January 31, 2005
Gone Country
The last time I went cross-country skiing was in Austria. I was bad it, and fell a lot. So somehow I thought it was a good idea to go skiing in the Five Ponds Wilderness for three days, carrying a backpack full of gear.
We came in on Friday night, when it was supposed to be -7 Fahrenheit, and skied a few miles to the Cranberry Lake lean-to/campsite. We slept in tents because of the cold -- a good idea. I woke up a few times in the night shivering from from the lack of solar thermal generation (yeah, my -20 bag wasn't cutting it), and because frost was forming on the breathe hole of the outside of the bag, and ice crystals were falling back in on me and going up my nose. Ah, winter camping. There is nothing quite like it.
We woke up Saturday to perhaps the most beautiful day ever. The sun brightly shone through a cloudless dark-blue sky. A high pressure system had moved in, pushing all our air pollution out to the Atlantic. We didn't roll out until almost noon, a tribute to our sun worship and newfound 20 degree "warmth".
It took us until sunset to reach camp 2, the High Falls lean-to. Only about 4 miles away, it was a unique challenge to get to on skiis because of the terrain. Going up and down narrow rocky trail can be tricky as hell. Especially when carrying a huge backpack on one's back.
We made it, though, and due to the temperature being so much warmer here (+5F!) we slept in the lean-to for the night, promising to get an earlier start on Sunday. We had to, there was about 9 miles of skiing left to tackle on our final day. So up and at 'em we were, to High Rock, then home. Skiing with a backpack is surprisingly warm in the winter, even when the temperature is below zero. I had to strip off most of my clothing, leaving only a polypro undershirt, underwear, and waterproof ski pants on for most of the travelling time.
Another trip accomplished, another pair of slightly sore legs. But I improved at my skiing capabilities a bit, and should be able to do it sufficiently well without a backpack. So long as I close my eyes and pretend I'm on a bicycle, anyway...
| TrackBackPost a comment
Further back...
ArchivesFriends and Family
Search
Previous Trips...
-
Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
![]()
The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated 
by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
![]()
Zodiac
Zodiac touts itself as an 'eco-thriller,' and it is just that. Told from the first-person perspective of ST (or Sangamon Taylor), the book recounts a roughly six-month period of his life busting big corporations for violating environmental laws.
Not the tree-hugging political activist type, ST is equipped with chem labs, scuba divers, maps, and an organization (GEE International, the Group of Environmental Extremists) that masterfully brings the press into the fold to scare the public with the very real dangers posed by illegal dumping. It's sort of a Sierra Club member's wet dream -- a band of ecowarriors that actually get things done.
ST finds something odd happening in Boston Harbor during his tale: a new form of pollution that could poison everyone on the planet in a matter of weeks. His quest to uncover exactly who and what is causing the latest spike in toxins goes all the way up to the President of the United States, and could end up costing him his own life.
While a neat and fast-paced tale, the novel drags on a bit toward the end, begging disbelief from even the most forgiving sci-fi folk. While not as good as his latest offerings, it's still a great read for those that enjoy a good Stephenson novel (or even those who don't).
Rated 
by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
![]()
Cat's Cradle
A few years ago, I attempted to woo an online datee, and she immediately criticized me for my politics. I protested the war on Iraq, which was "a shame." She defended her position of complete noninvolvement by standing behind Vonnegut.
It may seem odd to open a review that way. My assumption is now not that she was an idiot, but that she had only read Cat's Cradle, and only with a rather odd viewpoint.
Cat's Cradle looks at a cold-war world where the personifications of religious, political, and scientific single-mindedness collide to destroy the world.
Vonnegut tells a masterful tale, but it makes me wonder what one person's indifference would do to prevent us from all dying? So for now I will continue to unblindly stop unjust wars, even while I'm only reading.
Rated by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005