Top of the Park - Ann Arbor Summer Festival 2016

Ann Arbor Summer Festival runs for the last three weeks in June. It actually runs through the July 4 weekend. While the festival features numerous paid ticketed shows at the Power Center the real meat and potatoes of the event are, I feel, to be found at the Top of the Park. There you'll find free music of various types from singer songwriters, country, intriguing bands that defy easy categorization, and rock 'n roll. Events for kids as well as other special events happen there too. There is also a wide assortment of food available. Music heard here includes: Magdalen Fossum, Annie and Rod Capps, Annebelle Road, RFD Boys, and Hoodang.

Ann Arbor Summer Festival Top of the Park views of the stage and the audience.

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The Cantebury Tales in West Park

 The Penny Seats Theatre performing in West Park. 

West Park hosts a variety of events in the summer. The Penny Seats Theater (penny's eats.org) are doing two shows this year. Now, and the weekend of June 30, 2016, they're doing a version of The Cantebury Tales.

Penny Seats Theater

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Muskegon River Fly Fishing Trip, June 2016

Almost sunset. I'm trying to remmeber all the things you need to do to make the best cast of my fishing line. Most often I forget to pull in slack.

It is the second weekend of June and I am finally joining Paul Haan and Eric Doyle with Eric's Friend Jamison for a weekend of fly fishing. This would , for Jamison and me, be our first fly fishing excursion and it quickly became clear   that we had a lot to learn as we tried to catch our first fish out of the Muskegon River.

 

 

 

Fly fishing is a more involved activity than you might first think. I am confident that there are scores, if not hundreds, of species of flies that one can use to try and entice various fish to strike and impale themselves upon a hook. The flies you use change depending on the time of year, what is hatching, what is turning from nymph to fly (I think) and what the fish are doing. You may try different flies at different times of the day ; you might try using more than one fly at a time; you might move you line in different ways to make a fish think the fly is more like a real tasty morsel than not. Of course, most times you will fail to catch a fish - it's a good thing we about catch and release and not trying to put food on our tables.

 

While I doubt I'll ever be an active fisherman, if for no other reason than logistics of getting to fishing holes, I did enjoy my attempt at fly fishing. I am sure there are other people with very limited vision who fish, taking advantage of welcomed help by those who can see and know what they're doing, and I'm quite happy I was able to join the fishing community.

 

A trip video on YouTube is here.

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North Country Trail Spring 2016 - Video

Join me, Andy, Elwira, and Luna (the dog) for our spring trail maintenance and some general fun in the woods. 

You can learn more about the NCT here.

 

Sometimes you pass through areas of wonderful color like the bit of dark water and forest. 

We didn't just work. Now and then breaks to simply enjoy ourselves had to be taken. Luna even sat down once in a while. 

North Country Trail Spring 2016

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Join me , Andy, Elwira and Luna (dog) for a few days of camping, trail maintenance and hiking along the Nirth Country Trail (NCT) in western Michigan. This trip takes place the first weekend of May 2016. 

Learn more about the NCT at the official website: northcountrytrail.org 

 

   

Madeira Hiking Day 5: Levada do Paul and Rabaçal Valley

(Typos all belong to me. I type these posts "blind" in the sense that I'm not watching the screen and sometimes either because I mess up or auto-correct tries to help odd things happen). 

 

Photo: It is a little hard to tell but if you look in the left of the photo you can see that there are many billowing clouds below us: and a few clouds above us too. But at our elevation things are wonderfully clear. Madeira has many climate zones and microclimates within those zones. 

Photo: Madeira gets most of its electricity from, I believe, diesel. However there is a growing industry in windfarms, solar farms, and hydro power.

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Our last HF walk would be up high starting at about 4,500 feet above sea level in, I think, the Ponta do Sol area. The walk was 8.5 miles long and we would spend much of it working our way along several different levadas. We began walking downstream along the Levada do Paul and the weather could not have been better. The sun was out and the clouds that were visible were all below us. To be sure that obscured some views a little bit but the clouds themselves were interesting to look at and overall the sky was clear enough that we had nearly constant vistas.. The path was easy to walk upon. Now and then a brief rather narrow bit would appear and drop-offs on the left were a bit sheer but I don't think anyone was really perturbed by them (Mom is less than thrilled with those bits). Up in these higher places we found ourselves passing by some interesting man-made structures: a wind farm and solar farm. While Madeira generates most of its electricity through diesel (I think) they have a growing industry in solar, wind and hydro power. The large body of water we would cross at the top of the roadways descent down into Rabaçal may have been part of a hydroelectric plant. We also walked through some places were reforestation  was being done. I think they're planting indigenous pines and oaks. We also passed through some longer stretches of gorse-lined path. Gorse is a pretty yellow plant when flowering but it is rather rough when you brush against it: at least it isn't full of cactus spines. I imagine the people who maintain the levadas must trim the gorse back on a regular basis. 

