Corridor 9

You may remember me talking about the GoLite Paradigm jacket and Paradox pants. During the past few months I’ve been testing this combo for BackpackGearTest. I’ve recently finished this test series and and glad that I got the opportunity to test this combo. Before this test I didn’t really have a set of wet weather gear. I used to just hike in the rain. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to hike when dry, I realized how much more enjoyable my trips have become.

My reviews can be found here:
GoLite Paradigm Jacket Test Report
GoLite Paradox Pants Test Report

I stumbled across a thread today about making a photo vs taking a picture. One of the things that I’m trying to improve is my ability to know which photo’s to take and which to leave behind. Thats a big problem today, especially with the digital age. It’s so easy to take thousands of pictures and hope that a few turn out good.

http://www.uniquephoto.com/adam/blog/index.php/2007/09/25/making-a-photograph-vs-taking-a-picture/

After using this for the past few months, I simply had to talk about it here. The program is SyncToy and it’s one of Microsoft’s PowerToy applications. Part of the problem that I was encountering was the inability to keep multiple folders on two computers up to date. I tried out SyncToy and it worked wonders! I really wasn’t looking forward to copying 8 Gigs of information every time I needed to make sure the two computers had the same information.

This program worked great! After the initial sync, it usually only takes me 3-4 minutes to sync the files I modified. Check it out if you’re looking to sync multiple folders, multiple drives, or multiple computers.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

Well… I strained my leg at softball last night. I slipped on the grass and had it flex a bit too much. That wasn’t the worst part either. I decided to get some IcyHot to help my leg feel better. Being as how I’ve never used any of these sort of products before I wasn’t aware of their dangerous nature.

Let me just say this… when applying IcyHot to the leg, be sure that there is no chance that any other body parts down there my come in contact with the product. It’s definitely not a fun experience.

I haven’t really had much to post the past few days. I’ve had a few things in real life lately that I’ve been mulling over in my head. I’m really looking forward to my trip next week. I’ll get a map up in a couple of days to lay out the route.

However, it was nice to just sit and relax tonight. I don’t have to do anything… just sit here and relax, type a little , and listen to a little Counting Crows.

So what is it? It’s really just a big name, small bag. I just received this item from BGT.org a few days ago and must say that it’s impressive so far. Basically this is a dry sack with a twist, rather than having to purge the air from the stuff sack prior to closing it, you close the bag, then purge the air through a air-permeable band near the bottom of the sack. Those of you who have used a standard dry sack know that stuffing these into the nooks and crannies of your sack can be rough due to the amount of trapped air left in the bag. With this new stuff sack, I should be able purge all the air out prior to placing this in my backpack.

I’ll keep you posted on the results!

Recently, one of the women that I am in BGT with completed a 15 hike along the John Muir Trail. The trail itself is roughly 220 miles long and stretches through some of the most beautiful wilderness from the Yosemite valley to the top of Mount Whitney.

I strongly encourage you to read this trail report. However, be forewarned, reading about such adventures may make you have the urge to take 2 weeks off work to attempt such a feat yourself. Thanks Rebecca for such a nice report. It helps those of us stuck in the Midwest dream of tree lines and waterfalls.

Although I haven’t posted much in the way of gear lately, I’ve been finalizing quite a few reports for BackpackGearTest.org. Within the past month I finished testing five pieces of gear. Three of those reports have been finalized and closed.

You may remember me posting about the Black Diamond Mesa tent that I received about 6 months ago, or even the Big Agnes Lost Ranger & Dual Core Air Mattress that came shortly thereafter. Well… both of those tests are considered finished and closed.

I was extremely happy with the Mesa, as well as the Big Agnes items. The tent was nice and roomy, providing plenty of space for 2 people without even staking it out. In addition, when I used it on solo trips I had enough space to store my equipment inside with me while I was sleeping instead of having to make sure it was protected from the rain outside the tent.

As for the Big Agnes items; I don’t think I’ve ever slept more peacefully as the nights that I was on the Dual Core air mattress. It was wonderful being on such a soft pad, not having to feel the ground with my hips and knees every time I rolled onto my side, and having the extra insulation keeping me that much warmer all night long. The Lost Ranger is also a great piece of gear. It’s compressibility makes it such a packable 15 F sleeping bag. It compresses down to about half the size as my 15 F synthetic. In addition, because there is no insulation on the back, I was able to use this into the mid 50’s F without too much discomfort.

In all, these are great products that I highly recommend. More information about these products can be found at the following links:
Black Diamond Equipment
Big Agnes

In addition, my BGT reports can be found here:
http://www.backpackgeartest.org/tester_reviews/Rescue9

Pictures can be found here:
http://www.corridor9.net/v/Camping/Gear/

Wow!!!! This is super cool!

Ok… so the Apple Keynote had a lot of good news……
Yea… ok… so I’ll stop stalling….
I SO WANT AN IPHONE! They dropped the price $200!!!
And I’m SO TIRED of roaming with Sprint.
So, PLEASE HONEY! Can I have an IPHONE?!?
PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEEE!
{insert beg and grovel here}
I’ll be like so happy. And um… well… my phone calls won’t drop out at work anymore.
I’ll love you forever….. (Well, I’ll love you forever anyway)
Plus, AT&T Has great Service!

