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Night Ride, Avondale

Blizzard

Huge snowstorm here. No big though...just hunkering down, listening to tunes, drinking beer, making stew. I'll take it.


Al

Hike and Hogback

Throwing together a solo overnighter in the Manistee National Forest, a forest I've hiked in many times. I was there earlier this season (here, there) but this time I'll be more inland, near the Manistee River. I used to go there a lot when I lived in Michigan, which was about seven years ago. I was looking through some old shit for a photo of the trail when I found some older shit from at least nine years ago which I scanned:


35mm of Mike and me on one of the various "peaks" at Hogback Mountain, near Marquette, MI. I'm pretty sure Chuck took the photo. Hogback isn't terribly tall, but it's steep, it's the only tall thing out there, and you get a near 360 degree view. I remember the night was nice so I chose to sleep without a tent on a relatively large flat area on a peak. I woke up a couple hours later to find that I had rotated and rolled 30-40 feet towards the edge of a large cliff, now only about 10 feet away. Now that would've been unfortunate.

Getting Ready

So I've spent the last two weeks getting ready to go backpacking up at Pictured Rocks with Nickbot. It's pretty much guaranteed to be a good time. There isn't much planning involved since the park consists of essentially one long trail running along the lakeshore, but obviously I still do my routine gear check/maintenance (which is pretty fun). This time, among other things, I've patched up my old Therm-a-rest (the one I didn't lose down the Colorado River), repaired my aging two-man tent, re-ironed the DWR on my rain paints, loaded campsite coordinates on my GPS, and polished my titanium spoons. I'm excited.


Scan of a 35mm taken with an OM-4. Me, a North Manitou Island beach, around 2006? I guess I was feeling nostalgic that year since I used film, although I have since misplaced the original negative and given away the camera. Ah well.

Nordhouse Dunes, Part 2

Ok, continuing and finishing the summary:


Me sitting in one of the many dunal moraines. This barren little spot was actually right by my campsite, although my tent was tucked into a small group of trees to help protect me from the wind.


Except for a mutually confusing encounter with a porcupine, the rest of my evening was pretty uneventful. I spent some time gathering dead wood, eating, wandering around the dunes, and enjoying some fair weather. However, the night brought in some good rain and wind. Knowing this would probably happen, I had attached more guylines than usual and anchored my tent stakes. However, there was no thunder, so I pretty much slept through it all - and this was unfortunate since I was unaware that my vestibule buckled a bit, causing my boots to get filled with rain. Weeee.


Because of the predicted rain and increasing fire risk, the rangers decided to do a prescribed burn in a couple areas to clear out the combustible underbrush. Although this shot was post-burn and post-rain, there was still some smoldering wood in the back. Controlled burns like this are usually for hazard reduction purposes and it might seem destructive, but they can actually benefit the forest's ecosystem (e.g., recycling the detritus, releasing nutrients, even encouraging fruiting in some plant species).


One of Porter Creek's outlets emptying into Lake Michigan. Before it was just a minor trickle running through a shallow channel. The night's rain, however, significantly increased the output of the creek and caused it to gouge out quite a bit of sand.


And that was about it. Just a quick little trip but it was perfect for checking on some of my aging gear (some of which I've decided is done for), testing out a new camera harness, and getting a little bit of wilderness solitude in. Good times.

Unfazed

This weekend I'll be headed off to one of (hopefully) many semi-local mini-backpacking trips. How do I know I love this stuff? Well, the weather forecast for the area calls for thunderstorms, strong winds, and cold. Not only was I unfazed by that information, but I was kind of happy to see that what was originally a cakewalk hike might now be a bit more interesting. I'll report back next week.

Unfazed:


That's pretty much how I looked when I read the forecast (yes that is me). Also, sweet haircut.

Winter -> Spring

We've had our first episode of purely enjoyable weather (for me at least) and my appetite for hiking/backpacking/camping has officially been whetted. At this time last year I was busy dealing with events that were a bit more life-altering, so it will be nice to be on the opposite end of the spectrum now. So far I've already got a couple long weekends worked out in my head and I've had my eye on Pictured Rocks, the Smokies, or maybe something completely new...

Still, I'm surprisingly sad to see winter go. I like how the distinct seasons require me to change my lifestyle, hobbies, priorities, and all sorts of other things. I'm not sure if it's an innate enjoyment or just a way to make good out of bad, but whatever - the distinction is irrelevant as long as I'm deriving a benefit. Either way, I will miss watching Quentin burrow and breakdance in the snow - until next year I suppose.


Sad to see you go.

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Filing jointly

(Engagement photo, taken by friend James)

Honeymoon Summary, Part 4

Bali! When Cathy and I arrived in Bali we finally felt like we were on our honeymoon. Although we were having an amazing time in Korea, it was nice to finally be by ourselves.


