What wind???

Just a note to share a short video of me walking along and fighting 40-50 mile per hour wind gusts. The jerky motion is me being hit by gusts and trying to remain upright.

The desert in spring can be quite blustery....

I'm back!

it has been an adventure for sure. tales of wind, water worries, interesting people and plans needing adaptation. it started with this...

and ended with this...

a broken pinky finger on my left hand and the trip, as planned, done for. i will be putting together a series of my edited journal pages with photos but it will have to wait till i have the use of both hands. one finger typing won't cut it. it will be another week (or three) until i am back to the use of both hands but i shall return!

I'm off!

I leave tomorrow morning for a 14 day backpacking trip. I'm at my Mother's place in SoCal and have no access to my computer to post photos so you all will just have to imagine. Be prepared for tons of photos upon my return to regular life on May 1st!

Hike on!

Amost ready...

OK, I leave for L.A. in two days. I am frantically making lists, checking things off the list and remembering more to put on the list. I have decided on my ULA P-1 pack for this trip as it will hold 6+ liters of water better than my home made pack. Unfortunately it weighs just shy of 2 pounds whereas my homemade one weighs in at 11 ounces. I just don't think the lighter one will handle the weight of water, food for 5 days and gear. At this point it looks like the weather down in that part of the world is hovering at mid-60's during the day with mid-30's at night. That would be f not c.

Well, here's the pack. I am guessing it will weigh in at about 13 pounds, without food and water. More than I'd like but still not too bad.

I haven't talked about this here but I've been struggling with low back pain and have had some physical therapy over the last couple of months to try and fix the problems I am having. I am trying to correct decades of posture problems and while I can't say I am 100% cured, I hope to be able to hike my miles without too much difficulty. This is of course, the biggest reason to keep my pack weight as low as possible and I have done my best and still be prepared for most scenarios.

In this photo you see a joke gift I picked up for myself over the Xmas holidays. Hand warmers made in the style of men's underwear. They are called, wait...
handerpants. I love them and will be wearing them on this trip as sun mitts. The desert is sunny, even when it isn't always hot, so these will protect the back of my hands from sunburn and will make me laugh all day long... simple pleasures.

I don't think they will be white when I return.

Evening

The Grandest of all Canyons... also known as the Big Ditch. I love it there. Devoid of mechanical sounds, with only the sound of living critters to interrupt the rushing of water, lots of water, more water than you can imagine. If I had shit-loads of money I'd take a trip every year... it is that cool, really.

If you ever get a chance.........

New Photo App

Whoooeee. I am sure having fun with the new app for my Mac. It is called VintageScene and is really easy to use. Folks who have more talent with Photoshop and other professional software will probably see the deficits of these images but what the hey! I like playing with images I have taken on my travels.

Ravens - Grand Canyon Raft Trip 2009

Pinecone, Tahoe Rim Trail  2010

El  Rito, NM   2010     Sparky's wind toy

One could spend a lot of time on these kinds of experiments. Angela says it isn't wasted time, it's time well spent. I'll take her word for it.

Food for 5 days

It is that time of the year again. The dehydrator is humming along in the kitchen and I am making lists, one of my favorite things to do!  You see here most of the food I will be taking for the last section of my upcoming PCT hike, enough for 5 days. The only thing missing here are a few lunches (drying as I type), maps and my daily ration of gorp or gorp-like snacks.

I don't yet know what the food will weigh per day but I suspect it will be in the 1.5 pound range. It will be lighter than some years as I took the extra time to dehydrate all the tuna and chicken, rather than simply throwing single packets in, straight from the store. Young and strapping people can often eat 2-3 pounds of food per day but I couldn't possibly choke down that much food. There is a phenomena called "hikers hunger" which is supposed to hugely increase appetite but I've never been out longer than 3 weeks before so I have yet to experience  this.

Included in this re-supply is laundry soap, shampoo, TP, wet wipes (for dry camps) and some extra first aide supplies. I'll pick it up at Warner Springs Resort where I will spend the night in a bed, soak in hot springs and generally just laze about. I'll get here on day 10 so I'm really gonna need that shower!