Nick – Page 8 – Bone of Contention

Hello. My name is Nick…

February 8, 2013 by Nick

Hi Folks.

Disclaimer: Normally i write all my blogs in a separate word processing suite and edit them and ponder them and then post. Today, i am just gonna freeball it and we shall see how it goes.

I don’t like breaking promises or creating false hope, but sometimes that is how it goes. When last i wrote i expected to finish a serialized piece on relationships and self discovery as well as complete the John Muir Trail video. Neither of those things happened.

I went to do some dog-sitting with Mickey and Max and despite their loveliness I started to get very depressed again. A few days into my small-ish pity party, i got some bad news from my adopted hometown Richmond VA. One of my buds and mentors, the fellow i apprenticed with to learn how to lay tile, committed suicide by hanging. Yah, he hung himself.

I was shocked and confused and hurt and angry. I spent a day on the phone with various friends, making sure other out of town folks knew and sharing memories and feelings with others. Over a few days there was a huge outpouring of various kinds on the facebooks, and lots of it was crap. There were many people that had not said a kind word about this guy in a decade talking about what a tragedy it was and how awesome he was and how much he will be missed – and that really pissed me off. Later, as i looked back, maybe there were a few attention whores out there, but probably this was people trying to find their own way to deal with grief and shock and in many cases guilt.

This was a difficult human being. He was brilliant, a master craftsman, and a guy who could build or fix anything inanimate. But he was also not the most gifted at interpersonal relationships and communication. Like many tradesman i know, he was a recovering alcoholic and had lifelong battles with depression. Over the past few years, it was obvious that his mental health was deteriorating. He went on and off the wagon again a few times. He wrote more and more bizarre things on the internet, and was difficult to get ahold of in person. Sometimes i would try to visit him when i returned to Richmond, and other times i avoided him and spent time with people who are easier to get along with. I think lots of people had a similar arc in the past few years of doing a little bit of reaching out and a lot more of avoiding or ignoring him. And i believe that is where the feelings of guilt come in. I don’t feel responsible in any way, but i do wonder if i could have done anything to make a difference.

The anger is harder to comprehend. I am angry at him for giving up. I am angry at him for choosing hanging (though i don’t know that any method would be easier to tolerate). I am angry at the outpouring of what feels to me like fake false crap from “mourners”. I am angry at myself for feeling that way about other people’s reactions. I am angry at me for being angry. And i am angry because i am terrified – because of how similar we are in so many ways.

I have felt myself slipping mentally since December. I have taken a few minor steps to try and get a handle on things, but i made no serious commitment and took no decisive actions. I have even avoided several things that i know are good for me including finishing the piece i started months ago on relationships. I have had the backstory part finished for at least 5 weeks, i just got stuck on the conclusion – the “so what” – the “what have you learned” parts.

And off and on since December, i have not done very well with controlling my drinking. I ~~spent~~ wasted a few more days at the bottom of a bottle after hearing the news about my friend and then i realized that it was time to suck it up. I don’t know what all my problems are, and i don’t know how to fix all the ones that i do recognize, but there is one that affects all the others. I have not said these words in a long long time, but here ya go.

Hi, my name is Nick and i am an alcoholic. It has been 11 and a half days since my last drink and today i want to be sober and live more than i want to get drunk and hide. Thanks for letting me share.

Just a Quickie

January 10, 2013 by Nick

Howdy Folks. It has been a while. I have some stuff lined up for you, but some of it still needs a little polish. I had some good momentum going on with the writing and then things got a little weird for me just before Christmas. I got overwhelmed by a wave of unspeakable sadness and was stuck weeping and thinking many a negative thought.

I did manage to pull things back together and proceed with my holiday travel plans and visited with family and friends. Christmas with my sister, brother-in-law, his mom, and my three lovely nieces was splendid. We played some of our favorite games and a few new ones too. I also got to spread a little Christmas cheer with Mickey and Max and their bipeds!

New Years in Richmond was a blast as usual, though the sadness started trying to creep back in on January 1. I rode it out – not splendidly, but i did not get overwhelmed.

On a brief return to NoVA, i got to take the nieces out to visit an old friend’s farm to ride some horses as well as share some time with her family. This has been a wonderful reconnection largely facilitated by Facebook.

