An Urban Boychick Takes on the Outdoors

It's an unbelievably warm December day - the temperature is already above sixty when I go out to retrieve the morning paper. I just gotta get outside and enjoy this warm, if gray and windy, weather. The family is still asleep. I decide to take a quick jaunt over to Great Falls park and hike Mather Gorge. Great Falls is an amazing resource just minutes (assuming it's not rush hour) from home. I get to the park about 8 AM. Not too many people about - just some birders. Unfortunately, the parking booth is manned. Is it really worth it to pay a ranger to sit there and collect five bucks from each car? I first visit the three Falls overlooks near the visitors center. They've been redone since the last time I visited. Two of them are now handicapped accessible, and all three have expanded guardrail systems. It used to amaze me how open the overlooks were - it would have been very easy to slip off the rocks and plunge down into the gorge. Much too uncontrolled for the developed se...

Today is the last day of my San Diego trip and as it happened, both my schedule and the weather cleared in time for me to spend some time outside before heading to the airport. I checked out of the hotel a little before noon and decided to try walking over to Torrey Pines State Preserve, which seemed pretty close by. I started off by hiking along a path from the hotel that paralleled the ocean. It turned out that this path was actually part of the Torrey Pines golf course and that pedestrian traffic is not permitted on the course. I was chased down by not one but two golf carts - a supply cart that blocked the path in front of me while the Course Marshal caught up from behind and cordially ejected me from the property. I continued by walking along Torrey Pines Road to the entrance to the state preserve, a little less than a mile in total. From there I headed straight down the Broken Hill path, which looked like it would head to the beach. I hiked at Torrey Pines when I visited my frien...

I flew into San Diego Tuesday morning so I could be there for pre-meetings for my Wednesday meeting, but it turned out the pre-meetings got cancelled. Sooo, I headed straight from the airport to Aqua Adventures in Mission Bay so I could get some paddling in. Aqua Adventures is owned by Jen Kleck, the only BCU 5 Star Coach (this is a high level kayaking certification) in America, so I wasn't surprised to find that her rental fleet included not just the usual trashy rec boats but also some real sea kayaks. She even had a Greenland paddle as part of her rental gear. I've never seen that before! Jen and I chatted for a little while - long enough for her to ascertain that I wasn't a complete kayaking moron, so she recommended a loop around Fiesta Island - essentially going all the way around Mission Bay. She also recommended poking out into the Pacific, but I opted not to do this since I was by myself, jet-lagged, and had heard enough swept-out-to-sea stories to be wary. There ...

Today I really decided to punish myself with exercise and as a result right now I feel like I'm going to drop. First of all, I have started using the Concept2 online logbook. This tool allows you to log and track your Concept2 erg (rowing machine, for the uninitiated) workouts online. Pretty cool. But wait - it's also got a ranking feature, which allows you to see how you compare with other rowers. Now, I am not naturally competitive at sports. I've never played team sports, and despite my friends Cyndi and Brian's best attempts to entice me, I've never had any interest in kayak racing. But one click ranking without direct competition, hmmm ... that I could see. So first thing this morning I did a balls to the wall 6000 meter row ( actually I kept going beyond that because I like to row for at least 30 minutes, but I only ranked the 6KM piece). I can't say I was very happy with my results - not even in the top half for my age/weight group, but I feel good that...

Today's joke was that if someone asked me how I did in this morning's 5K, I was going to respond that I was fifth overall. Of course, with a pace that was roughly half that of the fastest runners, I didn't really finish the race anywhere near fifth overall. I did, however, have bib number 5, and so my answer, while disingenuous, would have technically been correct. I really was fifth overall - to register, that is. My bib number last year was 1024, a good number for geeks, as it's a power of 2, but there's also something cool about a really low number. This was my second year in a row running the Clarendon Turkey Trot 5K. The race is a benefit for two local charities and is run early Thanksgiving morning. My two experiences with the race were somewhat different. I don't run many organized races and so last year I didn't really know what to expect, while this year I knew the details and even all the turns (all 15 of them!). Last year I had been running pretty...

I always like the idea of doing something outdoors for my birthday. Unfortunately, my birthday falls in late November and so the weather is usually not particularly accommodating for outdoor celebrations - no pool parties for me. Today's outdoor birthday plan was to help our friends at Jack's boathouse move their docks downriver for the winter, then paddle back. The plan to move the docks got postponed, but I suggested going out kayaking this afternoon anyway. It seemed like a grand idea ... until I tasted the weather. It was pretty cold, and quite windy - prediction of gusts up to 30 MPH. I started to back out of the whole kayaking idea, but I couldn't reach my friends by phone or email, so I figured I'd better go down to the launch point and at least tell them I wasn't going. And just in case the weather seemed better than forecast, I figured it would be prudent to bring along the kayak. I tossed the Tempest on the car and off I went. I arrived at Columbia Island ...

