Adventure Grids

So I after a long night of rigorous studying of things like pharmacology and skin assesments I decided to take a few moments to look through the new edition of Backpacker Magazine.

I flipped through the pages, thouroughly enjoying myself, when I at last got to one of my favorite sections: the "Adventure Grid". This is where Backpacker Magazine creatively plots something onto a nice grid. I love this section because I am a nerd... and I love the collision between the hiking world and math world. This week's Adventure Grid was called, "Things that Kill: What should you worry about on your next hike? Here is a handy analysis"

On the Vertical Axis was a scale from most dangerous to least dangerous. On the horizontal axis was a scale from most likely to least likely. Need an example? "Falling" scored a 13 out of 13 for most dangerous and most likely because, "its the leading cause of deaths in the mountains." Wolves on the other hand get a 13 for least likely and a 13 for least dangerous because they almost never attack humans.

I was enjoying the grid as usual, when I saw something that literally made me laugh out loud. Tucked in scoring a 12 out of 13 for least likely and a 9 out of 13 for most dangerous was none other than FALLING TREES!

If you are wondering why I think this is funny, its because this has happened to me. This past August in the Adirondacks we were at our last campsite of our 3 day backpacking trip when this theoretically unlikely event happened to us.  Our neighbor was showing us (enthusiastically) his cool Hennessy Hammock... Alex, Tim, Kari, and I were politely listening to him. He then demonstrated how to get into the hammock. He jumped in, saying "don't worry, you will not fall!" and all of a sudden we heard a huge snap and the sizable tree it was attached to came crashing down toward us.

My friend Kari and I got hit dead on. I ended up with a nasty bruise on my leg and she got a nice goose egg on her forehead. We spent the rest of the night in shock after it happened. The nights conversations consisted of us sitting around saying things like, "can you believe that really just happened to us?" or "That could have been so bad!"

We were counting our blessings when we got to walk away relatively unscathed. And I loved recalling the adventure tonight as I was reading the "Adventure Grid"

And now it's quite the conversations starter.

"hey, how was your summer?"
"It was great, I got hit in the head by a tree"

Kari and I with the tree we will never forget

Also from the Happiness Project

"According to current research, in the determination of a person's level of happiness, genetics accounts for about 50 percent; life circumstances, such as age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, income, health, occupation, and religious affiliation, account for about 10 to 20 percent; and the remainder is a product  of how a person thinks or acts. In other words, people have an inborn disposition that's set within a certain range, but they can boost themselves to the top of their happiness range or push themselves down to the bottom of their happiness range by their actions. This finding confirmed my own life observations. It seems obvious that some people are more ebullient or melancholic than others and that, at the same time, people's decisions about how to live their lives also affect their happiness"
~The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

So having a complaining attitude or a negative outlook does more to influence your level of happiness than the things happening in your life. Its less what happens to you and more how you interpret it and how you choose to act because of it. That's powerful stuff if you think about it.

I'm currently babysitting a 10 year old boy. Some of the stuff he does drives me crazy. He is slow getting out the door. He always loses stuff and then asks me to find it for him. He hates going to bed. He burps at the table.

Yesterday morning I was really frustrated, he was definitely affecting my level of happiness. But when I stop to think about it, nothing he was doing was going to cause a global apocalypse. He was just moving slowly and I was just taking myself to seriously. I was taking his actions personally. I choose to look at it a certain way, and then my actions ended up being those based on unhappiness. In fact, if I sat back and thought about it, some of the stuff he is doing is really funny. Nothing he was doing was malicious. I could have still gotten him on the bus in time without getting myself frustrated.

Next time, I hope I'll be able to stop and think- after all, attitude is a choice.

Pre-Goal-Attainment Positive Affect

I'm currently at Carrie Starr's House while she and her husband are in India on a missions trip. I am resident mom for her three kids too. On monday I found a book that looked really interesting called "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. I started reading it and am already a third of the way through cause I love it so much. She is a great writer, very funny and informative and insightful.

In the book she dedicates a year to making herself more happy (not that she is depressed, she just wants to systematically learn how to enjoy life more, so that the years don't slip away from her). She reads a lot and does a lot of research, and the most interesting parts she includes in her narrative.

I love the book and highly recommend it.

But this one section I was reading really made me think about my own goals and journey. Here is a quote about working towards a goal:

"You look forward to reaching these destinations, but once you've reached them they bring emotions other than sheer happiness... there is always another hill to climb. The challenge therefore is to take pleasure in the "atmosphere of growth,"  in the gradual progress made toward a goal, in the present. The unpoetic name for this very powerful source of happiness is "pre-goal-attainment positive affect... the arrival fallacy doesn't mean that pursuing goals isn't a route to happiness. To the contrary The goal is necessary, just as is the process toward the goal"

I agree with Muir...

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

~John Muir

John Muir

I am realizing more and more how much I really like this man. 

John Muir was a conservationist who is considered to be the Father of the National Parks. 

He loved nature and he saw where America was going, he knew we were in danger of destroying every beautiful wilderness in our country- so he fought to protect it.