I felt a little rocky again once i got back to PA, but i have spent time focusing on what needs to be done and applied doses of “Fake it ’til you Make it” as needed and i think i have righted the ship again.

Vance and i have made some excellent progress on the business front, i have some consultations set up with another LYP member regarding RAI‘s technical evolution, and have a few social outings on the agenda as well. I am also nearing completion on the JMT movie project. I need to review it again, but i believe that all the visual content is set. Once i verify that, i will add in some voiceovers where appropriate and be ready to set up a mechanism for those interested to either download it or receive a DVD.

I used my Christmas present from my sister’s clan, an REI gift card, to replace my old backpacking pan with a new one that i like much better. It boils water faster, has a non-stick coating, and can actually nest a fuel canister.

Jake/Floyd and i got to talk on the phone several times over a couple of days as well as exchanging some emails and it was really great to get to spend some time with him again. We have not had much time to chat since we left CA in July.

The next few days should be pretty full with business research and presentation creation, but i expect to have some time to dedicate to personal projects (writing and the JMT video) in the second half of January. I had hoped to have the JMT video ready for Christmas, but hopefully it won’t drag on past the end of January.

I hope your holiday season was filled with at least as much cheer as mine and hopefully far less battling with demons.

Cheers!

Happy Tails

December 9, 2012 by Nick

Since my last post I have been busy with various caregiving activities. I was in NoVa to help some friends with a sick pooch. Some of you may remember Mickey and Max. Max had to have oral surgery. I went down to support my furry friends and their bipeds. On the day of the surgery, Mickey and I guarded the castle together while the others went to the healer. Max is doing fine and that turned into a very nice trip to catch up with 4 of my buddies.

The day I returned to PA, my grandpa went to the emergency room. He fell down in the night and hit his head. My dad said that Pappy seemed OK, but they wanted to get him checked out to make sure. I drove straight to the hospital and stayed with Pappy allowing Vance to have a break, get some food, and prepare for a longer stay.

Pappy cracked his C2 vertebrae. He was admitted and fitted with a neck brace. We setup a rotation and had someone from the family there in the room with Pappy 24 hours a day. After four days and three nights in the hospital, with several physical therapy and training sessions, he is being released this evening. His doctor thinks that the crack was minor as these things go and does not see any complications to a “clean heal”. Pappy will need to wear the brace for 6-8 weeks, but he should be fine long term, and he is not dealing with much pain or discomfort.

I cared for one of my local dog buddies the past two days as well. It was nice to do doggie care in my neighborhood again. And it was nice to have some one-on-one time with my pal Bruzer. He was a little too rowdy for Lucas so we did not do many long walks together. Bruzer has been diagnosed with his own canine ailment after a scare at Thanksgiving. On his new drug and diet regiment he is back to his old self, and we had a good time trekking through the rolling hills and fields.

This morning I celebrated one year in Lancaster Young Professionals with a repeat of last year’s volunteer effort doing same day registration for runners in the Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell Run. That is a fun event. I like getting to see all the runners who come in costume!

As you can see, it has been a little busy for Renfroe. Despite the somewhat hectic times, I have the first two sections of the Romance/Heartbreak story edited and am about half way done writing the third section. I have revised my original plan for the piece to avoid interesting but unnecessary sprawl and make myself get to and stick to the analysis and reflection portions of the project. I can tell you now that this has been a healing experience for me and despite how difficult it has been at times, I am so glad I decided to do it.

Intro to the Next Story with Spoilers!!

December 4, 2012 by Nick

Hi there. It feels like it has been awhile since my last post. A few things happened that have affected my intent to write and post more often. 1) I have been busy with work, which is a good thing. 2) I have actually done some social type stuff the past week. Granted, not a ton of stuff, but for a not terribly social guy, it was a lot. 3) I have been writing but the Dream Angie post got me writing what is turning out to be a not so simple or short story.

Spoiler Alert – I am going to give you the salient framework details right now. I think this won’t ruin the experience of reading the story, since the point is more about learning how to understand my reaction to these details, how to accept them, and to attempt to discover how this has affected me unconsciously so that I can hopefully overcome any lasting negative impact and maybe become a slightly better person, and because I will fill the story with Mesmerizing Excitement – Romance – Hapless Heroes – The Theatre! – Vivacious Maidens – and A Dragon! Ok, maybe no dragon.

