did Mount Agassiz and Waturnamy

[00:57:22] and he was recounting the story

[00:57:24] when we were on trail.

[00:57:25] He said there was a bunch of kids up there

[00:57:27] just like beat boxes

[00:57:29] and fist fights,

[00:57:31] that type of scenario

[00:57:32] up at Waturnamy.

[00:57:34] Just sort of breaking the mood.

[00:57:36] Amy Frachette 10

[00:57:38] did a Crawford Ridgepole Traverse

[00:57:40] with the Pemme Valley Hikers.

[00:57:43] That's super cool.

[00:57:44] That's on my list to do.

[00:57:47] Let's see.

[00:57:48] Ben, oh,

[00:57:50] Penn Barks

[00:57:51] did Osceola and East Osceola.

[00:57:54] TDS Afterlife

[00:57:58] hiked up Galehead

[00:57:59] and then Mike M774

[00:58:03] hiked Mount Washington

[00:58:05] via the Lionhead Trail

[00:58:06] then Monroe for No. 46

[00:58:08] then down Bootsboro.

[00:58:10] That's a nice day.

[00:58:11] That's a good loop.

[00:58:12] Absolutely.

[00:58:13] And another thing I'm not too familiar with here.

[00:58:15] Izzy Rizzitano comes back to us

[00:58:17] and she did the Bennington Triangle area

[00:58:20] of the Long Trail

[00:58:22] and apparently it was a 27-mile section

[00:58:24] that she tackled.

[00:58:27] Yeah, and I think if she's talking about

[00:58:28] the Bennington Triangle

[00:58:29] so I believe that that is like

[00:58:31] an infamous area for

[00:58:33] either paranormal or

[00:58:36] criminal activity.

[00:58:37] I can't remember the details

[00:58:39] but I remember listening to a podcast about it.

[00:58:41] Really?

[00:58:42] Interesting.

[00:58:43] I've never heard of it.

[00:58:45] Huh.

[00:58:46] And then just to clarify,

[00:58:49] the summits in the Sandwich Range

[00:58:51] is Chacora,

[00:58:52] Mount Kangamangas,

[00:58:53] Mount Pasa Conway,

[00:58:54] Pagas,

[00:58:56] Tri-Pyramid,

[00:58:57] Whiteface,

[00:58:58] Wauna Lancet,

[00:58:59] Sandwich and the Sleepers.

[00:59:00] So you're right.

[00:59:01] It doesn't extend out to Osceola

[00:59:03] so I think the farthest

[00:59:06] west would be

[00:59:08] the Tri-Pyramids.

[00:59:09] Yeah, okay.

[00:59:10] So that would include Jennings too.

[00:59:12] I think.

[00:59:13] Yeah.

[00:59:14] Okay, cool.

[00:59:17] Very good.

[00:59:18] And then

[00:59:19] so this is now

[00:59:20] we're going to go into our segment

[00:59:21] so we get a chance to

[00:59:22] sit down with Cary Kish.

[00:59:23] So again, Cary is a

[00:59:26] long-time hiker.

[00:59:28] He hiked the Appalachian Trail

[00:59:30] in 1977

[00:59:31] from Georgia to Maine.

[00:59:33] He's a local

[00:59:34] grew up in Maine.

[00:59:36] Really interesting guy.

[00:59:37] He's written

[00:59:38] a number of

[00:59:41] books.

[00:59:42] So he's written the Maine Mountain Guide.

[00:59:43] So essentially like the same thing

[00:59:44] as the White Mountain Guide

[00:59:45] that Steve Smith and Ken McGray

[00:59:46] are working on

[00:59:48] he's done the Maine Mountain Guide

[00:59:49] for the AMC.

[00:59:51] He's also written a book called

[00:59:52] The AMC Best Day Hikes

[00:59:54] along the Maine Coast.

[00:59:56] And then most recently

[00:59:57] he wrote a book called

[00:59:58] Beer Hiking New England

[00:59:59] The Tastiest Way

[01:00:00] which I think I'd recommend

[01:00:01] people pick that up

[01:00:02] for their father

[01:00:03] for Father's Day.

[01:00:04] I think that would be a cool gift

[01:00:05] if you've got a father

[01:00:06] that's a hiker

[01:00:07] or a beer drinker.

[01:00:08] So that hits like

[01:00:09] 99% of the fathers

[01:00:10] I know out there.

[01:00:12] It was a great call.

[01:00:14] He was on a break

[01:00:15] from the CDT.

[01:00:16] I think he had

[01:00:17] either a free night

[01:00:18] or a free day

[01:00:19] or something like that.

[01:00:20] So he was able to catch up with us.

[01:00:22] It was really interesting.

[01:00:23] So let's go into

[01:00:24] the segment now

[01:00:25] with Cary.

[01:00:29] It's time for

[01:00:30] Slasher's

[01:00:31] Guest of the Week.

[01:00:48] Very cool.

[01:00:49] Very cool.

[01:00:53] All right.

[01:00:54] So Cary Kish

[01:00:55] welcome.

[01:01:04] Welcome to

[01:01:05] The Slasher Podcast.

[01:01:06] Well gents

[01:01:07] thanks for having me.

[01:01:08] This is going to be fun.

[01:01:09] Appreciate it.

[01:01:10] Yeah you're really like

[01:01:11] you're really blowing up

[01:01:12] in the world now

[01:01:13] that you've made it on here.

[01:01:15] Absolutely.

[01:01:16] Yes.

[01:01:17] Right.

[01:01:18] So for the

[01:01:19] listeners

[01:01:20] Cary is a great guy

[01:01:21] for the listeners.

[01:01:22] Cary is on trail

[01:01:23] right now.

[01:01:24] So you are

[01:01:25] what about six

[01:01:26] seven hundred miles

[01:01:27] into the Continental Divide trail.

[01:01:29] Yeah I'm at

[01:01:30] mile 680

[01:01:31] a place called

[01:01:32] Ghost Ranch

[01:01:33] in northern New Mexico.

[01:01:35] I've got about 90 miles

[01:01:37] to the Colorado border.

[01:01:39] So yeah.

[01:01:40] How

[01:01:41] how long

[01:01:42] so this is

[01:01:43] yeah this is not your first

[01:01:44] through hike.

[01:01:45] How are things going so far

[01:01:46] compared to

[01:01:47] the eight

[01:01:48] the two times you did

[01:01:49] the Appalachian Trail

[01:01:50] and the CT.

[01:01:51] Well this is a

[01:01:52] the Continental Divide trail

[01:01:53] is a whole different ball game

[01:01:54] that's for sure.

[01:01:55] It's a lot wilder.

[01:01:58] I got some crazy weather

[01:01:59] out here in New Mexico

[01:02:00] and I think that will continue.

[01:02:02] I mean I'm in the Rockies

[01:02:04] so it throws everything

[01:02:05] at you.

[01:02:07] So it's going really well.

[01:02:09] I can't complain.

[01:02:10] I started March 30th

[01:02:11] and I've covered

[01:02:13] like I said about 600

[01:02:15] and well because of

[01:02:16] alternate routes

[01:02:17] I've covered a little less

[01:02:18] than the official

[01:02:19] mileage.

[01:02:20] You have

[01:02:21] you have a few more choices

[01:02:22] here than like the AT or

[01:02:23] the PCT.

[01:02:24] So

[01:02:26] but it's been going well.

[01:02:27] I can't complain.

[01:02:28] I can't complain.

[01:02:30] No blister.

[01:02:31] No blisters.

[01:02:32] Yeah no one's going to listen

[01:02:33] first of all and then every day

[01:02:34] on the trail is a good day.

[01:02:35] So yeah

[01:02:37] yeah I'm

[01:02:38] I'm not sitting at home

[01:02:39] hunched over my laptop

[01:02:40] so I can't.

[01:02:41] True.

[01:02:42] Like us.

[01:02:44] Well yeah I wasn't going to say

[01:02:45] anything but

[01:02:47] we'll get out there at some point.

[01:02:48] So now are you

[01:02:49] what is your style

[01:02:50] as far as through hiking.

[01:02:51] Are you like a super planner

[01:02:53] or do you

[01:02:54] just kind of

[01:02:56] do a general idea

[01:02:57] of where you're going to be

[01:02:58] week to week

[01:02:59] and this

[01:03:00] this roll with it.

[01:03:01] Well I

[01:03:02] you know I am a planner.

[01:03:04] I did put a spreadsheet together

[01:03:05] because you have to

[01:03:06] you have to have some kind of

[01:03:07] outline for a trip

[01:03:08] that's going to be

[01:03:10] 3000 miles

[01:03:11] and six months long.

[01:03:13] But you know a plan

[01:03:14] is just a plan

[01:03:16] when you finally get out there.

[01:03:18] And

[01:03:20] you know

[01:03:21] I work with that plan

[01:03:23] to you know

[01:03:24] know where I'm

[01:03:25] going to be

[01:03:26] what towns

[01:03:27] but night by night

[01:03:28] day by day

[01:03:29] water source by water source

[01:03:30] it's all kind of

[01:03:31] you know you're kind of

[01:03:32] making it up as you go.

[01:03:34] But

[01:03:35] the plan is the backbone

[01:03:36] of the whole thing

[01:03:37] and it's helpful.

[01:03:39] Got it.

[01:03:40] Now how does it compare

[01:03:41] to the other

[01:03:42] long distance trails

[01:03:43] as far as

[01:03:44] I mean my

[01:03:45] I don't know

[01:03:47] enough about the

[01:03:48] the continental divide

[01:03:49] but my impression

[01:03:50] is that

[01:03:52] there's not as many

[01:03:54] you know

[01:03:55] stops in town

[01:03:56] there's not as many

[01:03:58] resources as far as

[01:03:59] getting rides into town

[01:04:01] or hostels and things like that

[01:04:02] that are at your fingertips

[01:04:04] like you have in the

[01:04:05] Appalachian Trail at least.

[01:04:06] So are you finding

[01:04:07] that to be true?

[01:04:08] Incredibly

[01:04:09] that's changing.

[01:04:11] I think

[01:04:12] you know the AT

[01:04:13] clearly very popular

[01:04:14] has been

[01:04:15] always growing in numbers

[01:04:16] the PCT

[01:04:17] same thing.

