Delano Peak
At 12,169 feet Delano Peak is the highest in the Tushar Range, the third highest range in the state of Utah. Join Judy and me as we enjoy the magnificent views from the summit and encounter an unexpected bonus along the way.
Trekking Pole Mods
Turn your trekking pole into a selfie stick AND a monopod so you won’t lose any memories when hiking solo. These are the simple mods I made to one of my Black Diamond trekking poles for my 5-week backpacking adventure through sever southeastern states in January 2017. StickPic The StickPic is a simple yet ingenious…
Zima in the Jug
The Jug is a short section of Salome Creek, an amazing oasis in the desert northeast of Phoenix. It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when it was extremely rare to see anyone else in the Jug. There was no parking lot and no signs at the trail head. We had it…
Competency Continuum
The competency continuum. People enter canyoneering at different places along the continuum. Some have no rope experience at all. Some have no outdoor experience at all. Some come from rock climbing and have an established skill set and, quite often, some misinformation and/or an initial inability to perceive how canyoneering techniques necessarily differ from rock…
Standoff with the Montana Freemen
On March 25, 1996, an 81-day standoff began between FBI agents and an anti-government group known as the Montana Freemen. The standoff continued until the last members of the Freemen surrendered on June 14, 1996. The group, which had become increasingly frustrated by the government in the midst of foreclosure proceedings on the property near…
Grandson JeRICHo
23 May 2018 My daughter, Ashley gave birth to a son. They named him Jericho. I pointed out that his name should be pronounced, Je-RICH-o. Mom and dad insisted they would call him by his nickname, Rico. Of course I pointed out that Rico is Spanish for Rich. 🙂
Thierry Achmetoff
I only met Thierry in person once. He attended a rendezvous in Arizona with his girlfriend, Enrica and my friend, Koen. He didn’t speak any English and I didn’t speak any French, but we communicated well nonetheless. I liked him a lot. He was a gendarme and had a good chuckle listening to me try…
Fun with Friction
When you have a cool toy like the Rock Exotica Enforcer load cell, you just gotta find some fun ways to play with it. How about measuring how load on an anchor changes when holding, raising or lowering a load? How about how the load varies when you are using a real pulley vs using…
