Author: Dave

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this is sabbatical


Today I had the day to myself; well, Keaton and I, that is. Let me tell you, today was “sabbatical.” My time alone with Keaton this morning embodied everything I fantasized about before leaving for this nine week vacation. I rose early and showered, prepared for the day, and bid farewell to Sharaun and our houseguests as they departed on a sightseeing trip to San Francisco. Keaton and I had made plans to go to the park, and I leisurely readied her diaper bag and stroller. After some sunscreen for her and I (a bright, overly-warm sunny day today in northern California), we set off on the mile-ish walk to the closest public park. I brought along my iPod for the trip, set on random, but kept the volume low enough to converse with Keaton along the way: “Truck!,” she’d say. “That’s right,” I’d reply, “That’s a truck!” “Plane!,” she’d exclaim. “You’re right,” I’d confirm, “That’s a plane you’re hearing.” It went on like this: “tree,” “rock,” “car,” and, eventually, “slide!”

I was the sole dad at the park, and we had walked right into a local “mom’s group” who had convened there for a “playdate.” This thing is quite common among the stay-at-homes, I’ve come to learn. At first, there was some hesitation, but soon the matrons accepted me into the fold – and we were all conversing as we watching the children play. We exchanges ages, talked about language development and diet, and fawned over the cuteness of our collective brood. It was fun, actually, and I could all of the sudden see myself perhaps enjoying being a stay-at-home Mr. Mom. Now, in reality I’m much to selfish for such a job – but it was fun to entertain the thought.

We stayed at the playground for an hour or so, sliding on slides, playing in sand, and running around in the mulch. It was on the walk back home, though, that things really began to sink in. Thinking to myself, I wondered: was it Thursday?, no, maybe… Wednesday? Ahhh… who cares anyway, look at that blue sky! Here I am, walking home from spending an hour at the park with my daughter, and I have nothing to do at all for the rest of the day. In fact, I can read my book, maybe write a little, but most of all lounge around on the couch listening to the “Deep Tracks” channel I love so much on XM. Whatever I want, that’s what I’m gonna do; Nothing, that’s what I have to do. Feed Keaton some chicken and broccoli and put her down for a nap. Man it’s a beautiful day… this truly is what sabbatical must be all about. I think it’s finally sunk in. And, friends, the real loveliness of this is that, as I sit here today, I’m not even to the halfway point. Still plenty of loafing to do.

Anyway, here are some images of our daddy/daughter trip to the park today. I took Ben’s advice and used a new kind of WordPress plugin, so the below images are kinda fancy-like (g’head, click on ’em and see for yourself). Not sure if I like it, lemme know if you have some feedback.

I actually think it’s pretty slick, no? Yeah, it took me about an hour to get WordPress 2.3 installed and fiddle with the new plugin. Anyway, it’s tough because it’s so sweet, but I don’t want to completely abandon my Coppermine gallery install – where all my pictures have traditionally lived up until this point. We’ll have to see how well I like this style before I decide to do any mass migration. Enough, nerd talk, yes?

I originally had another bunch of paragraphs after this one, all on a completely different topic – but decided to cut them out and use them later in the week. So, as of now, I’m officially ending this post. Peace out and I’ll holler at you later. Time to go read my book and perhaps catch a nap coincident with the baby.

See ya.

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smells like fall


Being back at home with nothing to do, I’ve taken to sitting around reading, occasionally doing a little “housework” here and there. I do believe, in this time of having absolutely nothing to do, that the true spirit of “sabbatical” is finally starting to set in. I’m still sorely disappointed about having to call off our hike midway – but I am glad we did it, as the weather did indeed prove out our fears: with close to a foot of snow in the Sierra high country over the weekend (check out this post’s accompanying image, which was the light snow already on my car when we went to pick it up last Thursday, at only 7,000ft). We would’ve been in a spot of trouble had we been caught in that, I suppose. Anyway, we’ve vowed to try again next year – and the disappointment is waning quickly the more I sit around and enjoy that do-nothingness joy that can make a man so content.

