Tank fifty-eight

Total miles: 21440. Trip miles: 440.3. Gallons: 7.969. Price per gallon: $3.699.

Screen mileage: 56.3 mpg. Tank mileage: 55.3 mpg.

I tanked up after a long weekend spent driving to a friend who lives about 150 miles away; mostly highway miles.

Tank fifty-seven

Total miles: 21000. Trip miles: 258.8. Gallons: 4.912. Price per gallon: $3.759.

Screen mileage: 59.3 mpg. Tank mileage: 52.7 mpg.

I tanked up early in preparation for a long driving weekend...

bench

bench
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This bench is found along the Midstate Trail, on Audubon property, a bit north of Rt 62 in Princeton. Such nice clean lines! I like it a lot more than the memorial benches south of Barre Falls dam. For one thing, this wooden bench doesn't get nearly as hot as those granite (?) benches. And having a back rest really helps the tired hiker.

view to east

view to east
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This is a view to the east from the summit of Wachusett, if I recall correctly.

The "problem" with Wachusett is that you can pay a $2 fee to get in and drive to the top, where there's plenty of parking. (That's exactly what I did today.) This is a problem because the summit is far from peaceful. The two times I've been there, it's crowded with people. Motorcyclists, radio hobbyists, casual hikers, bicyclists. (I admit, the radio hobbyists are kind of fun). Not that there's anything wrong with that - I just don't like the crowds, and although I'd like to linger, taking in the views, I have always headed off as quickly as possible.

There are a couple of USGS markers up at the summit, according to NOAA. I took a quick look around today, but couldn't find them, and I just didn't feel like doing a thorough search with all the people around. I'll have to come back some other day.

pond at summit of Wachusett Mountain

pond at summit
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Today's hike: 3.5 h | 8.6 mi | 2.4 mph

I parked at the top of Wachusett Mountain, and hiked down to Rt 62 in Princeton, to close the gap that I still had not hiked in the northern part of the Midstate Trail.

There's a little pond at the summit of Wachusett, and a sign in front of it warning the visitor to not drop anything into the pond, so as to keep it pristine and so on. When I walked over to the edge, I saw a pretty impressive school of tiny goldfish in the pond, so I'm guessing "pristine" is over.

A story about "Walden"

Walden

by Henry David Thoreau

p 43: “Formerly, when how to get my living honestly, with freedom left for my proper pursuits, was a question which vexed me even more than it does now, for unfortunately I am become somewhat callous, I used to see a large box by the railroad, six feet long by three feet wide… and it suggested to me that every man who was hard pushed might get such a one for a dollar, and, having bored a few auger holes in it, to admit the air at least, get into it when it rained and at night… and so have freedom in his love, and in his soul be free.”

I’m still reading Economy, the first section of Walden. This snippet reveals an underlying theme in the book. Thoreau has a very narrow measure of what is necessary, against which he weighs everything he does: He wants to be free to do whatever he wants, and for him that does not overlap well with a paying job. He looks at every new purchase with an eye to how much this will really cost him in terms of freedom. How many hours of working for someone else, doing something he doesn’t care about, will this cost him?

As I expected, I find that Thoreau is a cranky man. Mainly, he complains about his New England neighbors. Apparently, they think life is too hard and that they must work from sun up till sun down just to survive. Thoreau sees it differently; he thinks that they are too consumerist, always wanting a bigger plasma TV, the latest model gas-guzzling SUV, and a McMansion to fill with stuff.

This is one of the things that I like about Walden; this attitude mirrors my own. I certainly have a lot more junk than Thoreau did, but I tend toward being extremely frugal. I often find work as unbearable as Thoreau did, and chafe at the need to make a living when there are so many things that I’d rather be doing (some of them are free, but some of them cost money, necessitating the job, and making me complain like Thoreau’s neighbors did). When I think of buying an item (for example, a GPS system, which tempts me mightily), I consider how much food the money would buy if I were to take on a backpacker’s lifestyle, and how I’ll probably just have to sell it eventually, when and if money gets tight. That kind of thinking puts the temptation in perspective.

See more about Walden

survey

survey
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I'd be amiss if I didn't mention the survey marks at Barre Falls dam. One is located just next to the little cemetery south of the dam, and the other is located just across from the dam building itself.

This one reads:

CORPS OF ENGINEERS - U.S. ARMY
SURVEY MARK
$250 FINE OR IMPRISONMENT
FOR DISTURBING THIS MARK
BOUNDARY
STATION DESIGNATION
BF-14
YEAR 1978
AGENCY
ELEV. 846.13 (??)

morning

morning
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I woke up at 6 this morning, but lay about trying to convince myself that leaving the tent was really necessary. Eventually, I roused myself up and went in search of the old pipe spring, three-tenths of a mile to the south. I had filled up my water bottles at a fast-flowing river up by Intervale Rd the previous day, but by now my water supply was almost gone.

Since I wasn't sure whether the spring water was potable, I popped iodine tablets in it, just as I had with the river water the day before. I am not keen on the taste these pills impart to the water, but better safe than sorry. I should mention that this section of the Midstate is abundant with water. It may be due to the heavy rains we've had all summer, but all the brooks, streams, and rivers were running with wild abandon.

From there on, it was just a matter of retracing my steps. The mosquito problem continued, generally unabated. My trip back was largely uneventful, with one exception: passing through a sunny, open area, I disturbed two moose. One had a small set of antlers and the other did not. They are very impressive, majestic animals, in my opinion. They were perhaps a hundred feet away when I saw them, and they were gone in an instant! Too bad I was unable to get a photograph!

