more gin blossoms
Friday, 12. January 2007, 23:19:24
My Faviort song
Friday, 12. January 2007, 02:45:20
Wanna buy a country?
Wednesday, 10. January 2007, 00:30:08
For sale: World's smallest country with sea view
By Paul Majendie
Tue Jan 9, 8:14 AM ET
For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports.
Apply to Prince Michael of Sealand if you want to run your own nation, even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the North Sea.
Built in World War Two as an anti-aircraft base to repel German bombers, the derelict platform was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there with his family.
He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of England and just outside Britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of Sealand.
The self-styled Prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins.
The family saw off an attempt by Britain's Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize Sealand by force.
Roy, 85, now lives in Spain and his son Michael told BBC Radio on Monday his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."
He suggested Sealand, which has eight rooms in each tower, could be a base for online gambling or offshore banking.
Asked to describe the delights of living on what he described as a cross between a house and a ship, the 54-year-old said: "The neighbors are very quiet. There is a good sea view."
By Paul Majendie
Tue Jan 9, 8:14 AM ET
For sale: the world's smallest country with its own flag, stamps, currency and passports.
Apply to Prince Michael of Sealand if you want to run your own nation, even if it is just a wartime fort perched on two concrete towers in the North Sea.
Built in World War Two as an anti-aircraft base to repel German bombers, the derelict platform was taken over 40 years ago by retired army major Paddy Roy Bates who went to live there with his family.
He declared the platform, perched seven miles off the east coast of England and just outside Britain's territorial waters, to be the principality of Sealand.
The self-styled Prince Roy adopted a flag, chose a national anthem and minted silver and gold coins.
The family saw off an attempt by Britain's Royal Navy to evict them and also an attempt in 1978 by a group of German and Dutch businessmen to seize Sealand by force.
Roy, 85, now lives in Spain and his son Michael told BBC Radio on Monday his family had been approached by estate agents with clients "who wanted a bit more than a bit of real estate, they wanted autonomy."
He suggested Sealand, which has eight rooms in each tower, could be a base for online gambling or offshore banking.
Asked to describe the delights of living on what he described as a cross between a house and a ship, the 54-year-old said: "The neighbors are very quiet. There is a good sea view."
Super Nintendo, Nintendo, and Genesis fans out there...
Wednesday, 31. May 2006, 20:21:59
Well you life just got a hole lot better. Well i hope so. Ahh super nintendo... well i guess i will get to the point. There's a website called vimm.net. It lets you download all of Super Nintendo, Nintendo, and Genesis for free.. But you can only download like 10 a day. Not so bad. And you have to download the emulators to play the game. Is it worth it. Heck yes. And kids in school?? Easy way to kill a study hall. And you can bring them in using jumpdrives. If you admin is a bitch like mine.
Well here's the site again
vimm.net
Well here's the site again
vimm.net
PCT Update #2
Wednesday, 24. May 2006, 14:30:38
Day 7: Warner Hot Springs to Chihuahua Valley Road - 17.5 Miles
I decided to leave Warner Hot Springs without my supplies around 2:30.
Steve's staying for a zero - not sure if I'll see him again. Corey
left around 10:30. Left instructions with the Post Office to forward my
box up to Big Bear City. The day was hot but the hike was along a
stream up into a canyon and was shaded. By the time I got up out of the
canyon onto the exposed mountain it was starting to cool off. I hiked
through a section that was burned a few years back, glad I was going
through during dusk otherwise would have been very hot. I passed Corey's
tent around 7:45, hiked a little further and setup for the night.
Day 8: Chihuahua Valley Road to Table Mountain - 19.4 Miles
Corey stopped by my tent just as I was getting up and chatted for a few
minutes before taking off. As I was cooking breakfast Lint stopped by
- turned out he camped on the saddle near Corey last night. We talked
for a few minutes, I finished breakfast, packed up and hit the trail.
Just as I was getting on the trail a new hiker I haven't met before
named Jim passed me. The priority for the morning was water. There's a
house .2 miles up the road that is suppose to have a water tank that
they let hikers take water from. As were approaching the house, there's a
radio blasting Christian music. Steve's backpack is leaning against
the water tank, which is empty. A note on the tank says to go down to
the house for water. Jim and I crawl through a hole in the barbed-wired
fence and head down to the house. We see Lint standing next to a gate
- he missed the hole in the fence and is trying to buzz the owner to
let him in - no answer. We tell him about the hole and then look for the
water. The yard is a junkyard full of weight lifting equipment and
other crap. I walk around the house looking for water. Jim finds a hose
and trys to milk some water from it. I find a porch and it's full of
one-gallon jugs of water and a rack full of beer - the cost, $1 for a
gallon of water, $2 for beer. I opt for water. Lint finds his way down
and grabs some water - Jim's still trying to milk the hose, gives up,
finds us and the water and grabs some. The whole scene is a little
creepy. I head back to the trail and notice a water cache obscured by
bushes - we could have avoided the whole creept situation if we would have
known.
The rest of the day was misserably hot without any shade. The
chapparel is starting to get ugly. About 10 miles from the road was a spring
with some shade and I took a three hour siesta waiting for the day to
cool. I hiked on a bit more and camped near the trail by myself.
Day 9: Table Mountain to Apache Spring - 22.4 Miles
There's a restaurant called Paradise Cafe that's on the Pines to Palms
Highway that is legendary among the hikers. My camp is about five
miles from the highway - I know I'll be to early for lunch but I'm thinking
breakfast. I get up early, pack up with out eating and head to the
highway. I get there in about 1 1/2 hours. As I approach the highway I
notice a cooler - trail magic - but my mind is on breakfast and I ignore
it. Right by the highway is a sign with the hours posted for the
Paradise Cafe - damn, they don't open until 11AM - back to the cooler to see
what's there. I grab a soda and then proceed to make oatmeal for
breakfast. As I start eating, Corey walks up - turned out I passed him
sometime yesterday when he was taking a siesta.
