Jesus defeats Mount Katahdin

     Mount Katahdin was named by the Penobscot Indians and stands for "The Greatest Mountain".  Standing at 5268 feet it is not only the tallest mountain in Maine, but also the terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The Appalachian Trail is a marked hiking trail that starts in Springer Mountain Georgia, and is roughly 2179 miles long. Hiking the entirety of the AT is one of my future goals, hopefully to be accomplished within the next 5 years. I am hoping to give this to myself as a present for finishing nursing school.

     This particular trip up Katahdin was with my friend Justin. I met Justin while working at the Washington County Jail, and he has since become one of my good friends. We have spent many a night in jail talking about photography, hiking, and our goals in life. I admire him greatly, and feel like he taught me a lot about working in law enforcement.

     We had intentions of doing the knifes edge on this trip, however weather was not on our side on this particular day. Actually a park ranger made us sign something saying we would not hike the Knifes Edge. The Knifes Edge is a 1.1 mile long trail that goes from Pamola Peak to Baxter Peak. There are parts that narrow to about 4 feet wide with 2,000-foot drops to either side, and has climbed roughly 19 lives since 1963. It's truly an amazing sight to see. We were both disappointed, however our mission was clear. We decided to hike up Abol/Hunt, and descend on the Hunt/Katahdin Stream. We were under good authority that Abol was a great trail, or so we thought. There is this guy named AJ out there, I know he is Justin's friend, but if I ever meet him I am going to punch him in the face.

     The climb starts out well, it is hot outside, a little cloudy, but not bad for climbing. The Abol Trail that has "a few area that are steep" quickly turns into two miles of near vertical rock climbing. Hey I like a challenge, however I didn't know what we were in for. The weather was off and on, there was a little rain. As we continued to climb and the trees were getting smaller, it was getting colder and the wind was picking up. About half a mile from the table it started to rain, so we busted out the rain gear. The real mission started when we got to the table.

     Oh look a sign! Signs are always very exciting to see on a climb. So now what has started as a day in the mid 70's partly cloudy, has turned into rain, winds of 50-60mph and rough 40 degrees Fahrenheit. At this point we had about 1 more mile left to get to Baxter Peak. It was the longest mile ever!

     Victory is ours! Mopsy and Flopsy(nicknames given to us by the most amazing Lt. ever. You know who you are...Judy) bag Mount Katahdin.

    
    Here you can see the actual sign. I know in the last one you cannot see it, however trust me, it's there! I like how the camera truly shows how wicked the weather was. Justin was not even 5 feet away from me when he took this.

     The descent was long, however the Hunt/Katahdin Stream Trail was fun. There are many places on this trail that have some tough scrambles. The entire way down we kept telling ourselves there was pizza at the bottom. When it comes to Justin and I, pizza is an amazing motivator. Our last hurdle was the walk from the bottom of the trail back to Abol. The park ranger told us it was only a few hundred feet or so. I am not sure how this translated to another mile mostly up hill. God bless the people who were driving by and took pity on us.

     It was one of the most difficult climbs I have ever made, a lot of it I'm sure was due to extremely adverse weather conditions. However there was pizza, and then there was beer, a bon fire, and then we were back in out little "Cozy Cabin".

Jesus takes some R&R in the Wisconsin Dells

     My parents own an RV trailer that the keep at a seasonal camp ground near the Wisconsin Dells. Taking advantage of some beautiful weather I decided to spend a weekend with them at camp. One thing I love about going to the trailer is that it reminds me of being in Maine, and it is a good place to just sit around and drink beer all day. A set of family friends also have a trailer a few site down, and Saturday night dinner is always a big affair. Most of Saturday afternoon is spent doing errands not only for dinner, but also for the week.

     "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35

     Here we find Jesus at the Elite Bakery in Baraboo. This is a wonderful little shop that makes breads, doughnuts, and bagels using all natural ingredients and no preservatives. I am a particular fan of the sport bread, however we also got a loaf of the rye bread, and a lemon bar that was über tasty!

Next we found ourselves at the apple orchard. It was the first weekend of the apple season. There was not much out this weekend, however if you are in the area, there is not better place to buy an apple pie that the Ski-Hi orchard.

     "Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it, they will be yours for food." Genesis 1:29

     It is not only fun to go eat apple pie, candy apples, and other home made local treats, but also fun to go play among the trees. It makes me a little said that apple season is here, because soon the trees will turn and winter will be here. However on this beautiful day, I chose to rejoice in apple season as this means pumpkins are not far behind! Say it with me, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins!

     Down the street from the trailer there is a farmer that cultivates sunflowers. You know you never realize just how short you are until you stand next to a sunflower. On errand of the day that Jesus decided not to show up for was the meat market. The lighting just didn't flatter his subtle characteristics.

Jesus is neither here, nor there.