I love this one quote of his..."Not blind opposition to progress,but opposition to blind progress"

He wasn't against us moving forward and developing lands and becoming a prosperous industrialized nation. He was against doing things without pondering consequences.

Muir was an incredible man, he excelled in everything he tried his hand at. He was a business man, politician, naturalist and writer. And he used all of those talents to have a big impact on our nation. He was passionate and put his passion to use.

Muir had his quirks. If you met him, you probably would have thought he was a bit strange. He would spend days at a time wandering the wilderness and staring at flowers and talking to rocks. He believed that God could best be seen in nature. At his core, he believed that in the dichotomy between nature and civilization, nature is superior.

Muir and Roosevelt in Yosemite Valley

Muir as seen on the California State Quater

The History of Ultimate Frisbee

By popular demand, I will be doing a post on the history and subculture of Ultimate Frisbee (and by "popular demand" I mean that one person mentioned once that I should do it... I obviously don't need much convincing)

Frisbee's were first conceptualized by college students throwing around upside-down pie tins from their college dining service (that happened to be made by Frisbe Pie Co.). Subsequently, the college students started calling their new toys "Frisbe."

Frank Morrison made a plastic version in 1958 that he sold to Wham-o Toy Company (also makers of the slip-n-slide). He originally wanted it to be called the Flying Saucer... but Wham-o used "Frisbee" instead. Changing the spelling for Copyright reasons. As Frisbees became more popular, it became the sport of choice for hippies in the 60s because of their newness and the chill way they flew through the air.

Ultimate Frisbee was  invented by a charismatic high schooler named Joe Silver in 1968. Ironically, he mostly made it up and popularized it in his school as a spoof for the School news paper to write about in the sports section. He called it "ultimate frisbee" because it was a blend of so many sports, and he made a pamphlet with the rules. As frisbee became popular in Columbia high school they started challenging other schools. As those kids graduated, they brought the sport to their respective colleges. By 1975, the rules of Ultimate were included in every Wham-o frisbee and the game spread like wildfire.


IN 1979, the UPA or Ultimate Players Association was formed. Fun Fact: you are not supposed to call the Sport Ultimate Frisbee anymore, just Ultimate, because of the Copyright that Wham-o has on the word Frisbee. In fact, UPA does not use Wham-o disks for tournaments anymore, they use DisCraft. Serious players will actually pick on you if you bring a Wham-o disk to a tournament. The UPA created an official rulebook and has set up leagues at all different levels in the United States.

What sets Ultimate apart is the "Spirit of the Game" clause of the rules. Ultimate doesn't have any referees, even at the higher levels. Players call their own fouls. Essentially, Spirit of the Game emphasizes Coolness, Camaraderie, and fair play over winning.

Ultimate is now a legitimate sport with alternative roots... resulting in some quirky idiosyncrasies. The best way for me to describe this is to tell a quick tale. My team was once beat at a Halloween tournament by a team from RIT that was playing in old prom dresses, singing songs, and drinking beer like Gatorade on the sideline. They weren't disrespecting us and they were certainly taking the game seriously. They were excellent players, but they came with all the oddities of an Ultimate Team.

Dark Night of the Soul: Wrap Up

In Bristol Hills... Pointing to Hill we were Hiking From

What is the moral of this story? Why did I tell you these depressing stories? There is a point, I promise.
Actually, I have three points:

1. I still love Frisbee and I still love hiking.

• Having a bad experience with something doesn't mean you have to give up on it. In fact, if you do something long enough with enough regularity you are bound to have a couple bad experiences here and there along the journey. If you love traveling and you travel enough you will eventually have a trip where absolutely everything seems to go wrong. If you push through, it will only add to your story and to the adventure. When I had my "dark night of the soul" moment, I some how listened to the voices in my head saying that these moments would permanently ruin my hobbies by shattering my mental ideal that I loved them in all circumstances. It doesn't have to be that way. You can take the good with the bad, learn from the bad, and continue happily along.

2. I ended up loving both Bristol Hills and The Roberts Tournament.

• You're probably wondering how this is possible considering that I spent two posts complaining about these two events. Yet, when I look back at the past semester, they are two of my favorite memories. When you push through those moments, it is possibles to readjust and have a good time. The sun ended up coming up during the tournament and the rain stopped. We bonded so much with each other and with the other teams that stuck around. Christine and I finished our entire adventure. The things I remember most from that trip were how beautiful the woods were with the undisturbed snow, how completely in the middle of no where we were, and how incredible the views were. In both cases I didn't really have any choice but to stick around and see the event through. While hiking, my car was miles away so I had to just keep moving. While playing Frisbee, my loyalty to my team wouldn't allow me to leave. So in both cases I begrudgingly stayed, but eventually that attitude changed to happiness and enthusiasm. An experience I never would have gotten if I had given up at my "dark night of the soul." 

3. This goes for anything you love. 

• You will face moments when everything in you shouts "I DON"T LIKE THIS ANYMORE" and like a little child you just want to walk away and not work for it any more. That will be the moment that you leave "the honeymoon stage." The good news is that there is life after "the honeymoon stage" and its deeper and more meaningful. It could be a relationship, a hobby, a job, or even your spiritual walk. Its not the end; its only the beginning.

