Crazy Things Guests Say and Do: Part 69 of a 737 part series
We had an after hours walk-in last night. They hemmed and hawed over the price, which was $92 for three people, plus tax, and includes breakfast. The guy called from the porch phone and he turned and called back to his wife, "It's ninety-two dollars!!!"
Even after they decided to get the room and I went down to help them check in, they went back and forth. They wanted to know how far it was to a certain larger town to the north and almost decided to drive the 30 minutes to look for another hotel. It wasn't any closer to their ultimate goal, however, so it would have been time wasted.
They might have found a room for 10-20 dollars cheaper there, I'm not sure. But when you add fifty miles of driving (with gas at $4.00+ per gallon) and all the headache of wandering around after midnight, would it have been worth it? And chances are that they'd have ended up paying more there than here in the valley.
They were from Iowa, where labor and property taxes are probably cheaper, food surely is, and you probably can find a room for $59.99. You can't up here and it's not because we're greedier than Iowans, it's because that's what we need to charge to get by.
I get the reverse a lot during ski season from callers from New York City. Even during Christmas week, when the rates are at their highest. "Only $146? With breakfast? Wow, that's a good deal."
And while I've grumbled at paying a couple of hundred for a mediocre place in NYC, chances are that they're not getting rich either. They're just paying the high cost of doing business in the city.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts
My writing computer is getting slower and slower and slower as time goes on. I haven't installed anything new in at least a year, maybe two, and those were only games. But every other time I want to log on, something wants to update itself. The other day it was Windows, then itunes, then ICQ. With each new update, these programs hog more and more resources.
And of course, functionality never changes with these updates. It's all just a bunch of kludges and patches for security holes. The end result is a computer that was fairly speedy a couple of years ago now creaks and groans while accomplishing the same tasks.
And of course, functionality never changes with these updates. It's all just a bunch of kludges and patches for security holes. The end result is a computer that was fairly speedy a couple of years ago now creaks and groans while accomplishing the same tasks.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Book Update
It's hard to give a specific word count, since Jeff is working on a couple of chapters as well, but I think we're at about 55,000 words. I've reached that middle point where my motivation always flags, where the beginning is a distant memory and the ending is still beyond the horizon. Two, three weeks from now things should improve as I begin to write toward the finish line.
I've Been Stimulated
Logged into my bank account to see if my latest money market deposit had been withdrawn and saw this entry:
06/27/2008 DIRECTDEP US TREASURY 220 $2,400.00
What's the interest rate on this loan taken on my behalf that I will eventually be required to pay? In my case, I'll be saving the money for a rainy day. Most people, I suspect, will just send that money off to the oil producers.
It's clear that something needs to be done to deal with the crappy economy. My gut is that without the energy crisis this would be a moderately severe recession, with housing prices and the subprime mess combining with a weak dollar to deal a headache but no permanent damage. With the energy mess, I'm not so confident.
What might have had more impact than checks to every taxpayer would have been that same $150 billion spent to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure. Specifically, I'm thinking more transit and a national electric grid. This stuff will have to come eventually, but it's going to get harder and harder to find the money to pay for it.
06/27/2008 DIRECTDEP US TREASURY 220 $2,400.00
What's the interest rate on this loan taken on my behalf that I will eventually be required to pay? In my case, I'll be saving the money for a rainy day. Most people, I suspect, will just send that money off to the oil producers.
It's clear that something needs to be done to deal with the crappy economy. My gut is that without the energy crisis this would be a moderately severe recession, with housing prices and the subprime mess combining with a weak dollar to deal a headache but no permanent damage. With the energy mess, I'm not so confident.
What might have had more impact than checks to every taxpayer would have been that same $150 billion spent to upgrade our crumbling infrastructure. Specifically, I'm thinking more transit and a national electric grid. This stuff will have to come eventually, but it's going to get harder and harder to find the money to pay for it.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
No Wonder I Always Get Lost
I knew there was a reason I've got lost each every time I try to drive in Mexico City. (Apart from the fact that the metro area has 20 million people).
Apart from the obvious problems of traffic and transportation, the growth created other confusing complications. Today, out of the city's eighty-five thousand streets, there are about eight hundred fifty called Juárez, seven hundred fifty named Hidalgo, and seven hundred known as Morelos. Two hundred are called 16 de Septiembre, while a hundred more are called 16 de Septiembre Avenue, Alley, Mews, or Extension. Nine separate neighborhoods are called La Palma, four are called Las Palmas, and there are numerous mutations: La Palmita, Las Palmitas, Palmas Inn, La Palmas Condominio, Palmas Avenida, La Palma I y Palma I-II Unidad Habitacional.
