The Land of Cut-Off Jeans: Travels through the Mid-West into PA

Link to Photo Album of this Trip/Blog Photo Roll

This chronicles my travels through the Mid-West and ending in Carlisle, PA

In the land of apple cider doughnuts

I used my last Mardi Gras costume contest plane ticket (thanks Rafters of Mammoth Lakes) that I won and went home to Vermont for a few weeks. I forgot my camera charger, but I did take a few photos.  I really needed Vermont time. A time to see good friends and family and new babies.  I also visited UNH and UVM to see about their Graduate programs. I almost got to SUNY Cortland.  It was fun to be in the Boston area a few days and learn I'm not so great with the train schedules, and spend time (or try to) with some great long-time friends from home and college.

Many times when I visited my parents in Southern VT, even when I lived in Vermont- I wanted to see everyone I knew and do everything I could. That is virtually impossible. Even though I had more time this visit, I still didn't accomplish seeing everyone and doing everything. Next time. 

A foggy view of the Green Mountains/ Appalachian Trail ridges from Mt. Anthony hike with Mom.

Mashed Potatoes

A collection of random things I've seen since September on.

Hat says, "Carson Ranger District, We do it Right the First Time".
Don't know who's hat it was... 

I went to Maine. Ayut.

I went to Maine for the wedding of my two beloved UMaine Alfond Arena friends.  I made my way from Boston, up to Dover, NH where a handsome young chap picked me up at the train station and took me out on the town.  From there we ventured to a cabin on a lake, then Portland, Maine to TamTam's new house and the Old Port... Where things were SO amazing that we didn't even take photos.
Thanks again to all that helped and made me smile in that branch of the trip! I'll be back. Soon.

My rental car and I left TamTams and set forth with Maine plates to Belfast, Maine for the wedding of two of my favorite people.  It was beautiful and well-thought out, and fun as expected.

Then I meandered along up through to Orrington and Fields Pond to just see if anything had changed, but the two tall pines still stood. Didn't get to catch up with the Beal's- we tried!!!

In Orono, Jim and I went biking (with my bike, but a loaner) to hit the root filled trails of bliss. It was mud-tastical.  Followed by beer with some of the Rose Bike Crew now and then.  And Bicycle Bob missed out on the ride, so maybe we'll have to execute planning better next time.

Well this was Cambridge, MA the day after the big 4th birthday 

Ebbetts Pass North on the PCT

Early September, my Supervisor and I did a tiny section of the PCT for "Wilderness Lake Monitoring".  We started at Ebbetts Pass/Route 4 and hiked North past Kinney Lakes and into the Mokelumne Wilderness.

 It was other-wordly.  The 'Northern California Pacific Crest Trail' book by Schaffer says, "...your trail bends noreast up to a broad ridge to begin an incredible route past one of the most bizarre, yet beautiful, landscapes to be seen along the PCT...your odyssey continues with a diagonal comb north to a windcropped sagebrush saddle...".

Land Before Time



I went to Utah and ...

all I took was pictures from the summit of Snowbird. And my cousin Chris took pictures of the tick he pulled off of my scalp.  Awesome! Thanks for the help cuz!

 Chris and his wife had a baby boy recently, so I went to visit.  My Grandma and Aunt flew to Utah. So we went to the top of Snowbird on the tram.

Silvia goes to Melissa's!

I finally got to Flagstaff. Was a quick trip to see the cuz.

I got to see Dan, my UMaine and Rose Bike alumn.  Thanks Dan for telling us the secret spots to bike in Flagstaff.  I loved the biking in Flagstaff!

Let's just say that 12 hours in the car and a broken camera lense (again) later... I had a good time.  Thanks for the David Sedaris CD Em!

Arizona Trail, Flagstaff, AZ

Ski Touring and the Chronicles of my Left Knee

Hello Out There.

A week ago I was going to go ski with Jon from work. I had no one to ski tour with Saturday, and he was kind enough to be like, "You know what, let's go do McGee". Wee in the AM Saturday, Jon calls, and says something like, "Please forgive me, but I can't move my legs, I have to cancel".  Jon does insane things in tight spandex and when he's not doing the so-called "Rando Races", he is still doing crazy things. I'm just flattered he was willing to go with me.