We start hiking together and enter the San Jacinto Wilderness - we're
finally leaving the chapparel and heading into the mountains. This is a
very beautiful area and we start gaining altitude quickly. Views are
fantastic, the trail is through granite. We camp that night in a saddle
above Palm Springs - the lights of the city way below us.
Day 10: Apache Springs to Idyllwild - 9.7 Miles
The plan is to do a short day into Idyllwild, our next resupply town.
The hike is again beautiful with steep climbs up. I see my second
rattlesnake since I started hiking - it slithered under a rock to quickly
to get a picture and rattled at me. It's definetly a "don't mess with
me" sound.
I meet a group of four women day hiking. The offer to give me a ride
to town and I accept. I eat lunch near the trail the heads down to the
parking lot and wait for them. Corey catches up just as the girls come
back and we all head down. The vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler and we all
can't fit, so the driver takes Corey and me into town and then goes back
to pick up the rest. Saves us a few miles of road walking. We eat,
shower and launder then spend the night in town at a campground.
Day 11: Idyllwild to Fuller Ridge Campground - 11.6 Miles
There's two ways to go through the San Jacintos, the PCT way which
bypasses the peak, which is the highest point in SoCal or over the peak. I
decide for the peak and Corey agrees. We hitch a ride back to the
trailhead and then begin the climb. We start getting into snow around 8000
feet, the summit is 10880 feet. The snow's not too bad and had been
tracked so it's not a difficult climb. We reach the summit which has
amazing views, though slightly obscured by smog. On a real clear day you
can see the Salton Sea to the east, and the Pacific to the west - we
see neither but can see straight down to the dessert floor 9000 feet
below us - were we will be tomorrow. We leave the summit and head back to
the were we dropped our packs - I'm faster than Corey, get back to the
packs, which is about .3 miles from the summit and mack lunch. I'm
eating lunch and thinking Corey should be back by now, he was right behind
me. After around 20 minutes, he's still not there. So I head back to
the summit looking for him, no sign. I yell for him, no answer. I
head back to the packs thinking he cam down another way - still not there,
I'm starting to get a little worried. Last year, an early season hiker
got lost in this area in the snow and was never found - not a place to
be lost. I grab my GPS, mark the location of our packs and head back
to the peak. Just as I'm getting near the peak, here comes Corey.
Turns out he followed the wrong set of tracks and headed off in the wrong
direction, scared the shit out of himself and had a hard time finding
his way back.
The rest of the day was uneventful with fantastice views.
Day 12: Fuller Ridge Campground to Mesa Wind Farm - 23.6 Miles
Cool, windy night on the ridge. Today we give up all the altitude we
gained and head back to the dessert. The first 15 miles is all
downhill, switchback after switchback - at some points you can almost touch the
next switchback - nice for those hiking uphill but for those going
downhill, really frustrating. Eventually I get off the mountain and hit
the dessert which is extremely hot. I run into Robert, the guy
supporting his girlfriend that gave Steve and I a ride back to the trail from
Julian last week. He gives me some water and offers to take me to a
hotel were they're staying the night. I decline. He also mentioned he
camped with Steve a couple days back - good to hear, but he's already at
least a day behind. I hit the dessert which is extremely hot and windy
- this is were the Mesa Wind Farm is and there's a reason - it's really
windy. It's tough crossing this section, there's not much of a trail
across the dessert - just 4x4 posts theat mark the direction.
Eventually I get to the 1-10 overpass, the first shade of the day. Underneath
the overpass is a cooler full of sodas, fruit and cookies. I grab my
share and settle down for a siesta. A short while later a couple by the
name of "The Mad Scientist" show up - they're heading south. They are
a husband and wife team working on their doctorates studing birds on
the PCT. A while later Corey shows up. I hang out under the bridge long
enough that I think I should change my trail name to Troll. They guy
who maintains the cooler shows up and we chat for a couple hours. His
wif, "Gottago" has thruhiked the PCT twice. He's a retired Hollywood
guy, together they fill the coolers twice a day. Around 5:00PM Corey and
I head back out. The winds die down a bit, we hike another hour or so
and camp near the edge of the wind farm - big mistake. It stays windy
all night and the noise from the turbines make sleep difficult.
Day 13: Mesa Wind Farm to Mission Creek Camp - 21.2 Miles
I'm moving a bit slow from lack of sleep (my tent blew down once last
night). The hike is through a pretty canyon, it's a bit overcast and
not as hot as it was yesterday. I cross the Whitewater creek and it's
flowing good enough and wide enough that I can bath in it, which I do.
The rest of the day is a long uphill climb through the Mission Creek.
There's not much of a trail herer since it gets washed out every spring
but if you pay attention you can follow it. Corey get's lost for about
an hour. About 15 miles into it, I run into a man, dressed rather
nicely, carrying a golf club. We don't say much but I think it's a little
strange. Five miles on when I'm setting up camp, I can't imagine what
or who the guy got on the trail - did I imagine him? Corey comes in
quite a bit later. I ask him if he saw the guy but he didn't but after
he got donw being lost he noticed another set of tracks heading south.
The night cools off quite a bit and I head to bed.
Day 14: Mission Creek Camp to Arrastre Camp - 20.9 Miles
Rained last night, cool, drizzly overcast in the morning. Met a
southbound section hiker named Max who camped near the top of the mountain
were it snowed a couple inches during the night. I eventually catch and
pass the "OFS" - "Old Farts Society" - a group of six old guys, some
section hikers some hopefull thruhikers - all nice guys (and they refer
to themselves as the OFS). We hit some snow, sleet, rain during the
hike. Eventually the day clears but never warms. We get to camp and it's
cold. I lay out all my gear to dry out, eventually set up camp and
turn in for the night.
Day 15: Arrastre Camp to Big Bear City - 9.8 Miles
It was cold last night - down to 28. What a contrast from a couple
days ago. Plan is to hike to the highway and hitch a ride inot Big Bear
City for the usual - shower, laundry, resupply. The fire department
here has hot showers and let's hikers hang out for the day - very cool.
