April 2011

This month signals the return of colour; there are only eight black and white pictures.

I’ve built two marginally successful wood burning stoves for backpacking and I bought a summer sleeping bag. We’ve only managed to get out hiking three times, that’s a disappointing 10.5 miles, bringing our year’s hiking tally to 81 miles. We did take the Kayaks out twice (nine miles) bringing our yaking total to a miserly 12.6 miles. We need to try a lot harder in May. I went fishing with Tom twice, and I even caught five bass. I had a hair cut, took wedding pictures, helped out with a youth group lock-in, and laughed hysterically at people’s Facebook comments on the royal wedding.

Plans for May will need to be the same as those for April only more so. We are desperate to get out backpacking, and the yaks need exercise. So lots more hiking and kayaking pictures. We ought to manage at the very least 16 miles hiking. I want to make my Mark III backpacking stove, so some more workshop pictures, or even pictures of a pot of boiling water. Now that would be a good result.

1. Late night stand-by, 2. Sprinky appears to be giving me the ‘evil eye’, 3. Family hike at Busiek state park and wildlife area, 4. Trying out my new sleeping bag, 5. More fun in the workshop, 6. Reconnoitre, 7. My once a week ‘Studying’ picture, 8. Gary and Ginger on a run ashore, 9. Meh, 10. A fairly typical Sunday, 11. Fishing, 12. Running repairs, 13. Laying down in my kayak isn’t too difficult, 14. Hair cut, 15. Batch-loaded, inverted down-draft gassifier wood stove, 16. Beauty and the (out of focus) beast, 17. Gary and Loyal at Christ Episcopal Church, 18. Gary by the Little Sac River, 19. Lunch break and ‘phone call – day hike at Busiek, 20. Late night self portrait at the kitchen table, 21. Slideshow, 22. 2.25am Youth group lock-in, 23. You’ll always find me in the kitchen at lock-ins, 24. Dirty Martini, 25. Easter Eggs, 26. Bedtime, 27. Compressor coupling, 28. Gary and Ginger in ‘Urban Market’, 29. Gary and Ginger watching the running commentary on the Royal Wedding on Facebook, 30. Silliness on the Sac River Trail

Copyright © 2011 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.