tumbledown mountain

I finally made it to Tumbledown Mountain in northwestern Maine this past weekend. It was just as wild and scenic as I'd heard, with a 1,600 foot climb to a high pond nestled in a plateau between several rocky peaks. Even with a wide angle lens it was tough to represent the coolness of this place. So I did a panorama and got about half of it. The dropoff behind me here was very steep, essentially a big cliff down to the forest below. I bet it looks magnificent just after sunrise from the peak on the other side of the pond.

Capital Multisport at the Clough Triathon

Today I took photos of my awesome team at the Clough State Park Sprint Triathlon in New Hampshire. This race consists of a 1/3-mile swim in a calm pond, a nice 14-mile bike loop with a couple of killer hills, and a 3-mile run around the park (including a section back and forth across the dam). Capital Multisport peeps... you guys rock.

Vinod, always smiling

L: Dina and Mark, the couple that gets marked together...

R: Matt's pre-race smooch.

Orca buds

you might as well give up now...

...cuz you ain't got nuthin' on these ladies!

L: Jason Lane, feelin' the chain...

R: ...then running in rain.

L: Vinod on the run; R: Brian Fisher in good form

Earlier this summer Vinod said he couldn't swim a lap in the pool without freaking out. The lake swim in this race was half a mile long, and he totally rocked it. Not bad, eh?

L: Jordan, first-year triathlete. R: Laura, of the ever-positive attitude!

Rebecca's diptych

happy triathlon finishers

heart of the pemi

Yesterday I did a hike / run combo that I've been dreaming of for a while: a 23-mile circuit through the heart of the Pemigewasset Wilderness in New Hampshire's White Mountains. 

From Lincoln Woods, the start is 5 miles of gradual uphill through northern hardwood forest, followed by a steep, 2-mile uphill climb of Bondcliff and Mt. Bond. The open alpine scenery at the top provided the primary draw of the day. I love it up there. Then it was a rugged ridge run, first over the sweeping, open highland splendor of Mt. Guyot (a favorite spot in the Whites) and on through high spruce - fir forest to South Twin Mtn. Then the descent began. First, a very steep 0.8 mile drop to Galehead Hut, and a more gentle 2-mile descent to 13 Falls campsite. The day ended with an 8 mile jog back out the Franconia Brook Trail to the Wilderness Trail and finally back out to Lincoln Woods.

About halfway through, I met up with a woman and her dog who were, most improbably, doing exactly the same loop. She started after me, but caught up as I was snapping away in the alpine zone (by far the heaviest thing in my pack was the Nikon and, oh stupid me, TWO weighty lenses). It was very nice to have company on the second half of the journey. We had plenty in common, and it turns out we both went to the same college!

The weather was most fine, if a bit muggy. Blackflies were biting, but a nice breeze kept them at bay up top. It's rained a LOT in the northeast lately, so brooks and streams were running very high, and more than a dozen stream crossings required wading up to my knees in fast-moving water, but the cold water felt good on tired legs and feet.

balsam fir forest on Mt. Bond

on Bondcliff ridge

[edit: yes, the mud was truly worthy of the term "slog"!]