A Satisfied Beard

A summer's worth of growth, 77 days in fact, has culminated in the beard you see documented here. We finished our last week of work, completing our water bars and hiking at least three hours every day. My tent at Garland is packed up and it's time to say goodbye to the sheep after a great summer of trails and beards.
This is my beard at the summit of Old Blue, our last work site. The view wasn't spectacular, and it was cloudy, but a summit is a summit. The beard approved.


This is my beard after finishing my last waterbar. Not a sad moment.


This is my beard with Bear's beard. Bear and his wife Honey own the hiker hostel we stayed at the last three weeks of work. They were very happy to have us and spoiled us rotten. We had a lobster and steak feast our last night, which apparently means Bear breaks out his lobster hat.


This is my beard in front of The Cabin contemplating space travel and wondering why someone named Chuckles inspected my helmet. No, really. Chuckles.


This is the beard of the SUMMER, Rob. Rob is a true Maine-ah and lets his beard grow in any season, not just for summer fun. Rob likes rocking out to classic rock (he remembers every lyric), telling stories and jokes, is a Buddhist, and is heading west to California this fall. Rob has been my eccentric but extremely capable leader all summer and knows more about the woods than I could ever imagine.

Quotes of the week:
"One night in Bangkok..." - Dustin, quoting some random song neither of us really know. After he found out I lived in Thailand for a year he liked to say this any time something drug, alcohol, sexual, or crazy came up in our ramblings.

"So two old Maine-ahs are out in the woods and one asks the other if he wants some smart pills. The questioned Maine-ah responds that yes, sure, he'd take some pills that would make him smarter. So his friend gives him a handful of pellets and the old guy eats them. After a couple of minutes he says,'Well I don't feel any smarter', so his friend gives him another handful. He looks at the second handful of pellets and says, 'Hey, this is deer shit!' and his friend says, 'hey, you're getting smarter already.'" - an old Maine-ah joke Rob recently told us.

This week my beard is feeling:

transitional

Bearded Blues

After 72 days of growth my beard was actually referred to as full, not to mention wild. The summer is coming to an end, unfortunately, and there is only one week left of work on the trail. My beard spent its last weekend in Maine enjoying the outdoors, good friends, and a few beers. This past work week my beard hiked more and more every day as we finished work along the trail, making for more hiking than actual work.



This is my beard in front of a car containing license plates from all 50 states and all 10 provinces in Canada, mostly dating from the late 70s. This car was outside the Historical Society in Andover, Maine as part of Olde Home Days, a local festival near our work site. My beard wandered through the flea market and bought a new pack of 1988 Donruss baseball cards. Please note the Wisconsin plate prominently displayed in the front of the vehicle; it's a farm plate.


This is my beard being overshadowed by Henry David Thoreau's distinguished neck beard.

The guest beard this week is Chris. Chris is from Connecticut and is a team leader; team members have been listening to and following this beard all summer. Chris has taught ESL in South Korea, is biking from Maine to California soon after our work this summer is finished, and is going to Vietnam after that to do some hiking. Chris has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail, all 2000 odd miles of it. Chris also enjoys playing with dolls.

Quotes of the week:
"What ails you?" - Our crew says this daily, specifically when we do something stupid, and is most often aimed at our youngest member, Todd.

"Thanks for coming in today, we'll keep your application on file." - Our crew member Dustin, said whenever any of us do something that pleases or helps him.

"Your guys are breaking so many rules I don't even know where to start." - Startled and confused Park Ranger

This week my beard is feeling:

Melancholy

The Dog Days of Summer Beards

After 65 days of growth my beard, particularly in the neck region, is getting pretty scraggly and is slogging through the dog days of summer. Our crew has moved on to our last work site and we have only two weeks left. My beard was extremely spoiled last week and will continue to be, as our crew is staying at The Cabin, a quasi-operational hiker hostel. We have a shower, cable TV, a refrigerator, a microwave, and most importantly, beds. These are normal amenities for most people, very abnormal for my beard at this point in its life. This is my beard sitting in the doorway of a tepee we put up in the yard outside The Cabin. My beard was thoroughly impressed with the simple and subtle construction of a tepee.


