Packed and Ready to go – The Bishop’s staff were delivering the second of two training events for new vestry and church leaders this Saturday morning. Like most meetings nowadays, it was on Zoom. I got to be slide master, and we all gave 10-minute talks to introduce ourselves and let the folks know how we can help them. As soon as we’d finished delivering the morning’s training I was ready to get changed and head out of here! Two-minute read.
New work profile picture – It’s time for a new profile picture for work — the old one was taken in 2011, ten years ago. How did that happen?
Snow February 2021 – The snow was really fine and fluffy. Very easy to work with. Though I must confess, Ginger cleared the pathway down the drive. +1
Snowy Feat – I just couldn’t resist giving it a try. Despite it being around 13°F (-10°C) it wasn’t too cold. I ended up spending around 20 minutes outside clearing the snow off the front deck and path.
Snowy backyard with chairs gathered around the fire pit – It got cold. -13°F (-25°C) cold. Yes, we had a couple of short power cuts, but they were a minor inconvenience. Fortunately a week or so before the cold snap we had our furnace replaced with a new high-efficiency model. +1
Cold – Ho hum – It is 0°F (-17°C) outside, and we’ve just been told that there are going to be ‘rolling’ blackouts of 30-60minutes. Yay.
Snow day gear repairs – I’m usually pretty easy on my equipment, but recently I’ve got careless and damaged three items of my backpacking gear. Today I removed my temporary duct tape fixes and applied permanent repairs to my underquilt protector and rain skirt. One-minute read, +5
Any day that starts with bacon has to be good… I start every day with bacon.
Today is a triple espresso + Mountain Dew type of day…
Hike over, back at the trailhead – That’s my hike over, and it’s just before 4:15 p.m. Not bad, and still daylight. I should be home by 5:45 p.m. I completed today’s hike of six-plus miles in a little over three hours. I’ll take that.
Back at the Pole Hollow Cairn – It was too dark on the hike out Friday night for my obligatory Pole Hollow Cairn selfie, so I decided to slip one in on my return hike. +1
Nothing to see here, move on… View? there’s supposed to be a view… +2
All packed up and ready to head home – and it’s only six-and-a-half miles of fairly flat going.
Gear Damage – I tore my under quilt protector when I fell out of my hammock on my last trip. Despite spending half-an-hour looking for the damage at home, I didn’t find it. I’ve now made careful notes of where it is so I can repair it.
Improvised water filtering arrangements – This is what happens when you don’t use a packing list and pack in a hurry. I forgot to pack the 64oz water pouch I use for holding unfiltered water. The pouch screws onto the filter, squeeze it, and you have clean water. Fortunately, my 8oz squeezy washing bottle has the same fittings, so I used that instead.
Hot chocolate to start the day. +1
Camped above ‘Deep Hollow’ – Despite exploring for several miles yesterday, this appears to be the only place near a water source. Oh, and it rained (a lot) overnight.
Settled in for the night – somehow, despite arriving in daylight, I ended up setting up my hammock in the dark (again).
Bearing Tree & Land Survey Monument – Marking a corner of the Hercules Glades Wilderness. +1
Puffy jacket hood malfunction – What can I say? You would think I could dress myself by now. At least I didn’t fall out of my hammock this time.
First hike of 2021 – Camped at ‘Twin Falls Hollow’ – I didn’t start packing my gear until I finished work, and so it was dark when I left home. I started my hike at 7:40 p.m., there was some light from the risen half-moon and the sky was clear. Following the trail was easy, and I kept my headlamp on its lowest setting — which proved to be a mistake when I accidentally took the Cedars Trail in the dark. Two-minute read, +2
So Grammarly tells me it detected a new tone in my writing last week — ‘negative.’ Now I need to get started on ‘sarcastic’ and ‘antagonistic.’
2020 Backpacking Year Summary – My annual total for 2020 was 28 nights, 216 miles, and 20,500 ft of elevation. Not an overly impressive set of figures, but considering the year’s events, not too bad either.
Final trip of 2020 over — Not the most flattering of pictures. A quick summary of my hike out. 1