20 Year Blog Anniversary

Today is my 20 year anniversary of this blog!

I started it at the heydey of personal blogging.  Unfortunately, most blogs of that era have moved to social media such as Facebook, gone commerical or just died off.

Hopefully I will be here for 20 more!

Jaya's Engagement Party Weekend

Jaya and her financee had an awesome engagement party in Tucson where we met his family.  We are very blessed to be a part of their family.

We also got a round of golf in at the country club and had a good visit to the Tucson Military Vehicle Museum.

Verde Valley Jeep Loop

Took a nice jeep ride through some nice country north of us, then looped through Jerome, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Cornville and Camp Verde.  Got coffee and gifts at Stardust Books in Clarkdale; had a nice lunch in Cottonwood at Red Rooster Cafe and got some end tables at Sweet Pea Trading in Camp Verde.  Also scouted out some spots to check out in the future.

View of Cottonwood

Endless views

Leaves changing

Weekend Activities

• Pistol day at the range
• Nice hike in Granite Basin - also saw the SAR folks rescuing a hiker
• Highland Pines pancake breakfast
• Dinner with friends

Rescuer dangling from roe

SAR event

US Hiking v. European Hiking

Over the past 12 year, I have hiked a fair amount, mostly in the Western US.  But my wife and I just completed our second long slackpack in the Alps.  Here are some of the things that are different between US and European hiking:

• The trails in the Alps tend to be steeper and much rockier.  Many are old roads and some are old goat paths but Europeans don't seem to build switchbacks like they do here.
• Bathrooms can be hard to find in the Alps.  Refugios have them but they require a purchase.  There are very few public toilets so take advantage when you encounter one.
• The Alps are covered with refugios so you are always within walking distance of a good meal, glass of wine or coffee.  There are very few comparable examples in the US but places like Muir Trail Ranch come close.
• Since much of the Alps are accesible by car, gondola or chairlift, the trails are usually much more crowded.

Government Shutdown Notices

I saw this on the website for Tonto NF:

Things That Are Better In Europe

Europe has lots of problems but they do some things better than the US:

• Prices are mostly rounded to the nearest Euro
• Prices include taxes
• They tend to use cash more (although this is changing in parts of the US due to high card fees)
• They are less "safety" obssessed - I think this is due to their more sensible tort laws so they don't need as many useless signs
• Food is better and more wholesome - hopefully this is changing here

Southern Oregon 2025

After the SSI Live conference, we explored central and southern Oregon for a few days.

First stop was Newberry National Volcanic Monument.  Here we went to the visitor center and heard a ranger talk about all the volcanic activity, most of it fairly recent.  We drove up to Lava Butte Lookout and walked around the crater.  We also drove to Benham Falls but they were more like rapids.

We then drove to Newberry Caldera.  There we had a nice lunch at the Paulina Lake Lodge.  After that we walked around the Big Obsidian Flow which was pretty amazing.

We then had a long drive down to Crater Lake.  Since it was getting late, we made a quick stop along the west shore to take in the views and then headed south to Jo's Motel in Fort Klamath.  Jo's is a nice motel, RV resort and campground along the Wood River.  They have a nice organice store where we picked up some snacks.  The next day we explored the National Park: Rim Drive, Crater Lake Lodge, Mazama Village, and Watchman observation point.  The boats were already closed for the season and the rim road was closed along the southern edge unfortunately.  Crater Lake is pretty amazing but one day is probably enough.

Jo's Motel

The view from Watchman

Crater Lake

Entering the park

Another view of the lake

Paulina Lake Lodge

Lava Butte overlook

Along the trail to Benham Falls