Month: August 2010

I’ve never found any appeal in general social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook. They seem pointless. Sites that primarily serve some actual function and secondarily offer social networking features make more sense to me — something like Flickr: a photo hosting site that happens to offer social networking features. And now I’ve signed up for LibraryThing: a book catalog service that happens to have some social networking.

A friend recently told me about LibraryThing. It appealed to me as a way to keep track of all my books, and I thought it might be interesting to see who else owned copies of some of the more obscure books in my collection. I intend only to add books that I actually own to LibraryThing — not all the books I’ve read, which would take far too long. This makes LibraryThing’s recommendation service rather irrelevant for me, since most of the books it currently recommends are those that I have read, but do not own.

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I’ve had a few requests to do a gear list for some of my recent trips. Since it’s been over a year since the last one, I thought I would acquiesce. What follows is the list from my recent journey to the Goat Rocks. Though that was a short trip, my gear has varied very little on any trip this year. I’ll take warmer clothing earlier (and later) in the year, and of course the amount of food varies based on the length of the trip, but most everything else remains static. This is quite the change from even just a year ago, where it seems like my gear would change drastically from trip to trip! Perhaps I know what I’m doing a little better now.

Some of the gear is light, some of it isn’t. Regular readers know that I always struggle to find a balance between lightweight, functionality, and durability. Certain items that I carry — like, say, the saw — are not likely to be found in the pack of an average backpacker, but are suited to my method of travel. In all, my base weight for this trip was right at 20lbs. I’m not too ashamed of that. In fact, considering that my pack alone weighs 6lbs when empty, that base weight is pretty darn good.

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• Watching Adam Lowry at the Do Lectures: http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/speakers-2009/adam-lowry #
• Gabriel Branby (of Gransfors Bruks) speaking at Do Lectures: http://www.dolectures.com/speakers/speakers-2009/gabriel-branby #
• Seattle climber aims to set speed record on Everest: http://bit.ly/aGzxow #
• Watching @avagdu's video from our Glacier Peak Wilderness trip: http://blip.tv/file/4035571 #
• > @rantmedia: 'Sean Kennedy: Zombie Hunter' new short mini-film from RantMedia in 1080p: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wQKJEBs1yU #
• > @BarefootTed: My Leadville 100 report has posted: http://bit.ly/bft_leadville #
• Back from the Goat Rocks Wilderness. #
• First Ascent trailer: http://vimeo.com/14436091 #
• Sock reviews from Afghanistan: http://j.mp/aYBMX8 #
• Wallet Urban Survival Tricks: http://j.mp/btDhYH #
• Watching Avagdu's video from our Wild Sky trip: 'Storm The Wire Video - S03E08 - Wild Sky' http://blip.tv/file/4056712 #
• Just borrowed a first edition of Harry Franck's A Vagabond Journey Around the World, published 1910. The original vagabond! #

The Goat Rocks are an alpine wonderland situated between Mount Adams and Mount Rainier. The result of volcanic explosions and glacial carving, the area is high and rugged; the way mountains are supposed to be.

My entry into the area was via the Packwood Lake Trailhead. It’s a popular trailhead, leading to the equally popular day-hiking destination of Packwood Lake. The hike is about 4.5 miles to the lake along flat and well maintained trail.

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• Back from guiding a 7 day trip in the Crater Lake National Park backcountry. #
• Wilderness Simplicity, Flexibility, and Power: http://bit.ly/cmEp3n #
• Rolf Potts' No Baggage Challenge: http://www.rtwblog.com/ #
• Watching 'Storm The Wire Video - S03E06 - R4nger5 America' from @avagdu: http://blip.tv/file/4023922 #
• I didn't think I'd ever finish reading Lonesome Dove. That was one long, slow book. But worth it. #
• I want to put a Ventus Wind Turbine in my pack: http://www.intherabbithole.com/ventus-wind-turbine/ #
• Outside the grocery store I met a couple riding a tandem bike from the arctic to Patagonia. #