My Roberts Frisbee Team... The Faithful that stayed and played

Dark Night of the Soul: Roberts Ultimate Frisbee Tournament

Fast forward three weeks from the Bristol Hills trip.  April was an exciting month for our Frisbee crew at Roberts Wesleyan College. That was going to be the first intercollegiate Tournament we ever hosted at our school. 

My freshman year, we worked hard to make the Ultimate Frisbee team recognized as a club at the school. That was an important milestone because it meant we were recognized by the school and could host events on campus. So our first home tournament was arranged. We had two Roberts Teams, Nazareth, Fredonia, FLCC, a high school team, Brockport, and Hobart. 

We were all going to wake up early and go down to set up the fields and welcome visiting teams. So on that Saturday morning when my alarm went off I jumped up, excited about the prospects of the day, only to look out my window and see that it was pouring rain. My first thought: "This is going to really fun to play in, lots of fun to dive in.... unless its also very cold."

So I packed up my van with my cleats, snacks for the day, and lots of layers of warm dry clothes. We checked in all the teams and tried to stay warm and dry as long as possible. After a short delay due to confusion from the weather, we started our first game.

I feel like I need to give you a more accurate picture of the weather. Picture this: Rain... lots of rain... like the kind of rain where you need the fastest setting for your windshield wipers while driving. Wind... lots of wind... like the kind of wind that makes it very hard to accurately throw a Frisbee. And Cold... very cold.... like the kind of cold where your fingers don't work quite right and even the best Frisbee players can't seem to clamp down and catch the disk with any regularity.

But I also feel like I need to give you a more accurate picture of Frisbee players in general. They are a fun loving bunch, they love Frisbee and play hard... but they don't like taking themselves seriously. They plan on having fun no matter what. This makes sense considering Frisbee's hippie roots. So rain or other bizarre weather conditions are no deterrent to a good tournament... usually.

Two teams ended up leaving because of the cold after two games. Part of our own team decided to bail. We were jumping into the warm cars while we weren't playing to keep warm. Between the wind and the cold fingers we were dropping most of the passes. Drenched through layers of clothes, cold as could be, and not even able to catch the frisbee most of the times.

I rememeber my pivitol moment. My thoughts went like this:

"I just wanna give up. Other people have given up. This isn't even fun. We can't hardly even play in these conditions. We've been waiting all semester for this tournament and now it stinks. I could leave. We would still have enough players. But this is the spirit of Frisbee isn't it? Having carefree fun no matter what? We are all playing in the same conditions... its an even playing field. We have dry clothes to change into soon."


"I love playing Frisbee no matter what... right?"

Dark Night of the Soul: Bristol Hills Branch of the FLT

 My friend Christine and I have made a habit of devoting a Saturday of every semester to some serious hiking, just the two of us. We try to pick a pretty long day hike, start out early in the morning and log close to 15 miles. In March we picked the Bristol Hills Branch of the Finger Lakes Trail. Thanks to CNY Hiking, we had a great trail description and everything went according to plan. In fact, the snow even melted for us. When we woke up at 6 in the morning Rochester NY was basically snow free for the first time since Early December. 

Little did we know, Naples NY was not snow free. Not even close.

When we got out of my van in Ontario County Park to make our sandwiches and put on our final layers at 8:00 that Saturday morning all I remember thinking was... "hey, this is a lot colder than I thought it was going to be." Even as we walked toward the trail entrance with a few inches of snow and lots of heavy wind in our faces, we laughed it off.  We assumed the wind wouldn't be as bitter within the cover of the trees and we had prepared well with layers of warm clothes.

We're both very optimistic people, and we love hiking together. When you are with another optimistic person it's easy to keep your spirits up. Plus, I'm a firm believer in the fact that you can choose to have a positive attitude in any situation. All this added to the fact that I love being out on a new trail enjoying the woods turned the odds in favor of a good day... or so we thought.

So we trudged on. What started out being the best part of the trail, the fact that there was not another human soul around, ended up being the bane of our hike. Three hours in, at the top of one of the hills we were hiking through knee deep snow. Our boots, though tried and true, were not made for hiking through snow. Progress was slow and we we both were learning that GoreTex is great, until snow melts from your ankles down and saturates your socks. 

The Bristol Hills trail goes up and down three hills in Ontario County near Naples. At the tops of the hills in the most untrodden portions of the trail we were laying fresh tracks though knee deep snow. In the valleys we were trudging through mud and puddles. We had wet socks and very cold feet. It was cloudy and windy. And we were only a quarter of the way done with our hike.

I remember distinctly the moment where I faced my "dark night of the soul". I was following Christine (we were taking turns being the leader cause following in someone's tracks was a bit easier) and had just tripped for the hundredth time, falling into the snow. That's when the internal dialogue started.

This is stupid. Why are we doing this? the farther we go the longer it is going to be to get back.  Maybe we should turn around now. Our feet are only going to get wetter. Is this dangerous? No, its not dangerous, just uncomfortable. Are you going to let 'uncomfortable' ruin this day for you? Are you going to give up? I want to give up. But I love hiking. I don't love this. Will we even be able to make our goal with this slow progress? What happened to enjoying everything with a positive attitude? I'd much rather open up the flood gates of complaining. But what good would that do?

