Fall Fishing Not What it Used to be.

This is normally the best time of the year to surf fish the Rhode Island shoreline. In any other year, everyday from mid fall to really cold weather stripers and blues would be blitzing bait up and down the shoreline. While migrating south and fattening up for the winter, stripers and blues of all sizes would be everywhere. You'd see fishermen with binoculars scanning the horizon and up and down the shoreline looking for signs of fish. Splashes or birds getting there fill as fish from underneath push bait to the surface.
This year has been worse than disappointing. There is very little bait around which means very little fish. I've gone down a couple times from Jamestown to Narragansett fishing multiple spots with very little results. My friend Dave has been going a lot. He has gotten a couple big fish, but the numbers are nowhere near normal. There are about 2-3 weeks left depending on the weather where fishing could improve. Maybe the large schools are still north of us and will be down to RI beaches this week. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Happy Halloween and lets hope the Patriots make Favre wish he stayed home!!!

In Search of Awe

Awe- an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc...,produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like :examples- in awe of god; in awe of great political figures


As humans we obviously are blessed (or cursed) with a variety of emotions that the other animals do not have. Without question my favorite emotion is "awe". I don't really know what other word to use for this emotion. The feeling of being in the presence of greatness. According to the dictionary definition- produced by that which is grand and sublime.It could be argued that other emotions are more important. Of course love is a more important emotion. At the opposite end of the spectrum, hate and dislike can be much more powerful. I'm not going to get into the full rangeof human emotions. I wouldn't know what the hell I was talking about if I tried to get into the human psyche.I'm just talking about my favorite emotion. I couldn't put it any better that than the song " Life is not measured by the breaths you take, it is measured by the moments that take your breath away". Although this line could not be any more romantic or corny, it fits what I am always looking for.


So basically I spend my free time looking for things that I feel are great. I have since I was a little kid. When I was ten years I was looking at maps and reading magazines planning vacations I will never get to go on. I can sit at the top of a mountain literally for hours just admiring the view. I don't get bored and when I know its time to leave, it bothers me a little.
I am lucky enough to have been 30 feet from a grizzly bear. I can't explain what that is like. Grizzly can run 30 mph, can run down a baby elk. They have claws almost six inches long. They can break the neck of a cow with one swipe of its paw. What would we have if it weren't for our developed brains- posable thumbs- yeah

Since I mostly take vacations and daytrips that will put me in contact with things that I think are awesome, I have collected many memories of things that wow me. I thought I'd put a list together of things in New England that have inspired me with there grandeur.


10. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, MA. I don't think there will be a final resting place for so many literary giants as Sleepy Hollow. Thoreau, Alcott, Hawthorne and Emerson. Not to mention Daniel Chester French the sculptor of the monument inside the Lincoln Memorial.


9. Salem, MA Not because of the people that go up in October every year dressed as witches. The Salem witch trials are a dark mark in our nations history. Certainly not something to be proud of. I think it is good to go up to Salem and learn about it so as more modern citizens we don't make the same mistakes our ancestors did. It could be argued that after the trials when people realized they were wrong it opened up the idea for freedom of religion.

8 Seeing a bear. I have seen four bear in New England. I have seen about 20 in my life but only four here. It is always a treat.


7. Islands- I have been to Block Island, Prudence Island and spent short time on Nantucket and never been to the Vinyard. Going to islands is almost magical. You feel like life is different there. Time does move at a slower pace. I've spent a lot of time on Prudence. There was a time when seeing 40 deer in a day was common while riding your bike around the island. Not anymore since they have gotten the population in check. Its very easy to find a quiet beach to swim or fish. Block Island is special. Two lighthouses, the best birding in the fall in New England, amazing surf and boat fishing and beautiful scenery. I think I will write a full review of the place in an upcoming article. So I will leave it as just amazing for now.


6. Old North Bridge, Concord MA. I won't pretend going to the bridge is as fun as hanging out on the Block. However, on April 19, 1775 the first steps in our break away from England took place. Kind of an important piece of history..


5. View from the Bonds. I keep bringing up the Bonds in posts. The Bonds are three mountains all close together in the Pemi Wilderness in New Hampshire. They are about as far away from the road as you can get in the White Mountains, about 8 miles in all directions. The Three mountains are Mt. Bond, West Bond, and Bondcliff. Bond is the tallest and the view at sunset is amazing. From the top of these three mountains you can't see any civilization just wilderness. Its awesome. From the top of Bondcliff, you can get on some nice flat rocks at the edge of a big cliff. Although it is entirely safe it makes for some great pictures.