[01:04:19] This one

[01:04:20] I think last year

[01:04:21] they said about 400 people

[01:04:22] started north

[01:04:23] from the Mexican border.

[01:04:25] I think that's going to be

[01:04:26] higher this year.

[01:04:27] There's a pretty good

[01:04:28] crowd out here.

[01:04:29] As a matter of fact

[01:04:30] the quote unquote bubble

[01:04:31] just kind of passed

[01:04:32] through here.

[01:04:34] I don't know how many

[01:04:35] people that is but

[01:04:37] so there's a lot more

[01:04:38] resources to this trail.

[01:04:40] I think people are turning

[01:04:41] hikers are turning

[01:04:42] to this trail

[01:04:43] as more of a wilderness

[01:04:44] experience

[01:04:46] for long distance hiking.

[01:04:48] And most

[01:04:50] most everybody out here

[01:04:52] but perhaps one person

[01:04:54] I know has hiked

[01:04:55] one or the other

[01:04:56] or both of the

[01:04:57] long trails

[01:04:58] the AT and the PCT

[01:04:59] before coming out here.

[01:05:01] Got it.

[01:05:02] So your experience

[01:05:03] and that's my impression

[01:05:04] too is that the CDT

[01:05:06] is typically done

[01:05:07] by people that have

[01:05:08] cut their teeth

[01:05:09] in some of the long

[01:05:10] trails

[01:05:11] and they're

[01:05:12] not I'm sure that

[01:05:13] there's people that have

[01:05:14] started

[01:05:16] doing it with

[01:05:17] the Continental Divide

[01:05:18] but my experience is

[01:05:19] that it seems to be

[01:05:20] like the second or

[01:05:21] third hike for people.

[01:05:22] Yeah you've

[01:05:23] you kind of have to

[01:05:24] have your

[01:05:25] you know

[01:05:26] you know what together

[01:05:27] out here

[01:05:28] because a lot

[01:05:29] can go wrong.

[01:05:30] There's navigational

[01:05:31] challenges

[01:05:32] there's weather

[01:05:33] challenges

[01:05:34] there's altitude

[01:05:35] there's sun

[01:05:36] there's water

[01:05:37] challenges.

[01:05:38] I mean it throws

[01:05:39] everything at you.

[01:05:40] You know I have an app

[01:05:41] on my phone.

[01:05:42] We all do for long

[01:05:43] distance hiking these days

[01:05:44] but I have still found

[01:05:45] myself you know a half

[01:05:46] mile off trail at times

[01:05:49] because you just

[01:05:50] wander this way down

[01:05:51] a cow path that looks

[01:05:52] like the trail.

[01:05:53] You just wander across

[01:05:55] you know a flat of

[01:05:56] sagebrush because it

[01:05:57] looks like that's the

[01:05:58] way to go and then

[01:05:59] you go well I'm way

[01:06:00] out of here.

[01:06:02] You know there's

[01:06:03] signs there's markers

[01:06:05] and then there is not

[01:06:07] you know there's a

[01:06:08] turn off on the

[01:06:09] you know there's a

[01:06:10] turn off a forest road

[01:06:11] onto a trail you walk

[01:06:12] right by it and vice

[01:06:13] versa.

[01:06:15] So you got to

[01:06:17] pay attention.

[01:06:18] You got to you got to

[01:06:19] keep it together and

[01:06:21] you're alone.

[01:06:22] I mean I've been alone

[01:06:23] most of the time.

[01:06:24] I'm seeing more hikers

[01:06:26] but you've

[01:06:28] got to be really

[01:06:29] be self-reliant.

[01:06:31] Yeah.

[01:06:32] Do you struggle with

[01:06:33] that.

[01:06:34] Do you have

[01:06:36] a hard time if you're on

[01:06:37] your own for two three

[01:06:38] days and you don't have

[01:06:39] that human interaction

[01:06:40] or are you more of an

[01:06:41] introvert person that

[01:06:42] can handle that.

[01:06:43] No problem.

[01:06:44] Well I'm not an introvert

[01:06:45] that's for sure.

[01:06:46] But you know I might

[01:06:47] have said that in the

[01:06:48] past but I'm loving

[01:06:51] the solitude.

[01:06:53] I won't pass up the

[01:06:54] chance to chat with

[01:06:55] another hiker or camp

[01:06:57] together but I have

[01:06:59] no problem hanging out

[01:07:00] by myself all

[01:07:02] day long.

[01:07:03] You're pretty much on

[01:07:04] your own and you're just

[01:07:05] your mind's just kind

[01:07:06] of wandering and you

[01:07:07] taking in the scenery

[01:07:08] and it's great.

[01:07:10] And then if most nights

[01:07:12] I'd say I've been out

[01:07:13] here 47 days

[01:07:15] I think something like

[01:07:16] that I've camped with

[01:07:17] other people maybe

[01:07:19] six times.

[01:07:21] Wow.

[01:07:22] So I'm

[01:07:23] assuming at this point

[01:07:24] in your you get

[01:07:26] a lot of hiking

[01:07:27] experience we'll talk

[01:07:28] about like your writing

[01:07:29] background and you're

[01:07:30] a new guy and all that

[01:07:31] but you probably have

[01:07:32] your gear pretty well

[01:07:33] dialed in through

[01:07:35] over the years.

[01:07:36] Did you have to sort of

[01:07:37] consciously make any

[01:07:38] decisions around changing

[01:07:39] up your gear for

[01:07:41] this hike or is

[01:07:42] it pretty much the same

[01:07:43] setup that you've been

[01:07:44] using for a while.

[01:07:46] You know I've got

[01:07:47] some gear that works.

[01:07:49] I do things a little bit

[01:07:50] differently.

[01:07:51] You know they've got all

[01:07:52] the super lightweight

[01:07:53] hikers and all the super

[01:07:55] lightweight gear and I

[01:07:56] don't quite fit into

[01:07:57] that mold.

[01:07:59] I'm still wearing boots

[01:08:01] although they're very

[01:08:02] lightweight boots.

[01:08:03] It's what works for my

[01:08:04] feet. As a matter of

[01:08:05] fact tomorrow I'm walking

[01:08:06] out of here on my

[01:08:08] eighth pair of

[01:08:10] lower renegade boots.

[01:08:12] I've gone about

[01:08:14] 7000 miles in those

[01:08:16] and not had a single

[01:08:17] blister.

[01:08:18] I think pretty much

[01:08:19] everyone else out here is

[01:08:20] wearing trail runners but

[01:08:21] that's great.

[01:08:23] I wear what works for me

[01:08:24] and the same with

[01:08:26] everyone else.

[01:08:27] The other thing is I'm

[01:08:28] carrying you know an

[01:08:30] Osprey pack.

[01:08:31] I got a new one for this

[01:08:32] hike and I'm not just

[01:08:33] trying to throw out

[01:08:34] brand names here but it's

[01:08:35] what works for me and

[01:08:36] it's heavier than most

[01:08:37] of the other packs that

[01:08:38] people are carrying out

[01:08:39] here.

[01:08:41] I think I'm carrying

[01:08:42] probably five pounds at

[01:08:43] least more than the

[01:08:45] average hiker or although

[01:08:46] there's some folks here

[01:08:47] out here that are

[01:08:49] carrying a few extras.

[01:08:51] You know I've got a

[01:08:52] freestanding tent.

[01:08:54] Most people are using

[01:08:55] those Dyneema brands

[01:08:58] using the trekking poles

[01:08:59] to set it up.

[01:09:00] So I'm doing things a

[01:09:01] little bit differently

[01:09:02] but that's what works

[01:09:03] for me.

[01:09:04] I don't like to do too

[01:09:05] much frigging with the

[01:09:06] rigging if you will.

[01:09:08] Yeah.

[01:09:09] That makes sense and I'm

[01:09:10] assuming I like that

[01:09:11] saying stomp.

[01:09:12] We may have to copyright

[01:09:13] that.

[01:09:14] Right.

[01:09:15] You're welcome to that

[01:09:16] one.

[01:09:17] I've got a few others.

[01:09:18] You probably already did.

[01:09:21] Oh well that's

[01:09:23] good.

[01:09:24] And then I'm assuming

[01:09:25] like the hammocking is not

[01:09:26] an option for the

[01:09:27] Continental Divide.

[01:09:28] Oh I think it is.

[01:09:29] You know I hiked with a

[01:09:30] guy for more than a

[01:09:31] couple of miles on the

[01:09:32] Pacific Crest Trail and

[01:09:33] he was a hammocker and

[01:09:34] he hammocked every night

[01:09:35] of the PCT and he did

[01:09:36] the CDT two years ago

[01:09:37] and I haven't asked him

[01:09:38] but I think he hammocked

[01:09:39] every night as well.

[01:09:41] And I saw him hammock

[01:09:42] in some wild situations

[01:09:43] where like some really

[01:09:44] weird trees that weren't

[01:09:45] going to hold up but he

[01:09:46] made it work.

[01:09:48] And he hammocked off

[01:09:49] a stone wall one night

[01:09:50] too in the CDT.

[01:09:52] And I'm assuming

[01:09:53] that's not an option for

[01:09:54] the Continental Divide.

[01:09:56] No.

[01:09:57] I'm not sure.

[01:09:58] I'm not sure.

[01:09:59] I'm not sure.

[01:10:00] I'm not sure.

[01:10:01] But he's in the Sierra

[01:10:02] at the John Muir hut

[01:10:03] so people can do it.

[01:10:06] Yeah I picture him

[01:10:07] being strapped between

[01:10:08] two Charlie Brown

[01:10:09] Christmas trees and

[01:10:10] just waiting for it to

[01:10:11] fall over.

[01:10:12] I have seen him do that.

[01:10:13] His name is Ranger.

[01:10:14] He's a good guy.

[01:10:16] Wow.

[01:10:17] Well how would you

[01:10:18] compare.

[01:10:20] So how long have you

[01:10:21] been doing these long

[01:10:22] distance do hikes?

[01:10:23] How many years since

[01:10:24] your first one?

[01:10:25] Well the first one was

[01:10:26] when I was 18 1977

[01:10:28] straight out of Bangor

[01:10:29] That was the you know I was the AT and then you know life kind of gets in the way you got jobs and college and

[01:10:38] Relationships and all that happy stuff, and so I didn't do I mean I did plenty of hiking some long-distance

[01:10:44] Hikes over two three weeks, but I didn't get back to a long distance like of this magnitude until

[01:10:52] 2015 and that's when that's when I did the AT a second time

[01:10:57] Yeah, and what is your thoughts on even though obviously the 70s it's a little bit of a different game, but

[01:11:03] over the last 10 years or so

[01:11:05] Has the things changes at the infer the access to information that the through hikers have is it?