Photo: Ken striding along the Levada do Paul. 

Photo: Watch out for your legs. Gorse is blooming here and the tough raspy plant can scratch your skin. It won't draw blood with anything like the ease of a cactus spine but you'll notice it as you brush by or get pushed on by it like Dad is here. 

The walk along Levad do Paul covers about 6km and it was a great way to spend our morning. It is followed by a winding descending road walk down to Casa Rabaçal. The road is still used by a minibus that for a small fee will ferry passengers back and forth. I believe House Rabaçaal must have once been a hostel and their is some habitation in the area adjacent but if you are imagining a cafe stop purge that notion from your mind. You can certainly stop there for a picnic lunch, refill your water, and even use a bathroom (bring toilet paper because while there are functional toilets they lack toilet paper).

Photo: our group at Casa Rabaçal having lunch. The people who added the extension, turned out not to be worth it, are just arriving. 

Many people visit the 25 fountains (25 Fontes) but our understanding is that while the path is generally not at all a tough one since it is a levada path (25 Fontes) the levada path itself is often quite narrow making it something of a pain for groups to pass each other. If you are visiting by yourself or in a tiny group it's probably well worth the visit but when groups of our size, about a dozen, are involved it just isn't worth the effort. At least that is the reasoning given by HF. Personally I wish we had seen the pools as if I found the right pictures some of them, or maybe just one, look quite lovely indeed.  Instead we left Casa Rabaçal and began heading down another levada and then too several hundred rough-hewn stone steps that we descended easily a couple hundred feet to Levada Risco. Descending those steps was a sweat-inducing experience. If you have normal vision it is just normally annoyingly tough as the footing isn't ideal and the steps vary in their riser heights. For me: a definite workout.  Once you reach the levada the going is easy again and you stroll along a high ,weeping, cliff on one side and lush forested valley (Risco Valley I believe) on the other. The sound of the high waterfalls can be heard in the distance. You will almost certainly pass people along the way. This is a popular place  though I am not sure how most people come to it. Certainly we saw no one else at the shelter/picnic area.  The Risco waterfalls are certainly worth the walk.

Photos: This water in the Risco valley (I think) may be the tallest we have seen. Great area to spend time. 

From the waterfalls we retraced our steps and then dropped down again to another levada (25 Fontes I think at this point) and began our final segment of the walk to Calheta. This is a segment that you  definitely do not want to miss. It contains the Tunel do Rabaçal which is 800 meters long. No light. Narrow. Damp but good footing. I suppose people go in both directions but you better be willing to squeeze against the wall if someone has to pass. I am certain I have never walked through such a tunnel before. Wow. It took about 15 minutes to walk through and it did not feel like it took that long. Perhaps the impromptu singing helped pas the time. Once we burst out at the southern terminus we turned to our right (southwest) and followed the path into Calheta which is, as far as I could tell, not much to remark upon at all. It may just be a place to park cars: that's all it seemed to be to me.  

I very good walk. A varied walk with superb weather conditions. When a walk provides you with variety it matters far less that it be full of physical challenges. While it is nice to have some ups and downs (and we all prefer undulating terrain to relentless up or down) a walk like this that had only a minuscule amount of ascent and vastly more descent (the road walk to Rabaçal House and the rough steps to Risco Levada) it was wholly enjoyable and a good way to end our hiking part of the trip.

Here us the video for this hike of 8.5 miles. Minimal ascent and about 1,400 feet of descent most of which is the road walk to Casa Rabaçal and then the steps to the Levada to the waterfall. 

Bonus: after dinner at the Atlantis restaurant which was a fine multi-course meal including palate cleansing dishes and what was certainly the best dessert of the week we fell into some great good fortune. A troupe of 14 performers were setting up to dance at the hotel as Dad and I were heading out to the Russian-lady cafe for coffee. We turned around and settled down to watch the troupe. What a treat. We even got involved in the dancing. 

Photo: 14 performers showing us some wonderful local culture in their music and dance. They had young and far more senior people in the group which I think is a great indication local culture is alive and well. 