4. Striper Fishing. Its not just the catching fish. Its the whole package. Being at the ocean when she is angry and feeling her power. Being at Charlestown Breachway during a new moon on a clear night. It is so dark you can see every star in the sky. Its the feeling a fish hitting an eel. The 2 seconds between the hit and setting the hook is the greatest adrenaline rush I have felt in my life. Also, the closest I ever came to death was striper fishing during a big storm. The ultimate "awe"s being that close to death.


3. Any chance to see a Bald Eagle in the wild. The first bald eagle I ever saw, I was 20 and working in Maine along the Penobscot River. There was a fly by by an adult. I remember my mouth dropping in awe. I have since seen eagles at Plum Island, Block Island and Baxter State Park. The feeling never goes away.


3. ( tie) Acadia National Park. The best views on the Atlantic Coast are on Mt Desert Island. Acadia. The drive up Cadillac Mountain overlooking Frenchman's Bay is indescribable. For part of the year, the first place to see the sunrise in the US is from the summit of Cadillac Mountain. Along with the great birding, animals and carriage roads Acadia is a treasure. I used to go there every August with my family. I haven't been in 20 years. I hope to go back next summer.


2. Baxter State Park, ME. With all due apologies to Mt. Washington, the most awesome mountain in New England is Mt. Katahadin. Although a thousand feet lower than Washington that's the only thing it doesn't have going for it. There is no road, so getting to the top requires a full day hike. Its the tallest thing for 100 miles so the views are impressive. We counted a ridiculous number of lakes down below from one of the summits. Along the top is a mile long ridge known as the knife edge that in places is 4 feet wide with a thousand foot drop on both sides.


Roaring Brook Campground is one of the many primitive campgrounds in the park. From the campground is a 1/2 mile long trail to Sandy Stream Pond. If you can get your butt out of bed in the chilly air of first light and take the walk you are almost guaranteed to see moose feeding in the pond. We stayed at Baxter for Roaring Brook 6 days last year. We say 18 moose. There were a couple mornings we didn't see moose. Then there was the day we saw 7 in the water at the same time including a huge bull that loved the company of the females. A cow and calf walked by the people watching so close I could have reached out and touched them. The moose are usually in the water at evening too. If my life were dependant on finding someone a moose or they would kill me I would take them to Sandy Stream Pond.


Even if all Baxter State Park consisted of were Katahadin and Moose I'd still have it as number two on the list. It has so much more. Being at over two hundred thousand acres its huge. There are only two roads. One going to Roaring Brook, the other traversing the park. Chances of seeing a bear or deer are excellent. The fishing for native brook trout is good and there are eagles nesting at Katahadin Lake ( one hour hike). I could spend a month at Baxter and never be bored.


1. Museum of Fine Art, Boston MA. Nothing in New England has so many incredible things so close together. If you are into history or greatness I don't think anything comes close in terms of blowing you away.

Some of the amazing things at the MFA are-

1. Stone vessel from Mesopotamia from 6000 B.C.

2. Shield and Helmets from Greek warriors

3. Bricks from the Temple of Athena

4. Head of Statue to Ramses III

5. Pages from the Egyptian Book of the Dead

6. Mummies and Canopic Jars

7. Monet paintings especially Morning on the Seine (photo)

8.Gilbert Stuart paintings of founding fathers such as Revere, Hancock, Samuel Adams
Theres thousands of other awe inspiring things to see at the MFA. Paintings from Italian and French masters to sculptures and ancient artifacts. In case you are interested in going, Wednesdays after 4 pm the museum is free.

There is my list of kick ass places/ things I have been to in New England. Not to sure I numbered them in order except for the last two. If anyone has any comments or suggestions please feel free to write. Maybe I overlooked something I have been too. Maybe you will give me an idea for a daytrip.

Part 2 Hiker vs. Tourist How not to be a Touron

It would be helpful to read part one, if you haven't already done so before you read this. However here is a really quick review of the previous post so you won't have to jump back and forth from this one to the last one.

