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Camel's Hump Panoramic (click for larger view)
In a span of seven days I had the pleasure of hiking Burrows Trail to the Camel’s Hump summit in rural Huntington, Vermont three times. There is something luring to me about standing on top of a bare rock mountain peak (elevation 4,079 feet). One could say that I became obsessed with the offer of the expansive view of at least three New England states (VT, NY and NH).
Once know as Camel’s “Rump”, Camel’s Hump can be accessed from the aptly named Camel’s Hump State Park which is located off of Camel’s Hump Road in Huntington, Vermont. Burrows Trail begins at Camel’s Hump State Park. There is a parking area, out houses, an information board and a clearly defined trail-head. The roughly 2.4 mile long trail is well maintained by The Green Mountain Club (GMC). It’s a moderate hike to the summit which can be done in a little over an hour if you are moving at a fast pace. At a normal to slow pace I would plan on 1 1/2 to 2 hours to the summit. On weekends during summer and fall one might encounter ten or fifteen fellow hikers on the trail and/or at the summit. In the winter the Burrows Trail is also used as a snowshoe, ski and snowboarding route.
Short descriptions and photographs of my three visits to Camel’s Hump summit at the end of August 2009:
Day 1: 9:00 am hike – cloudy but, the white puffy clouds were literally flowing over the summit and breaking on the mountain and me. It was an incredible experience. Temperature – chilly with only a (sweat soaked) t-shirt and shorts. (bring extra layers, even in summer). Must have been eight other people at the summit.
Camel's Hump Info (click for a larger view)
Burrows Trail Sign (click for larger view)
Fragile Vegetation (click for larger view)
Hiker In The Clouds (click for larger view)
Cloudy View From Camel's Hump (click for larger view)
Day 2: 12:00 pm hike - clouds, and lots of them . Temperature – again chilly but this time I had an extra layer. Approximately fifteen other people and at least two dogs at the summit.
View From Camel's Hump (click for larger view)
Hiking Couple (click for larger view)
Geological Survey Marker (click for larger view)
Burrows Trail Descent (click for larger view)
Day 3: 5:00 pm hike – sunny with spots of clouds. Temperature – damn cold! even with an extra layer! I was the only one on the summit – it was absolutely amazing!
Self Portrait (click for larger view)
The hike up the summit of Camel’s Hump from Burrows Trail is a great way to quickly explorer one of Vermont’s most precious resources, the forest. Fill up your water bottle, pack up an extra layer of clothes, put on your hiking boots (don’t forget to check the weather forecast for Huntington, VT) and hike the Burrows Trail to the summit to experience the spectacular views from Vermont’s 3rd tallest peaks.
Jenness State Beach (click for larger view)
Situated in the middle of New Hampshire’s 17 miles of picturesque Atlantic coastline on Rt 1A (Ocean Blvd.) in Rye, NH is Jenness State Beach. It’s a somewhat quiet beach (compared to the likes of Hampton Beach or Salisbury Beach) with excellent surfing, boogie boarding, skim boarding, sand-castle building, sun-bathing and all around summertime fun activities fit for the entire family. The beach is perfect for swimming/playing in the ocean: it’s not rocky, there isn’t lots of seaweed and the water temperature at the end of July (when I visited) was completely bearable for extended dips in the refreshing, crashing surf.
Lodging:
Dunes Motor Inn (click for larger view)
If you are looking for a place to stay the Dunes Motor Inn is about as convenient as it gets. Located directly across the street from Jenness Beach it’s literally a few hundred yards from the motel to the ocean. My family and I stayed in one of the second floor rooms with a balcony ($157 per/night in season) overlooking the mighty Atlantic. The room was clean, had a small refrigerator, shower/bath, two double beds and a television and it about what you would expect when staying at a motor inn – nothing fancy, no special service just a room with an amazing view in an unbeatable location.
If you are one of those people that prefers a pool instead of the cold salt waters of the ocean then you are in luck. The Dunes has a well maintained pool suitable for both adults and kids.
A few notables: When you check in expect to be overcome with the smell of cigarettes. The person who checked me in had one hanging off her lip the three times I stopped in the office. She was very pleasant but did not go ‘the extra mile’ when it came to service.
