Mt. Monadnock and PumpkinFest

The Best Place I've Ever Camped

Football Season Blues

Hit the Ground Running

WANTED: Bannack, Montana

Hey Bear! You're a Bear!

Glacier National Park - Iceberg Lake

Buffaloes and Pronghorn and Wolf! Oh Shit!

Seek The Peak 2013

Mt. Washburn and the Geysers

Cascade Canyon

Stabbing Westward

Texas......with a dollar sign.

 

Traveling in America's Hat.

What is it about Canada? How come no one really goes there? The truth, for most New Englanders at least, is that Canada is no more than a 4 or 5 hour drive away from us at most. Yet for some reason, generally speaking, no one really ever goes there. Yes you can give the passport excuse, and while valid, it doesn't exactly account for why you didn't go there before you needed one. And honestly it's really not that hard to get a passport nowadays. If you've got $100 and an hour you can get one, and you probably should. But I'm not quite sure why no one thinks to go to Canada. It's a whole different country, in fact Quebec which is directly north of us, speaks French as a national language. It's the closest you're going to get to Europe without actually going, to well, Europe. Most of us either know someone, or have ourselves been to Montreal before. After all the drinking age is 18 which is reason enough to have taken a trip there to spend $18 on a pitcher of Bud Light because you didn't know any better. But there are a lot of other places within a reasonable driving distance worth traveling to in Canada, and last weekend I had the opportunity to visit one such place, Quebec City. I'll admit it was one of the hardest times I've had convincing anyone to come on a trip before, mostly because no one had ever herd of the place and partially because I didn't really have much of a plan going into it, and "just trust me" wasn't cutting it.
I don't know if any of you follow Red Bull, but they are a pretty amazing company. Not only do they give you wings but they also sponsor some of the coolest events on the planet. I'm sure most of you are familiar with last years Red Bull Stratos, which broke the world record for the longest freefall, BUT they also host a multitude of other extreme and downright badass events including cliff diving, Skiing, BMX, Stunt Plane, and an almost never ending list of other competitions. It just so happened that one of these, Red Bull Crashed Ice, was taking place in Quebec City this month, so the opportunity to knock off a bucket list item (attend a Red Bull event) and explore a new city, was too good to pass up. And luckily once again I've got some kick-ass friends who helped turn this idea into a reality (Patrick and Mark). So we rocketed 6 1/2 hours up to Quebec on a Friday morning to begin what was to be quite an interesting trip.
Everyone really does speak French there and it wasn't long before our twenty-something male brains were in an immature paradise filled with comical french accents and hilarious words. But to be fair, a country who's most popular gas station store is called Couche-Tard, is asking for it.
Canada largely isn't exactly known for their food and beer superiority, but if you take the time to do some research before you go, you can find some pretty decent places. Yelp and Trip Adviser are great resources for any trip and you should be able to get some good suggestions just by typing in your destination. Its quite challenging to find good places when everything is in French but we were able to find some good breweries in the area and a few decent spots to eat, Mainly La Korrigane, La Pape Georges, and Pub Le Mitan.
Along with the Crashed Ice event, which if I can sum it up into one sentence would be: A gigantic party filled with boose, neon lights, Dubstep, 100,000 people, and one awesome downhill Ice Skating track full of dudes cruising at no-tomorrowish speeds though a glorified castle town. The short version: It. Was. Awesome. I also got the opportunity to put the boots to good use and went on a frozen hike to Montmorency Falls, an 84 meter (or for us normal people 275ft) tall waterfall. That's roughly 100ft taller than Niagara Falls. It was a great hike that culminated with us sitting a few feet away from the base on a dome formed by the freezing of mist crashing off of the falls. Quite a spectacular view in which we were completely dwarfed by the falling water.
All and all a great trip, and Canada has yet again surprised me. Go visit. Besides being our hat, Canada has a lot to offer. Enough so that I might even be able to forgive them for Justin Bieber.

I also did another moderate hike at Ravenswood Park, in Gloucester MA. Pretty standard hike, nothing much to report. Cheers!

Milage: 8 Miles

Just a little guy.

Crashed Ice!

Bad Dudes.

Obligatory photo of Myself.

Over the Falls.

Illuminated Tree.

Waterfall Bridge.

The Gang.

Some Chap.