Even the weather is changing to suit my mood. Fall moving in right on cue with rain, clouds, and a dip in temperature here in Northern California. I’ve often said, here and elsewhere, that Fall is my absolute favorite time of year – and it’s still true now. It’s funny, but, because we have houseguests from out of state staying with us this week, Sharaun went out and bought some new plug-in air freshener things – the kind with the little reservoirs of scented oil. She had cleaned up and had them all plugged in and freshening when I first arrived home from our abbreviated mountain trek, and the whole house immediately struck me as smelling perfectly “Fallish.” I’m not sure what they’re called exactly, but they smell like some heady mix of cinnamon and other wintery spices – and the scent reminds me of holidays where all sorts of tasty treats are being cooked at once, filling the air with an awesome mixture of spices and smells. Between the new smell of our house, the grey skies and rain, and my abject loafing – it’s the best Fall kickoff I’ve had in years.

I’ve decided what I’m going to do with my gardenbox for winter. I had considered all sorts of winter crops, but, truth be told, I’d like to do something a little lower maintenance (the lazy gardener, I suppose). So, I decided that I’m going to take my homemade bread fantasy to the most basic level possible, and fill the box with red winter wheat. It’s supposed to be good for the soil during the off season, it’s about the right time to plant now, and it’s a hardier variety than spring wheat. My plan involves cultivating my miniature wheat field, harvesting, threshing, winnowing, and, finally, milling it into my own flour. After that, I’d like to have make a sourdough starter with it, and eventually turn it into a real, live, rising loaf of bread. I honestly think, if none of the hundreds of things that could go wrong do go wrong, it could be a really fun experience to get an idea of just how much effort used to go into making a loaf of bread – something I ultimately take for granted. Anyway, I ordered my “hard red” winter wheat seeds yesterday, and I plan to get them in the ground after I get back from Germany, early October. I have no illusions about it being easy, but I’ll let you know how it goes.

I leave next Saturday for Germany, and, while I do look forward to the trip, I also feel just a bit sad that I’ll be once more leaving Sharaun and Keaton. I did miss them both a lot on the hike, even though I was only gone for a mere five days.

Well then, until tomorrow. Have a good week at work 🙂

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25 miles down, fin


Well, if you haven’t heard by now – we had to cut our epic hike short. A mere two and a half days and twenty-five miles in, we called it quits.

Snow.

That’s what ultimately halted our progress. Not actual falling snow, just the threat of it. For the past few days on the trail, talk from fellow hikers (of which there were very few) was ominous and forboding: an unexpected and early snowstorm was moving into the high Sierras.

It was the same “rain on Thursday” we’d heard about earlier in the week, but it had now turned into something worse – at least from the mouths on the trail.

Worried, we continued on. We made great time on our second day, hitting all the planned stopping points and making it to our camp by about 4:30pm. Being our first ~12mi day, we both felt pretty good about our pace and strength, although, truth be told, we were both fairly well beat down as we rolled into camp.

We pitched tent at Upper Cathedral Lake and immediately jumped in to “bathe” before we lost the sun. After washing ourselves and our clothes, we ate a hasty dinner and climed into the tent to escape the growing cold.

Talk before bed was all about the storm. “What are we going to do?”. “How and when do we make the call?”. In short order we had decided that we were most definitely not prepared for snow, and we could not continue the hike if snow was coming. We didn’t have the right gear or clothes, and we’d soon be too deep in the high country to escape if caught by weather.

Before a fatigued sleep took us, it still a pale light outside, we agreed that, if there were more than a 50% chance of snow at our elevations, we’d have no choice but to call off the remainder of the trip. We’d confirm early Wednesday morning when we got to Toulumne Meadows, where we could get a more accurate forecast than the game of “telephone” that is trail communication.

We hit Toulumne Meadows earlier than expected, settling into a brisk pace on well-rested legs in the morning. Our first stop was the visitor center, where our fears were confirmed: Snow above 8,000ft forecasted Wednesday evening through Sunday. We’d already agreed that this confirmation would be the death knell for the trip, so it was done.

We hitched a ride down to the valley with a Japanese couple we’d met on the trail who we’re also high-tailing it away from the weather, and called for a ride from Anthony’s dad.

It was sad to have to leave, as we we’re both still feeling pretty good and confident. But, I am glad we got word of the storm when we did. Had we not got word at all, or had we got into the high country without warning, we could’ve been in serious trouble. In the end, I suppose it was good we found out when we did, while we still had an out.

And now we’re watching TV at Anthony’s folks’ place.

The hike is over. Sucks.

