In which I've been too busy to talk about myself

I've been so busy lately.  Doctor visits, physical therapy, hiking, preparing for hiking, birthday, work.. there aren't enough hours in the day.

I'm happy to be in physical therapy, but at the same time I can't wait to be done because of all the time it's sucking out of my waking hours.  Man, I hope it's worth it!  I hope my back ends up stronger and more functional as a result.  I'm really not sure if that's happening or not.  I've been doing the same exercises for weeks.  Shouldn't they be getting more tough?

I went hiking this past weekend.  If you recall, I fell down on Wednesday and kind of roughed myself up.  Skinned knee (still scabby), roughed up palms, whiplash, back all kinds of unhappy.. but good enough to hike.  DeLee, unfortunately, was not that lucky.  Her doc said no hiking until she got an MRI.  So she was on the sofa with an ice pack all weekend.  Me, I went on.  Perhaps foolishly.  But I needed the mental break.

JD drove me out to Bears Den Hostel Friday evening so I could get an early start on Saturday.  It was nearly deserted when I got there.  Soon, however, three people I sort of knew showed up.  Total coincidence.  They went out and had hijinks, but I just went to bed, since I wanted to be gone around dawn.  And I was.

It was lonely without DeLee, but still beautiful.  The weather was about ten degrees colder and 30 mph windier than forecast, but I managed all right.  Part of the point of the weekend was working on my cold weather camping technique, and that I did.  Cold weather hiking technique, also.  It's a little tricky to wear enough warm stuff in windy weather while not wearing so much that you soak yourself with sweat.   I didn't get it right the whole time, but I managed to dry my clothing out while hiking so it worked out okay.

It was cold enough Saturday evening that my mug froze right away when I set it down with a few drops in it.  I pulled out most of the stops - I made a hot water bottle, I wore down slippers to bed, I opened up two "hotties" iron filings packets, and I started out wearing my down jacket in the sleeping bag.  Oh, and I slept in my down skirt.  First time ever that my butt didn't freeze.

I was able to take off the down jacket relatively quickly.  After that it was just a long, long night.  It was too cold to stay out of the bag after sundown, so I was in from around 6:30 to dawn.  The dawn was gorgeous, btw.  No pictures because the camera was still off from the night before.  I just lay there in my sleeping bag and sleepily gazed.  I had deliberately set my tent up just at the very edge of the ridge so that I would have an unobstructed view of the dawn, and I reaped the reward of that in the morning.  At night, I had the unexpected effect of seeing all the lights in the valley, which was pretty in its own way.

In the morning I got moving shortly after sunup.  It was below freezing when I started but warmed up quickly.  I saw hikers, which was pretty different from Saturday.  The day passed quickly as I bopped along the ridgeline.  Unfortunately, Saturday had been quite rocky (as was Sunday for that matter) and my arches weren't too happy with me.  I think I may have stepped on some of the rocks wrong, with weight on the arch.  At any rate, my feet kind of hurt on Sunday.  In fact they still kind of hurt now.  JD hiked in on Sunday and walked the last mile and a half with me, and was treated to the sight of me wincing and mincing as my feet completely gave up and just started screaming "eff you!" with every step.  They were happier once we got to the car and I changed out of boots and into crocs.

JD and I had celebratory pizza in Harpers Ferry, and then we drove home.  I had a shower and then a nap.  My nap lasted twelve hours.  It was a good nap.

We had dramatic clouds on the way out

I got the best bed in the bunkroom

There was a mysterious banana at Bears Den overlook

Rocks.  Rocks are cool.

Hey look, I'm in West Virginia!

The view from Raven Rocks.

Annnnnd there's the rocks

Lunch - peanut butter on pilot biscuits.  Delish.  I even found a warm bit of sun to sit in.  That's a log, btw, not a table.

I got water down at Blackburn Trail Center.  Probably should have just left the filter home, as now I'm wondering if I left it out long enough to crack or not.  I don't think so, but..

I never did get an exterior shot of the tent.  It got a little crowded inside after my pack explosion.

Rockdancer hat:  check

I didn't stay in the shelter, but I did use the nice chair (with back!) to retie my shoes and add some tape to my feet.

Hey looky, a town!

And a husband.  And pizza.

In which I spend my day not relaxing

Woof.  Long, busy day.  But I got a ton accomplished.

I didn't fall asleep until 1 this morning, which is fairly common on nights when JD is away.  Then I zonked zombie-style until nearly 9, when the dog started insisting that she really did have to go out.  I grumbled but got up.

