"Hey, Where are You Going? ...

... the brown maps are over here. You always get the brown maps." My map order is here and the maps are green. Four maps. Onion Mountain to Chinaman Hat to Bald Mountain to Polar Spring to Collier Bar on the Illinois River. That's 4 green maps. Southern Oregon is green, and so are the maps. Gosh, I hope there's water.

I am packing now for a trip in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. The plan is 4 days, and I am guessing about 30 miles. Fire season is here and I am concerned about using liquid fuel in a highly volatile forest. I may look into a propane stove for the summer months here in the west.

The top photo is Rainie Falls on the Rogue River, and the others are from a place we (the other Jane and I) stopped during a hike to Rainie Falls several years ago.

I Took a Week Off from Cycling and ...

... miss the expediency, and my bike riding buddies on the train. The walking has been good though. The pain is receding -- so tomorrow I am taking the new Giant to work.

Me at the bike shop. "It goes pedal, pedal, pedal, clunk ... pedal pedal, pedal, clunk. I think the bottom bracket is out of adjustment."

"It looks ok to me," says the clerk.

"Maybe you should try to ride it."

Well the BB was a 1/4 turn out and there was a few loose things here and there. It's feeling very reliable, and almost brand new. I gave my son my commuter so he is going to ride it to his gig every day. He took all the cool stuff (like the rack) off, cause he wants a faster bike. Go figure.

Damage in the General Direction ...

... of travel. Let's imagine now that we are getting better rather than worse. just for a few minutes.

Some signifigant changes in the bone locations in my right foot (pop, pop, pop) and some popping in my knee, and I'm noticing some more than occasional pain in new places. And these three bruises on my knee. Two in this picture on the inside of the knee, near the lower end of the femur, and one on the outside of the right kneecap. It seems my body might be trying to find a more comfortable position.

I am still mobile, however it seems a bit more painful each day. If I have caught the lucky break, I'll start being able to walk downhill again.

A Mountain Bike ...

My son's Giant™. It is about 987% aluminum. so it must be light. It has a shock that works and two empty tires. Rumour has it that it came from Wal-Mart. No wonder it has empty tires ... and loose bits, like the crank and the headset. Otherwise it looks pretty fair. It will need a bit of adjustment here and there. I have to hand over my commuter next time I see him and we have a swap for the summer.

Now, I need some one to teach me how and where to ride it ... I hear that there are trails at waterdog lake.

A Younger Me

Ok, so i am on foot. I have been walking half of my commute, and driving the other half. 3 miles a day for 9 miles so far this week. Why? You might ask.

I am getting ready for a pack trip in July and another one to the Colorado River in September or so. I need to get my blown out knees to work better. so I am:

1. Walking on them
2. Using linamint
3. Taking cod liver oil from a jar with a spoon
4. Contemplating taking some beer glucosamine and chondroitin
5. Using the hot tub
6. Praying
and 7. Begging Blogging

July is a trip to the Illinois River in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness in Southern Oregon. It will be a multi-day backpack trip with serious hill climbing and 10 mile days. Character building, I'd imagine.

The photo is a scanned 4"x5" Polaroid taken with my Graflex after carrying that 45 lb. beast 4.5 miles to Babyfoot Lake, in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. I took this picture in the year following the Biscuit Fire, which was the largest fire in Oregon's history. We walked through a smoky charred forest to get here.

WildFlowers at McNee Ranch

We saw quite a few wildflowers on the hike in McNee Ranch State Park.







View the entire set.

Gray Whale Cove -- McNee Ranch State Park, CA

Oh -- many of you will recognize this Gray Whale Cove beach. Today I went out for a day on the coast with my friend John -- and took a hike above the the beach right out near Devil's slide, from Montara beach to the beach at Gray Whale Cove. I think we may have hiked 3-4 miles total. Afterwards, we had lunch at some Brewing Company nearby, and then wandered around a bit at Pillar Point Harbor and Princeton.

Despite the current abundance of Humpback whales on the California coast now, and the name of the cove being Gray Whale Cove, we didn't see any whales. It was quite foggy -- so we didn't see much beyond the immediate vicinity. We did hear some sea lions, and see one in the harbor finally.

You can see 89 photos from today here.

Last Summer at Squam Lake

New Drops

Old Skool ... wow that's a kinda wild color. They will go great with some cotton tape and shellac. They have a new owner.

One of those Days

It was with absolute and complete amazement that I found myself still intact and on my bike, just a split second after noticing a vehicle bumber just inches from me and approaching quickly. I've never been so close to being hit.

Then I got a flat during dinner at my mother's. And another on the way home. I think I may need to walk for a few days.

Hmmm, Trouble in Paradise

This is a fancy-butt 4 battery Cat-Eye headlamp for my bicycle. Nice big beam, lots of light. Lasts a long time. Trouble is, it doesn't turn off. Fortunately, I have another one just like it.

Maybe I should send it back to Cat-eye.

Graflex Graphic View 4x5

This is my camera, in the McLoed river in Northern California, as photographed by Cindy Diaz, sometime in 2005. Here's a picture of me just moments before that (photo Cindy Diaz).

What'cha got in That Bag of Yours?

Jill asks? Nothin' really.

Lately, I am using a North Face Yavapai daypack. In it is:

The Canon 20D + 80-200 EF Zoom lens. This is kinda important, albeit pretty hefty.

A book about Ant (not ants -- silly) . The fact that I need a book about ant is proof that I am not actually a geek. All geeks already know ant.

A small tire repair kit -- This typically is used to repair other people's tires, or my own in a dire emergency.

A hair brush -- left over from when I had more hair. Notice the hair bob.

No less than 2 checkbooks.

An Aurora headlamp.

A new copy of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire. I gave the last copy to a young woman headed for New Zealand. Hopefully she'll show up one day soon to tell me she was too busy having fun to read it.

Serfas'™ Multi-tool, Spare tube, and 3 tire gadgets. These used to be iron ...

CalTrain Schedule.

Reflective stickers that say Real®.

Jar of Icy Hot®

Registration and smog paperwork for two different cars.

Jar of cod liver oil capsules.

Well, that's maybe too much stuff. At least it's not winter. In which case there would be an extra pair of socks, and shoes, rain gear, and something decidedly warm.