Palmer

Croissants with strawberry jam, strong coffee, dinosaurs from Japan, and endless corn snow. We camped out Sunday night and got to the mountain early. Great day to be on the mountain and always a treat when the Palmer lift is running.

103 bpm

Weekend Work

I snuck away for a quick overnighter to Hood on Friday, but had to get back to my weekend work Saturday morning. For the past 4 weekends I’ve been remodeling a bathroom in our house. One thing I’ve noticed in how I work is that I tend to be too precise. And it *always* bites me in the ass. For example, the 4x post with the tape measure sitting on it is the end of…

Praha

I spent last week working in Prague. It was a week of long days, nights and early mornings. I made the most of the early morning hours to run through the city and take some photos. I brought my Fujifilm XH-1 with a Viltrox 23mm lens. I’ve been enjoying shooting that this focal length (35mm equivalent on a full frame sensor). Most of these are either with the Fujifilm or an iPhone 8 plus (on…

Sakura

Arts & Crafts

We got back from SoCal on Saturday and I felt some sniffles Sunday into Monday. I powered through the week thinking I caught a cold. Makes sense. Working from home for the past 2 (3?) years and then dropping in amongst the people for some R&R – I caught a lil’ cold. I wore a mask in enclosed spaces, on planes, trains and automobiles. Today is Saturday and I after doing my chores was waffling…

Lawyers, Guns and Money

I heard violin scales in my house for the first time in 3 weeks yesterday and breathed a sigh of relief. It’s been a rough couple of weeks – but I think we’re in the clear. The low point was trying the doors at Children’s Shriner Fracture Clinic on Martin Luther King Jr. day and finding them locked and the clinic closed. I made overnight oats the night before and the whole family got up…

2023

Some opinions based on the current zeitgeist. So how did I spend the holiday break? Puzzles… lots of puzzles. Ski days – 4 in so far this season. Off to a great start. Running in the snow and sledding at Mt. Hood. Designing the camper in Shapr3D and researching fabrication methods. I’m settling on a thin plywood skin over plywood (I think) frame, then fiberglass + epoxy. Foam panels glued to the inside for insulation.…

Diesel Heater Build

I started this project last year and was delayed into the spring waiting for a 5L fuel tank to ship from China. The tank arrived in the spring and I didn’t need heat in the truck for warm season truck camping trips. I just had a few remaining thing to complete, including solving how to connect the fuel line to the tank so that I could remove the fuel tank to fill it. I’ve never…

October Snow

There were a couple of ski tracks leaving Cloud Cap and heading up the trail toward Cooper Spur. Someone got the early goods on Mt. Hood. Probably a little bony skiing back out. We went up to Cloud Cap for the day to play in the snow, try out the new sled, and get the tarp set up to measure where the stove jack will be sewn in. We’ve used this tarp in the past…

Endless Summer

Short overnighter to take advantage of the summer weather. As a result of climate change, the temperatures in mid-October have been closer to what we would see in late August / mid-September. This was the quietest place I’ve ever slept. I’m not sure if it’s because the lake is in a valley, or if the wind was calm (probably both). Usually I can hear running water, or birds or other animals at night and sleep…

Granola & Biscuit

Some of my backcountry lessons include taking a trail name (like thru-hikers do), making sure to check the stars if you get up in the middle of the night, and taking every opportunity to put your bare feet in a cold stream on a hot day. Like many parents, I’m horrified by the devices and the screens and how addictive staring at a screen can be – and worry that kid’s brains are being rewired…

The nature of things

I remember backpacking in the Carter Range in New Hampshire – it’s one valley over from the Presidentials in the White Mountains, and there were trails there that were so rocky, and the footing so unstable, it was such difficult hiking – I was tired, my pack felt heavy, the light was fading – and I got so angry at the trail. Why would anyone make a trail here? This trail is just boulders, why…