Sunday, September 24, 2006

Hardys on Halfmoon

Saturday 23Sep06 - Sunday 24Sep06

Saturday morning the weather forecast was for thunder, lightning, tornados and hail, headed straight for the very same mountain range we were headed to. Somehow between Randallstown and Woodstock, the weather changed its plans. When we arrived at the mountain Saturday, the rain had stopped but the clouds were rolling through. The trip plan was ambitious for newbies, but Dad, Matt, and Gary look like strapping young (semi-young) men and I figured they could handle it. Starting at Wolf Gap recreation area, up to Big Schloss, and out to Halfmoon Lookout, where we spent the night. The mileage on the first day was about 10 miles, and back on Sunday about 9. Jada and Kisses made the trek, Kisses the entire way, and Jada almost all the way. Our packs were heavy as we started out, most of the weight in beer and dry ice. Yes, the guys are very very proud of themselves for hiking in ice cold beer. We collectively hiked in 34 cans of beer. 25.5 lbs of beer. They want to lay stake to the claim that they were the first people to achieve ice cold beer on halfmoon during non-winter months. The night was windy and warm. We slept under a billion stars. The views were clear and unobstructed, which was surprising, given the forecast. Those weather people have been really dropped the ball this year. Saturday's hike began at 10:20 and we arrived in camp about 4. We took the side trek to Big Schloss, but the pictures from that didn't come out well because it was raining lightly, and I tried to take pictures through the plastic bag that my camera was sealed in.

The guys kept a very strong pace, I was impressed. There was relatively little bitching and moaning. (Matt about the gnats, Dad about the possible rain, me about them freezing my beer frozen solid, generally about the rocky trails) The pace slowed greatly at the 4 snakes that we saw - two big black snakes that looked harmless enough, and two small rattlers that looked young, aggressive, and extremely venemous. Other wildlife sighted - one baby chipmunk, one dead turtle, and two wild hiking pugs. The Sunday hike started at 8am, and we arrived at the truck by noon. We finished the hike at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Food tastes so good after hiking. Overall, it was a fun hike, a good workout, and a great time. Thank you, Tuna and Bill Plew for the loaner backpacks.
















Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Flag Football & Maryland Wine Festival


Saturday, 16Sep06

Saturday marked the kick off of the fall football season for the Baltimore Sports and Social Club. Our team, Osteopourusanotherbeer, in the Super Xtreme Social league, was off to a strong start. The offense was impecibily organized, complete with arm-band play cards. As cool as they looked, we had some trouble getting organized. I know we'll be better as the weeks go on.





Sunday, 17Sep06

Sunday, the Outdoors Club sponsored a trip to the Maryland Wine Festival, hosted at the Westminister Farm Museum. Terri, Ron S, Ted F, Tuna, Ron & Heather, Ted & Mary, Charlene, Steve, MacKenzie, Matt, and Denise all descended upon the wine festival with chairs and glasses, ready to do some serious tasting. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was a bit warm in the sun, but luckily we were able to nab a spot under the octoganal pavillion, where it was shady and cool.



















Sunday, September 10, 2006

Signal Knob & Pug Party


Saturday 9Sep06

7am we met at the usual spot. This Mountain Club of Maryland hike was led by Ron Eshleman. Ron, Heather, Karen, Rich, Jim and I carpooled to the Massanutten trailhead. Car-ride discussion ranged from retirement to slaughtering chickens, to the accident we witnessed, back to slaughtering chickens, to strangling squirrels, then back to the chickens again. We stopped at McDonalds for the usual pre-hike sausage mcmuffins. It was cool and foggy in the morning. By mid-day, the sun was shining and it was a beautiful 80 degrees. We hiked down the Massanutten trail to the Tuscarora, then got back onto the Massanutten trail to the Signal Knob overlook, where we ate lunch overlooking the town of Strasburg, VA. Trail discussion ranged from eating to food to castrating squirrels, to mating preying mantises, to mating crabs, to islamic extremists, and a host of other subjects. The group was lively and interesting. We didn't see any animals or people on the trial, except one person near the beginning and one set of spaniels near the end. It was a fun hike. Dinner at Cindy Dee's finished out the night with their famous chicken. (More chicken discussion) We were back to the cars by 8:30pm. It was a long day.

Sunday 10Sep06
This Baltimore Pugpalooza event was hosted at Violet and Elvis' house off of Perring Parkway. There were about 25 to 35 pugs (they wouldn't stand still long enough for anyone to get an accurate count). We probably could have figured it out by asking people how many dogs they brought, but I suppose it wasn't important. The pug pool was a great success. There was another pug named Jada at the party. My Jada and the new Jada sniffed noses and butts and then seemed content to let the name confusion die. Kisses was still a little confused. The boys were very interested in the pretty pug wearing the sundress. Maple had the best belly flops into the pool and Joesie was the cutest pug puppy at the event. The October event is officially Pug-O-Ween. Jada and kisses are considering going as Lobsters, but we'll have to put more thought into it.