Mt. Holyoke and the Seven Sisters Trail

The Seven Sisters, part of the Holyoke Range and located within Massachusetts' Pioneer Valley, are a series of basalt ridgeline knobs next to Mount Holyoke. In addition to Mt. Holyoke, there are seven distinct peaks; the only two that seem to be named are Mt. Hitchcock and Bare Mountain. Though none of the seven peaks is much higher than 1,000 feet, our walk along the ridgeline gave us an overall elevation gain of 3,700 feet -- more than I've done in any single day this year, even in the White Mountains!

Several of the peaks, particularly Mt. Holyoke and Bare Mountain, offered scenic clifftop views of the season's fall colors. The walk was made particularly pleasurable by the hike leaders, Steve Harrison and Sue Warthman, and the members of the AMC Naragansett Chapter (see photo of group).

5 miles, 3,700' elevation gain
Summits: Mt. Holyoke = 935 feet, plus seven "sisters", including Mt. Hitchcock = 1,002 feet; and Bare Mountain = 1,014 feet.
Route: The Seven Sisters are traversed by the Metacomet- Monadnock Trail.

Mt. Eisenhower in the fall

In the White Mountains of NH, there's only a one-in-five chance that you'll see the summit of Mt. Washington: it's said to be cloaked in clouds 80% of the time. We were lucky on Sunday to have clear views of the summit of Mt. Washington (in the distance in the photo) both on the summit of Mt. Eisenhower and on the Edmands Path on the way up. I could actually see the towers on the top with my naked eye!

The Edmands Path is a wonderful trail. I really love it. I kept saying "I love this path!" Very pleasant hike, without lots of large boulders to climb over. A relatively easy descent as the White Mountains go.

Throughout this hike, I kept thinking of my old friend Debra Goldfarb, who, with her husband Roger, led me and John up that path more than 15 years ago. I found it very difficult then; it was much easier the second time around because I'm in far better shape now than I was then.

The Crawford Path (shown in the photo) snakes it's way from the summit of Mt. Eisenhower, to Mt. Monroe, and then to Mt. Washington. One day I'll be on that path all the way to Mt. Washington!

6.6 miles, 2,700' elevation gain
Summit: Mt. Eisenhower = 4,760 feet
Route: Edmands Path

Peak colors on Mt. Pierce

It was a beautiful view on Saturday from the summit of Mt. Pierce. Vast swaths of the valley to the north were awash in fall colors. We had glorious weather.

When we reached the junction of Crawford Path with the Mizpah Cutoff and kept going on Crawford Path, we wondered why no one else was ascending that way. Everyone was descending via this route. It was a very easy route to the summit.

Then we took the Webster-Cliff Trail to the Mizpah Cutoff down and discovered that we'd done the loop in the wrong direction! It is very steep -- much easier to ascend than to descend. So, note to self: go counter-clockwise via the Mizpah Cutoff trail on the ascent next time. It would be much easier on the knees!

6.5 miles, 2,400' elevation gain
Summit: Mt. Pierce = 4,312 feet
Route: Crawford Path to Mt. Pierce; Webster-Cliff Trail to Mizpah cutoff to Crawford Trail down

Don't Leave them in the Dark

These are Anna Deavere Smith's haunting final words in her one-woman play, Let me Down Easy, at the ART. She's referencing the millions of children in Africa who are dying of AIDS -- specifically those at the Chance Orphanage in Johannesburg. But figuratively with those words she's speaking to the broader issues of mortality, vulnerability and resilience.

The artist and actress informs the audience that her play is about grace. It is about that and much more, touching on genocide, Katrina victims, horse racing and fittingly, the state of the U.S. health care system. One man, learning that his heart transplant will cost $250,000, simply laughs heartily and exclaims "That's less than the cost of a Ferrari!"

Overall, Let Me Down Easy entertains and enlightens with sad, thought-provoking and moving testimonials of life, injustice and beauty.

At the ART in Cambridge, MA through October 11.

Near-Peak Colors Around Mt. Jackson

After my high-altitude hiking in Peru, where the oxygen is limited, hiking in NH's White Mountains near sea level was a piece of cake! I felt great! And I didn't need to break for breathers on the way up.

We got a late start, so we met quite a few people coming down from the summit. Everyone of them lamented the lack of views due to the low cloud cover. "It's not worth it," several said. Well, I'm glad we continued.

Miraculously, when we reached the summit, the sky cleared and we had 360 degree views! Autumnal colors were vivid in areas of sun; less so in areas of cloud cover. Not quite peak yet though.

Although the summit of Mt. Washington to the northeast was occluded by clouds, the rest of the mountain, and the area around it, was majestic to behold.

The trail near the summit is very steep and rocky, and requires some tricky foot and legwork to get over massive boulders. Fortunately even the wet rocks weren't too slippery.

A very enjoyable 6-hour hike! And it was Mike's very first Presidential! Congratulations, Mike!

5.2 miles, 2,150' elevation gain
Summit: Mt. Jackson = 4,052 feet
Route: Webster-Jackson Trail and Mount Jackson Branch both ways

Peru and Machu Picchu

A wonderful hiking trip with Mike, Harry and Javier. See more of my photos on flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23477159@N06/sets/72157607550775182/detail/

NH Highland Games & Highland Dancing

Two of the key activities in the Highland Games are the Heavy Events Athletics and Highland Dancing.

Scottish Highland dancing is one of the oldest forms of folk dance. Although Highland dancing was historically restricted to men (warrior or celebratory dances), it has been performed primarily by females since the 1900s. Highland dances, which require both athletic and artistic skills, include

• The Highland Fling
• The Sword Dance (Gillie Callum)
• The Seann Triubhas (prounounced "shawn trews" and meaning "old trousers")
• The Strathspey and Reel

Of the Heavy Athletics events, I saw the stone toss, in which a 100 lb. stone is tossed with two hands for distance. It precedes the modern one-handed shot put. The winner of this game tossed the stone nearly 15 feet!

The signature event of the Highland Games Heavy Athletics is the caber toss. Unfortunately I missed this one. In this event, the athlete lifts the caber (essentially a 130-lb. telephone pole), runs with it, stops abruptly and tosses the caber end over end (at at least attempts to do so). This is something I plan to see next year!