Homework Hike!

 

My graphic design professor is pretty great.  This week our assignment was literally to take a hike!  Man, is that the best kind of homework or what?  Our actual instructions were to go outside, take a walk in nature, and make observations, which we will later be applying to a typography project.  Part of the assignment included writing a journal entry, so what better way to multitask than to use that as a blog post?  Which, honestly, I may never have written, because once again we "just" hiked our oft-visited favorite mountain, Shannon.  Is there really much more to say about it?  Well, apparently yes, there is plenty.  Read on to learn more about this gem, by way of my mindfulness hike of sorts.

"Today I noticed..."

The recent rain storms had left one of the mountain roads with a lot of washout.  There were also a couple limbs in the curvy road that I had to swerve around. The dirt road in to the trailhead was in better shape than one might expect, but of course had its share of potholes.  

On the entire drive there, it was obvious that we'd have a bluebird day for hiking.  Not a cloud in the bright blue sky.  Winds had calmed since yesterday, but there was still a cool breeze.  I hoped that I wore sufficient layers, after scaling back at the last minute.

I met my cousin at the trailhead as usual.  Upon starting our hike, we were immediately greeted by a couple of robins hopping around the seemingly lifeless winter lawn in front of the scout camp's main building.  I wandered over to the beach to snap a photo of the ripply waves lapping the shore, but did so as quickly as possible, as the wind was wicked cold coming off the water.  I whistled an exclamation at the bitter breeze, and one of the robins called back to me.  I responded that I wasn't talking to him.  He didn't seem to care, and called once more; I think simply to have the last word.

We picked up our pace down the lake access road to the open-air stone chapel with a steeply pitched roofline.  Just after this is where we turn right onto the hiking trail and head upwards.  Here too we found many downed trees and limbs.  Runoff streams were flowing, and I was thankful for my new waterproof boots.  Much of the trail was bare ground, but we hit patches of leftover snow here and there.  

Being on the treelined trail protected us from the wind, and the temperature was much more comfortable.  My chosen layers worked out perfectly, neither too cold (once past the lake) nor too warm as we ascended.  Every time we hike Mt. Shannon we comment on how much of a workout we forget it is.  Sure, it's no presidential peak, but it's steep enough to get the blood pumping.

The trail is frequently littered with rocks and boulders, but not annoyingly so.  Some actually make quite nice resting spots.  My niece once draped herself over one partway along a family adventure, where she insisted she'd die because we made her hike this 1265 foot mountain, with over 500 feet of elevation gain.  You may be surprised to know that she was a drama student.  (And if you didn't realize, this is not a large mountain. Just good moderate exercise. And it's so pretty!)

Spring is barely starting, and there is not much growth yet.  The deciduous trees are still totally naked, and undergrowth appears to remain in hibernation.  I'm sure as usual we will hit a point soon where all of a sudden the foliage begins to explode.  But we're not there yet.  Right now the only obvious growth is the perennial green of moss and lichens hugging the rocks and stumps and trees.

When we approached the summit, we encountered what at first I thought was a large, soaring hawk.  Then as more appeared and they continued circling I realized it must be a kettle of vultures.  (Fun fact; I looked up vultures, and a group in flight is called a kettle, while a group on the ground or in trees is called a committee. I guess they must be planning something.  Meanwhile, if they are feeding, it's called a wake. That's amusing.)  Anyway, we suspected there must be something dead nearby, but we saw no evidence beyond the birds.  And that's about as ideal a situation as you can get.

Strewn boulders continue to be a sight on the summit, which also features rocky, open cliffs.  It's pretty awesome, and the views, which span from west to east, are beautiful at any time of year.  Shannon is an excellent hike for both sunrise and sunset, and we've done both.  Once in the same day, as I recall!  Or maybe it was sunset one evening followed by sunrise the next morning.  It's hard to keep track after you've hiked the same mountain so many times.

The views overlook several lakes and ponds, which of course isn't unusual here in the Lakes Region.  But it's still pretty every time!  Some of the smaller bodies of water were still mostly frozen, while others were more open with only partial ice.  The little peek holes of water in the otherwise ice- and snow-covered ponds gave off a brilliant sparkle in the sunshine, even from the distance of the mountaintop.  There was also a smooth, small, glittery field of snow on part of the summit, just as you start down the "back" trail towards yet another viewpoint overlooking more of the Belknap range.  So much sparkle on Shannon today!

Another shiny sight was the fascinating seasonal occurrence of mud ice crystals.  They literally look like columnar crystalline formations pushing out of the ground.  It's so neat.  Apparently this is called "needle ice" and it occurs when the ground temperature is higher than the air temperature.  Ground water seeps up, hits freezing air, and forms ice columns that literally grow overnight.  Very cool.  (Well, obviously, because if it was warm this couldn't happen.  Thanks folks, I'm here all night.)

After making some more observations around the summit; the Fibonacci spiral of pine cones, evergreen pine needles, the fluffy wild grasses that had barely perceptible shoots of fresh green amid last season's straw, the variety in forms of lichens growing on rocks, random autumn leaves lying neatly on patches of snow; we began our descent down the trail that takes us to the Sunset Lake shore.  The open sections of water were incredibly clear and still.  The stoney bottom looked close enough to touch even before we reached it.  When we got there it turned out there was a skim coat of ice on most of these parts; so clear you could barely see it.  Even the water itself was so clear that at once point I stepped on what I thought was merely wet sand and it actually was an inch or two of water.  I'm definitely putting these new boots to the test!  

In one of the shallows we also discovered tiny baby fish swimming around.  That was an exciting find that made it feel a little more like spring.  But the remaining signs of winter sprawled across much of the lake beyond the shallows, where swirls of old snowmobile tracks crossed the natural striations of melting ice.  Much as we're all ready to put winter behind us, that created a really interesting pattern in the snow.

At this point, the hike is nearly done.  All that's left is the access road through the scout camp which eventually brings us back to the parking lot.  I snapped one more picture of a tree with a funky hollow at its base.  One might imagine some mythical creature living in it, although the only occupants I encountered was a swarm of gnats.  Ah yes, spring is definitely coming.

A few more photographed observations from this homework hike:

 

4/8 Mt. Shannon homework hike, 2.22 mi, 571 ft, 1:18/1:27 hrs