Eating:
Groceries (and every other beach type of item you can think of) can be purchased at the Sandpiper Store which is attached to the motor inn.
For dining there are two choices. There is the N.E Bounty Bar and Grill for dinner and the Jenness Beach Pizza and Grill serving breakfast and lunch. The N.E Bounty Bar and Grill will never be awarded for their service (the servers were sitting down reading books in between taking orders and checking on guests the two times I ate there) but the food was decent. Not many vegetarian options (they only had one which was a mammoth portion of penne pasta with vegetables and olive oil) but then again this is the New England coast where fresh seafood is number one! The servers were friendly, the food was delivered hot and in a timely manner and I had a conversation with the chef who seemed really proud of where he worked and the area in general.
While I was there the Dunes was offering a free continental breakfast at the N.E Bounty per person for each night booked which included mini bagels, toast, English muffins, fruit, muffins, cereal, juice, coffee and make your own Belgian waffles.
Parking:
There is metered parking right at the state beach. I believe that the rate was $1.50 per hour. Warning: dropping nickles and dimes into the meter will NOT give you any additional time and it does not state this on the meter itself. I would get there early if you plan on using the meters on a beautiful weekend day. If you are not there by 9:00 am you might not get a spot. There is a change machine to convert paper money to quarter form. But, while I was there a woman put a dollar in and only received 50 cents back, I was not about to test the machine with my 5 dollar bill.
If you are a guest at The Dunes then parking is free. There is also additional parking for $10 per day across the street from Jenness Beach.
Jenness Beach Sunrise (click for larger view)
If you are leaving the parking area for Jenness Beach take a left out of the metered parking lot and drive down Rt. 1 (which is an incredible coastal drive) for about 10 minutes until you come to North Hampton where you will see a surf shop on your right called Cinnamon Rainbows. They rent surf boards, boogie boards, paddle boards, wet suits and probably much, much more.
Facilities:
There are rest rooms at Jenness Beach. There is also a place to hose the sand off your body before you hop back into your car, which makes the drive home just that much more comfortable.
Getting There:
Route 1A Rye, NH 03870 Phone: 603-436-1552
From I-93: To Route 101 east to I-95 to exit 5 to 1 By-Pass south to Route 1 south to 1A south. You will see Jenness State Beach on the left.
From I-95: Take exit 5 to 1 By-Pass south to Route 1 south to 1A south. You will see Jenness State Beach on the left.
Concord, NH (1 hour, 30 minutes) Boston, MA (1 hour, 30 minutes) Providence, RI (2 hours, 30 minutes) Hartford, CT (3 hours) New York, NY (5 hours) Portland, ME (2 hours, 30 minutes) Burlington, VT (4 hours) Montreal, Canada (6 hours)
The iPhone apps below are listed by order of use/coolness (as in the most used/cool app is number one):
Pano
Panoramic photographs on the iPhone? why the hell not? Pano is so slick that I wrote this blog article a while back. The last time I checked Pano cost a mere $2.99! This is certainlly one that is not going to break the bank! This app is simple to use (I mean ridiculously simple to use!) and creates amazing panoramic photographs. Check out a few of my panoramic photos in my panoramic photograph gallery (keep in mind that some of the older images were NOT created with Pano). More info on Pano for iPhone here. Cost: $2.99
TweetDeck
The popular desktop Twitter application on the iPhone? Uh-huh! This app is both functional and cool! It has a multi-column layout (friends updates/mentions/direct message) and allows a user to keep up to date on all their social media followers. Now you too can answer the question ‘What are you doing?’ right from your phone. The one thing the iPhone app is lacking is the ability to update both Facebook and Twitter in one post (the desktop app has this functionality). Check out TweetDeck for iPhone here. Cost: free
Facebook
Yes, now all of you Facebook/social media addicts can tell all of your friends what you had for dinner right from your phone! See what your friends are up to, upload pictures, check your Inbox, chat with friends, view your profile, update your status, etc… all from the palm of your hand! Just do us all a favor and don’t update your status while you are driving! More on the Facebook app here. Cost: free
Google
Google is there anything you don’t/can’t do? If you are like me you are probably logged into some Google app every waking moment of your life (ok, that might be a slight exaggeration)! Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Google Talk, Tasks, Reader, GOOG-411, News, Book Reader, Notebook, Photos, orkut, Translate, Maps, YouTube, and finally Google Earth all right under this tiny blue icon on your iphone! Whew! That’s a whole lot of Google! Which reminds me, how did I function in life before Google came along? For this link for more about Google Mobile App for your iPhone. Cost: free
Compass Go
Maybe I don’t use this one daily but it’s still a great app! Do you find yourself getting lost often? Maybe you stroll aimlessly into the forest on a regular basis? Maybe you visit unfamiliar cities often? Do you have and iPhone and a spare $1.99? Compass Go allows you to set a starting point (but don’t forget to set it) and then find your way back to that point (assuming that your iPhone gets reception the entire time – if you are in the deep woods surrounded by mountains this could be an issue). This app is easy to use and works accurately when there is reception. Learn more about Compass Go here. Cost: $1.99
Lose It!
