Author Archives: Andrew Ziehl

About Andrew Ziehl

An avid outdoorsman.

Tripyramid Takedown

This is the final post in a catch up effort I finally made. Read about Sweeney and I constructing our own gym, and my trip to Acadia which I also just posted. Unfortunately I missed key photo opportunities at most of our July/August climbing trips.

Here we go:

Last weekend Sweeney made some spontaneous hiking plans and made a quick drive up to Lincoln for some day hiking. I’d been wanting to hike the Tripyramids, or Trippy-amids as I sometimes call them for some reason. They were pointed out on this blog, and the ~11 mile loop we planned seemed like a solid route.

The hike was mostly enclosed by trees, but had a few good views. Since it was just the two of us, we did our best to race up the steep ascent and then hike along the ridge to past the north peak to Middle Tripyramid, both of which are just over 4k elevation.

Some foliage as we crested the ridge.

We took a break at Middle Tripyramid, once we’d found a good outlook. We did the 5 mile ascent in 2 hours, so it seemed like a well deserved break. Time to soak in the view.

One of a few good views from the middle peak, with Waterville in the background.

To the right…

And the left.

There is a distinct lack of snow behind Sweeney.

We backtracked a bit to turn the hike into a loop, with about a mile walk on the Kanc to get back to the car. After a steep, but brief portion, it was mostly easy going. Unfortunately, there were many streams and rivers between us and the road. They were very nice to look at–the river was strewn with smooth rocks and had very clear water, but after crossing it for the 5th time, it got a bit tiresome.

One of the roughly 25+ river and stream crossings on the way down.

A stream bed that got pretty destroyed by Irene.

After one or two last crossings, we knew we were in the clear. I actually took my shoes off at one point and just waded across. Just when we thought we were approaching the road, the hiking trail turned into a gravel road. We suddenly came upon a tourist landmark, a unique water fall.

Unexpected landmark. A basalt dyke created Sabbaday Falls.

Unexpected landmark. Sabbaday Falls was created by a plate fault across a basalt dyke.

Checking it out…

Pretty cool.

Photo op. I tried using my new (and first) smart phone exclusively for photos. It did alright.

This made the final hike out a little easier than expected, but it was a cool find, and a great way to end the hike. We made in back to the car about 5 hours after we’d left, and took the scenic Kancamagus back to Lincoln for some food and ski sale perusing.

Here’s Sweeney’s trip data which he kindly provided to me:

[sgpx gpx=”/wp-content/uploads/gpx/tripyramid.gpx”]

Home Gym Vision

Recently, after some deliberation, Sweeney and I determined it was time to discontinue our gym memberships. Ever since I moved, I’d been thinking about the possibility of using my basement as a workout room. Between the two of us, we’ve managed to make the home gym a reality, by the sweat of our brows and a bit of legwork.

We didn’t have a whole lot to work with starting out. The basement was cluttered, covered in spider webs, and not exactly level. We set a budget of the money we would’ve spent on memberships, and started planning it out.

The beginning. A stone walled, weirdly shaped room with a single bulb for light.

More random stuff, the type of things that typically get stored in basements.

We picked up 450 lbs of Olympic plates, which came with a bar, from a nice guy named Tom just outside the city. We then ordered a squat rack, a better bar, and a bench from Rogue Fitness. They had quality equipment at reasonable prices, and shipping hundreds of pounds of metal seemed to cost them less than expected.

Next came cleaning up and furnishing the basement. We picked up a bunch of lumber to create a stiff surface to lay horse stall mats on, and beams to level everything and bolt it all together. Yes, I did say horse stall mats, which from what I can tell are the best gym mats in terms of bang for your buck. They did have a pretty rubbery smell when we first picked them up though.

Sweeney's car packed full of supplies

Prepped and cleaned.

Finally, some light! We'd just brought everything in and left it there, calling it a day.

Once we cleaned up the place and hung a second light, there was a marked improvement. We vacuumed up all sorts of crap, including roots, dirt, cement blocks, and even some of the walls. Shop vacs are the best. The next step was the flooring, which was the most arduous part. It involved lots of sawing of hardwood, the creation of several shims, and dealing with brass wood screws which were prone to stripping, or shearing. We got it done though.

The fitted boards on top of the shims. Ready to be screwed together.

Sweeney, happy that we're almost done drilling pilot holes and wrestling with screws.

The hack saw came in handy.

It's still level! ...Not just in this one spot, either.

Ready to unpack. The best and easiest part.

Almost there...

