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Saturday, August 27, 2011

8/26/11 - Here Comes Hurricane Irene

“Take long walks in stormy weather or through deep snows in the fields and woods, if you would keep your spirits up.  Deal with brute nature.  Be cold and hungry and weary."

Henry David Thoreau - Dec 25, 1857

 

Today, we have a storm coming (Hurricane Irene, headed from the south, directly for Mt. Wachusett! DOA Sunday 8/28/11) so a run up the mountain will get the pictures for the week.  I anticipated much from last week, but I was anxious that I would not make the summit before the sun set below the horizon.

Continuing on Wachusett - Before Sunset

The forms have come down!  All around; it now stands as we will see it ... once the facade is added ... and that won't be long either!

 

 

NE Corner of the Base

 

 

Eastern Wall with Ramp ready to pour concrete.

 

 

The Western Wall Facade is Under-construction.

 I was surprised to see so much progress as the facade construction has begun.  The pillars for the ramp are in the foreground as is the field of stone for the facade.


Facade - detail

  I only noticed a bit of mortar between the joints of the stones.  On the top of the top layer, one can see a dark line on the face of the cement wall.  That is NOT a shadow.  It appears to be that they are securing the rocks to the wall from the back-side, thereby giving the appearance of a non-mortared stone wall facade.  Interesting.

 

Facade with Fence Builder Tool

 

Western Wall from base of the present tower.

Notice the "rock field" in the foreground just on the other side of the chain link fence - raw material for the fence builder.

 

I have been wondering about the final "grade" of the site, but if you look at the next two pictures, I think we can get an idea as to what is to come.  In order to access the interior of the base, there is only one opening and it is on the southern wall.  This entry must be at "ground level" in order to drive large generators and other equipment inside - that is, equipment that can not be lifted by humans - thus, one reason to surmise that the bottom of the door will be at ground level.

    

Southern Door Opening

On the north wall, there has been a ditch just beside the cement compass stand area.  In this ditch, they have poured the piles for the ramp support as it goes up around the base.  That ditch is now filled in, as you can see from the picture below.  This is probably about what will become the "level" ground surface outside the base of the tower.

 

North Wall - ditch filled in to ground level.

  

View from the Army Relay Radio Shack (NE)
Use your imagination ... the new tower will be just about as high as the old one.  Imagine that structure placed atop the base on the left!  This new one will certainly have a personality all its own.  Imagine the picture below as the final product ...


The Tower is Complete??  Huh??

And the sun was fast setting.  I better get serious about leaving ....


Sunset on Wachusett - Western Massachusetts

With the trail on the southeastern face of the mountain, it would be getting dark and with that, a bit hazardous to be running over the rocks without a flashlight.  It was time to go; this was as good as it would get; I couldn't wait for the sun to truly drop below the horizon.

 On the way down, there was sufficient light for a few more pictures ... just to check on the progress taking place at the parking lot below.



Survey flags on lower picnic grounds

It now appears as if parking lot work is back in play.  Survey flags can now be seen on the east picnic area just below the summit.  I believe this will be the future site of handicapped parking.

And we can also notice that the lower parking lot is once again "open" and work continues on drainage ditches and leveling of the surface.



From Up Summit Road (today) to Parking Lot
The blockade has been removed ....  Construction in the parking lot continues.


Looking South from atop the sand-pile


Entry to New Parking lot (from atop sand-pile)
Time to leave.



Good Night Wachusett

Sunday, August 21, 2011

8/21/11 - Exploring the Summit

Let me suggest a theme for you: to state to yourself precisely and completely what that walk over the mountains amounted to for you, — returning to this essay again and again, until you are satisfied that all that was important in your experience is in it. Give this good reason to yourself for having gone over the mountains, for mankind is ever going over a mountain. Don't suppose that you can tell it precisely the first dozen times you try, but at 'em again, especially when, after a sufficient pause, you suspect that you are touching the heart or summit of the matter, reiterate your blows there, and account for the mountain to yourself. Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.
Thoreau - Letter to Harrison Blake 11/16/1857 

I had two reasons to visit the summit today; of primary concern was to continue the photographic journal on the progress of the construction of the new tower and other enhancements underway.  The secondary reason was to listen in on a program presented by the Reservation Park Rangers called "A View from the Top:  Summit Stories."  I suspect that I can learn a bit more about the summit from listening to the experts.