[01:11:12] That's you I

[01:11:14] Guess I'm curious to get your perspective on like you know how has through hiking change over the last 10 years or so and is

[01:11:20] It for the the better from your perspective well, I mean

[01:11:25] Everybody has access to a lot of information. There's no question about it

[01:11:28] I clearly some people choose not to take great advantage of that which is unfortunate

[01:11:34] Because that's an easy way to get in trouble out here

[01:11:36] But you know I think one of the things that has revolutionized everything is I don't know how many other apps there are

[01:11:43] But we're all using the far out app it was actually got hook

[01:11:48] Ryan Lynn out of Portland, Maine. I think was the creator of that app

[01:11:52] So everybody it's it's universal everybody's using it

[01:11:57] The other thing that I think has kind of revolutionized things is the Garmin or the spot the satellite communicators

[01:12:06] I'm using the upgraded

[01:12:10] Garmin inReach Mini 2 and

[01:12:13] I'm able to keep in touch with other people on the trail and and my wife

[01:12:17] Who's actually out here supporting me with her our truck and camper, so it's kind of cool

[01:12:23] So with those things, but still you know all the technology in the world as you as you folks well know

[01:12:31] Can still leave you in trouble if you don't make

[01:12:36] The right decisions, and there are a lot of decisions you need to make to keep yourself safe out here

[01:12:43] and to make make progress and you know so

[01:12:48] Barney man

[01:12:50] Famous guy from the PCT trail angel and long-distance hiker himself

[01:12:55] I mean that was one of the big things he said the night before I started the PCT

[01:12:59] He was hosting 40 of us hikers, and he does that

[01:13:03] For a month or two each year

[01:13:05] He said make good decisions

[01:13:08] And I think I'd like that to be the title of my my book on these long-distance hikes is is good decision-making something like that

[01:13:16] Yeah, it's critical talk about yeah, and we often talk about like it's it's also small decisions

[01:13:21] So a lot of times you make five or six small decisions

[01:13:24] And you've already walked past the point where you're now you're in trouble, and you can't think through so

[01:13:29] Figuring out that inner voice that says like okay. This is this is not good

[01:13:33] Let's let's turn around or let's change it up

[01:13:35] Yeah, it takes a lot to develop that and not everybody can get that developed. You know it's interesting

[01:13:41] I was having dinners with some hikers the night before this was in Lordsburg, New Mexico way down south and

[01:13:46] My shuttle was going out to the border the next morning and a couple guys were at the table

[01:13:52] And theirs was going out two days later

[01:13:53] but one of the guys said

[01:13:55] He said he had heard the the continental divide show called the PhD of long-distance hiking

[01:14:02] And I thought wow you know I'd never heard that and and that's pretty interesting because

[01:14:08] You know I have a lot of time to think out here, and I've thought about how for me personally

[01:14:13] I this is really putting everything together

[01:14:18] Like a lifetime of experience just being alive and a lifetime of hiking

[01:14:23] Experience a lifetime of this kind of decision-making is all

[01:14:28] Going into this this walk, and it's pretty cool

[01:14:33] I

[01:14:34] Just you know I hope that keeps me out of trouble

[01:14:37] I hope that you complete your doctorate degree

[01:14:41] Yeah, like I mean go going ahead. It's interesting

[01:14:44] I've got a lot of snow just in the next six seven days to get to the Colorado border over

[01:14:50] 11,000 feet so we'll see how that all goes I walk through some snow

[01:14:54] And some storms, but you know you got to pay attention route finding

[01:15:00] And keeping yourself dry all the things that go into this it's pretty interesting

[01:15:06] Yeah, and do you have like a um?

[01:15:09] Like a set plan like oh, I know I'll be done by whatever September or are you just?

[01:15:16] Taking a day by day at this point

[01:15:19] Well, you know that you have a short shorter

[01:15:23] window than most

[01:15:25] For other trails because and you have the longer distance. You know this is much longer than the AT

[01:15:30] This is longer than the Pacific Crest Trail

[01:15:33] So you get you got to get this thing done, and I I want to do it my goal is to do it all this year

[01:15:40] And that may take me into October

[01:15:44] Okay, but you know I went into October on the Pacific Crest Trail, and I got snowed out in northern, Washington

[01:15:50] I had three or four snow storms right in a row and it was like wow this is I was going into the Glacier Peaks

[01:15:57] wilderness Glacier Peak wilderness and

[01:16:00] Was too late

[01:16:01] Too dangerous too remote, and I backed out so I didn't finish that till a couple years later

[01:16:07] I'm hoping that's not the case this year as a matter of fact

[01:16:12] Interestingly I've I'm I'm pretty sure I'm going to get to the Colorado border

[01:16:18] Cumbrase Pass and probably flip up to Wyoming

[01:16:23] Do a section called the Great Divide Basin up there, and that's it's kind of high desert. It'll be snow-free and then

[01:16:30] Flip up to Glacier National Park at the Canadian border and hike south

[01:16:35] So I think that's a winning strategy for getting this trail done this year

[01:16:41] in one year so

[01:16:43] We'll see everybody how you know

[01:16:46] It's really hard. I'm not I'm not a young guy, and I don't have long legs

[01:16:50] so I only have so much real estate to work with and

[01:16:54] it's it takes a long time to walk 3,000 miles and so you you have to be creative and

[01:17:03] There's some folks that I don't know very few people go straight through on this trail

[01:17:07] But it's it a lot of us are moving around to moving around

[01:17:13] What do you max out as far as and I know that this is

[01:17:18] You know each trails different, and it's it's you know 20 miles on one may not be the same as 20 miles on another

[01:17:23] But do you do your goal like okay?

[01:17:26] I want to get up to shape where I can do 20 miles a day

[01:17:28] Or do you is that more than more than what you typically know no I've done a couple of 25 mile days

[01:17:35] I've done a bunch of days over 20

[01:17:37] You know you pick your battles, I think is the terrain suitable that day for

[01:17:43] 25 miles is water a factor in your decision as to how far you go

[01:17:51] Are you trying I just wrote about this for the main Sunday telegram today

[01:17:57] It

[01:17:58] Are you trying to get into town?

[01:17:59] Because you want to get a room and a shower and a meal so the towns 25 miles

[01:18:04] I'm gonna just like crank it out. Are you trying to get to some trail magic or something?

[01:18:11] So you you know you probably don't do your 25 miles the first day out with your heavy pack

[01:18:17] Oh, you know weeks worth of food and water, but

[01:18:20] You know you pick your day if you're feeling good you you make the miles. I'm averaging

[01:18:26] about 18 miles a day which is

[01:18:29] Which is about what I need to do to make this thing happen in six months

[01:18:33] So I'm feeling pretty good about that. You know yeah, and you'll have you good days. You'll have you bad days

[01:18:38] You'll have you zeros as well the other day three four days ago. I struggled to do fourteen and a half

[01:18:44] It was just that kind of day

[01:18:47] But I've I've done 22 23 with like wow I could do more, but I'm just gonna sit down and have dinner and go to bed

[01:18:54] Yeah, no um you taught you touched on this a little bit sort of your early days

[01:18:59] So if you did the Appalachian Trail in the in the 70s when you were a young man

[01:19:03] I'm assuming that you grew up

[01:19:05] Exposed to the outdoors can you talk a little bit about like your early life?

[01:19:08] And I want to get into a little bit about your you know your background growing up and then talk about you

[01:19:13] You know your writing

[01:19:15] Career sure well living in Maine. You know the outdoors is everything

[01:19:20] I've lived on the coast. I've lived inland

[01:19:23] Maine is you know I heard it called the Alaska of the East the other day, and I I thought well

[01:19:27] That's pretty cool. Yeah. I think it is well, Alaska might be the main of the West. I don't know sense

[01:19:33] That might be more accurate

[01:19:36] Maine is just tailor-made for being an outdoors person. I you know I'm I don't

[01:19:41] Hunt I've never been much of a angler

[01:19:44] But I sure do love hiking and backpacking and camping and there's plenty of that

[01:19:48] So I've done that all my life from you know from the time before I did the 80 in the 70s

[01:19:54] and all the way through and

[01:19:58] Maine has been kind of my my my palate if you will of for

[01:20:04] for

[01:20:06] For enjoying life. There's just so much there

[01:20:09] I feel that if you're living in Maine, and you love the outdoors you've got everything

[01:20:14] Do you recall what what the trigger was for you to decide to do the Appalachian Trail at

[01:20:20] Graduation around when you when you were young man. I sure do

[01:20:26] We my family I grew up a little bit in New Jersey

[01:20:28] And we used to vacation in the Berkshires of Western Mass and part of our vacation every year was to drive up Mount Greylock and

[01:20:36] And we would go to the Berkshires and we would go to the Berkshires and we would go to the Berkshires

[01:20:41] And part of our vacation every year was to drive up Mount Greylock and as the road winds up to the top, you know

[01:20:49] It it crosses the at2 maybe three times

[01:20:52] And my dad would stop the car because I'd see the signs and we walk into the woods and I just became so fascinated

[01:21:00] By the idea that these white blazes led from that point north 500 something miles to katahdin

[01:21:07] And south 1500 miles to Springer Mountain in Georgia and I was 11 10 9 8

[01:21:13] I don't know. I was really young and I never ever got that out of my head

[01:21:19] so much to the detriment of my high school studies, um, that was pretty much all I could think about

[01:21:26] And when I was 18, I actually kind of talked my way out of high school a couple months early to go start the trail

[01:21:34] and it really uh

[01:21:37] That experience at that young age really kind of altered my dna

[01:21:42] Um, I think in a good way

[01:21:45] I but it really changed things and i've never never been able to

[01:21:52] Look at things any, you know the same way

[01:21:55] And did you do we already accepted to college like you had a plan you were going to college and this was

[01:21:59] The time to do it before you went off or did you not no I had no plan

[01:22:04] I had the at as a plan. This really upset my parents

[01:22:09] and i'm sure my teachers and and everything else no, I was

[01:22:14] I had a few issues as a kid and this was one of them and uh, you know

[01:22:18] It took me

[01:22:20] You know when I talk about altering the dna that the whole being out there what?

