Hobo Stove

I get a kick out of tweaking old designs.
This is my take on the traditional Hobo coffee can stove.
It draws well , uses little fuel and emits almost no smoke.
I'll bet that if you weigh all factors this tin can stove , of all lightweight stoves , has the smallest negative environmental footprint.

Ski Racer

Note that in the previous post, Old Ski Racer that I am , got the sponsors logo in the publicity photo w/ Miss Mari.
I have used Rossignol stuff for my whole life, I beat my gear and it always keeps going.
I'm just sayin.........

Road Skiing

We had a cold front come thru on Saturday and with that came about 6 inches of snow.
The first day of skiing is always a great event and this was no exception. I love any type of skiing be it at the resort, in the back country or Nordic/cross country on an old logging road. I have traveled thousands of miles on Nordic skiis and love the feeling of gliding along the trail.
It is what I live for.
Miss Mari and .357 Girl came with and we had an enjoyable aerobic workout . We did an easy 4+/- miles combined with some bushwhacking that just took the steam out of all.
I think that the best part about mucking about in the woods is the comradery and the unity that developes as the adventure progresses.
We did nothing out of the ordinary but I went home with a feeling of friendship and vitality that I feel is missing from everyday life.

Oh My Gosh!

Teaching an old dog new tricks.....
Survival of the fittest does not equal survival of the lucky.
I have dodged a bullet so many times in my life that now I look over my shoulder just to make sure no one is keeping up.
I know I am lucky , as for sure I know I am not that smart.
http://iamthesleepingiant.blogspot.com

Winter Trans Sierra

In what I thought was a very casual conversation about back country skiing with Mari, the subject of a Trans Sierra trip this winter came up. I have successfully done this kind of thing before and have also had my ass blown back into the Pacific more than once.
The trips were equally enjoyable for me but I have my doubts about Mari enjoying being pinned down by a snowstorm for 3 days at 12,000 feet.
From there the conversation morphed into the logistics of a John Muir Trail thru hike next summer. Now keep in mind that until I am in the truck on the way to the trail head I always take these kind of conversations with a grain of salt.
So much for that.
This morning I discovered a mountain of books,trail reports and maps on Mari's side of the bed.
I guess we are going on a hike next summer........

Snow

I woke this morn after a quiet night. We have had crazy thunder storms each evening since Friday night. It makes it hard to sleep when it has all the effects of a naval bombardment outside your window. The teewee goes off as my alarm and the first thing I hear is "Snow at 8000' continuing throughout the day."
As a life long skier if that doesn't start your day off right I don't know what will.

Happy Birthday

To Me!

Had a great dinner last night with Dylan and Mariah, Tri-tip marinated in homemade Blueberry wine with yard beans and baked potato. Yummy.

Very nice gifts from everyone, Sam Cooke cd's and more from Mariah and Dylan , Miss Mari goes overboard as usual.

New Line Anthem skis and a micro Marshal guitar amp for cord free jamming.

We heartily endorse http://www.evo.com/default.aspx?gclid=CKzrksyKt6QCFSIxiQodHT_f0g

Unbelievable deals on mountain gear. Of course Mari couldn't pass up the deal on a new pair of K2's, She's Piste Tele boards so Happy Birthday to her also. We have bought about $2500 worth of skis and gear for about $950 total.

I woke about midnight to an awesome lighting storm and a steady rain that is still going.

Normally most people would view this as crappy weather for a birthday but not me.

All this weather means that snow is not far away!

Happy Birthday to me!