I ended up just going out my front door to the Sherwins. Simple and when by yourself, sticking to trees is great, especially for someone like me with minimal avalanche training.  I still took my beacon, but there was not a soul in sight, until the parking lot at 12:30 when I finished.

The "Tele Bowls"- my line is there somewhere

ORS-sick... it happens(the dictionary definition and then some)

Word: ORS-sick
Pronunciation: /O-R-S sik/
Part of Speech: Adjective
Definition: nostalgic for Onion River Sports; missing former lifestyle, community, and way of life; pining for home, friends, family and familiar mountains; in a nostalgic condition
Synonyms: homesick, hankering, pining, heartsick, lonely, longing for home, missing, wistful, yearning
Antonyms: California,West Coast
Usage Examples:
-The girl from Vermont was so ORS-sick that she couldn't sleep at Circus Circus due to sheer excitement of her homecoming.
-She was ORS-sick because close-knit friends and communities are hard to come by.
-She was ORS-sick before she even packed her car for California.
-Inevitably everyone one gets ORS-sick from time to time.
:::::: :::::: ::::: ::::: ::::: :::::: :::::  ::::: :::::: ::::: ::::: ::::: :::::: :::::: ::::: ::::: :::::

Bike Touring Travelers

This couple from Germany came in to the ranger station and were doing a bike tour. They started in Alaska and are ending in LA. Their Blog. You can translate it from German by copying and pasting the link into various tools online.

Someday I want to do a big bike tour. I have no interest in biking across America, even if it is for charity. Ever since I worked at Rose Bicycle in Maine, and thanks to Jim, I've wanted to do Cape Bretton or the main part of Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island. The Beal Family and I did a quick car tour of Nova Scotia. I'd rather tour the Western side I think, then tie in a canoe trip somehow in their Kemjimkujik Seaside Adjunct National Park. Or another canoe trip in Algonquin Provincial Park deeper into the park would be amazing... or the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (right Jen?).



Last summer at Onion River Sports we had Furtemba Sherpa, stop in our shop before we closed for a quick repair. I think Dean-o was there too to help. Furtemba speaks little English, from my encounter, but he is a man from Nepal who has been sponsored by his country since 2003 to cycle to every country promoting world peace and environmental protection. Mayor Blumberg even wrote him a letter. whoa.

To Big Sur or Bust!

Sarah, Laura, and I went to Monterey in the beginning of August. One of my best friend's from college has a brother working at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He gave us a grand tour, behind the scenes and all. We saw the room where they raise seahorses, went behind the jellyfish display. Saw the kelp forest from the top. Saw a sea otter in rehabilitation that won't go into the wild (otherwise we would've had to wear strange clothing).

I still had quite the limp from my bike accident, but we walked to some of the beaches near Big Sur State Park. Don't ever let the campground attendants pick a site for you. What they give you is a site next to lights, not in the actually redwoods, and that is infested with squirrels which may or may not carry the plague. One ballsy squirrel so much as had the gumption to pull my tent stuff sack away from next to where I was setting up my tent. I didn't see it happen, but saw the orange back hanging half out from under a log at our tent site. So I stole it back.

Backpacking the High Trail

Here are some photos from my backpacking trip in July with Matt and Kyle. They are two SCA's (the lady who started the Student Conservation Association is from Shaftsbury, VT - or resides there) who are Interpretation interns. I love them.

We did the High Trail with aspirations of going over 5 passes in 2 nights and 3 days. Kyle ended up twisting his knee and we exited the Rush Creek trail out of June Lake instead. BUT it was still SO much fun.

And we hiked in farther than we thought the first night and were rewarded with amazing views when we rose. There were definitely people camping closer than 100' off the trail too. I give people the wilderness permits at work and do they listen? No. Who listens to LNT rules? Bigfoot does. That's who.

backpacking trip to Waterwheel Falls

Earlier this summer I went backpacking with my friend Jesse to Waterwheel Falls in Yosemite. It was my first backpack trip in the Sierras. I got some photos, but my laptop has been less than stellar, so most of the summer I haven't documented (aside from whomever tagged me on fb).

Our campspot was above Waterwheel Falls, and it was amazing. Jesse's friends were setting up a route on one of the rocks. They couldn't find when the last documented climb was. .. if it ever was. Rock climbing is something I'll try to do more of, but I really don't have money to pick up a new sport.

