Posts

Showing posts from May, 2010

change of plans, creek coffee and wine,
codgerspace, and sirius

Image
Sometimes I don’t stop and think. I eventually realized that I could not take the route I had planned north this spring, at least the first 150 miles of it. I was planning to take 5 or 6 weeks to hike the area and the route didn’t take me near any decent grocery stores. For one thing, I would need a cooler to supplement my fridge. I don’t presently have the room for one. There would have also been the additional bulk and pounds of dry supplies. And then there’s water. A week’s supply weighs 112 lbs (2gal/day at 8lbs/gal – water’s a pound a pint). My rig is already overloaded. The Cherokee already gets into the edge of the red zone on mountain grades—not a good thing. Weekly water runs with the Jeep wouldn’t have been a problem and I can get a month out of two 5 gal propane tanks so I wouldn’t be looking for propane. Looks like I might break down next winter and look for used 8 cylinder for more power and a design with more carrying capacity so I can stay off the grid for longer perio

trippin’ and fallin’, solitude, sacaton, sailplane,
and expenses

Image
The first trailhead I camped near was off rt180 on FR196. Had to camp nearly a mile and a half away, however. Really did not need all that warm-up and cool-down hiking between the camping spot and trailhead. It didn’t get any better. I lost track of how many times the trail crossed the stream. Nowhere could I just jump across it since the water was high from the runoff. I had to step from rock to rock and managed to slip only once, thanks to my trusty PVC staff. Years ago, they used to mine up this canyon so whenever I saw an old mine up in the rocks, I climbed up to take a look. Even being careful while off the trail, I fell three times. I used to be able to feel myself falling and make an effort to catch myself. That seems to be a thing of the past. Two of these falls had me down on the ground before I realized I tripped. Not good—ended up with free-flowing leg and thumb cuts. I swear I’m going to die on a hike. Maybe I should start sticking just to the trails. All-in-all a n

5 felines, snow, banshee, desperation, and feet

Image
I worked with Donna in Kanab three summers ago. She stopped at C of R on her way back to St. David, AZ from a line-dance jamboree in Artesia, NM. Donna and her 3 felines have been full-timing for a number of years. Her rig is a bit bigger than mine, I don’t know, maybe a 19 or 20 footer. At the site, we had 5 felines cruising around. Way cool. The site was off in the back with no one else around so the little ones didn’t cause any problem and they all were caught up and brought in each night. I went back to Bisbee for a week towards the end of April. Hit some restaurants and most mornings climbed my 1200 stairs. Took Lynn’s dog, Chica (pit bull/boxer mix), with me 2 mornings. That was a treat. When I lived in Bisbee and had friends visit, I provided them with clear blue skies and warm, sunny weather. One morning towards the end of the week, I took these shots to document the weather Lynn was providing for me. Ya think maybe, she was like telling me to leave town? If you are in