From First Stop in the New World, by David Lida, via Marginal Revolution.
Apart from the obvious problems of traffic and transportation, the growth created other confusing complications. Today, out of the city's eighty-five thousand streets, there are about eight hundred fifty called Juárez, seven hundred fifty named Hidalgo, and seven hundred known as Morelos. Two hundred are called 16 de Septiembre, while a hundred more are called 16 de Septiembre Avenue, Alley, Mews, or Extension. Nine separate neighborhoods are called La Palma, four are called Las Palmas, and there are numerous mutations: La Palmita, Las Palmitas, Palmas Inn, La Palmas Condominio, Palmas Avenida, La Palma I y Palma I-II Unidad Habitacional.
From First Stop in the New World, by David Lida, via Marginal Revolution.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Curious George Gets High
I've got a collection of Curious George books in Spanish for L. They are not up to modern, fussy safety standards. Forget all the times that people tool around in cars without seat belts, George (a proxy for a typical curious child) smokes pipes and his friend with the yellow and others are often seen smoking pipes or cigars or consuming dangerous beverages.
Our most recent acquisition has this page:
I kind of want to get it on a t-shirt.
Our most recent acquisition has this page:
I kind of want to get it on a t-shirt.
Sixth Grade Graduation
E had his sixth grade graduation yesterday. They had a slide show with pictures from the kids' elementary days, together with a voice over of each child giving a short speech about their experiences. Several people commented on how well written E's was. His goal for the future was to attend MIT and go into some field with mathematics. Great goal, now how to pay for it?
His fellow classmates voted him most likely to succeed and the most voracious reader. I'm very proud of how well he's doing, of course, but most importantly, he's just a good kid.
His fellow classmates voted him most likely to succeed and the most voracious reader. I'm very proud of how well he's doing, of course, but most importantly, he's just a good kid.
Family News
Congratulations to my sister and my brother-in-law for their new baby. They've been waiting for a long time and are very happy.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Hey, Some Money
After almost two months of few guests to speak of at the inn, we finally have a small crowd this week. We have three rooms for several days with some guys up to fly gliders, a couple of other rooms for the weekend, and some repeat guests coming up for horse and animal work for a total of 14 days next week.
It's nice to have some money coming in, especially since I'm about to get socked with the bill for painting and siding the inn and the roofers recently slurped up several thousand dollars.
We've still got a nice cushion from winter and most years July, August, September, and October pay for themselves. If I'm lucky, they'll also pay for most/all of our $13,000 property tax bill (and that's before the reassessment that's on its way). I'd love to pre-buy next winter's fuel, even at the outrageously high price they're offering, but I'm not sure I can scrape together $14,000 more above and beyond my other obligations. Well, I could, but it would eat uncomfortably far into my cushion.
It's nice to have some money coming in, especially since I'm about to get socked with the bill for painting and siding the inn and the roofers recently slurped up several thousand dollars.
We've still got a nice cushion from winter and most years July, August, September, and October pay for themselves. If I'm lucky, they'll also pay for most/all of our $13,000 property tax bill (and that's before the reassessment that's on its way). I'd love to pre-buy next winter's fuel, even at the outrageously high price they're offering, but I'm not sure I can scrape together $14,000 more above and beyond my other obligations. Well, I could, but it would eat uncomfortably far into my cushion.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Vista
I don't want Windows Vista, I don't need Windows Vista. Actually, I didn't need Windows XP either, as Windows 95 was working just fine. Having a new computer, I don't have a choice. Really, any useful feature of Windows, Word, IE, etc., was thought of years ago. Now, they are changes just to have changes.
It reminds me a bit of college, where you couldn't sell back your calculus book because they'd come out with a new version every year. Because, you know, the math field is changing so rapidly that it's all the textbook publishers can do to keep up. Or something...
It reminds me a bit of college, where you couldn't sell back your calculus book because they'd come out with a new version every year. Because, you know, the math field is changing so rapidly that it's all the textbook publishers can do to keep up. Or something...