Either way, it was an amazing time, and I thank Jesse for the use of the sweet Bearicade bear canister and of his water filter. My steripen was down (it's hard to find camera batteries in Mammoth). Jesse is out of Yosemite and he and Emily road-tripped it to New Mexico and got to see Melissa on the way. I'll miss them. Met them in VT. Most people you meet in VT become pretty great friends.

Observations Thus Far

Silvia’s Observations from California (7800’):

- Extra Sharp Cheddar is apparently appealing in yellow (I thought that was only in the South) and they mark the label saying it doesn’t have the bad dyes in it. Idea: don’t dye it! And it does not taste extra sharp at all!
-Mammoth Lakes has its very own Ben and Jerry’s. So if I want to feel at home I just have walk by it and it’ll have that same yummy aroma
-People out here really like white trucks
-Out here it is also called “snowmobiling” not “snow-machining”. Thus concluding that Central VT is perhaps the only area that calls it “’chining”: SHEEN-IN : (pronunciation guide)
-Buy things you really need in Bishop. Bike tubes in Mammoth Lakes are $7.99, and they aren’t even the thorn-proof kind. I also forgot to get GU, CO2 cartridges and a pump, amongst other things. So when I go 30 miles South to Bishop, gas, oil changes, and bike shops are more reasonable. Unfortunately, they don’t sell neon green Onion River Sports Frisbees (which I also forgot).
-It is possible to go less than 30 mph when descending more than 1000’ by road bike
-Bear-proof dumpsters are VTer-proof as well. There is a caribiner and then a latch you have to reach under to unhook in a separate spot, thus, needing two hands
-Although the tufas are a nifty feature of a salty lake, and have a boardwalk leading out toward them, I like the Orono Bog Boardwalk better (more living things)
-I thought people in California were environmentally conscious... but I can’t even find Simple Green in the store. What is the deal? They do pay you to recycle aluminum and plastic, but it's by weight.
-Apparently you can go for a wine tasting and a hummer tour all in one. What a business plan! Who would have thought? Sign me up…
-Goodbye to composting. We shall meet again! But we do have a food grinder thingy in the sink. That’s always fun.

I do love Vermont, but for the next 6 months I'm in California- this is about that

So here I am. It's snowing in Mammoth Lakes. I started work yesterday for the Forest Service at the Inyo National Forest Visitor Center. They gave me my ugly ugly uniform. I shortly thereafter went running. The only cool part of the uniform is that I get to not wear it after work, and I get to wear my Darn Tough VT socks with hiking boots of my choice. Other than that, I have a lot to learn.

I still need to go explore more of town, but it's great. First night here I got to have dinner with an old UMaine Parks, Rec. and Tourism buddy, Barrett, and his girlfriend (from VT!) Jill, and Barrett's best friend who used to work at East Burke Sports, Tyler, and his wife, Laura. Then I got to meet K-Wrig's friend, who was visiting town, and who is Jill's sister. If you are confused now, you should be. But basically it's like 6 degrees of separation Vermont/ Maine style- and right here in Mammoth Lakes, CA.

So my move here was purely because I already turned down an offer with the Forest Service before, and I just was feeling like I wasn't being an overly adventurous person. I think after this I will surely know what I want in life. I am pretty positive I want a more permanent job, maybe not with the government. Maybe more non-profit. Maybe with trails, maybe with kids. All I know is I left an amazing job at Onion River Sports (love you guys more than you know) and a supportive, outdoor family who I am so glad to have. I will keep in touch!

I also left all my best friends and family since like 4th grade, highschool, and college. But it's an adventure.

If it's one thing I've learned- it's that I have the most supportive friends anyone could ever ask for. Thank you to you all who have listened to me debate things numerous times and decide what is good for me. I love you all. I am so blessed. You all mean so much to me, and you all know who you are.

Well- this blog isn't as graceful and thought out as Tristan and Sarah's, but I'm going on hour 3 in this cafe, Looney Bean, in Mammoth Lakes, and I've had a lot of coffee. Time to sign out.

I'll come up with something better later.

Hear's to the best friends and outdoor adventurers a girl could ever have!