What we ended up with is a sturdy, nearly level plywood platform for the rack, covered by mats. There’s just enough room to do cleans, and dumbbell snatches. We’ve been using the new space successfully for two weeks now, and I have to say it’s nice to have the right equipment to do some supersets or circuit training, without having to wait to get onto every new piece of equipment, whether it’s a rack or a bench or just a specific set of DBs.

Completion!

Our current program is a slightly modified version of what we were previously doing, with more pre-workout mobility work and foam rolling, and less waiting around. We’ve been focusing on a fair amount of unilateral lifts. A year ago if you suggested I stop back-squatting I’d have brushed it off, but I’m finally starting to wrap my head around movements advocated by guys like Mike Boyle and Eric Cressey.

Now we just need to coat the place in ski posters as training encouragement, and we’ll be good to go.

Whirlwind Acadia Weekend

I wasn’t sure it would happen, but this past August I managed to continue the tradition of making it up to Acadia at least once. I had to drive by myself both ways, but it was totally worth it for an amazing weekend on the island.

I drove up Friday and made it onto the island in time to settle in before it got too late. Saturday morning we put in my sister’s Kayak and rented another to head out into Somes Sound. The weather was perfect, blue skies, and glassy ocean without much wind.

Out in Somes Sound. Calm morning, and still water.

The sea life must’ve agreed with us, since we saw a few seals and several porpoises. Not pictured, unfortunately.

My sister in her personal boat. That I have no chance of getting into.

After being on the water for a few hours, we went to pick up a park pass and then drove in search of the glorious Jordan Pond house popovers, something I’ve missed out on the past few years.

Glorious.

The day wasn’t over yet though. A quick jaunt along Jordan Pond brought us to the southern ascent of the South Bubble, a great steep, short hike. I went for a brief jog to scope out the climbing in the area, and after a bit of scrambling determined where it was, but further investigation was for another day. We made it up to Bubble rock just as the sun began to sink low.

Hangin' out on top.

The view from South Bubble.

Afterwards we executed a mission to quickly pick up some beer and burritos, then went on a night hike to our preferred hang out to enjoy our plunder.

Sunday morning we got up early for some delicious breakfast, after which I headed to Otter Cliffs to meet up with Sukes for some climbing. The cliffs were bustling with guides, their groups, and a few other pairs of climbers. It was definitely busier than I’d ever seen. Luckily now that I have some pro, Sukes and I were able to quickly pick out a route we figured we’d have no problem getting up, and start setting up.

Sukes and his Dad, enjoying the great view.

Cordelette in action for a 3 piece anchor. The puddle is all part of it.

Close-up of our top-belay system. Use a second rope for rappelling down if you have it. We were shown this setup by some climbers on our first Otter Cliff outing. Black 'biner is for lowering, silver is for belaying.

We set on a fun 5.7 with big blocks, ledges and a fun crux. It was slightly overhanging with a few hidden pockets. Unfortunately we were both short on time, so after we lowered each other and ascended twice, we called it a day.

Sukes getting fully extended on the block-y ledges.

Me, right at the crux.

Second time around. Resting briefly before the crux.

After climbing I laid low at camp and enjoyed some quality family time. The drive home had the usual traffic, but it was totally worth it, as always.

Daytrippin’: Flume Slide and College Rock

Two weeks ago a group of us headed up to my friend Alex’s place in Lincoln for a NH brewfest followed by a trek up the Flume Slide trail which summits Mt. Liberty. It was every bit as steep as I remember, with the slide itself being about as steep as you would want to hike without some grippy climbing shoes.

It was a beautiful day and we managed to avoid a band of storms that swept across the more northern part of the Fraconia ridge.

The view from liberty to Cannon.

Group photo

Last weekend Sweeney and I revisited College Rock, about a year after Sukes and I first checked it out.

The left side of the college rock wall.

There was only one other pair of climbers there, probably because of 90 degree weather with 100% humidity. Still, it was tolerable under the canopy and we set on a 5.7-5.8 with a few variants. I think it was Send Money/More Money.

The More Money face, with rope set up. More TRs require 30-40ft of webbing.

Sweeney prepping for the climb, with the right side of the wall behind.

The climb was a little crimpy, but fun, and we both tried it a few times. However, as we were resetting the top-rope, a band of storms rolled through, so we decided to boulder for a bit instead. The right side of the wall is lower and flatter, which allows for some fairly safe bouldering despite the fact that I don’t have a pad.

Bouldering action

More bouldering.

I’m hoping to focus more on climbing over the next couple of weeks. I’d really like to do some more sport or trad in the near future.