Way, way back in January my friend Tom and I put a Fall Foliage trip on the Chesapeake Paddler’s Association calendar. We set it up so long ago that we kinda forgot about it until just a few weeks ago. I did a quick update to the listing to say more than the “check back later for details” that had been there since January. We both fielded some calls. Then Tom headed out on a succession of business trips. With this smooth and thorough level of preparation, it’s completely surprising that we got only a small turnout. We got one last minute dropout, so the group turned out to be only five people. We had judged the weather, if not the foliage, just right. It was a glorious day. I brought along my dry suit – normal gear for mid-November – but given that it was pushing up near 70 degrees, and that we were paddling a totally calm reservoir, I opted for lighter gear. Good choice – in the dry suit I would have been safe from hypothermia, but would probably have succumbed to heat stroke inste...

Having signed up yesterday for a Thanksgiving 5K run, I figured I should go out and try and run that distance. Over the past year I have my emphasis to other forms of exercise, so now running is just an occasional thing. The neighborhood has a lingering aroma of Halloween. The cool morning air is punctuated with the smell of burnt pumpkin, emanating from the hundreds of jack-o-lanterns left over from last night's Halloween festivities. The air is just cool enough to make my breath visible, and the sky is clear and blue. As I hit the trail I break into my usual leisurely running pace. I'm used to being passed not only by stronger athletes but also by toddlers taking their first steps, three-legged dogs, and, in the Springtime, energetic caterpillars. But I plug along. Soon I come up on Ralph the Dentist. He's a walker and so is much slower than I am - I like that. He's ready with his usual gruff, gregarious "Good morning!" I don't know if Ralph is actually ...

I'm trying to figure out what year the Pirates of Georgetown Halloween party tradition started. The earliest pictures I have are from 2003, but I have fuzzy memories that it may have started a year or two earlier. In any case, it has become an annual tradition which attracts kayakers not just from the Georgetown group but from the entire Chesapeake Paddlers Association. The party is always bittersweet - as fun as it is to hit the water in costume, it also marks the end of the club-sanctioned Thursday evening paddling season. There are people at the party who I won't see again until April. Without question it marks the end of languid evenings by the river. Soon the staff at Jack's will tow the docks away for the year, leaving only the small winter dock. Those of us who go out over the Winter are facing the cold months ahead - months of freezing hands and uncomfortable dry suits. But for tonight, all is well. There are rubber duckies floating in a pool of duck blood (which ...

Ted and I took advantage of a beautiful Autumn day to take a geocaching hike in Hemlock Overlook regional park. Hemlock is the only one I had never visited of the chain of parks along the Occoquon River. That's because its primary use is as an outdoor eduction facility (jointly run by the parks authority and a local university). It turns out that in addition to that stuff there are hiking trails that are open to the public. So we headed out to do some hiking and find some geocaches . One thing about caching is that it can take you far off the trail and get you pretty completely spun around. Even with two GPS receivers in hand, after two caches we had no idea of where the trail was anymore, but we quasi-backtracked and eventually found ourselves on a trail that led down to and along the banks of the river. It rained like crazy yesterday and so the trails, while not muddy, were a little slippery. Ted, as usual, was hiking in Crocs and had no problems negotiating the trail (he was al...

One of the things I love about kayaking is the feel of the seasons changing. Unfortunately, in Fall this also means the end of the officially sanctioned weekly paddling groups (there are people who go out all Winter, but those people are crazy - that reminds me, I have to dig out my Winter paddling gloves). The "Pirates of Georgetown" group's season always ends with a Halloween party on the docks, including paddling in costume along the Georgetown waterfront. A hearty potluck beckons back at the boathouse, and so the Halloween trip is usually pretty short. So, the week before Halloween is the last full scale outing. It was near high tide when we set out and so we decided to brave the Boundary Channel, a thin, twisty stretch of water that runs between Columbia Island and Virginia. The channel is impassable except near high tide. It also has a surprisingly remote feeling, bounded as it is by highways and the Pentagon. I've seen wood ducks happily nesting back there. A c...