I don’t usually go on diets, or try to concern myself with the foods I consume but I do have this odd habit of tracking things. I generally try to eat a healty diet but when I found Lose It! I began looking at food in a whole new light – numbers! Who knew that counting calories could be so informative? (Obviously not me) Lose It! allows you to set a weight loss goal and to then keep a daily log of all the calories you consume and burn off. It has a searchable database (by brand as well as food names) of foods and exercises. If you are looking for an app that can help you count calories this one works great and the cost to you? absolutely free! What could it hurt, go check it out at www.loseit.com. Cost: free
What iPhone apps do you use daily? Add your comments below.
Vacation | June 2009 | MMcKennedy
Green River Reservoir State Park (click for a larger view)
Vermont is chalk-full of amazing camping opportunities! We have the oldest long distance hiking trail in America known as Vermont’s “footpath in the wilderness”. The Long Trail dotted with it’s rustic shelters offers hikers incredible scenic vistas and wildlife viewing opportunities. We have camping along the shores of Lake Champlain for swimming, boating and fishing. From State Park easy-style camping to camping near the peak of Mt. Mansfield and Camel’s Hump the Green Mountain State has much to offer, but, the Green River Reservoir State Park is unlike that of anything else I have seen in my twenty-years of Vermont camping.
Canoing (click for a larger view)
The Green River Reservoir is designated as a “quiet” lake under Vermont “Use of Public Waters Rules.” Boats powered by electric motors up to 5 mph and human-powered watercraft (canoes, kayaks, etc.) are allowed. Camping is designated to one of twenty-eight remote camping sites that can only be reached by boat, some are one to two miles from the boat launch area. Some (but not all) sites have a fire pit but using a camp stove greatly reduces the amount of impact to the land.
Finding the Green River Reservoir State Park can be a bit of a mystery if you go by GPS, or by Google Maps. My experience lead me to the west side of the reservoir where I stopped and asked some local farmers where the reservoir was, they explained that I was about a mile away and that if I wanted to continue I could borrow one of their horses because I was on the opposite side of where I should have been. Backtracking I realized that the easiest way to find the state park is to take Rt. 12 out of Morrisville, VT. Access to the park is in the southern part of the Reservoir off of Green River Dam Road.
From the junction of VT Routes 100 & 12 in Morrisville: Briefly follow Route 12 South to Route 15A. Follow Route 15A to Route 15 East; Turn right on Route 15 East. Take the first left onto Garfield Road. Follow Garfield Road for 3.1 miles to the yield sign and turn right (still Garfield Rd.). Take your next immediate left onto Green River Reservoir Dam Rd. (no sign). Follow to 1.3 miles to park entrance.
Green River Reservoir State Park (click for larger view)
There are a few different parking areas, but once these are full the park does not allow any more visitors. Each camping site (see site map) has a maxium occupancy based on the characteristics of the site. There is one designated group site that can hold up to twelve people. Stop into the park ranger’s building to have all of your questions answered by their incredibly friendly staff, then drop off your vessel (if you need to rent a canoe or kayak take a look here) and your gear (don’t forget to protect your gear from potential wetness, you will be in a boat you know), park your vehicle and prepare for the feast that your eyes are going to be a part of.
