San Gorgonio Wilderness Backpack

With the family gone, I decided to make up for some canceled trips and head up to San Gorgonio.  I decided on a one-nighter along the Vivian Creek trail and was able to secure a permit for Friday night camping at High Creek.  I got to the trailhead around 2:00p and was hiking at 2:30p.  After a bit of a crummy road walk and crossing Mill Creek, I hit one of the steepest trails I have ever hiked.  The next mile was tough going up to Vivian Creek camp.  After that, the trail leveled out somewhat for a 4 mile steady climb past Halfway Camp to High Trail Camp which I made in 2.5 hours.  At High Creek, I stopped for a snack and chatted with volunteer Ranger Dan who was very helpful.  Since I was ahead of schedule, I decided to head up to the summit to camp for the night.  About halfway up the hike to the ridge crest, I started getting nauseous.  I know I suffer from altitude sickness but hoped this would just be a mild case and hiked on.  After making the ridge and seeing the Choachella Valley below, I knew I couldn't continue; the nausea, headache and fatigue were too much.  After a short break, I headed back down to High Creek.  I wanted to tell Ranger Dan my change of plans since he signed off on my permit change.  I quickly set up camp, washed up and lied down to recover.  The night was restless and had a few sprinkles to make me get a bit nervous about cowboy camping.  In the morning, I decided not to tempt fate again and quickly descended down the mountain.  I got the trailhead in 1.5 hours, put on some fresh clothes and headed home with a quick stop at the Elkhorn General Store for a much needed cup of coffee.  Overall, the hike was great, weather was great, altitude sickness not so much.  I intend to go again but will not try to go above 10,000 feet on the first day.

Camp Osten 2014

My nephew Gabe was in town for the 2014 installment of Camp Osten.

• Encinitas Junior Lifeguards
• July 4th at Grandma's and altered fireworks
• Hike San Juan loop trail in OC (loved the Candy Store!)

Books

With some good book reading time due to recent long plane rides, I got through a good batch of books.

• Elements of Jazz: From Cakewalk to Fusion by Bill Messenger  - I have found myself listening to jazz more and more but didn't know anything about; this course helped by decipher the different styles of jazz
• Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson- a great book on one of the most influential periods of history that has left a profound impact on us to this day; less a biography of T. E. Lawrence and more blow-by-blow narrative of the all different threads weaving their way in WWI middle east - fascinating
• Ultralight Survival Kit by Jason Lichter - wonderful little encyclopaedia of knowledge for ultralight backpacking, although not for beginners
• Firestorm (Anna Pigeon) by Nevada Barr- A nice adventure mystery set in Lassen NP
• Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II by Robert Leckie- interesting narrative of the Okinawa campaign in Leckie's unique style
• Code To Zero by Ken Follett - I liked the 50's space race setting for this thriller
• Hornet Flight by Ken Follett - based on a true story, some parts were very predictable
• The Paleo Slow Cooker: Healthy, Gluten-free Meals the Easy Way by Arsy Vartanian - yet another book on paleo recipes
• Basic Training for Dummies by Rod Powers - not sure why I got this, just seemed interesting
• Long 19th Century: European History from 1789 to 1917 by Robert I. Weiner - great topic and material but the lectures are hard to follow; the library didn't have part 3 so I only got through 2/3'rds of it

Inaugural Family Backpack

In order to get the family more involved in my current passion, backpacking, I arranged a short intro trip to Arroyo Seco in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.  We drove up on Friday afternoon stopping at Diego's Taco Shop in Alpine for a quick dinner (good food, by the way).  We got to Green Valley around 6:30p, registered at the entry station and parked at the picnic area.  It was a quick but vigorous hike uphill for the 1.5 miles to camp.  The pump is broken at Arroyo Seco so we all carried extra water.  After getting to camp, we setup tents, tarps and bedrolls (for us cowboy campers).  We talked and laughed for a while as dusk settled in.  It is amazing how kids react in the wild!  The night started out very pleasant with millions of starts.  It ended up getting very windy however.  The morning started warn so we quickly packed up and headed back down to the car.  It was a short trip but a very good harbinger of things to come.

Mt. Laguna Camping

With only a week off, T774 had its last event of the season, a car camp in the Laguna Mountains.  We had a group camp and it was very nice, with tables and a fire ring.  In the morning, we did a fabulous 5.5 mile hike on the Big Laguna Trail.  This trip was our pioneering campout so after lunch we all built a tower from all the staves we had brought up.  It was bit shaky at first but some redone lashings made it solid enough for the scouts to climb it.  The day was pretty warm but tolerable.  Coming back Sunday, it was my first time hauling the trailer.  It was a bit low and bumped the ground a couple times; I will have to get a higher ball for next time.