A couple of days ago I was a recipient of an email from a friend who was organizing a kayak trip out to Thomas Point Lighthouse in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. In and of itself this was nothing unusual, as this particular friend frequently organizes challenging paddles around the Bay. What was different this time, though his email didn't mention it, was that his cancer had returned in a big way. The unmentioned (though known to most of us) motivation for this trip was to provide an opportunity for him to do something he loved while on a break from chemo. Now, I was doubtful that someone in his condition could do anything like the fourteen miles of open water paddling that this trip would entail. I had no doubt, though, that he wanted his friends' support. This was a prime, if out of the ordinary, chance to perform the mitzvah (moral and spiritual obligation) of Bikur Cholim , or visiting the sick. As one web site describes it: Bikur cholim is a term encompassing a wide ra...

It's not every day that G-d commands you to go kayaking. Well, by the most strict interpretations there's not any day when kayaking is a commandment. But every once in a while an opportunity comes alon g wherein you can twist the interpretation of religious practice such that it can involve kayaking. And that's why I love the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashonah . One of the traditional customs of this holiday is Tashlich . Tashlich is a ritual casting off of sins. In its most commonly practiced form people walk to a spot with flowing water, say a prayer, and symbolically throw their sins into the water to be carried away. The practice has its basis in an interpretation of Micah 7:18-20, which states, “ He will cast off our sins into the depths of the seas .” While it's not 100% certain when observance of this custom started , the prophet Nehemiah mentions that on Rosh Hashonah “All the Jews gathered as one in the street that is in front of the gate of water.” Like many Je...

One of the things kayakers get called upon to do is to support swimmers who are participating in events usch as triathlons or long open water swims. Kayaks can be up close to the swimmers as they don't pose a threat or obstacle to swimmers the way powerboats would. Swim support kayakers perform several functions, including herding swimmers who stray from the course, serving as a rest stop for swimmers who need a break and, occasionally, serving to tow swimmers out to rescue boats waiting outside the course. Of course, along the way we shout encouragement as well. Today I volunteered at the Nation's Traithlon, a swim/bike/run event held right in DC. The mayor of DC, a fitness buff, participated, though I couldn't tell him from the rest of the swimmers. The event started with the swim leg, and the first wave started at 7:30 AM, so we kayakers had to be on the water early. We met up at Columbia Island Marina before dawn and paddled across to the starting line on the DC side (I...

V and I spent the night in a B&B in Sharpsburg, MD. This was our last night with both children away, and we chose to make a special little expedition out of it. We went first to Frederick, where we browsed the little shops in the old downtown. From there we took country roads to Sharpsburg, where we checked into the Jacob Rohrbach Inn, named for a former owner of the building who was killed by troops passing through during the battle of Antietam. As usual, I got up early and V slept late. Breakfast at the Inn wasn't until 8 AM, so I went out for a stroll down Main St. at about 6 looking for coffee and, truth be told, a couple of geocaches in town. Main St. looks pretty much the same as it did in the 1860s. There's little commercial development, and the buildings all look to date from the early to mid 19th Century. In the early morning, with few cars around, it's easy to envision the two armies marching down these streets. I found the two caches easily, and happened upon...

Today the boys and I participated in a trail maintenance event at Alexander Berger Wildlife Sanctuary near Fredericksburg. We noticed the event because it was listed as a geocaching event - some local cachers had done this to publicize the trail maintenance day, which was really a Nature Conservancy event. And the cachers did more than list it. The couple who had listed it showed up with a veritable feast of trail food - coolers of soda, every sort of snack bar imaginable, fresh-baked cookies, fruit and more! We were a well-fed crew. And a hard-working one too. The group split up into three work parties: one walked trails clearing brush, another side-hilled the trails (dug the trails back into the sides of hills) and a third built log walkways over some areas that had flooded due to beaver activity. T went with the brush-clearers, while D & I worked bridges. It was not an easy day! Two days later and I'm still sore. But a lot of fun, and everyone there was really nice - the sta...

I came upstairs a little while ago to find my wife watching an an old Sex and the City re-run. Now, I must admit to knowing the basic story arc of the show, however I haven’t seen nearly all the episodes. But the one V was watching tonight is my new all-time favorite. Why? Because it’s the one where Harry Goldenblatt and Charlotte first hook up. The idea that an average-looking, bald Jewish guy could wind up with an uber-Shiksa like Charlotte is an inspirational fantasy for those of us who happen to be average-looking, bald Jewish guys. Not that I’m in the market for a new relationship, uber-Shiksa or otherwise. But it makes you think anything is possible. And now, the tenuous hook to the outdoorsy theme of this blog: one positive thing about being bald; you don’t look mussed up after rolling a kayak.

