Outdoor Adventures of an Office Worker: Earl Uprichard at TEDxShelburneFalls
[Music] [Applause] welcome to Shel Falls for anyone from out of town Shelor FS has been my home for many many years and some people know me as actually the Earl of buckin which is a a title to nobility in my mind and the I'm here actually answer a question that I've been working on answering for myself for several years is um how to stay active as an office worker um back in 2006 I became an office worker and joined the local team of Human Service workers and the in 2012 oh I I started to answer that question for myself and I I said a a goal hiking in nature and my my goal was a really simple goal of a hiking 10 miles a week which I mean to some 10 miles is a lot but I I simply set that as a a goal I thought I could achieve every week and uh since 2012 I've hiked a minimum of 10 miles a week this this was a great adventure I had with a friend of mine in Buckland or I'm sorry in the brochures and this this is a part of the appalation trail and for those who aren't familiar with the appalation Trail the appalation trail starts in Georgia and goes through Maine and the the Appalachian Trail is a National Trail but what I really want to talk about today is not about the National Trails but about hiking locally U hiking in shelburn Falls or your own Community as someone who lives in Massachusetts we we have approximately UH 60 state parks and numerous other conservation areas so literally most people don't have to go more than five minutes from their house to take a walk in nature this this marks one of the most significant bridges on the Appalachian Trail uh this traverses over a river of cars a Jacob's Ladder bridge over the Mass Pike uh many people have passed by but it's an incredible experience just to walk over the Jacob's Ladder bridge and for anyone who happens to be in the Lee Becket area I encourage you to venture this way the bridge the bridge is near the trail head and it's actually a quick 2-mile hike to a really beautiful Lake uh this is one of my favorite sites in North Adams it's a bridge that marks the one of the northern most parts of the Appalachian Trail in Massachusetts and this is a uh my sense of P patriotism is about how uh getting outside and hiking at these Majestic places this this was a beautiful fall Day last year there and this this is Mount Greylock for those who aren don't know Mount Greylock Mount Greylock is the the tallest mountain in Massachusetts and from its lowest point I mean if you if you hike from the the North and you you jumped up in the air you'd have to jump a mile in the air before you got to the top and so this is an example of a incredible place you can hike like without having to go out of state or most people when they think of hiking they think of of the the whites or or the Andes they think you have have to take a a long trip but this is a quick drive from where we're standing and the this is actually one of the most accessible mountains because you can actually drive to the top so you can decide to hike two miles or 10 miles this another another example hiking with my friends and the one of the things I like about hiking with people different different levels is that we we Bas we Inspire each other and it it's really incredible to see people grow a lot a lot of people I I hik with a year ago only hiked two miles now they're comfortable hiking 5 miles and we all have our own limits and and we we work within our own limits and the the most important thing I'd like to leave people with today is about hiking locally and also about how teamw so the number one thing I'm sure people experienced when they've gone out with folks is that we often times will div into groups of the more athletic and the least athletic and and the biggest thing is a sense of teamwork so when we go out uh we hike together and we take breaks together and it's it's a matter of of of it's it's a matter of being in nature not not so much a matter of can we can we get to the top in 20 minutes and the that's the main reason I I've decided to do hiking as a way to stay in shape is it's am being in nature and discovering the some of the secret places in Massachusetts and this is example one time in the winter time we needed a bridge so I was making a bridge one stone at a time so to speak although I don't recommend anyone Building Bridges as you go hiking and W winter hiking is my new passion oddly enough I hike more in the winter time than the warm weather and the one of the things that enables us to hike in the winter time time is a tools like I have have here before you and and things like micros spikes uh micros spikes not only make it safer but give people the confidence to be willing to Brave the elements um this is an example of a a winter tanning we we all need to work on our Tan in the winter time this is also an incredible example uh this is a woolly bear and for lack of a better word it's a caterpillar but what's incredible to me is when there's a foot of snow in the ground there's still things like woolly bears in the woods that you you can happen upon now in February you would think all those things are are hibernating and this is obviously example of a very very cold winter day this this is one of the the coldest days in February of 20 2012 it was about 20° that day that's why no no short sleeves but the the hiking in the winter time is that that's always been my biggest challenge as far as stay staying in shape is you know we all get a little lethargic in the winter time so going for a quick one mile hike in the winter time or a two mile hike it just helps us to uh I keep the blood moving so to speak wa nothing like blue sky and this this is on top of Mount Greylock and then this is a site that most people will NE never see in person the difference between this picture and every other picture you've seen in Mount Greylock other than the snow on the ground is a if you look very closely at the the memorial of the tower the door is closed the door is closed in the winter time when the road is blocked so the this example with me and some of my other Intrepid friends we hiked to the top in the winter time it was a very arduous six mile hike to the top and when I when I use the word arduous I mean arduous normally I use the word like challenging but this was actually arduous uh near the top quite literally it was to our surprise as there was approximately 3 ft of snow near the top and I only know that because my legs are about 3T long ah the warm weather now this this is example of what I call a secret place and this this is actually in Southern New Hampshire and Hinsdale New Hampshire there this is the ruins of Madame Sheree Madame Sheree's Castle it's not really a castle but it makes a good story so if you're ever in Southern New Hampshire near Kean brur I'll look up Madame Sheree's Castle it's a quite quite an interesting place uh I like to call the stairways to Heaven because you can take the stairs up and they don't really go anywhere and this is a view from above above the ruins about a mile or so above above the ruins and another example of blue sky and that's that's also one of the reasons I hike is for Blue Sky it's a very therapeutic now this is a historic site this is the shelburn fire tower and it's one of the few stone fire Towers uh in Massachusetts and it was built in 1909 this is one of my favorite destinations and this is a one and a half miles from where we're standing and then this this is one of the secret treasures in Massachusetts for anyone who's seen it in person that they understand but this is a flower that I I picture being in some tropical rainforest uh this is the the pink lady slipper and it's a one of the reasons the the video we saw before my talk was so important is it's talking about the high Ledges and the high Ledges and this whole New England area is one of the few places to find the L slipper but I encourage people to venture up there and see if you can find the L slippers and what's also incredible oh the the pink lady slips are very rare but this this gold lest slipper is 10 times more rare and the this picture I took last year and they're just incredible to see in person they're much smaller in person and then this is the example of what I call Trail yoga I was actually attemp not attempting to stand in my head as it looks but I was try into a pose called The Crow pose but occasionally a number of those inre Adventures we do spontaneous Trail yoga usually not like a whole hour like a standard yoga class but usually 10 or 15 minutes breath of Joy the crow uh what whatever suits us and lastly oh th this is the the primary reason we hike is is for good sunsets so I just want to leave everyone with a message of Be Active stay active and enjoy beautiful sunsets thank you w