I’m ready to see my wife and daughter, anyway. Goodnight.

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6.9 miles down, 87.5 to go

Well, day one of our John Muir Trail hike went better than we could have hoped.

Although the lead-in to hitting the trail didn’t go at all as we’d planned, I won’t attempt to do the story justice by thumb-typing it here, let alone without a full pictorial accompaniment. Just know that it involved a bar, 2am four-wheeling, a huge pit of mud, a stuck truck, two frontend loaders (one which also got stuck), a tractor, a hefty amount of future body work, and, of course, a late start on Sunday’s drive-a-thon to park our exit car and get to Yosemite.

But, we made it after all. And, since you’re reading this now, you’ve likely figured out that we ended up having cell (and data, of course) conerage at our first camp location. As an aside, we met a fellow here at this same campsite who camped last night near wher we intend ro camp tomorrow (providing things go as well as they did today), and he said he had coverage there too. So, seems like I may be able write fairly often in these first few days.

As for trail-talk, today was all about ascent. Some 3,100 ft in only 6.9 miles. Both Anthony and I felt good along the trail, although I did sikn a bit near the very end. After that climb, I think I was just raft for some food and a lie-down (lay-down?). Either way, after getting some lunch n me I felt much better. Tomorrow we cover roughly the same vertical distance, but over nearly twice the mileage. The guy at camp who came down that way said the climb is fairly gradual and not overly-taxing. We’ll see about that.

We’ll get to have a fuure at camp tonight, the last place we’re permitted to do so for the remainder of the hike. Stinks, too, since we’ve heard from other hikers that nighttime temperatures in the higher altitudes are dipping into the low twenties. We’re a little concerned about that, and the fact that there’s supposedly a chance for rain on Thursday, but we’re not letting it bring us down.

Well, I suppose that’s all for now, gotta conserve BlackBerry battery. We’ll see what tomorrow holds for cell reception. Until then, sore-muscledly yours…

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John Muir Trail, a Half-Through Hike


It’s Saturday now as I write, early morning. I’m about to mow the lawn and fix a sprinkler before college football starts. I need to get this “housework” done today because Anthony and I are leaving for our week-long hike tonight. We’ll drive down to a nice staging point where we’ll stay the night with some friends. We’ll then hit the road early Sunday morning to drop a vehicle at our exit point, and get a ride up to Yosemite Valley. Then, after one night spent camping in the valley, we officially hit the trail Monday morning with the sunrise. Monday-to-Monday, seven days. I did decide, in the end, to take along my BlackBerry, and just leave it switched off. I do plan to use it in the evenings, however, as a way to capture some quick thoughts for the blog. If all goes well, you should see this post Monday morning, a post Wednesday, and something on Friday or Saturday.

But, in those dark days when I’ll be miles away from everything – you can come back here and track me using the table below. It’s not a “must” kind of table, but more of a guide. The schedule purposely leaves room for bettering (or worsening, I suppose) our mileage each day, which I figure will be wholly dependent on how we feel at the guesstimated end of each day below. Again, it’s not set in stone, but I’d say you should be able to use the timeline below to figure out where we are (plus or minus 5mi) on any given day. Heck, if you use an average hiking speed of 2mph, you can even check this table to guesstimate where exactly we might be along the trail. If you’re nuts, you can then plug in coordinates from this table and look at our terrain on Google Earth. Whatever you do with the data, though, here it is.

