Shards of Thought

Flickr fixed?

FeralKid — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:09:48 GMT

OK, for any and all of you what wanted to visit my flickr account but couldn't I hope that the problem is now fixed. I'm also hoping that you will NOT have to create an account just to view the photos. I would like to take this opportunity to state that the flickr staff are fascist dogs and incompetent. I wrote to them to find out why my account seemed to be malfunctioning. Instead of telling me that my account had been censored because of some of partial nudity, they told me that they'd get right on finding out what was the matter. I didn't hear from them for a week. In the mean time I spent hours tracking down the problem myself. My account is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nomadphotos/ . Once my subscription runs out they'll only see my back as I'm leaving. They can bite my bottom.

The Trip Home

FeralKid — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:48:46 GMT

At some point on my ride west in the spring one of my tail lights has stopped working. I assumed it was just a loose connection and I'd just have to jiggle a wire. It didn't work. It wasn't the bulb either. I did all I was able to track the problem but I never got it fixed and resolved that I'd travel mostly during the day to avoid the faulty light from being spotted by the cops. So when it came time to leave Burning Man I traveled mostly during the day and avoided driving til the wee hours of the night/morning as I usually do. It was nice to actually get decent sleep for once on this cross country trip. I was astonished when once in a while a cop would pass me by at night and NOT pull me over. I figured that an old VW bus would be high profile for carrying some weed and any thin excuse would be used as a pretext for getting a look inside the bus. They would be disappointed if they wanted to find any drugs inside the hippie bus, but I certainly didn't want a defective equipment ticket for the trouble. It wasn't until I was at the PA/NY line that I realized that as of Sept 1, my bus was no longer registered. I didn't leave Nevada til Sept 10. Back in April I had sought to register my bus in advance but I was told that it was too far in advance. My plan was to have my father register it for me in August, but motorized transportation was not a big theme in the past 5 months of my life and so registration seemed like a distant abstract by the time I was driving home in Sept. After I realized that I was unregistered I became so paranoid I might as well have been smoking big bags of weed. Unfortunately it was already past dark when I came to the realization that my bus could be impounded several hundred miles from home. For the next 50 miles, until I could find a place to park for the night, every pair of headlights that came up behind me was a potential cop that was going to pull me over. It was a miracle that I somehow managed to drive from coast to coast in an unregistered '71 VW bus with a tail light out and not get pulled over. But in the end I arrived safe and sound mid day in Sanbornville, NH.

Post Event

FeralKid — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:42:27 GMT

I stayed for nine days after the event to help clean up the desert. Cleaning up the desert involves removing all traces of the event. First the participants go. The responsible ones do a fine job of leaving no trace. The irresponsible ones leave behind their garbage knowing that 'someone will take care of it'. What gets left behind is sometimes more than just a bag of garbage. Bicycles by the hundreds are left. There was even an abandoned vehicle - the engine was blown - and a camper was left as well at another location. All this stuff has to be removed somehow. After all the participants have gone it's up to the remaining staff to remove all structures - trailers, small wooden buildings, all vehicles, container units, and massive generators. In addition all the cable that's been buried needs to be hauled back to the surface. Posts that were once a part of larger structures need to be pulled up. And of course there's the 17 miles of fence that needs to go. While all that is going on there's another part of the clean up going on as well. Every little piece of MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) needs to be lifted from the dirt and removed. This is a meticulous job and has to be done over several square miles. I participated in doing this combing for debris over the area where we camped and I picked up even individual strands of hair at times. Nothing is felt if it is seen. The trouble often arises with all the shifting wind and dust we had that can bury things under a light layer. So we even raked the ground to help us find things that may have been missed the first time over. After nine days, I decided it was time for me to hit the road. There was a staff that would stay til the beginning of October. But I'd been there for 5 weeks already. I'd been traveling since early April. I hit my wall and needed a change of scenery.

