Reading (For Dummies)

Whose Land Is It, Anyway?

Laura and I took another weekend in the woods, putting a few more high peaks under our belts before we bolt for the West Coast. We hiked in once again through the dreaded Ausable Club. This time was a little bit curious...we got off to a 5:00pm Saturday start on the south loop, planning to hike up the Bear's Paw peak and camp somewhere in the saddle of Bear's Paw and Dial. Reality, of course, decided to make things murky enough for us to break the law again.

Our camp: the top of Dial Mountain

I don't condone camping on the tops of mountains. It's illegal in a lot of ways: camping above 4000' is expressly prohibited in the 'dacks, for example. In our defense, our map showed that all the land that these mountains are on was DEC owned and operated, but the trail markers were that of the AMC. AMC rules prohibit camping anywhere on the trail. Had our maps shown the right thing (or had the trails been marked properly), we probably we wouldn't have taken the view. Also on the plus side, we slept on a rock, didn't use a tent, and so I think our environmental impact of camping was lower here than it would have been in the saddle. Plus, lying awake for a few hours watching the Milky Way turn and shooting stars fly was worth the risk.

We got a 5:30am start and headed to Nippletop, the next mountain in our set.

Laura figuring out what we're looking out from Nippletop. In the background (left to right): Gothics, Armstrong, and the Wolfjaws.

I suppose it goes without saying what was oh-so-good about doing the peaks mentioned above.

We continued on to Colvin, taking a bushwhacking trip to find water on the way (travelling off-trail in the High Peaks is hard work, involving clambering over dead trees, falling through dead trees, and falling off of mossy rocky cliffs. I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart).

Lower Ausable Lake and the Ausable Club from Colvin

Curious thoughts about eminent domain entered my head as I gandered down at the Ausable Club again -- why on earth *is* there a golf course in the middle of a nature preseve again? Alas, it's hard to fight money.

Another three peaks down, Laura and I hiked out Sunday night, to real meals and a real bed. Before we got home, though, we had to finish the scientific portion of the trip: better miles per gallon. To anyone that uses the argument, "hybrids don't get good mileage on the highway," I present a bit of contradictory evidence: the photo below shows our round-trip distance plus total average MPG to and from the Adirondacks (driving on I-90 to Rome, and then to the 'dacks via Route 28/28N).

373 miles at 60.1 MPG is not a bad average through the mountains

Rain or Shiner BASH

Erik and I went to San Antonio to visit Kristen, Jason, and Madeline. And also to ride in the Shiner BASH, a 100 mile pilgrimage from San Antonio, TX to Shiner, TX. Google put the distance at 92.5 miles, though we had to take a secondary route that was just somewhere around 105.

Throughout the ride, we were slammed by thunderstorms. For the most part, they gave a boost -- for about 30 minues, Jason and I were cruising along at close to 30mph, while Erik fly by and was way ahead of us.

Ultimately, Jason suffered a mechanical (okay, I'm letting him off easy, a bad back), and Erik beat me by about 40 minutes (really over an hour, but he waited for me at the rest stops).

Sweet dreams or scary nightmares: Erik gives an Uglydoll to Maddie

The main reason in visiting was the littlest one, though. Madeline Wightman is a sweet babe with a big grin and bright eyes. Perhaps someday she'll be a counter-culture goth queen, or a mathematician, or something even more interesting. Time will tell, and hopefully frequent visits will steer (hehe).

Everything is Bigger in Texas

I headed to Tejas just before a big conference to have a visit with my brothers, sister-in-law, and of course Ms. Madeline Wightman.

I actually went to Austin first, meeting up with Erik to check out the downtown scene.

Of which there is some

We wandered down by the lake and caught a snapping turtle, just like old times, flushed down a stream by heavy rains the night before. We actually walked a ton, considering what lay ahead.

Dead in the Water Now

Where I've been: Suffering from freakish illness

A few weeks ago things started going downhill. I went bike riding on a Sunday and was late for the meetup -- my truck wouldn't start. It was a stressful morning, having something unexpected happen. I tried jumping it, to no avail. I still haven't gotten it running, four weeks later.

A day after the truck incident, I got the good news: I may be moving coasts before too long (some official stuff has to happen before it's dead-certain, but I'm beginning to make plans). I couldn't sleep due to excitement.

Two days later, I got sick. Coughing in the morning until I couldn't breath. A coworker got the same thing, I figured I'd do what he didn't, and took a few days off of work. Three in total, plus the weekend. Monday I went back, but was dead-tired by afternoon. That night, I began coughing up blood...

A trip to the emergency room gave me some medication: Amoxicillin 500mg. I don't recall ever taking antibiotics before, but one thing I was all-too-conscious of was the fact that E. Coli is also gram-positive, which meant that my small intestine couldn't do much for me while I was on the medicine. I'll leave it to the astute reader to consider what a joy this was, simultaneously hacking up wads of something, while squirting wads of something else.

I finally got on the mend over the weekend (last weekend of April), but I've been held back from cycle training for other reasons...

Meet my instructor: Rufus

I took a motorcycle training course. I've been wanting to ride since forever, this weekend clinched it. I was rather glad...the course does cost a little money, but the instructors are super-safe, super-good, and it makes the logistical nightmare that is taking a motorcycle road test in New York a far simpler affair. Now all I have left is a wish for a motorcycle that worked...