On the way back, I had a brief chat with a woman and her daughter, as I passed by their house. The woman told me that her grandfather (in-law?) had done the entire Midstate Trail, piecewise, at the age of 80. That's impressive! But I'm glad that I'm taking the time to do it now. Despite all the bug troubles, I had a great time this weekend, and feel pleasantly exhausted now. I should sleep very well tonight!

tent and shelter

tent and shelter
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I guess I was the only person foolish enough to be hiking the Midstate Trail this weekend. I did not meet any other hikers on my trek. When I arrived at the Long Pond shelter, I found it empty, which was kind of pleasant.

It was not so pleasant to find the usual signs of partiers - beer cans, empty liquor bottles, and so on. And shortly after I arrived, the peace was broken by a couple of ATVs being driven down an ATV track close by. In addition, the mosquitoes seemed to be waking up just as I arrived. Fortunately, they weren't swarming! I was able to set up my tent without too much trouble, but I had to eat my dinner strolling around, or I'd become their dinner.

Since it was nearing sunset, I decided to retire to the relative comfort of my tent. I had brought Thoreau's Walden with me. I had a great plan to sit up reading till it got too dark. Instead, I read it lying down in my small tent, happily ensconced within the mesh. I had to wonder just what Thoreau - or indeed the native Americans - did when mosquitoes were out swarming as they were today.

I usually don't sleep so well when camping out - too many strange noises, the hard ground underneath, and a vague feeling of insecurity make it difficult to stay asleep. This night, I was waked a few times by the eerie calls of a hooting owl. It was very loud. Since I had kept the fly of the tent open, I was able to catch a glimpse of the owl sailing between the trees in the darkness.

memorial benches

memorial benches
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

After passing the small cemetery to the south of Barre Falls dam, I entered the woods again with some trepidation. It was justified. This area had the worst swarming of mosquitoes yet!

I got a break a mile later when the trail burst into a bright sunny area adjacent to a swamp. These two benches welcomed my weary body. And once again the mosquitoes faded away.

One of the benches is dedicated to Bob Elms, the other to Rolf Larsen, two champions of the Midstate Trail.

Barre Falls dam

Barre Falls dam
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

This weekend, I took my first backpacking trip of the season.

I hiked the Midstate Trail from Rt 62, at mile 29.26^*, down to the shelter at mile 45.05, and back. In addition, I hiked from the shelter to the spring at 45.31 miles, minus my gear. Total miles: 31.5. Total hours: 12.5. Pace: 2.5 mph. Pack weight: about 22 lbs.

The first few miles of the trip were very easy, along flat, packed dirt roads, and I felt lighthearted despite my pack. After about six miles of hiking, though, I began to have trouble with mosquitoes. They were swarming, and alas I had neglected to bring bug spray. I would wipe five of them off my left arm, wipe another five off my right, and there'd be another five on my left again. Not to mention my poor legs.

I think I spent about half the trip fending off ravenous mosquito swarms. This kind of thing really takes the joy out of a hike!

To counter the attack, I kept as fast a pace as I could (which is not fast at all). At some point, I took to wearing my rain jacket. This kept them off my arms, so that they were free to focus on my face and legs instead. The best defense was waving my hat back and forth rapidly in front of my face. However, I'm still completely covered in bites.

The pests backed off when I hit the Barre Falls dam. Apparently, being vampirish in nature, they were afraid to enter sunlit areas and confined themselves to the depths of the woods. So I took a nice long break there, admiring the sunny blue sky and the big fluffy white clouds.

* If you plan to park overnight along Rt 62 as I did, be sure to notify the town police. It seems they have a thing about cars, or should I say "suspicious vehicles," parked for any length of time along the road. I don't know if this is true for all parking areas along the Midstate Trail.

Tank fifty-six

Total miles: 20741. Trip miles: 423.9. Gallons: 6.966. Price per gallon: $3.739.

Screen mileage: 58.0 mpg. Tank mileage: 60.9 mpg. Wow, really great mileage!

A story about "Walden"

Walden

by Henry David Thoreau

I read Walden when I was quite young – I’m guessing around the age of 12 or so. I enjoyed it, and it made a big impression on me, to the extent that Thoreau was one of my heroes for quite some time. I particularly liked his ideas about individualism and his adherence to the spartan lifestyle.

My recent visit to Walden Pond has prompted me to reread the book. With age, my memory of it has faded and my impressions have changed. I have a feeling that I won’t like it very much, and that I’ll think Thoreau is a big complainer, permanently stuck in his adolescent phase. We’ll see.

See more about Walden

A review of "The X-Files 2 [Theatrical Release]"

The X-Files 2 [Theatrical Release]

I was completely satisfied with The X-Files: I Want to Believe. The series was one of my favorites, and the movie was like watching a really good long, fresh, episode.

When I go to movies, I usually stay until the very last credits have scrolled. This time, my patience was fully rewarded! Be sure to stay all the way until the end.

See more about The X-Files 2 [Theatrical Release]

jellies

jellies
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

After our whale watching trip, we visited the Aquarium. They've got a great special exhibit featuring jellies right now. And as usual, the big cylindrical tank was captivating. We got there at feeding time, and it was fun to see these huge sting rays, fish, a sea turtle, and sharks being fed like so many pigeons at the park. The diver doing the feeding must have one of the world's best jobs.

whales

whales
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I went whale watching with a friend this weekend. We booked through the New England Aquarium, and it was a good experience (first time I've been, so nothing to compare with, though). We hung out with several groups of humpback whales, and they did not seem to be bothered by our presence. This is something I'd like to do again!