[01:22:25] Living a simple life of food shelter and clothing on the at

[01:22:30] in a sense it kind of messed me up and I I

[01:22:33] um, it took me a couple of years to figure things out and go through some hard times before

[01:22:39] I was able to uh apply and get to get into college. So it was it was it was a tough period

[01:22:46] you know, and I made some mistakes and

[01:22:49] but

[01:22:50] Kind of got it all together got to got into college university of maine got a degree got a master's degree. So, um

[01:22:58] And i'm still hiking so yeah, you still you you found you kept the passion somehow

[01:23:03] Yeah, so you you eventually so for the listeners, so you're aware

[01:23:07] so carrie has uh, he's the author of

[01:23:12] Um the main mountain guide. So this is you know, this is essentially like the white mountain guide

[01:23:16] But it's all the hiking trails for for main. So this is the amc book

[01:23:21] So this is the bible for hiking in in maine exactly

[01:23:25] Can you so you you you started writing this in 2015?

[01:23:29] Correct. No, it goes back to uh 2010. I've done three 2010. I've done three editions

[01:23:35] I have you know, i've been writing all my life. I'm, you know, i've always been a pretty good writer

[01:23:41] I I was never a trained journalist

[01:23:43] But I am a professional writer now and I have been for 20 years

[01:23:47] um

[01:23:49] I was writing for the main sunday telegram the hiking column, which is something i've done since uh,

[01:23:55] 2002 I think

[01:23:57] So I got many hundreds of thousands of words just in that publication alone under my belt

[01:24:03] So i'd been doing that at the time for seven or eight years and rob burbank who was then the pr director for the amc

[01:24:10] Um, they were looking for somebody to take over the main mountain guide and basically rewrite it

[01:24:15] um, and rob got hold of me and he says you want to do that and I said

[01:24:21] Absolutely. Yes

[01:24:23] Um, so it was a huge project it was we were reformatting it rewriting it

[01:24:29] Uh, and I took that opportunity right then and there

[01:24:33] And anybody out there who knows what that book looks like today?

[01:24:37] I added a lot of new hikes and that book today

[01:24:41] is

[01:24:43] At least double its size. It rivals the white mountain guide

[01:24:48] Uh, my friends the editors steve smith and ken mcgray will will get a chuckle out of that

[01:24:54] But i'm quite proud of that. Um

[01:24:57] uh, so

[01:24:59] You know, uh, just the the 12th edition just came out last year and it's been huge

[01:25:05] It's been a monumental project to keep going with that, but I I just absolutely love it

[01:25:11] How do you go about um the research for finding new trail systems and then what's the

[01:25:18] What's the decision point in adding new trail systems?

[01:25:21] Is it completely up to your discretion if you find like okay, this this is above a town trail, but

[01:25:28] Not quite like big enough to

[01:25:30] Make it to the book or how do you make that judgment? Well, um

[01:25:34] It's been my call. So that's a great question

[01:25:37] um it it's technically

[01:25:40] A the comprehensive guide to the mountain trails of maine

[01:25:44] And there are some exceptions to that

[01:25:47] um, and we you know

[01:25:49] I I work on those on a case-by-case basis

[01:25:52] If we were to make that a comprehensive guide to all the hiking trails in maine, it would be about four volumes

[01:25:58] You know, so there's got to be some kind of limit there

[01:26:02] So if it's a mountain hill a bump, uh, it's in the book if it's a contributing trail to the trail system

[01:26:10] for access

[01:26:12] It's probably in the book as well

[01:26:14] um, and i'm just constant I constantly have my ear to the ground, uh, if you will

[01:26:21] my sensors out to uh

[01:26:23] to discover new trails I stay in touch with all the land trusts and

[01:26:28] All the land management agencies i've worked closely with the bureau parks and lands

[01:26:33] uh on all their land, so i'm i'm constantly

[01:26:37] And i'm out there too because there's trails in the book that I found just by happenstance just by being out there and going

[01:26:43] Oh, that's new. Where does that go?

[01:26:46] um, you know, so

[01:26:47] it's a journey of discovery all the time and

[01:26:51] If you find me out in the woods, it's very likely. I have my gps my phone and my

[01:26:57] You know my notebook and pen

[01:26:59] I have volumes of field notebooks because i'm always out hiking trails and updating them and

[01:27:06] It's a you know, it's a lot of work. Um, yeah, i'm curious about the guide. So two questions for you one is

[01:27:14] Is it is it a thing like it is a thing in new hampshire where people try to hike all the trails in the

[01:27:21] You know the white mountain guide is is anybody pursuing trying to hike all of the trails in the guide and then number two

[01:27:28] Are you are you pursuing that? Uh

[01:27:31] I

[01:27:32] Honestly, I must admit. I there are about uh,

[01:27:36] I think i'm down to 10 or 11 mountains in the guide that i've never hiked that i've relied on other people

[01:27:43] But i'm not close. I'm not going to tell you what those hikes are

[01:27:46] Because because there is a little there are some people out there right now trying to

[01:27:52] Quote unquote redline the whole main mountain guide and I I wish them. Well, good luck. Um,

[01:27:59] You better get them done soon because the next edition

[01:28:02] Will be will be out and i'll have more I already have four

[01:28:06] so, okay

[01:28:08] Wow, well that's interesting and then and you know what I gotta tell you I gotta say though

[01:28:13] it's really cool having

[01:28:15] The the arc of experience, uh all of this time in maine and in the main woods and on our trails

[01:28:22] That the the amount of conservation

[01:28:25] That has happened over the last 30 40 years is extraordinary

[01:28:29] And with that the trail building, uh, and all of the infrastructure. We're just so lucky and across new england really

[01:28:37] um

[01:28:38] There's just so much has that that has happened and new trails are popping up all the time

[01:28:43] And so really I got to say hats off to

[01:28:46] The conservationists the preservationists the trail builders the maintainers as a matter of fact. I want uh,

[01:28:52] I dedicated the 12th edition of the main

[01:28:55] mountain guide to

[01:28:56] The trail maintainers of the state with a shout out especially to the baxter state park trail crew

[01:29:02] Because without them there are no trails

[01:29:05] you know if

[01:29:06] You've and I I always say, you know

[01:29:10] Um people should be volunteering there's there's so much to be done and all of these folks, uh, they need more help

[01:29:16] They need more hands-on

[01:29:18] you know

[01:29:20] pick up a pair of slippers and

[01:29:22] I even see it in our little like my I have relatives that live in western

[01:29:25] Maine or in by freiburg and like I even see it like mount cutler and hyrum has just opened up

[01:29:30] Yeah over the last couple years

[01:29:31] I mean, that's a whole five six miles worth of trail system there and then obviously we I

[01:29:36] Spend a lot of time in burnt meadow and pleasant mountain and I tell people all the time from new hampshire

[01:29:40] I'm like come over to western. Maine like there's these these mountains out here and they get sometimes they get crowded

[01:29:46] But they're not as bad as new hampshire and they're just as challenging

[01:29:50] Yeah, and uh, you know, you got to find a way to give back. Um, it's very easy to use our trails and um

[01:29:58] Not think about how they got there

[01:30:01] And we really need to because every trail organization

[01:30:04] Needs more help

[01:30:06] yeah, and I think maine is just so immensely it's just it's much bigger than most of the other states and

[01:30:13] Um, so the work is much more spread out. I would imagine

[01:30:17] Yes, it is

[01:30:18] And speaking of i'll put in a plug for me

[01:30:20] If anyone wants to help me with the next edition of the main mountain god, I am all over. Oh cool

[01:30:25] I am all over it. Well, it's it's a nice it's a big state a lot of ground to cover and uh

[01:30:32] I'm just one guy

[01:30:35] Now one other project that you've well, you've got you got two other books

[01:30:38] but the one I want to focus on is you you did a recent project which

[01:30:42] Is like it's music to our ears here. So

[01:30:46] yeah, and I think that you

[01:30:48] you definitely are keeping your eye on sort of the

[01:30:52] the um

[01:30:53] You know the the sort of culture of hiking because you were smart enough to put together a book that highlights. Um

[01:31:01] Cool hikes and then attaches those hikes to

[01:31:05] Cool breweries across new england, correct?

[01:31:08] Absolutely. It's called beer hiking new england 50 hikes paired with 50 breweries

[01:31:14] What that's great. What a joy that was to put together the research was very difficult

[01:31:20] I bet

[01:31:21] Do you remember it?

[01:31:23] Uh, some of my notes early on are a little sketchy

[01:31:27] Um, I I must admit to having walked out of a few breweries early on and gone

[01:31:32] Oh my god, I never took a photo or a note, but I did drink three ipas

[01:31:37] um

[01:31:38] right, so I kind of had to

[01:31:41] Get my act together with that. But um, you know

[01:31:45] I I thought I thought I knew new england. Um, and it turns out there was a lot. I didn't know

[01:31:52] That book, um as it is now we'll take you all over new england to places you've probably never heard of

[01:31:59] Um, and you'll drink drink some great beer and you'll meet some really cool people

[01:32:04] Both the uh, the the land managers and the brewers and their their their staff

[01:32:09] Um, it was just so much fun. I just discovered

[01:32:14] You know like for example, uh

[01:32:16] I thought well i've got to include rhode island in the book

[01:32:19] But what the heck's in rhode island i-95 potucket and providence, right? Maybe some ocean

[01:32:25] Well, I get down there. It turns out there's a wealth of public lands in rhode island and and a heck of a lot of good

[01:32:31] beer

[01:32:32] and the same I found with connecticut and and massachusetts and

[01:32:36] you know, I knew rhode island, excuse me, uh, may in new hampshire vermont a little better but

[01:32:41] Um, I saw some cool stuff and I I had a chance to really

[01:32:47] um do this great geographic

[01:32:50] um

[01:32:52] dispersal of of my

[01:32:54] breweries and hikes and so you get that book you'll go you'll go all over and

[01:33:00] And take your own notes because i'll i'll need to re redo that book at some point. So i'll be interested

[01:33:06] All the listeners want to know is is there a patch involved with this challenge, you know, there's there should be and um

[01:33:15] Oops my publisher and I will we'll talk about that for the next the next time because um, but you will get my personal

[01:33:23] You know hats off if you get around to all 50 of them

[01:33:27] Um, yeah, that's awesome. And I I think in the course of the research

[01:33:30] I drove something like 20 000 miles hiked about five or six hundred

[01:33:35] And i'm i'm embarrassed to say that I probably over the course of three years drank about 800 something beers

[01:33:43] So

[01:33:44] You needed to build up those calories for the hike you're on right now. Absolutely

[01:33:48] But how many calories is that? Oh, it's a lot 800. Yeah get back to us when you finish the math stop

[01:33:53] so a question about the the book so you included a little you know tidbits of history in the

[01:33:59] Um in the segments of the book, right?

