'Invigorating' Hike Detailed in Ledger Column
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The Newsletter of the Southeastern Massachusetts Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club I December 2017 Get SEM activities delivered right to your email inbox! Sign up for the AMC Activity Digest. email [email protected] Or call 1-800-372-1758 Find past issues of The Southeast Breeze on our website. Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Have a story for The Southeast Breeze? Please send your Word doc and photographs to [email protected]. Please send photos as separate attachments, including the name of each Hikers pause at the gazebo at Newbridge on the Charles. Photo by Ken Carson photographer. Include the words “Breeze Article” in the ‘Invigorating’ hike detailed in Ledger column subject line. Twenty-six enthusiastic hikers joined the December 7th trek to the top of Shop the Breeze Market Wilson Mountain in Dedham, MA, followed by a brisk stroll through for equipment bargains! Whitcomb Woods and Newbridge on the Charles. The AMCSEM hike led by Members looking to sell, trade, Ken Cohen and Walt Granda was featured by participating member Sue or free-cycle their used equipment can post for free. Scheible in her weekly “A Good Age” column in The Patriot Ledger. Business advertisements are Describing the outing as “an easy, but invigorating walk,” Sue concluded: just $15/month. Send inquiries “It’s a good choice for a quick hike if you are out that way or going along the to [email protected] highway and feel like a break.” Read the full column here. Page 1 of 19 View from the Chair: “Get Healthy!” As we approach the New Year, a lot of people begin to think about ways to improve themselves and one area that always comes up is—Health! Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “The first wealth is health.” If improving your heath is on your mind, here a couple of suggestions: VOLUNTEER—Volunteering can improve your health in a couple of ways. First, it usually gets you active, and second, it helps your emotional side by improving your social connections. As the daylight hours grow shorter, it is very important to get out and connect with people, preventing “cabin fever” and other forms of isolation. Volunteering forces you to interact with other people and gives a very positive feeling of “giving back” to society. Specifically, by volunteering with AMCSEM you will be interacting with other like-minded people concerned about the outdoors and conservation. We have several ways you can volunteer for your chapter—from filling openings on our board and committees, becoming an event leader, or submitting an article for our newsletter. We are offering free Leadership Training on April 7, 2018, which is always a good time even if you don’t want to eventually become a SEM leader. If you are looking for ways to volunteer and don’t see anything on our website that might interest you, please contact me at [email protected] and I’m sure we can find a way for you to volunteer for something. GET OUTSIDE—Although our paddling events and bike rides have pretty much come to end for the season, they have been replaced by some exciting, healthy outdoor events. How about going on a Full Moon hike, a Cape Hike, a gentle snowshoe hike, or a cross-country ski trip? We are also starting a series of family hikes and events, so why not get your kids or grandkids outside and get some fresh air? And when you get outside, don’t forget to bring a friend—there’s that social thing again! You can find all our activities (hike, ski, trail work, snowshoe, family hikes, and/or volunteer) on our website at www.amcsem.org. Hope to see you outside! Barry Young, AMCSEM Chapter Chair 2018 Executive Board Chapter Chair .......................Barry Young Communications Chair ...................Paul Miller Membership Chair ................Sandy Santilli Vice Chair .......................................OPEN Communications Vice Chair ...................OPEN Membership Vice Chair .....................OPEN Secretary ........................Ann McSweeney Conservation Chair ........................Bill Cannon Membership Vice Chair … Ellen Thompson Treasurer .........................Patty Rottmeier Conservation Vice Chair ........................OPEN Paddling Chair .............................Ed Foster Past Chapter Chair ............Maureen Kelly Education Chair ..........................Doug Griffiths Paddling Vice Chair ..........................OPEN Biking Chair .....................Bernie Meggison Education Vice Chair .............................OPEN Skiing Chair ........................Jeannine Audet Biking Vice Chair .............................OPEN Hiking Chair .............................Mike Woessner Skiing Vice Chair ...............................OPEN Cape Hiking Chair ................Jane Harding Hiking Vice Chair ........................George Danis Trails Chair ............................Peter Tierney Cape Hiking Vice Chair .....Cathy