     One great thing about being in Downeast Maine is that it shares a border with New Brunswick Canada. The US Customs were wonderful in allowing my friend Jenn and I to walk out to the center of the international bride in Calais Maine. At first they were a little skeptical, but once they saw Jesus, they made the right choice. It was only recently that one needed a passport to enter Canada, and then re-enter the United States. There only being on exception, the International Festival. Every year there is a parade that starts in the United States, and then proceeds over the bridge and ends in Canada. Last year I was lucky enough to be able to dance my way over the border with Barbara's International School of Dance. If you are in the area, check out Barbara's and make sure to stop in for a Zumba class. Which Jenn and I did, just after eating a yummy dinner. Not only will Barbara kick your butt into shape, she will do it in heels!

Jesus at the Wisconsin State Fair.

       The Wisconsin State Fair is known for frying everything under the sun, and putting it on a stick. Honestly I am not really a fan of fried food, and I find it no more enticing because it has been shoved on a stick. This particular day at the fair was 95 degrees outside, and the only notable thing I had that day was lemonade. Not even the fresh lemonade that comes out of the little carts for $4.00, the lemonade that most likely came from a powder and was oddly located at the Chinese Station.

    
     Here we have the fried pickle. You may be panicking because it is a friend pickle sans stick. But rest assured people, it is at least fried. I do have to admit though, the fried pickles I am used to in Maine are far superior. The pickle was good, the batter, not so much.

     You can not go to far at the fair and not meet some animals. This was one huge rooster! Perhaps I was missing the point of the state fair, however the animals made me sad. It was 95 degrees outside, and only hotter inside. And then too be on show, poked and prodded for a week or two? This might make for some angry cock.

 

     I do not exactly know why, but I love cows! Here we have Jesus in "The House of Moo". Looking at this picture I realize the limitations of my digital Elph versus my 40D, depth of field is less than desired. Right outside the House of Moo, one can purchase a glass of milk for 25 cents! There were such varieties as banana, chocolate, root beer, strawberry, and vanilla cherry. Also next to the House of Moo one could learn of all the wonders of milking cows and pasteurization.

     Perhaps one of the most famous things at the state fair are the cream puffs roughly the size of a human head. There is almost an entire building dedicated to manufacturing said cream puffs. Where I was not here for the cream puffs, there was air conditioning in here! That is not to say that they are probably delicious, however there is only so much damage one can do to their digestive system in one day.

     We left the state fair with a fairly ambiguous response. The food was expensive, and honestly not that good. Most of it I would not even attempt to eat. Should cheeseburgers really be made with two Krispy Kremes as the bun? Does bacon really need to be dunked in chocolate and put on a stick? There was a station for wine tasting that was well worth the $5, however after paying to park, paying entrance to the fair, and outrageous food prices, I felt as though I had gotten very little.

    This is not to say that this day was not amazing. After departing the fair we went to go see Ingrid Michaelson play an incredible show! Afterwards we sang outside her tour bus with signs, and of course a ukulele! The Huge success of the day was when we actually got to meet Allie Moss, Bess Rogers, and Ingrid Michaelson herself!

Jesus on the 45th Parallel

     The 45th parallel is the line of latitude that marks the half way point between the equator and the north pole. There are many places in the United States and around the world that intersect with this 45th parallel, however this point in located in Perry Maine. One may be surprised how areas can be linked to one another. A few weeks ago one of my friends wondered in Maine winters are worse than Wisconsin winters because it is so much farther "North". This notion of "North" is just not true as the 45th parallel also runs through Wisconsin. That is not to say that both Maine and Wisconsin still have horrible aspects about each of their respective Winters. While taking Oceanography in college we learned that is not the notion of how far North or South an area may be. It is a mix of not on ocean currents, but also wind gyres that determine an areas climate.

     In the United States the 45th parallel goes through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. This line also connects us to Canada, Japan, Ukraine, China, Mongolia, Italy, France, Uzbekistan, Serbia, and Croatia to name a few.  If you wish to further get your geek on, here is a map of interesting coordinates found on the 45th parallel that I found on Wikipedia: http://maps.google.com/maps?.q=http://toolserver.org/~para/cgi-bin/kmlexport%3Farticle%3D45th_parallel_north%26usecache%3D1 

Jesus Presents the Eastern most point in the United States.

    


     Last week I was able to visit West Quoddy Head State park in Lubec, Maine. I lived in Down East Maine for 8 and a half years, and this was one of my favorite places to visit. Besides the obvious beauty, one can enjoy trails, watching for whales and seals, and if you are anything like me, climbing on rocks. If you come here to hike, I suggest taking the time to hike through the bog. You will find interesting species such as fiddleheads, pitcher plants, and enormous mushrooms.

     
     West Quoddy Head is one of my favorite light houses that I have visited. Where I have always been interested in lighthouses, while I was in college I took an underwater archaeology course taught me about the purpose and the history of light houses. I am really happy that I was able to visit this place again. I will be posting more pictures of Jesus from my most recent trip to New England. Look forward to more of Jesus in Maine, and perhaps a history of Jesus on Mount Washington.