the morning of July 5th Loren and i took up Tom on his offer to hike up Bald Mountain- a good move, it was great. we weren't trying to break any speed records, especially with the kids along (maybe in a couple years Loren might be able to hike up a mountain faster than me, but NOT YET!) but an early opportunity for a short rest, on the first of the mountain's many "bald spots", presented an opportunity for this shot.
2005.07.05.10.23 (NY time until further notice)
takin' a little break
the second rest break on the second bald spot. you can't see it in this pic (though you can a little in the next) but this spot is the lowest on the trail where it opens up enough to get a good view of the Fulton chain of lakes. Loren seems to like the bottle of water- so it's a nice thing that Tom had some in his rig for Loren and me, since i neglected to think to bring any. it's like a box of rocks in my head sometimes. thanks again, Tom.
2005.07.05.10.29
Loren takin' a break
Loren and Taylor had a little of a competition thing goin' (more on the way down than the way up) but when it was time to move, they both hopped to it. we're about to head further up the trail at this point.
2005.07.05.10.39
Loren and Taylor makin' a scramble to get back on the trail
i didn't know it at the time, but Jim's shoes were killing him. you can maybe kinda see it on his face here, but i was just trying to frame as many people into the shot as possible and didn't notice.
2005.07.05.10.42
Jim leadin' the pack
by the time we got to the summit, it was really muggy, though it wasn't really hot, thanks to the cloud cover that morning. i'm pretty sure everyone went up in the fire tower at least for a few- i loved it, but then i'm not afraid of heights. it's a good thing too, cuz it's a pretty tall tower and added to the height of the mountain, you really feel like you're off the ground. i got the next shot looking straight down on Loren from up in the tower, with no zoom.
2005.07.05.10.55
Loren standin' under a tree at the summit of Bald Mountain.
this one's a more close-up shot, zoomed in from atop the tower....wish it turned out better, it's kinda washed out and unfixable- the color information just isn't there. but it's a great smile anyway.
2005.07.05.10.55
Loren grinnin' up at me.
Tom offered to take a couple pics with my camera, earning him another thanks, for this great shot. i really need to get a tripod so i can get timer shots of everyone next time. hey i just realized....i'm wearing those shorts right now....and for that matter i think the odds are about 144:1 that i'm wearing the same pair of socks....or 8:1 that i'm wearing the same underwear....and 1:1 that i wore the same shoes today....sorry, don't know off the top of my head how to calculate the odds that all my clothing from the waist down is the same currently as it was in this shot. if i could remember how to calculate it, i'm sure i wouldn't be able to resist telling you, but i don't, so i'll just continue typing this superfluous explanation of my appalling lack of statistical analysis skills, which is almost as thilling. but not quite. it's really too close to call- maybe this is actually more thrilling, but if so, then only by a little. too little to measure. not that "thrilled" proves the most appropriate adjective to describe the emotional state of the reader at this moment (by which i mean the moment they/you are reading this, not the particular moment i sit typing). i mean, i'm not exactly touting my writing skills here. that would be entirely inappropriate in a discourse such as this. or is this more of a monologue than a discourse? can a monologue be written, or does it have to be delivered orally to qualify? i think it does require the oral delivery- in which case this is more of an essay, which is, of course, at this very moment, threatening to become entirely unreadable.
2005.07.05.11.04
me, Loren, Mary, Taylor, Jim & Lori at the summit.....basically everyone except Tom and his two friends.
i knew i had a decent picture of Lori in here somewhere- this is one of the few, cropped from the last pic:
Taylor, Jim and Lori.
and just for good measure, here's another crop from the same pic, the other half of the group
but....all good things must come to an end. after all the pictures are taken, it must be time to head back down the mountain. this is a crop of another group "summit" shot as we started heading back down.
2005.07.05.11.04
Loren, me and Mary getting ready to head back down.
this is the other half of the last pic, Taylor, Jim and Lori again
like i said, Loren and Taylor were kinda racin' each other back down, but every so often one of the adults would rein one or the other or both back in. Loren had a pretty good lead on the pack so i commanded he halt in his tracks; he decided to hold up the tree on his own.
2005.07.05.11.19
Loren waitin' for the old folks to catch up.
this is the aforementioned old folks catchin' up. see, i must not be that old, i was somewhere between them. wish i could remember Tom's friends' names.
2005.07.05.11.19
the pack makin' it's way back home.
this was about the time i realized Jim's shoes were killing him....we all had to wait up for him to make it down one of the bigger (slicker, dicier) bald stretches- but at least his pain (magnified on the way down, i'm sure) earned me this great shot. love the tree roots there, gives it a real flavor...in the full size shot anyway.
2005.07.05.11.28
Jim playin' catch-up in bad shoes.
before ya knew it, hiking Bald Mountain was in the history books- and the photo album :) thanks again for the hike, Tom, and thanks to everyone else who went, for the great time. next time i'm at camp count me in for more hiking- that's right up my alley.
2005.07.05.15.09
back at our place with Ethan sitting on my lap.
haven't finished with the pics from July 5th, so more pics next post!
PEACE
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