Spoiler Begins – Two critical relationships in my life have followed this exact pattern. I found a fantastic friend that excited my inner core on more levels than I knew existed. We became very close. I met and loved each girl’s mother. We both started to think that the relationship could and should evolve past the realm of friendship. We decided to start dating. I was blissfully happy. And within 24 hours or so of the moment we decided to be more than friends, the girl ended the relationship and did not talk to me again for a long time. Spoiler ends.

That project is coming along and it feels pretty good. When I began, I was in a lot of pain and very confused and I wrote like the wind. I have a little more distance from the gooey emotional core now which helps with the editing and shaping but tends to blunt my creative production. I have not yet found a consistent method for tapping into the emotional forge for creation without getting a little loopy in the process.

I will carry on with this project. It has already been very helpful to me and I hope it will be at least interesting if not also helpful for you. I reached out to the lady in question for the first incident to tell her about the project, that I wanted to blog about it, and ask permission to use her name. She said that was fine and we have had some nice correspondence. Just that has helped more than I expected.

I don’t know about you guys, but I carry stuff around – forever. In the physical world, I can be brutally unsentimental. I do consistently purge the physical objects one accumulates in life. But inside, inside I keep far too much and I keep the wrong kinds of stuff. This may even have a correlation to my reluctance to experiment to much with the Memory Palace. While it is true that I am not a terribly visual dude, I know that the wing of bad memories inside of me looks like the last moment of Raiders of the Lost Ark, just a huge warehouse of full shelves, row after row of memories of bad and painful stuff.

I don’t get it. My life has not been bad. And I don’t want to give the wrong impression either. I am not your sad sack mopey Emo boy. There have been a few particularly difficult times where I let those dark and painful feelings overwhelm me, but mostly they do not. At least that is what I think.

So I am going to pull some specific bad and painful memories into the light and look at them and share them with you. Maybe if I can find a way to lessen the impact of these, it will help me to more successfully deal with the rest, and even learn to quit storing that crap in the first place. I say Dream Big!

* Note – I want to give a big shout out to my friend Karen. She has her own blog and is a continuous inspirational source to me. Her blog lives up to its name to the fullest, Uncomfortably Honest and Honestly Uncomfortable. When I started my blog, I longed to write with the clarity, intensity, level of self examination and revelation, and sheer truth that Karen does regularly. I am trying to move in that direction.

Warmth

November 26, 2012 by Nick

I am planning an overnight hike soon and it is pretty cold in Southeast PA. I decided to make my own sleeping bag liner to help me not die. A little research brought me to this article. I mentioned the project on the Facebook Page for Brian’s Backpacking Blog, and Brian asked me for some details, so I decided to write it up for him, his readers, and for all of you. I did follow the recommendation in the article and bought micro fleece.

Divergence from the method in the article:

1) My fabric was 58″ wide. I experimented before starting by folding the fabric in half and laying the resulting long rectangle on the floor. I laid my sleeping bag on top to get an idea of how much “extra” material there would be if I did not trim the foot end to more closely match the dimensions of my mummy bag. I also got inside the fabric to see how it felt. I folded the foot end a little and folded the open side a little to mimic space “lost” in the hemming/sewing phase. Everything seemed fine to me and I decided not to cut open the natural seam made by folding the material length-wise, nor did I cut the end section down to create that tapered look/reduce weight/increase the warmth factor by removing “dead space”.

2) I bought 7 feet of fabric instead of 2 meters. I was not sure what I would do at the top, but wanted to have enough fabric to mess about with a hood of some kind. And at 6 feet tall, I was not sure that 6 ½ linear feet of fabric would leave enough to cover my head once my body was involved, messing up that distance with its 3 dimensions and all.

3) I did not baste stitch the whole length of the fabric on the seam-side before installing the zipper. This seemed like extra work that would have to be undone, for little gain. I am sure they have their reasons, and I bet that their liners look much nicer than mine, but it worked just fine for me to only do the basting stitches for the exact area where the zipper would be installed.

4*) I am not sure if this is different or not. Perhaps because, while I can and do sew, I know very little about it or sewing-specific terminology. I was not very clear on what they were talking about with the “right side”. I could not tell if they meant the side with the pattern that they wanted to face out at the end, or the side that they wanted to have next to their skin when all was finished. I was building mine for comfort, so I determined which side I wanted next to my skin and did the project so that all the seams and the zipper fabric would be on the outside of the liner and I would have a smooth unobstructed liner inside against my skin.