Day One – Monday, 9/17
Satellite image of intended campsite
Route Happy Isles Trailhead -> JMT/Half Dome Trail Junction
Day-Miles 6.9
Cum-Miles 6.9
Day-Ascent ~3,000 ft
Day-Descent 0 ft
Notes “Light” day to break in the legs and lungs; partial cell coverage; opportunity to extend
Day Two – Tuesday, 9/18
Satellite image of intended campsite
Route JMT/Half Dome Trail Junction -> Cathedral Pass
Day-Miles 12.1
Cum-Miles 19.0
Day-Ascent ~3,000 ft
Day-Descent ~400 ft
Notes N/A
Day Three – Wednesday, 9/19
Satellite image of intended campsite
Route Cathedral Pass -> JMT/Ireland Lake Trail Junction
Day-Miles 12.3
Cum-Miles 31.3
Day-Ascent ~3,000 ft
Day-Descent ~1000 ft
Notes Stopover at Tuolumne Meadows Post Office (25.9 mi cum) to pick up resupply package; possible partial cell coverage
Day Four – Thursday, 9/20
Satellite image of intended campsite
Route JMT/Ireland Lake Trail Junction -> Thousand Island Lake Camping Area
Day-Miles 13.8
Cum-Miles 45.1
Day-Ascent ~3,000 ft
Day-Descent ~2,000 ft
Notes Highest elevation reached on the hike, Donohue Pass at 11,056 ft
Day Five – Friday, 9/21
Satellite image of intended campsite
Route Thousand Island Lake Camping Area -> Johnson’s Meadow
Day-Miles 13.7
Cum-Miles 58.8
Day-Ascent ~1,800 ft
Day-Descent ~56 ft
Notes Possible partial cell coverage entering Mammoth area
Day Six – Saturday, 2/22
Satellite image of intended campsite
Route Johnson’s Meadow -> Deer Creek
Day-Miles 11.5
Cum-Miles 70.3
Day-Ascent ~2,000 ft
Day-Descent ~1,050 ft
Notes Pass through Devil’s Postpile & Red’s Meadow; hot thermal showers available; partial cell coverage in Mammoth area
Day Seven – Sunday, 9/23
Satellite image of intended campsite
Route Deer Creek -> JMT/Cascade Valley Trail Junction
Day-Miles 12.3
Cum-Miles 82.6
Day-Ascent ~2,050 ft
Day-Descent ~2,050 ft
Notes Heavy water-pack day, low availability on trail
Day Eight – Monday, 9/24
Satellite image of ferry pickup
Route JMT/Cascade Valley Trail Junction -> Edison Lake Ferry landing
Day-Miles 11.8
Cum-Miles 94.4
Day-Ascent ~1,850 ft
Day-Descent ~3,150 ft
Notes Catch ferry across Edison Lake at 4:45pm; shower and cell coverage at Vermilion Valley Resort; pickup car and head home

For food we based our meals on about 2000-2500 calories per day.

  • Breakfast consists of an assortment of flavors of those instant oatmeal packets (interestingly enough, the “weight control” kind, which has double the protein and fiber, but the same amount of calories) with dried berries mixed in (a mix of raisins, cranberries, and blueberries), a cup of hot mate/tea with honey, and a Cliff bar. We also bought a single dehydrated bacon and eggs meal, just to try it out one morning.
  • Lunch is one of two options, both served on tortilla: tuna (in the little packets, not the cans), or salami and cheese (both the “dry” Italian kind that don’t require refrigeration). For those wondering about condiments: we stopped by Kentucky Fried Chicken to fill our pockets full of “free” mustard, mayo, and honey packets.
  • Dinners are completely made up of those dehydrated “hiker meals” you can get from REI, and another Cliff bar. We bought and assortment of meals, so we’ll have something different to try each night. I don’t have high hopes for flavor, but the they should sustain. Like our rogue dehydrated breakfast, we bought one single dehydrated dessert, perhaps for some special night when we kick butt on the trail, or maybe when we’re calorie-starved and cant’ take it anymore.
  • For snacks we are bringing jerky, dried mango, and more Cliff bars, all calorie-big. We also have a small reserve of those nasty energy/protein “gel shots” we can suck on if we hit a serious sinking spell.
  • Liquids will be filtered water, supplementable with either powdered Propel or Gatorade for flavor (and yummy bonus electrolytes).

We bought and will carry about 10% more than what we thought we’d need in terms of daily calories, just in case. The entire eight days worth of food weighed right around 23lbs; I have no idea if this is a “good” weight for eight days of food or not. We mailed about two-thirds of the food ahead to the Tuolumne Meadows Post Office (13lbs and change worth) for a mid-hike resupply on our third day. We did do a “rough” volumetric check on our foodstuffs, because we do have to get it all (and our smells-like-food-to-bears toiletries) into two bear cans… but I’m still just a little leery that we can cram it all in. In the end, we’ll have the option of renting an additional “spillover” can, albeit at a pretty hefty weight/load tax – so we’re hoping not to have to. Here’s a picture of our entire spread before we unpackaged it all, separated it, and shipped the resupply package:

For gear, we’re both bringing only the essentials, in an effort to hike as unloaded as possible (although we realize there’s tons of room for improvement, we have the luxury of going “halvsies” on a lot of items we can pickup at the resupply point). I have a much more detailed by-weight breakdown of the gear in a spreadsheet (yes, I’m that nerdy), but you don’t need to see that here (maybe I’ll post a readable Google Spreadsheet when I get back, if I feel like it). For now, here’s a rough list of the gear we’ll be taking with us on our trek:

  • Clothing: Two short-sleeve shirts; one long-sleeve shirt; three pair underwear; two pair thin/short socks; two pair thick/tall socks; one pair convertible shorts/pants; regular tennis shoes for me, hiking boots for Anthony; a thin-but-warm jacket/fleece for cold nights; bandanas for headcoverings; and ponchos for the freak rainstorm. All of the “daily wear” items are the super-expensive lightweight synthetic/polypro breathable/wicking kind, purchased expressly so we can be fancy and feel like “real” hikers.
  • Gear: Backpacks; bear cans; sleeping bags and liners; tent; sleeping pads; camp pillows; water bladders and bottles; one bowl and universal spork/knife each; campstove; two white gas bottles; water filter; trekking poles; headlamps; and one large pot with lid.
  • Various Sundries: Sunblock (the cool and easy sprayable kind); bug spray; first-aid kit; handheld GPS (extra batteries mailed ahead to the resupply point); camera; sharp knife; magnesium flint/steel firestarter; spade (for latrine-digging); 50-count wet-wipes (“septic friendly” for faster biodegrade); cash (for incidentals when near civilization, and the ferry ride to the car); drugs (we have a veritable pharmacy, including Ibuprofen, Tylenol, Vicodin, Excedrin, Sudafed, Claritin, and, of course, multivitamins); sunglasses; cellphone/BlackBerry (for thumb-blogging at night and the occasional phone call when we can); paint filters (to strain out beasties from our no-filter electrolysis style water treatment); soap (a small bottle of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint-hemp, for showers and laundry); bungee cord (for attaching bulky bear cans to packs); and extra moleskin.
  • Total pack weight for first half of the hike: ~35lbs
  • Estimated pack weight after resupply: ~40lbs

Well, that’s about all the pre-hike information I’ve got for ya. As you can see, we did a fair amount of planning for this. I only wish we did as much training and conditioning. But, I think we can hack it. I plan to have tons of pictures to post when we return (still need to swing by Best Buy to pickup an extra camera battery), a lot of fancy GPS profiling data and imagery, and hopefully some good stories to tell. Wish us luck, and tune in here periodically through the week to look for some quick updates.

Until Tuesday next week, I’ll be on the trail.

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keaton gets the spirit


Today was our day at Disney, and let me just say that it was awesome. I haven’t been to the “Magic Kingdom” since graduating high school (it was our school-endorsed “sober” celebration), but have fond memories of the handful of times I’d been as a kid and young adult. Disney is a theme park done right: It’s clean, it runs like a well-oiled machine, and whatever you decide you may need or want never seems more than a short walk away.

The day was just about as hot as I believe physically possible. I was covered in a sheen of sweat from the moment we parked until the moment we un-parked, and, at times, the sweat poured off me in round droplets, plopping to the ground. My shirt clung moist to my back, and I sucked down water at each passing fountain. However, defying the many potential frustration factors: The stroller, the extra gear, and walking around in the ninth canto of Hell, we both actually sailed through the day with permanent smiles. We worked as a team, handing-off and taking turns and sharing, and the entire day was stress-free and enjoyable (a rarity for me, if you know how I can sometimes react to “doing things”).

Anyway, I got to thinking that I should really start learning to stomach walking around under the blazing sun – as I’ll be doing a week-solid of it come Monday when Anthony and I hit the Muir Trail.

Back to the story… Originally, I was unsure what, if any, enjoyment Keaton would be able to get out of the trip – still being a baby and all. Turns out, though, that she had a great time. Although we only stayed for little more than half the day, we were able to get on almost all my favorite rides. We hit Pirates, the Jungle Cruise, the Dumbo thing, Small World, and Peter Pan. Keaton absolutely loved It’s A Small World (yeah, I know it’s technically not supposed to be capitalized). In fact, her reaction was so awesome that I started tearing up watching her smile and clap and sing along nonsense words as she sat on my lap. She got a little scared on Pirates and the Dumbo ride, and seemed relatively indifferent on Peter Pan and the Jungle Cruise. By the end of the day, she was plum tuckered out – and wilted away into her stroller for our final walk down mainstreet to the monorail home.