[01:34:01] So was there anything that stood out to you like anything you learned historically traveling through new england to do the book?

[01:34:09] I learned, uh, if I had forgotten it I learned a new then just how geographically diverse new england is

[01:34:17] um, I like like I was telling you I just saw so many different places

[01:34:22] um that

[01:34:24] That I just didn't know were there and

[01:34:28] I think one of the coolest things was

[01:34:31] You know where I?

[01:34:33] May new england has been at the forefront of beer making, you know breweries for a long time now

[01:34:39] Um, we're leaders main is a leader. Massachusetts has tons of them

[01:34:44] I was just really uh, it was heartwarming to

[01:34:49] Interview the brewers and the owners and the staff and find out just how passionate all of these

[01:34:56] Breweries are about their their product their beer

[01:35:00] About their staff and their patrons and their community

[01:35:04] And I tried to put that all into the book in the little snippets. I did on each of the breweries

[01:35:11] Um, it was great. It was great. I learned a lot and um,

[01:35:15] I met a lot of great people and you will too as you go around

[01:35:19] to these trails and these breweries

[01:35:22] There's there's a lot of cool people out there

[01:35:25] Yeah, and for the listeners, I think this is the this is the father's day gift that you want to want to pick up

[01:35:29] So this is the the book is called beer hiking new england the tastiest way and we'll include this in the show notes

[01:35:35] Uh, but this is definitely like this. This will if you have a father or anybody even even a mom

[01:35:41] Um, and they like beer and they like hiking like this is this is they need to have this

[01:35:46] Yeah, and you'll get to taste a lot of different beers. It's not all ipas. I I try to feature

[01:35:52] Um, not always the flagship it could have been a beer

[01:35:55] That uh, the guy on the the next bar stool was drinking or somebody across the table or or whatever I felt like that day

[01:36:02] Um, there's just so much good beer and so many great trails

[01:36:07] Yeah, yeah for sure. Um, so two questions for you. Um,

[01:36:12] hidden gems in

[01:36:14] main

[01:36:15] You know from your from your perspective if you were to recommend to somebody

[01:36:19] And again, I use burnt meadow all the time because that's close to me that a lot of people aren't as familiar with it

[01:36:24] But do you have any recommendations on on hikes or mountains that you tell people, you know, go check this out

[01:36:29] You're not going to see a lot of crowds, but you're going to get good views

[01:36:32] And I know obviously you you we're asking a lot for you to give away your secrets. Oh, no

[01:36:37] It's just me you would stop no

[01:36:40] You know pretty much anything in arista county

[01:36:43] uh, and I got a uh

[01:36:45] I've got a story coming out in the main sunday telegram, uh, either next sunday or the week after and it's on hikes in

[01:36:51] The north main woods up in arista county

[01:36:54] You'll drive a lot of gravel gravel logging roads. Uh, you won't see a lot of people you'll get some great views and there are some

[01:37:02] Uh pretty deserted campsites up there. So that that would be one thing

[01:37:07] uh, if you haven't done a lot of exploring in, you know, the northern parts of the the counties like

[01:37:12] Piscataquas and and penobscot and uh somerset and all that and then arista county you're missing out because

[01:37:20] It's it's big wild country

[01:37:24] Another cool place that uh, it has kind of come around. Uh recently is cops cook shores out in the lubec area

[01:37:33] um, there's there's a few mountains out there and some of them are in the main mountain guide and my coastal hikes book, but

[01:37:40] Check out cops cook shores. Um, it's just pristine

[01:37:45] country and there's some good hikes, uh

[01:37:48] Some are five miles some are a half mile, but uh some of that down east, uh terrain is um, really out of control beautiful

[01:37:56] Um, so those are a couple of my favorites anyway

[01:38:00] Got it. And then um, can you talk a little bit so you live close to acadia?

[01:38:04] Can you talk a little bit about what's it like living there as a local and you know

[01:38:07] You see the population explosion over the summer. Are you?

[01:38:11] You used to it at this point

[01:38:12] I mean, there must be a lot of years where it's just sort of

[01:38:15] In the background for you, but can you give a local's perspective of what?

[01:38:19] It gets busy. Yeah, you're getting four million visitors a year and most of them come between uh, you know memorial day and uh,

[01:38:27] The middle of october so it's hard, uh sometimes but you know, it's beautiful

[01:38:32] Um when I retired I was we were living in portland down the portland area my wife and I and I never you know

[01:38:37] When I retired from a regular job, um

[01:38:41] I never thought i'd move north but we just happened to be up there hiking one year in october

[01:38:46] it's probably 10 or 11 years ago now and uh

[01:38:49] Ended up buying a house and live it on the island. Um

[01:38:53] and

[01:38:54] What we were looking for was a place where we could just go hiking without driving two hours

[01:38:59] And that's what we do

[01:39:00] So we've got all of the you know

[01:39:03] 220 miles of trails on the island plus the carriage roads and in the wintertime cross-country skiing on the carriage roads

[01:39:10] There's sea kayaking. There's canoeing. It's pretty cool

[01:39:13] Do you have to battle the traffic? Uh, you know people think all of mount desert island is a national park. So

[01:39:21] Um, sometimes you'll have active people actively parking in the middle of the road because they think they can

[01:39:27] Um, you know, it can take an hour and a half to get to ellsworth to go to the grocery store so, you know, there's some

[01:39:35] Upsides and there's some downsides, but I wouldn't trade it

[01:39:38] um, i'm just thrilled to death to be able to uh,

[01:39:41] To say I live. Uh, as a matter of fact our

[01:39:45] Our property uh abuts acadia national park so we can walk right into the park

[01:39:51] Not bad

[01:39:51] but unfortunately like you still can't get away from the car situation because you decided to write the book and drive all over new england and

[01:39:57] Now you know, you got you got the support crew on the continental deluxe. No matter what you do you're putting miles on you

[01:40:03] Yeah, it's just the way of the world, you know life is short. You got to get around and um, right so, you know

[01:40:09] we uh

[01:40:11] You know, we try to keep our environmental footprint down in other ways I suppose

[01:40:16] Yeah, yeah for sure. Um

[01:40:19] so the um

[01:40:21] The plans for you normally i'd say like oh what's your what's your plans for the future? But you're basically

[01:40:26] Going to be on trail for the next four or five months

[01:40:29] Do you think this will be it for you for long trails at this point? Um, maybe of this uh length 3 000 miles

[01:40:35] Uh, perhaps yes

[01:40:37] um, but i've got a lot of other trails i'm interested in um, the arizona trail from

[01:40:44] Mexico up to utah

[01:40:46] Is high on the list that's 800 miles

[01:40:48] Um, I would love to do the camino de san iago

[01:40:52] across from france across

[01:40:55] To uh the other side of spain that's 500 and something miles. So

[01:41:00] um, I think shorter hikes, um, I have

[01:41:04] A fair number of books. I would like to write some are in works in progress. Others are just still ideas

[01:41:11] um

[01:41:12] So I got to spend a little more time

[01:41:15] Getting those in order

[01:41:17] um, so

[01:41:18] um shorter hikes

[01:41:21] That don't take six or seven months might be good

[01:41:25] But never say never

[01:41:28] Yeah, you see how this goes and uh now do you uh, do you let the beard just go wild for the next six months?

[01:41:35] Or do you keep it trimmed up? No those days are over I think um

[01:41:40] You know in the desert I got myself a good haircut and uh, i've been trimming the beard

[01:41:44] So I probably won't look as shaggy as when I came off the pct or the at

[01:41:49] Got it. And do you keep an eye on the diet at all?

[01:41:52] Or do you you pretty much just eat whatever is readily available?

[01:41:55] I eat whatever is in front of me and I may eat what's in front of you

[01:42:00] Um if if you're not careful

[01:42:03] um

[01:42:05] The uh, we bought oh here at ghost ranch

[01:42:08] It's a education retreat center and they just they cater to hikers because it's like right off the trail

[01:42:13] And it's a beautiful place. This is georgia o'keeffe country and for 30 dollars you get lunch dinner dinner

[01:42:20] And uh, excuse me

[01:42:21] Yeah dinner breakfast and lunch all you can eat and i'm i've been here two days and i'm not losing any weight

[01:42:27] Which is probably a good thing because i'm probably burning about four thousand plus calories a day

[01:42:33] I can't carry enough food

[01:42:36] To fuel my body. No one can out here. It's it's pretty wild

[01:42:40] Um, and my uh, my pants are already pretty loose. Um

[01:42:44] I know at the end of the pacific crest trail up in washington. I was um, I was it was embarrassing

[01:42:50] Um, I my wife came to meet me and I had to wear a pair of her pants

[01:42:55] Uh because nothing fit me

[01:42:57] And they were loose on me. I as a matter of fact, yeah, I got back to my uh

[01:43:01] I got back to my high school weight of 142 pounds. I lost 32 pounds

[01:43:06] Um, and i'm i'm pretty much on target to do that again

[01:43:09] um walk walking with a backpack up and down mountains all day for months at a time will uh,

[01:43:14] Will definitely um alter your physique

[01:43:18] Yeah, yeah, no doubt and the problem too is like you your body becomes so efficient that sometimes you get caught in this trap where

[01:43:25] Um, you have a hard time eating the calories you need to eat in order to to burn

[01:43:29] So I know sometimes that hunger is not not a problem, but I think

[01:43:33] Sometimes it gets challenging to be able to consume as much food as you need. Yeah, I I uh,

[01:43:38] I've just packed my bag for the next week. Um before the the show tonight and um,

[01:43:45] I I you you maybe uh

[01:43:47] You would have noticed uh several. Um hostess, uh fruit pies going in that pack at 500 calories a piece

[01:43:56] So, um, oh wow, you know, you've really got to pack it in but i've also taken some

[01:44:02] pointers from other hikers out here who uh

[01:44:05] I have performed pretty well and i've added some dried fruit more dried fruit to my

[01:44:11] Regimen and more nuts and things like that more jerky

[01:44:14] So i'm trying to be a little smarter about it than all the crap I ate on the other two trails

[01:44:20] Um, because that only that really only goes so far

[01:44:23] Yeah, yeah, it's a lot of empty calories. But but carrie this is great. Um stop. I don't did I miss any questions anything?