So all is done (and my resupply package finally caught up with me) and
I'll head back to the trail this afternoon.
Rabbit
AT2004
PCT2006
I decided to leave Warner Hot Springs without my supplies around 2:30.
Steve's staying for a zero - not sure if I'll see him again. Corey
left around 10:30. Left instructions with the Post Office to forward my
box up to Big Bear City. The day was hot but the hike was along a
stream up into a canyon and was shaded. By the time I got up out of the
canyon onto the exposed mountain it was starting to cool off. I hiked
through a section that was burned a few years back, glad I was going
through during dusk otherwise would have been very hot. I passed Corey's
tent around 7:45, hiked a little further and setup for the night.
Day 8: Chihuahua Valley Road to Table Mountain - 19.4 Miles
Corey stopped by my tent just as I was getting up and chatted for a few
minutes before taking off. As I was cooking breakfast Lint stopped by
- turned out he camped on the saddle near Corey last night. We talked
for a few minutes, I finished breakfast, packed up and hit the trail.
Just as I was getting on the trail a new hiker I haven't met before
named Jim passed me. The priority for the morning was water. There's a
house .2 miles up the road that is suppose to have a water tank that
they let hikers take water from. As were approaching the house, there's a
radio blasting Christian music. Steve's backpack is leaning against
the water tank, which is empty. A note on the tank says to go down to
the house for water. Jim and I crawl through a hole in the barbed-wired
fence and head down to the house. We see Lint standing next to a gate
- he missed the hole in the fence and is trying to buzz the owner to
let him in - no answer. We tell him about the hole and then look for the
water. The yard is a junkyard full of weight lifting equipment and
other crap. I walk around the house looking for water. Jim finds a hose
and trys to milk some water from it. I find a porch and it's full of
one-gallon jugs of water and a rack full of beer - the cost, $1 for a
gallon of water, $2 for beer. I opt for water. Lint finds his way down
and grabs some water - Jim's still trying to milk the hose, gives up,
finds us and the water and grabs some. The whole scene is a little
creepy. I head back to the trail and notice a water cache obscured by
bushes - we could have avoided the whole creept situation if we would have
known.
The rest of the day was misserably hot without any shade. The
chapparel is starting to get ugly. About 10 miles from the road was a spring
with some shade and I took a three hour siesta waiting for the day to
cool. I hiked on a bit more and camped near the trail by myself.
Day 9: Table Mountain to Apache Spring - 22.4 Miles
There's a restaurant called Paradise Cafe that's on the Pines to Palms
Highway that is legendary among the hikers. My camp is about five
miles from the highway - I know I'll be to early for lunch but I'm thinking
breakfast. I get up early, pack up with out eating and head to the
highway. I get there in about 1 1/2 hours. As I approach the highway I
notice a cooler - trail magic - but my mind is on breakfast and I ignore
it. Right by the highway is a sign with the hours posted for the
Paradise Cafe - damn, they don't open until 11AM - back to the cooler to see
what's there. I grab a soda and then proceed to make oatmeal for
breakfast. As I start eating, Corey walks up - turned out I passed him
sometime yesterday when he was taking a siesta.
We start hiking together and enter the San Jacinto Wilderness - we're
finally leaving the chapparel and heading into the mountains. This is a
very beautiful area and we start gaining altitude quickly. Views are
fantastic, the trail is through granite. We camp that night in a saddle
above Palm Springs - the lights of the city way below us.
Day 10: Apache Springs to Idyllwild - 9.7 Miles
The plan is to do a short day into Idyllwild, our next resupply town.
The hike is again beautiful with steep climbs up. I see my second
rattlesnake since I started hiking - it slithered under a rock to quickly
to get a picture and rattled at me. It's definetly a "don't mess with
me" sound.
I meet a group of four women day hiking. The offer to give me a ride
to town and I accept. I eat lunch near the trail the heads down to the
parking lot and wait for them. Corey catches up just as the girls come
back and we all head down. The vehicle is a Jeep Wrangler and we all
can't fit, so the driver takes Corey and me into town and then goes back
to pick up the rest. Saves us a few miles of road walking. We eat,
shower and launder then spend the night in town at a campground.
Day 11: Idyllwild to Fuller Ridge Campground - 11.6 Miles
There's two ways to go through the San Jacintos, the PCT way which
bypasses the peak, which is the highest point in SoCal or over the peak. I
decide for the peak and Corey agrees. We hitch a ride back to the
trailhead and then begin the climb. We start getting into snow around 8000
feet, the summit is 10880 feet. The snow's not too bad and had been
tracked so it's not a difficult climb. We reach the summit which has
amazing views, though slightly obscured by smog. On a real clear day you
can see the Salton Sea to the east, and the Pacific to the west - we
see neither but can see straight down to the dessert floor 9000 feet
below us - were we will be tomorrow. We leave the summit and head back to
the were we dropped our packs - I'm faster than Corey, get back to the
packs, which is about .3 miles from the summit and mack lunch. I'm
eating lunch and thinking Corey should be back by now, he was right behind
me. After around 20 minutes, he's still not there. So I head back to
the summit looking for him, no sign. I yell for him, no answer. I
head back to the packs thinking he cam down another way - still not there,
I'm starting to get a little worried. Last year, an early season hiker
got lost in this area in the snow and was never found - not a place to
be lost. I grab my GPS, mark the location of our packs and head back
to the peak. Just as I'm getting near the peak, here comes Corey.
Turns out he followed the wrong set of tracks and headed off in the wrong
direction, scared the shit out of himself and had a hard time finding
his way back.
The rest of the day was uneventful with fantastice views.