I live for this kind of thing... don't I?

Dark Night of the Soul: Intro

I've entitled the next series of posts, "Dark Night of the Soul." Don't worry though, this doesn't mean that they'll be depressing. Actually, the stories I will be sharing are pretty funny.

According to Wikipedia, the Dark night of the Soul is

"A metaphor used to describe a phase in a person's spiritual life, marked by a sense of loneliness and desolation... Typically for a believer in the dark night of the soul, spiritual disciplines... suddenly seem to lose all their experiential value"

Now, I won't be talking about a "Dark night of the Soul" in the spiritual sense, so in a way this is a metaphor for a metaphor. But essentially, I will be sharing two stories of critical moments this past semester when I questioned the joy I was feeling in activities that I normally love.

So before I head into my two stories, there is something you have to know, there are two activities that I love more than anything else in the whole world. I'm not saying I love these like I love God or my family, but as far as stuff you can do, these will top my list every time.

Ultimate Frisbee and Hiking

I could do these two things for hours and hours on end day after day and still love doing them. I have always believed that I could have fun doing these two things no matter what, but this past semester I had two incidences that challenged that thought.

If Hikers Ruled the World

7. Learning what you can live without- When you are hiking and backpacking, you start to learn what things are and are not necessary. Food? Yes. Water? Yes. Internet? Shockingly, No. It shows you what you do and do not need in order to have fun. It lets you enjoy life's simple pleasures. This does two things: First, it helps you simplify your life. I'm no expert at this yet (if you want an expert try this blog) but I do notice some changes in my life. When you experience real simplicity you start to see everything else as superfluous. Second, it makes you more thankful for the extra stuff in your life. Bizarre example: hiking makes me thankful and very aware of indoor plumbing. I don't mind going outside, but I do enjoy the ease of a toilet and a shower.

Into Thin Air

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer

Reasons I love This Book-

• This book expanded my vocabulary, i.e. crampon, crevasse, Sherpa, ect.
• It taught me how insane Mt. Everest is
• It taught me how cool Sir Edmond Hilary is
• It's a great story
• It's a true stroy
• It's a story that makes you think

Go forth, read this book! Its probably at your local library... or its only a quarter plus shipping and handling if you buy it used on Amazon!

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer

A humorous story...

Two weekends ago I decided to take a trip with my friend Meg to Letchworth State Park because she had never been there. The day started off pretty normally, I went and watched Meg play tennis and then we jumped in my van and headed to Letchworth to get as much hiking in as possible before I had to be back for the Roberts Wesleyan College Date Auction. As someone who likes hiking with friends exponentially more than going on dates with strangers, we timed our trip perfectly to maximize the time spent hiking... until we were on our way home and got a flat tire. 

The best part? After hiking in Letchworth and enjoying our time together and enjoying the beautiful weather we hopped in the car and Meg totally jinxed the whole day. She said, "This has been the absolute perfect day, seriously I have looking forward to this all week... you know what that means right? Something Bad is definitely going to happen now." 

20 minutes later we were on the side of the road and I was late for my date auction event. But the good news is that we didn't let it ruin the day, in fact we had fun with the whole situation. 

Moral of this story: Life Rarely goes as planned. Roll with the punches; attitude is everything. 

Cascade and Porter Mountains

I recently failed in starting one of my goals (visiting all the national parks) so I figured to make my self feel better I would recount the start to another goal that was more successful. In the first weekend in November my brother Alex, my friend Tim, and myself started our task of hiking the 46 high peaks of the Adirondacks.

On the one hand we wanted to keep things simple because we are all fairly ignorant. On the other hand we wanted to just go for it and start our quest before the onset of winter killed our progress. So we decided to make a day trip out of Porter and Cascade mountains (considered the easiest of the high peaks). 

We take "day trip" seriously even though we live 5 hours from the high peaks region. We left our house at 3:00 am on a Saturday and rolled into Keene around 8:00. We were dressed in layers but still mildly surprised when there was snow even at the bottom of the mountains. It snowed lightly on us a we hiked up the mountain, and by the time reached the top of Porter we were hiking through about 6 inches of snow. The weather never dampened our spirits, not even when we couldn't see much at the top. We got small views on the top of Porter, but nothing but clouds on the top of Cascade. 

View from Porter

If you are visiting Cascade I highly recommend taking the short off-shoot and visiting Porter at the same time. The trail to Porter is near the top of Cascade an it only about a half mile to the summit. We got to the top of Porter at about 11 and then got to Cascade at about 11:20. We sat and had a nice lunch but then got cold and were off the mountain 1:45. 

Tim was the hero of the day for bringing the coffee percolator up the mountain so we could enjoy a hot victory cup of black coffee. Probably one of my favorite cups of coffee ever. 

To round out the day we had dinner in Lake George and made it home by 9:30. I highly recommend these two beautiful mountains if you are starting to explore the Adirondacks. I do see how they could get pretty crowded in the summer though. 