My method:

I wanted to be able to close the top somehow and decided to install a little tunnel for a drawstring. Micro fleece is not the strongest material out there, so first I made about a ½ inch fold and ran a seam along the top edge of the material. Then I folded the same area again, about 1 inch this time and ran another seam. This is when I thanked the Lords of Kobol that I did not cut the opposite side lengthwise. It turns out micro fleece is really difficult to sew! You can do it – I did. But it is trickier than cotton/poly/blends or any other fabrics I have worked with in the past. It really wants to “wander”, bunch, or have the upper and lower sections pass through the machine at different rates. You can combat this by going slowly and careful hand placement/fabric feeding.

I laid the fabric out full length and folded in half on the floor again and measured 12 inches from the top and put in a straight pin to mark this as the upper terminus for the zipper. I set the zipper aside and put straight pins in every 4 inches or so until placing the final pin at the lower terminus of the zipper.

I used a basting stitch (the longest distance between stitches that one’s machine can make) to put in a temporary seam along the section I just pinned together corresponding to the length of the zipper. Consider your seam allowances and leave enough room to attach the zipper. Note – do not lock in this seam at either end with the customary reversal stitching, that just makes it harder to take these stitches out later. I did it out of habit and had extra seam ripping to do.

Butterfly open the new seam and pin one side of the zipper to one of the newly created “wings”. This is the most important moment to think about which side of the bag you want to be in and which side you want the zipper to be on – which way the zipper moves and whether or not you want to be able to operate the zipper pull tab from inside or outside of your bag liner. I bought a 42 inch coat/parka zipper that has a pull on each end so I could not mess that part up. It did take a little visualization to make sure that I would be able to access the zipper pull from inside the bag liner.

Remember to change your sewing machine settings from a basting stitch to a more normal setting. I went with something in the middle of the range offered by my machine. Sew the zipper side you just pinned. It was only tricky at the two ends where the bulge from the zipper pull fought against the sewing machine foot. I did (eventually) figure out how to move the zipper pull out the way, sew a little, then move the pull again. You do want to do the reversal lock stitch thingy at each end of the zipper seam.

Repeat the pinning and sewing for the other side of the zipper.

Lay the material out flat on the floor again and from the bottom of the zipper, throw some pins in the fabric down to the foot and then across the foot end and sew it up.

Completed liner, top pulled shut via drawstring

Feed a drawstring through the tunnel you made at the top. I used some 2 mm para cord and an extra spring clip I had in my extra gear bag. Turn it inside out and remove the basting stitches from the zipper area. Turn it inside in, pull down the zipper and get in that sucker to see how you did!

That is where I am at with it now. It turns out that the 12” allowance I made above the zipper provides plenty of space for ventilation, so I have planned a further adjustment. I am going to bust out my trusty seam ripper and undo all the stitching for the drawstring. Then I am going to lay down in the liner and determine if I will need to keep all 7 feet of material or if there is any room to trim further.

Then I am going to follow the same procedure used to create the original drawstring tunnel – but do it along the short section above the zipper (see photo) and pre-install the drawstring before stitching the top end closed. I will let you know how that works once I get around to it. For now, the liner works great as-is.

If you are really ounce conscious, you may think it is worth it to trim off as much unnecessary material as possible. That is a great idea. If you do not have much proficiency at the sewing machine, or in working with micro fleece, I would recommend that you try the whole procedure first with an easier material – like an old bed sheet – to work out all the kinks before moving to micro fleece.

Dream Angie

November 25, 2012 by Nick

I am driving through what seems like Texas and arrive at the hospital. Most of me has no idea why I have come here, but part of me seems to know where to go. I open an office door and am ushered into an examination room. A few moments later, the door opens and in walks my nurse, Angie. She was scanning my body and mouth with an odd high tech wand. All the while we were both full of smiles, pleasant talk, and beginning to exude that weird sparkly thing that we brought out in each other that felt so good and was often commented on by strangers when we walked the city together.

Angie departs and the Doc comes back to talk about results. This is the dentist and the news is expensive! They found many loose teeth which probably need to be removed. This would result in either more holes in my grill, which would lead to more loose teeth, or some kind of bridgework.