The High Cost of Borrowed Money
Due to poor planning, we forgot to transfer money from our money market where we hold winter's surplus into the checking account in time and had to make two payments on the business credit card. I despise having to pay finance charges, but I calculated that the cost of borrowing half the money for an extra few days would only amount to a few dollars.
Wrong. It turns out that even if you carry a balance of a single dollar you have to pay an entire month's interest for your average daily balance. Since the daily balance was from April, we were carrying a bunch of March's (a winter month) charges, which included fuel, lift tickets for guests, etc.
The cost of borrowing money for those few days worked out to be 140% on an annualized basis.
Wrong. It turns out that even if you carry a balance of a single dollar you have to pay an entire month's interest for your average daily balance. Since the daily balance was from April, we were carrying a bunch of March's (a winter month) charges, which included fuel, lift tickets for guests, etc.
The cost of borrowing money for those few days worked out to be 140% on an annualized basis.
Dead, Dead, Dead
We had a power outage on Tuesday, caused by a microburst that passed through the valley, signaling a transition from hot and humid to cooler these last couple of days. I was in the middle of a lengthy blog post and lost it all, to my frustration. Far worse, the surge protector failed on the work computer and an electrical surge fried the work computer.
I took it to the Geek Squad guys at Best Buy, thinking it might just be the power supply. It wasn't, it was the mother board. When I told them the computer was about four years old, so it didn't make sense to spend hundreds to fix it, they gave me a look. "Your computer is four years old? Four years?!"
So we've got a new computer that we have to drive to pick up today.
I took it to the Geek Squad guys at Best Buy, thinking it might just be the power supply. It wasn't, it was the mother board. When I told them the computer was about four years old, so it didn't make sense to spend hundreds to fix it, they gave me a look. "Your computer is four years old? Four years?!"
So we've got a new computer that we have to drive to pick up today.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
No, We Don't Actually Need a Room
Here is the post I was making when the power went out. Turns out blogger saved a draft of most of it.
Crazy Things Guests Say and Do: Part 68 of a 737 part series
The phone rang at 3:30 AM last night and then went dead when M picked up. She later realized it was an external call, but worried that someone might be trying to call from the porch phone to ask about getting a room, so she walked into I's room to see if there were a car in the lot.
There was, in fact, a van down by the end of the rooms, not at the carport where you'd expect to see a walk-in park. I went downstairs, but there was nobody on the porch. We didn't have any guests last night, so who owned the van?
I came upstairs and it occurred to me that someone might have come, decided to sneak into a room (we leave unrented rooms unlocked, never having had a problem in the past) without paying. But first I wanted to see if someone was sitting in the van or what?
I got dressed, walked down, and couldn't see someone in the van. It was late, I was groggy and feeling a bit nervous about confronting someone in the room so I came back up to talk to M. After a bit I decided that I really did need to find out what was going on, so I went back down with a heavy flashlight that I figured could double as a nightstick in a pinch.
And as I went down the darkened stairs, I missed the last step and landed badly and twisted my bad ankle. M came, helped me up, and I hobbled down to confront the room swipers in a somewhat less able state.
I tried the doors on several rooms at that end, but found them all still unlocked. So instead I returned to the van and turned on the flashlight. And there were the guests, hunkered down in the back, sleeping in their own impromptu hotel room.
I guess I could have rapped on the glass and told them to get out of my parking lot, but instead I left them alone. They left early in the morning.
Crazy Things Guests Say and Do: Part 68 of a 737 part series
The phone rang at 3:30 AM last night and then went dead when M picked up. She later realized it was an external call, but worried that someone might be trying to call from the porch phone to ask about getting a room, so she walked into I's room to see if there were a car in the lot.
There was, in fact, a van down by the end of the rooms, not at the carport where you'd expect to see a walk-in park. I went downstairs, but there was nobody on the porch. We didn't have any guests last night, so who owned the van?
I came upstairs and it occurred to me that someone might have come, decided to sneak into a room (we leave unrented rooms unlocked, never having had a problem in the past) without paying. But first I wanted to see if someone was sitting in the van or what?
I got dressed, walked down, and couldn't see someone in the van. It was late, I was groggy and feeling a bit nervous about confronting someone in the room so I came back up to talk to M. After a bit I decided that I really did need to find out what was going on, so I went back down with a heavy flashlight that I figured could double as a nightstick in a pinch.