Lessons Learned from the Mountains:

1) Day trips are doable because attitude is everything

2) We didn't know exactly what we were doing or what to expect, but sometimes you just gotta go for it

3) Coffee tastes better on mountains

If Hikers Ruled the World

Reason number six...


6. Learning to Take the Danger Trail While hiking in Letchworth with my brother and a bunch of my friends over Columbus Day we were enjoying the views, but the walk was pretty boring so we were keeping our eyes open for adventures off the beaten path. Somewhere in the beginning of the day we coined the phrase "danger trail" to refer to off shoots we wanted to take that seemed like they would offer more adventure than the trail we were on. Mind you, some of the danger trails we took were not actually trails at all, but they also were not all that dangerous either. Danger trails are adventures beyond the status quo that give life spice and it can be applied to more than just hiking. If you are scared to do something, you should probably just do it and bask in the adventure of trying something new. Take a few moments to access the true danger, but keep in mind that most things aren't going to kill you. Also keep in mind that our biggest regrets are the stuff we wish we had done but didn't, not the stuff we did and later had regrets about. 

Top Ten Mistakes *New* Hikers Can Make

I stumbled upon this list from Backpacker.com on mistakes that "noobs" fall prey to while hiking. Here is an abridged version of the list followed by my commentary in italics as a new hiker who stumbled on this list after considerable time having to figure things out on my own:


1. Wearing denim like Johnny Depp on 21 Jump Street. I have definitely done this and to be fair, hiking in jeans is not as bad as everyone says (especially if its all you got). But they have a point about the whole not-drying-very-quickly part. Now I'm feeling self-conscious and wondering if everyone was judging me the times I wore jeans.


2. Buying your tent or sleeping bag at Wal-Mart Two comments about this one. First, as a new hiker it sure is tempting when you look at the intimidating prices of gear... but after experiencing the joy of good hiking boots, I understand this one and am no longer tempted to skimp on the important stuff. Secondly, I do think that some stuff is over priced in the hiking world. We are wired to automatically think that the more expensive something is, the better the quality it is and this isn't always the case. You don't have to break the bank to have a quality experience. (I like the Department of Goods motto... Full Price is Dead)


3. Hiking a trail with a road map I have never been tempted by this one... getting the trail map always made sense to me.


4. Packing a first aid kit as if you’re landing on Omaha Beach I feel like my day hike first aid kit is pretty light... but I can't say its complete either seeing as I just stuck a first aid kit from camp in my bag without much thought. Perhaps I fell prey to the opposite problem for this one. 


5. Being overhead saying, “Lightning can’t strike me—I’m not carrying anything metallic.” I am pretty sure I wouldn't be this cocky... but I just made a mental note to research lightning more before my next hike to be savvy about the dangers.


6. Going ultra-light without ultra-experience Score one for me because I have never been tempted to go ultralight... yet. But simplicity does appeal to me so I'll make another mental note to not try this till I am experienced. 


7. Wearing boots fresh from the box Luckily getting your boots in the middle of winter gives you plenty of time for breaking them in (**breaths sigh of relief for not breaking another rule**)


8. Starting too late in the day This is another one I haven't broken. Sometimes I wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew in a flurry of over-zealous planning... but no catastrophic failures yet.


9. Ignoring the weather forecast I look at forecasts, but I will be the first to tell you that I don't put much stock in them. Also, so far the weather forecasts don't really deter me. In fact, most of my favorite hikes have been in poor weather. Never the less, I made another mental to note to find out what kind of weather is dangerous to hike in.  


10. Skimping on Leave No Trace This is one I have definitely broken considering my knowledge of leave no trace consists of "take nothing but pictures leave nothing but footprints". I assume there is more to it. My list of mental notes is growing.  

If hikers ruled the world...

Here is reason number five that the world would be a better place is everyone hiked.


5. Learning to clean up after yourself. You have a serious impact on other people and the environment. That is something hikers know well. Hikers hate it when other people ruin things for the next people down the line. Nothing kills a beautiful hike like seeing some Starbucks litter on the trail. Nothing is more disappointing than a trashed campsite. Hikers know the impact they have on others and they know the golden rule applies in this situation. Leave No Trace exists for the good of our environment, but also for the good of hikers. 

Only you can prevent forest fires

For the past 5 days I have been in sunny Virginia gearing up to complete the first step in my goal to visit all of the national parks. I went to Shenandoah National Park on the way to my friend Amanda's house. It wasn't going to be an epic day of hiking. We were just going to be seeing some sights and enjoying skyline drive on our way to Lynchburg VA, but that didn't matter to me. It was my first National Park and that was all that mattered. 

After 5 hours of driving we entered the park and I got really excited. I had Amanda pull over and we snapped a few pictures in front of the welcome sign (I figured its a good habit to get into as I pursue this goal). And then we proceeded to the friendly ranger station. 

We pulled up, and the good Ranger said, "I'm sorry, but this portion of Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park is closed right now due to a forest fire"

We just blinked at him for a few moments. WHAT? Thats right folks. So close but so far away. Denied entrance while I could almost smell the trails. 

