2:40 PM Lunch

9:30 Library

8:50 Breakfast

7:00 AM Gym

6:00 AM Coffee

Ewwww!

45 yards

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Wow It's Freaky Windy ...

Today was freakishly windy ... You possibly noticed I was talking about the wind when I posted this.

When I shot these, the wind speed was 36-40 and the the gusts were 45-49 at the San Francisco Airport (SFO). Granted, I was in a bit of a sheltered location, because I was in the forest up on skyline at Kings Mountain, which is a bit higher than SFO and the highest thing around. So gusts at the top of the trees might have been hurricane force or higher, when I was shooting those arrows. Based on my crazy wind estimation skills, I think the winds where I was shooting might be about 15 mph, with gusts to 30 mph, since I was in a valley and under the canopy.

The weather today was crazy, and there were gusts as high as 58 mph today at the San Francisco Airport.


These two shots are taken somewhere close to the San Francisco Airport (notice the incoming plane), very near the height of the insanity, at 3:45 or 4:00 P. M. I cruised out there because I decided it was too dangerous to drive on the freeway, and I was wondering what it might be like to kayak in this kind of wind. There were three foot swells in a place that normally is calm, and swimmers, kayakers and windsurfers might be found "playing" around. For me ... it looked scary as hell.

Here's what it might look like in the morning.

On the San Mateo Bridge, about 5 miles south of these photos, there were several newsworthy events in the afternoon. Within a short period of time ... one, a truck turned over heading west on the bridge, two, a commercial fishing boat got pushed by the wind into the bridge causing damage to the bridge, and three, a kayaker (capsized and out of his boat), had to be hoisted up from a position in the water hugging the bridge pillars. Currently the bridge is still closed in the westbound direction, with current estimates for reopening at 4 A. M.

Never mind all this, I shot a bull's eye at 40 yards with an unpredictable gusty wind ...

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Vic's Special

5 Arrows, 40 Yards, Windy

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Cannery Row

Blackflies ...

Well -- I am reading, as is my wont, another book about a an epic journey, and have to admit, I am quite enjoying myself. I feel a bit self-absorbed. Injured foot. Good book. Nothing better to do really. Great weather. It's Bill Bryson's book A Walk in the Woods, which chronicles his effort to hike the Appalachian Trail. It's quite funny and entertaining.

He says:
... It was only nine miles over easy terrain, but the black fly made it a torment. I have never seen a scientific name for these vile, winged specks, so I don't know what they are but a hovering mass that goes with you wherever you go and are forever in your ears, mouth and nostrils. Human sweat transports them to orgasmic ecstasy. They are particularly relentless when you stop to rest, or take a drink -- so relentless that eventually you don't stop to rest and you drink while moving, and then spit out a tongueful of them. It's kind of a living hell. ...

Reading this I burst into laughter and remember sitting in a classroom when the conversation somehow turns to the subject of blackflies biting ... someone or something of that nature. One of my fellow students starts to laugh because she is remembering something funny and I, of course am laughing now because I remember the same thing.

You see we, her and I, had recently been camping together in the Ventana Wilderness on an exceptionally hot summer day. We found this incredible rock bowl just a few yards or so from our camp. It was about 15 yards deep and 20 yards in diameter, just high enough to hide us from any passers by, shady and small enough so we could feel intimate. We spontaneously decided to take off our clothes and play in that rock bowl for a while. Quickly stripping our clothes off and throwing them into a pile, we scaled the side of the bowl. naked, and danced down into the center of the bowl, absolutely prepared for our own orgasmic ecstasy.

Hordes of blackflies immediately descended on us, drinking our sweat and biting the most delicate parts of our bodies repeatedly. We tried desperately to ignore them. They were relentless. Despite our delight, we were immediately compelled to return to our clothes.

Which, we had piled on an anthill.

Oh Crap!.

Well, this is kinda self-inflicted maybe. My foot was really itchy so I scratched it a bit, then it turned into this after a couple of days. I am not sure, but I suspect that the new shoes might have contributed to the problem.

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On Any Sunday

Today, a friend and I went for hike in the Redwoods at Purisima Creek. We hiked a loop totalling 7.1 miles and dropping from 2000 ft to 600 ft, then climbing back to 2000 ft. It wasn't radically steep in any one place, just continually and equally punishing. We did a loop including the Whittemore Gulch Trail and the Harkins Ridge Trail from the North Ridge parking lot.
The map only shows part of the route. You can follow the black dotted line to see the balance of the trail.













Banana Slug





Purisima Creek



Then we went for lunch at Alice's Restaurant.

The North Face Mountain 25 Tent

North Face Mountain 25 Tent Without Fly
So, I bought a new tent ... A North Face Mountain tent, and right away I am going to complain about it. One obvious thing is that it's pretty heavy. At 9 lbs. 6 oz. it is heavier than it's specifications and too heavy for one person to comfortably carry. Winter solo travel will be a bit compromised with 10 pounds of extra tent and snowshoes or skis, add additional clothing and the pack total goes up to about 60 pounds.

Another thing is that it's hard to set up, especially the first time. It's not really that intuitive. It will require solid anchors to be really effective. If you happen to purchase this tent I would definitely recommend setting it up at home before going out, especially if you're headed into bad weather.

Mountain 25 with Fly

It has 2 Pockets

Roomy Vestibule

Finger Pull

The finger pull at the end of the topmost pole is a consistent with the kind of thoughtful quality found in most of the North Face top of the line stuff. The topmost pole provides for two vents found at the very top oy the fly. This should help eliminate the need to carry a Canary™ along when expecting heavy snows.

One exit

Second Exit

Fly with Door Open

Two Vents
Once it is set up it looks to be really solid, with snow flaps on one end and two exits and vents, plus a roomy interior, it looks like it would be pretty comfy for an extended stay in ... say ... a blizzard. I noticed that it is quite warm inside and I a thinking it might not be the right choice for a summer adventure into Death Valley.

One area that I might be a bit concerned about, is the center section of the tent, where it tends to want to bunch together, and will possible allow the fly to contact the tent on the sides, or flap excessively in a good breeze. Solidly pegging down the tent should help to counteract this tendency, but might be more than difficult in sandy or muddy conditions.