My experience is limited to site number nine which was about a twenty-five minute paddle from the boat lauch. On the trip to the site I spotted a few loons as well as a beaver. The water was calm and glass-like. I did not get phone reception (which is not necessarily a bad thing). The docking area for site number nine was a large rock which was simple to climb and had plenty of places to tie the canoe. A one minute walk up a path lead to the fire ring area where we fit five tents. The site has it’s own privy (toilet) as well but if you are looking for privacy the only thing separating you from the view of others is that fact that the next site could be a half mile away. There aren’t any doors nor walls, when you gotta go, you just go.
Peparing for remote camping should be taken seriously. A few noteworthy items to be sure to pack: tent, sleeping bag, cook stove (and fuel), food, drink, matches (sealed in something to keep them dry), a water filtration system, a few changes of clothes (can’t hurt to seal them in a trash bag or something incase the boat accientally tips), camera, headlamp (and extra batteries), sandles (Teva’s or something like that, but probably not flip-flops), sunscreen, bug spray, a tarp and some rope (incase it rains). Be prepared! You will be camping remotely! Take it seriously.
Dog Enjoys The View (click to for larger view)
Wetlands, rock outcropping, birds, beavers, fish, inlets and amazing sunsets and sunrises are just part of what the Green River Reservoir State Park has to offer on it’s thousands of explorable acrage. Paddling out onto the seriene water to drift under the summer sun is enough to recharge any nature-lovers batteries. Just remember to leave no trace, the Green River Reservoir State Park has a ‘carry in, carry out’ policy.
Enjoy your Vermont camping experience!
For more information take a look at the Friends Of The Green River Reservoir website or:
Green River Reservoir State Park 29 Sunset Drive, Suite 1 Morrisville, Vermont 05661-8331
Park Phone: (802) 888-1349 (May to Mid-Oct.)
Reservations can only be made by calling the park beginning May 4th.
West Bolton, VT Panoramic Sunset (click for larger view)
A panoramic photograph is an picture or series of images that offers a wide view of a scene. Sure you could take a series of photographs by using a tripod and lining up each shot perfecting using photo editing software such as PhotoShop but there is a much simpler way.
So far we have two ingredients, well three really.
1) iPhone
2) ‘Pano’ installed on the iPhone
3) someone to press the iPhone button
Step 1: Select mode – portrait or landscape…that is the question (portrait being vertically long, and landscape meaning horizontally long).
Step 2: Take the first picture – that’s right! it’s as easy as clicking the button…go ahead, snap that first photo!
Step 3: Line up the overlay from the last image with the same location in the photo you are about to shoot and then….take the pic (don’t worry, I won’t describe taking every single pic. I think that you can use up to thirty images with Pano, which should be plenty!) .
Step 4: Take successive photographs – keep rotating the camera bit by bit, lining up each previous image overlay with the photo next in the series.
Step 5: Finish it up – Click the little “gear” and choose ‘Make My Panorama Now!” – the screen will show a status bar while it processes the images.
That’s all there is to it. Panoramic images made easy on the iPhone!
Here are a few more example panoramic photographs for your viewing pleasure. Click on any image to view a larger instance of the photo.
Libby's Look Panoramic (click for larger view)
Meeting Panoramic Style (click for larger view)
Panoramic Living Room (click for larger view)
Twitter
What are you doing?
Twitter…by now you obviously have heard of it (or perhaps this is the first time). Tweeting…the act of posting comments, questions, words, links or whatever you feel like,using a limit of 140 characters of less.
I first logged into Twitter and answered the question ‘What are you doing?’ in December of 2008. I have a mere six months experience. The purpose of this article is to shed some light for you first time Tweeterers(??) out there.