Thunder was rolling in from the west; I could hear it as I dashed to the top.  I suspected that the Summit program would be cancelled.  But, I had to get my pictures first.

Well, I beat the lightening and the Park Ranger.  I took about 15 minutes for the program to end as she indicated from the beginning that if she heard thunder, it was all over!  As I looked at the clouds rapidly approaching I knew it wouldn't last very long.

But we talked long enough to learn that indeed the hotels had constructed Summit Pond in the mid 1800's and that the Civil Conservation Corps had constructed the two overlook stations and the stone wall just before WWII - along with the viewing stations on the Summit Road.  The pond was originally thought to be fed from a summit spring on the north side of the pond, but lately, experts discount that idea and subscribe to the theory that it is simply maintained by rain and spring snow-melt.


Then, Thunder rumbled, a flash of lightening was seen in the distance, and a gentle spray of rain began to fall.  Time to head home.  

As I indicated above, I got my pictures first ... Here is the construction story....

 
Southern (exposed) and Eastern Face (forms still in place)

Notice that the large cement anchors no longer support the forms.  Cement is in place and is now actively curing.  Next week, we will most likely see cement all around!


 


From US Army Relay Building ...North Face








The North and Eastern Forms are still in place although cement has been poured, as evidenced by the fact that the large cement anchors are no longer required.  I could also visually see evidence of pouring when I peered through the fence.  Another week and I wouldn't be surprised to see all the forms pretty much removed.

Direct view of Western Face of the Base
  My friend Mark, with his wife Leslie, visited the summit yesterday; he pointed out that most of the forms had been removed and that a small ledge at ground level, goes all around the base.  And we can see it here, although it shows better on the pictures below.  [double click on your right mouse to enlarge] He suspects that it is the foundation for the facade that will eventually wrap itself about the structure.  And from the looks, I have to agree.  In the foreground above is the rock-pile from which the stones will be selected for that facade.

Notice the black marks on the wall that angle slightly upward ... maybe 15 degrees or so.  I couldn't see that they are to be anchors for anything that might be attached, but I can visualize the pedestrian walk angling up in a similar fashion until it reaches the top.  As you view the pictures from the east, imagine the ramp as it winds around the center base.



Ledge on Western Wall to support Stone Facade
 
View - Western/Southern Walls
Western Wall looking South




North-side Ramp as it winds around the NE corner
   The ramp forms have been poured.  This shows that little opening as it is now closed with cement.  I can see that it has been poured this past week.  The only way to enter the inside of the base now is through the south-side opening.  The observation ramp, from this corner will be supported by the foundation piles, one of which you can see in the far right corner of the picture.

As I passed the parking lot, I took a picture ... nothing has changed.  The orange drum blockade is still in force!  No progress.

Orange Drum Blockade Continues
But ... On Wachusett, there is always more than the summit itself.  Turkeys, rabbits, deer, the sun rising from the sea, new friends, and many more are just a few of the experiences one might have.  Another favorite is the gently tapping of raindrops as they fall through the sky to strike the leaves and the ground below.  Turn up your speaker and listen to the beautiful sound of Mother Nature at her finest.  
 
 




Saturday, August 13, 2011

8/13/11 - The Sun Rises Out Of The Sea

At length we saw the sun rise up out of the sea, and shine on Massachusetts; and from this moment the atmosphere grew more and more transparent till the time of our departure, and we began to realize the extent of the view, and how the earth, in some degree, answered to the heavens in breadth, the white villages to the constellations in the sky. There was little of the sublimity and grandeur which belong to mountain scenery, but an immense landscape to ponder on a summer's day.   
Thoreau - A Walk to Wachusett (1843)


Sunrise on Wachusett
What a glorious morning it was today ... At about 5:55 just minutes before the six o'clock hour, the first ray of light tripped over the horizon, just as Thoreau had told us it would happen.  Such a humbling experience, to be sure, and one most certainly to cause one to stop and ponder it's origin.


From the northeast - totally boxed in
Progress was very definite this week.  While the forms for the walls of the Tower Base are now complete, they have even begun to strip away the walls to the south and west - which were poured two weeks ago.  I expect that by next week, the forms will be pretty much removed.  

An Illusion - the new tower
No, the tower has not yet been placed on the foundation base!  It just appears as if it has... still the old tower rests behind the construction of the base for the new tower.  But, is probably a pretty good rendition of what it will look like in the end.

