hobolog :: General

Wow, it’s been a while since I lived in the same place for two new year’s days in a row! I feel like Reno has welcomed us and we’re giving it a chance to be our home. Last year I mentioned two organizations, the Reno Collective and Friends of Nevada Wilderness, and those continue to be the hubs of our community here. December has been a big snow party, a high note I won’t soon tire of, wrapping up a year full of good work and play. I feel energized to meet the challenges 2013 will bring: new work for Ann, innovative and demanding programming projects for me, and whatever else this wooly world has in store for us all.

My old Tally Graph plugin still works, so I can rack up my stats for the year once again:

Hours Tracked (by GPS): 358.5731

Outdoor Nights: 20|27

Miles on Foot: 929.4100000000004

Elevation Gain on Foot (ft): 157183

Rock Climbing Elevation Gain (ft): 3390

Miles by Bike: 52.8

Bike Elevation Gain (ft): 2396

Books Read: 12

Movies Watched: 48.5

This statistical madness has now been going on long enough to compare a few years:

Whew! It’s pretty interesting for me to compare all those numbers with how I feel about each year. This year felt like a big one to me outdoor-wise, but the numbers remind me that I spent a lot of time working this year too. And of course in the end all these numbers are reminders of how fortunate we are. Thanks to our family and friends, and happy new year one and all!

Near San Francisco, CA

The quadrennial romp with my Institute of Sociometry cohorts was filled as always with unexpected twists and scads of irreverent and indigestible information. San Francisco was an inherent part of the experience, with scented air reminiscent of my teenage years, precipitous hills and even more precipitous neighborhood changes, and a whole city worth of people living just in the streets. Our fair took place amidst all of it.

This was my fourth IS Fair, and I’m realizing they are major milestones in my life as well as the world around me.

I’ve been in Vermont for a couple of weeks where my web crafting amigo Jason lives in the hills. The flu nearly wiped out our whole agenda, but in hindsight we managed some good work and had quite a few Vermont winter experiences to boot. I have an aunt and grandmother in Burlington also, so I got the extra treat of some time with them.

I learned a few things about working with wool yarn, all from the sheep I helped feed in barn outside. Jason’s wife Denise creates rich colors with natural dyes.

The “winter party” involves a bonfire, sledding, food, ice skating, and stories for the kiddies. I’ve never been to a town event quite like it.

The winter party is followed by a spell of warm weather that starts maple sap flowing much earlier than usual. We tap a tree and I taste maple sap for the first time. It’s clear, cold, and just sweet enough to make you want to keep drinking forever.

Before I know it the trip is almost over. We all go out for a celebratory dinner as our finale.

My grandmother and aunt give me a little more good family time and see me safely to the airport.

Near Standish, MI

My mom’s friend Doug Hagley gives me a tour of his family’s farm that packs in a surprising variety of experiences.

Walking through the woods we hear a million starlings. I take a video just for the sound.

They have a white pine tree farm about 25 years old.

There are apples everywhere, on trees and on the ground. We gather a few from this spot by the road Doug noticed.

I learn what asparagus looks like gone to seed – wild red berries!

Doug takes us through his organic garden, giving us plenty of vegetables for the week.

Last I see the calves in the barn, guarded by cute cats and kids.

And finally we sip coffee around the dining room table, and Doug’s parents impress me with their wit and optimism. It’s encouraging to see a small farm with all this going for it.

I’ve had enough of my computer at the moment…yet I think that’s interesting enough to post about. Intellectually I know that Hack4Reno, a 24-hour competition to build an application that benefits the city, was a great experience. I pushed my limits and with a team of 4 (and much needed assistance from a talented roving designer) developed both iPhone and Android apps that interact with a central WordPress website. I’ll put it up somewhere stable so people can play with it when I recover.

But right now, man, I feel like I stayed up all night drinking and brawling! I unfortunately flubbed our final app presentation and left feeling disappointed at that. An hour of sleep has only amplified my discomforts. I’m going to try my best not to think about computers for a while. I kind of know I’ll get better because if I tease myself for having sour grapes it makes me laugh. With that I’m off to read a book and sleep it off!

