Tuesday, September 22, 2009

More Outdoorsy Stuff



My original plan for this past weekend was to hike Mount Kathadin in Maine.

But it's a 7+ hour drive from my place. Furthermore, someone just told me that their friend went on Labor Day weekend and had to get in line at 3:30 am just to be able to do the hike.

I knew they *limited* the number of hikers each day; and I know that a holiday weekend will be especially crowded....but still, there's no way I'm driving that far up to deal with all that BS. Imagine if they didn't let you on the trail!

So we climbed NH's Mount Madison instead - and it was totally fine.

About six years ago, my wife and I went whitewater rafting up in Maine. We did the so-called Dead River and it didn't live up to either its moniker nor all the precautionary *death talk* from the guides. Later on I learned that one had to instead raft the Penobscot further upstate if they really wanted to get crazy.

This is a lengthy video so just watch a bit. In particular, check out the guy at the 1:20 mark. He looks like he is about to get sucked under and recycled(?) before some hero crash-saves him.



Here's a much, much, more intense video of Penobscot rafting - though there's no sound because the audio track was *unauthorized*:



I've had two kids since I first fancied Penobscot....so I don't think I'll EVER raft that one upon seeing that clip.

See also - Unconscious Morons.

And I just came across two more harrowing river vids - both featuring kayaks:



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