Giordano Trails Vice Chair ..............Wayne Anderson Trails Vice Chair......................Skip Maysles Ad Hoc Committee Chairs & Other Chapter Contacts Social Director………………………………..OPEN Webmistress……………… Cheryl Lathrop Contact [email protected] Social Vice Chair …………………………….OPEN The Breeze Editor……………….Mo Walsh if you are interested in any Social Media Administrator ……Christine Racine Blast Editor………………….Marie Hopkins OPEN position. Social Networking Moderator…........Sue Mulligan Page 2 of 19 Maureen Pena and Doug Griffiths enjoy the awesome views. On the trail. Photo by Len Spada Photo by Len Spada Winter series returns to Welch-Dickey However, the footing can get a bit tricky in early winter since the ledges are often icy, making microspikes—or By Paul Miller, Communications Chair sometimes even full crampons—essential. As expected, On Saturday, December 2nd, eighteen enthusiastic, well- the trail conditions varied from bare rock at the bottom to equipped AMC hikers showed up at the Welch-Dickey mixed ice and rock mid-mountain; plenty of ice on the trailhead near Waterville Valley, NH, for the second hike ledges; and mostly snow on the two summits. in this season’s SEM Winter Hiking Series. This included This made for a great “teaching opportunity,” because the a good mix of both newer and experienced SEM winter newer winter hikers among us learned to use and trust hikers, plus two amiable visitors from the Boston Chapter their microspikes, a key winter hiking lesson. We’re (who we’re likely to see join us again on future trips). hoping to have a similar teaching opportunity for While we haven’t visited Welch-Dickey for the last several snowshoes on the next winter series hike, January 6th, winter series, this is always a favorite winter hike. Not only to Mt. Kearsarge North in Intervale, NH. are there awesome views, but the hike is not too challenging from the perspective of either length (4.5 miles) or elevation gain (neither Mt. Welch nor Mt. Dickey is over 3,000 feet high). 2017-2018 SEM WINTER HIKING SERIES CONTINUES #3 Jan.6th─Mt. Kearsarge North, Intervale, NH #4 Feb. 3rd─Mts. Tom and Field, Crawford Notch, NH #5 Mar. 2nd-4th─Zealand Hut Weekend, Twin Mtn., NH Why we hike in #6 Mar. 11th─Mt. Liberty–Franconia Notch, NH the Winter! ADDITIONAL WINTER HIKES Photo by Ben Waitt Snowshoe Hikes─Dec.16th, Jan.20th (Anne Duggan) Sunday Morning Hikes─Dec. 24th, Jan. 14th, Feb.18th, Mar. 18th (Maureen Kelly) Photos continued on Noble View Weekend─Feb. 9th–11th (Walt Granda) next page Page 3 of 19 Welch-Dickey Hike Continued from page 3 George Danis, our Intrepid Leader. Smiles on the Summit! Photo by Len Spada Maureen Pena is all geared up. Left: Icicles along the trail. Right: The view from Mt. Dickey to Mt. Welch. Photos by Bernie Waitt Right Column: All photos by Len Spada Real winter hiking conditions. Page 4 of 19 so in we found a mailbox on the ground with a hikers’ log, and Barbara thought it was a perfect place to leave her painted rock for someone else to find. Check out “860 Rocks” on Facebook to learn more. But the best was yet to come. The trail continued into Connecticut, where the hemlock forest took over with beautiful rock jumbles everywhere. We passed along the foot of a huge outcrop with some small caves and ferns still adorning the crevices. Sunlight only filters in to this area, and I'm sure it would be a perfect spot to cool off on a hot summer day. After passing along the base of this massive rock, the trail eventually took us back to the water’s edge. Here we stretched out and enjoyed our lunch while the sun warmed us. We returned to our cars on the same trail, but as is often the case, the trail looked different from the other direction and was just as enjoyable heading homeward. Certainly the amazing November weather, sun, and 60- degree temperatures made the hike especially enjoyable. But honestly, the folks on this hike made it the best. Members from the Worcester, Southeastern Massachusetts, and Rhode Island chapters were present. These members had the honor of welcoming three in our group—Jodi, Patty, and Mike—who were on Massive rocks and blowdown along the forest trail. their very first AMC hike. As always, I enjoyed meeting Photo by Peggy Qvickland new and interesting people, and I hope they enjoyed the "troll forest" as much as I did! Hiking the Forests of Rhode Island By Peggy Qvicklund, SEM Hike Leader Who knew our country's smallest state held a forest so untouched and with such varying terrain that it could be used as a set for a movie with elves and trolls! Eleven AMC hikers experienced this magical place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We met at Beach Pond to hike a portion of the Pachaug Trail. The sun was so warm in the parking lot we almost didn't want to enter the woods. But off we went, and soon we were hiking in a mixed woods of white and red pine along with the usual hardwood, stepping over blowdowns from recent wind storms. The trail took us along the edge of the pond.