Day 12: Fuller Ridge Campground to Mesa Wind Farm - 23.6 Miles
Cool, windy night on the ridge. Today we give up all the altitude we
gained and head back to the dessert. The first 15 miles is all
downhill, switchback after switchback - at some points you can almost touch the
next switchback - nice for those hiking uphill but for those going
downhill, really frustrating. Eventually I get off the mountain and hit
the dessert which is extremely hot. I run into Robert, the guy
supporting his girlfriend that gave Steve and I a ride back to the trail from
Julian last week. He gives me some water and offers to take me to a
hotel were they're staying the night. I decline. He also mentioned he
camped with Steve a couple days back - good to hear, but he's already at
least a day behind. I hit the dessert which is extremely hot and windy
- this is were the Mesa Wind Farm is and there's a reason - it's really
windy. It's tough crossing this section, there's not much of a trail
across the dessert - just 4x4 posts theat mark the direction.
Eventually I get to the 1-10 overpass, the first shade of the day. Underneath
the overpass is a cooler full of sodas, fruit and cookies. I grab my
share and settle down for a siesta. A short while later a couple by the
name of "The Mad Scientist" show up - they're heading south. They are
a husband and wife team working on their doctorates studing birds on
the PCT. A while later Corey shows up. I hang out under the bridge long
enough that I think I should change my trail name to Troll. They guy
who maintains the cooler shows up and we chat for a couple hours. His
wif, "Gottago" has thruhiked the PCT twice. He's a retired Hollywood
guy, together they fill the coolers twice a day. Around 5:00PM Corey and
I head back out. The winds die down a bit, we hike another hour or so
and camp near the edge of the wind farm - big mistake. It stays windy
all night and the noise from the turbines make sleep difficult.
Day 13: Mesa Wind Farm to Mission Creek Camp - 21.2 Miles
I'm moving a bit slow from lack of sleep (my tent blew down once last
night). The hike is through a pretty canyon, it's a bit overcast and
not as hot as it was yesterday. I cross the Whitewater creek and it's
flowing good enough and wide enough that I can bath in it, which I do.
The rest of the day is a long uphill climb through the Mission Creek.
There's not much of a trail herer since it gets washed out every spring
but if you pay attention you can follow it. Corey get's lost for about
an hour. About 15 miles into it, I run into a man, dressed rather
nicely, carrying a golf club. We don't say much but I think it's a little
strange. Five miles on when I'm setting up camp, I can't imagine what
or who the guy got on the trail - did I imagine him? Corey comes in
quite a bit later. I ask him if he saw the guy but he didn't but after
he got donw being lost he noticed another set of tracks heading south.
The night cools off quite a bit and I head to bed.
Day 14: Mission Creek Camp to Arrastre Camp - 20.9 Miles
Rained last night, cool, drizzly overcast in the morning. Met a
southbound section hiker named Max who camped near the top of the mountain
were it snowed a couple inches during the night. I eventually catch and
pass the "OFS" - "Old Farts Society" - a group of six old guys, some
section hikers some hopefull thruhikers - all nice guys (and they refer
to themselves as the OFS). We hit some snow, sleet, rain during the
hike. Eventually the day clears but never warms. We get to camp and it's
cold. I lay out all my gear to dry out, eventually set up camp and
turn in for the night.
Day 15: Arrastre Camp to Big Bear City - 9.8 Miles
It was cold last night - down to 28. What a contrast from a couple
days ago. Plan is to hike to the highway and hitch a ride inot Big Bear
City for the usual - shower, laundry, resupply. The fire department
here has hot showers and let's hikers hang out for the day - very cool.
So all is done (and my resupply package finally caught up with me) and
I'll head back to the trail this afternoon.
Rabbit
AT2004
PCT2006
PCT Update #1
Thursday, 18. May 2006, 23:44:42
Day 0: Rhinelander to San Diego:
My mom and I left the house with what we thought would be plenty of
time to get to the airport and relax a bit before my flight - TSA had
other ideas. Rhinelander airport does all baggage screening by hand,
usually a quick look through and off you go. Because I must ressemble a
terrorist they decided to be extra thorough with my backpack and tore into
it. They removed and swabbed every single item - and I mean every
item. They pulled my tent out of the stuff sack, every food item out of my
food bag, all my clothes - everything. At one point there were three of
these clowns and one supervisor going through my stuff. And when they
were done 30 minutes later, the tried to jam everything back in.
There's a bit of an art to packing my bag to get everything to fit and these
clowns are not artists. I'm not allowed to touch my bag after the
screeners take it and was pissed by how they were just shoving and jamming
to get things back in. I was sure none of it would arrive in San
Diego. By the time TSA was done they were already calling us to the gate.
Things did not improve on the flight to Minneapolis. I was the lucky
passanger on a full flight to sit directly in front of the kicking
toddler and screaming infant. At least it was a short flight.
Things improved in Minneapolis were I was able to score an aisle seat
at the front instead of the center seat at the rear I was reserved for.
Things went slightly down again at San Diego when the baggage carousel
broke down for our flight and we were delayed about 45 minutes. The
good news was that my backpack did arrive safely and in tact.
From there it was off to Bob Reiss's house. Bob is a Trail Angel on
the PCT. A Trail Angel is someone that helps out hikers without
expecting anything in return. Bob shuttles hikers from airports, train
stations, bus stations to his house, gives them a bed to sleep in, feeds them
in the morning and then takes them out to the start of the trail - and
then heads back to San Diego to his job as a high school math teacher
before repeating it all over again in the afternnoon. An incredbile
guy.
Already at Bob's house when I arrived were three other hikers: Mike
"Lion King", Corey "Knees"and Steve. Jennifer, a hiker from Virginia
arrived on Sunday and was visiting San Diego Zoo when I arrived. All but
Steve have hiked the AT. Starving, I ran down to get some Chinese food
for dinner. When I returned Bob was back from picking Jennifer up at
the zoo and it was decided to head out for Mexican food.
In order for Bob to get to school in time for class we need to leave
his house by 4:30AM so we all turn in early. I can't sleep so around
3:00AM I get up and sit in Bob's hot tub that overlooks San Diego until
it's time to get ready to go.