This facility is the world headquarters for the peregrine fund in Boise, Idaho. Their primary mission is to preserve endangered raptor species through captive breeding, but they have impressive education programs that make it an amazing place to visit. If you’re like we were and aren’t entirely clear about what a raptor is and what kinds of raptors there are, they’ll clear that right up. But the real education is seeing the birds. It’s hard to overstate how majestic and regal they are. Ann kept saying she felt the urge to kneel before them. Captivity is never an inspiring factor, and these are all birds that wouldn’t survive in the wild, but seeing them up close is just irresistibly awe inspiring. You can read an overview of all the birds or click the pictures for some more information about each. Here they are:

I’ve been traveling in the winter backcountry for most of my life with no formal avalanche education. While most of my activities have been fairly low risk for avalanche exposure, and I’ve listened to some avalanche awareness presentations, I finally admit that those measures are not sufficient in the long term for my activities. It’s time to acquire some tools and learn how to use them. I buy a beacon and probe to accompany my shovel, a snow saw so I can do column tests in a snow pit if I want, and sign up for a 3-day level 1 avalanche safety course with Jackson Hole Mountain Guides. The prerequisite reading is Snow Sense: A Guide to Evaluating Snow Avalanche Hazard, which is informative, practical, and inexpensive.

The course is absolutely worthwhile. Some of the best things are:

• Having 3 experienced guides to answer questions and critique performance. You can get most of the information presented in the course elsewhere, but having this kind of feedback and instruction was really valuable.
• Coordinated practice. Reading the manual for gear, especially a beacon, is not the same as using it. Again, tips and feedback from the guides while practicing was crucial.
• Outings. There was an outdoor component of the course each day, two of them in the backcountry. These were small guided trips, complete with some basic gear and travel instruction, and turns on the way down!

I’m mostly busy learning, but I grabbed a couple of quick pictures of the outings. Day 1 we rode the lift up Snow King and practiced beacon searches on the way down.

Day 2 we go a little ways into the mountains and dig a snow pit.

Day 3 is the biggest tour, with a solid climb over the Snake river valley.

At last I feel ready to take some real responsibility for myself and my companions in the backcountry. My ability to avoid avalanche risk is much improved, and for the first time I’ll be able to respond if I (or others nearby) fail to avoid an avalanche.

We go to the Indian Cove campground to watch the eclipse and then sleep in the tent. It’s cloudy when we leave, but occasional gaps in the clouds reveal glimpses of the moon, so we remain hopeful.

That’s the closest we get to a clear sky. Shortly after getting the tent set up it begins to rain, and the rain continues throughout our checkpoints during the night.

The next day one of the guests at our RV park tells Ann that the clouds cleared enough to see the eclipse here, and it was an amazing sight. Oof!

Near Chuckwalla, CA

Today we drive further into Joshua Tree to the Ryan Peak trail. We’re doing another hike, but I’m feeling growing urges to climb, for whatever reason.

The summit provides great views over both the Colorado and Mojave deserts, but it’s hard to take your attention off of the alluring stacks of rock in Hidden Valley.

The spaces are big in this park. Today we’re exploring the area, and easily end up driving 70 miles. We’ll have to plan outings carefully to avoid unnecessary driving.

• GPX Viewer Track Map and Graphs (ryan-peak-20101118)

Near Lancaster, PA

Manheim, Pennsylvania is home to several generations of my family on the Kuhn side, but is almost completely foreign to me. Sue Obetz and grandma Eileen Kuhn, our hosts here, give Dad, Sarah, and I a good survey of the county. Our first stop is the old Abe Wallace farm, which grandma Eileen finds the tiny back entrance into despite her failing vision. Dad spent a couple of summers here as a kid, and I enjoy watching him take a quick walk around the grounds, gazing back into his childhood.

He notes several new buildings on the grounds, but the farmhouse and barn seem unchanged. Of course the big divided highway 30 rushing by not far away is new. No one is around to answer questions.

Next we drive along many twisty, forested back roads to the Susquehanna River near the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant.

More winding ways up the river take us to the impressive Pinnacle overlook, where a cold wind blows high above the river.

As we leave here the conversation turns to apple dumplings, and a couple of hunters are mightily amused when we pull over to ask where we might find some. Sue makes sure we have some genuine Lancaster County apple dumplings for breakfast before we head for home.

• GPX Viewer Track Map and Graphs (pinnacle-20101022)