Burning Man and Photography

FeralKid — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:40:23 GMT

I got the opportunity to talk directly with two of the best known photographers on the playa. I asked each one of them for the one bit of advice they had for someone who is a beginner at working with people. It was great to see their different style and approach and listen to their advice. One of them snapped my photo while we were chatting and you can find it at: http://webbery.com/galleries/burningman/bm08/faces/index15.html . I also got the opportunity to work with some friends of mine who volunteered to model. I learned a great deal from the experience. I hope to be able to post some of the photos on-line soon. I have those to upload as well as thousands from the hiking trip. I found it hard to go out and take as many photos as I wanted because of a combination of work schedule, dust condition, low energy, etc. It was a challenge this year. Speaking of dusty conditions - one incident of note was a particularly bad dust storm we had this year. It started with a cyclone of dust that went right by my camp - just one hundred feet away. It was a opaque tower of swirling dust. About seventy feet up was a four-person tent. It's door was open and it had been plucked from the ground. The wind continued to keep it inflated so that it had little chance of coming down any time soon. I watched as it passed by and headed for the open desert. When I last saw it, it was about a thousand feet in the air and a quarter mile out still dancing around the shifting column of dust. It was at that point that a wall of dust overtook me from behind and blotted out everything that was more than twenty feet away. It didn't let up all afternoon after that.

Working Burning Man

FeralKid — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:38:57 GMT

Burning Man this year was a mixture of good and bad. From the working side it all went remarkably smoothly. The operation has been fine tuned over the years and is starting to run quite well. I have worked on the radar for a number of years. In a nutshell I watch a radar screen and can spot people trying to enter the city from any direction other than the gate; thereby avoiding the cost of the ticket. I can spot vehicles, but also bicycles, and even pedestrians as far as two miles out walking across the open desert in the dead of night. The night shift is the one I enjoy most. This year prior to the event the shifts were extremely uneventful and boring. One night for example the biggest excitement we had was one car load of stoned people who simply missed the turn and had to be redirected to the main entrance. They all had their tickets and so were definitely not trying to break in. I expected the excitement to pick up once the event was actually going and people were arriving in far greater numbers. It never happened. Each shift passed by as slowly as the last. I work alone but I'm in radio contact with the folks outside the fence that do the actual chasing of the would-be fence crashers. To keep ourselves awake and amused we turned to writing haikus about working Perimeter. I didn't copy any down to share, but hopefully I will have some to print later.

My Quote For The Day

FeralKid — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:27:58 GMT

"You can't drink all day unless you start in the morning" --S.O.L. on the PCT

Playa Report - One Week To Event

FeralKid — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:26:36 GMT

It had to happen sooner or later. We've had two solid weeks of glorious weather - no wind or dust. Last night at about 10:00 the wind began and became a steady strong flow. It hasn't abated yet. Last night there were whiteout conditions. At this early hour it's still clear out for the most part, but once the sun warms the ground and there's some upward flow to the air I anticipate more dusty whiteout conditions this afternoon. It's predicted to stay like this for the next 2 days and then return to the same calm weather pattern. Bring your dust masks. If you have the kind that use cartridges make sure you replace the onces from last year.

The Playa Report

FeralKid — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:19:23 GMT

OK all you Burners. I was actually out on the playa today and here's what I have to say. Most of you know that the city is going to be a little bigger this year. I was out today helping set up the streets in the empty playa. There was a small cluster of work vehicles at what will be the Man base. I was out on the outer most street ( "K"). The cars looked like specks on the horizon. And the really mind-blowing things was that what I was perceiving was just the radius. Remember all the dunes from last year? Well they didn't go away. But here's the little extra. The dunes haven't become solid over the year. They have a thin crust over the top of them but they are still piles of soft fluffy playa. Once these get all mashed up they are just piles ready to blow away. I saw a water truck actually get stuck in one of these soft dunes today. It will be interesting. So far though the wind has only been average so the dust hasn't been over the top. I was told that the smoke from the California fires has been dense here, but since I've been here it's been clear. Who knows which way that will go during the week of the event. Hopefully it will continue to be smoke free. Dust AND thick smoke would be a bit much even for veterans.

I made it

FeralKid — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 02:31:19 GMT

I'm in the Black Rock Saloon. Work starts in the morning. The drive went without a hitch.