Day 1: Campo to Lake Morena - 20.6 Miles
We leave the house promptly at 4:30AM. Lion King wants to stop at
Jack-In-The-Box for some egg-sausage sandwiches, the rest of us are happy
with the breakfast Bob provides. By 5:30 we are in Campo at the start
of the trail. We all gather around the PCT monument located there for
some group shots. Jennifer needs to hit the Port-a-potty near the start
and takes off. I'll see here one more time and likely not again.
Jennifer is a 20-somthing, ultra-marathoner, Ironman competitor and beauty
queen contestant. She's all leg and built for speed. Steve is the next
one to take off. The rest of us hang out a bit longer taking some more
pictures and checking out the wall that prevents us from escaping to
Mexico. Around 6:00 Corey and I hit the trail. That's the last we see of
Lion King but we hear about him a few days later.
The trail starts easily enough heading downhill into Campo. Corey
stops to adjust his shoes, I head into town to sign the official register
at the post office. Leaving the post office I find Corey wandering the
streets - he got lost looking for the post office. I take off by
myself heading down the trail. The trail then begins a long climb up Hauser
Mountain. The day is already getting hot and I take plenty of breaks to
catch my breath and sip water. Not quite like the Porkies were I've
been doing my training. My stomach was also starting to pay me back for
how I assualted it the night before.
I catch Steve at the top of Hauser Mountain and we take a short water
break. Now I usually just drink from my hydration hose on my backpack
but at this break I took my pack off and grabbed the Powerade bottle I
use for water and keep in the side pocket. I also have a smaller
Powerade bottle I keep in my other pocket full of denatured alcohol for my
stove. So as not to get them confused, I keep all water on the right
side, everything else on the left. Well when I set my pack down I flipped
it around, reached down with my right hand thinking I was grabbing my
water bottle, opened it, took a big swig and just about threw up - wrong
bottle. Luckly I didn't swallow any but could not get the taste out of
my mouth the rest of the day. I can not imagine how desperate one must
be to drink denatures alcohol.
Steve and I took a lunch break in the only shady spot we saw that day
at the base of Hauser Mountain. Steve took off after a while and I
napped for another half hour before starting the final climb of the day in
full sun. Around 2:30 I pull into Lake Morena. Steve pulls in about
the same time. Jennifer has already been there for over an hour and
decides to hike on. Corey comes in a couple hours later and we setup camp.
Later that evening a Brit named Andy arrives and joins us. No sign of
Lion King.
Day 2: Lake Morena to Mt. Laguna - 22.4 Miles.
The day starts cool enough and the hiking is easy. This section unlike
the previous is well blazed with the PCT logo and it finally dawns on
me - I'm actually hiking the PCT. It doesn't take long before it gets
hot and there's very little shade. Today is mostly a long climb of 3000
feet. Steve and I hike together for most of the day. Steve is 55 from
Redwood City, CA and has been planning his hike of the PCT for three
years. He is the most prepared hiker I've ever met. He has a plan and
two contingency plans for every day of the PCT. He has his diet figured
out to the calorie taking into account weather and elevation. He knows
were every water source is and the average flow rate for any day of the
year. He has built all his own equipment including his backpack, tent
and sleeping bag out of state-of-the-art light-weight materials. He
has put in 1000 miles of training this winter and spring. Steve is
suffering. I don't have the heart to tell him I started planning less than
two months ago and did two training hikes.
After a final break, I push on to a campgound where I intended to spend
the night. Steve pulls in about a half hour later. We setup camp and
start cooking dinner. Out of nowhere a man starts yelling at us - "You
can't camp here, this campgound is closed". The most unfriendly person
I've met on a trail is kicking us out. He at least lets us finish our
dinner. Since Steve's camp consists of a ground cloth and quilt he
packs up quickly and agrees to check out the small town a mile a head for
options. I tear down my camp and head to town. Along the way I run
into Andy again and we meet Steve in town. Steve scores a hotel room that
the three os us split. No sign of Lion King or Corey.
Day3: Mt.Laguna to Chariot Canyon - 20.8 Miles
Andy decides he's carrying too much and wants to get rid of his stove
and fuel bottle. He's pretty sure it's an alcohol stove and offers me
his fuel. I'm thinking it's white gas - now there's two ways I could
test this - I could burn some or since I know what denatured alcohol
tastes like, I could taste it. I choose to burn some. It burns in a big
yellow ball and I pass on his offer. He needs to stick around until noon
so he could mail it off somewhere. Steve and I head out by 6:00.
The hiking is easy and before long we come close to a road with a camp
on the other side. We take a break andI walk across the street to see
is there's a soda machine. I meet a nice old man that gets a couple
sodas for me and shows me some pictures of the snow storm that came
through less than a month ago. It's really hard to imagine this area under
feet of snow.
We push on and the day continues to get hotter - there is no shelter
from the sun in this section. Around lunch time we come across a water
cache. A water cache is a collection of 1-gallon bottles of water that
Trail Angels carry up the trail for hikers. You should never count on a
cache but they're nice if you are running low. I knew this was a long
section without water and was already carrying 5 liters. Steve wants
his hike to be pure and refuses to use any cached water, I drink two cup
during lunch to annoy him. With the heat and lack of shade, lunch is
becoming difficult - not much appetite and hard to eat dry Nutella-Bagel
sandwiches. I force mine down with the help of the cached water.
Reaching to pick up a bag I'm stung by a single fire ant - I can not
believe such a small creature can cause that much pain.
Around 3:00 I reach the bottom of a long canyon that looks good to
camp. Steve comes in about half hour later. It's still to hot to setup
camp so we share a small spot of shade and watch a group of fire ants
attack a piece of bark. The ants are about one yard from where I intend to
picth my tent and I'm hoping they're strictly diurnal and not
nocturnal.
Later that evening, two hikers I've yet to meet pull in and camp next
us. Even later, Ryan and Tamara, two hikers we met earlier in the day
also setup camp. No sign of Lion King or Corey.