Bengt's Bakery

Bengt has been fascinated by the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado.  Last night he was contemplating possible names for a hypothetical shop.  My favorites were "Bengt's Bakery" and "Gabe's Grass".

Jo's Birthday Activities

• Dinner at Thai Society, our favorite restaurant.
• Family exercised our new Balboa Park Explorer passes and saw exhibits at the Fleet Science Museum, Museum of Man and MOPA.  Had a great lunch at the SDMA cafe.
• Hiked Rancho Penasquitos Canyon to the waterfall and back.  It was a bit warm but still a very nice hike.  No rattlesnakes this time and Sophie didn't fall into the creek.

• Dog took naps

Afghanistan in the rear-view mirror (looking forward)

Interesting take on the legacy of the international mission in Afghanistan.

T774 Backpacking Trek

T774 headed on our spring backpack as a tune-up for our summer Sierra trek.  The original idea was to do San Jacinto but that fell through due to lack of permits.  We chose to return to the Mt. Laguna to Cuyamaca route we did last year.  Starting from Penny Pines trailhead, we heading east on the Noble Canyon trail.  With some shade, the trail was quite pleasant.  However, as we went a bit lower and left the pines, it got quite hot and sunny.  Indian Creek was damp but had no surface water near the trail.  The last uphill section into Cuyamaca Rancho State Park was tough as we were beat from the heat.  It was great getting into camp at Granite Springs as we were low on water and needed dinner!
The next morning, Raymond, the unofficial troop dog, had sore paws and wasn't up for walking much.  He made the first mile along the East Mesa Fire Road.  We then fashioned a stretcher from two pairs of trekking poles and our dining tarp.  The dog was luxurious carried the next 4 miles to Hwy 79.  After Ray was taking home and some shuttling to get the cars back from Penny Pines, we had a long break at the picnic area.  In late afternoon, we headed up the trail to Arroyo Seco camp.  The camp was dry so we carried some extra water; good thing it was only 1.5 miles.  After making camp among the meadow and having another tasty dinner, we had an early night.  Arroyo Seco was a bit buggy and I had a few bites; lots of ants as well.
Early the next morning, we broke camp and heading back to the Green Valley parking lot and home.  Can't wait for the next trip!

Weekend Activities

• Long walks around Encinitas

 

• Awesome dinner party with scouting friends

Dixon Lake Camping

T774 went up to Dixon Lake for a great weekend camping.  It was a perfect venue to get teach some skills to the new scouts.  There was fishing, wood tools, knots, lashings, first aid, cooking and all sorts of stuff.  The weather was a bit hot, but tolerable due some shady spots in the site.  Nights were perfectly cool with awesome views overlooking Escondido.

Books, Videos and Audios

Some more books, etc...

• Understanding Greek and Roman Technology: From Catapult to the Pantheon by Stephen Ressler- a fabulous lecture series on engineering; a must see if you are interesting in architecture, design or construction
• Understanding the World's Great Structures by Stephen Ressler - a deep dive into structural engineering; learn how buildings work
• The Skeptics Guide to US History by Mark A. Stoler - very interesting contrast to "Lessons of History"
• Skepticism 101: How to Think like a Scientist by Michael Shermer  - great course on critical thinking, I especially enjoyed the lectures on UFO's
• The Trail Life: How I Loved It, Hated It, and Learned From It by Julie Urbanski - one of many good books on the PCT
• Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire by Brendan Simms - too big and too British - a good history but it was just too much for me now
• Cardiff-by-the-Sea by Wehtahnah Tucker and Guy Bujkovsky- great pictures of Cardiff
• Lighthouses of San Diego by Kim Fahlen and Karen Scanlon- covers the 3 lighthouses in SD county; I like the Ballast Point one best
• The Myth of the Great War by John Mosier- a very different take on the Western Front; essentially states that the Germans were in near total control of the west until the AEF arrived.
• Europe's Last Summer by David Fromkin- a blow-by-blow account of the days leading up to the start of WWI.  Somewhat monotonous at times but squarely puts the blame on the Germans and Austrians, specifically their respective foreign ministers.
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown- re-read
• Let Me Off at the Top: My Life and Other Musings by Ron Burgundy- a book just like the movies, pretty funny at times
• Creme Brulee by Lou Seibert Pappas- tasty recipes
• The Men who United the States: America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible by Simon Winchestor- only got through the first few chapters but will finish this interesting book soon
  

Mt. Woodson Dayhike

T774 hit Mt. Woodson for a nice day hike.  Great day and great pix of Potato Chip Rock.