Another Rattler Story

FeralKid — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:04:37 GMT

I was spending a quiet afternoon inside my tent writing in my journal and waiting for my hiking partner to catch up. I caught a motion out of the corner of my eye and turned to spy the back portion of a rattle snake going by just 4 feet or so away. I've seen bigger by far - the ones on the Appalachian Trail easily reach 5 feet long and bigger through the middle than my wrist. But a rattler is a rattler and seeing one in the wild is always exciting. I moved to get a better look at it and the snake realized for the first time that I was nearby. Rattlers are not aggressive by nature though so it didn't coil and rattle at me, but rather it froze to assess the situation. I got out my camera and the snake started moving again. At one point it was only about 2 feet away. The photo is a bit grainy because I took it through the mesh in my tent, but here's the shot I took. You can see the edge of my tent in the upper part of the photo. The following day I saw a rattler in the process of eating a bird. I hadn't seen so many snakes since the southern desert. It was surprised because I was traveling through a forested area and not in the open rocky desert where I was used to seeing rattlers.

My Obscure Fame

FeralKid — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 05:43:40 GMT

I just found out on the trail that to a small group of people I'm "that guy" who was outstanding enough in a way as to make a lasting impression. Though my name wasn't remembered, my deed was. Here's the background... In 2000 I worked a summer job for an outdoor adventure group that led wilderness trips for teens. I was on a 3-4 day trip on the Lost Coast with 2 other adults and 8 teens. The Lost Coast is one of the last (THE last?) parts of the California coast to be undeveloped. It's a narrow band of beach between the ocean and steep rising cliffs. At high tide the water will come right up to the base of the cliffs in places. It's also known for having an active bear population so food must be properly stored. I was out with two other adults and eight teens. One of the girls was reprimanded by another adult for breaking a cardinal rule. She took it upon herself to sneak out that night and run away. We didn't discover that she ran until the very next morning. She had all night to get ahead of us. We had two factors working in our favor - there was really only two directions she could go because of the water and the cliff, and she was most likely to go in the direction we came from because she wasn't trying to run for good so much as just pull the rip chord on her own time in the group. She wanted to go home, not evade us forever. It was decided that one group leader would stay with the kids, while another would scout in the opposite direction just to rule it out, then return to help watch the remaining kids. I was chosen to go in the direction the girl had most likely gone. I had hiked the Appalachian Trail the year before and I was still in pretty good traveling shape. I took some of the gear from my pack for so I could travel lighter and off I went. I found the girl once I got back to where civilization touched the beach again. She had gotten to a phone, made her calls and was simply waiting for one of us to catch up. My boss (back on the east coast) had already received a number of calls on the matter from the girls parents and understood what was going on. So when I called him to tell him that the girl was back under supervision he said "I didn't expect you to catch up for at least another half an hour". At that point I transported her to the airport and she was flown home. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. I was chatting with another hiker and mentioned that I had once worked for a small outfit that did outdoor adventure. She asked what it's name was and I told her. (Here's the small world moment.) She began working for that very same company the following year. It was quite a coincidence given how very small the company is. I mentioned the incident above and she got excited. She told me that the girl remained the one and only runaway the company has ever had. She also said that that incident has been used as a training scenario every year since. Lastly she went on to say that she never knew who it was that went after the girl, but it was always emphasized that "that guy could really run!" That guy was me.

I'm Off Trail

FeralKid — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:19:03 GMT

I'm officially done hiking for this year. I hiked 1,400 miles from the Mexican border to Castella, CA. There was a 100 mile section that I had to skip because it was actively burning. It's been a bad year for fires. I've been on the trail since April 24th. The longest I went without a bath or laundry was 12 days. I had originally planned on going all the way to Canada with some interruption for Burning Man, but I met up with a group that wasn't travling fast enough to make this possible. I could have either left them behind and made it or stayed with them and give up the idea of hiking the entire trail this year. Since I had completed the entire thing in '04 I opted to stay with the group and enjoy their company. Now I'm back in Yuba City, reunited with my beloved VW bus, August. I'll head out for Black Rock Desert in a day or so to help build the city. I'm in good shape after all the walking and I'm looking forward to the manual labor of putting up the city. I'll have access to the interweb more than I did for the past three months, but perhaps not much more. Lastly, I've really wanted to add some photos to my blog posts to make them more interesting but I've been unable upload any of them until now because I've only had access to public computers. If I can find time I'll add a few photos to my album and maybe to the blog.