Video of the dancers. We all got in on the dancing though you'll only see Dad here in the video. 

Video of the dancers.

Madeira Hiking Day 4: Boca da Corrida and Chao dos Terreiros

(Apologies for typos and the like).

 My notes for this hike are a bit less precise. I believe that we started at the viewpoint at Boca as Corrida which provides views of, amend other valleys the Jardim da Serra. We were a couple kilometers west and a couple hundred meters higher up from the viewpoints where we began our trek down into the Valley of the Nuns the day before. It is a 45 minute mountains roads (I have a suspicion there is just one major road winding through but surely that is wrong) from Santa Cruz and our hotel in Caniço. On a clear day I am confident the views would be very good but I was enthralled by what I saw on this overcast mid-morning. The path is pretty much a two-track at first but soon we would join a proper mountain trail that sees plenty of animal traffic judging by the cow pies left behind. We crossed some small streams and plenty of mud in the early going. 

We sallied forth on a good path, a mountain road of sorts. The clouds would soon lift and are views would improve as we walked westerly eventually coming to our first proper mountain trail. This trail would take us around a ridge down into a valley and over a couple small streams. ALong the way we had to take care dodging cow pies. Madeira does have some cattle and clearly a portion of them spend time grazing in these particularly mountains. It was a treat to be in the mountains and away from the encroachment of more populated areas (granted nothing is really far away so you take what you can get).  

The trail was easily followed and I am certain it is popular as it was well maintained. In time we would work our way around a valley and to a dirt road where the people tackling the shorter walk would turn and head down into the valley to the village of Fontes. Our group would head up the road into the higher reaches to visit the viewpoint (and trig point I think) at Chao dos Terreiros. To get there would followed the dirt road up and up. It is hard packed with little undulations in the roadbed to catch the unwary foot. It could easily be a slippery walking surface but really should not pose any problems for people. Perhaps the bigger concern are the number of cows you will pass within touching distance. AFter all, they're a lot bigger than a person. I had no inclination to touch one. They minded their business and we minded them as we walked on by.

Madeira's cows. We followed a mountain road later in the morning climbing high. Along the way we came within touching, no one did, distance if many cows, bulls and calves. 

We left the dirt road for grassy track, crossing a broken down stile (fences help control grazing) and then climbed gently for most of 1.2km (the last little bit is steeper as you gain about 90m to the top) to the viewpoint. Our group spread out a bit at this point as some decided the views were good enough just below the topmost point.  I went to the top and while the view was certainly better it won't knock your socks off compared to what you see just below though you do have a broader vista in all directions. By this time the day had warmed to about 70F and the sun was pretty much completely out. Clouds zipped by a bit during our lunch break but though a tad breezy on the flat top of our viewpoint it was a fine place to relax for 40 minutes before retracing our steps back down.

A view from our highint if the walk.  I believe this highpoint is at Chao dos  Terreiros at about 4,700 feet above sea level.

From that point on we would follow a mountain road down to the village of Fontes. It is an easy road walk and the views, especially at the start, of the valleys dropping steeply away from the road were impressive. Eventually a Levada would join us as we walked on down and soon we would pass below tree line and start hearing sounds of civilization again. Dogs barking, goats bleating, a rooster crowing, and underneath it all the gurgle of a Levada flowing by.  It is an easy descent into the village and we were able to have a quick snack and drink at a cafe at the end of our hike before piling into the bus to head home.

Jim and Ken. The remaining 2 or so miles follows a sometimes mud slick mountain road down below tree line, past homesteads with bleating goats, along a levada into the village of Fontes.  

Watch the video of our third hike here.

Hike length: 7.5 miles with ascent of about 1,200 feet and descent of 2,100 feet. The bulk of the descent happens in the last 3.5 miles from the viewpoint at Chao dos Terreros (4,700 feet) to Fontes (3,100 feet).

Bonus:  We stopped briefly at the sea cliffs  Cabo Girão. I understand these cliffs are 590 (or was it 580) mets high making them the second highest sea cliffs in the world. THey're de definitely a tourist spot with a glass platform you can stand on and look down through towards the cliff face below (I found the view uninteresting through the glass). Gaze out over the railing and from side to side to get a better sense of the scale of things. I suppose it is worth a visit if it is on your way to someplace else already but if all there is to see there are the cliffs from the platform and a chance for a bite to eat at the cafe I'm not sure it is worth a visit for for itself.