And as I went down the darkened stairs, I missed the last step and landed badly and twisted my bad ankle. M came, helped me up, and I hobbled down to confront the room swipers in a somewhat less able state.
I tried the doors on several rooms at that end, but found them all still unlocked. So instead I returned to the van and turned on the flashlight. And there were the guests, hunkered down in the back, sleeping in their own impromptu hotel room.
I guess I could have rapped on the glass and told them to get out of my parking lot, but instead I left them alone. They left early in the morning.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Wildlife Sightings
One great thing about living in a rural area is ability to see all manner of wild animals, large and small. This is what I've seen in the last week: garter snake, toad, beavers, chipmunks, squirrels, newts (about a dozen, as the warmth and rain seems to have brought them out), fireflies, and plenty of colorful, interesting birds at the feeder.
The most notable bird was a pine grosbeak that came to the feeder yesterday. I think it's been two years since I've seen one. We've had plenty of rose breasted grosbeaks, but for some reason I haven't yet seen an evening grosbeak as most years we'll get a flock of half a dozen birds that will hang out at the feeders for a week or two at a time.
The most notable bird was a pine grosbeak that came to the feeder yesterday. I think it's been two years since I've seen one. We've had plenty of rose breasted grosbeaks, but for some reason I haven't yet seen an evening grosbeak as most years we'll get a flock of half a dozen birds that will hang out at the feeders for a week or two at a time.
Back in Time
Let's say you knew that you were going to be transported back in time to England in the year 1100 and you could take nothing with you but knowledge. You have one year to prepare. What would be most useful?
1. First, you should study Old English and Old French, but be prepared to look like an idiot for awhile. We have good guesses as to what these languages were like, but every second village will have its own impenetrable dialect.
2. Obviously, you should read as much history as you can. Figure out what year the plague hits, when the crops fail, and which towns are sacked by warring barons. Avoid these places.
3. Make sure you've got your immunizations in order, but be prepared for crippling illnesses nonetheless. You haven't been exposed to a lot of stuff the 1100ers will shrug off. Similarly, there's a chance you could bring back a flu or some modern illness that would kill half the people on Earth, but this is less likely. The viruses and bacteria have evolved to not kill you as much as you have adapted to them.
4. Keep your trap shut, at least at first. At first, you might be tempted to spout of nonsense about the earth revolving around the sun or how everyone should wash their hands after using the privy. You'll already be a skinny, pale-skinned giant with supernaturally white, straight teeth, who sounds like an idiot every time he opens his mouth. Don't make the problem worse. In fact, maybe you'd be better to pretend to be an escaped village idiot for awhile.
5. If you want to transfer some technology to the 12th Century, you should pick up some nifty 18th Century tech, and forget all the modern stuff. How about learning how to rifle a gun barrel or purify steel? Go live with the Amish before you go and learn how they make saddles and repair plows. You could probably learn something that would look like a huge innovation in the 12th Century, but not be so funky that it either looked like magic or was impossible to build with the technology of the day.
6. How about knowing how to grind glass for eyeglasses. First, if you don't, you're probably blind as soon as you arrive, and second, this is a skill that would be useful in every monastery in Europe and won't be invented until the Italians figured it out in the 13th Century.
7. Pretend to be religious, even if you're not. Learn a bit of Catholic ritual and to mutter a few phrases in Latin.
8. With a college education and your ability to read and do math, your best occupation might be as a merchant of some kind. Let's face it, you'd suck as a subsistence farmer and who wants to be a serf?
9. Are you a woman? I'm so sorry. Have you thought about becoming a nun?
1. First, you should study Old English and Old French, but be prepared to look like an idiot for awhile. We have good guesses as to what these languages were like, but every second village will have its own impenetrable dialect.
2. Obviously, you should read as much history as you can. Figure out what year the plague hits, when the crops fail, and which towns are sacked by warring barons. Avoid these places.
3. Make sure you've got your immunizations in order, but be prepared for crippling illnesses nonetheless. You haven't been exposed to a lot of stuff the 1100ers will shrug off. Similarly, there's a chance you could bring back a flu or some modern illness that would kill half the people on Earth, but this is less likely. The viruses and bacteria have evolved to not kill you as much as you have adapted to them.