There was a long wait for the next doctor, who finally arrives silently staring at me. I wait, though I am growing very uncomfortable. The doctor begins to say some cryptic things about Angie, her journey to Texas, her attempts to put her past behind her and heal. I start to try to explain that I did not cause these hurts but the phone rings and the doctor says, “you should get that.” I pick up the phone and it is Angie and she is crying. She is really pissed at me and started to yell a little bit – not so much screaming as a raised voice rich with emotion. She was mad that I had come after her. She thought she had made a clean break from most elements of her old life, but I would not stop. Again, I was unable to get a word in to turn this from a string of accusations and declarations into a conversation. Angie blazed on, picking up steam. This single act, my discovering her location and pursuing her, this was just as bad as what happened the first time around.

Angie ran out, and then the dream got a bit weirder. I was suddenly driving a car with dad riding shotgun trying to navigate endless over and underpasses of generic large Texas city. I don’t know why my dad is with me. He wasn’t there before. I can tell that I am in the same dream time/space. The memories of the encounter with Angie are fresh and still I am numb, feeling too many things for any one to stand out and get noticed.

We are driving in traffic and through what seems like the same series of lefts and rights over and under highways. I find an exit I had not noticed before and got us setup in a warehouse district to sleep and let the traffic die down. I woke first and went to get the car. Once I got in the car, the same route I had just walked was suddenly full of workmen and forklifts and boxes. I drove in circles (the same circle actually) over and over looking for a break in the pattern. This was not a simple trip around the block, but in and out of buildings, around tight curves, and down a few short flights of stairs.

That dream cycle died out with no resolution, and still in the same dream time/space, I am suddenly walking in the middle of a race with very few rules. We are on the highway, but people are scaling the sides of the sheer grassy embankment to climb from the sunken highway up to the city proper and off towards whatever the objective here is. I am swept up in the tide to the grass wall and begin to climb. It is very difficult, made even more challenging when I realize that I cannot properly use my hands and feet because I am stuck inside the new sleeping bag liner I made earlier that day (back in real life). Despite the lack of mobility, I do scale the wall, and find myself right outside the hospital from the first portion of this dream.

Thankfully, this is when I wake up. It is 3 AM and I am sweating inside my bag liner inside my bag. After getting the bedding sorted out, I stayed awake for a long time just feeling odd. I did finally manage to get back to bed and either did not dream again, or by some miracle, just don’t remember what I dreamt.

It is amazing how long some things stay with you. It is amazing how things that you thought you had worked out, don’t always stay worked out. I have been talking with a friend who is handling some of his own troubling issues right now and for both of us one of the hardest things to recognize and grapple with is that so many problems do not have “one time” solutions. So many issues you can’t simply face and fix once. You have to keep looking at them and keep grappling with them and keeping fixing them over and over.

I will probably return to this issue for my own sanity if not for both your edification and to receive much needed perspective. But this is about the maximum length most readers desire for a single post, and I probably need to finish reading that book on blogs/social media and the law first as well. (I did change her name for this post…)

I hope you are all still glowing from good food and time spent with your families, genetic or ones made by choice.

The Conversation Desk

November 23, 2012 by Nick

The conversation desk is a tool I use to keep track of things in long and winding conversations. It is an extremely cutdown version of the Memory Palace. I did not learn about the Memory Palace from classical sources, but from Hannibal Lecter via Thomas Harris.

The concept of a memory palace is simple, though execution can be tough. In order to remember things, people, dates, contact information, whatever, you associate the memory with particular colors, sounds, smells, and locate that memory in a mental construct. The more detail you can add in, the better. Dr Lecter has a huge castle (several actually) based on real castles. Happy memories are in lighted rooms, or gardens. Sad or scary memories are in dungeons. Lonely memories are often in towers. Lecter is aided in searching his memory palace by all the objects along the way. The corridor to memory X passes painting D and one pads across carpet Z while smelling the fragrance of flower K in vase Y. Each of these sense triggers relate to their own memories, and at least for Lecter, blend together in such a way that it is natural to pass by these smaller/shorter memories on the way to more intricate/elaborate memories.