Southern Wall - Door to enter the electronics chamber
Western and southern wall ... complete. The doorway is the entrance to the room that will house the electronics gear and generator for the Fire watch tower.

Soouthern Wall is Complete



Tools of the trade - builder's string line
 I was surprised to sight a string line atop the base wall.  I would have thought a laser level would do the trick!  But, then again, a string line will stay in place if securely fastened.  The line running at approximately a 45 deg angle to the base wall is actually a guy wire from the present tower.

Close-up - Anchor for the Wall


Parking Lot - another week of no activity


"The extent of the view" ... Mt. Monadnock to the north
Visible to Thoreau when he walked to Wachusett in 1842, and of course, still visible as the most prominent landmark to the northwest.  The valleys are filled with fog.  The two vertical structures in the center are wind turbines of Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Mass.


Morning Companion on the summit
My only companion on the mountain ... unusual for such a beautiful day, notwithstanding the fact that it was 6:00 am.  He looked like a youngster and I also noticed that the tip of his left ear had been chewed off.  

Usually there is at least someone going up or down besides myself.

It won't be long now and the complete supporting wall structure will be down as the walls will be complete.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

8/6/11 - Pouring Cement Has Begun

Who could believe in prophecies of Daniel or of Miller that the world would end this summer, while one milkweed with faith matured its seeds?  Thoreau - Faith in a Seed


"Fogged in" is a good description for the viewing today - but then again, at 6 am, it is probably not surprising.  It was clear in the valley at the base of the mountain, but certainly Mother Nature was tampering with the elements on the summit.  From one side of the summit lot, you could barely distinguish the outlines of objects on the other side, perhaps 50 yards away.  But still ... construction progress continues.

From the Army Communications building looking toward the construction (L) and the present tower (R).
As I warned ... visibility was at a minimum.  

But, approaching closer to the site, we can see that advances have been made in the course of the past week ... WIP, as they say in the construction business.  [Work In Place - and this is the measure of what the contractors get paid!]

The large anchors have been removed from the walls on the western and southern sides of the tower structure.  That can only mean that they contractor is sure the winds will not cause them to fall.  My guess is that cement has been poured!

The Anchors have been removed!

And I am correct.  In the picture below, as you look closely into the rebar that protrudes from the wall, you can see the cement that has been poured.

In the seam of exposed rebar, one can see in.  They have poured!
 If one looks closely all about the site, indications of passageways are evident.  Save for one opening in the center, there would be no opening for laborers to enter the inside to do the work.


Access passageway - between the rebar grid.
Rock pile for the facade
 Clearly we evidence work progress on the inside.  But it is evidenced by visual signs about the site as well.  The open access ports, the seams with exposed concrete, the missing wall anchors, piles of rock for the facade.  A couple more weeks and I suspect the enclosure will be solid.  Then the ramps, and then the superstructure and the cap of the fire-watch compartment.

Wall of Rebar on the eastern side ... soon to become a wall.

Another opening for access to the inside of the base.
While work continues on the tower base, little or nothing has moved in the parking lot.  

Parking Lot Entrance
Since one can't drive up the Summit Road ... I wonder what this blockade is supposed to block?



Mt House Trail and Parking Lot

Since it's so foggy, I took a look around for other interesting sights ... not only was it foggy this morning, but there was a pretty stiff breeze coming from the ... ? what direction?  As usual ... from the north - north-west!  Over time, summit trees take a set and grow that way.  

Summit vegitation - overlook to the East


And take a look at the only tree on the summit - over near the Army Radio Relay building (toward the chair lift) ... see how it leans to the E-SE.  Unfortunately, this year it has died - probably due to the harsh winter of 2010-2011.  But still, it was most likely planted in an upright position ... even at a few years of age, it could not fight the winds, and it leaned as they blew.  I remember this tree well, for it is on this little postage stamp piece of green that I pitched my tent 6 years ago for the "Walk to Wachusett."

Winter on Wachusett - harsh reality.



Below the summit while sitting on one of the ski-lift chairs, I relaxed and looked over the fog-clad landscape ... or at least 40 or 50 yards into the distance.  The solitude I sensed was yet another of the many experiences one encounters on Wachusett.  Why don't you come visit?

Next week?  more progress; perhaps better conditions at 6:00 in the morning.  Better?  That depends on your perspective.  Let's say, perhaps clearer conditions!