Cycling The Pyrenees – Part One
June 18, 2024 § 2 Comments
It’s been almost 2 years, and I never wrote a single line here about this (mis-)adventure. Surprised I am indeed. Some time in early August my friend Tom Fahey sent me a link to a RideWithGps route across the Pyrenees that he and another friend, Augie Carton, would be attempting in October and did I have any thoughts on it. Of course my first thought was “Hell Yes!”, however I was doing a 10 day trip in the Weminuche Wilderness at the end of August early September, and I would have very few vacation days left, and then there was, of course, the expense, yada, yada. So, I didn’t ask if I could come at that time, but I told him I would analyze the route and get back to him. There won’t be any images to add in this post, but as I scan backwards through my SMS history, I see that there was an exchange with both Tom and Augie on July 30th concerning this trip, so it got onto my radar screen a lot earlier than I remember, and maybe it’s because I got to think about it for so long, that did influence my decision to join.
« Read the rest of this entry »Friday Does Me In Again
May 27, 2024 § Leave a comment
I would like to add a new additional definition for the word “Knucklehead”:
knucklehead /ˈnʌkəlˌhɛd/ noun
Any person (usually male) who, without any real knowledge of the actual route, thinks they can bushwhack from Cornell to Friday in the Catskills with a full backpack.
First let me say that I am glad it was just Jed and me. There are actually multiple reasons for this gladness, but the main one, is that at just the two of us, we could agree easily and though there was a lot of “suck” to embrace, the rewards were enough for us to walk away saying, “Though we failed in our plan, we still had a good time!”.
« Read the rest of this entry »The Perfect Weekend
November 7, 2023 § 1 Comment
We returned to an area of West Virginia where I believe the first backpacking trip that I drove down to meet what would later become known as “The Virginia Crew” finished up. Then, it was a point to point that finished just off the Tuscarora Trail near Rt 48 between Strassburg and Wardensville, and now it was an in and out back up into Racer Hollow out of The Wilson Cove Wildlife Management Area. We picked this weekend, basically, because I didn’t give but 2 possible weekends for me to participate, and as it so happened, turned out to be the weekend after Walt’s final day at Iridium, bound for his post-work-life as a retiree.
Anyone reading this that lives in the Northeast knows that it has basically been one fucking shitty assed Autumn that has had weekend after weekend ruined by at least 1 day of solid rainfall. This NYT article spells out the doom in NY self-picking apple orchards that rely heavily on Autumn weekenders getting out there to pick apples, so I think it is safe to say that we all harbored great expectations of a fine weekend for this excursion. As soon as one could pull a long term posit, it was looking good, and unlike all my other long term looks, this forecast actually improved every day it got closer. At some point I realized that temperature wise, it wasn’t going to be any different this weekend than it was my entire week above 10,000′ this past August in Utah. So, with that great news, I put away my 0 degree bag, and packed my 35 bag with a liner and not only committed to my 45 liter Lite AF pack, but I did not even pack rain gear. No Pack cover, no tarp, no rain jacket, and no rain kilt. I, and a few others it turns out, went all in on the forecast.
« Read the rest of this entry »The High Uintas 2023
September 10, 2023 § Leave a comment
Host: “Welcome to the show everyone, I want to thank you all for tuning in we have a very special guest tonight but more on that in a bit. Let’s first give a shout out to our sponsors, Preparation H, cause when you need a friend, well that is all the help you are going to get. And now, let’s welcome our guest tonight, some of you know who he is already, but our guest flies way under the radar, and he has just returned from another (self – described) miracle in the wilderness, everyone give it up for a very special guest, Eric Hallander.”
[Crowd is clapping, could be a wee bit more boisterous and louder]
Eric: “Thank you, thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here tonight with such a welcoming audience. Thank you. You are all too kind. Thank you.”
Host: “That is quite a welcome you got there. It appears you might have a following. Ha!.”
Eric: “Well, it is hard to self-promote, but I give it a go, you know. Put meself out there as they say.”
Ragbrai L – Sunday Through Saturday
August 12, 2023 § Leave a comment
As I said in the previous post I would like to keep this to 3 posts, so I will not go into too many details regarding this trip. I will mention a few items of interest to me, and I will either embed, or post links to other content that you may or may not wish to click through to. I will post this Facebook link to a Ragbrai LI group where you are free to peruse what others liked/disliked about this years ride.