Day 4 -Chariot Canyon to Scissors Crossing - 13.8 Miles
Steve and I are up and on the trail by 6:00. It's dusk and already hot
and getting hotter - at least it's a short day. About four miles into
it there's a water tank used for fire fighting. It's full and we grab
some for breakfast. After breakfast we push off. Steve fades quickly,
the heat really affecting him. As hot and uncomfortable as it is, it's
a really beautiful section. With all spring snow and rain, the dessert
is in full bloom, the wildflowers are incredible. I arrive at a water
cache shortly before Scissors Crossing - the cache is empty but I have
plenty of water. My thermometer show 110 in the sun. I push on to the
crossing and get there around 11:30, find some shade along a small
creek which is still flowing and wait for Steve. Steve shows up a little
later and is really beat. We decide to hitch into Julian about 12 miles
away and spend the afternoon there. We get a ride that takes us right
to the door of the The Boars Head -a nice little airconditioned bar
that serves some pretty good food. We hang out there for a couple hours
re-hydrating and then find a park with some shade to kill the afternoon.
A bit later a guy named Robert comes up and starts talking to us -
turns out he's doing support for his girlfriend who's hiking the PCT and
offers to take us back to trail later that evening. He also brings news
of Lion King - his girlfriend (who's a day behind us) was hiking a
section a day earlier and came across two legs sticking out a small bush -
it was Lion King trying to find some shade. He was completely out of
water. She gave him some water and moved on. Steve and I then went and
got some dinner, met back up with Robert and headed back up the trail.
Just as we arrived back at the crossing, Corey showed up along with
Andy and Tamara and the two others that camped with us at Chariot Canyon.
The next section is a brutal 24 mile, waterless hike up the fully
exposed San Felipe Mountains. My plan was to get up by 4:00 and on the
trail by 5:00 to avoid as much sun as possible. Steve was up for that and
we headed to bead.
Day 4 - Scissors Crossing to Barrel Springs - 23.8 Miles.
Alarm went off at 4:00 and I layed around another 20 minutes. Finally
got up, made breakfast, packed up and was on the trail a few minutes
after 5:00. Since I was carrying 2 gallons of water my pack felt
extremely heavy. Steve was ready to go and took off quickly pulling away from
me. It was a really beautiful time to be out hiking, watching the sun
rise, all the blooming cactus and wild flowers. About an hour later I
caught and passed Steve who was having breakfast on the trail. Shortly
after that I was passed by another hiker I have never met. About three
hours into the hike I caught the other hiker, Odie, and took my first
break. Steve caught up to us and took his break, I headed on. Odie and
I continued to leapfrog each other until I took my lunch break six
hours into the hike. From there it was another three hour stretch to reach
Barrel Springs. Odie was already there along with an 18 year kid ,
Jarred, who hike the CDT last year. Steve rolled into camp an hour later
totally beat. Corey came in a few hours after that. Odie and Jarred
decided to hike on, the rest of us set up camp and turned in early.
Day 5 - Barrel Springs to Warner Hot Springs - 10.2 Miles.
Short easy day to were my resupply box is suppose to be. Since it's
Sunday and the post office is closed there's no hurry to get moving.
Corey and I take off around nine and gab the whole hike about the AT.
Corey is also from Wisconsin though down by Milwaukee. We decide to share
a room at the resort in Warner Springs. Corey yelps in his sleep. I'll
probably decline any future offers to share a room with him. Corey
cuts into town on the south side. I decide to hike the additional two
miles to the north side and come in that direction. We meet around noon,
grab the largest soda cup I could find and load up on Dr. Pepper. We
check in, share a load of laundry, shower up, stop at the Cantina for a
Guiness and rest of the afternoon on our front porch. The guys in the
adobe next to us is a blues guitarist/singer and a damn good one. I am
very content. Steve catches up with us later and we all head to dinner.
We stay up later than usual - 9:00PM - since the post office doesn't
open until 8:30.
Day 6 - Warner Hot Springs to ???
I'm up early after not a great night of sleep. Shower up and Corey and
I head for breakfast catching up with Odie along the way who camped
somewhere near by. Odie is from Seattle, WA and expects to finish his
hike in the middle of August, about five or six weeks before I expect to
finish. He's also talking about triple-crowning (hiking the AT,PCT and
CDT) in one calendar year. At 8:30 we all converge on the Post Office.
Everybody's resupply box is there but mine. There's still hope, at
10:30 another load is suppose to come in. I'm out of luck, mine's still
not there. I do run into a guy I met on the AT named Lint. He's also
from Wisconsin and has hiked the whole Ice Age Trail. We remembered
each other and swapped stories for a while. There's not much I need from
my box other than maps from Idyllwild to Big Bear City and I can get
copies from Steve. Everyone else has offered some food so I may just
push on - I'll decide after lunch.
RAbbit
AT 2004
Pct 2006
My mom and I left the house with what we thought would be plenty of
time to get to the airport and relax a bit before my flight - TSA had
other ideas. Rhinelander airport does all baggage screening by hand,
usually a quick look through and off you go. Because I must ressemble a
terrorist they decided to be extra thorough with my backpack and tore into
it. They removed and swabbed every single item - and I mean every
item. They pulled my tent out of the stuff sack, every food item out of my
food bag, all my clothes - everything. At one point there were three of
these clowns and one supervisor going through my stuff. And when they
were done 30 minutes later, the tried to jam everything back in.
There's a bit of an art to packing my bag to get everything to fit and these
clowns are not artists. I'm not allowed to touch my bag after the
screeners take it and was pissed by how they were just shoving and jamming
to get things back in. I was sure none of it would arrive in San
Diego. By the time TSA was done they were already calling us to the gate.
Things did not improve on the flight to Minneapolis. I was the lucky
passanger on a full flight to sit directly in front of the kicking
toddler and screaming infant. At least it was a short flight.
Things improved in Minneapolis were I was able to score an aisle seat
at the front instead of the center seat at the rear I was reserved for.
Things went slightly down again at San Diego when the baggage carousel
broke down for our flight and we were delayed about 45 minutes. The
good news was that my backpack did arrive safely and in tact.