We stayed at the Conrad Suites. The room was ridiculous - dining room, living room, master bedroom, bathroom, vanity area, balcony, wall-to-wall windows, juicer, espresso machine, flat screen tv in the bathroom, and more nonsense. They asked what our preferred pillow type and firmness was, what aromatherapy oils housekeeping should burn, and which freshly squeezed juices should be stocked daily in our fridge. Honestly, it was all plain silly to me but hey, it was our honeymoon so whatever.


We were doing this honeymoon package thing and so lots of meals, events, and tours were already planned out for us. We explored cultural areas, visited random villages, went rafting down the Ayung River, hung out with some monkeys, found some green starfish, had candlelit beachside dinners, shared forestside lunches, got weird massages which I never want to experience again, and a whole slew of other stuff.


A rocky pier, the Indian Ocean, and my lovely wife.


Although we ate some Indonesian food (which is somewhat similar to Chinese food), our package provided a lot of Westernized meals. It was a welcome change from all the Asian food I had been eating, although I did feel a bit guilty about it. I mean you don't go to Bali to eat croissants for breakfast but I just couldn't help myself.


The purple rock crab, Leptograpsus variegatus. These guys would hang out on rocky outcroppings and scurry into various nooks and crannies whenever anyone of apparent authority got too close. Kind of like me when I was in high school.


The Crab-eating macaque, Macaca fascicularis. I never saw one eating a purple rock crab but I did see one try to steal some guy's wallet. I saw another licking a wall. I also saw a group of them bum rush a lady holding a banana. Standard monkey behavior.


We visited a couple street markets which had lots of amazing piles for sale. Piles of baskets, piles of artwork, piles of clothes, piles of jewelry, piles of piles on top of other piles. It was all reminiscent of other Asian and Mexican street markets I've been to, complete with the preposterous bartering. For example, after one counteroffer for some bamboo basket, one merchant went from $200 to $10. Preposterous.


Indonesia's best selling brew. I knew this was Bintang Beer because, well, it said so on the bottle.

Back to South Korea in the next, and probably final, honeymoon post.

And We're Back

Cathy and I got back from our Super Gleeful Honeymoon Action Quest today. After walking in the door I promptly took a six hour coma-nap. Besides all the traveling, we were extra tired due to having fell ill the last couple of days. I suspect some mischievous clams and a few other unscrupulous bivalves were responsible.

We're next headed to good ol' Michigan where I plan to roll around on the ground with Quentin and be scoffed at by Kya.


I took this photo in Seoul. Just take my word for it.

More honeymoon-relevant photos (with actual content) will be posted soon. For serious.

Dot Matrix Albert

A couple weeks ago I was at my parents' house looking at some old photos when my mom showed me a dot matrix printout of me circa 1982. Apparently she randomly got it while we were at the local Meijer. You remember dot matrix printers? Those were the things that sounded like a dying, squealing robot while printing a blazing one page a minute on fan-fold paper. Yeah, that was bleeding edge technology back then.

Anyway, it seemed a bit fragile so I took a quick photo of it instead of taking it with me. Enlarge it to see it in all it's dotty glory:


Awesome.

Fixed Internets

Hey who fixed the internet? Anyway, like I was saying, the roof of our building got some much needed repairs. Despite being a relatively new construction, there was some water infiltration problems with the prior roof. I think the technical term for the problem was that it was a "crap roof."

Sometimes I miss the days when I rented and a crap roof was someone else's problem. And when I would open a fridge to find that a housemate's fresh venison had dripped blood all over the beers. Yes, those were the days.


Rained a couple weeks ago and Cathy noticed our balcony drain was not draining. She called me and said, "Hey, your sandals are floating. On our balcony." Needless to say, I rushed back so that I could play battleship. (The problem was that Quentin's hair was covering the drain - crisis averted).

Michigan Again

Went to Michigan to pick up Q and visit the parents. Good times as usual.

I usually only bring my fixed 25mm lens when I visit. It's a simple lens that takes simple photos: Its field of view is roughly equivalent to the field of view for human vision so what you see is what you get. Combined with the fact that it's very compact, it would be good for street photography (unfortunately I'm not really into that these days).


Like I said before, always something going on in the backyard. Some red lilies were blooming - never knew they were there.


The weather was great so I went for a swim with Quentin. Cathy took a couple nice photos.


Albert: "Quentin, there's a tennis ball over there."
Quentin: "This is relevant to my interests."


Kya got in a grooming session with my dad and Cathy. She was very relaxed.


Very relaxed.

Homemade Haircut

My haircuts? I sit around reading brain-shriveling magazines for 30 minutes, sit in a chair for 5 minutes, and then fork over a wad of cash to a stranger. Tired of being scammed, I recently asked my wife from the future if she would try cutting my hair. Well, I picked up some clippers and shears, and next thing you know my hair was cut. Is there anything she can't do?


