Cigar Box Ukuleles

I've been looking a longer-term project to build with the kids, as they've really taken an interest in joining me in the shop these last few months. Guitar box ukuleles seemed like a perfect fit - easy to build, and very forgiving of mistakes. My nephew Ryan showed an interest in joining us too. We got started last weekend - there is still a lot to do on them, but for a first session it went pretty well.

Mt. Moosilauke

Mt. Moosilauke has always been on my list, and yesterday I finally got a chance to try it. Some friends from work and I took a day off of work and headed up to try it out. We got perfect weather, and somehow had the trail almost completely to ourselves - even though there were a couple dozens cars parked at the trailhead. The view from the top are amazing. A good chunk of the summit is all alpine meadow, so you get great views in every direction. At over 4800 feet, Mt. Moosilauke is the 10th highest mountain in the state. I wish the foliage had been a few weeks further along - as it was we could see only a little color. But still amazing, and definitely worth going back sometime.

Electric Ukulele – Part 5

I finished the wiring and assembly of the electric ukulele over the weekend. The first time I tried it I heard nothing - which was a letdown. Turns out I had a few minor problems with the wiring, and they were easy to fix. It sounds great! I've still got some adjustments to make to the action and the intonation, but she is essentially done! Came out looking real nice, if I do say so myself!

Mt. Major

I've been thinking about trying to get the kids out hiking mountains more often than just Black Cap once per summer. So I took them out to Mt. Major yesterday morning. This was also their first hike with their own backpacks, complete with their own water bladders. They did really well, and the view of Lake Winnipesaukee from the top was phenomenal. There were also a ton of dogs on the summit, and the kids had a blast petting them all. I love this picture - I told them to give me some "muscle poses" because of how tough they were to climb all the way up there. This is what they came up with.

Electric Ukulele – Part 4

I worked on the pickguard over the weekend. I decided to go with a Lexan pickguard, as the 'standard' pickguard material I had ordered was just too thin - mostly because I didn't really know what to order, and it's a small instrument - so I just went with the thinnest they had. But it turned out to be way too floppy. So I got some nice strong Lexan and cut it to shape. I was originally just going to back-paint it black and be done with it, but I got the idea to make a mask for it and give it a little more pizazz. I used a portion of the same pattern I put together for the relief-carved ukulele hanger (which I am still working on). I think it came out real nice, and should really hammer the point home that this thing is still a uke at heart - and not just a wannabe electric guitar.

Electric Ukulele – Part 3

Got the cavities routed in the electric ukulele body. I drilled out the bulk of the waste with a big Forstner bit, and then used my palm router to clean up the cavities and get them to final shape. Next up, the pickguard!

Stone Zoo

Lori took the kids to the Stone Zoo while I was away for the weekend hiking. She said it was fun for the kids - but we've been spoiled now by the world-class zoo in San Diego.

Carter Notch Hike

This past weekend I hiked in to the Carter Notch Hut with my dad, brother-in-law, and a friend. We hiked in along the Nineteen Mike Brook Trail - which is in fact a whole lot less than 19 miles along. It was a nice, chilly morning and we made it to the hut before noon. The photo to the left is right before the hut - it's a tiny pond right at the base of Wildcat A.

The hut was one of the nicer ones I've been to - there were two separate bunk houses, and each bunk house had separate bunk rooms - so we ended up with a bunk room all to ourselves. On the roof of our bunk house was a small deck that could be reached by a ladder, and we spent a lot of time up there admiring the views - that's Mike on the roof in the photo below.

After a break at the hut, we dropped off most of our gear and continued on to Carter Dome - which is actually the peak you can see in the photo of Mike, above. The climb up to Carter Dome was pretty crazy. It was very steep for the first half - almost ridiculously so. Unfortunately, Carter Dome was almost completely wooded on top. Keith and I continued on to Mt. Hight, where the views were amazing. Mt. Hight is bald on top, and we had 360 degree views of the whole area. The photo below is of Keith looking east from Mt. Hight.


Dinner at the hut was phenomenal - although I'd bet anything would taste amazing after hiking all day. They put together a whole turkey dinner, complete with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and dumplings. Fantastic! After dinner we sat on the front porch of our bunk house and chatted with a couple of AT through-hikers. One of them had a ukulele with him! The girl that was with him even started playing the first part of "First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes, which is the first song I learned on the uke. She seemed surprised when I recognized it.

Unfortunately, it started raining on us during our hike out on Sunday morning. Luckily it was only a steady drizzle and it never really opened up like it could have. It was nice to get home, though. Between Friday night at the condo and Saturday night at the hut, I probably didn't get more than 3 or 4 hours of sleep combined. I managed to squeeze in a nap once I got home Sunday afternoon, and it felt great. I'd really like to get in a few more good hikes this fall - I really love hiking in that nice cool fall air, especially now that all the bugs seem to be gone.