Hybernation

So why is it that once it starts to get cold out we all tend to stop doing any and all things outside? The mere thought of being cold or having a single snowflake touch us is enough to make most people bundle up and watch TV for 4 months. Now don't get me wrong, I've also been a habitual offender of this in the past. Hell up until last year I hadn't hiked once during the winter since I was in Boy Scouts, it wasn't even something that crossed my mind. "Oh it's cold out? Well it's been fun outside, cya in April." But that's completely and totally dead wrong, and the few people who have realized this will tell you the same thing. Winter is awesome. Remember that sweet waterfall you saw in summer? Yeah there's people Ice Climbing it right now. Remember that place you go swimming every July? There's people walking across it right now like wintertime Jesuses. And remember that mountain you hiked last year? It's still there, only in winter you can sit on your ass and slide all the way down it, cackling like a maniac. I know it's cold, but if you just wear a few layers and move around you'll be fine, I promise. It is completely possible to do most, if not all hikes in New England during the winter, weather permitting, and this season makes even the most familiar areas to you look totally different and surreal. So get out there and hike, just steer clear of any Yeti's.
On the topic of winter hiking, I had the chance to head up to the White mountains this past weekend with Patrick and Emily to enjoy some winter activities before the end of the season. We drove up to Lincoln, NH on Saturday morning with some loose plans and a room at a spectacular one star hotel. Room service never showed up but we were too full from the Woodstock Inn (Shameless plug) to even notice. Upon arriving in the cloud covered, lightly snowing Mountain atmosphere, we headed to the Flume Gorge to get a idea of what waterfalls looked like in winter. The answer, fortunately, was awesome, totally awesome. The waterfalls had frozen over and were covered in people ice climbing, it was a pretty great sight. Now if only I could have picked up an Ice Axe off of SteepandCheap I would have been good to go.
After checking out the gorge we headed over to Loon Mountain to partake in some zip lining. Fun stuff, it's only $26 and they let you go upside down. You should go. This weekend.
The "Death by Sandwich" I had for dinner caused me to slip into a food induced coma before midnight, and when I woke up on Sunday we packed up the car and headed to the Lonesome Lake trail head for a moderate hike up to Lonesome Lake, which at this point was completely hidden in thick cloud cover. After the mile and change hike up the side of the mountain we arrived at a side trail that went for about 50 feet before opening up into a white abyss before us. I honestly didn't even realize for a good 30 seconds that what I was staring at wasn't the edge of the world but actually Lonesome lake. Due to the cloud cover and snow squalls it was impossible to see farther than 75 feet, and the opposite side of the lake. We watched a Man? Woman? Or something cross the frozen lake before setting out and attempting it ourselves. After a brutal but epic trek across the lake we arrived at Lonesome Lake Hut, took our gear off, and belligerently ate some lunch in the crowded mess hall. After the break and warmth, we headed back out across the lake and down the mountain to the parking lot. After a second trip to the Woodstock Inn, we waddled out to the car and drove home. In two words: "Perfect Weekend" pretty much sums up the experience. With one days notice we set out on a trip and ended up accomplish everything we wanted to. Can't much complain about that. What are you doing this weekend? Have no plans and thinking about doing the same thing? I bet you could do it and keep it under $100. In fact I think you should, and let me know if you need any pointers. Thanks for reading guys, I really do appreciate it. Cheers!


Mileage: 5 Miles

Ice Climbers at the Flume Gorge.

Frosty Peaks

The Sheer Power of It!

Average Joe Mountain Man.

White Out.

BAMFs.

Contemplation.

Solo Trekker.

Making our way back across Lonesome Lake.

Lonesome Lake Hut.

Man Bear Pig.

Shoreline.