I am not a terribly visual guy, so I don’t know that an elaborate memory palace would work for me, but a desk, yeah, I can do that. My friends John and Zander and I collaborated to come up with the conversation desk and a few corollaries to it in 1992. Not surprisingly, one begins with the image of a desk in their mind. You can use any kind of desk. For most applications, I don’t have to get very fancy and use a version of the desk I am always building in the back of my mind: 2x4s and plywood with lag bolts, something like masonite to coat the top surface, and a variety of sizes – 4’x8’, 3’x8’, 4’x6’, and 3’x6’.

If circumstances demand, I use more detail, or imagine an actual desk I have used or owned in the past. But, given that this is a Conversation Desk and not a place for permanent storage and retrieval such as the memory palace, it is very rare that I have needed such added details.

The next tool you need is the Piton. You need not imagine an actual climbing piton. I never do. I used to envision a series of letter spikes. Since 2001, I envision what I do actually use as paper weights – different colored 2” sections of marble thresholds left over from many a tile job. Imagine whatever suits you, so long as it is specific. The object does not matter, but the name “piton” stuck due to how “piton” is implemented when using the conversation desk.

Ok, you have your desk and your pitons ready! You are all set for a long talk with a good friend or two. Maybe it has been awhile since you have seen one another and there is a lot to catch up on. Maybe you see each other all the time, but you are really creative, or passionate, or just can’t shut up. I fit most of those descriptions plus having the genetically mandated inability to tell short stories.

I have not seen John or Zander for many years, so I use the desk mostly with Jake now, but there are a few others friends that I have turned onto the conversation desk system who have found it useful. To explain how to use the desk, I will use Jake and I as the sample participants.

I have been at home writing and cooking and out shopping and walking and when Jake gets home from school, I have lots to tell him. Jake has taught 4 classes had office hours and 10,000 interruptions from thankless students and hapless faculty. He has a lot to talk about. He can see that I am ready to go and as he walks in the door he says, “Piton Dr W and blue shoes, go ahead.” This simple sentence has accomplished a few things.

I have pitoned Dr W and blue shoes on top of my conversation desk. I have imagined a little piece of paper, part of a slice of paper that I have used one side of and saved for note taking before recycling (detail helps). I have written “Dr W – blue shoes” on that piece of paper in my mind. I have placed that paper in the top left corner of my desk and put a piece of marble threshold paper weight on top of it. At this time, I have no idea what “Dr W and blue shoes” means, but it is on my desk, and if Jake forgets it for any reason, I should see it on my desk and remember to ask about it.
Jake has pitoned Dr W and blue shoes on top of his conversation desk. I don’t know what his desk looks like these days. But as the party initiating the piton, it is Jake’s job to clothe his piton in such a way that the rest of the memory will come fully to mind from the details assigned to the piton – Dr W and blue shoes.
Jake has informed me that he has a story to tell, but he is yielding the floor so that I may tell my story first, and he has thrown out a memory buoy so that each of us has a good chance to remember that Jake had a story to tell and provides a few clues as to what the story might be.

The last element involved is the “Real Quick”. The Real Quick is the most subjective and ethereal element of the conversation desk system. Implementing a Real Quick, and the ensuing battle for speaking primacy is similar to what happens when you are on a road trip with someone, you have both had tons of beverages over the past 300 miles, and you get to a rest area with a one person bathroom, and you have to decide who gets to go first. Sometimes it is simple, sometimes, not so much.

The rules for judging who gets to speak when a Real Quick has been issued are very loose. Evaluating such a thing is based on levels of intensity and less specific factors. Given that, even the Real Quick has some strictures.

A Real Quick should be exactly that – real quick.

In case of dueling Real Quicks, generally the fastest uttered “Real Quick” wins out. Not the one said first mind you, but the one said more quickly.

Real Quicks are not used to launch 5 minute speeches, highjack the conversation, or switch the topic by force. One could use a real quick to sneak in a piton – like so:

Jake: So, then Dr W was like, “Blue Shoes on the window? How did those get there.”

Nick: Real Quick, piton big boobs Safeway.

Jake: Cool. And I was like, “Why do you keep asking me? I don’t have blue shoes. I don’t know anyone with blue shoes. I didn’t take your candy or mess up your desk and I did not leave a pair of blue shoes in your office.

Nick: What a weirdo? Did he really think you took his candy? What the hell is happening over there?!

Jake: Oh, who cares, tell me about big boobs Safeway!

That is the conversation desk system my friends. Enjoy and use responsibly!

