Monthly Archives: February 2016

Dispatches from the Home Front

General Talk

It is said that when you retire you have to keep busy if you want to live long. Well, with all the work I’ve been doing, I’ll live to be 150 years old! We have a lot of deferred maintenance and much to remodel. Last month I wrote about our Home Energy Upgrade improvements.

Here are some of the other things we are making progress on. To be honest, the improvements are cutting into my camping and backpacking time, but since Joyce is still working, it’s okay. I need to get everything finished so she can retire too and we can finally play full time.

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What Should We Do With Our Federal Lands?

General Talk

mr magoo looking at mirror

Many people want to turn over all our Federal lands to the states. These people are as shortsighted as Mr. Magoo. I wrote about this danger last year in A Call to Action, that I recommend you read since it is now being discussed by some of our Presidential candidates. No need for me to retake it here.

In this article “Ted Cruz vows to sell-off or give away the state’s national parks, national forests, national monuments, and other public lands.” The article goes on to say that of the Republican hopefuls, only Donald Trump and Jeb Bush are against transferring our Federal Lands to the states. Bush is now out of the race, so at first thought, Trump would be the only acceptable Republican candidate to the millions of Americans who support setting aside and protecting our wild lands.

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Best Backpacking Watch to Protect You From the Impending Climate Change Apocalypse

Backpacking Gear, ,

You may have read about my preference for the inexpensive Timex Expedition as my go to backpacking watch.

image
The Timex Expedition is the watch on the far right.

It occurred to me recently that my Timex won’t survive the impending climate change global melt-down, so a gear search was in order, because I know the Government supported climate scientists, who get more and more money proportional to how bad a picture they can paint about climate change can’t be wrong. And in the tradition of the new wave of modern technology focused backpackers, I want gear that will survive the Apocalypse, even if I will be vaporized in a mere nano second. Gear must survive, even if I don’t.

I found the watch I need! The HM6 ‘Space Pirate’ watch from MB&F. What initially drew me to this particular watch is the retractable shield that protects the watch from copious amounts of severe UV radiation.

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Trump vs. The Pope

What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

In My Thoughts on the Presidential Race I concluded that we do not have a single acceptable candidate in either party. But the race does have one redeeming value, since I no longer have cable TV, the campaign has become more entertaining than the Comedy Channel.

So today the Pope said (or inferred) that The Donald can’t be a Christian because he wants to build a security wall along our southern border.

My first thought and something I would want to ask the Pope is,

image

“Dude, what’s’ that big thing surrounding the Vatican?”

Dear Reader, in case you don’t know what the picture above is, it’s the BIG frickin’ security wall that surrounds the Vatican and it is probably at least twice as tall as what The Donald wants to build along our border.

 

why i HATE trip reports

Backpacking, ,

Okay, I’m really pissed off.

I have pontificated here many times about finding and keeping secret places secret. In that article I mentioned that one of the places I have hiked to many times and never, ever disclosed how to get there is Carey’s Castle in Joshua Tree National Park. In that post I chastised a unethical author who included directions to this site in a trail guide. That author is an asshole. And worse than this author is the prick who posted GPS tracks to Carey’s Castle. Most hikers don’t have the skill to locate Carey’s Castle on their own, which is why directions to the site should never have been published – ever!

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Carey’s Castle

On Monday of this week, Joshua Tree National Park closed the area containing Carey’s Castle and his abandoned mine.

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Another Day in Paradise

General Talk
San Jacinto Sunset
Sitting in our backyard watching the sun set behind the San Jacinto Mountains.

This weekend I thought we were going camping, but instead I had to deal with some irrigation problems and then do our income tax return. All in all a good weekend. When you’re retired you don’t feel guilty about 4 hour “work days.” This evening we sat in our backyard and watched the sun set behind the San Jacinto Mountains. Once it got dark, I checked the temperature – a balmy 79 F. Much better than what I had been dealing with the past three winters.

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Air Force One in Palm Springs

General Talk

“Salute the rank, not the man.”

Maj. Richard Winters

Band of Brothers

Today Joyce wanted us to have lunch together and watch President Obama land at the Palm Springs Airport, which is only a couple miles from our house.

The President’s views on just about everything and mine are diametrically opposed, just about 100% of the time. But I learned in the military that you respect the rank and he is our Commander in Chief. Given that, it was exciting to watch Air Force One land. Besides, it dismissed me from the Honey Do List, and I couldn’t go hiking on the trails leading out of Palm Springs into the San Jacinto Mountains… the Police shut down access for security reasons. Too bad I don’t have a camera with a large telephoto lens.

Landing with the Santa Rosa Mountains in the background
Air Force One
San Jacinto Mountains in the background
Air Force One
Mount San Gorgonio and the San Bernardino Mountains in the background

 

Backpacking Wallet – you’re kidding right?

Backpacking Gear

Tonight I was reading a couple blogs via Bloglovin, and I see this raffle for an Ultralight Cuben Fiber Hiker’s Wallet. What the Hell? So I check it out. Holds 6 credit cards, 2 hidden compartments, and a billfold compartment. Oh, and it costs $35. Of course someone will get a free one in the raffle. Not me, it’s silly. It does weigh only 22 grams.

When I am backpacking I bring my Driver’s license, one credit card, my California Fire Permit, and some cash. I put it into a little sack that weighs 3 grams. I like it because it has a little draw string to keep the contents secure.

Wallet

Edit: After I posted this, it dawned on my that I had read a similar post somewhere and the author uses a Ziplock bag, which is just about free. There is only one person with this kind of common sense – pmags. So a quick search found this post last year extolling the Ziplock wallet. A Ziplock bag this size weigh around 6 grams. Elegant solution.