Twitter: what the heck is it? It’s Social Networking. Social Networking is a common term used around the likes of Twitter, and Facebook and other online gathering places. Twitter is sort of a chat room type of medium. Uses of Twitter often refer to it as a ‘community’. Twitter asks one simple question “What are you doing?“ People ‘tweet’ about what they feel, what they are doing, where they are going, things they bought, likes, dislikes, things they are selling etc…basically, it’s like a wide open conversation where you can listen when you want to, and respond when you care enough to respond. At first, for me, Twitter did not grab me, and/or I did not grab it. Either way, the two of us (plus the (I assume) millions (I am not doing any research here, just shootin’ off the hip) of users who are out there to “follow”) did not see eye to eye. As a matter of fact, I am still trying to understand what kind of a tool this really is and what possibilities are out there for those of us who use this type of communication on a regular basis. Oh, and then there is the 140 character limit, which really does make it interesting.
Using Twitter this is how you enter a Tweet
Below are my first two “tweets” (I know, sounds kind of funny…I don’t typically use the word “tweet” when I talk about something I ‘posted’ on Twitter…’posted’ comes out with a little more dignity – or snobbery, but who really cares?)
Logging in to Twitter for the first time5:38 AM Dec 16th, 2008 from web
logging in to twitter for the first time in 2 months 4:24 PM Mar 8th from web
That’s it…that’s all I did with Twitter, but then I got my first few “followers” and the grip began tightening. It started with people from work (you can let Twitter run through your email address book and see if it can match email addresses of your contacts to pre-existing Twitterers?? Tweeters?? Twits???). Soon I began noticing a direct correlation between the subject matter, (and specifically if you use the ‘hash tag‘, more about that in a minute), and how you collect ‘followers’ . ”Followers” are Twitter users that decide for one reason or another that your posts should appear on their Twitter homepage (or iPhone and other hand held computer devices). I have a mere 60 followers at the time of writing this article, but the growth rate is high, and if you pay attention to what, (and how) other people are saying you can figure out how to gather more followers rapidly. I am not sure if this is a common goal amongst all Twitter users but getting people to follow you seems like part of the game. You can follow bands, for example @MetricBand, or presidents @BarackObama. There is an entire directory of folks to follow called WeFollow. If you are going to mention a fellow Twitter user you use the format @username, for example: I am @mmckennedy.
The “hash tag” allow users to ‘tag’ their posts so people with similar interests can easily search for the subject they are interested in. The hash tag uses this format #subject. For example: if I wanted to post a photograph that I was particularly proud of I could post something like, “picturesque scenic Vermont vista photograph – take a look http://somelink – #photography“. This way, if it’s photography that someone is interested in, they can search Twitter for the hash tag #photography. If the photo was shot in Vermont. I would throw in the hash tag #VT too.
Retweeting: this is when someone thinks, “hey, this is worth saying to all of my followers”. For example: say I “tweeted” (still seems silly to type that out) “first 5 people to show up to (my store) in the next 1/2 hr. that mention Twitter get 20% off anything in the store” – and you thought this was something that should be passed around you would ‘tweet’ “RT @mmckennedy first 5 people to show up to (my store) in the next 1/2 hr. that mention Twitter get 20% off anything in the store” (that leaves 11 characters left out of a possible 140). Can you see the power in that for a business? Not only did my initial message go to my followers but it also got send by you to all of your followers, it opens up a whole new audience with the potential for serious exponential growth!
TweetDeck - click for a larger view
I am not sure if Twitter will eventually become another MySpace (does anyone really use MySpace anymore?) or if something else will come along and replace it all together but it seems that this social networking community has become a new communication tool for many or us, and many, many more to come. Sharing photos, links, news, as well as personal thoughts and ideas is just a few buttons away these days. Twitter on the iPhone, Twitter for the xBox 360, Twitterberry (for the BlackBerry), TweetDeck (a way to post to both Facebook and Twitter in one shot plus other functionality), TweetLater (if you need to schedule your Tweets), TwitPic (the word ‘pic’ probably says enough) and on and on it continues to grow.
There much more going on with Twitter than I have time to write about. Twitter even has functionality I haven’t even touched on (you can directly reply to people, saved frequent searches, customize your homepage and more). Since it is free you might as well check it out. Everyone was a beginner Twitter user at one point or another. That is why I figured that a simple Twitter tutorial or “how to use Twitter” page with descriptions of the terminology and their uses would be helpful. So here you go.
If you are still trying to decide if you want to try Twitter, check out the Twitter public timeline to see what people are saying right now! Happy tweeting!