4. Keep your trap shut, at least at first. At first, you might be tempted to spout of nonsense about the earth revolving around the sun or how everyone should wash their hands after using the privy. You'll already be a skinny, pale-skinned giant with supernaturally white, straight teeth, who sounds like an idiot every time he opens his mouth. Don't make the problem worse. In fact, maybe you'd be better to pretend to be an escaped village idiot for awhile.
5. If you want to transfer some technology to the 12th Century, you should pick up some nifty 18th Century tech, and forget all the modern stuff. How about learning how to rifle a gun barrel or purify steel? Go live with the Amish before you go and learn how they make saddles and repair plows. You could probably learn something that would look like a huge innovation in the 12th Century, but not be so funky that it either looked like magic or was impossible to build with the technology of the day.
6. How about knowing how to grind glass for eyeglasses. First, if you don't, you're probably blind as soon as you arrive, and second, this is a skill that would be useful in every monastery in Europe and won't be invented until the Italians figured it out in the 13th Century.
7. Pretend to be religious, even if you're not. Learn a bit of Catholic ritual and to mutter a few phrases in Latin.
8. With a college education and your ability to read and do math, your best occupation might be as a merchant of some kind. Let's face it, you'd suck as a subsistence farmer and who wants to be a serf?
9. Are you a woman? I'm so sorry. Have you thought about becoming a nun?
Saturday, June 7, 2008
2008
Is it just me, or is anyone else here worried that we're slipping into a very scary, very dangerous period of history?
When I grew up, we lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation, but this all feels surreal, abstract as a kid, maybe even a bit exciting. As an adult, with children to care for and a long-term perspective, our current threats are more than a little stressful. Specifically, I'm worried about an economic collapse caused by a convergence of poor fiscal planning and an energy emergency.
Placed in odds, I'd say our chance of a 70s style recession or worse is about 50/50, with a 1/3 chance of a Great Depression type struggle or worse, and a 1/8 chance of something worse than that. That still leaves a 50/50 chance that nothing much will happen, but I'm increasingly pessimistic that we face something between "Wow, this really sucks" and, "Holy *&#!, get to the basement, the zombie hordes are breaking down the doors."
As I've said before, my biggest worry is that we're still in the things-getting-worse stage, with the economy continuing to slip, oil shooting higher week by week, and worst of all, nobody seems to be taking any remedies. There may or may not be a brick wall around the next corner, but wouldn't it be prudent to tap on the brakes, just to be sure?
When I grew up, we lived with the threat of nuclear annihilation, but this all feels surreal, abstract as a kid, maybe even a bit exciting. As an adult, with children to care for and a long-term perspective, our current threats are more than a little stressful. Specifically, I'm worried about an economic collapse caused by a convergence of poor fiscal planning and an energy emergency.
Placed in odds, I'd say our chance of a 70s style recession or worse is about 50/50, with a 1/3 chance of a Great Depression type struggle or worse, and a 1/8 chance of something worse than that. That still leaves a 50/50 chance that nothing much will happen, but I'm increasingly pessimistic that we face something between "Wow, this really sucks" and, "Holy *&#!, get to the basement, the zombie hordes are breaking down the doors."
As I've said before, my biggest worry is that we're still in the things-getting-worse stage, with the economy continuing to slip, oil shooting higher week by week, and worst of all, nobody seems to be taking any remedies. There may or may not be a brick wall around the next corner, but wouldn't it be prudent to tap on the brakes, just to be sure?
Friday, June 6, 2008
Oil Superspike?
When the credit markets were struggling, the Fed jumped in with hundreds of billions in assistance that will be paid for by average Americans, largely through the erosion of the value of the dollar. Now that gas is over $4 and with oil in the 130s, likely to hit $5 (if not higher, as oil is currently zooming up yet again), I was trying to do a back of the envelope calculation of how much this is costing the typical American.
We use 20 million barrels a day, so the doubling in the oil price that we've seen in the last year is costing us about 475 billion dollars a year. Most of this is either used by drivers or for home heating oil.
So what is the bailout plan for the average person now that the people who can most afford a bailout got theirs? Is there even a plan in place that would make it possible for people to get around this country without burning gasoline? Is there even a hint of a plan that will deal with gas if it reaches $8 or $15?
We use 20 million barrels a day, so the doubling in the oil price that we've seen in the last year is costing us about 475 billion dollars a year. Most of this is either used by drivers or for home heating oil.