1. If you litter you are a touron

2.Hikers will show trail etiquette by acknowledging other hikers.

3. Hikers want to see it all not just the tallest or closest

4. Tourists wear collared shirts in the woods.

5. Respect on the trails is earned not by the type of car at the trailhead but the miles on your boots

6. Everyone likes to take pictures of animals in the wild, tourists put pictures of loved ones in the same picture as wild animals. Tourons will risk the safety of family members for the sake of a picture.

7. Something about the size of black men's... hands

I think it is obvious the quickest way to not be a touron is to do the opposite of the top six items on the list. Pretty self explanatory. Don't litter, don't make the people following you have their view ruined by your trash.

Be friendly on the trail. Even though I have been ragging on tourists pretty hard, if at the top of the mountain someone strikes up a a conversation with me, I will be happy to engage. Always say hello to oncoming hikers.

Don't wear collared shirts into the woods. I can't stress this enough. You look ridiculous. There is no "standard" for hiking clothes. Many hikers wear non cotton clothing that wicks away sweat and a pair of shorts. Many older people wear long pants even if its warm, my guess is they worry about ticks. During cooler temps, a higher percentage than I would have guessed wear jeans and a flannel shirt. During temps above 35 degrees I wear shorts ( shocking I know for those of you that knew me in school) I wear a polyester t-shirt that wicks sweat away. If its cool I wear a fleece sweatshirt and if its cold my raincoat over the fleece to block the wind. Notice- between t-shirts jeans, flannel, raincoat, nowhere did I mention dressing like you are about to play 9 holes of golf. This may sound a little fashion police but I'm just letting you know what hikers think.

Okay now that we got the review out of the way here are some new things that will help you either earn respect with locals and park rangers or at least keep you from being fined or injured.

Do not feed animals. If you feed small animals like squirrels, they will rely on human food and not store food for the winter. This can result in death for the animal. As cute as it is to get a picture of a chipmunk eating out of your hand , is the picture worth its life?( not my peanut) As for feeding large animals like bears- are you an idiot?

In the picture you see people getting pictures of buffalo. These buffalo are wild, there is no fence. This picture was taken during the " rut" or mating season. The big one in the back is a bull. During the rut bulls get very tempermental. I won't say they are aggressive. More like moody. With all the hormones in the air, the fighting of other bulls and the smell of the sexually in heat ladies the bulls become very unpredictable. Other than grizzlies, bison are without question the most dangerous mammal on the continent. They injure far more people a year than do the griz.

Why? Because buffalo have a comfort zone. Park rangers ask that people stand at least 25 yards from them when viewing. This keeps the buffalo comfortable and much more predictable. Now lets look at these idiots in the picture. They are within 15 feet of the female and 20 feet of a 1000 pound sexually charged-frustrated male. This is why people get hurt. That bull if he wanted could have gored the tourons before they would have gotten to the wire in the front of the picture. A buffalo can run 30mph. You will also notice the kid in the picture... Way to go mom putting your kid in harms way like that.

This picture is a little less obvious and needs some explaining. The grey dot in front of the first car is a coyote. It was standing around not to bothered by people watching it until this idiot with the giant camera lens got too close and scared it away. If you see an animal don't get to close please. One, it scares the animal, second it ruins it for everyone else. This guy had a camera lens large enough he could have gotten pictures of fleas posing on the coyotes fur. This picture was taken after he had already scared it and this guy started running full speed after it towards the woods. I am pretty sure the average reader knows that your probably not going to catch a coyote with or without a 30 pound camera.

Another point I would like to make is that sometimes you can have the best intentions and actually want to learn something and still sound like an idiot. I heard a lady ask in Yellowstone if the buffalo loose weight during the winter. Lets think about that... Snow drifts a few feet deep, plants are all dead, the buffalo have to exert energy to dig through the snow for the plants, temps below zero, and oh ya, winter is 8 months long there. I felt bad for the lady, more than made fun of her. Just think before you speak.

On the opposite extreme, a ranger was giving a lesson on geology of the place. Going back millions of years. One old bible thumper was interrupting the ranger. Asking the ranger "Is this what " they" taught you?" He was giving his opinion as the ranger was trying to do his talk. If you believe god made the earth-fine, if you believe it was natural events-fine, if you believe it was intelligent design I don't care. Just let the ranger do his job and be polite and not interrupt.You might actually learn something.