No, this isn't how it turned out. This is more like my hat hair on a Sunday morning but it's the only remotely relevant photo I had lying around. Cathy actually did a great job and so I can now say that the Hair Cuttery will enjoy my patronage no more. Same goes to you Supercuts, you magnificent piece of crap.

Poisoned

Ugh I got nothing these days. I've been battling a mild case of suspected food poisoning.

At first I thought, how could this happen? Then I remembered that my previous 3 days of eating included pho tai in Little Saigon, chicken and lamb shwarma in Bucktown, buffalo meat with pomegranate sauerkraut, duck sausage, and reindeer in the burbs. So really, how could it not happen.

I don't quite remember the last time I've considered myself sick, so I guess it was bound to happen. Anyway, I've been feeling like shit and not having much motivation to move. Here's hoping I feel better soon so I can get back to eating random game meat.

Jump

I've been kind of busy these days with a lot of nonsense, so haven't really had much time to take photos. However, I did pick up a low-endish 25mm prime that I'm itching to try out. The image quality isn't that great but the lens is about the size of an Oreo, so it's all about the portability with this one. We'll see.

In the meantime, here's a scan of a ~10 year photo of me (taken by Chuck):


I don't remember the name of the river we were jumping into or even the year this was taken. All I know is it was somewhere in the upper peninsula of Michigan and that it was damn fun.

Broken Glass

Crap. While swapping out lenses over the past weekend, my favorite lens rolled, dropped two feet, and then bounced off the ground a couple times. I saw it happen and all I could do was feebly stretch out my arm while choking out a pathetic "Noooooo."

The focus motor is wrecked for sure, and since the focus ring is electronically coupled (something I never liked) I can't even focus it manually. I'm also guessing some lens elements were knocked out of alignment, but I can't really tell without the ability to focus it.

Anyway, I'm sending the thing in for repair. I'm hoping for the best but I'm not exactly confident it will come back to me as good as it was.


Not even a Vernors can cheer me up right now (photo by Cathy).

San Fran, Organic Ice Cream, and Sake Tasting

The day after Santa Cruz, we went to San Francisco to hang out. I've been there a couple times and always had a good time and this was no exception.


After a nice Italian dinner, we went to was Bi-Rite Creamery. They use local and organic ingredients, and generally appear to be eco-friendly - my kind of place. The ice cream is awesome too. Pic taken with Cathy's Sony p&s.


Rie, Eric, Roland, Me, Cathy. My brother got stung by a hornet in San Francisco. Five days rolling around in the woods with swarms of hornets, and neither of us got stung. But A couple hours in the city, and bam - hornet sting. Pic taken by a stranger with Cathy's Sony p&s.


To soothe his pain, Eric and I decided to do some sake tasting. We bought a couple bottles from a place called True Sake, I think. After getting back home, we cracked them open and gave em a taste. We tasted the middle bottle until it was gone. Delicious. One of my first posts, here, on this blog had a photo of booze and my brother, so this photo was taken in the same spirit.


Good times.

Lassen Volcanic National Park, Pt. 5

Does it ever end? Sorry for all the posts, but I'm going through my photos very slowly.


We finally made it to the top of the Cinder Cone. A cinder cone is essentially a volcanic vent that has accumulated debris (cinder) around itself from its eruptions. So the cone is not much more than a pile of chunks of volcanic rock (which is why, as stated in my last post, it was difficult to climb). Although this picture does not provide sufficient perspective to convey the size of this thing, if you open the image up and look closely, you can see two people on the left rear where the two paths meet.


Ok, here's a closer look at them. Hopefully this gives you an idea of how big it was.


You can get a better idea of how deep it was from the opposite side. Eric was excited because it reminded him of the desert pit monster in Star Wars. I agreed.


You could get a nice view of Lassen Peak from here. It is considered an active volcano, albeit dormant, volcano. I was trying to smile here, but it looks more like a painful grimace.


Turning the camera to the left, you got a fucking sweet view. You can really see the incredible variety of terrain. Forests, desert, volcanic rock, lakes, hills, dunes, mountains...



Looking to the right of the above picture are the aptly named Painted Dunes. Absolutely moving, it was one of the more unique sights in Lassen. You can see the trail off to the right which we hiked on. You can see where I took this picture from the last post, it's not too hard to figure out.

Probably just two more posts of Lassen left...

Two, Random, Semi-Old

Filler post of two random semi-old photos (point and shoot):


Kayaking through Chicago. I've done this a couple times in both directions, and despite the nasty and polluted river you navigate through, it's great fun. This is a shot of right when you start getting into the Loop. It's like being in an urban canyon when you're paddling between the skyscrapers and buildings. I usually take it all the way out to Lake Michigan, and paddle along the coast for a while. You have to be careful though, the waves on the lake are often big enough to easily dump you.


The red sand Kaihalulu Beach in Maui. Big rocks. I'm in the bottom left corner. The fun part about this beach (besides the red sand) was that you could run out into the ocean for about 100 meters and the water was still barely up to your waist.