As we sulkily turned the car around and took the road basically parallel to the park we could see (and smell) the smoke from the fire. It was kind of crazy to drive through. We looked it up later, this fire has burned over 2000 acres of land in Shenandoah. While I was sad to not be able to check off my first park, I was able to keep things in perspective and laugh about my situation. After all, in the end the memories made while achieving such a goal as this are more important than the end result, so what better way to kick the whole adventure off than with a crazy adventure?

Its Raining its Pouring...

Today it is raining.

YES!

That means that it's NOT snowing. In fact that means that the large puddles I am stepping through (and not getting wet in because of my gore-tex boots) are not just rain but also MELTED SNOW!!! Thats right folks, it's 53 degrees here today, and it feels oh so beautiful.

Also, it is thursday before Winter Break. Which means that only three more classes, two hours of tutoring, a microbiology quiz and a microbiology lab stand between me and a delightful week without class.

Side note: if you ever want to make fondue while camping try this method from Backpacker.com... its mess free and won't burn. I tried it out this past week while melting chocolate for a valentines party. In the absense of a double boiler (like while camping or in a college dorm) this does the job! Not to mention how excited I was to use the skill and tell everyone nearby that I learned it from a backpacking magazine.

And now he always leaves a note saying where he is going...

Tonight I watched the movie 127 Hours. 


Picture this: 9:55 showing, Tinsel Town movie theater, empty theater except me and my close friend Christine... watching this movie.....

This is my new favorite movie. 

I recommend that you go see. Are you squeamish? go anyway and close your eyes. This is something worth seeing. There are so many levels to why I love this movie. It shows you the human will to survive, it is excellently filmed, and it's a true story. It's human psychology through raw suffering. It's a story about human emotion. It gives you perspective on life.

If possible I recommend you see it in a huge empty movie theater with your best friend. If that isn't possible, you can settle for just seeing it.

I need to go to bed and think through this some more. Soon I will give some more coherent thoughts on the movie. Just know for now that this has impacted me.

A Different View of the Familiar

I am a summer person.
I love summer and all the activities that go along with it.
Did I mention it's snowing outside?

My winter blues have prompted some thoughts on an adventure I had in warmer days gone by...

Two important Ideas:
1. You don't have to travel to find beautiful wilderness adventures
2. We all to often say we are bored without really exploring all the possible adventures

I live in Corning; I went to West High School. So many kids from my school called Corning a small boring town and wanted to escape. The thing is, Corning is not a boring town. Far from it. Corning is rich in natural beauty and cultural beauty. There is a lot to appreciate in this area. I think that saying "I'm Bored" is more a reflection on the person than the situation.

So here is one way to get a fresh look at Corning. Hop into a Kayak and paddle down the Chemung river through Corning. Its sure to be a fun adventure and it offer's a whole new view on something oh so familiar.

My brother and I hopped in at the launch site in Kinsella Park on Canada Rd in Painted Post and traveled down to a launch site off of Conhocton street in Corning. We went in fall and sometimes our Kayaks scraped on some rocks. That could be remedied by choosing a time when the water is a bit higher.

There's plenty to do here, you just gotta get out and do it!

Just don't try to go on this particular adventure right now- the ice would make it quite difficult.
But the thought is still applicable: its easy for me to get get sad in winter cause I can't as easily do my regular activities... but instead of getting bored I could go try something new....

Which is why I will be trying cross country skiing for the first time this weekend at Harriet Hollister.... consider it my journey toward a more positive outlook on winter.

Survival Bracelet

So... over Christmas break I was browsing around Backpacker.com and found a very interesting how-to guide.

I found a photo guide to making your very own Survival Bracelet. Basically, it is a way of carrying about 10 ft. of paracord with you where ever you are. That way in a pinch you could use it for fishing line, shoe laces, splints, ect.

Interesting side note: after some research I found out that paracord (a strong rope that hikers are quite fond of) has a bit of a cult following on the internet. There are websites dedicated to how cool paracord is and all the fun things you can do with it...

When I see something like that I just have to try. So my brother and I ordered our first 100 ft of paracord that very day from Amazon. 2 business days later we were busy making our new creations. The backpacker description is really easy to follow.

I have also gotten quite a few remarks about how fashionable the bracelet looks... Wilderness Chic anyone?

Try making one for yourself!

Because I'm sure everyone was wondering....

Imagine with me for a second. You and a friend are on an epic adventure across a huge glacier. As you traverse the ice you come to a cliff. This is not just any cliff, its more like a chasm. You really want to be on the other side (roughly 20 feet away), but a huge fissure separates you from this desire.

This post isn't about how to cross the fissure and continue your imaginary journey (because I have absolutely no idea how). This post is about what that fissure is called. Is it a crevice or a crevasse (kruh-vas)? I would have said crevice unitl I watched the documentary "Touching the Void" which introduced me to a new word, crevasse, when talking about deep clefts in glacial ice. Eager to use my new word (crevasse) in a sentence I found the opportunity a few days later... only to be picked on. My friends told me to be a normal American and just say crevice. I was beside myself; I thought maybe crevasse was only someone's accent on the movie really meaning to say crevice.

I recently remembered that and did a bit of research out of curiosity. According to Dictionary.com a crevasse is specifically for a deep or large cleft in glacial ice or the earth's surface, it is commonly confused with crevice. A crevice is a crack forming an opening (like between your finger and nail) and is generally smaller.