Built to Roam

I wish I could explain to you the sheer ridiculous amount of travel ideas and plans that pop into my head every day. It easily breaks the single digits, in fact just today I decided I was going to Quebec City, Utah, Colorado, and San Francisco, and that was just before lunch. I can't stop thinking about going new places, I feel as though every day I'm missing out on something, like there is somewhere I'm suppose to be, some plan I have forgot about. It drives me crazy sometimes, and watching 2 hours of GoPro videos doesn't help much. How do those people do it?! How do three dudes with rockin' beards buy a van for $800 and run that shit into the ground traveling cross country doing every single awesome activity you could possibly imagine?! My sensible side thinks, did they register that van and make sure it had the proper insurances and did they plan this trip out first? But my Wanderlust side is like, fuck yeah! I want that van, and a goddamn beard just like that, lets go to New Mexico TONIGHT! WHOOO! So why can't we? Oh yeah that's right, life. Bills, and Cleaning the bathroom, and fiscal years and shit. Bummer. But there is hope for us. While we can't just gallivant around the country 24/7 like our parents own Google, we can go on vacations. That word just brings all the thoughts of Utah and Colorado and Quebec and San Fransisco back into my head, and I'm excited all over again. I can do all these things, and have a permanent address AND my hair won't smell like old fish sticks from living out of a van. So I guess what I'm getting at is, vacations are the key, they are completely, totally, and utterly awesome. So don't waste them. Seriously. Work is always going to be busy, and you're always going to owe money to something. Just plan ahead, and go, wherever it is you wanna go. Wanna see the largest ball of twine and the biggest bouncy ball? GO! Wanna go to Denali National Park and sleep next to huge grizzly bears and glaciers? Go dammit! Because I guarantee in 40 years you're not going to remember what project you worked on or who you had to make a sales call to in 2013, but you will remember when you watched a solar eclipse in Zion National Park or climbed a cliff face in a rain storm. So this year go wherever it is you've been thinking about going, book the plane tickets, cause then you have to go. And oh yeah, take me with you. I know stuff and I'll probably do something stupid at one point and you'll laugh, it will be worth it.
Also, I have gone on a few trips lately and there has been some mileage. I went up to the White Mountains a few weeks ago with my Dad and Brother for some male bonding. We went cross country skiing and explored the Kangamangus highway a bit. It was a lot of fun. I also got a chance to go on a hike on Super Bowl Sunday to Agassiz Rock. It was relatively short but absolutely worth checking out if you have a bit of free time one day. The loop is only roughly one mile but has a few glacial erratics and a semi-view of Gloucester to see. It was during this hike that I thought of attaching the GoPro a tree and then tipping it over.....needs perfecting but footage is sure to follow. Also it was snowing which made this place even better, usually the truth for hiking in New England in the winter.
Don't forget to send me your mileage when you guys go hiking! I really do have a free pair of boots to give out and I want to know where you all have hiked.  Do it!
Finally, there is going to be some changes here at Wanderlust in the next few months, adding some new features so stay tuned. Cheers!

Mileage: 1.5 miles

Fish Eye Guys.

Cross country Skiing.

Not all of it was this flat. It's fun, seriously.

Human Dead Fall trap.

Flip Flip Flipadelphia!

Hey guys, I'm sure at this point everyone is thoroughly enjoying the cold weather and 16 hours of darkness a day. I know I am. This time of the year is a huge drag on the blog, and I always come up short on posts due to not really having much of a chance to get out there and hike. I would however like to correct that this year and I'm working on some ideas for ways to keep the blog supplied with plenty of new posts over the next few months, so keep checking back in for updates.
A few weeks ago (almost 2 months at this point) I went down to Philadelphia to visit one of my good friends. We were only there for three days but I'm confident in saying that I got a completely fulfilling tour of the city and what it had to offer. It was less of the traditional trip I usually post here on Wanderlust and more of a fast tracked episode of No Reservations sans Anthony Bourdain. We toured Independence Hall, saw the Liberty Bell and Benjamin Franklin's grave, then separated from every seventh grade class in America and explored the rest of the city. I'm notorious for making "Top Five" lists for just about eveything you can possibly think of so instead of talking about everywhere we went I'm gonna give you
Wanderlust's Top Five of Philly:

1. The 700 Club  is a night club with two floors, the first being a full bar with a generous amount of beers on tap. But it's the second floor that made me decide to put it on the list, it's set up as an old house with the bar in the kitchen, the dance floor in the dinning room and the DJ in the bathroom. It's a unique set up and is worth visiting.
2. The Foodery  is a deli/liqueur store with a selection of  over 800 beers from around the world on sale. The kicker? The beers are purchased À la carte and can be drank in the attached sitting area. Awesome.
3. The Shubin Theater,which puts on some kick ass improv shows, is definitely worth checking out.
4. Yards Brewery brews up some pretty tasty beers with names like "General Washington's Tavern Porter" and "Poor Richards Tavern Spruce" that pay tribute to Philadelphia's butt-load of American History. Oh and they also have an oversized bar with tabletop shuffleboard and some awesome artwork. Check. It. Out. 
5. Fairmount Park , the place where we hiked was great. It's located just outside of Downtown Philadephia and it does a great job of not showing it. It's quiet, has a ton of trails, the Schuylkill river flows through it, and it's easily accessible, making it a great place to do a bit of hiking if you're looking for some less metallic scenery. We did a small loop inside the park on our last day in the city and it was a great way to end the trip.

Runner up: Reading Terminal Market, a Market place in the heart of Philly with tons and tons and tons of things to buy and places to eat. Oh and it was on Man Vs. Food. Enough said. Try Dinic's.
So there is my Top Five, there is a ton of things to do and see in Philly, obviously, so if you get the chance to visit I would highly recommend it. While you're there though try not to hang out with anyone under a bridge, you might have to pay the troll toll. A special thanks to Erin Pitts for being a great friend and host/tour guide for our stay. 

Mileage: 2 Miles

Chub Toad.

Schuylkill river.

Weird Bugs.

 

Oooooooooooklahoma!

