Surf Station: Mid Summer 2019
Heat waves suck! Nevertheless, we’ve been trying to beat the heat. Here’s what we’ve been up to.
From climbing at Quincy Quarries to hiking New Hampshire’s 4,000-footers and sending Northeast classics, Tim and I have spent many hours retracing Robert Underhill’s footsteps. Our story of following his first ascent of the Eaglet, 90 years later, is in the most recent issue of Wild Northeast. If you haven’t climbed the most prominent freestanding spire in the East, you should.
Mickey Spades recently returned from an awesome dual sport trip with Jim Bernard on the Mid Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route. Running from Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania to Damascus, Virginia, Mickey rode the 1,000+ mile route over a week, then returned home jonesing for more. He wrote a couple of trip recaps (Day 1, Day 2), with more hopefully on the horizon. Between that trip and an earlier ride on the Puppy Dog Trail, he’s really getting some miles under his belt. I can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve next.
Human powered riding has been a theme for us all this summer. Mickey and I had a couple great days on the Bay Circuit Trail. Meanwhile, Tim and I wrote about mountain biking gear, which made me realize I need some new biking stuff. Finally, combining mountain biking with a post-ride beverage at a local brewery makes for a great day out. Check out Tim and my piece Bikes and Brews: Franklin Falls and Kettlehead Brewery for all the info on one great combo near New Hampshire’s Lakes Region.
Tim and I have also done a few other pieces, all climbing related. In this one we address several common mistakes that every climber makes. We another on tips for buying a trad rack, something that several of the folks attending the weekly Blue Hill Ski Patrol climbing night should definitely check out. Finally we worked with two guides from the EMS Climbing School on a piece about climbing in the Gunks.
Tim’s also done a couple solo pieces as well, one for Backcountry Edge’s Trail Sense Blog about travel luggage and one for Backcountry about gear storage (a favorite theme of his).
Now to the links.
Mickey’s been talking for months about how riding the dual sport has immeasurably improved his confidence and riding abilities on the mountain bike. While the proof was in his riding—the improvements were noticeable on our recent rides—there’s some independent confirmation around the seven minute mark of this video on the Global Mountain Bike Network.
Living with timber rattlesnakes has become a way of life in this ADK community. This article, which was one of my favorite recent reads, tells the story about how William Brown, a retired Skidmore College herpetologist, got the community to embrace the snakes and the benefits they are deriving from it.
Mickey and Jim had their share of bike issues on the MABDR. One thing Mickey learned from them is that he needed to improve his toolkit. When I saw him the other day he was raving about how this blog had the perfect recipe.
I hate office attire and was thrilled to see somebody put in writing for how terrible “business casual” is for the environment.
Finally, fellow goEaster Aaron Gerry wrote two articles on his personal blog (aarongerry.com) that I really enjoyed. The first one that caught my eye was his recent interview with Ryan Wilchens, our editor at goEast, who, among other things, shares some useful tips on pitching article ideas and becoming a freelance writer. The second piece was another interview, this time with Tim McGivern, the founder of the Southern New England Climbers Coalition, on climbing access and stewardship in Great Boston.