So there it is, how not to be a touron. Sometimes its impossible not to be. Sometimes people don't have enough experience with a situation or are ignorant of what you are supposed to be doing. Case in point, no one is born knowing how to white water raft. The guides have a special name for all of us that go rafting down the river with them. SPORTs. A friendly acronym standing for Stupid People ON a Rafting Trip. Sometimes we all have to be tourists, theres really no other way for the average person to see a real cave other than pay your $15 and take a cave tour. With a little common sense, courtesy, respect for the rules and maybe a little research before the trip, rangers will give you and I the benifit of the doubt and be considered hikers not tourons.

And to prove I am not completely immune, don't be the guy that makes their kid pose for this picture. Yes that actually is a fish.

Hiker vs. Tourist--- Part 1

Last post I started with a disclaimer stating I was not passing judgement. This entry is completely the opposite. It is an opinion piece about the differences between hikers and tourists. If you have ever spent time in New Hampshire's White Mountains or any national forest, national park across the country its a guarantee that both hikers and tourists were present. However, unless you know what to look for sometimes you may not be able to tell them apart. I am a hiker so with no desire to be neutral I am about to present to you my argument ( trashing really) of why hikers are superior to tourists.

To the residents that live in the places we vacation, for the most part hikers are respected more than tourists. Even the very people whose livelyhood depends on tourists have given the not so loving nickname to tourists- touron. This word is a combination of tourist and moron, if you needed me to explain that to you, you are the latter. At this point if you are still reading, I assume you may want to know the difference.

First off, if you only go to scenic overlooks and snap pictures you are a tourist. As any park ranger will tell you, the best views are not from the scenic overlook. They are in the back country. Also any view that you have "earned" by walking is worth five times as much any looking out your car door. This may be a "duh" thing to say because hikers hike. But it is not just the fact hikers walk and by definition makes them hikers. Its a state of mind, if a hiker is limited by time and doesn't have time to explore, it will eat at him. Sometimes hikers can't get out onto every trail and they have to do the " scenic overlook thing" and be a tourist for the day. It will kill him to know that just behind the mountain he is looking at is a valley he can't see. If you come to an overlook and you see a person sitting off to the side away from everybody else eating a granola bar, he/she is most likely a hiker.

This brings me to my second point. Tourist can hike and still be tourists, not hikers. If you have ever been to Pinkham Notch in New Hampshire on a Saturday during the summer, the parking lot is full with a couple hundred cars. Mostly it is people hiking Mt Washington. Mount Washington is the highest point in New England so naturally everyone wants to climb it. So for the " tourist" he climbs Mt Washington so he can say he climbed the highest peak or the one with the worst weather in the world or any other superlative that comes with Mt Washington. Of course hikers climb Washington too. The day I climbed it, it was a beautiful Friday afternoon in August. DJ was 5 years old and we waited until we got a perfect day for the hike. There were so many people going up the mountain I felt like a lemming. It looked like Route 128 during rush hour down to a single lane. It was crowded to the point of being uncomfortable to me.The view was awesome but with the hikers, Cog Railroad guests, and all the people who buy the " This vehicle climbed Mt. Washington bumper stickers we did not stay to long at the top. To be fair to everyone, hikers and tourists, it is a tough climb. Over 8 miles and 4000 feet of elevation gain. Although I delight in making fun of tourists, anyone who climbs Washington gets a free pass from me for the day.

Tourists will have the attitude that they hiked the biggest mountain so no need to hike the rest. Or they may hike up Cannon Mountain because its one of the easier mountains to hike and if they get tired they can take the tram down. Ask a tourist if they have hiked the Bonds and they will give you a blank look. Ask a hiker in New Hampshire if they hiked the Bonds and they will tell you it was the best hike they have ever done. Another tourist attitude- A hypothetical trail leads to three waterfalls, the first waterfall on the trail is the largest. This will be the turnaround point for most tourists. They figure they have seen the biggest, why go any further. Hikers will go on for two reasons. They want to see the other two falls and they know the other two falls won't be crowded.

So how can you tell a tourist from a hiker on a popular trail? It is easier than you would think. Hikers never litter. We live by the " Leave no trace code" if you have ever littered on a trail- touron.

