Category Archives: Up to Stuff

So, the david is planning for this big trip in February.  He’s going to climb Aconcagua, which is in Argentina and is the tallest mountain in the Americas, with a friend from uni*.

Wikipedia tells me that it is technically an easy mountain, since you don’t absolutely have to have ropes and picks and stuff.  But it is over 22,000 feet high and just about anyone is effected by altitude sickness to some extent.

photo by Margareth Gluger

It will be a big endeavor, so the david’s been ramping up his workout routine specifically for the trip and a part of that routine has been a lot of hiking.  Since getting to know the Bay Area parks and wilderness better is on my wish list, I said that I would go on the weekend hikes with him.
Obviously, he won’t be going on this two week expedition with just a Sigg bottle of water and some jerky.  And the altitude will make everything seem harder.  So the david has been hiking with 50 or 60 pounds loaded up in his backpack.  And you know what?  There’s something awesome about weighing down your Mr. Fitty McFitterson boyfriend with an extra 60 pounds.

I am not huffing and puffing alone.  We huff and puff together.

I am not struggling to make it up the ascent by myself while he offers words of encouragement down to me.  We struggle together.  Sometimes I encourage him.
We’ve been doing something hard together, and it’s been great.

And then.

He got these walking stick things and somehow, instead of having a pack of 60 pounds dragging him down, it’s like he’s wearing a fucking jet pack.

*I would call this a friend from college.  But if it’s David’s friend and David’s college, isn’t it kind of a lie if I don’t say a “friend from uni?”  It’s important to maintain a cultural distinction, otherwise I’ll start talking about aubergines and the M5 and it will mean something entirely different when I say I’m from Jersey.

We went camping!  It did not involve a tent, though, but a “tent cabin” so it was really Camping Lite.

tent cabin #15

We had a whole double bed (largely made of foam and plastic canvas covering).  We brought sheets and blankets and pillows, so it was cozy and sans sleeping bags.  And there was a little wood stove inside the cabin!  We had fire in the night time while we were sleeping!

And there was a fire pit with a grill, so there was some cooking food on open flame.  Which is obviously the #1 factor in labeling something “camping.”

best sausages ever

We also had s’mores and baked potatoes with cheddar cheese.  And during the day time whilst traipsing about in the woods, we ate turkey jerky and apples and nuts and berries.  It was very squirrel-like.  Except for the jerky.  I don’t like to think about squirrels eating turkeys.

And there were trees.  Very big redwoods, as redwoods are wont to be.

big old trees

So even though it was actually a really gorgeous weekend, we didn’t see much sky and there was ample shade.  And since I go scurrying for the nearest cover whenever exposed to direct sunlight, it was a very good spot for me.

We did some hiking both days that we were there, but failed to achieve our über plans.  We had sights set on a 12 mile hike on Saturday, but we got a bit of a late start to our day and then we made some errors in navigation,  like choosing to ignore a trail closure for mud slides.  So our results for the day were less epic, but still largely spent in the trees enjoying the outside time.  And Sunday’s hike mysteriously took us about an hour and a half instead of the posted 3 hours.

the david in the woods

Even still, I got sweaty and I panted going up hills and I also pointed out a lot of stuff.  I am a very good noticer.

noticing the david taking my picture

I immediately wanted to go back again, before we’d even left.  So I’d say that this scientific experiment was a success.  If properly outfitted with bratwurst and she doesn’t have to sleep on the ground, Maggie will like camping.

I had a capade on Saturday.

First, I ran 9 miles.  All kinds of it-took-forever, but no records made on this day.  Still.  9 miles.  Shrug I may, but it’s not something to sniff at.

And then it was time to prepare for our outing.  We had an hour to get ready, before a friend was showing up to get a ride with us.  David was in the shower when the doorbell rang.  I answered the door with no pants on, and that’s after making her wait about 90 seconds longer than is normal for door answering.  Suffice it to say, we weren’t entirely ready and there was a bit of a scramble.

We drove out to a vineyard, met up with 2 more of the ensemble cast and drank a bottle of wine.

And then to Lucky’s supermarket to meet up with the remaining cast and crew, where we procured 3 different bags of Ruffles, more wine and sandwiches for all.

We are ready!

Destination:  Russian River
Purpose:  To canoe down it

The canoe people make us sign away our lives.  They give us some waterproof bags.  They drive us away to some location up river.

At said location, a dude tells us some how-to’s and do-nots.  I half way listen.  We clamber into 4 canoes, 3 with 2 people and 1 with 3 people.  I volunteer to be the steerer and sit in the back of my and David’s canoe.  We head out.

The very first little bit is a narrow part with some pretty quick moving water.  The How-To dude told us to stay away from the shore in that part.  Which is what we immediately did not do.

Straight for the shoreline and its trees we went.  My steering prowess had no effect.

How-To dude also told us to duck forward under tree branches, not back.  I, of course, leaned back under them.

We proceeded to be stuck in the trees, with too many branches to go forward and a current far too fast to try and paddle backwards.  And then, for no reason in particular, we just tipped out and the canoe started to fill with water.

We’ve been in the boat for probably about 90 seconds and already we are fail!

Also fail?  Those waterproof bags.  I bet they probably work just fine, but really only if you close them up.  Which we did not.  Consequently, 3 sandwiches and 2 iPhones became sodden.  The Ruffles potato chips were fine.

After that, we were pretty golden.  No more tipping.  For us, anyway.  2 of the other canoe friends tipped later, but our tipping was the most awesome.

Also, despite wearing 85 SPF sunblock (yes, 85!), I got sunburned.  Not horribly, but enough.  But man, if I’m going to get sunburned, could I at least do so in such a way as to even out some of the stupid-ass tan lines from my last bout, puh-lease?  Somehow, I managed to reinforce my freckly arms and chest, without evening out the bits at the tops of my shoulders.  Next time, I am totally just going nekkid.