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Saturday, January 28, 2012

1/28/12 - Progress Deck Railings

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, Journal, December 25, 1856

Today's visit to the summit was taken in most unseasonably warm weather.  In fact, the winter season of 2011-2012 will undoubtedly go on record as one of the warmest in years.  Unlike the "brute nature" of Thoreau's winter in 1856, we find that spring has come early.  I will soon be seeing maple trees at the foot of the mountain bearing "the augur."

Spring-time in the Winter
Yes, we will most likely have a storm or two before the advent of Spring on Tuesday, March 20th, but it sure feels like mid-March this morning.  The sun is shining high in a clear blue sky, woodpeckers are tapping for insects high in the forest trees, birds are heard chirping in the distance, and water flows gently along the trail splashing over the rocks and down the mountainside.

Ah ... I digress.  The project!  What is happening this week?  Easy answer ... not much.  Aside from a new section of fencing in the barrier that surrounds the site (perhaps the wind and recent rain storms pushed it over?), I see little or nothing - from the road - as having advanced the cause of this endeavor.


Summit Approach

Things look pretty much the same on the approach up Mountain House Trail and on to Up Summit Road.  Lets take a walk around the perimeter.
Broken Sections of Original Fencing - Horizontal Support
What's with the sections of fence ... they weren't there last week.  A new section?

And sure enough, a few feet further on, we can see the new sections in place.  They look newer and cleaner; they also sport a diagonal support, different from the horizontal support of the original fence.
New Chain Link Sections - Diagonal Support
Obviously, the old tower is still standing.  I did meet a couple of hikers this morning and they surmised that eventually, the public would be allowed to climb the old tower!  Unfortunately, I broke the bad news to them that sometime later this year, the old tower would be dismantled!  And with news of that, one fellow told me that he will have to get up here one day before then to "knock that activity off his bucket list."




Northern View
Do I notice something after all?  Is that a railing break on the far right?  Let's look closer.

Old Glory at NE Corner

NE Corner
As we continue our walk around the site, let's focus on the guard rail on the Observation Deck.  Last week, we saw the fence, now it has a top railing!  So, there is progress!!! 

It begins on the Eastern side where there appears a top railing on the fence.  Once you get to the NW corner, it needs more work.  The topmost railing is not there.  And it continues all around ... the western side, the southern side, and on to the starting point of the SE Corner.


Eastern Wall - Railing Begins

NE Corner - North Wall - Railing in Place

North Wall - Railing in Place

At the NW end of the northern wall, the railing is incomplete and from here, all around to the beginning.  Obviously, more work to do.

NW Corner - Incomplete Railing
Western Wall - Railing Incomplete
 And on to the Southern Wall, also incomplete.
Southern Wall - Railing Incomplete
Southern Wall - Incomplete
The Beginning - Eastern Wall
Full circuit.  Back on the sun-filled Eastern side. Nothing more to report this week.  But, the project is still moving ahead.  What about the missing ladder?  And the railings around the ramp?  Hummm??

Southern View To Worcester
Til Next Week.



Saturday, January 21, 2012

1/21/12 - Observation Deck Railing In Place

It is best to find your employment and amusement in simple and homely things.  These wear best and yield most.  
Henry David Thoreau, Journal October 5, 1856

Today we have our first continuous snow of the year, or so it seems.  We have had so little.  The snow began at sunrise and continued well into the afternoon hours.  And so, I struck a course to the summit through the woods, foresaking the rough, frozen, icy trail.  It was a most pleasurable trip as I dodged the rugged ice covered boulders as one climbing the Khumbu Icefalls of  Mt. Everest.




Well, perhaps not quite that dangerous!  Oh what the mind can imagine!

In any case, it was a great trip to the summit.  And I was rewarded with my first view of the new railings which are in place on the Observation Deck.  As yet however, I have no evidence that the railings for the ramp are ready to be placed.

I saw tracks of one early morning trekker - snow shoes headed first up ... and then down.  Otherwise, the only folks on the summit were skiers who would certainly frolic today!

Basket Lift and Tower
 I noticed almost immediately the low profile of the railing on the Observation Deck.  The last element of the ladder structure to the cab is not yet in place, but there was progress this week.  And I continue to wonder about the lift vehicle ... why do they leave it exposed and in the air?  I would think it would be safest to retract the arm and lower the basket to the ground.

They are now down to only one lift vehicle on site.  Since mid-September, they have had at least one, increasing to two late in November and running with two units until the end of December when yet a third vehicle made an appearance.  That visit lasted until the second week of January.  It was gone last week and this week, they have gone down to one.  Does that mean they are getting closer to the end of the project ... at least as far as aerial work goes?

Railing Detail - NE Corner

NE Corner
NE Corner
The NE Corner remains the same.  Why not?