Pre-JMT Aftermath Potluck

November 18, 2012 by Nick

And you thought the JMT stories were finished just because we finished the JMT? Silly Rabbit. There will be a few tales from “Green Valley Days: three weeks at Casa de Luna” and a few brief tales about the epic-in-its-own-right cross-country adventure back to PA. For now, some odds and ends.

This post does contain homework for you all.

JMT Video: I have been working diligently on creating a movie about our JMT experience. All the pics are in it, all the video, and some other material as well. It is about 90% complete now. I am not sure how long it will take to polish the last 10%, but it will be before the winter holiday season. It *should* be available to download for the tech savvy, but I will also format it to play on DVDs in a regular old DVD player. So homework for you guys:

Send me a message, leave a comment, dispatch a carrier pigeon – let me know if you want to possess a copy of this movie and if you prefer download or DVD. This is not a contest and you won’t be judged. I don’t care if you don’t want to see the thing, but many have expressed interest.

Blog Posting Schedule: For a few nerdy reasons, I watch the “site stats” for my blog with interest searching for patterns. I have not found any patterns, but it is fun to look. If I am in internet silence for a month or more, my first one-three posts generally get 45-75 views each day. If I post once a day for two weeks or so, I generally get 3-10 views each day – and at that level, I pretty much know who you are. I will be doing more writing, more regularly, for the foreseeable future. For me, the primary joy is in the writing itself. I like sharing and love feedback and discussion, but I do not write in search of praise. So, I figured that I should ask you guys what you prefer? I got good feedback from the group of regular readers on issues related to the length of individual posts and when to break longer tales into chapters, and in that same spirit I ask you:

What would you like the “publication” schedule to be? Do you want one post a day? One post a week? Two or three times a week? Or, also important to learn, does your interest in reading here depend more on your schedule than on when new posts do or do not appear?

On the Horizon: We are about to delve into somewhat different topics here than have previously been explored. I have a few things cooking and am not sure which will be ready first, but there is going to be a series on politics in general, the efficacy or not of voting, a tiny bit about the recent elections and other related bits. It will be difficult to do that without touching on many issues, so a discussion of religion is coming to BOC. All of that material will have some philosophical elements, but there are a few other more technical bits of philosophy to be discussed as well with one of the primary aims being to un-technical-ize them.

For some lighter fare, I still owe a brief account of the Conversation Desk, pitons, and a close corollary, the “Real Quick”.

Consider completing your optional homework assignments and enjoy the day folks.

The Last Day – JMT Day 26 – June 26, 2012

November 11, 2012 by Nick

Guitar Lake – Summit Mt Whitney (14,505 ft!) – Whitney Portal – Casa De Luna!!!

11,480 – 8,330 (+ 3,455 / – 6,175) – 15.1 miles * Mt. Whitney!!

Free Maps Online – Day 26 – Map 2 and 1

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

I did wake up very early, but went back to bed until about 5 AM. I was moving about and making preparations before 6 AM. It was a beautiful morning, though quite cold. Jake got up soon after and actually hiked out of camp before me. The ascent to Trail Crest gave us our first real views of Guitar Lake, and while misshapen, it does strongly resemble a guitar when viewed from above.

The final ascent from Trail Crest to the summit of Mt Whitney was breathtaking in two ways – more astonishing views, and some scary bits of trail. There were a few tight corners, a few short, but thin ridge walks with nothing on either side but a long way down, and a beautiful, but sketchy snow field.

But we made it to the summit and spent about an hour and a half taking in the different views, getting some pictures, and making phone calls.

Back at our parting at Onion Valley, Joe told us, “when you get to the top of Whitney call me. It is about 4 hours from my house, but I will still beat you to Whitney Portal trailhead.” We did not know for sure if that was something Joe said in the emotional moment of our parting and that a few days back in civilization might change his perspective. We had the number of another great guy we met at VVR who said we could call him from Whitney and he should still be in the area and would drive us back to our car in Yosemite. It is also not usually difficult to get a hitch from Whitney to the nearby town of Lone Pine, and I had researched the bus routes back to Yosemite from there. But we hoped Joe would be able to come get us, so after lounging a bit, we called Joe.

