SONH: Swingout New Hampshire.
After dancing until 4:15 a.m., I decided to get up eat breakfast, and watch friends load up on the bus to return to Boston and New York.
I had left my food bag in my friend’s car. Matt had danced all night and he was going to rest until 11 a.m. So I took the time to tighten up some bolts on my bike and do some other minor repairs.
Finally getting on the road, I headed to Hebron and towards Rumney. I looked at a map. A map is flat representation of reality. The shorter route went up through Groton and to Rumney. The longer route went to the other side of Newfound Lake and up to Rumney. Reality doesn't always reflect the lack of contours on a flat maps. The ride was hilly! Coming after two nights of little sleep and days of dancing, I was exhausted.
Resting after a long ride...
Along the way, I stopped to visit the house of Mary Baker Eddy. This is the house she lived in after her homeopathic, faith-based healing conversion. The next day, I visited the house she lived in before her conversion and founding of Christian Science (the house is in Rumney). An author showed me around the house. He was a former Middle East and Europe editor for the Christian Science Monitor. He was writing a book and he had escaped to New Hampshire for some quiet.
Leaving the house, it was a dramatic descent into Rumney. There is a stream next to the Mary Baker Eddy house. This steam makes the same dramatic drop. Apparently, in the springtime, kayakers make the same drop in their boats. Of course, in September, there is almost not enought water to catch a fish.
Arriving in Rumney, I met my friend Melodie and her friend Paul who has a house right under Rattlesnake Mountain, a popular climbing spot. Paul runs a website for long-distance hikers. Being a long-distance cyclists, I was very interested to hear about his travels.
Paul has a real farm, ducks and all...
Melodie and I went on a hike to the top of the climbing ridge. Half way to the top, we stopped. When hiking or walking around the woods, there always sounds - the sound of a bird, rustling caused by a bird, chipmunk, or snake. While waiting there, we heard a different sound. This was the sound of a breaking branch that could only be made by something as large as a human. I saw something black moving towards us and in front of us. I didn't think we were in grazing lands. Even though we were in a state park, I didn't see a fence when we began our hike which would have indicated that grazing occured on this land. The shape I saw was black. It couldn't be a cow, but it was approximately the right size. Melodie and I stopped talking. I pointed out that it must be a bear. Then realizing that the bear didn't hear us when we were talking and that the bear might come right to where we were, I stopped up and yelled. The bear turned and ran off into the woods.
For me, this was exciting. All the hikes that I had done so far were by myself. Also these hikes were done in bear country. I never once saw a bear. So to finally see a bear in the wild was nice. To see a bear when I had a hiking partner was even nicer - it made it less likely that we would be attacked.
Day 40 - SwingoutNH to Rumney - 18 Miles
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