Early June I posted some information on a CAMEO (Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations) class I attended. Unfortunately, when I rebuilt my server I lost a bit of information from June.

In this class I learned how to use some of the most powerful programs out there today for emergency operations. While this software is able to be used at virtually any incident, it’s primary use is for HAZMAT incidents. The three programs CAMEO, ALOHA (Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres), and MARPLOT (Mapping Application for Response, Planning, and Local Operational Tasks) allow us to gather information about a chemical, it’s specific properties, dispersion rates and areas, as well as overlay those dispersion rates and areas on a graphical map of the affected area.

For those out there who need the plain English definition: We find out what chemical is involved, make a graph of hazard zones, and lay that graph over a county map to see exactly who would be affected, and what would happen if the wind direction changes.

Over the past few shifts I’ve been inputting data into the program about existing companies and their chemical inventory. This allows us to quickly anticipate the problem that may arise if a spill was to occur at one of those facilities. Naturally the quicker we could interpret this information, the quicker we could evacuate those who would be affected.

Here’s a trip report for a summit attempt from one of the guys who does BGT with me.

Climbing Mt. Rainier has been a goal of mine for a long time and my
opportunity finally arrived in late July of 2007. Christopher,
Steve, and I decided upon attempting the Emmon’s route. Though
supposedly a longer, harder approach with more crevasse danger it has
less rockfall danger than some of the other routes on the mountain.
Our first night’s hike to Glacier Basin was uneventful. Steve, our
third team member, had flown out from Minnesota and had already been
at the Basin and scoped out a primo site. After setting up the tent
we enjoyed some quesadillas and headed to bed. The next day we were
up fairly early and on our way to Camp Schurman. We decided to rope
up on the Inter glacier to practice walking as a rope team since this
was the first time the three of us had shared a rope with each
other. It was also my first time hiking on a glacier roped up. I
had hoped to gain some rope experience on my Mt. Whitney trip in
April but a Sierra Snowstorm stopped us at 11,500′. Back to Rainier,
Christopher and I set a pretty hard core pace and quickly wore Steve
out. We slowed down to a reasonable pace that we could all keep but
the initial climb took a lot of Steve. We made it to Camp Schurman by
early afternoon and set up camp and made dinner. After dinner that
it became apparent that Steve wasn’t prepared physically to head any
further up the mountain. He was a last minute addition so we didn’t
give him enough time to properly prepare. Sleep didn’t come until 8pm
and then we were up at 11:30 that night to make our summit attempt.
We had partnered up with a 3 person team for the summit attempt.
Since I was a newbie we wanted to have the security of another team
in case we ran into trouble. The mountain was gorgeous at midnight,
just a slight moon cast on Steamboat Prow and the lights of Seattle
gleaming in the distance. The wind was blowing but it wasn’t cold
initially, but as we started up the mountain the wind picked up and
was steadily blowing 30+ mph and causing me to get chilled. A pair
of mitts, and a long sleeve shirt under my shell and a beanie quickly
remedied that issue. The mountain and crevasses were beautiful as we
progressed slowly up the mountain. I did not experience any ill
effects from the altitude, but I did take diamox and except for some
tingling in my feet had no side effects. Everything was slow going
as we wanted to stay with the three person team we had partnered up
with. At 12,400 feet one of their team members became fatigued and
we bivied him down. After that we continued up the mountain and made
it to the bergschrund at 13,600′. This proved to be the crux of the
trip. In my opinion the bergschrund wasn’t too bad, and had about a
55 degree pitch snowbridge with some exposure on the sides. A team
before us had placed some pickets for pro, so Chris and I were pretty
comfortable using our axes and front pointing on the crampons, but a
member of the other team did not feel comfortable with the crossing
and seemed to be getting fatigued. Christopher and I wanted the
safety net of another team while descending so we decided as a group
not to continue on and turned around. I can’t say there wasn’t some
disappointment, but that’s life and the mountain isn’t going
anywhere. Safety, teamwork, and honoring one’s word is more
important than bagging a summit. The hike down wasn’t eventful
except that it was a long slog back to Schurman, some rest and then
the long slog back to the cars. We arrived back at the cars at 8:15
pm and hit a Mexican joint in Enumclaw for dinner and then the long
drive home to Snoqualmie. After being up for 24 hours I was ready to
go to bed, but a shower was required before my wife would let me in
the bed!

I learned several lessons on this trip. One is that though I was
physically prepared for the trip, I didn’t have a good grasp of the
rope skills that I needed for glacier travel. Christopher and I
spent a weekend practicing on the Inter Glacier before the trip and
that really opened my eyes to what I didn’t know that I didn’t know.
Another thing I learned is to enjoy the journey instead of focusing
only on the summit. I had a great time building my relationship with
my hiking buddies and had a great opportunity to make a new friend in
Steve. Mt Rainier isn’t going anywhere, well unless there is an
eruption, but I am happy to have had a great experience on the
mountain. This doesn’t mean that I don’t want to summit it, but
there is joy in the experience that is under valued. I look forward
to a return visit with the Mountain and future glacier climbs.