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Three Mainers Complete the 100-Mile Wilderness Trail in Winter

April is usually the month when Appalachian Trail thru-hikers give themselves a nickname and start the 2,190-mile five to seven-month trek from the southern terminus, Springer Mountain, Georgia. For many, the most grueling 100 miles will be the last, on the notorious 100-Mile Wilderness Trail in Maine. This is an arduous up and down grind where the occasional logging road is the only sign of civilization. That’s why I love this story out of the Bangor Daily News, which reports that 3 Maine hikers completed the 100-Mile Wilderness Trail the beginning of March. Using snowshoes and backcountry skis, and carrying hefty backpacks, they trekked in hip-deep snow, summited 4,000-foot peaks in howling winds, and often had to clamber over downed trees. A remarkable inspiration, which I hope to remember when I next climb a mountain in summer. 

 

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Quebec’s Winter Carnival

I just finished a story on winter carnivals in North America. One of the finest is in Quebec City, where for 17 days, the party never stops. More than one million people descend upon the fortified city to cheer on the competition in Le Grande Virée, a dogsled race that cruises through the heart of the historic Old City, or watch paddlers sprint across the turgid waters of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The French-flavored festivities continue with tours of the Ice Palace, a giant medieval castle constructed of pure crystalline water, parades, snow sculpture contests, inner tube sled rides, dancing to live music, and late night jaunts to heated tents to sample the potent drink called Caribou, made of whiskey, red wine, and maple syrup. One swig of this and you might be running naked through the snowfields.

While in Quebec City, spend a memorable night 30 minutes outside of town at North America’s only ice hotel, Hotel de Glace. 32 new rooms are created each year out of 12,000 tons of snow and 400 tons of ice, along with an Absolut ice bar, Jacuzzis, and a dance club. Bring those long johns. Temperature inside is a mere 27 degrees Fahrenheit.  
 

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Snowshoe to an AMC High Hut in the White Mountains

The Appalachian Mountain Club keeps three of its huts in the Whites in New Hampshire open in winter. For snowshoers who relish a good climb, try the 3.8-mile (one-way) hike from Pinkham Notch to the Carter Notch hut. The 19-mile Brook Trail will bring you to this unique accommodation, situated between the dramatic ridges of Carter Dome and Wildcat “A.” Here, you can spend the night at the AMC’s oldest standing hut, a stone building constructed in 1914, perched just above two glacial lakes. The trail splits at the 1.8-mile mark, veering left to the top of Carter Dome or straight to Carter Notch. As you cross a bridge and continue the ascent to the notch, the northern hardwood forest is soon replaced by a boreal forest of sweet-smelling spruces and firs. The last section of the trail snakes between the ridges and the majestic glacial lakes to the old hut. Inside the cozy walls, you’ve earned your dinner and a night’s sleep on a mattress.

 
An easier hike is the 1.75-mile trail from the campground at Franconia Notch State Park to Lonesome Lake Hut. The trail leads through a sheltered birch, pine, and spruce forest to the shores of this bowl-shaped lake. Savor Franconia’s carved granite and the surrounding 5,000-foot mountains in all their splendor, with rarely a peep heard. All three huts, including the Zealand Falls Hut, are self-serve, so bring winter sleeping bags and food. Rates start at $25 a night for members, $30 for nonmembers.
 
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My Top 5 Adventures in 2009, Mountain Biking the Kingdom Trails, Vermont

Last Memorial Day, I returned to a network of mountain biking trails I first wrote about in 1996 for Men’s Journal magazine. Back then, two or three avid fat wheelers were connecting farmland and cutting a web of trails through the woods of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The rolling countryside dotted with mountains, rivers, meadows, forest, and dilapidated barns is one of the most majestic sites in the Northeast, especially behind Darling Hill Road. So I wasn’t surprised to see cars from as far away as Connecticut and Ontario sampling the trails. And they were sweet, rolling up and down the hillside under the towering pines and atop ridges with vistas of the whole valley. What surprised me even more than the popularity of the mountain biking was how quickly my 13-year old son Jake took to the sport, grinding up and sweeping down the challenging terrain. He kicked my ass and I was happy to write about the experience for The Boston Globe.
 

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Saint Lucia Week: What I Loved About the Resorts I Visited

It’s been a great week of new adventures in Saint Lucia and I’m sad to leave, knowing what’s waiting for me in Boston this winter. I covered a lot of territory on the island, heading north, then west and south. There were a slew of things I liked at each of the resorts I visited that I didn’t have time to discuss. The new spa at Windjammer Landing is wonderful and so was the masseuse who delivered that signature massage, a mix of defoliation, hot stones, bamboo, and deep tissue digging. Ti Kaye has one of the finest wine lists I’ve seen in the Caribbean, including a rare sighting of a 1998 Joseph Phelps Insignia. Sample it in their wine cellar along with a prix-fixe menu. Anse Chastanet has a second beach near the Jungle Biking excursion that’s often far less crowded than their main beach. I went snorkeling at their reef yesterday morning by myself, before the tour boats arrived, and spotted one of my favorite tropical fish, the yellowfin chromis. Atop Anse Chastanet, the rooms at Jade Mountain are a dream. Check out the infinity pool in the photo to the left leading to wondrous vistas of the Pitons ahead. Also ask to tour the chocolate laboratory on premises where they make their own organic dark chocolate bars from a nearby cocoa plantation. The sand at Sugar Beach is the whitest I’ve seen in Saint Lucia. I also love their two grass tennis courts. 
 
I want to thank Maria Hunte at the Saint Lucia Tourist Board and Shannon Overholser at Redpoint for designing a perfect 6-day itinerary. Next time I have to bring my wife or she’s going to poison me. I teased with her far too many gorgeous photos this week. 
 
I’m taking next week off. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and remember to work off that turkey and stuffing by being active! 
 
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Ocean Edge Resort Unveils New Presidential Bay Collection

Driving along Route 6A in Brewster, it’s hard to miss Boston banker Samuel Nickerson’s turn-of-the-century mansion. Today, it’s the centerpiece of the sprawling Ocean Edge Resort. Nickerson’s beachfront estate is now home to over 400 guest rooms and townhouses. The latest addition is the Presidential Bay Collection, 31 two and three-bedroom villas with full kitchen and easy walking distance to the beach. Add six pools, the 18-hole Jack Nicklaus redesigned golf course, nine tennis courts, and bike paths that connect easily to the Cape Cod Rail Trail, and you understand why Ocean Edge has been the perennial family favorite on the Cape for decades. I’m heading there today to review the new Presidential Bay Collection for The Boston Globe. I’ll be back on Monday. Have a great weekend and stay active!

 
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Eighth Annual Hotel Week in Manhattan January 4-14, 2019

If you want to visit New York at a discount, then head to the city during their Eighth Annual Hotel Week in early January. The Refinery Hotel, Library Hotel, High Line Hotel, and Archer New York are just a handful of top-tier properties that will cut their rates considerably during this time. For example, Hotel Edison in Times Square will only be $100 a night, more than 50% off their usual rate. Hotel Week NYC™ was created by PR maven Nancy J. Friedman in 2010 to address the occupancy dip most hotels experience after the holiday season. It’s a perfect time to visit Manhattan without the crowds, see the Andy Warhol exhibition at the Whitney and Network, featuring Bryan Cranston, on Broadway. 
 

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