Today is my first Friday off in my employer’s new “9/80” program – work 80 hours in 9 days, get every other Friday off. It’s kinda funny – we all work nine or more hours a day anyway, so it really hasn’t made my other days much longer. As one of my colleagues said, for us it’s a tacit approval to actually take some of those many accrued comp hours every once in a while. Anyway, as soon as the family was out the door this morning I threw the kayak on the car and headed down to Mason Neck. It was a misty morning – quite beautiful, in fact – the water and sky differentiated only by varying shades of gray. Mason Neck is always a great place for bird life. This morning, the wonders started before I even got on the water. As I was unloading my boat a bald eagle swooped by and grabbed a fish out of the water. I stood transfixed by this scene, realizing only after a minute or so that I still had my sixty pound kayak slung over my shoulder. The rest of the trip was equally enthralling, birdwise...

Not much to report from today. There were tremendous thunderstorms overnight. I got up at 5 AM so I could get rolling early. I had a can of Starbucks espresso drink (so I wouldn't have to spend time making coffee) and some kosher for Passover breakfast cereal (sawdust in the shape of Apple Jacks). I threw the wet gear into the car to be dried out at home and got on the road. I wish I could have stayed for the last day, but I needed to get home for our Passover seder. The drive home through SC & NC was easy. As I crossed the NC/VA border I hit a wall of storms. It was a slog through heavy rain the rest of the way home. The trip home, stopping only for bathroom breaks, took nine and a half hours. Youch.

Today started off with a sunrise trip in Charleston Harbor. I got up at 5 AM, made myself a quick breakfast then headed over to the meeting point at 6 AM. From there we caravanned over to the put-in, about 5 miles from the park. We hit the water just as the sun came up – another beautiful day – and were almost immediately joined by dolphins. There were two to the right of us and a couple more out to the left. They stayed alongside for about ten minutes. That was really cool. The trip, while really enjoyable, wasn’t very organized. The trip leader’s initial briefing was just that we would paddle towards Ft. Sumter, but would turn around short of the fort so we could get back on time. Except if we wanted to. But then we wouldn’t be with the group anymore. He made no assessment of anyone’s skills, though he did set up a sweep to follow the group. It didn’t take long after launching for the group to get very spread out on the water. I was in the front group with the leader, who was paddlin...

Today I checked out of the hotel to fully immerse myself in the kayak festival. It was a quick and easy drive from Mt. Pleasant over to James Island Park (I had done the drive the day before to participate in the Nigel Foster Master Class). I registered, put the boat I’m trying to sell in the “Used Boat” area, then headed over to the put-in to unload my kayak. There I ran into Dan and Kathryn, two friends who I knew were going to be attending. They in turn introduced me to two other people I knew were going to be attending, but who I hadn’t met before (they live near Baltimore, the upper reaches of the Chesapeake Paddler’s Assn, and so our paths hadn’t crossed before). We helped each other unload, then I headed over to the Master Class area for my 10 AM class, which was Forward Stroke with master kayak racer Ben Lawry. Ben is the antithesis of Nigel Foster. Where Foster is laid back and teaches by having you experiment, Lawry has the intensity of a racer. He puts you through the paces,...

Today was the first day of the kayaking part of my trip. It was Foster, Foster and more Foster. The day started a little strangely. During breakfast at the hotel, another guest started yelling angrily at the hotel staff for having called the police on him the previous night. Apparently the police visit at 1 AM upset him so much he got no sleep all night! Ummm, maybe carousing loudly at 1 AM had something to do with your lack of sleep too. Surprisingly, he isn't in the room next to mine. After breakfast I drove over to James Island Park, the site of the kayak festival. The main festival starts tomorrow, and so things were just getting set up. the woman at the entrance gate had no idea where the Thursday classes were being held, but it wasn't too hard to find the right spot. My class was an all day session with Nigel Foster, who is one of the best known names in kayaking. This is the kayaking equivalent of spending the day tossing a football around with Peyton Manning, or hittin...

Not on the water yet, so if you're reading this for the kayaking angle, you can stop now. I spent today sightseeing in Charleston. I started the day by heading downtown and strolling along White Point. This is the southernmost tip of Charleston, and features a beautiful view of the bay. Then I strolled and drove through the quiet streets and alleys of the area, enjoying the antebellum architecture of the residential neighborhoods. I continued by heading over to the historic synagogue. The congregation was founded by Sephardic Jews in the 1700's, and has been in the same spot ever since. The present building dates to 1841. It is not merely a historic place; it is also still an operating congregation. I showed up at 10 AM, when the tours were supposed to start. I came in right behind an older woman, who seemed a little confused and lost. She turned out to be the tour guide. She explained that this was her first day back and she was still a little jet-lagged from her recent trip t...