Frozen, But Still Flying
Observation Deck Fence Detail

Ladders to the Top
Entry to the Cab
I haven't yet figured out how the trap door to enter the cab works.  

Western Wall
Southern Wall

SE Corner
Snow Envelopes the Summit

Harrington Trail Down the Western Side of Wachusett

Worcester From the Summit in Snow
Oh ... you can't see the city?  It's there, trust me.   And so ... back down the Khumbu Icefalls.  See you next week.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

1/14/12 - Cold, Snowy, and Windy

Most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.
Henry David Thoreau - Walden - Conclusion

This week we had our first real snow of the year.  And, at the same time, the temperatures have plummeted.  Temperatures seem now to be constantly below freezing and even into the single digits.  But, why not?  It is winter!

The work on the tower has slowed considerably.  Mick, the stone mason, has finished his work for now; he is forced, due to the temperatures, to wait for springtime temperatures.  The move of the electronics and antenna elements also have apparently been put on hold until the spring; no way is anyone going to be working to transfer components for communication from one tower to the other.  And even the assembly of the triple tiered stairway that reaches to the cab from the observation deck appears to have ground to a halt this week.

With the snow storm which arrived late Wednesday night and continued throughout the day on Thursday, all this is understandable. It is obvious that the road has been plowed and that vehicles have been moving inside the gate, but visual evidence of progress is certainly lacking.

Lets take a walk around the site ... before my camera freezes or its batteries run dry!

Overview of the Site


Twin Towers in the Afternoon Sunshine

Tower 1/14/12
From Last week we saw this view ... below

Tower 1/7/12
As I examine the two pictures, it does not appear as if anything significant has been added from last Saturday.

Old Glory Laying Straight in the Wind

The Cold NE Corner



The Sunbathed Western Wall
As my sojourns to the summit generally take place in the early hours of the day near the time of sunrise, I seldom get to see the western and the southern sides of the site in the sunlight.  But today, while the sunshine provides an inner warmth as it comes down upon us, the cold air and the blustery winds tell us otherwise.

South-side

SE Corner
Cold and Icy Eastern Facade
One other element of the project remains a question - the hand rails that will run along the outside of the ramp and the observation platform.  Nothing in site yet; nothing even on the ground.

And we took a look over the north slope; yes, the skiers are out in full force.  Not a good day for construction, but a beautiful day to ski, as long as you keep your cheeks warm!

Skiing on Natural Snow ... Finally
Snowy Road Home
Are we finished for the "season?"  We'll see in the weeks to come.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

1/07/12 - Stairway Almost Complete

The man I meet with is often not so instructive as the silence he breaks.  This stillness, solitude, wildness of nature is a kind of thorough-wort, or boneset, to my intellect.  This is what I go out to seek.  It is as if I always met in those places some grand, serene, immortal, infinitely encouraging, though invisible, companion, and walked with him." Henry David Thoreau - Journal, January 7, 1857

Another Saturday to climb the summit to see what enhancements have taken place since my last visit.  The weather today is unseasonably warm (mid-40s) with only a slight winter breeze.  The sky is clear and a beautiful sunrise awaited early risers.

Well, certainly the only thing the construction crew has been working on of late is the stairs to the cab.  And what a nice surprise greeted me as I made my approach to the summit.  Two ladders are complete ... as best I can tell, although the white wrapping tape remains on the railings for now.  


The workers arrived at just before 8am so with , they have yet another opportunity to move this project along.  Today I do notice that they have not one, not two, but three lift vehicles available to support their efforts.
Towers at Sunrise
 View from the East looking West.


Closer View of Tower with Stairways

Middle Stairway - Detail
The tape is still bound around the railings, but it is now easy to see the final product.  The triangular landings lead to and from the ladders.


And just so we don't forget what the old tower had for stairs to reach to cab, this is what we have.  More risers, rectangular landings ... but more of them!
 
The Old Tower - Stairway Detail
And the standby shots that I usually take.


NE Corner with Old Glory
Sunrise Off the Corner of the NE Facade

NE Corner
Even with a warm day or two, I am guessing that this stone work will have to wait til Springtime.  And besides, without the railings for the ramp, Mick [stone mason], couldn't finish it all anyway.  By the time the railings show up, it definitely will be too cold for stonework!

North Facade
West Facad
Well, the new tower is starting to look like an old friend.

 


And just so you don't think winter is not here, a peek over the north side shows us that, indeed, there is skiing on Mt. Wachusett ... man-made, but still good.  Some of us still await natural snow so we can get the snow shoes out!






 Time to head home.

From Up-summit Road
New Parking Lot ... in January!
Til next week.  ... wonder when the railings for the observation deck will show up?