This is my beard in action swinging a Polaski to chop up some roots, thus slowly killing the adjacent tree.


This is my beard at the overlook on our hike to and from our work site. Please note the sun and blue sky; my beard has been enjoying some nice consistent summer weather.


This is my beard laying on the perfect water bar. A water bar is a diagonal rock wall that diverts water from the trail and prevents erosion. Usually rocks, soil, roots, weather, and bugs work against the formation of anything this exquisite, making this particular creation worthy of my beard's admiration.


This is one of the guest beards of the week, Evan. Evan is from New York and enjoys long distance running, reading fine literature, drinking good beer, and getting buff. Evan is working for MCC for six months, unlike most of us three-monthers, and is hopefully working for the Peace Corps afterwards. Please note a beardless Nate in the kitchen admiring Evans beard; Nate shaves.
The second, but equally impressive, guest beard of the week is Mike. Mike is from Rhode Island and enjoys hardcore outdoor adventures, sheep, singing lewd rap songs, and rocking out. Mike does trim his beard, but we don't hold that against him.

Quotes of the week:

"Well I don't want to play with Abe Lincoln anyway." - A feisty local yokel at the basketball court we play at. My beard declined his attempts to join our 2 on 2 game, as well as his attempt to start a 4 on 4 game involving his girlfriend/wife and child. He was not wearing shoes and had to be dragged away by said girlfriend/wife.


"When it comes to fuckin' around, he don't." - Rob, talking about any of us at our most hardcore.


This week my beard is feeling:

Giddy

Mile High Beard Club

My beard has reached 58 days of growth, but there is no photographic evidence to confirm this. However, due to my procrastination and a lack of Internet strength here at the sheep farm I failed to display my beard after 51 days of growth. After hitting the half-century mark my beard hiked Katahdin, the highest Mountain in Maine and the beginning of the Appalachian Trail in Maine. Katahdin stands 5267 feet high, lacking the 13 essential feet to officially be called a Mountain by the powers that decide these things. There is a structure at the summit that makes up those 13 feet, which means my beard officially hiked a vertical mile.

This is my beard in front of a rock painting outside of Baxter Park. My beard has not encountered a bear in Maine, nor has anyone else, and hopefully it stays that way. It doesn't stop us from talking about bears eating people in tents on a weekly basis.


This is my beard at 7 am before hiking the mountain that you see in the background. My beard woke up at the unholy hour of 4:45 am to hike this beast.


This is my beard at the summit of Katahdin after four hours of hiking, with another three to go. Enough said.


This is my beard after playing some One-on-One basketball, and receiving an unfortunate head to the bridge of my nose. I defeated a beardless John Meyers, definitively proving that beards rule and non-beards drool.



These two pictures violate Rule #1 of the yet-to-be-written SummerofBeard Manifesto stating that all pictures must feature a close-up of a beard. However, it is my blog, and climbing trees and Rob to set up the tarp is one of my favorite work activities.


The guest beard this week is Allan. Allan is from Massachusettes and a Harvard man. Allan was a volunteer with us for four weeks, meaning he spent a month growing this beard and doing trailwork without getting our meager living allowance. Allan enjoys eating cereal, as you can see, writing, and playing the occasional game of basketball.


Quotes of the week:
"Man is born to die, his works are short-lived. Buildings crumble, monuments decay, wealth vanishes. But Katahdin in all its glory, forever shall remain the Mountain of the People of Maine." - Percival P. Baxter, Governor of Maine 1921-1924, for whom the State Park is named

"I don't get this whole lukewarm thing. Who is this guy Luke? And why is he so mediocre? And if he's so mediocre, how'd he get to be so famous?" - Rob

"Grip it, rip it, shred it, tear it, kill it. If not, then drivah (aka driver) - Rob, talking about anything requiring force, or anything at all really.

This week my beard is feeling:
One step closer to 30

Sunny Beard!

After 44 days of growth my beard saw the sun in Maine for the first time since it was four weeks old. I may be exaggerating, but Thursday and Friday were the first consecutive sunny days since May. Rejoice! After a short week of trail work my beard took to the paintball fields for the first time ever, with battle scars to prove it.