Honestly speaking I never really thought too much about Oklahoma. I mean, I knew someone set us up the bomb there, and there was a musical about it.....but that's about it. So when I booked my plane tickets to see my brother graduate from boot camp, while pumped that I got to be a part of that, I didn't think I would be able to find much of anything for us to do there. It would have been easy to not think about it and just go and hope to find something to do, but if you're going to travel somewhere you wouldn't normally go and probably never will again, why wouldn't you try to see everything there is to offer? So after a little research I came up with an itinerary, and as anyone who's come on a trip with me can tell you, I'm pretty famous for that. So after the plane landed in Dallas, I promptly picked up our rental car and ripped it down to Rahr and Sons brewery for a two hour beer and chili tasting. Save for an appearance by Chuck Norris riding a bull, this was exactly what I would have expected Texas to be like. So after pounding beers on a stomach filled only with microwave Texas Chili Bowls, we got back in the car and began our three hour trip to Lawton, OK only hoping that there would be plenty of rest stops along the way.
Before I go on to talk about the hiking/exploring I just want to say that I'm pretty damn proud of Kendrick and his choice to join the Army and it was awesome to get to see him graduate boot camp. I've never really thought to much about the military, I mean I've had friends that have joined up and gone away to boot camp or been deployed, but I never really thought about it to much, it was like they had just went away for a bit and I would see them when they got back. But when Kendrick went away, it was different. Weird. I thought about it a lot more, about what he was actually doing, the commitment and all that, and after spending a week on a military base and seeing how everyone acted and presented themselves, I gained a lot more respect for anyone who chose to join up, and I was completely proud of Kendrick for that.
The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge was the big destination for this trip, and while I've included a link to their site, sadly as with most National/state/wildlife refuge park websites, it doesn't nearly do the place justice. In a state not know for much more than being flat and perceived as mostly boring, this place was an oasis of wildlife, hell there was even "mountains" perfect for any seeker of outdoor activities. Along with miles of hiking trails, some quite a bit more difficult that you would expect, the Refuge is home to "a total of 240 species of birds, 50 species of mammals, 64 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 36 species of fish". Not to mention free roaming herds of American Bison, Rocky Mountain Elk, White-tailed deer, and Texas Longhorn cattle. In the four days spent in Lawton, we went to the Refuge a total of 4 times, and I easily could have gone back 20 more times and not have had enough time to see everything.
During my time there I went on two separate hikes: The first, a short walk over a dam, and along the banks of a pond on the Baldy Trail. The second was a longer hike over bouldery terrain on a rough trail system known as Charon's Garden Trail. The second hike was the more notable hike from this trip, and "rough trail system" was an understatement. We set out from the parking area at about 11am and made our way into the woods past a mostly dried up stream bed. After hiking in dense forest, we came out into a rocky area with low vegetation, which reminded me a lot of the hikes I did in Utah earlier this year. Sarah and I took a short side trip to attempt to scramble up a rocky mountain to get a better view of the area. After about 45 minutes of attempting to find a suitable angle of attack, I got to the top of the mountain and was pretty pumped about the great 360° view it afforded, the rock climbers who top roped it, on the other hand, were a little less enthusiastic that they had just climbed a mountain that someone scrambled up ropeless. Sorry bro's. After climbing back down, we headed up the trail and pretty quickly became completely lost. A condition we could have easily prevented had we realized trails are usually not over lose boulders and giant shrubs. After Rob the Ringleader finally came to terms with his miss-sense of direction, we headed back in what seemed like the right direct. An hour later we found the trail and headed back to the car. Honestly as long as it's not dark, and it's not in the heart of Africa, getting lost can be a fun experience, just as John Locke.
Aside from hiking, we also came to the refuge to watch a meteor shower at night (Watching meteors is a bit less fun with the fear of stampeding Buffalo's, just ask my dad.) Took a self-guided safari, that included prairie dogs, Buffalo, Elk,  Lizards, and a Texas Longhorn who almost gave my mom a chest piercing, ate at a burger restaurant that had been around since 19-2 (Meers Store and Restaurant), saw a western Sheriff, dined with scorpions, and drove to the top of Mount Scott. It was the first family trip I've been on in a while, and quite simply everything about it was great. It has become increasingly hard over the years to be able to spend time with my family, and this trip was exactly what I needed. I got a reminder of how awful my dad's sense of direction is, and how much my Mom realllllllly likes to take family pictures of everything, but most importantly I was reminded of how lucky I am to have them. Easily the cheesiest post I've written so far. Thanks for reading, Cheers!

Mileage: 3.5 Miles

Meers Store and Restaurant.

Buff Chick Buffalo.

Alan! Alan!

Papa O'Connor.

Prairie.

Durrrr.

Oklahoma sunset.

Great Scott.

Buffalo.

Que Sarah Sarah.

B&W Sunset.