High Sierra Camping and Fishing

Once again with my intrepid friend John and baby brother Denny we braved the high country of the Eastern Sierras.  This year we did it a bit different and didn't bite off quite as much as last year when we climbed Mt. Whitney up and back in one very long day.  This time we car camped in the comfy Sabrina campground at 8,500' right along Bishop Creek. 

We took two long day hikes . . . first day up towards Piute Pass in search of the illusive California Golden Trout using fly fishing gear.  We had pretty good luck managing to catch a bunch of little goldens, brookies, and a few rainbows.  The weather was perfect and the mosquitoes were bad.

The second day we hiked up to the Lamark lakes at 10,900' and had pretty much a similar experience with perhaps not quite as many caught fish.  It was beautiful with hardly any other hikers/fishermen but the bugs were still there.

Even at our camp at 8,500' at night it got COLD!  We had frost and frozen stuff every morning which made the campfire a much appreciated addition.

Here are a few more shots of this excellent adventure  

https://picasaweb.google.com/robhib/BestOfBoysCamp?authkey=Gv1sRgCLe2hdHO3ebPDg#

Just Another San Diego Morning

I had a very interesting morning and thought I would share.



First off I rode my motorcycle to downtown San Diego where "Comic-con" is happening. http://www.comic-con.org/cci/ Only about 150,000 geeks, weirdo's and other edgy folks are here for this annual convention that has turned out to be the biggest convention held in SD. It was a total hoot to just stroll around with a cup of coffee and people watch. There were literally thousands of 20 somethings -- most decked out in costumes ranging from Star Wars, Wonder Woman, Captain America and many others that I had no idea who they were trying to be. Bottom line was everyone seemed to be having a great time and spending $$ like it was their last chance.

 
 
 

 



 
Inspired, I then rode out to Santee and visited the "Creation & Earth History Museum".

This too was a hoot.
 

 
http://lifeandlightfoundation.org/museum.html
 
I spent probably an hour strolling through the exhibits and picking up the voluminous amounts of free literature that 'splains everything in excruciating detail. I was very surprised at how up dated, modern and overall expensive and well done the whole place was. Someone has spent a ton of $$ and it was hugely interesting and entertaining. It was also the biggest crock of horse manure I've ever seen in my life. Talk about once you believe something you can rationalize absolutely anything! They tried very hard to make it all very "scientific" with lots of detailed scientific mumbo jumbo that PROVED that the earth was only 6,000 years old. They were not fazed in the slightest by anything and took head on every opposing contention including fossils, dinosaurs, stars, planets, etc. and proved without a doubt that theirs was the real truth. You might easily have thought they were kidding or it was a bit tongue in cheek but NO. They were serious as a heart attack and feel strongly that any view other than their own was scientifically wrong. Only in a few places was it so outlandish that they had to fall back on the explanation that "the Bible says it so it must be true". A good sense of humor is required to really get the most out of this place and I highly recommend everyone take the opportunity to explore this museum.


Ahhhh, you gotta love this country.

Down in the Islands

Back in the BVI's !!!

Our friends Mike and Magda invited us to once again join them and Denny and Jeanne for a week of sailing on their beautiful 52' boat Vandalay out of Road Town, Tortolla, British Virgin Islands.

Some of you Kidhammon followers may remember my very first post back in 2008 when I described our initial adventure on the Vandalay when we encountered the Category 3 hurricane Omar.  That was plenty exciting but it did put quite a cramp on our exploration of the islands.  Mike and Magda were kind enough to let us join them for this "do over" and it could not have gone better. 

We did the grand tour of the BVI's including spending nights on the Vandalay moored at Road Town, Willie T's on Norman Island, Long Bay on Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Great Harbor (Foxy's) on Jost Van Dyke, and Soper's Hole (West End Tortolla).  Mike being a real Navy man, (Annapolis Grad), made certain that we actually sailed everywhere we went which was great.  The winds were good but not too strong, a few short rain showers and a lot of beautiful sunshine.  The snorkeling at the Indians off Norman Island and at Willie T's was outstanding.  We also put in for snorkeling and swimming at Sandy Spit and at Sandy Cay. 

On Jost Van Dyke we had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Foxy himself as the pictures in the link will attest.

Our crew was named "Crew de los Barrochos" and dressed in our ship colors we terrorized the island watering holes of which there was no shortage.

All in all it was great fun, good food and drink, and the company and companionship simply couldn't be beat.

Click here for lots more pics of this excellent adventure:  BVI's 2011



Ski Adventure 2011

Once again the Old Guys Ski Trip is in the books.  The hearty crew of Brother Denny, Big Dog, Peter the Great, John the Surfer Dude, and yours truly along with cameo appearances by Mark, Dom, and Jillian, all braved the steep, deep, and narrows of the best skiing that Utah had to offer . . . at least for that one week.  The team rendezvoused at Denny's Ski chalet in Park City and enjoyed his hospitality, drank his beer and ate his food.  We skied four straight days -- Park City twice, the Canyons and Deer Valley.  With few exceptions we kept it all either in the trees, bumps, or steep bowls and averaged around 22,000' vertical each day. 

Tim showed up with a couple of video cameras, one mounted on his helmet and managed to knock off a few feet of film (digits/bits??) that go something like this:

What these videos fail to show, in my humble opinion, is just how bumpy and/or steep the terrain actually was while being filmed.  At least that's the way I remember it!

Why I Ride

I know, I know.  Riding a motorcycle is dumb.  It is dangerous, stupid, and selfish.  Your are hurtling down the road at 70+ mph surrounded by other vehicles ten times your size being driven by drunk distracted people talking on their cell phones and putting on their makeup.  Why in the world would any thinking person decide to ride a two wheeled donor mobile "for fun"?  Yes, I understand.  I get it.

Why then did I decide to dive back into the two wheeler pool?  This after my experiencing an "unplanned dismount" of my own a couple of years ago in Colorado that totaled my beautiful FJR and put me down and out for some number of months of recuperation. One might think that after that experience even for someone as dense as me the light would come on and say OK, you survived that one but what about the next time.

The simple answer might be as the old sage said "If I have to explain it you wouldn't understand".  It's sort of like asking people why they climb mountains.  It's miserable, boring, dangerous, and when you get to the top you still have to get down and when you get down what have you really done and how have things changed?  You just spent a ton of time, money, and energy not to mention exposing yourself to unnecessary dangers that can maim and kill you so why do it?  Climbing mountains and riding motorcycles are not for everyone -- indeed, they are not and shouldn't be attempted by most people for all the obvious reasons.

So, why do I ride?  The simple answer is it's fun.  I like it.  Riding gives me a feeling of freedom and makes me feel good. I like the power, sound, wind, and exercising the skills to operate the machine.  It focuses my attention on the immediate moment while using the required concentration to make the ride as safe as possible.

The quick come back to this is hell, golf is fun and requires skills and gets you outside, yada, yada, but golf usually doesn't put you into the hospital or worse so why not play more golf instead of getting on a motorcycle? 

If I have to explain it you wouldn't understand.