My challenge: go forth and try to use crevasse in a sentence.

Picture from Wikipedia Commons

If Hikers Ruled the World…

Here is another addition to my series of reasons the world would be a better place if everyone spent more time hiking:

4. Get to know the environment you are saving. Its hip to go green. Everyone these days sees saving the environment in a positive light. The thing is, very few people are very deeply interested in our ecological impact. It's mostly superficial for most people. All talk and no walk. I think that if everyone actually spent some time basking in natural beauty they would have a bit of a deeper interest in protecting the world. And if this conviction is deeper, people might actually make some lifestyle changes in response.

Spencer Crest Nature Center

I recently went with my brother to Spencer Crest Nature Center in Corning, NY. Spencer Crest is in the backyard of Corning Community College, all I can say is that I wish my college had a trail network like this so close by. I loved my time here and if you live in Corning it's well worth the trip up the hill to wander these woods. Parts of the trail are even handicap accessible as shown below. 

I have three thoughts concerning this hike. First: this winter is the first time I have really hiked in low temperatures and I have been noticing an interesting feature on most trails that I explore. The ground is really bumpy and when you step on it you unexpectedly sink downward. On closer inspection I noticed that the ground has these ice crystal formation underneath. They are pretty spectacular if you ask me.

The thing is, I wish I knew more about them and why they form. I guess I will have to do some research. If anyone has any information regarding these, let me know!

Second: I wish Spencer Crest had less trails. At some points it feels like a corn maze because there are so many options. They may have tried to put too many trails in too small of an area. I also think this was heightened by the fact that we were walking in winter and could see through the trees and see how close other trails were.

Third: I wish there was a view in Spencer Crest. Its is on a hill and has the potential for a great view of the city of Corning, but you can't see anything above the tree line. I was wondering, maybe we could invest in a fire tower type structure in Spencer Crest to capitalize on it's location? Just an idea I've been mulling over.

Letterboxing 101

Yesterday I went letterboxing...


You may be wondering... what is letterboxing?

I liked Wikipedia's Definition. Letterboxing is "an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving." Basically you are finding small weather-proof boxes that other people have hid in publically accessible locations (like parks and trails). You find these boxes using story-like clues posted online. When you find this hidden box there is a stamp inside. You stamp that stamp in your log book and then stamp your own personal (usually hand-crafted) stamp into the box's log book.

Think of it like treasure hunting for non-pirates.

Letterboxing has been around for 150 years. A friend (who loves letterboxing) told me there was a box hidden in Erwin Wildlife Management Area so I decided to go have my first letterboxing adventure.

In order to get the whole letterboxing experience I decided to start out by making my own stamp. I also decided I didn't need to look online to seek directions for that which then resulted in having to have two attempts. I admit that I forgot that stamps show up as a mirror image, and my letters were backwards on my first attempt. I then went out and bought my first compass and headed to Erwin. We were victorious and found the box.

The Stamp in the letterbox = very cool

My Stamp (Amateur Guidebook)

What I liked about Letterboxing: It is really fun to know something is there that no one else knows about. The process of following the clue through your hike is also really cool. Learning compass skills is also a plus. All the benefits of hiking with a quirky yet oh-so entertaining twist. 

What I don't like about letterboxing: my lack of stamp making skills made me feel inadequate.  

Something Doesn't Belong... Or Does It?

Over Columbus day weekend I was hiking in Letchworth State Park. I was on a trail and I looked up in the distance and saw a mailbox in the middle of the woods. I thought to myself, "this is strange." 


When I got close enough to read the sign on the mailbox I saw a second strange thing. The first word I was able to read was "Wegmans." So my next thought was, "I love Wegmans, but what is Wegmans doing in the middle of Letchworth?" Finally I got close enough to read the entire sign and it said something about the Finger Lakes Trail Passport Program. I then remembered I was on the Letchworth extension of the Finger Lakes Trail. So as I continued my hike, I still didn't know what the mailbox was for, but I understood it enough that the mystery did not hinder my mind from enjoying my hike and I moved on. 

I then forgot about the strange mailbox in the woods until today while browsing the New York Outdoors Blog and stumbling across this article about the Wegmans Passport to Family Wellness Program. basically, this is a program where families can hike parts of the Finger Lakes Trail, find these mailboxes, and make a rub of the plaque on top of the mailbox in their booklet. This Program offers coupon and prize incentives for anyone who participates. Why does this program exist? To get people outdoors and exercising (which is making the world a better place) and to provide a sort of Finger Lakes Trail 101 for people not familiar with it.

Long story short: I now understand the mystery of the mailbox and love Wegmans even more. 

Thank You Wegmans. Thank You for being a great store and for being really involved in the local community and for supporting worthwhile programs like the Finger Lakes Trail. 

Greg Hill

Humans. Funny creatures aren't they?

We are the only creatures I can think of that create challenges for ourselves. We don't seem to be content with just living. Everyone has these inner drives to create and conquer. I think that's a beautiful thing. Thats a vital part of what makes us human.

