We spent 9 days camping at Lake Mead during our Thanksgiving break. During that time I did a 3-day bike tour, a shakedown cruise. I wanted to get familiar with the bike, the touring gear, and the process of integrating day-to-day living from the saddle.
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Sometimes my blog goes silent for long periods of time. That means I am out living. Perhaps I am backpacking, camping, boating, biking, or something else. My outdoor pursuits usually mean I am somewhere that is not connected – no cell phone coverage, no Wi-Fi; nada.
So for most of the past 6 weeks it has been a “time to keep silence.”
Now that I am back at home, I will post some of what I have been up to, over the next few days. Hope everyone had a great holiday season.
A friend of mine asked me to write an article for a magazine about Joshua Tree National Park that would be of interest to owners of tent trailers and small campers. I reluctantly accepted, as I really don’t have time for these kinds of projects — they interfere with my camping and backpacking time. He said I could take a few months to complete it. So I proceeded. In the end, the magazine decided to make it a four part series.
Most women I know have an obsessive fixation on birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. That’s okay, in the proper context, they are good things to celebrate. Most men I know place less significance to these occasions. For the most part, I disdain them, but Joyce and I usually celebrate them with each other in our own way for the right reasons.
Last week Joyce asked what I wanted to do for my birthday. Hmm… backpacking was the first thought, though not communicated. Seeing that I have been home very little the past few months, the more appropriate response was to suggest something we could do together, which normally is camping. Camping is good. So that was my suggestion and it is what we did and it was another great weekend with my wonderful bride.
MAGIC!!
Friday morning I found myself in Tampa, Florida a long way from home.
Thanks to modern technology I left Tampa, Florida in the morning and arrived at our campsite in the afternoon. Sometimes technology is a really, really good thing!
Okay, bear with me in this.
wilderness
Before I discuss trails, we need to talk about wilderness. This is wilderness is spelled with a lower case dubyah. This wilderness is also often referred to, by many people, as wild places; there is no formal definition that is satisfactory.