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This site exists to advocate finding the middle of nowhere; the place where you can park on the double yellow line, eat a sandwich and contemplate where the hell you are on the map.  I encourage you to go out and put yourself into situations that become the stuff of legendary stories.  Have a look around and enjoy.

2010 Challenge Announced

2009 Challenge The 2010 Challenge is the list of 10 tasks that I've set out for myself to accomplish this year.  The overview is published and progress reports and summaries will be published under the 2010 Challenges menu in the Challenges section of this website.  The list this year is significantly harder than last years and I'll be exploring my limits, but as it says in Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills,"Use creativity and boldness to overcome the difficulty."

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Journal Entry June 26, 2009 - Grand Teton Climb Day 2
Thursday, 23 July 2009
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A Quiet Moment
Entry from Daniel Hienzsch's journal...

June 26, 2009
Grand Teton National Park

I woke to the sound of rain on my tent around 5:30AM after fitful sleep.  I drifted in and out for another two hours, hoping the storm would pass.  At 7:30AM, I put on my raingear, got up and brushed my teeth west of camp and settled into the Guide's Hut.  In about an hour, the women arrived and there we stayed as the rain became slushy big snow flakes.  For three hours we were confined to the hut, sitting around until the sun finally popped out.

Darren and I went out immediately to run through snow school while the women did some simple top rope work ont he boulders around camp.  Snow school consisted of self arrest techniques: sliding on your back feet first, sliding on your belly head first, sliding on your belly feet first, and the most disconcerting, sliding on your back head first as you might if you lost your balance with a heavy pack on.  We practiced glissading (sitting and standing) as well as short rope technique while the women worked on their climbing calls: "ON BELAY", "CLIMBING", "CLIMB".
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Journal Entry June 25, 2009 - Grand Teton Climb Day 1
Thursday, 23 July 2009
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Fully Packed
Entry from Daniel Hienzsch's journal...

June 25, 2009
Grand Teton National Park

I broke camp at Colter Bay at 7:30AM this morning and figured I'd take one last shower.  Had a cup of coffee and a muffin, but could already feel my nerves.  I was very, very anxious about the trek to Corbett High Camp.  Finished up at Colter Bay Village and stopped to offer Emergency First Responder help to a group of people surrounding an elderly man that was laying on the ground.  They said that EMS had already been contacted and he was already laying on his side with his head propped up and a jacket over the top of him to keep him warm.  I would only be in the way.  I drove to the trailhead from there and I and the other clients gathered at Lupine Meadows Trail at 10AM and first thing, Darren, my guide, handed me 10 more pounds of food!  I jammed and stuffed it all in somehow along with my four "wag bags" and we headed up the trail at a nice slow pace to accomodate the three women where going up with their guide, one of which was feeling nauseous.

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Latest Updates

Dive Profiles for November 6 and 7

For the Advanced, Specialty and Rescue students that attended the training weekend in Catalina on November 6 and 7, I've put together a table of the dive profiles for the classes I taught or assis...

World Cup 2010 Bracket

Just a quick note with a link to the bracket for the knockout stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Times are in PST and the channels are for standard US cable packages.  If you want to watch the ga...

Feb. 9, 2010 - Seven Years

I miss you mom.  Please donate to the American Cancer Society . ...

February Mini-Challenge

Here's the challenge: 25 days of solid training in February.  For training I will count any day in the gym, a day of hiking, a FULL day of diving (one night dive doesn't count), or more t...

Editors Picks

Arizona Sport Touring Ride June - Article
The article for June is the Arizona Sport Touring Ride.  This motorcycle travelogue describes my first forays out on my Triumph Sprint ST only six short days after I purchased it.  Talk about learning at the school of hard knocks.

Der Wasserturm June - Image
One of the most ready memories I have of Germany is Der Wasserturm in Mannheim .  When I was four, I remember walking around the edges of the fountain and marveling at them. We had nothing like that back home in Napa.

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Latest Updates

World Cup 2010 Bracket

Just a quick note with a link to the bracket for the knockout stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Times are in PST and the channels are for standard US cable packages.  If you want to watch the ga...

Feb. 9, 2010 - Seven Years

I miss you mom.  Please donate to the American Cancer Society . ...

February Mini-Challenge

Here's the challenge: 25 days of solid training in February.  For training I will count any day in the gym, a day of hiking, a FULL day of diving (one night dive doesn't count), or more t...

January Round Up

Well, that was a lot of work.  The whole concept of re-doing my apartment seemed a little daunting at first, but I really wasn't expecting it to be quite as comprehensive a task as it wound u...

January Mini-Challenge

Goofy as it sounds, the mini challenge for January is to clean my apartment.  Dive Emperor Brett and Buddy Rich can attest that my apartment isn't a dump or a mess, but there are niggling thi...