Things I forgot to mention....

FeralKid — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:06:33 GMT

I felt a second earthquake. The first one was in Warner Springs. I felt a slightly larger one in Mammoth, but that was still a while ago. I saw a bear. I was on the border of Yosemite. The group I was with had just finished eating our meal when a large black bear (colored brown but classified as black) wandered down toward our camp. It got within 100 feet of us. Every time I've seen a bear it was all too eager to scoot in the opposite direction whenever it saw people. Not this one. It was used to people. I shouted loud and forcefully at it. It didn't care. It wanderered at it's own confident pace around the perimeter of our campsite and on down a river bank, but it knew where we were. I was confident it would be back. Had been considering camping nearby. I know I know......never cook where you plan to camp, but it was late in the day and we were willing to bend on this point until we had our visitor. We packed up our stuff and moved on for another mile or so in the dark til we found a good place to set up our tents. The bear didn't find us a second time. Did I mention it was a very large bear?

Google Earth

FeralKid — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:00:48 GMT

Scooter brought up an interesting point about following along. I'm going mostly on memory, but if it serves me correctly those that have Google Earth can do a search for Pacific Crest Trail and there's a small download which will then show up as the entire trail from Mexico to Canada. It will help to pinpoint exactly where I am along the trail whenever I manage to update.

I'm still out in the woods

FeralKid — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:26:28 GMT

OK, well not at this very moment. At this moment I'm in Mammoth, CA resting up and getting more food before heading back out into the higher elevations. I've been keeping another blog going and since my access to the internet is so limited I've been neglectful of this one. So for anyone that's interested to catch up from where I left off last you can do that at: http://too-obtuse.blogspot.com/ . I apologize for being so far out of touch with all you fine folk, but it's a hazard of hiking.

Evil, Thy Name Is Post Office

FeralKid — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:16:17 GMT

My feet are feeling much better today and I was confident that a different pair of shoes Toby mailed to me would arrive today since they only had a few hundred miles to travel and 2-3 days to do it. However, they didn't arrive today. This being Saturday it means that I have to take today and tomorrow off. This is the exact reason why I hoped to distance myself from relying on the postal system this time around. I could have had them forwarded to the next town up the line but had I walked out in the running shoes I'm now wearing my feet would have been torn up again in no time and this past day of rest would have been for naught. So here I am in Warner Springs waiting til Monday morning. On a bright note - this is a really nice place to spend some time - there's an Olympic sized pool that is fed by a hot spring and it's a real treat to soak in after the sun goes down and the air is cool. And though my feet are much better than when I limped into this place they aren't 100% and will benefit from the extra time off. It's hard to hike such a short distance and then have to take this much time off so soon. On another good note, it sounds like the fire is now under control and the trail may be open by the time I get to the effected area which means no detour and no road walk. I won't have to miss any part of the trail yet

