A Work in Progress

It seems wrong for me to be in Scotland and not be in pain, thanks to my experiences on the Great Glen Way. So we made up for my happy muscles by hiking to the top of the UK on Ben Nevis. I was warned that at the summit, absent-minded hikers could 'fall off the edge' seemingly at any moment and that hiking it required a map, compass, GPS unit, Sherpa, and oxygen tanks. But, while the summit was in a cloud and there were several opportunities to wander off a cliff (literally) hiking on a Saturday meant that there were tons of other people on the mountain doing charity hikes or three peak challenges. And the path is well worn (and very well kept, I might add). This doesn't mean that one shouldn't be prepared to deal with the unpredictable nature of the Nevis range, but perhaps shouldn't be scared into reconsidering. What should keep people from doing Ben Nevis should be the 'long slough' to the top, the endless demoralizing switchbacks, and the painful, ro...

Before I left to come here, I really tried to avoid 'panic packing' and end up throwing a bunch of unnecessary stuff in my suitcase just to make me feel better. One item that lingered in the suitcase/storage limbo was my rocking BA camping sleeping pad . A silly waste of precious packing space, I know, and when would I need it? Well, last weekend actually. By strokes of luck and kindness I was invited to camp in the lake district with a few friends. Happily, through their uncesasing generosity I was furnished with tent, sleeping bag, and mattress! So, on Friday evening after collecting camp food we were off on the M6 to, well, for me, anywhere. I realized I didn't know where we were going nor what we would do when we got there, but I didn't really care. I was camping! In the country! In England! All camping trips begin with a few amusing hiccups. This one was no different, especially when confirming the camp site on the way there. The rest of the car was qui...

Yesterday I went to the last day of the wilderness medicine seminar. We had a lecture about travelers diarrhea and it's treatment, strange dermatological issues, and how to pack an expedition first aid kit. I learned a lot from the doc who's been a medical missionary in Tanzania for the last four years who is simply fascinating. We did a little map and compass work which frankly still mostly baffles me, and I again tried to make fire the old fashioned way. I was far more successful with the bow drill, but still didn't actually light anything on fire. It was hard work! I could make the drill hot to the touch and produce a lot of smoke, but always gave up too early before making a little ember. Again with not forgetting some fire starting tool whenever one goes camping. After that, smelling of woodsmoke, I went to my friends house for a little going away get-together. A few good friends came out to see me off before I left, and it was super nice. Shelly even decorated ...

Mostly these past couple of weeks I have been going to work and packing things up. I'll be storing my stuff in the same building where I live now, and it turns out that moving sucks, even if it's into the next room. Work has been good but not terribly interesting in terms of blogging. But, this weekend I am going to a wilderness medicine and survival conference. So far it's pretty sweet. I almost made fire the old fashioned way, and by "almost" I mean not at all. But it was fun to try, and now my hands hurt. Our instructor said that the bottom line is "don't forget your lighter." Haha. We learned some other stuff about mental survival, building shelters, and responding to urban survival situations. In the evening today we had two lectures about wilderness medicine and medical missions. Now I am filled with oh so interesting thoughts about all that stuff. It's pretty facinating how they have brought some western medicine to different places and, w...

Yesterday I traded in the last of my way too many Nalgene bottles for BPA free versions. Months ago, Nalgene stated that there was no evidence to believe that BPA was dangerous for humans, and then the next day announced that they were changing all of their bottles to BPA free. Guilty. Doing that is like denying that you committed a crime and skipping town the next day. Just admit it! So after a few months of forgetting them every time I went to the store, I finally traded in the last three for some fancy new ones. I was holding out for a better color than the basic blue and yellow, and I'm really happy with these. Yeah, remember what I said about being a nerd in the last post. Now I just have to break them in, and by break them in, I mean throw them down the driveway into oncoming traffic.

This past week I went on my first proper backpacking trip. We went to the Dolly Sods wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. This area is called Dolly sods after a German guy named "Dahle" who used the open meadows or "sods" for livestock grazing in the 20's (after it was logged quite a bit). In the 30's the CCC worked to reforest the area and prevent erosion. In the 40's the area was used for army artillery practice. Because of this, there are warnings at the trail heads to be on the look out for remaining unexploded rounds. Slightly disappointingly, we did not happen upon any of those. I am not sure where the attraction is in hiking miles into the wilderness, carrying a heavy load on your back, sleeping in the woods, and then hiking back out, but I like it. I gathered a lot of satisfaction in carrying everything we needed on our backs and "surviving" in the wilderness for a couple of days. It was a fantastic in...

I am now the proud owner of the greatest sleeping pad known to camping kind. Well, that's just my opinion. The inflatable, insulated 2.5" thick, 22 oz, partially recycled Big Agnes insulated air core sleeping pad. An early birthday present from C in honor of our pending backpacking trip. It rocks. It's only about a million times greater than the one I had before. I am even tempted to sleep on it tonight even thought I'll be at home.