We see mountains and we want to climb them. We want to create. We want to make things bigger (or smaller)  stronger and faster. We look for challenges, and when they are completed we call it a triumph of the human will.

Such is the case with Mr. Greg Hill, a 35 year old from British Columbia. He is in the news at the beginning of this new year because he completed his impressive 2010 goal. His self-created challenge for 2010? Ski down 2 million vertical feet of mountain. The kicker? He did it completely by man-power, so you didn't see him taking any ski lifts. Thats right, he hiked up those 2 million feet before skiing back down.

Need Perspective? Climb Everest 69 times. Want to stay closer to home? Hike Mt. Marcy (NY's highest point, 5434 ft.) everyday for a year. 

2 million feet. I'll give him props for that. 

Thinking about this kind of accomplishment makes me think of George Mallory's answer when asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest. His answer: "Because it's there."

Greg's Video

About Bears...

Two questions came up recently about Bears. The first was about bears hibernating. My brother and I were pondering how such huge animals can hibernate the way we imagined hibernation to go. We found it unbelievable and even got to the point where we questioned our life-long notions of bears hibernating. Later that day, I read a status from my friend Tai on Facebook where she said she saw some bear prints in the middle of winter. That was the last straw, I had to do some research. 


Here are some things I learned from the North American Bear Center:

Before Hibernation bears enter a prep period where they rest up to 22 hours a day. They make dens, purge waste from their bodies through drinking lots of water, and eat a lot. We are talking up to 20,000 calories and 2 gallons of water a day. 


During hibernation bears "do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate. They can reduce oxygen consumption and metabolic rate by half and breathe only once every 45 seconds. Heart rate can drop periodically to 8-21 beats per minute."


Now to solve Tai's question about her bear prints I found this tidbit....

"The activity schedule is very different in eastern North America where acorns, hickory nuts, beech nuts, and other foods become available in fall and some foods remain available all winter. Bears there are genetically programmed to delay hibernation until late November or December... hibernation there is typically not as deep, and some bears emerge to forage during winter thaws. Food sometimes remains available throughout winter there, and some bears continue foraging throughout winter." (emphasis added)

Now for the second Bear question, my brother was wondering about Bear Grylls (Man vs. Wild). Is Bear his real name, or is that a nick name? If it is a nick name, we wondered if he got it from being an adventurer or if he had it before. 


The Answer (according to Wikipedia): It is a nickname; his real name is Edward Michael Grylls, but there is an interesting twist. He got the nickname when he was a week old from his big sister (which is funny cause we started calling my niece bear when she was a baby also). So the name came before he became an outdoor adventure extraordinaire. 


Pictures Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Erwin Wildlife Management Area

Trail: Erwin Wildlife Management Area

Town: Painted Post NY. This is my hometown. I loved hiking this place because it just goes to show how this area is so rich in places to hike. Never underestimate the power of your own back yard.

Get there: Follow Beartown Rd. until it comes to a fork (after the field and stream club). Go to the right and follow the dirt road until it is blocked by a barrier with a parking lot.

My Hike: I hiked here on New Years day, the weather was mild but a bit unpredictable, at some points it was windy and at some points it was rainy, but it was always muddy. At one point I completely submerged my right foot in a hidden mud puddle, at which point my dry feet fell in love with my new Gore-Tex hiking boots. We spent 2 hours here, we hiked to the pond and looped back. To do this, follow the dirt road till you come to a trail on the left (pictured on the left).

The trail will lead you to the pond (right top), on the opposite end there is a man-made jetty and another dirt road. Follow this road till it comes to a T. Go right and it takes you back to the parking lot with a very pretty view on the way (right bottom). There is a lot more trails that we didn't have time to go on.

While there, we saw two people biking and that was it. This is really secluded and beautiful for being so close to town. This Wildlife Management Area goes heavy on the "managed" part. In some parts, diseased oaks have been cut down to make room for smaller trees. This makes it feel naked at points. Also, both ponds are man-made. The road is not exactly a trail and there are signs and barriers on parts of the road. In all though, it still feels remote and is a great hike.

Lesson learned; always over prepare, even for a little hike. We came to cook a lunch and test some of our Christmas presents (including our new stoves and our hiking boots). We got rained on while sitting for lunch. Rain isn't so bad but we got a bit chilly because we were under prepared and decided not to linger. There were a lot of foot prints so this place must get some good use.

Happy New Year!

My New Year's resolution is to hike... a lot. I say a lot because I don't really have an exact number in mind. I just want to have the mindset of hiking as much as possible. Besides, I'm not all that into new years resolutions so I don't feel like I am a failure for not having a specific number. (side note: I am a fan of big goal setting, but just not the fad of new years resolutions and the trap that most people fall into of not fulfilling those resolutions)

Today I started the new year out right by going for a nice hike with my siblings. I found myself pondering the new year at about 1:45. I wanted to set the tone for the year so I shot out the idea of going for a hike and we were out the door by 2:00. We decided to go to Erwin Wildlife Management Area (more on that later) and test out our new stoves by having lunch out there (a can of ravioli). 

The weather is great in this area, its muddy but I'm not going to complain since I was hiking on New Years day in only two layers.

Happy New Year Everyone!