AVOID THE BUMMER LIFE

Outliving the bastards one hard-earned beer at time.

Month: November 2024

  • Smoot Hill

    Smoot Hill

    Another weekend with decent weather. Another first activation.

    This time it was Smoot Hill, super-close to home and the only reason I hadn’t tackled it until now: I wasn’t exactly sure anyone was allowed up there. It’s technically on WSU property as it is a nature preserve, but after speaking a cycling buddy who mountain biked up there a couple of years ago and spoke to someone who manages the land, as long as we’re respectful and not on motorized vehicles they’re generally okay with it.

    Good enough for me.

    The walk was quite pleasant via a cut path through fields. A lot of predator scat along the path and a large footprint (see photo below) that might just be a big dog but I’m not exactly sure. It was a brisk but bright November afternoon in the upper 30’s. Parking at the Rose Creek Nature Trail, I crossed the road then crossed the fenceline making my way about 1.5 miles to the AZ.

    Up top, the wind was a thing and the clouds began to roll in. Thankful that I always keep a spare jacket in my SOTA bag, I layered up before getting the antenna rigged and on the air. Not wanting to waste much time, I spotted myself on 40m and after a couple of minutes the chasers came in hot. Eight of ’em, one right after the other and signal reports 5.5+ all around.

    Giving the SOTAwatch feed a look to see if there were any S2S possibilities (nothing that materialized), it was time to get going. I was starting to get a little chilly and knew that Corrie was waiting for me to get back so we could pick up apples at the WSU organic farm. The hustle back down the hill was uneventful besides a mule deer sighting.

  • Dual Idaho First Activations

    Dual Idaho First Activations

    The temps have officially dipped and we’re in the shoulder season of unpredictable and generally unfavorable weather. Saturday looked to offer a bit of a window, so I dug out a rough plan to work two more unactivated W7I summits: NI-268 and NI-269.

    This pair was super close to one another and road access seemed open, and it was indeed. The drive in via Winfall Pass Road was downright pleasant with some of the widest, smoothest dirt I’ve been on all year. I parked in a saddle right between the two summits which I internally referred to as the ‘ham cleve’ and flipped a coin on which to tackle first.

    The southern summit, 268, was a nice roadwalk up to the very top. There had been some active logging recently as I passed multiple smoldering burn piles. The AZ was wide open with a few standing trees and plenty of downed branches to which I could attach the ends of my antenna wire.

    After 5 QSOs I packed up and started booking it to 269. The initial approach was much the same but this summit was still heavily treed and the roads suggested by the historical maps were no longer there. Things got thick quick, and once I found myself within the AZ I began looking for somewhat of a clearing in order to get a wire up.

    Due to limited space, I opted to just run my EFHW as a 20/10 sloper (rather than the usual 40/20/10 inverted-v). It got the job done with 5 QSOs on 20m (including 2 summit-to-summits) and 2 more QSOs on 10m. Clouds rolled in and the temps really dipped during this one, so after exhausting the quiet 10 meter band I tore down and got back down the hill to the car.

    Next time, I would follow the two-track as far as I could towards 268 before bushwhacking a little as possible straight up the hill. Not sure it’s really worth it for 1 point, but everything else about this activation was pleasant so I’m sure I’ll do it again next year.

  • Autumnal Shoe Swap

    Autumnal Shoe Swap

    We’re full into the fall weather here with temps in the 40’s and 50’s, leaves doing their thing and the sun setting at like 5:30pm. It’s fine, it’s all fine.

    My running/hiking shoe situation has been a bit unchecked this past year. I don’t know how many miles I’ve put into what but the shoes are feeling thin and that’s usually a good sign they need to go. This time around I decided to just commit and replace all of the shoes at once. Real clean slate, fresh-start shit.

    For the record: they’re all Altra shoes. (‘cept for the old boots)

    Starting in the front are my trainers. Pair on the left are Altra Provisions from last year. I actually had two pairs: one for the road and one for the gym.. and while the gym ones are still in use, these light blue roadies have been swapped for a pair of Torin 7’s.

    Top right are my old yellow Lone Peaks. Love these things and have gotte my money’s worth out of ’em. They’ve been replaced by a bright, near-ugly pair of TIMP trail runners. The only reason I didn’t get new Lone Peaks was because they were quite literally, all out of stock. I’ve had TIMPs before and liked them, so I’m hoping these will do their job.

    Finally, top left, my old hiking boots: Oboz something-or-other. They’ve been fine, mostly. Sometimes they’ve given me horrendous blisters, sometimes they’ve been alright. But never what I would call “comfortable”. Also, I’ve been wearing them on winter treks for probably the past 6-8 seasons. Their replacements: Altra Lone Peak all weather high tops. I’m not a high top guy but when you’re trudging through snow, you gotta keep your feet as dry as you reasonably can.

    I’ll try to remember to file an end-of-season report on these suckers with how they performed. Hopefully I’ll put them all to good use.

  • Hiding Things from Oneself

    Hiding Things from Oneself

    One of my “ten essentials” when heading out into the backcountry is my Garmin inReach Mini 2. It’s been an incredibly useful tool for getting texts out to my partner (or whomever) when completely out of cell service, which tends to be quite frequent ’round these parts. Aside from the convenience of friendly texts, it provides a sense of security as an oh shit device incase things get real bad and self-rescuing is not an option.

    Downside: the little sucker tends to fly out of pockets as I’m biking down bumpy trails or ‘shwacking through thick vegetation. Using a biner to clip it onto a pack is 100% advisable and I follow that advice 90% of the time.

    Last month I got out for one last bikepacking overnighter before the cold season fully took grasp. My inReach was tucked into a little pocket on the side of one of my handlebar bags and lived there the entire trip–sans clip. The ride was a rough one, both in road surface and in general effort. We were pretty spent by the end of it.

    Following weekend as I prepped for a hike it occurred to me that the inReach wasn’t anywhere I expected it to be.

    Not in my usual drawer of outdoor electronics.
    Not connected to my SOTA backpack.
    Not in my bike bag pocket where I had the weekend before.
    Not floating around in the back of the Honda.
    And not in my buddy’s truck.

    Sure, when we were bombing down that one hill on Day 2 and hit some of the roughest washboard this side of the Cascades, the little guy musta jumped out my bag and bounced his way to freedom. I immediately began looking for a replacement, but it hurt to think about paying for a brand-new one… even though, it’s invaluable.

    I gave it a week. Then two. Occasionally looking through the local Craiglist for postings of a found, or even recognizable for sale, inReach. Nada.

    Well fuck me if just a few hours ago I didn’t go looking for a usb power brick when there it was. Sitting right in the drawer where it shouldn’t be, but I can see how it seemed logical at the time in my post-ride haze.

    All this is to say, I’m glad that I’ve found my inReach. And I swear that I’ll never travel with it unsecured again.

    Until I do.