So what is the bailout plan for the average person now that the people who can most afford a bailout got theirs? Is there even a plan in place that would make it possible for people to get around this country without burning gasoline? Is there even a hint of a plan that will deal with gas if it reaches $8 or $15?
Book Update II
What's playing on the ipod: Stay, Oingo Boingo
Progress on the book has slowed somewhat. Jeff has been working on a couple of the medical chapters, so not all of the below word count is mine. Version control has been a bit tricky as we pass the book back and forth and this is probably slowing me down a bit, as well.
But the truth is that I've already lost my initial burst of speed. My goal was to write 2,000 words each on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and 1,000 words per day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I've had a hard time maintaining the pace on the heavier workload days, however.
Still, writing every day means that the word count starts to build up, regardless of whether or not I feel I've got a good momentum.
I think it's going pretty well. We're still in the point of the book where the mystery is developing, rather than resolving, but that stage should come to an end shortly. After that, it's time to build momentum and then blow everything up.
Human Intel Word Count: 20,500 words
Progress on the book has slowed somewhat. Jeff has been working on a couple of the medical chapters, so not all of the below word count is mine. Version control has been a bit tricky as we pass the book back and forth and this is probably slowing me down a bit, as well.
But the truth is that I've already lost my initial burst of speed. My goal was to write 2,000 words each on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and 1,000 words per day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I've had a hard time maintaining the pace on the heavier workload days, however.
Still, writing every day means that the word count starts to build up, regardless of whether or not I feel I've got a good momentum.
I think it's going pretty well. We're still in the point of the book where the mystery is developing, rather than resolving, but that stage should come to an end shortly. After that, it's time to build momentum and then blow everything up.
Human Intel Word Count: 20,500 words
Disaster Averted
What's playing on the ipod: Only, Nine Inch Nails
As of yesterday, they were showing Saturday as being 95 degrees and 93 on Sunday. That's hot up here, especially since it has turned humid over the last couple of days. And I'm not sure we've hit 75 yet this year, so 95 is a shock to the system, to say the least.
As of this morning, however, they've dialed that down to 85 and 83 respectively. I can live with that.
As of yesterday, they were showing Saturday as being 95 degrees and 93 on Sunday. That's hot up here, especially since it has turned humid over the last couple of days. And I'm not sure we've hit 75 yet this year, so 95 is a shock to the system, to say the least.
As of this morning, however, they've dialed that down to 85 and 83 respectively. I can live with that.
Monday, June 2, 2008
We're Close, but Not That Close
I don't know anyone who spends more time with their spouse than M and I do. In many weeks we're probably apart for three, four hours tops. But these guys have us beat.
For 10 years, Michael Roach and Christie McNally have been together—for every single minute. The two never stray more than 15 feet from each other. When they eat, they share a plate. When they read, they share the book—the faster reader waiting for the slower to finish the page. When they do yoga, they inhale and exhale together. When "he is inspired by an idea in the middle of the night, she rises from their bed and follows him to their office 100 yards down the road, so he can work."
Weird.
Oh, and did we mention that 1) they live in a yurt in the Arizona desert and 2) they're celibate?
Wh-what? Celibate? How does that make them closer?
For 10 years, Michael Roach and Christie McNally have been together—for every single minute. The two never stray more than 15 feet from each other. When they eat, they share a plate. When they read, they share the book—the faster reader waiting for the slower to finish the page. When they do yoga, they inhale and exhale together. When "he is inspired by an idea in the middle of the night, she rises from their bed and follows him to their office 100 yards down the road, so he can work."
Weird.
Oh, and did we mention that 1) they live in a yurt in the Arizona desert and 2) they're celibate?
Wh-what? Celibate? How does that make them closer?
Appalachian Trail II
Date Hiked: June 1
Trails Hiked: CB Trail to App. Trail, South to M Gap
Total Distance: 12 miles (11.5 according to the map plus detours of about .5 miles)
Difficulty: moderate
Conditions: cool, overcast, some mud
My wife dropped my son E (age 12 1/2) and I off on State Forest Road 55, east of GV, where we picked up the CB Trail. The first half of the trail was fairly level and very beautiful alongside a very pleasant stream. After crossing a pair of bridges, the trail began to climb aggressively until it reached the ridge and the long trail after a total of three miles.
