The fall brings great hiking weather and hunting. Some people fear stepping foot in the woods during hunting season. You have nothing to fear but it doesn’t hurt to take some extra steps to keep safe.
First I want to say, I have yet to meet a hunter that has the “shoot at anything that moves” mentality. Most all hunters are the “don’t shoot till I am 110% sure that I want to kill what I am shooting at” kind. If you still are feeling uneasy about heading out in to the woods try some of these safety tips… Read more »
Along the Rail Trail
Yesterday I decided to take the bicycle out for a change of pace. I was a little worried about it being a little cold so I threw on some layers, a hat, and gloves. I live about 1000 feet from the Northampton Bike Trail. The Northampton Bike Trail Starts at Bridge Rd. near Look Park and continues to the Stop and Shop parking lot on King St. If you are daring you can cross over King St. and follow the trail behind the McDonalds you will have to cross some rail road tracks (use caution the tracks are active). Once you cross over you are now on the start of the Norwottuck Rail Trail. The Norwottuck Trail runs about 11 miles from Northampton to the Amherst/Pelham town line. The main parking lot for the Norwottuck Trail is just off Damon Rd. in Northampton. You can view my map in google for other possible parking locations. This trail has a great mix of country riding. You will find a few businesses on the Trail including two bike shops (Chris’ Bike Shop & Trailside Bicycles), and a few places to get some
Trailside Bicycles
food. Trailside Bicycles offers rentals and is open every day but Monday. If geocaching is your thing you can find at least a half dozen caches just off the trail. I found two yesterday.
Over all my ride was 24 miles and it was wonderfully relaxing. I did however realize that I need a bag for my rack so I can easily carry some stuff with me. Mainly geocaching stuff and some tools would be nice to have too…
My dog Max
Yesterday someone asked if Max could have a little turkey. I said “sure, just a little though” and a few people started going into a rant about how turkey can kill your dog. One person even said they had a friend who had a dog die because of turkey. Well of course I don’t want that little guy over there dead so no more turkey…
If I was smart I would have whipped out the blackberry right there and did a google search. If I would have done that Max would have had a much better Thanksgiving! IT IS OK TO FEED TURKEY TO YOUR DOG! Just no skin, the skin is high in fat and hard for them to digest. It can lead to acute pancreatitis or so a google search says. You also don’t want to feed any poultry bones to your dog as they are hollow and splinter easily. The bones can cause bowel obstruction and require surgery to remove.
Foods not to feed the family dog: Read more »
Our Brined Turkey
This Thanksgiving is the first time me and my girlfriend Lisa have had people over for Thanksgiving. While not a huge get together (we are having 11 people here), it will be the first time our parents meet… We have been cooking fools last night and this morning. I wanted to share a couple of the recipes that we are using.
Mashed Apple Spiced Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 5-6 sweet potatoes (boiled & mashed)
- 1/8 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 shallot (chopped fine)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp nutmeg
- salt to taste
Preparation:
Add all ingredients in large bowl and mix well by hand using potato masher. Read more »
I am back to report another 1lb loss this week. I have been slipping on my diet a little, by no means am I back to my old way. It’s just that I have been eating more red meat than I would like and less veggies than I should be. If I show a loss next week I will be blown away. There is know way I am going to cook a bunch of wonderful food and not enjoy it you are crazy. Maybe I will hike and bike this weekend…
Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 273lbs
Last weight – 274lbs
Lost this week – 1lbs
Total lost – 25lbs
First off I want to say that I find it odd that the last two hikes I have been on are 4.3 miles. Kinda strange. This hike starts off at the parking lot near the gate of the road that leads to the Holyoke summit house. Read more »
SportTracks
I was recently turned on to a program SportTracks. SportTracks is a GPS-enabled exercise logbook. When you import your GPS log to SportTracks it automatically track the time, distance, and pace of your hike run or other workout… They even have a plugin catalog with options to add like Polar HRM manager, geotaging, ect. If you are in to tracking your exercise and want to do this with your GPS than this is the program for you… This program is a keeper for me.
photo by M.Prinke
Now that the cold is here it has got me thinking about snowshoeing. When you go to the store looking for snowshoes they come in every size, color, and style you can imagine. I hope I can help you leave the store with a pair that will work for you…
How snowshoes work
Snowshoes allow you to walk on top of snow by spreading your weight over a bigger surface area. This will allow you to hike, run and climb even in the deepest powder you can find. The general rule of thumb is the heaver the person or the drier the snow requires a larger snowshoe.
Read more »
Weight in day is here again, I was a little nervous about what the scale would say after the big game and big beer dinner.
Start weight – 298lbs
Current weight – 274lbs
Last weight – 275lbs
Lost this week – 1lbs
Total lost – 24lbs
So not bad, a loss is a loss…
It is starting to get cold here in New England. The day time high has not been reaching 40. I think I am going to get a membership at the gym for the winter and maybe start the couch to 5K program
This hike will take you to the summit of two mountains in the Metacomet Ridge. If hiking clockwise the first summit is Bare Mountain. After a steep rocky climb along the M&M trail (white blaze) you will reach the summit of Bare Mountain (1014ft). On the way to the top there is a great example of a talus slope. Read more »
hiking | Jim Bradley (Husky Hiker) | 
11/30/2008 9:53 PM | 
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