From there it was off to Bob Reiss's house. Bob is a Trail Angel on
the PCT. A Trail Angel is someone that helps out hikers without
expecting anything in return. Bob shuttles hikers from airports, train
stations, bus stations to his house, gives them a bed to sleep in, feeds them
in the morning and then takes them out to the start of the trail - and
then heads back to San Diego to his job as a high school math teacher
before repeating it all over again in the afternnoon. An incredbile
guy.
Already at Bob's house when I arrived were three other hikers: Mike
"Lion King", Corey "Knees"and Steve. Jennifer, a hiker from Virginia
arrived on Sunday and was visiting San Diego Zoo when I arrived. All but
Steve have hiked the AT. Starving, I ran down to get some Chinese food
for dinner. When I returned Bob was back from picking Jennifer up at
the zoo and it was decided to head out for Mexican food.
In order for Bob to get to school in time for class we need to leave
his house by 4:30AM so we all turn in early. I can't sleep so around
3:00AM I get up and sit in Bob's hot tub that overlooks San Diego until
it's time to get ready to go.
Day 1: Campo to Lake Morena - 20.6 Miles
We leave the house promptly at 4:30AM. Lion King wants to stop at
Jack-In-The-Box for some egg-sausage sandwiches, the rest of us are happy
with the breakfast Bob provides. By 5:30 we are in Campo at the start
of the trail. We all gather around the PCT monument located there for
some group shots. Jennifer needs to hit the Port-a-potty near the start
and takes off. I'll see here one more time and likely not again.
Jennifer is a 20-somthing, ultra-marathoner, Ironman competitor and beauty
queen contestant. She's all leg and built for speed. Steve is the next
one to take off. The rest of us hang out a bit longer taking some more
pictures and checking out the wall that prevents us from escaping to
Mexico. Around 6:00 Corey and I hit the trail. That's the last we see of
Lion King but we hear about him a few days later.
The trail starts easily enough heading downhill into Campo. Corey
stops to adjust his shoes, I head into town to sign the official register
at the post office. Leaving the post office I find Corey wandering the
streets - he got lost looking for the post office. I take off by
myself heading down the trail. The trail then begins a long climb up Hauser
Mountain. The day is already getting hot and I take plenty of breaks to
catch my breath and sip water. Not quite like the Porkies were I've
been doing my training. My stomach was also starting to pay me back for
how I assualted it the night before.
I catch Steve at the top of Hauser Mountain and we take a short water
break. Now I usually just drink from my hydration hose on my backpack
but at this break I took my pack off and grabbed the Powerade bottle I
use for water and keep in the side pocket. I also have a smaller
Powerade bottle I keep in my other pocket full of denatured alcohol for my
stove. So as not to get them confused, I keep all water on the right
side, everything else on the left. Well when I set my pack down I flipped
it around, reached down with my right hand thinking I was grabbing my
water bottle, opened it, took a big swig and just about threw up - wrong
bottle. Luckly I didn't swallow any but could not get the taste out of
my mouth the rest of the day. I can not imagine how desperate one must
be to drink denatures alcohol.
Steve and I took a lunch break in the only shady spot we saw that day
at the base of Hauser Mountain. Steve took off after a while and I
napped for another half hour before starting the final climb of the day in
full sun. Around 2:30 I pull into Lake Morena. Steve pulls in about
the same time. Jennifer has already been there for over an hour and
decides to hike on. Corey comes in a couple hours later and we setup camp.
Later that evening a Brit named Andy arrives and joins us. No sign of
Lion King.
Day 2: Lake Morena to Mt. Laguna - 22.4 Miles.
The day starts cool enough and the hiking is easy. This section unlike
the previous is well blazed with the PCT logo and it finally dawns on
me - I'm actually hiking the PCT. It doesn't take long before it gets
hot and there's very little shade. Today is mostly a long climb of 3000
feet. Steve and I hike together for most of the day. Steve is 55 from
Redwood City, CA and has been planning his hike of the PCT for three
years. He is the most prepared hiker I've ever met. He has a plan and
two contingency plans for every day of the PCT. He has his diet figured
out to the calorie taking into account weather and elevation. He knows
were every water source is and the average flow rate for any day of the
year. He has built all his own equipment including his backpack, tent
and sleeping bag out of state-of-the-art light-weight materials. He
has put in 1000 miles of training this winter and spring. Steve is
suffering. I don't have the heart to tell him I started planning less than
two months ago and did two training hikes.
After a final break, I push on to a campgound where I intended to spend
the night. Steve pulls in about a half hour later. We setup camp and
start cooking dinner. Out of nowhere a man starts yelling at us - "You
can't camp here, this campgound is closed". The most unfriendly person
I've met on a trail is kicking us out. He at least lets us finish our
dinner. Since Steve's camp consists of a ground cloth and quilt he
packs up quickly and agrees to check out the small town a mile a head for
options. I tear down my camp and head to town. Along the way I run
into Andy again and we meet Steve in town. Steve scores a hotel room that
the three os us split. No sign of Lion King or Corey.
Day3: Mt.Laguna to Chariot Canyon - 20.8 Miles
Andy decides he's carrying too much and wants to get rid of his stove
and fuel bottle. He's pretty sure it's an alcohol stove and offers me
his fuel. I'm thinking it's white gas - now there's two ways I could
test this - I could burn some or since I know what denatured alcohol
tastes like, I could taste it. I choose to burn some. It burns in a big
yellow ball and I pass on his offer. He needs to stick around until noon
so he could mail it off somewhere. Steve and I head out by 6:00.
The hiking is easy and before long we come close to a road with a camp
on the other side. We take a break andI walk across the street to see
is there's a soda machine. I meet a nice old man that gets a couple
sodas for me and shows me some pictures of the snow storm that came
through less than a month ago. It's really hard to imagine this area under
feet of snow.