I washed and folded and stowed laundry.  I trimmed a new polycryo (i.e. lightweight) groundsheet.  I set up the tent and added some seam sealer to a couple of problem areas near the peak.  I added silicone caulk to my cook pot and ran a test.  No matter what, the handle is too hot to touch immediately after the flame burns out.  But, very quickly after that, I can touch the handle with the caulk on it, but not the bare pot.  So I guess that's good.  I still need my wool mitten to handle it when the flame is on.  (I think this is a downside to the alcohol stove design, at least when it comes to the miniscule size of pot I use.)

The ugliest cookpot caulking job your are ever likely to see.  Also, the prettiest.

I have my backpack mostly packed and a list of missing items to check off as I stash them.  I put more food in.  I may take it back out and figure out a maildrop, or plan on purchasing more food at White House Landing than I plan on right now.  But at the moment, if I haven't forgotten something really heavy, it's looking like my pack will be in the 32 pound area.  And that's doable.  Especially given the terrain the first few miles south of Katahdin.

I have boxes made up to go to Monson, Caratunk, and Stratton.  I don't really need the Stratton box, but I had purchased so much food that it didn't really make sense not to use it.  I've picked things up a few at a time, here and there, and I didn't realize just how much I had.  I still have a lot left over!  DeLee and I will have to go camping some more when I get home.  :)

Oh and I wormed Pluto and also determined that he doesn't care for watermelon.  At least not the first time.  I may try it again someday.  Sometimes he changes his mind on food items after a few tries.

In which I date myself

This morning I announced to my office (i.e. Marc) that I was going to take it easy.  I was just going to hang out and not do much unless somebody asked me to.  Marc had no problem with that.

Within seconds, somebody asked me to do something.  And then I barely got to sit down for the next several hours.

Everyone agrees I never should have said it out loud.

I did take a break around 3.  I swapped my hiking boots (de rigueur daily wear) for trail runners.  I found them under my desk when we were packing up to move.  Who knew?  They're pretty new looking too.  They squeak, which is probably why I quit wearing them way back when.  Anyway, wearing my new-looking trail runners of squeakiness, I took off for a quick walk-jog.  Mostly a jog actually.  It was very pleasant.  I may have said it before, but I will say it again:  I am so lucky to have found a form of exercise that I like so much.  Why do I like it so much more now than when I ran cross country in high school?  It's a mystery.

JD had plans this evening.  I was invited if I wished to go, but I've been to a car nerd event once before and it was so dull that I am still matte colored.  So I declined.  Instead, I went to see the new Harry Potter movie!  So exciting!  I haven't been to a movie in ages, and I *love* the Harry Potter series.  The movie did not disappoint.  I was spellbound.  (Hee!)  Seriously, it's a long movie, and I didn't notice the time passing.  Okay, I noticed the aches I always get in the movie theater seating, but other than that I was unconscious of time.  Lovely movie.  Can't wait to see the other half.

On the way home, apprehensive about the state of my house (because I'd left the kittens out while I was away), I distracted myself by totaling the cost of the event.  $12.25 for a ticket.  $6 for popcorn.  $1 for the Zevia soda I smuggled in.  (I feel so guilty!  But they don't offer caffeine free stevia sweetened diet soda at the theater.)  Nearly twenty dollars I spent to take myself out for popcorn and a movie.  That's definitely date-worthy expenditure.  And I must say I'm an excellent date.  I didn't hog the knee room, spill the popcorn, or burp during a quiet scene.  I was wonderful company.

The house was still standing when I got home.  I haven't counted heads yet but there aren't any trails of blood so I'm assuming everybody survived.  Tonight will also be the kittens' first night not locked up while we are sleeping.  Likely it will not be a restful night.  Those kittens can get their rumble on.  They rebound off of the walls and balusters.  It creates a tremendous racket.  How does such a small animal sound so much like an elephant when it runs?

Sysadmin Habitrail

No time, Internet!  No time!  Too busy!  Must run in hamster wheel!

I think the pace at the office is affecting me.

Okay, A) did anybody take a moment to stare up at the moon tonight?  Crazy gorgeous.  It was just hanging there in complete disregard of my earthbound notions of gravity.  B)  No repeat on the horse ride tonight, which is fine.  Because I had a crapton of stuff to do that I wasn't sure when I could do it, so it's happening tonight.  C)  Everybody, and I mean everybody, has the farts.

That is all.