This is my beard in an admittedly staged photo opportunity with paintball paint all over my beard; I was not shot in the beard. And it's not really paint, apparently it's a non-toxic soap concoction.

This is my beard after three hours of paintball. Please note the third nipple.

This is my beard holding the king piece to a strange Norwegian lawn game called Kuub, which involves throwing wooden batons to knock over wooden blocks. My beard is consistently a winner at Kuub and is considering joining a professional Kuub league in Norway, if such a thing exists.

The guest beard of the week is one Michael Ferry. Michael is from Indiana, and went to school at Marquette, making our beards bitter sports rivals. Michael enjoys reading poetry, cooking, and trying to keep up with his fantasy baseball team while working in the middle of nowhere. Michael currently has a fancy trimmed beard because he recently had a goatee, a poor choice that he realized soon after growing it.

Quotes of the week:

"The word for this site will be deliberacy." - Rob, talking about our new work site, which is about as steep as it gets as. We are operating at a 2:1 ratio of rocks found to rocks lost rolling down the mountain taking out everything in their path. Note: deliberacy is not a word.

"'So I went to get into bed with my boots on and she asked me why I had my boots on, so I said, if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die with my boots on.'" - Rob retelling an anecdote his father told him about his sex-life.

"Seemingly inanimate objects are actually bristling with spite. Don't let them fool you." - Rob, discussing the tarp we use to cover our eating area, specifically how it always manages to dump excess rain water on our heads.

This week my beard is feeling:

Exulted

Small Beard, Big City

After 37 days of growth my beard took to New York City for a short dip back into the real world of computers, cellphones, and people.  There were mountains, yes, but mountains of buildings, and even bigger mountains of people on top of people.  My beard even overheard 47 different foreign language conversations in one day.  What follows is a small snapshot of my beard wandering through the masses.  

This is my beard in Brooklyn overlooking downtown Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.  

This is my beard outside of the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Columbus Circle.  It wasn't as impressive as you might think, Donald Trump being Donald Trump and all.  

This is my beard after watching the hilarious new Woody Allen comedy Whatever Works.  Larry David is at his finest in this new film, and my beard strongly recommends you see it.  Note:  Larry David may be larger than this movie poster suggests.

This is my beard at Belvedere Castle in Central Park.  The Castle doubles as a weather hub and birding hotspot.    

This is my beard, with sunglasses, in Central Park.

 
This is the guest beard of the week, my tentmate Aaron.  Aaron is from Ohio, enjoys gardening, learning about beekeeping, quoting any number of movies and songs, and both chewing on and baking with rhubarb. 

Quotes of the Week:

Guy on street in Brooklyn at 2 am:  "How you doing?"

Me:  "Ok."

Guy on street in Brooklyn at 2 am:  "Wanna buy a camera?"

"That'll work won't it.  You can do it can't you?" - My team leader Rob, every day, 7 times a day

"We'll put that in our pocket and save it for later." - Rob, discussing rocks that don't quite work

This week my beard is feeling:

Unusually Civilized

My beard, the first month

This is the crew I work with every week. From left Dustin, Kari, Emma, my beard, our Team Leader Rob, and Kristy. We are building stone stairs primarily, at four different locations on the Appalachian Trail in Maine. There are twenty of us in total that operate out of a base camp/commune/sheep farm. Yes, there are sheep. We all reconvene for dinner on Friday evenings, head out Saturday morning, and work until we return to camp on Wednesday.





This is my beard after 17 days in the State Park parking lot of one of our work sites before a three hour hike up to where we camp. It's looking a little fatigued in anticipation of the hike.




This is my beard while geo-chaching after 29 days of growth. We didn't find the geo cache, but I did get a nice tan/burn while waterfalling.



This is the guest beard of the week, Dustin. He is from Florida, enjoys rolling rocks, making Chewbacca noises, and is currently learning Japanese. Enjoy his beard while it lasts, he's shaving it next week. What a cop out.

Quotes of the Month:
"A sane trail worker is a dangerous thing."
"The horse who farts is sure to tire. The man who farts is the one to hire."

This week my beard is feeling:
Damp

I'm off from work by Wednesday afternoon and back on by Friday evening, so it's not always easy to get a post in, but I will try every week.