DOS source code

The Computer History Museum has the DOS source code.  I wonder how fast that would run on a new computer.  Probably has very few vulnerabilities.

Weekend Activities

• I missed the T774 event at Paso Picacho, but I went up on Friday to reserve spots.  While I was up there, I bagged Stonewall Peak.  Great hike!
• I missed the scout event since I was at work.  At least it wasn't snowing.
• Got to finally walk by dog and enjoyed the awesome Encinitas weather.

Weekend Activities

• Dog walk along the tracks with lizards, squirrels and snakes
• Awesome family hike up Cowles Mt.
• Wine tasting at Solterra
• Family movie night

Joshua Tree Climbing

Troop and Crew 774 (including Jaya) had its January event at Joshua Tree National Park.  We had done the climbing merit badge in December at Solid Rock so we wanted to get out for the real thing!
The drive up is long but all highway.  There was some rain along the 10 that made me nervous but we had blue skies the entire time.
Our camp sites at Indian Cove were right up against the rocks.  We had some climbing instructors along that brought the equipment.  They put up the ropes in the morning so the kids could get going right away.
After climbing, the instructors took everyone to a cave.  I did not go but everyone loved it and it was the highlight of the trip.  The few of us who stayed went on a hike along a nature trail.
This was the first trip for our new Alps Mountaineering family tent.  It was a breeze to setup and worked great.
We are definitely going to Joshua Tree again!

Books

I haven't posted my reading list lately, but not for lack of reading...
* The Settlers of Catan by Rebecca Gable - an intriguing fiction based on the game; it took me a while to figure out the robbers
* Wisdom of History by J. Rufus Fears - interesting to see how history repeats itself, even todays
* The Golden Shore: California's Love Affair with the Sea  by David Helvarg - although one-sided at times, still a good read about California's best asset, its coast
* Emeril at the G'rill: A Cookbook for All Seasons by Emeril Lagasse - some good recipes but most call Emeril's spices
* Sunday Soup: A Year's Worth of Mouth-Watering, Easy-to-Make Recipes by Betty Rosbottom - some very nice soups
* Ready, Fire, Aim: Zero to 00 Million in No Time Flat (Agora Series) (audio) - by Michael Masterson - similar to the lean startup movement but a bit broader in scope
* Two Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana - timeless classic of California two hundred years ago
* U.S. Military History For Dummies by John C. McManus - quick summary of our long military history
* Inferno by Dan Brown - Dan's Brown latest is not as good as Da Vinci Code but much better than Lost Symbol
* State of Change, A: Forgotten Landscapes of California by Laura Cunningham - compelling book comparing the natural history of ancient California with today; fabulous artwork
* History Decoded: The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time by Brad Meltzer - more of a transcript of a TV show rather a standalone volume; some interesting stuff especially on the JFK assassination
* A Storm in Flanders: The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918: Tragedy and Triumph on the Western Front by Winston Groom - interesting book on the Flanders Front from the author of Forrest Gump; hopefully I can get out to Ypres during my travels to Belgium
* The Italians Before Italy by Kenneth R. Bartlett - great history of Italy prior to unification
* The Emperor's Tomb (with bonus short story The Balkan Escape): A Novel by Steve Berry - somewhat incredulious adventure tail
* Native American History For Dummies by Dorothy Lippert and Stephen J. Spignesi - a bit too much commentary and not enough history
* The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook: Delicious Recipes and Entertaining Ideas Using Only Foods and Drinks from the World’s Greatest Grocery Store by Cherie Mercer Twohy - some great recipes for our holiday parties
* Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan - interesting history of Jesus and his time; Ehrlman is somewhat easier to follow though

Computer Memory Lane

PC Mag has a great trip down computer memory lane.

Weekend Activities

Got back in town from the reunion cruise and had a nice San Diego weekend.

• Moonlight beach time
• Dog walk to Swami's and J Street - saw some whales
• Wandered Old Town for Jaya's school project
• Hiked Torrey Pines to Razor Point and Yucca Point