[01:44:29] You want to cover?

[01:44:31] I was curious mike. Is it is it 2.5 million visitors per year to the white mountains? Is that

[01:44:37] Yeah, I think yeah 4 million visitors 2.5 million hikers

[01:44:42] compared to

[01:44:43] What did you say carry 5 million 4 million visitors a year to acadia which is you know

[01:44:48] A whole lot smaller and more compact and oh, yeah, there's one bridge on and off the island. So it's uh

[01:44:54] You know, that's amazing. It's pretty wild. Um

[01:44:56] Uh bar harbor is out of control in the middle of the summer, but it's still beautiful

[01:45:02] There's no place like it. So

[01:45:04] Wow, well, I did want to just say thank you to uh agent sweezy

[01:45:08] She's one of our listeners and she helps us behind the scenes sometimes so she was the referral source for you. Carrie

[01:45:13] That's awesome. Again. Thank you lynn

[01:45:16] And uh, finally on my end if uh, do you know steve smith personally? I certainly do mountain wanderer bookstore

[01:45:24] There you go, so you got to put the bug in his ear to come on the podcast

[01:45:27] Yeah this you were a test case so you didn't run away screaming

[01:45:30] So maybe steve will listen to it and say okay. Well these guys aren't too bad

[01:45:33] I will send him a note. See if I can get steve and and his co-editor ken mcgray. Uh, i'll put i'll get him your way

[01:45:41] Yeah, well, it's so funny. We're getting closer

[01:45:43] Yeah, it's and it's so funny how you mentioned how like the continental divides the piece

[01:45:47] I've used the same analogy when it comes to new hampshire hiking where i've said like

[01:45:51] The 4000 footer is you the 4000 footer list is like your undergrad

[01:45:56] Degree the 52 with the view is your master's program and then the terrifying 25 is where you really get your phd

[01:46:04] And in new hampshire, so i've used the same thing, but I think i'm a you know

[01:46:08] I'm talking maybe a smaller university. You're in the ivy leagues here with the big the big launch. I'll tell you guys

[01:46:14] Uh, I've got a long ways to go. So it's uh, you know, you only eat this elephant one, uh, one bite at a time

[01:46:22] um, i've got uh

[01:46:24] 24 2500 miles to go

[01:46:27] um, but one step at a time one day at a time, you know, I I I

[01:46:31] Attack this like the uh, the aa people, you know one day at a time

[01:46:36] Yeah, yeah, so but I think um for the listeners if you're interested in in, um, you know, carrie's work will include a

[01:46:43] You know information into

[01:46:45] Where you can purchase some of his books. So again the the main mountain guide from the amc

[01:46:50] He's got a book

[01:46:51] that's the amc's best day hikes along the main coast and then uh,

[01:46:54] Like we talked about the great idea for father's day beer hiking new england

[01:46:58] so we'll make sure we include the links for how you can purchase all of those and uh,

[01:47:03] You know, we'll also include a little bit of info, you know

[01:47:05] You get an instagram page and all that so people can follow along. Yeah, that'd be great exploits

[01:47:09] I'd love to have folk more folks follow the hike

[01:47:11] Uh, there's some beautiful country out here and a lot of people haven't seen it and I love sharing it

[01:47:17] Yeah, well we want you to stay safe

[01:47:18] And like you said one step at a time and uh, keep us updated and we'll be rooting for you and one beer at a time

[01:47:24] one beer at a time

[01:47:28] Yeah, and I did the math on that so it's

[01:47:31] 600 000 calories that you consumed during the writing of that book. Yeah. Hey, you know just quickly

[01:47:36] Uh, you know on the at was a funny thing

[01:47:38] I got the name beer man on the trail named beer man on the at and uh, I actually uh,

[01:47:44] I I had a point two four seven bpm on the at

[01:47:49] beers per mile

[01:47:50] Nice. I was gonna say beats per minute

[01:47:54] But I tell you as i've gotten a little older and the trails have gotten tougher like the pct

[01:47:58] I did I did a lot less and out here I enjoy a beer, but i'm not trying to do a heavy duty bpm

[01:48:05] I just want to finish

[01:48:07] So beers per mile, that's a new metric

[01:48:11] Bpm

[01:48:13] Right, that's perfect

[01:48:15] All right, fantastic carrie best of luck to you and we'll keep the listeners updated

[01:48:19] We'll keep an eye on your progress. Sounds like a plan. You guys made it easy. I love you

[01:48:23] Thank you so much for having me on and hello to everybody

[01:48:27] Awesome, you bet. Awesome. All right, take care

[01:48:33] All right stomp

[01:48:35] That was great. What a cool guy

[01:48:37] Excellent guy. Yeah, really interesting like fascinating life

[01:48:41] yeah, it's nice to be able to um

[01:48:43] I mean, it's so romantic. I don't know if it's my kind of

[01:48:47] Lifestyle, but uh some people really enjoy just just living that life outdoors. Yeah, just yeah. Yeah, they thrive on it and uh

[01:48:56] Carrie is one of those people

[01:48:58] Yeah, yeah, I always wonder um how I would do sort of on those long trails for extended amount of time

[01:49:05] Versus like my preference is to sort of like do the day hike and then come back and have dinner with the family

[01:49:10] But i'm sure you get used to it

[01:49:12] And you know, he certainly lived quite an interesting life and he's given back so much to the community with the writing and the volunteer

[01:49:18] work and everything so

[01:49:20] um

[01:49:20] You know, we'll keep an eye on it. We'll keep the keep the crew update

[01:49:23] Oh, we'll keep the listeners updated on how he's doing and you know

[01:49:26] The cdt is interesting because you do bounce around quite a bit. So it's not always a linear hike, but i'm sure

[01:49:32] He'll bang it out and get it done. Yeah for sure

[01:50:02] Oh

[01:50:17] All right, so um moving on to

[01:50:20] Our final segment of the show which is recent search and rescue news. So i'm starting off. We've got 48 peaks

[01:50:28] excellent

[01:50:29] Use your passion for hiking to help end alzheimer's in one collective effort

[01:50:34] 400 plus hikers will climb new hampshire's 4 000 footers

[01:50:37] Or create their own challenge to support the mission of the alzheimer's association

[01:50:42] The annual hiker celebration will take place saturday june 8th at reckless brewing company

[01:50:47] With raffles food and an amazing community hike that weekend or any day you want

[01:50:53] No fundraising minimums required, but those who raise 100

[01:50:57] Dollars will receive this year's performance grade purple t-shirt

[01:51:01] Let's turn the white mountains purple to end alzheimer's

[01:51:05] Visit alts.org right slash 48 peaks to learn more and uh, you know, mike and I will be there i'll be spinning some tunes. Um,

[01:51:14] Under the news slash your tent. So come on by and say hi

[01:51:18] Yep, and I just got my patch in the mail. Oh, did you say well what peak are you doing now?

[01:51:24] I don't know. I don't know actually. Um, I gotta talk with lynn. I forget. Okay. All right

[01:51:30] Agents obby was reaching out to me asking me as well and I was like, I have no idea i'm just

[01:51:34] I'm, just showing up. Tell me where to be who else is on your team. Do you know?

[01:51:38] I have no idea

[01:51:40] All right. Well, I think you might have a couple celebrities

[01:51:43] I probably do I just I gotta do some research

[01:51:46] I know I know lynn has it covered and i'm gonna be there i'm gonna i'm gonna raise my money

[01:51:51] But I just haven't picked a chance. It's been so crazy with work

[01:51:54] Well, let's just let's just say you better start working on some uh handstands. Okay?

[01:51:59] Yes, okay

[01:52:00] Oh, no. Okay. We'll see. Um, stop. Do you have you ever heard of a hoodoo? Uh

[01:52:06] A hoodoo. I have no idea what a hoodoo is

[01:52:10] Who do who do um, so apparently the word means to be witch but there's also a different meaning in in utah's bryce

[01:52:19] Canyon, and it's a certain type of rock formation

[01:52:22] and apparently

[01:52:25] Hoodoo is a tall skinny shaft of rock

[01:52:28] That protrudes from the bottom of arid basins and they're commonly found in high plateau regions of colorado

[01:52:36] and in the badlands of the northern great plains, so

[01:52:40] Um hoodoos are scattered throughout these areas nowhere in the world

[01:52:44] Are they as abundant as in the northern section of bryce canyon national park?

[01:52:49] Okay. Oh, so they're like uh spires

[01:52:53] The difference between a hoodoo and a spire is that hoodoos have a variable thickness

[01:53:00] Often described as having a totem pole shaped body. Oh, oh, that's right. Okay, cool. I'm looking at some pics

[01:53:08] Huh?

[01:53:09] All right

[01:53:10] So the reason I bring this up stomp is that um, there was a guy that was in bryce canyon

[01:53:17] That jumped across a gap

[01:53:19] And as he was on to one of these hoodoos

[01:53:22] So he was like i'm gonna go i'm full send i'm jumping over to the hoodoo

[01:53:26] and apparently like it's like a thousand foot drop if you miss it, but it's like a five foot jump, so it's

[01:53:32] Dangerous, but not not a dangerous enough where you could really like miss it

[01:53:35] But apparently as he jumped he he hurt his ankle. Oh

[01:53:40] So he sort of found himself essentially like he found himself sitting on this hoodoo

[01:53:45] With a broken ankle and a five foot jump to get back to like the regular

[01:53:50] safe area

[01:53:51] And you can see the picture here. It's like it's definitely in that range where it's like, yeah, you could jump that

[01:53:57] But with a broken ankle like why risk falling like a thousand feet down?

