2018 So Far
I attempted a through hike of the PCT in April. I prepared (logistics, 15 resupply boxes filled, etc.) and trained and got 767 miles to Mount Whitney but my left shin was killing me and I think I got some mild food poisoning at Kennedy Meadows so I bailed.
It was the adventure of a lifetime and I hope to go back each summer and bang out another 400-500 miles until it is walked.
I kept a relatively detailed daily journal of it and will try at some point to transfer all of it to here for posterity. There is a lot.
One highlight was meeting Bill Cao, a real smartass and a great guy from SF. He gave me my trail name: Stickler. I was correcting his grammar, or something, when he gave it to me. (Even though I had a trail name given to me in Colorado, I really wanted one given to me on the PCT, so I took it when offered.) We hiked about 650 miles together and still keep in touch. I sent him a few of my unused resupply boxes on his successful trip to Canada. I hope we can remain in contact and visit and hike and not let time and distance do its usual damage to friendships.
Once back I needed to work so I applied for and got the job at a local coffee company directing their food program over multiple outlets. A good, low-stress job with nice people and humanity-filled owners. I have three people working under me which isn't that many, but it's a nice number that doesn't make me bolt up in the middle of the night. A free bag of the most expensive coffee in CO each week doesn't piss me off either. $19 for 12 ounces of some esoteric African varietal? That is just fucking nuts.
In other news the Art Institute's new evil corporate overlords decided to shut down 20 of the 30 schools around the country. The Denver campus took a bullet. No more tall-toquing for me.
They really screwed over the students with this move. Most couldn't complete their education before the end date. I don't care about us, the teachers, so much. We can adapt easily. The students will feel the pain most.
Recreationally, Lola and I hiked a 14er together this summer. Mt. Beirstadt. We car-camped at the bottom of Guanella Pass then left early the next morning at 5:30 in the dark to beat the seasonal storms. I had to poop wetly on the way up and didn't have any toilet paper so I did my first ever leaf cleaning. Worked out fine. We were down by about noon. Job well done.
Jason and I took our ADV bikes for an overnight moto-camp around the Rollins Pass-Central City area. We took some trail that I had researched ahead of time and thought they would be do-able. The first day was an easy delight with epic views and very manageable trails/forest roads. A few hours into day two we found ourselves in over our heads...the trail became crazy technical over a few miles. We ended up turning back after we dumped our bikes hard (breaking some easily replaceable/hammerable items) and got rained on. We learned tons and couldn't believe the terrain we were able to handle. A sea-change of improvement since the COBDR the previous year.
On the way back we even got caught in a hail storm. Riding on hail-covered roads? Not as bad as you might think, but I certainly white knuckled it in first and second gear for about 10 miles.
Have done a few other rides with other people too over late summer and early fall. CO aspens and crisp air. Lovely. I love this place. A super base of operations.
It was the adventure of a lifetime and I hope to go back each summer and bang out another 400-500 miles until it is walked.
I kept a relatively detailed daily journal of it and will try at some point to transfer all of it to here for posterity. There is a lot.
One highlight was meeting Bill Cao, a real smartass and a great guy from SF. He gave me my trail name: Stickler. I was correcting his grammar, or something, when he gave it to me. (Even though I had a trail name given to me in Colorado, I really wanted one given to me on the PCT, so I took it when offered.) We hiked about 650 miles together and still keep in touch. I sent him a few of my unused resupply boxes on his successful trip to Canada. I hope we can remain in contact and visit and hike and not let time and distance do its usual damage to friendships.
Once back I needed to work so I applied for and got the job at a local coffee company directing their food program over multiple outlets. A good, low-stress job with nice people and humanity-filled owners. I have three people working under me which isn't that many, but it's a nice number that doesn't make me bolt up in the middle of the night. A free bag of the most expensive coffee in CO each week doesn't piss me off either. $19 for 12 ounces of some esoteric African varietal? That is just fucking nuts.
In other news the Art Institute's new evil corporate overlords decided to shut down 20 of the 30 schools around the country. The Denver campus took a bullet. No more tall-toquing for me.
They really screwed over the students with this move. Most couldn't complete their education before the end date. I don't care about us, the teachers, so much. We can adapt easily. The students will feel the pain most.
Recreationally, Lola and I hiked a 14er together this summer. Mt. Beirstadt. We car-camped at the bottom of Guanella Pass then left early the next morning at 5:30 in the dark to beat the seasonal storms. I had to poop wetly on the way up and didn't have any toilet paper so I did my first ever leaf cleaning. Worked out fine. We were down by about noon. Job well done.
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| 14,060 feet |
Jason and I took our ADV bikes for an overnight moto-camp around the Rollins Pass-Central City area. We took some trail that I had researched ahead of time and thought they would be do-able. The first day was an easy delight with epic views and very manageable trails/forest roads. A few hours into day two we found ourselves in over our heads...the trail became crazy technical over a few miles. We ended up turning back after we dumped our bikes hard (breaking some easily replaceable/hammerable items) and got rained on. We learned tons and couldn't believe the terrain we were able to handle. A sea-change of improvement since the COBDR the previous year.
On the way back we even got caught in a hail storm. Riding on hail-covered roads? Not as bad as you might think, but I certainly white knuckled it in first and second gear for about 10 miles.
Have done a few other rides with other people too over late summer and early fall. CO aspens and crisp air. Lovely. I love this place. A super base of operations.
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