Today is the first day of my trip down to Charleston, SC for the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival. I have decided to go down a day early so I can sightsee in Charleston for a day. I've never been there before so I'm excited about going. I got on the road after getting the boys off to school this morning and spending some time how to cram all my stuff into the car. I wanted to try to fit everything in the luggage compartment so nothing would be a tempting theft target (the two kayaks on the roof are bad enough). That proved impossible, so I put my grocery bags in the back seat. I hope that no one is hungry enough to break in to steal my Power Bars and matzo. My first entertainment, as I was heading Southbound, was to see how far I would get before I saw a pickup truck with a Confederate flag. Unfortunately, that game was over less than 100 miles south of home, so for the rest of the trip I entertained myself with music, podcasts, and enjoying the bland scenery of I95. It'...

I have had a little extra time on my hands as my old job winds down, so I have found time to kick off the kayaking season with some spur of the moment solo trips. Easter Sunday I had Mson Neck park pretty much to myself. I tried poking up Kane's Creek but quickly got stuck in the mud. Instead I paddled "to the left", along the shoreline towards the Potomac. As usual, the bird life was great - bald eagles, ospreys, cormorants. Apparently they don't take Easter off from being birds. There I am to the left, taking a break along the shore. It was so quiet and peaceful. I wound up doing some yoga along the beach. In retrospect, it looks pretty goofy with the PFD and drysuit. Trust me, it was extremely peaceful and relaxing at the time. Today I kind of blew off work and paddled out of Columbia Island Marina in Arlington (well, technically, it's DC, but you'd never know it). I can't believe I've never launched there before - so close to home, and nice facili...

Due to a shortage of adult leaders, I volunteered to camp with T's Boy Scout troop this weekend. We camped at Manidokan Retreat Center, in Maryland between Frederick & Harpers Ferry. The site was pretty, but we were on the crest of a hill and so had no relief from a strong, unseasonably cold wind that blew all weekend. It was cold ! T, who rarely gets cold, actually put on a jacket, and then borrowed one of mine as a wind barrier OK, he was still wearing shorts, but T with two jackets on is a rare occurrence. On the Boy Scout trips the boys run the show. That's pretty neat - the adults don't have to do much work at all. We did, however, have to eat Scout-prepared food: nearly-raw steaks (I put mine back on the fire for a while after it was declared "done" by the cook), over-cooked pasta and instant mashed potatoes. Of course, no vegetables in sight. The above picture gives some idea of what eating with the Scouts is like. Dessert was a sort of cherry cobbler -...

This week was one of our last Ice Pirate outings. In a couple of weeks, the Pirates of Georgetown officially starts up for the season. The dry suits, neoprene hoods and other cold weather gear will get packed away, and we'll be out enjoying the warmth and later sunsets of Spring. Image courtesy of Paige. Look - we're all using Greenland paddles.

Today T & I took on a geocaching trail down in Dumfries (a town sometimes referred to as Dumsh*t). A group of three cachers has set up this amazing trail along a local bike path. There are geocaches every quarter mile or so - over 50 in all! T & I were going to bike the whole thing, but unfortunately my bike had a flat tire. So ... we wound up parking in the middle and walking the top quarter or so of the cahes (then walking back - a total of about six miles). As we were walking back, we saw some other cachers doing a "cache and dash" - at each cache location they'd pull over to the side of the road. One would wait in the car while the other went out and found the cache. They caught up with us just as we were getting back to our car. I usually don't like to work this way - it violates my idea of getting out there and really doing it. But, in this case, the lure of more caches was too hard, and it was fun kind of caravaning. So, the four of us set off in our t...

Here are a few pictures from moving the docks back upriver to Jack's boathouse this past weekend. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it down in time to ferry the docks back up, so I timed my arrival for when I thought they'd make it up to Georgetown. When I got there the parking lot was full but the place was deserted. It was a sunny afternoon so I took out my book and started, to paraphrase Otis Redding, Sittin' with the docks on the way, wastin' time. Within a few minutes I could see the dock flotilla start to peek out from around Roosevelt Island. Soon thereafter Frank Day alighted from a launch onto the small winter dock - a further harbinger of the docks' imminent arrival. Once the group got close we all got busy cleating, then uncleating, then swinging, then securing the docks into place.