Leaving, Sharaun said, “I feel like we had such a great ‘family day’ today, right?” And we did; it was awesome.

Tomorrow we fly home. I don’t look forward to the flight, but I am ready to get back to the homestead – even if briefly before the big hike.

Goodnight.

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powerless


Sitting here in a white t-shirt stained with barbecue sauce. No, not the country song – I really am sitting here with barbecue stains on my white t-shirt. See, we made another trip down to the beach today, and on the way back we stopped off to pick up some good old Southern style BBQ. I think my daily consumption of sugar must at least double while I’m here – these ‘rebs love their sweet stuff. Anyway, I plopped a dollop of the molasses-heavy sauce right on the undershirt. No big deal, as it is an under shirt, after all. But, it all feels quite “Florida,” really. Lounging around in some gymshorts and a stained t-shirt, drinking tea mixed to diabetes-inducing 1 cup sugar : 2 cup tea ratio. Ahh… Florida.

Keaton seemed to warm up to the beach today, her second visit of our time here. Last Tuesday she stayed rooted in place when we took off her shoes and set her down in the sand. She kept saying “durdur,” or “dirty,” while pointing down at her feet and refusing to move. She was also hesitant in the water, gripping tight to dad as each ankleslapping wave foamed past. But, today she seemed to come around. She happily tromped around in the sand, and even ventured out into the thin wash where the waves finally die. She had fun collecting shells and pointing at birds, and didn’t even seem to mind when dad piled wet sand around her feet. Kinda nice to have a beach so close.

The National show in Orlando last night was fantastic. The venue was small, the stage off-center and the standing area all asymmetric. This afforded one a pretty decent view from almost any spot in the house. The opening act, the Rosebuds, turned out to have a couple songs that I somehow recognized – and their set was outstanding. I allmusic’d them on my BlackBerry after they played and found that they’re a Merge act – figures. Anyway, Kyle ran into some chick he knows who works for Merge, and we ended up chatting to her a bit. On the edge of the “scene,” as it were – as she’s apparently buddy-buddy with the folk of the Arcade Fire. So, all in all, not a bad experience – and a darn good show. I trudged in the door at Sharaun’s folks’ place around 3am, washed the smoke off my face and out of my hair in the sink, and hit the sack. Too bad I couldn’t sleep in later than 8am – but I guess that’s what naps are for, right?

I wanted to write a bit about our experience going to the UF game on Saturday. Neither Sharaun nor I have been back to our alma mater to see a football game in seven years. So, we were both quite excited about perhaps reliving a bit of that college experience, and getting the chance to walk around the campus and reminisce. After walking what likely amounted to a few miles around the campus, checking out the old buildings to see how they’ve changed, we both agreed that, although it’s only been seven years, it almost feels so far removed that it’s as if it were in a different life when we were there. Those times are just so different from where we are now, with careers and family and a mortgage – that the memories seem almost unfamiliar. It was neat though, to walk around the campus again. To pick up a copy of the student newspaper and read it, to go visit my old study niche in the library, to walk through the student union.

And as for the game: It was great. Our seats were good, and the Gators won. The streets in town were even more choked with tailgating fans than I remember, especially for an lesser-known opponent – but I guess that’s what being NCAA champs will do to attendance. The atmosphere was perfect though, celebratory, drunken, and youthful. The in-stadium experience differed a bit, though. Sharaun thinks mainly because we sat on the more reserved “alumni” side of the house instead of in the more raucous student section. I think she’s partially right, but I also think it just has to do with the fact that we’re older. Back then, Saturday games were one of my single points of respite from the grind of homework and studying, and I looked forward to those days all week long. Somehow, swooping into town three hours before the game and then pulling up stakes again right afterward seems to lessen the gravity of what those three hours used to mean to me. But, over-analysis aside, we had an excellent time – and are both super glad we were able to go see a game after all this time.

Well, the power is out here in at the house, so I’m writing this in Word and waiting for the juice to come on before I can login and post. Until then, and then again until tomorrow – see ya.