We push on and the day continues to get hotter - there is no shelter
from the sun in this section. Around lunch time we come across a water
cache. A water cache is a collection of 1-gallon bottles of water that
Trail Angels carry up the trail for hikers. You should never count on a
cache but they're nice if you are running low. I knew this was a long
section without water and was already carrying 5 liters. Steve wants
his hike to be pure and refuses to use any cached water, I drink two cup
during lunch to annoy him. With the heat and lack of shade, lunch is
becoming difficult - not much appetite and hard to eat dry Nutella-Bagel
sandwiches. I force mine down with the help of the cached water.
Reaching to pick up a bag I'm stung by a single fire ant - I can not
believe such a small creature can cause that much pain.
Around 3:00 I reach the bottom of a long canyon that looks good to
camp. Steve comes in about half hour later. It's still to hot to setup
camp so we share a small spot of shade and watch a group of fire ants
attack a piece of bark. The ants are about one yard from where I intend to
picth my tent and I'm hoping they're strictly diurnal and not
nocturnal.
Later that evening, two hikers I've yet to meet pull in and camp next
us. Even later, Ryan and Tamara, two hikers we met earlier in the day
also setup camp. No sign of Lion King or Corey.
Day 4 -Chariot Canyon to Scissors Crossing - 13.8 Miles
Steve and I are up and on the trail by 6:00. It's dusk and already hot
and getting hotter - at least it's a short day. About four miles into
it there's a water tank used for fire fighting. It's full and we grab
some for breakfast. After breakfast we push off. Steve fades quickly,
the heat really affecting him. As hot and uncomfortable as it is, it's
a really beautiful section. With all spring snow and rain, the dessert
is in full bloom, the wildflowers are incredible. I arrive at a water
cache shortly before Scissors Crossing - the cache is empty but I have
plenty of water. My thermometer show 110 in the sun. I push on to the
crossing and get there around 11:30, find some shade along a small
creek which is still flowing and wait for Steve. Steve shows up a little
later and is really beat. We decide to hitch into Julian about 12 miles
away and spend the afternoon there. We get a ride that takes us right
to the door of the The Boars Head -a nice little airconditioned bar
that serves some pretty good food. We hang out there for a couple hours
re-hydrating and then find a park with some shade to kill the afternoon.
A bit later a guy named Robert comes up and starts talking to us -
turns out he's doing support for his girlfriend who's hiking the PCT and
offers to take us back to trail later that evening. He also brings news
of Lion King - his girlfriend (who's a day behind us) was hiking a
section a day earlier and came across two legs sticking out a small bush -
it was Lion King trying to find some shade. He was completely out of
water. She gave him some water and moved on. Steve and I then went and
got some dinner, met back up with Robert and headed back up the trail.
Just as we arrived back at the crossing, Corey showed up along with
Andy and Tamara and the two others that camped with us at Chariot Canyon.
The next section is a brutal 24 mile, waterless hike up the fully
exposed San Felipe Mountains. My plan was to get up by 4:00 and on the
trail by 5:00 to avoid as much sun as possible. Steve was up for that and
we headed to bead.
Day 4 - Scissors Crossing to Barrel Springs - 23.8 Miles.
Alarm went off at 4:00 and I layed around another 20 minutes. Finally
got up, made breakfast, packed up and was on the trail a few minutes
after 5:00. Since I was carrying 2 gallons of water my pack felt
extremely heavy. Steve was ready to go and took off quickly pulling away from
me. It was a really beautiful time to be out hiking, watching the sun
rise, all the blooming cactus and wild flowers. About an hour later I
caught and passed Steve who was having breakfast on the trail. Shortly
after that I was passed by another hiker I have never met. About three
hours into the hike I caught the other hiker, Odie, and took my first
break. Steve caught up to us and took his break, I headed on. Odie and
I continued to leapfrog each other until I took my lunch break six
hours into the hike. From there it was another three hour stretch to reach
Barrel Springs. Odie was already there along with an 18 year kid ,
Jarred, who hike the CDT last year. Steve rolled into camp an hour later
totally beat. Corey came in a few hours after that. Odie and Jarred
decided to hike on, the rest of us set up camp and turned in early.
Day 5 - Barrel Springs to Warner Hot Springs - 10.2 Miles.
Short easy day to were my resupply box is suppose to be. Since it's
Sunday and the post office is closed there's no hurry to get moving.
Corey and I take off around nine and gab the whole hike about the AT.
Corey is also from Wisconsin though down by Milwaukee. We decide to share
a room at the resort in Warner Springs. Corey yelps in his sleep. I'll
probably decline any future offers to share a room with him. Corey
cuts into town on the south side. I decide to hike the additional two
miles to the north side and come in that direction. We meet around noon,
grab the largest soda cup I could find and load up on Dr. Pepper. We
check in, share a load of laundry, shower up, stop at the Cantina for a
Guiness and rest of the afternoon on our front porch. The guys in the
adobe next to us is a blues guitarist/singer and a damn good one. I am
very content. Steve catches up with us later and we all head to dinner.
We stay up later than usual - 9:00PM - since the post office doesn't
open until 8:30.
Day 6 - Warner Hot Springs to ???
I'm up early after not a great night of sleep. Shower up and Corey and
I head for breakfast catching up with Odie along the way who camped
somewhere near by. Odie is from Seattle, WA and expects to finish his
hike in the middle of August, about five or six weeks before I expect to
finish. He's also talking about triple-crowning (hiking the AT,PCT and
CDT) in one calendar year. At 8:30 we all converge on the Post Office.
Everybody's resupply box is there but mine. There's still hope, at
10:30 another load is suppose to come in. I'm out of luck, mine's still
not there. I do run into a guy I met on the AT named Lint. He's also
from Wisconsin and has hiked the whole Ice Age Trail. We remembered
each other and swapped stories for a while. There's not much I need from
my box other than maps from Idyllwild to Big Bear City and I can get
copies from Steve. Everyone else has offered some food so I may just
push on - I'll decide after lunch.
RAbbit
AT 2004
Pct 2006
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 October 2009December 2009
| ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
family trips
-
family trips..
2nd link Appalachian Trail Thru Hike: 2004
rock stations
-
kfog
good rock station!!!!!!
-
95.9 the river
rock station
-
rock it 107.9
rock station
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