More Research Materials

Lightweight tent, the Contrail from Tarp Tent. It weighs in at 24.5 oz. That doesn't include the trekking pole used to make it stand up. 

My plan is to leave Boise by car on Labor Day and head to Auburn, California where Tyler will drive me and an associate to Yosemite Valley. The following morning the associate and I will begin our hike of the John Muir Trail. That is the plan. As with so many plans this summer, fire is threatening to block our way. We are forging ahead and plans and preparations are continuing apace. But we are keeping our options open, or rather I am keeping our options open. If the park is closed, we will head to the coast. Maybe the Olympic Peninsula or the Lost Coast. A hike will happen. 

Sabbatical Hay Barn

Here I am after moving 12 tons of hay (four on my own and eight with help from local reggae dj Doctor Fresh). 

It sounds very impressive, moving 12 tons of hay, but it was done one bale at a time. Twenty bales makes a ton, roughly. One thing I learned, and I learned it the hard way, is that long pants and long sleeves are a must when stacking hay. It doesn't matter how hot it is. I moved four tons in shorts and for hours after I felt like John McCain during his first year as a POW in Vietnam - like I was covered in thousands of micro cuts.

John Muir

and his trail.

The first two weeks of September will be spent hiking from Yosemite Valley to Mt. Whitney.  These are the shoes that I am going to wear: Altra Lone Peaks.

I am kind of a sucker for "innovations" and the like in the footwear world. Deep down inside I do not believe that high performance shoes are better or will improve my performance. But on the surface I believe it. I like to think that the large toe box, a term I hear runners and other foot fetishists use, will keep my forefoot happy. There is also a strong plastic plate in the sole to protect my foot from rocks.

 
As you can see in the above photograph, the bottom of this fine shoe has what appears to be a human-like footprint to alert other human-likes (and nonhuman-likes alike) to my presence.

The shoe comes equipped with a velcro tab for lightweight running gaiters. The gaiters come in many colors such as tie-die, skull and cross bone, Wild Thang (leopard print), Ballsey (beach balls), Bowling for Dirt and Topo Map. Basically loud and ugly.

But in reality, $20 Walmart shoes work fine. I know this because a friend, Chuckie V, has hiked the Pacific Crest Trail twice on Walmart shoes. For what it's worth, and apparently it's worth a lot, the Altras are made in the US, without slave labor or anything approaching slave labor.

Other items I will need for my research include a lightweight tent like this one, and a camera. I may use a camera I already have but the only small digital camera I have is my phone. I am even considering using film.

Lewis, Twain, Clark, Muir

I am starting to think that my interests are in America(na). Mark Twain, Lewis and Clark, the Sierra Nevada, Ansel Adams, John Muir, Redwood trees.

Here are two more books to add to my library of research materials. I have also been listening to Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose on CD. Ambrose is clearly smitten with Messrs. Lewis and Clark. He writes statements like, "If Lewis and Clark said they heard the sound, you can be sure that it occurred," implying that their words are their bonds. In fact he says that very statement about both explorers more than once. Yet Mr. Ambrose also admits that Lewis lied to the Shoshone among others. 

Whilst looking for books about or by Lewis and or Clark, I stumbled upon a book by a 16 year old boy who attempted to climb Mt. Everest. When I opened the book, the pictured Lewis and Clark Explorer ID card fell out. I disguised the boy as Groucho Marks. There is no evidence that this ID card resembles in any way the cards carried by Lewis or Clark. Neither is there evidence that they carried ID cards.