[01:54:01] How about the rescuer crossing over the uh, the ladder to get to him? Yeah

[01:54:05] Yeah, so the rescue so somehow the guy called ems and uh, the medical services

[01:54:11] Went there to rescue him and they brought along like a ladder and they basically

[01:54:16] Cooked the ladder up very similar to like what you would see in like the kumbu ice field in um on mount everest

[01:54:23] in matter of fact that picture of him with the ladder like I feel like he's not far enough onto the hoodoo with the

[01:54:28] ladder there snop in my view, but

[01:54:30] um

[01:54:31] The rescue team member he's roped up and he's crawling across the ladder

[01:54:35] And he's heading out to to hopefully I guess triage the guy and then they were able to

[01:54:41] Get the victim to crawl across the span

[01:54:45] and um

[01:54:48] Make his way back and then from there they um

[01:54:52] They were able to get get him out safely. So that's amazing. Um

[01:54:55] just be careful when you're gonna do a jump over onto a hoodoo just

[01:54:59] Make sure you land safely. I stumbled upon a

[01:55:03] Parkour video recently of people

[01:55:06] parkour

[01:55:08] aficionados that were

[01:55:09] Fairly skilled clearly, but they were jumping from one of these to another to another to another with

[01:55:16] Incredible drops of 100 to 100 feet on either side of these things

[01:55:21] And just so you know, it's out there people people must do this thing on a regular basis, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, it's crazy

[01:55:27] Oh, yeah, but I see those parkour people and they like they have some way of like

[01:55:32] Rolling right before they hit the ground

[01:55:35] uh, and then not not dying so I don't really know how but

[01:55:39] Incredible. All right. So i'm gonna skip these two other national ones because we get a lot of local stuff here

[01:55:44] first story is

[01:55:45] uh, this is a sad one, so um

[01:55:49] A a dartmouth student. So this is a um

[01:55:54] a student that was studying in

[01:55:57] Uh the graduate program so

[01:56:00] Authorities found the body of keksin kai of west lebanon new hampshire

[01:56:05] She's a graduate student in the department of psychological and brain sciences

[01:56:11] uh, so fishermen alerted that they had a sighting along the river and

[01:56:16] It turned out that this was the student 26 year old

[01:56:21] Kexin kai so um kai had last been seen in near drake lane in west lebanon on wednesday according to police

[01:56:29] Yeah, it was unclear what direction she was traveling, but she was spotted on an e-bike

[01:56:34] And then they were able to get some footage from a local business that showed she was traveling south on route 110

[01:56:40] um

[01:56:41] Apparently police got a report on monday that her bike had been seen

[01:56:45] um

[01:56:48] At a lot of particular lot close to the river

[01:56:51] And the friend the woman's friends had organized a volunteer search effort

[01:56:57] Around the time that she went missing the the sad part about this story is that um

[01:57:04] You know her friends had said that she was suffering a mental health crisis and had sought some care early in the week

[01:57:10] She was admitted to an on-campus medical facility and she was there for one night signed herself out

[01:57:17] And then uh, unfortunately

[01:57:19] ended up, um

[01:57:20] You know taking off and and then you know, nobody really knows what happened

[01:57:24] But she ended up along the on the river and deceased. So, um, okay a lot of friends

[01:57:29] there's a lot of volunteers that were out there searching and

[01:57:33] Unfortunately, it did not end well. So just a reminder if you're struggling, um

[01:57:38] With your mental health certainly reach out to people to uh to see if you can get help. It's it's always a tough situation but

[01:57:45] um

[01:57:46] You know, they did do a pretty extensive search for her

[01:57:50] um, including activating, um drones and

[01:57:54] also, um

[01:57:56] helicopter rescue

[01:57:58] Interesting so that the article ends with a note about uh suicide

[01:58:03] Suicide prevention lifeline. Did they suspect that's probably the case maybe?

[01:58:09] Yeah, I would imagine that's the case so we can include some links to that in the show notes. But yeah, it's it sounds like um

[01:58:16] You know sad ending. Yeah, that's awful

[01:58:19] Yep. Um

[01:58:21] Next up here stop. I got this article sent to me by like, I think i've already got this one like five different people. So, um

[01:58:29] But there's an interesting development. So there's a is a cold case or an unsolved mystery

[01:58:35] of a serial killer in the um

[01:58:39] western new hampshire

[01:58:41] vermont area

[01:58:43] Um in the name of the serial killer is the connecticut river valley killer

[01:58:48] and the this this is a case of

[01:58:52] I believe I want to say there's about

[01:58:56] Five or six different victims maybe even more and it's an interesting case the

[01:59:03] The what they one of the people they think maybe one of the final victims is a a woman that actually survived she um

[01:59:13] She was in a parking lot and I think she stopped at a vending machine to get like a diet coke and the the killer had

[01:59:21] reached out to um

[01:59:23] Or had walked up to her and asked her like a benign question and ended up stabbing her like 27 times

[01:59:29] and luckily she was able to

[01:59:32] Get away. She was able to drive back to a friend's house

[01:59:35] The killer had followed her

[01:59:37] And had actually circled around when she got to the friend's driveway and and luckily she had survived

[01:59:42] She was seven months pregnant when she was attacked the child survived as well, but the child ended up having like mild cerebral palsy

[01:59:50] but police basically connected this stabbing to

[01:59:54] Uh, probably a series of like like I said six or seven other killings

[01:59:59] Two of which I think he dumped the bodies within about five or six hundred feet of each other

[02:00:03] So and it's the same mo of stabbing and they do think that there's maybe

[02:00:08] Some other victims so that the timeline of this goes from like 1978 all the way up to like 1991

[02:00:15] And there's been a couple of suspects. I think one of the one suspect I think confessed on his deathbed

[02:00:22] And then another suspect I think had died in a murder suicide situation, but they don't really know for sure

[02:00:30] but the reason I bring this up is that um

[02:00:33] Sources tell uh news nine investigates that there's a search that was related to a series of unsolved killings

[02:00:41] in the connecticut river valley in 1970 to 1980s

[02:00:45] that um

[02:00:47] Went on in newport, new hampshire. So it was a search for physical evidence

[02:00:52] Related to the investigation into multiple cold cold cases

[02:00:57] Linked to the so-called connecticut river valley serial killer

[02:01:00] So, um, they executed court authorized search warrants on tuesday morning in the kellyville neighborhood of newport, new hampshire

[02:01:09] Including at a home on air street now newport is connected to at least

[02:01:14] Two of the murders one of which is a 17 year old bernice quartermarsh

[02:01:19] And then the other one is 25 year old ellen freed

[02:01:23] so both of those cases

[02:01:25] Were um were tied to newport and I think both of those happened in like the mid 80s

[02:01:31] um

[02:01:32] So I think in the article it said that they yeah, so they they searched a home on air street

[02:01:39] And I guess they had a pretty busy police presence there

[02:01:44] um

[02:01:45] julie murray the sister of mara murray

[02:01:48] Um who went missing in new hampshire in 2004?

[02:01:51] And there is no evidence that she's connected to this this particular serial killer

[02:01:55] She did put out a message that said her family was aware of the search and that they were in close contact with the investigators

[02:02:01] julie murray has been

[02:02:04] Engaging with the new hampshire cold, uh case police unit more heavily over the last couple years and has indicated that more and more

[02:02:13] That relationship is strengthened

[02:02:15] And uh, she's become sort of an advocate for um other victims families that are

[02:02:21] Looking to sort of get some more movement on cold cases. So interesting. Hopefully this is a um,

[02:02:27] you know, hopefully this is a uh

[02:02:29] A break and then the the victim who I had talked about that had survived the serial killer. Her name is jean borowski

[02:02:37] She I think is is connected as well with sort of putting more pressure on on police to say like let's look at these

[02:02:42] Cases a little bit more so they're getting some results there and if anybody's interested you can check out. Um

[02:02:50] There's a podcast that borowski had been involved with called dark valley podcast that breaks down the details of

[02:02:57] um, the connecticut river valley cold case

[02:03:01] And I don't know how many episodes there are but they talk about like basically the victims they talk about the potential suspects

[02:03:08] And they interviewed jane borowski and a number of other

[02:03:13] Folks and basically this is from the same crew

[02:03:16] That was in this lance and tim. It's basically the same crew that handles the mara murray, uh missing mara murray podcast

[02:03:23] so they branched out and did like a

[02:03:27] Section on this so um

[02:03:28] Anyway, if you're interested i'll include this all in the show notes and then we'll keep an eye on it

[02:03:31] And it would be very cool if they could they could finally close some of these cases

[02:03:36] So do you think this?

[02:03:39] Uh

[02:03:40] Individual whoever they may be is still at large

[02:03:44] alive, or do you think because there hasn't been a

[02:03:47] a new case that this is

[02:03:50] Over and done with what's your take? I mean typically when these cases

[02:03:56] You know stop happening either the the

[02:04:00] the

[02:04:02] The suspect has died or they've been incarcerated so one of two things happen either the

[02:04:06] Person died or they're in jail for some other reason. So that would be my guess

[02:04:11] Yeah, and this is down by sunnaby. So this is five miles west of lake sunnaby in newport

[02:04:18] When I understand newport, new hampshire. Yep

[02:04:22] I definitely is an area that i'm not too familiar with what's your take on that area?