He told us that we would probably not get down to Whitney Portal until 8 PM, and he would be there waiting for us, probably by 7:30. Now that we knew that we would not have to camp on Whitney, or hitch to Lone Pine, and we would get to see Joe and celebrate the conclusion of our journey with him, we were in high spirits and ready to tackle the final leg of the journey – a 10.4 mile, 6,130 ft, descent.

Aside from a few snowy patches in the shadow of the mountain, the trip down was relatively smooth and easy – it just seemed never-ending. I did not stop one time from Trail Crest until a little past Outpost camp, about half of the distance and elevation. Jake caught up with me there and we rested together for a bit, but I moved on sooner than Jake. Not to long after, I met a guy asking for distances. I told him where we were and asked him why he wanted to know. He said that the last food and drink orders at the grill at Whitney Portal must be in be by 7:45, and he took off.

I am slower on the descent than the ascent, my legs were beginning to feel the burn, and I was getting tired. The only way I had stayed ahead of Jake on such a long downhill stretch so far was that I had not stopped at all. Jake soon caught me and I told him what the guy said about the grill. Jake decided to kick it into that weird other gear he has and make it down to the food. I yelled after him, “order me one of anything veggie and a beer! Whoop Whooop!”

I got down not too long before I would have needed to use my headlamp – just about 8 PM. I found Jake and Joe and it was a glorious reunion. We ate our veggie burgers and fries and drank a beer and some fresh gatorade. In true Papa Joe fashion, he not only ran into someone else he knew there at the grill, it was his neighbor! We were so excited that Joe wanted to come and see us and that he was able to and that Terry let him go. That’s when Joe told us “the catch”. “Terry said that I could only come and get you guys if I brought you back to Casa de Luna – tonight.”

So after walking about 240 miles, from Yosemite to Mt Whintey, we got in the car with Joe and headed further south to Casa de Luna, not but 45 minutes from LA.

“It’s a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.”

JMT Day 25 – June 25, 2012

November 10, 2012 by Nick

just short of Lake South America Trail Junction – Guitar Lake

11,050 – 11,480 (+ 1,075 / – 1,010) – 13.4 miles

Free Maps Online – Day 25 – Map 2 and 1

Photos Open to the Public on Facebook

Another day in which we rocked out some trail. I awoke early as usual and got Jake going sooner than usual – it was too cold to mess about and let him sleep, and I was eager to see what we would see!

The views on this day were very much worth the effort. After all the time hiking in the trees, on high mountain ridges, and looking around at the Morgul Valley searching for Mount Doom, we saw stuff I would not have imagined. When you get into the Bighorn Plateau area – it is a bit surreal. It really does look like sheep or bison should be calmly feasting on the grasses in this wide open flat plain between 10,000 and 11,000 ft high. There is this one little perfect clear lake by itself in the middle of the field. When you look behind you (north), you can see Forester Pass. When you look ahead and to the left (south east), you can see Mt Whitney! It kinda looks like an anvil from this angle. Even though I know we won’t reach Whitney for another day, it feels so good to stand near that perfect little lake on the most stunning and unexpected plain and know exactly where you are on the map and be able to identify so many landmarks. I know there are folks who know the area better, or studied more, who were surrounded by landmarks on most of their journey. I could only pick out a few points by name along the way, and rarely could I do that without the map, so for me it was a nice moment.

* Not entirely a Bone to Pick – but there is a note I want to return to after the narrative to shed some light on an issue not oft discussed in or out of hiking circles – Piton Crabtree Ranger Station. And I guess we will have to Piton “Piton” as well since I don’t think many of you know about my version of the Palace of Memory – The Conversation Desk!

The wonders and beauty were unceasing and somehow we made it to Guitar Lake and found a reasonably decent place to camp. The alpenglow that night was some of the best I had seen on the journey!

We had been debating how to do our Whitney summit. There had been two major opinion groups we encountered – go to bed early, get up about midnight and hike up to Whitney for sunrise, or rest most of the day and hike up for sunset and moonrise. We had been leaning towards option 1, sunrise, but neither of us was excited about doing any portion of that summit and/or descent in the dark. In Fox Force Fashion, we decided to see how things went. I knew I would wake up early and the cold would either make me want to move or to stay put. It was anyone’s guess if Jake would wake early or not. But we liked having reached the mutual decision that further hiking in the dark was not preferred.

After enjoying a little more of the view, and the moment, we went into our bags to try to sleep.