First 100 Miles

FeralKid — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:13:56 GMT

It has been a very challenging start to this hike. A Burning Man friend, Jill picked me up at the San Diego train station, fed me well, gave me a place to crash and generously drove me all the way to the start of the trail. I got a late start for doing a 20 mile day. I over-estimated my ability given that the last time I did a 20 mile day was 3 years ago. It didn't seem that long ago, but my body sure knew it by the time I finished. I didn't get to my destination until 9:00 pm, and by that time I was hiking in full darkness. I have a headlamp (flashlight) but didn't want to take the pack off to get it. By the end of the first day I already had a rather large blister. However, my destination that first day was Lake Morena Campground where I could get a hot shower. I also planned on resting for the next two days for the PCT kick-off. I hoped that by the time the hiking would start in earnest I'd be healed and well rested. I was rested, but the original blister was still giving me trouble by the time I headed out last Sunday morning. My shoes only continued to give me more grief along the way. I tried many solutions to prevent the growing number of blisters but each solution was only temporary. I stopped many times each day to tend to my feet. The last two days have been particularly entertaining in the challenges they offer. Water has been scarce which has forced hikers to carry a lot of water weight while covering large miles each day. I hiked a 25 mile day while carrying 6 liter for the last 9 miles. 7 of that 9 was described in the guide book as "undulating". Undulating meant that it was routed needlessly over a section that had many pointless ups and downs (PUDS). By the time I got to the end of the day it was well after dark and I was exhausted. The wind was strong and I set up the tent to stay out of it. I slept like the dead for the first two hours. When I woke it was 11 pm. The side of the tent was buckling in and nudged me awake. The wind had grown strong with powerful gusts. The tent was being buffeted in all directions and I worried that it might be get torn. Not only that but it was too loud to get any sound sleep even though I already had in ear plugs. Marshalling some energy to cope with this situation I tried a series of solutions which lasted for the next two hours. I tried looking for a location that was more protected from the wind. I didn't find one. I tried pulling out all the tent supports but leaving it staked down - effectively giving it a much lower profile for the wind to catch. But it was like trying to sleep under a flapping flag. I eventually took the tent down completely and found adequate shelter under some low scrub brush. At 5:30 I got up and began breaking camp. I had to cover 24 more miles due to water scarcity. I wanted to get an early start for two reasons: 1) it would take a long time to cover that distance, and 2) the section I needed to cross is infamous for being baking hot. I felt fortunate that it was still cool that morning and I was ahead of the heat. The wind was still blowing ferociously. I knew I had a few hours before I'd start consuming much water. As it turned out the wind hardly let up all day and it stayed downright cold for most the day as well. There were some places where the trail was quite narrow along the mountainside and the drop precipitous. The blowing wind made it exciting. After the worst of it was over, all I had to think about was how much my feet hurt. There's so many places that hurt that it's become a generalized pain. New hot spots are hard to detect because they have to get pretty bad to be noticed. It's never been like this before on any of the other hikes and I believe it has to do with the shoes mostly. Another pair is in the mail to me even as I write this. I am currently writing from Warner Springs where there is affordable lodging. I took a zero-mile day today to rest and heal up. I hope the change of shoes arrive tomorrow. The other big news is that there's a fire up ahead on the PCT which has closed a section off. There's a strong possibility that I'll have to do a road walk around the closed section but I'm hoping against it. It will bypass a section I'd really like to hike. The rumor is that the fire was started by a careless hiker. There's a few boneheads each year that don't seem to really grasp that fire, desert, and high winds are an explosive combination.

Losing Internet and Heading South

FeralKid — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:43:57 GMT

I'm leaving the VW bus in Yuba City today and making my way south (via friends and public transport) with just my backpack. I'll be standing at the southern part of the trail on Thursday. Needless to say, this is the last internet access I'll have for a while.

Yuba City

FeralKid — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:01:13 GMT

When I woke on the mountain pass I noticed a ski lift across the highway from me. It wasn't visible at night when I'd parked. I don't know the elevation where I stayed but I seemed to go down in elevation rather steeply for many many miles. Crossing Utah and Nevada it had warmed up considerably, but those are dry desert states without much vegetation. When I dropped in elevation out of the California mountains I seemed to drop suddenly into Spring time. The trees were full of vibrant green leaves, and the roadsides were alive with large patches of wild flowers. I made my way to my friend's house in Yuba City just north of Sacramento. Toby and her husband, Allen, have been kind enough to put me up while my start date approaches. Since I got here the day before yesterday I've been taking care of still more details involving this trip - checking e-mail, checking finances, buying last minute equipment, and trying to figure out transportation down to the start of the PCT.

