ADK Gift

I think I may have picked something up while filtering water from the not-so crystal clear puddles and intermittent streams from the ADK peaks.

Sparing you the details, my stomach hasn't been quite right since the trip last weekend.

Unfortunately some good Gardot jazz can't completely make it go away.

- b

Ultimate frisbee in the parking lot while drunk, great way to sober up.

They should put that barley wine intravenously into my veins! Says Yoder

Work is Difficult

It's really difficult to focus at work after a weekend like that, so here's a quick rundown.

Mike and I left 4:15am Friday morning.

We hit the Mr. V trail from the Adirondack Loj by 11:30am. Hiked something like 8 miles (about a mile and a half was bushwhacking) to the Wolf Jaw lean-to.

Spent the night with some weird-o stoners from Vermont in the lean-to.

Asleep around 9pm

Hit the trail from the lean-to by 7am Saturday morning.

Climbed up and over:

• Upper Wolf Jaw (4185 ft)
  
• Armstrong (up the ladder with the dogs) (4400 ft)
• Gothic (down the cable with the dogs) (4736 ft)
• Saddleback (4515 ft)
• Basin (down the ladder with the dogs) (4827 ft)
  
• Little Haystack (4662 ft)
  
• Haystack (4960 ft) and down to Panther Gorge (beautiful gorge behind Mt. Marcy)
  

Arrived to the campsite in Panther Gorge around 6:30pm. Mike says we did about 5,100 ft of climbing in 7 miles. I think it was more like 5 miles. The book said it would be hard and backpackers weren't recommended to try the route we did. Usually at each peak there was someone to tell us how steep and difficult the next one was and to use great caution with our packs and dogs.

The dogs kicked ass. Pictures to follow. People should shut up when they see a couple of dirty/muddy backpackers and their dirty/muddy dogs.

It rained on us going down Haystack.

In bed by 8:30pm. It rained most the night and while we were packing up camp.

Had breakfast and headed out of Panther gorge around 8:30am.

Decided hiking over Mt. Marcy (5344 ft - tallest peak in NY state) was the shortest option to get back to the car. Made the windy/cloudy summit by 11am. Made the complete 9+ mile trip back to the car by 2:30pm

Home by 11:30pm

No rest for the weary.

- b

Seven 4k ft. ADK Peaks in a Day

Hurt like hell, but was a lot of fun.

More later.

- b

Tar & Chip My Ass

I realize road paving is expensive. I realize times are tough, and tar & chipping is considerably cheaper.

But what I can't figure out is why it needs to be done on a perfectly good road?

If it's the old "gotta spend money to get more money" crap, then spend it on something more suited for the community. Put in the multi-use trail you've been talking about for years. Buy more open space. Plant more trees. Just do something that's a benefit and doesn't require us to risk our lives driving on roads we have to drive on to go to work to make money to pay our fn taxes.

- b

Know the Rules

Backpacking/Hiking/Camping in the Eastern High Peaks of the Adirondacks.

- b

Hunters Bouldering Adventure

Last weekend Buddy, Christian (dude I just met), and I went bouldering at Hunters just south of State College, PA.

Buddy and I had both been there before, with different people at different times, but Christian had never been.

We finally got there about noon on Saturday and hit this first problem called the matt hill arete. I remember doing it the last time I was here.


Right next to the matt hill arete was this little slab problem we played on too. It only had three or four moves, but they required a lot of balance and core strength.

Christian was the only one with enough of both those qualities to get it.

After the little slab problem we bopped around a bit from one thing to the next. The number of potential problems is silly. You nearly only have to reach out and touch something you can climb.

Eventually we ended up on this pseudo overhung traverse to play on. I say pseudo because though it was an overhang, we were only traversing the vertical face above the overhung portion.

As we were finishing up, a storm rolled in, so we crawled in underneath with all our gear and Gretchen to wait out the storm.

When the storm let up enough to crawl out, we started heading home. Of course that would have been too easy. On our way out there was this problem (standard american accent I think) that looked dry and challenging, so stayed and played a little longer.

After struggling for an hour or so, none of us got it, so we headed back to Julian to get cleaned up and get some food.

Mike was nice enough to let us crash at his place for the weekend...

so we were nice enough to buy him dinner and beer at Otto's brew pub in State College.

Sunday morning we were up and back out at Hunter's for some more.

The overnight storms had passed and everything was dry again.

Buddy and Christian even gave up looking cool in shorts and wore their knickers on Sunday. Things is serious when y'all got your knickers on.

We climbed for five hours on Sunday.

Beers were definitely in order when we were through.

Already looking forward to and planning the next one.

- b

Long Live the Porch Pooper

I've mentioned this before, but I'm still amazed that whatever it is keeps coming around in the summer and hanging out on our front porch every night.

Imagine some varmint has taken such a liking to our porch to hang out there every night munching on some food and scanning the yard for enemies or buddies.

I'm really tempted to buy, borrow, or rent one of these

to get a picture of the little bugger. I'm sure it's probably some kind of field rat, but at least then we could give it some kind of rat-like name.

