I lied...

Sleep is not overtaking me. Though I put a good effort into it. :) The bed was comfy, it's kind of dusk like out, but it's 79 degrees and the fan just makes the bedroom feel like I'm living in a convection oven.

So I'm back to talk about Monadnock.

When I climbed Monadnock last in July of 2002 I would say I was a good 40-50 lbs heavier. I had at least stopped smoking, but making it up the mountain must have been a sight for the others who were on the trail with me that day.

I fell in with a group of interpretive dancers from a college in the area. I want to say it was Antioch New England, but on further thought I really don't think it was. They were a motley group of folks, only some of which had the kind of body you'd associate with dance. They were on their way to the top so they could dance. I guess it was something the class did every year; hauled their cabooses to the 3,165 foot summit and then worked on dance inspired by what they saw and felt. They even asked me to participate. But I'll tell ya, looking like this



and not really having adequately prepared for the climb, all I could manage was what a spider might look like, desperately clinging to a rock crevice in the high wind and hoping that a trip back down to the tree line might be achievable.

That big red smear on my leg? Before I had even hit the trail head I tripped and tore my knee open on a rock. I could have seen it as a bad omen, but decided that I was climbing that mountain no matter what.

I'm still surprised I made it.

Going up was not graceful, but coming down was, for me, almost terrifying. My body was spent, every step was shaky, and every 10 minutes or so some group of teens would come racing down the mountain, leaping from rock to rock, talking about how coming down the mountain was easier because you could just let gravity take you over. In my head I affectionately called them mountain goats.

I can't remember who took my picture at the junction of dot and cross in 2002. But they kindly sent me a copy of the photo, bloody knee and all.

This was right before I started a job in Biddeford Maine. My first real reporting job. Though not young (when I graduated UNH in 2002 I was 31), I was full of optimism and felt like I could take on anything the journalism world could throw at me.

AHAHAHAHAHA!! Aha, ha, heh. Yeah.

This stung for awhile, but the life of a beat reporter was just not kind to me. Already out of shape and having been diagnosed with fibromyalgia when I was 28, well, I just couldn't take what journalism could throw at me. An irregular sleep schedule just made me grumpy and depressed. And I was almost always stressed.

Call me a wannabe prima donna, I just function better when I can (kind of) control how much sleep I get and when. I still do freelance writing, on my terms. It's not changing the world, but I can enjoy what life has to offer without feeling I have to squeeze it in when I can, around work and around every day living.

So today, I was supposed to hike Monadnock with a friend. She had to bow out because of some last minute life things, but I just didn't want to miss a beautiful day outside. So up the mountain I went. The whole trip took me 4 hours, and honestly I don't think it took me too much longer in 2002, but I certainly don't feel as wiped out as I did. Going down was still a challenge, but my legs didn't shake from fatigue.

Just for reference, here I am after the hike. Back at home and showered, but kind of looking like "find the psycho in this picture".



And I feel great about tackling Monadnock twice, by myself, knowing that I learned a bit each time I went up and came back down. Having lost 65 lbs in the past two years (my heaviest was 185, and I'm 5'2") helped me out. I even chose to take a more challenging trail on the way back down. I beat feet up the white dot trail to make it to summit, but then took the white arrow (It's along the left side of the map)to cliff walk to lost farm on the way down. A great change of scenery, and a chance to really be by myself on the mountain for awhile.

Heck, I even decided to be the state park's bitch and bought myself a T-shirt at the park store.

There weren't alot of mountain goats today, but maybe it's because I got there early (8:30 in the a.m.) to beat the crowds. And it was a good thing I did. The parking lot was full up by the time I got back down.

Of course, the most interesting thing happened on the way out to Monadnock. I stopped at a gas station/Dunkin Donuts in Bedford and encountered a raven there that was quite brave. It sat on the roof above the back door and croaked out repeatedly to get attention. The workers tried tossing munchkins to it, but it just kind of flew around and created a racket. It was huge, by bird standards. Probably not as big as a hawk or anything, but big enough. And believe me, it was a raven not a crow.

The really great thing is that the workers said the raven hangs out there a lot. Mostly to go through the dumpster and fish out tasty treats. I might just have to camp out early some morning with my camera and see if I can lure it down to the pavement and get some good shots. That would be fantastic.

So, yeah. That was my adventure. Sorry no photos, but I'm always more concerned with hiking that pics when I do something like this. Maybe I just need a small, knock around camera for these adventures.

Oh, and just for fun, here's a great pic my mom got of some lightening during one of the many thunderstorms we've had recently.



Go mom! w00T!