Crossing Nevada

FeralKid — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:00:35 GMT

I still had a long way to go to get to California. I had a hundred plus miles of Utah and 400 miles of Nevada just to get to California. I was in no hurry though and with warmer temps the drive was fairly pleasant. I left the radio on "scan" hoping to find a good radio station. Last year the dust of Burning Man killed my CD player so I've been at the mercy of the air waves. Unfortunately in the unpopulated area of Nevada there's mostly religious and country stations if there's any reception at all. I left the radio on scan for hours listening to just three seconds of each radio station. It became background noise. I'd climb to the top of a mountain pass, going from just 2 stations to maybe 5 or 10! only to drop on the other side and lose them all. I'm used to crossing Nevada since I've done it annually for the past seven years on my way to Burning Man. It was strange to get to the turn-off I'd normally take but continue on I-80 towards Reno instead. The turn-off is in a tiny town called Fernley. Fernley actually made it to the national news last year because of a flood which swamped the town. I crossed over into California and made it past Truckee before I stopped for the night at a rest stop at the top of a mountain pass.

Leaving Colorado

FeralKid — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:00:01 GMT

I finally made it out of Colorado. I fought a head wind for hundreds of miles which slowed the van and killed the gas mileage. At times the head wind slowed me to 40-45 mph when combined with long inclines. When it blew from the side it threatened to lift the camper top. Had that happened it would have torn it from the bus. Fortunately, I noticed it lifting and took measures to better secure it. After heading up Rt 25 from Denver to Cheyenne I turned west again to face the vast open space of Wyoming. It was still winter up there and though it wasn't snowing per se the wind was still driving snow across the road. There was nothing but open rolling empty plains for hundreds of miles. The only notable features were the snow fences which prevented the drifts from migrating onto the highway. Wyoming came and went and I found myself in Utah. Eventually I dropped in elevation out of the snow and wind and down into Salt Lake City. With the warmer temperature and calmer air my mileage increased significantly. The warmer temps also made the VW more comfortable inside. It was 2:00 a.m. before I stopped at a truck stop for the night somewhere between Salt Lake City and the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The Next Big Hike

FeralKid — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:32:42 GMT

It occurred to me just now that when I posted the entry about my backpack I left a huge gap in information about what exactly my next big hike is. On April 24th I'll be starting the Pacific Crest Trail. It runs from Campo, CA on the Mexican border up to Canada. I'll walk every step of the way through CA, OR, and WA. The trail covers 2,600 miles and will take about 5 months. I know what a few of you may be saying - it isn't that far from Mexico to Canada. It isn't that far by road, but the trail is anything but direct. The lowest point on the trail is just over 100 feet at the OR/WA border. The highest point is Forester Gap close to Mt. Whitney at 13,000 and change. if the weather is nice I'll take a little side trip up Whitney. So that's the plan. I'm currently making my way to California in my VW bus to begin this next adventure.

I'm In Louisville

FeralKid — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:22:55 GMT

I'm making my way across the country. Normally I drive like man possessed on my way west. I drive slowly, but I drive for 14-16 hours a day. This time I'm visiting with friends along the way and taking it much easier. I stopped in Akron to see a friend that just had a baby. Now I'm visiting with the Ex in Louisville. This has been a nicer visit than I thought it would be, and I have to admit that I'm reluctant to go. I actually planned on being on the road today but decided that tomorrow is a fine day to leave instead. From here I'm bound for Colorado to visit a friend from my first big hike back in '98.

Farm Sitting

FeralKid — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:42:01 GMT

I'm taking care of my friend's farm for a week. Besides feeding the animals and providing water I have to milk a cow. I've done it before, but not often. This may be TMI, but it's hard as hell to get the stench of "cow" off my hands after I milk her. I can wash my hands 10 times and still smell it.

Fully Loaded and Half Cocked

FeralKid — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:17:07 GMT

I have finally found the right backpack for the next long-distance hike. I loaded it with every bit of gear I need to make sure it would actually all fit. Here's the stats: Base weight: about 21 pounds With food and water: about 37 pounds I'm including 2 quarts of water in this measurement, but there will be many sections where I carry twice that amount or more. At present, the loaded weight is about one quarter of my body weight which is a reasonable amount to carry. As I loose weight the pack weight will creep up to about one third my weight which as a rule of thumb is about the most one should carry. I'm not quite sure how losing fat around my waist means that I should carry less in my pack, but that's the rule of thumb.