- b

For those that are Curious

Before we got new tires for the Prius and Jen was driving on near bald/race slick style tires, she was getting 50+ mpg.

After the new mongo traction I'll feel good when she's driving in the rain and snow tires, she's getting around 48mpg.

With a kayak and wind deflector-less rack on top on a 6 hour trip to and from WV, we got around 36mpg.

With just a wind deflector-less rack on top going back to forth to work, Jen was getting around 43mpg.

With the wind deflector attached to the rack and going back and forth to work, Jen was getting around 47mpg.

Interesting. I've always wondered what kind of performance advantage those wind deflectors added and disadvantage a plan rack created. Maybe I should throw a wind deflector on mine and see if I can get above 23mpg in the Subaru?

Hell. Maybe I could throw one of those wind deflectors on the little ninja 250 and try to get above 46mpg, though that would probably first require me to get a thule rack on the ninja.

- b

French Pedicure

Besides the ridiculousness of it all, I can't imagine getting a French Pedicure on my toes.

Neither my toes or my toenails are pretty enough for such artistry.

What's the point/desire in making ones toes/toenails more attractive or drawing attention to them anyway?

Though I might appreciate the aesthetic on some lower level, it's about as functional as braiding your nose hair.

- b

Phone Posts

You may have noticed I enabled this blog to receive text messages from my phone as blog posts.

I figured it could be fun to get short little thoughts as they were happening. Very twitterish, but what can I say.

Last night I tried two phone messages with pictures, but somehow they get lost in the blogesphere.

Luckily I still have the pictures.

The first was this lovely colorful storm cloud moving over the parking lot at work.

The second photo was of the seat of my motorcycle. I was lamenting how after a very long day at work riding a motorcycle with a wet seat wouldn't be fun.

Life's a wet motorcycle seat, then you dry.

- b

Work sucks. Like that's a surprise.

FYI. Bear canisters are required in the eastern high peaks region of the ADK. More info later.

Finally a Nice Ride

Keeping the adventures rolling, Jen and I made it out this morning for a paddle and ride. Finally I felt like I had a good one. I think it's been since February that I felt that way.

I had some fitness and even some skill. Not what I'd like, but I'll take it.

Gretchen was full of it. She ran off at least 4 or 5 times chasing all kinds of things - geese, squirrels, deer, a fawn, etc.

Some see that as a nature disturbance. I see it as evolution in training. She's not going to catch anything, but she's sure going to make them work to keep away.

The fawn was kind of funny. It waited till I was next to it (I didn't see it) before it took off. That gave it maybe a 10ft. lead over Gretchen. It was still faster bounding off through the woods. I think it frustrated her being nearly her size, yet faster. She started barking and yelping as if to say "Hey come back here! We could be friends!" The fawn was having none of it. Rejected, Gretchen got the point and came running back after me.

Keep in mind, I don't stop or slow down when she takes off. She has to run double-time to chase them and catch up with me again.

She should sleep well today.

- b

Climbing is Dangerous

Though the most visual, this is the least of my finger afflictions after climbing all weekend on sandstone at Hunters.

Great damn weekend. More pictures and comments to come.

It was the kind of weekend that makes work on Monday very boring.

- b

What's a Developer?

First they/we called ourselves software engineers.

Now they/we think we're artists.

WTF?

Just get the job done, done right and on time!

- b

New Format

You may have noticed some changes around here - a nice rainy weekend in WV will do that for you.

I've split some things up into categories. It's kind of like the menu I had at the top, but now it's more blog driven.

Hopefully more will get posted faster.

It's still in the preliminary stages, so don't go expecting the feeds to all work right away and the comments to not be cumbersome.

If you haven't seen the beginning of the changes, you can check it all out on our home page.

- b

Still Organic?

If I trap, torture and terminate all the squirrels that normally eat my pears before I can harvest them, would they still be organic?

- b

Light'm if you Got'm

Kind of reminds me of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam.

- b

Apologies to the Vegetarians

I had (only) a half rack of ribs for dinner last night.

Can't say I remember how good they were as I quickly fell into a food coma for the rest of the night shortly after eating them.

- b

Recipe for Celebration

Take some mortars

Build some platforms from which to launch them.

Get some cold beverages

Disregard West Virginia state law

And Voila!





- b

Groundhog Day

I realized today getting up and going to my job is a lot like Groundhog Day the movie.

But instead of getting up in a nice cozy bed somewhere in Punxsutawney trying to figure out what it is I'm going to do again today, I get up in the middle of a car crash.

Sometimes the car is on fire and I'm stuck.

Sometimes the car is on fire and there's people I need to get out.

Sometimes the car simply slid off the road and I need to catch a ride.

Sometimes someone dies and I'm to blame.

Sometimes I die.

On and on the various dreadful scenarios play out.

On and on I have to remind myself I got in this car and have a destination in mind.

Sometimes the car doesn't crash at all. Though not my final destination, I actually get somewhere.

Either way I must remind myself there's a final destination in mind.

- b