cyberhobo

Author: cyberhobo

  • Lights out on the Catalina Highway

    On our way home from a short climbing outing in the darkening night, I notice the airbag light come on in the truck. As I puzzle over that, the speedometer and all the other gauges flatline. I puzzle more and consult Ann. The headlights start to dim, and we pull over but leave the truck…

  • Hidden Jewels Toprope

    We look for something close and easy for our first Tucson climbing outing, and settle on the Hidden Jewels area in the near foothills. The approach is nearly a mile of steep trail, which is a bonus for us. The giant saguaro cacti are everywhere! The heat makes us sweat, the air smells delicious, and…

  • Our First Nomad Destination – Tucson, AZ

    Our first priority in choosing a destination has been to indulge in some warmth, but Ann noticed that in Tucson we could possibly indulge in an abundance of moderate climbing as well. I will be working more to keep us afloat, but of course I will find time for outdoor exploration too. The first thing…

  • Rockhound State Park

    We cycle between giddiness and overwhelmed exhaustion today. Even at our slow pace we pace places we’d love to explore, like the rock spires of the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces. Ann drives the rig, which is highly stressful for her still, while I experiment with using the computer in the passenger seat. It…

  • First Nomad Night in the Socorro Box

    It seems a little too easy to leave Santa Fe with all our possessions when Ann gets off work on Friday, and it is. But we’re eager to go before the next round of predicted snowstorms roll in, and we’re unbearably excited about our nomadic future. So we fill tanks and head south, everything apparently…

  • Book: The Road / Cormac McCarthy

    This book kind of leaves me speechless. The setting is so bleak, it’s tempting to give up on it, but the characters don’t give up so I didn’t. Maybe that’s what it’s about – removing all reason to hope, looking at one father-son relationship, and seeing what’s left. And being forced to admit that hope…

  • Phlumf on Raven’s Ridge

    Figuring this may be our last hurrah in the snow for a while, we head up the mountain in heavy snowfall. Ann has held a grudge against Raven’s Ridge ever since our six-hour posthole trudge last May, and wants a rematch in some real snow. Real snow is what we get, dumping all day long.…

  • WordPress GPX Viewer Plugin

    People like me who use a GPS unit to track their movements often end up with a GPX file full of incomprehensible data at some point. There are many ways to make sense of the data using maps and graphs, but my favorite so far is Jürgen Berkemeir’s GPX Viewer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear how…

  • Book: Proust Was a Neuroscientist / Jonah Lehrer

    In a series of portraits of avant-garde artists, Lehrer lays out his take on the stormy relationship between Art and Science. I felt like the book taught me many things, due in large part to Lehrer’s crystal clear interpretations of ideas that seem murky or impenetrable in their original expressions. It boils down to the…

  • Ski My Valentine

    I usually shy away from repeating outings, but I must admit that I improve and learn things when I do it. I’ve always been impressed with how friendly people here are to us, the uphill traveling minority. At other areas we’re subjected to the endlessly witty, “You’re going the wrong way!”, all day long. Here…