Deer Camp

It got a little bitter in camp Saturday night, but the Old Man built a good fire and that made all the difference. Sunday we spent a lot of time hiking our rifles and packs throughout the mountains to no avail. I had an additional doe tag for the area and found myself saying do I really want to shoot one of those up here? Seemed like too much work for that. I passed. The below elk story set the tone for this year's season for us. Never saw a cow for the little guy. We spent a lot of time learning how to read maps and use the compass and gps units.

At some point it will be ski season, right? I'm getting antsy for some skiing. The fires really went to town in one area we spent some time in West of town. This area had also been pretty heavily logged. I could not help but wonder how the erosion might impact the stream below. Seedlings are beginning to slowly emerge.

Ponderosa

We got up early Saturday morning and drove to a favorite spot of mine, where I've had some success in the past. It's about two hours away. I chained up the front end and we started up the mountain. Since I've gotten older, I've begun to realize it's worth the brief effort to chain up the front end. LR had his pack and was using one of my old .270s. We finally got to a designated walk in only area. There was one truck there. When we were part of the hike in, a young couple were coming out and did not say much. We heard little shooting in the area also. I was pretty happy, we were going to have the place to ourselves! Maybe 15 minutes later, a guy came hiking up the same road right behind and then through us. He stopped briefly and visited. "There are four more guys coming in behind me at different intervals. We are going to GPS the area." What? He said he was from North Dakota and had a four other family members with him. I somehow contained myself and rather than walk out the road to where I was going, I decided to head up on the ridge right then. We went up the ridge off of the road and stopped briefly to count the men walking by below. One, two following and then more probably. After two, I waived to him and we started up for good. Then, "bam bam." Two shots from one of the two. I knew what that meant. I groaned and we hunted the rest of the day seeing nothing. We did a large loop back down to the upper end of the section, walking the same road back to the truck. Coming back at dark, I heard something coming back down the road towards us. Two North Dakotans with toy plastic sleds. "It was a five point. Just after we saw you!" One of them said. "If you see my brother at the truck tell him to hurry up and get his ass over here to help us. At first I thought they were mule deer, but then I realized they were two large bulls. I killed the first one with two shots." LR was a good man today, hiking a long way and learning lots. There are still many Ponderosa in the forest.

Plodding Along

Still trying to keep it together health wise during big game season. Not too sure my wife likes me getting up at 04.30 though. I was pretty excited to see my file after this morning's workout and then when I pulled it up, during a 300 watt five minute press at half way point, the thing bombed out? Maybe slipped? Pretty funny. Maybe I was really on an abrupt downhill that I was dreaming my way through or something? Liking Swingfly (Somethings Got Me Started, etc...though not into rap) and Silvertone Pickups in the morning. Makes these silly things bearable.

Back to Metal

I decided to pull the cracked carbon handlebar off of the Big Sur this week (thanks Dan!) and I went back to what was originally on the bike, a metal bar. This should be good news on the descents, encouraging more confidence. So, I guess I'm not a fan of carbon handlebars. I am a fan of the Continental Mountain King tubeless tires. The tires preformed really well in my marathons in '09 and I will be using them again next year for sure.

I took a long hike yesterday to the Wisherd Ridge area with a large pack and my rifle. There still is not much snow up there. I now know why my friend rides his snowmobile up and then skis! It's a bit of a hike, and if driving (which one can do to near the lower end) chains are recommended. Last Sunday, the 8th, another bud said he spent a large part of the day shoveling his parent's driveway in Bridger Canyon, which had two feet of snow in it! It would be nice if we could get some of that!

I'm trying to figure out the 2010 season. Looking at the schedules and trying to figure out a blend of cross country and marathons so I can race with the LRs too. Lots to choose from next year. Looking forward to it.

PS: Congratulations to our friend Manny on his win at La Ruta!

Whaler's Logs

Lahaina (formally Hawai'i's capitol) had an excellent Whalers Museum that I spent some time in with the LR's while in the area one day. The museum outlines the fascinating history of the whaling industry during the 19th century. I also bring this up because a lot of my friends keep logs. During the mid 1800s, the whalers dominated this region prior to the advent of electricity and their sailor's kept extensive and elaborate logs. The whales were in trouble, however. Electricity saved them. The log books contained many symbols.

I keep contemporaneous electronic logs at work. I keep a log of miles in the Toyo. I keep an electronic workout log and I maintain a log of my travels and adventures in written tablet form. It is nice to fall back into the past through logs, particularly remembering lessons and mistakes and also recalling the good times.

The sailor's had tough lives and recorded most things. We had good fortune while in Maui as the whales were down early this year. We saw numerous spouts and one nice humpback rise while on we were on a catamaran sailing and snorkeling. Beautiful animals, whales. The green sea turtles were abundant at the turtle reef (Turtle Town) and I took a few underwater shots. These guys too are back from the brink, over harvested and only just recently removed from the endangered species list to threatened in this area.

Sunset

A.W.O.L. Sheephead

Pa'iloa & Haleakala Region

Pa'iloa and Haleakaka Region:

A lone fisherman above at Pa'iloa. Below is in the Haleakala National Park.

Below is Maui's black volcanic beach at Pa'iola.

Dropping In (to Maui)

"Off the Grid."

Tremper's Work

Max (Brighton, SLC, my go to bud) said read (and understand) this work and we are set. So, time to prepare for some fun! Well, at some point anyway.

Tremper has done a very thorough job on the subject of avalanche safety. We'll be going back to this resource often.