We joined the Appalachian Trail at about midday. The weather was cool, threatening rain, but never actually going beyond a few drops here and there. Even though it had rained about a half inch the previous day, the trail was in good condition. We climbed Mt. W (3745 feet), then reached the P.E. lodge after 1.7 miles from our connection to the Appalachian Trail, where we ate our lunch and left a note in the log book (signed KingM).
We continued to climb for the next .6 miles until we reached Wheat Loaf Mountain (elevation 3835) then continued on to Skyway Lodge about 1.2 miles later. Of the shelters I've seen on the trail, Skyway is where I would most like to spend a night. It is an enclosed cabin that overlooks a lovely pond and is very nice.
The rest of the trip was about 90% downhill with short climbs to three separate peaks. Going downhill from Brownville Mountain, we ran into the first of two people we would see on the trail all day. He was seven days into a trek north to the Canadian border and seemed to me to be out of shape and overweight and overmatched by the trail. He'd only made it a couple of miles that day and intended to spend the entire rest of day and the following day recuperating at Skyway Lodge.
The guy also said he'd seen a bear and her cub (about forty minutes) down the trail. I found the place I think he was talking about and there was a fair amount of bear scat, but unfortunately, we didn't see any bears.
There was a final shelter at Boice, just before Kelby Peak, where we saw the other hiker that day. He was nine days into a similar hike and intended to spend the night at Boice. I would have encouraged him to spend the night at Skyway instead, but that was two miles up a fair steep pitch and it was getting later in the day.
We reached the gap road at about 5:30, a little more than seven hours after we'd set out. There was good cell coverage, so I called M to pick us up and she showed up about 30 minutes later.
It was a nice hike, always fun to spend time alone with E, who is very pleasant and mature when he's not around his younger brother and sister (ugh). My knees are still sore from ski season and I could feel them by the time we were on our final descent.
All in all, I would say this was an easier segment than the 10 miles we did last year. Some good climbs and descents, but also some flat stretches to provide a welcome break.
Trails Hiked: CB Trail to App. Trail, South to M Gap
Total Distance: 12 miles (11.5 according to the map plus detours of about .5 miles)
Difficulty: moderate
Conditions: cool, overcast, some mud
My wife dropped my son E (age 12 1/2) and I off on State Forest Road 55, east of GV, where we picked up the CB Trail. The first half of the trail was fairly level and very beautiful alongside a very pleasant stream. After crossing a pair of bridges, the trail began to climb aggressively until it reached the ridge and the long trail after a total of three miles.
We joined the Appalachian Trail at about midday. The weather was cool, threatening rain, but never actually going beyond a few drops here and there. Even though it had rained about a half inch the previous day, the trail was in good condition. We climbed Mt. W (3745 feet), then reached the P.E. lodge after 1.7 miles from our connection to the Appalachian Trail, where we ate our lunch and left a note in the log book (signed KingM).
We continued to climb for the next .6 miles until we reached Wheat Loaf Mountain (elevation 3835) then continued on to Skyway Lodge about 1.2 miles later. Of the shelters I've seen on the trail, Skyway is where I would most like to spend a night. It is an enclosed cabin that overlooks a lovely pond and is very nice.
The rest of the trip was about 90% downhill with short climbs to three separate peaks. Going downhill from Brownville Mountain, we ran into the first of two people we would see on the trail all day. He was seven days into a trek north to the Canadian border and seemed to me to be out of shape and overweight and overmatched by the trail. He'd only made it a couple of miles that day and intended to spend the entire rest of day and the following day recuperating at Skyway Lodge.
The guy also said he'd seen a bear and her cub (about forty minutes) down the trail. I found the place I think he was talking about and there was a fair amount of bear scat, but unfortunately, we didn't see any bears.
There was a final shelter at Boice, just before Kelby Peak, where we saw the other hiker that day. He was nine days into a similar hike and intended to spend the night at Boice. I would have encouraged him to spend the night at Skyway instead, but that was two miles up a fair steep pitch and it was getting later in the day.
We reached the gap road at about 5:30, a little more than seven hours after we'd set out. There was good cell coverage, so I called M to pick us up and she showed up about 30 minutes later.
It was a nice hike, always fun to spend time alone with E, who is very pleasant and mature when he's not around his younger brother and sister (ugh). My knees are still sore from ski season and I could feel them by the time we were on our final descent.
All in all, I would say this was an easier segment than the 10 miles we did last year. Some good climbs and descents, but also some flat stretches to provide a welcome break.
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