[02:04:25] I don't really know much about it. Well, we traveled down there to pick up uh

[02:04:30] Kitten xylo and it blew me away. It's very rugged. The mountain's just abut the lake and it's gorgeous, but it's

[02:04:38] very

[02:04:39] Sharp rolling hills and then you get to um, the bigger peaks. It's it's very impressive

[02:04:46] I'm not familiar with newport though

[02:04:50] Yeah, I mean when you look at the like the the wikipedia page of the connecticut river valley killer

[02:04:55] like it's like it's it's basically like, uh, you know, they talk about newport they talk about claremont they talk about um,

[02:05:05] You know generally that whole area there. So, um, you know the western main and then out into vermont as well. So little um

[02:05:15] It's a small area and I can't imagine there's that many people out there

[02:05:19] So to to be operating like that and attacking that many people must have really freaked people out back in the 80s

[02:05:25] Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, so anyway, we'll keep an eye on it

[02:05:29] I thought it was interesting and thank you all to everyone that sent the the article to me. I was

[02:05:33] I always appreciate that don't don't ever hesitate send me anything you think is good

[02:05:38] um

[02:05:40] All right, stop on to uh, we've got four rescues locally here. Let's get busy. Uh, yeah, it's getting busy for sure

[02:05:48] uh, so we've got

[02:05:51] a uh injured hiker on sunday

[02:05:55] may 19th

[02:05:57] Right before four or 2 p.m

[02:05:59] Fishing game was notified that a hiker was injured on the arathusa falls trail

[02:06:04] Hiker was identified as a 68 year old man from quebec

[02:06:10] So, uh, remember that stomp because quebec is going to come into a lot of our stories this week

[02:06:15] So can canada is not having a good week

[02:06:18] Um, so the gentleman was hiking alone. As a matter of fact, they didn't have a good week last week either. So

[02:06:23] Um, or maybe it was two weeks ago

[02:06:24] Anyway, the gentleman 68 years old was hiking alone when he injured his hip a short distance from the falls

[02:06:30] He was not unable to bear weight on his injured leg and you know that that area there's got no cell connection

[02:06:37] so luckily he was able to have some

[02:06:39] What's that? That's right. Yeah, just it's it's a dead zone

[02:06:43] Yeah, total dead zone until you get into bartlett. It's like, um

[02:06:47] Yeah, it's it's just there's no nothing there

[02:06:50] So he was about a mile and a half from the trailhead some passing hikers were able to I guess

[02:06:55] Place a call for help. So they must have went by him and then when they got to sell connections

[02:06:59] So members of bartlett jackson ambulance service the fire department lakes region search and rescue all responded

[02:07:05] And they got out there placed them in a litter and carried him out to um the trailhead

[02:07:12] So he called the two they were able to get out to him and then get him to the trailhead by 6 p.m

[02:07:17] And then he went to bartlett, uh jackson

[02:07:20] Oh, he went via bartlett jackson ambulance to memorial hospital in north conway. So

[02:07:25] Um, you know it happens. Yeah, he hurt his hip

[02:07:29] Yeah, nice job. Uh bartlett fire lakes region search and rescue

[02:07:34] Yes, and yep. Yeah bartlett jackson ambulance, too

[02:07:39] Yep

[02:07:40] Um, and then this next one here again, this happened at 1 30 on sunday

[02:07:46] um

[02:07:47] Fishing game was notified of an injured hiker on the fish and jimmy trail near kinsman ponds way up there

[02:07:55] Oh, so this is a 44 year old, uh hiker from uh, she's from quebec montreal quebec

[02:08:01] So she was hiking the kinsman ridge with three companions when she suffered a lower leg injury. Oh, man, that is so far

[02:08:08] Um three miles from the lonesome lake trailhead. Um

[02:08:14] The group attempted a self-rescue but they realized that they were going to need more help

[02:08:19] Initial assistance was provided to the hiker by the caretaker

[02:08:24] um

[02:08:25] amc lonesome lake hut and by a good samaritan emt hiker, so

[02:08:30] You know again the amc the hut people they're they're on the move helping out

[02:08:34] So just keep that in mind the next time you complain about the huts

[02:08:37] They're there for helping hikers as well. And then having an emt just stumble upon

[02:08:43] The scene is another lucky thing here. So

[02:08:46] eventually, uh, pemi search and rescue as well as conservation officers

[02:08:50] Uh responded and they were able to carry this hiker down

[02:08:55] Um, they reached her so the call came in at 1 30. They reached her at 4 15

[02:09:00] And then after sending lonesome lake

[02:09:02] Um rescues continued

[02:09:05] um

[02:09:06] Bringing equipment and a litter to carry her down

[02:09:09] Um, they began the descent at 5 0 5 and then they they reached the trailhead by 7 45

[02:09:16] the the fishing game news report goes on to say that the

[02:09:19] The victim and her hiking companions were well prepared and they had significant experience with hiking and that they were determined to do a self-rescue

[02:09:27] But they pretty much knew the situation was serious enough to call for assistance. So

[02:09:32] She must have really really hammered her legs somehow there. So

[02:09:36] Uh, but good for them for getting out

[02:09:38] Yeah, they were moving

[02:09:40] 5 0 5 p.m to 7 45. They're moving

[02:09:43] Fish and jimmy is impressive. Oh, absolutely. Yeah brutal. Yeah fish and jimmy is if for anybody that has hiked that it's like holy moly

[02:09:51] Yeah, a lot of pods to start with and then you know wet scrambles and whatever else on the way up

[02:09:56] Which i'm assuming they're wet right now because of the weather

[02:09:59] And the melting gas I mean plus you're yeah, you know everything just sort of puddles down at the bottom of lonesome lakes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah

[02:10:07] Wow. All right. So good for them and then um

[02:10:13] Here's one in manad knock so injured hiker so this was on um

[02:10:18] May 19th as well

[02:10:21] so uh approximately 8 20

[02:10:23] Pm fishing game were notified of an injured hiker on the spellman trail

[02:10:29] But and this is a 74 year old hiker

[02:10:33] It's coming down the spellman trail

[02:10:36] That's I that's the route. I take I usually go up that thing. I don't know how well

[02:10:41] It's it's is that the most direct route down?

[02:10:44] more or less

[02:10:46] No, that's like the white dot but spellman is like the cut over to connect up to

[02:10:51] um pompelli trail and uh, that's sort of how you get up to that that that

[02:10:57] Secret cave we're not supposed to talk about. Yep. Yep. Yep. Okay, so but it's steep. It's the steepest

[02:11:03] Um, like it's a rock scramble basically, so a 74 year old guy coming down that

[02:11:08] Um at 8 20 at night, that's that's not a good sign

[02:11:11] Uh, so he fell approximately 15 feet and suffered upper body injuries which prevented him from continuing without assistance

[02:11:18] His hiking companion was able to call for help from her cell phone

[02:11:22] And they you know conservation officers reached the pier at 10 15

[02:11:27] Provided first aid to the hiker

[02:11:29] And then they started assisting him down the mountain. So they began at 11 30

[02:11:34] And they were not prepared for an unexpected stay on the mountain while waiting for rescuers and they were provided warm

[02:11:41] uh clothing water and headlamps

[02:11:44] And eventually they reached their vehicle at monadnock state park at like 1 40 a.m. Oh, damn. That's a long day

[02:11:52] Yeah, so

[02:11:54] And uh, he just he declined an ambulance ride

[02:11:59] So, yeah, that's people's right

[02:12:02] Yep sure is and then finally stomp your favorite in mine

[02:12:08] Falling people's trailing waters falling people's trail. So 7 30 on may 21st

[02:12:15] conservation officers

[02:12:17] Um

[02:12:20] Were made aware of a hiker on

[02:12:22] Falling waters in franconia 41 year old female had fallen and suffered a lower leg injury and could no longer continue without assistance

[02:12:30] Temi valley search and rescue and conservation officers responded to the trail

[02:12:35] They got to the hiker at 9 19

[02:12:40] She was about two miles from the trailhead

[02:12:43] so, um

[02:12:44] Due to the nature of the injuries they put her in a litter

[02:12:48] With the carryout commencing around 10 p.m. So it takes them about 45 minutes to get her situated

[02:12:55] and then um

[02:12:57] They were able to get her out around midnight

[02:13:00] And then get her in an ambulance where she was able to get evaluated. So

[02:13:04] um

[02:13:05] Fishing gang gives her a shout out says her hiking partner were well prepared for day hike

[02:13:10] But she had slipped and fallen in wet slippery terrain which caused the injury

[02:13:14] Um happened around 6 p.m. She did attempt to

[02:13:19] ascend

[02:13:20] And then realized after about an hour and a half that this wasn't going to work

[02:13:24] So I wonder what that like what goes through your head like it's got to be done

[02:13:27] I know me personally so if I would absolutely deny it I do be like, oh i'm fine

[02:13:31] I'm gonna power through i'm gonna make it but yeah

[02:13:33] I wonder at what point do you just like you you know

[02:13:35] You feel you get that feeling of despair and you're like, oh, I gotta call 9-1-1

[02:13:39] Slow going. I mean that's tough terrain

[02:13:42] Oh brutal, yeah absolutely with a broken leg or something. Yeah, that's tough

[02:13:46] So I think you just reached that realization that uh, it's not possible

[02:13:51] Probably gonna cause more damage to your injury

[02:13:55] That's true so stomp

[02:13:57] This this is an uh, this wraps up another

[02:14:00] episode

[02:14:02] That's right. They just keep on coming. Remember

[02:14:05] If you're a magician and you are stuffing yourself in a box

[02:14:09] Always make sure that you have

[02:14:12] A safety partner in the room with you that can get you out

[02:14:15] Yeah, and if you're from massachusetts

[02:14:17] Beware of grizzlies that may jump on you and attack you

[02:14:23] It's true so we've learned some good lessons and we will see you uh next week in episode 154 later

[02:14:34] Thank you for listening if you enjoyed the show you can subscribe on apple podcasts

[02:14:40] spotify podbeam

[02:14:42] youtube

[02:14:43] Or wherever you listen to podcasts

[02:14:46] If you want to learn more about the topics covered in today's show, please check out the show notes and safety information

[02:14:53] at slasher podcast

[02:14:55] That's s l a s r

[02:14:58] podcast.com

[02:15:01] podcast.com

[02:15:03] You can also follow the show on facebook and instagram

[02:15:06] We hope you'll join us next week for another great show until then on behalf of mike and stomp get out there

[02:15:14] and crush

[02:15:15] some

[02:15:16] mega heat

[02:15:18] Now covered in scratches blisters and bug bites chris staff wanted to complete his most challenging day hike ever

[02:15:26] Fish and game officers say the hiker from florida activated an emergency beacon

[02:15:30] yesterday morning

[02:15:32] He was hiking along the appalachian trail when the weather started to get worse

[02:15:36] Officials say the snow was piled up to three feet in some spots and there was a wind chill of minus one degree

[02:15:43] And there's three words to describe this race. Do we all know what they are?

[02:15:50] Lieutenant james neeland new hampshire fish and game lizenda. Thanks for being with us today. Thanks for having me

[02:15:56] What are some of the most common mistakes you see people make when they're heading out on the trails to hike here in new hampshire

[02:16:01] It seems to me the most common is being unprepared

[02:16:03] I think if they just simply visited

[02:16:05] Hike safe.com and got a list of the 10 essential items and had those in their packs

[02:16:09] They probably would have no need to ever call us at all