vituperation

December 19, 2004

Congratulations to reader Christi-Anne, who told me the household-name character was Hannibal Lecter (originally played by Brian Cox in 1986’s Manhunter (where they spelled it Lecktor), who is voicing Aslan the lion in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).

Thanks to all who played.

I bought myself a set of Powerblocks for Christmas yesterday, and I’m excited as hell for them to get here. I also got a stand for them, and upgraded to the 85-pound-per-hand set. I’m such a dork about this stuff.

Weirdly, the sales guy — who said he’d been into fitness stuff for 20 years (and owns a gym) — acted all stunned when I told him I dumbbell-squatted 200 pounds. I always thought a 200-pound squat was light, because it seems everything I read shows people squatting 300+ pounds.

Perhaps I’m not the wimp I thought I was.

Because I haven’t taken you anywhere for a while, and because the pictures came out crappy the last time I took you to one of my favorite spots on Monte Sano, let’s go on a trip, shall we?

At the back of the picnic area is an overlook over McKay Hollow.
The hill descending on the left is from the southern plateau of the mountain.
I’m going from here all the way to the bottom of the hollow below.

The trailhead starts next to a pavilion, where you cross a pretty
little mountain stream and start the eternal downward trek.
McKay Hollow stretches off into the distance at the top of
the picture.

Down a bit, this is looking back up at what that stream does
right after you cross it.

On all the mountain, this is my favorite place to stop for lunch.
The old firetower foundations make for a good place to sit, and
the view’s mighty fine.

My goal, once I get to the bottom of the hollow, is to go a short
distance across it, then back up almost to the top of the peak shown here.
I think the reason I like this hike so much is because out of almost 5 miles,
less than 1/2 mile is level. Everything else is a steady up- or down-hill.

At the bottom of the hollow is a dry rocky streambed.

Dry, that is, until you pass Blue Spring, where water flows
out of the ground and creates a stream.

Time to go up. The trail follows a magnificent rocky bed for quite
a ways. There’s usually a little bit of water flowing down it, but I’ve
never seen a good stream here.

Looking back at the main part of the mountain. I started from
the tippy-top of that peak back in the first picture.

I stitched together three pictures to show you the finery of that
streambed I’m still following as I climb. The trail crosses it several times
on the way up.

At the last crossing, I found ice.

My goal: the natural well.
The natural well is a pit cave that stretches about a quarter-mile
into the mountain.

On the rock wall lining the front of the well, someone points out where
those fools people brave enough to go in should tie off their rope.
Why rope?

Because the ground is 180 feet straight down from here.

Did I mention the 180-foot drop?

Looking over the well from the left end.

Taking my life into my hands, I walked out onto these very weathered logs
to take another picture. Please note that I’m standing on a single log here,
over that 180-foot drop, just to take a picture for you.

Those of you who know about my issues with heights can appreciate what
I went through to take this shot. I was clutching the fence in a death grip
with my free hand.

Another look into the cave.

One more. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but that’s
one hundred and eighty feet straight down. Pitching a rock into the
well is cool as shit, listening to the echoes as it bounces from
side to side on its way down.

One final shot from the front of the well, looking across it. Near the
center of the picture you can see where I was standing on the
weathered (ie, rotting-looking) logs for that picture a few shots back.

While I was at the natural well, an older couple jogged by me, going in the direction from which I had just come. There’s a race coming up next month, a ultrarace through the Monte Sano trails, called the Mountain Mist 50K–

Go read that link, I’ll wait. It’s a writeup of the 2003 MM50K, and it gives you a feel for some of the trails. It mentions the Waterline Trail, another trail I lovelovelove because of the climb. The section from the bottom of McKay Hollow back up to the picnic area (where I just came through and was about to go back on) is the part on the MM50K map labelled "censored" because it’s so rough to get up. While you’re reading, read this one, too, because his description of Waterline is funny and dead-on.

–and I passed several runners in training for it on my hike yesterday. They were all heading back toward the picnic area, because that’s the way the race goes.

I stayed at the natural well about 10 minutes after they went by, taking pictures and making a quick call to Robyn, then I started back down toward the hollow. I’m pleased to say that I caught and passed them on the steepest and longest part of the climb up to the picnic area. Granted, they were old, but given my past I’ll take any accomplishment I can.

As I motored by, the man said, "You’re making really good time."

Damn skippy. Hills are my thang.