Sorry Tabitha, I don’t have an image with all of us.
« Read the rest of this entry »The Assault on Mount Mitchell 2022 – A Baby Seal was I
July 30, 2022 § 2 Comments
When Terry Downs sent me the registration link, this seemed like a great idea. I was going to sign up for Ride the Rockies again, and having this activity in May would force me to get out there and train, because this beast is a monster. In case you aren’t aware, Mount Mitchell is the highest point East of the Mississippi. The term highest has to be understood. The Appalachian Trail does NOT traverse Mount Mitchell and so Clingman’s Dome (soon to be renamed thus ridding us of another Confederate traitor) is the highest point on the AT. Mount Mitchell Highlands NJ is the highest coastal point South of Maine (Cadillac Mtn though is on an island). Mount Mitchell in NC is the highest thing around for man miles. This ride begins all the way South in Spartanburg South Carolina and generally winds it’s way North and West until it ascends to the Blue Ridge, and then its South to the final climb to the summit. One hundred two miles and more than 10K feet of elevation gain.
« Read the rest of this entry »Weminuche Wilderness 2021 – Day 8 Goodbye Weminuche Wilderness
July 30, 2022 § Leave a comment
Let’s see if this can be a short write-up. Ha!
We awoke with maybe a half a mile to walk to get to the train. The ETA for said train was somewhere around 10:30 in the am, so with all that in consideration, we didn’t feel any sense of urgency, and that showed in just how slow we were moving that morning. There wasn’t really all that much to do. Breaking down camp doesn’t take long. I recall we had enough left over wood that we had a morning fire. Just enough of a blaze to take the chill out of the air when you needed it. Our seats were all right where we left them the night before, so why not simply light it up, turn up the seats, and chill around the fire drinking coffee drinks and eating our last bits of oatmeal?
« Read the rest of this entry »Weminuche Wilderness 2021 – Day 7 Goodbye Chicago Basin
July 29, 2022 § Leave a comment
Once the decision to NOT hike another 14er was made, that made today and easy choice. If you have read any of these posts, for example this, or this, then you know that the conductor on the Durango Silverton Historic Train told us that even though our purchased ticket was a one-way ticket from Needleton to Durango, “IF” we were out there when the train was headed north, we could in fact simply board the train and proceed North to Silverton where the train lays over for two entire hours, and then re-board for the trip back to Durango. So, we had a few options on the table. We could simply remain high in the Chicago Basin, and simply have relaxed all day long, doing nothing, except maybe some local exploring. Door #1. We could pack everything up and hike all the way to the train and get out 1 day early. Door #2. We could pack everything up and hike most of the way out, and find a beautiful site along the Animas River leaving only a half mile to take full advantage of the conductor’s offer. Door #3.
« Read the rest of this entry »Weminuche Wilderness 2021 – Day 6 Wyndom
July 26, 2022 § 1 Comment
When I started planning out this adventure, I allocated two full days in the Chicago Basin for two days of 14er attempts. Even more ambitious was the thought that in those two days, we would bag 4 peaks over 14K! Ha! So naive!
Before going to bed we all agreed that we would NOT be targeting a 4:30am wake-up, but we did agree that we would arise at first light and make a go of it, conceding before we even started, that if we made the summit of 1 14er, then that was accomplishment enough for the day. We also decided that based on the descriptions of all the climbs that were possible, that Wyndom would be our goal.
« Read the rest of this entry »Ride The Rockies 2022 – Day 6
July 25, 2022 § Leave a comment
And we have reached the last day of a tremendous ride in the Rockies. Of course there is still the ride, and that ride includes first getting up and over Loveland Pass, but once that is completed, then it is generally a simple task of losing elevation all the way to Golden. Getting over Loveland would not be a simple task though we all start the day with at least 340 miles in our legs already, and having lifted ourselves up and over the Continental Divide four times already. This is another front-ended climb day that has nothing but downhill afterwards, and on this day there is no forecast for high headwinds. We might hit some weather, but at least we don’t have to fight the wind to get to Golden.
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Big Bird's Adventures 