No matter how rocky the trail hikers will always look up to make eye contact and say hello.I used to say hello to everyone I passed until I got jaded by all the stuck up tourons. Now I look up to see if they will be friendy, if they make eye contact someone is sure to say hello. It is just good trail etiquette to be friendly. If you walk by another group on the trail and don't acknowledge there presece-touron.

Anyone that uses this phrase " Have a great hike" is surely a hiker because they know the hike is as enjoyable as the destination.
Tourists are much more likely to ask questions like this : How much farther to the waterfall? Is it worth the trip?

One thing hikers make fun of is what I have coined as the " collard shirt crowd" If you don't want to be snickered at behind your back do not wear a polo shirt into the backcountry. Sweat and collard shirts don't mix, and for God's sake don't wear a salmon colored one ( see photo).

Respect- Hikers respect other hikers ( and tourists that live by the above codes- be friendly, don't litter). The reason for this is hiking is really an equal oppurtunity recreation. No matter how rich or poor you are. No matter if your wearing 200 dollar gortex or flannel, wether your 5 years old or 75. To get to the top of a mountain, we are all on equal footing ( pun intended) No amount of money or better equipment will make it any easier for you then for me or vice versa. Theres only one way to the top and thats to put one foot in front of the other.

Lastly, when it comes to wildlife, if you try to get a picture of a wild animal you can be either tourist or hiker. Don't we all want to see animals when we go off into the woods? Now if you try to get a family member in the same picture as the animal you are most definately a tourist. If you try to get a picture of a dangerous animal and put one of your children way to close to the animal for the sake of a picture you are the ultimate touron.

Disclaimer number 2- . In the same way that I am jealous of black men ( because they have big hands... thats it... hands ) I am told not all black men have big... hands. Not everyone will fit into the above catagories of hiker and tourist. I hope that a tourist will pick up a water bottle they see on the way to the first waterfall. Once in a while, I come across hikers who don't seem to have the time to say hello. I am sticking to my guns on my generalizations ( about hikers and tourist ) based on my time in the field. I have had a few of conversations with park rangers about tourists. Although they don't have a lot of respect for them in general, they know for the most part they are harmless little lemmings that don't know any better.

In part two, I will explain how not to be a touron. I have a bunch of pictures of tourons doing stupid things including idiots taking pictures of buffalo from about 15 feet away, I will show in my next post.

More proof that television is the devil!

Before I start I must qualify my below statements by saying I was as guilty as anyone and am not here to pass judgement.
A couple of Sundays ago the Patriots were playing the Jets. It was a really nice day in the 70's. Normally, during the first few weeks of the football season I will miss Sunday games if the weather is nice out if I can find something to do. This week DJ had fall baseball during the early afternoon reducing my chance for any day trips. So around 4 pm, we got ready to watch the Pats. For anyone that watched it, the first half was good for the Patriots. I believe the halftime score was 14-13.
Then, ( pause for dramatic affect) the power went out in my neighborhood. A transformer blew somewhere up the street. After the usual 15 seconds of assuming the power would be right back on we realized it might be a while. We decided to go for a walk. It was about 6:15 at this point and there was maybe 1 full hour before total darkness.

I could not believe what I saw when I stepped outside. With no television to watch, my neighbors, many of whom I have never seen before were outside! There were people outside on lawn chairs listening to the game on the radio. I saw whole familys playing frisbee. People were getting out and getting fresh air because they couldn't watch the boob tube.
There is a dirt road on my jogging route near Falls Pond, I have NEVER passed anyone walking on it, during our power outage, I passed two couples and a family.

This got me thinking. I definitely watch less tv than the supposed average. Pretty much football and Thursday night comedys. Still, I can't pretend I am all high and mighty, I look forward to Thursday nights and Monday Night Football. I just thought about, if we didn't have tv to rely on, how much more time would we spend outdoors. I'm not even talking about day trips or fishing. Just spending time going for a walk, sitting in the backyard by a fire, or playing frisbee withe our kids, maybe catch a sunset. Based on all the people " that had nothing better to do when the power was out" I concluded tv is the devil ( figuratively- no nasty religious emails please )

Just to wrap up- The power came back on about 8 pm. The Pats game ended about 20 minutes earlier. Luckily my power went out so I did not have to watch Mark Sanchez and the rest of the Jets hand the Patriots the beating they took in the second half.