Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts
May 8, 2009
Fat Guy on a Bike (WITH DOG) Goes to Lilydale Park
A perfect day for trail biking, fossil digging and (if you happen to be a dog) wetlands splashing. We came home three hours later, both liberally caked in 450,000,000 year old clay. It was difficult to judge which of us was panting harder from the heat and exertion.
One thing to mention: this new bike sure has some excellent shock absorption. The trails up there are littered with broken bricks and quite frequently washed out, and I didn't crash once. It was the first time I'd gone out rockhounding since the accident, and the first time I'd gone trailbiking since childhood. I had almost forgotten how much I missed both. Going back soon, possibly with friends or as part of an organized group. If not, alone on bike (WITH DOOOOG), exploring like a mofo under a cloud of discombobulated no-see-ums.
Remind me to bring more water next time. I thought I was going to die out there before I found the waterfall and let myself get rained on for a few minutes. Sweet bliss.
August 19, 2008
I AM THE KAYAK KING
Rah and I went kayaking yesterday. It was an epic 6 hour trip, and much fun was had. I brought a camera, which mercifully did not get drowned when I fell out of the boat for the third or fourth time and ended up swimming.
The photos are currently posted here in a slideshow, but if you don't like the format or it fails to load, you can go straight to the gallery and view the pictures there. You can check out any photo in high resolution during the slideshow by clicking it.
The photos are currently posted here in a slideshow, but if you don't like the format or it fails to load, you can go straight to the gallery and view the pictures there. You can check out any photo in high resolution during the slideshow by clicking it.
July 14, 2008
Gone Fishin' II
HURRRRR. I caught a rock bass today.
It had evil red eyes and used them for glaring at me as I worked to get the hook out. In the end I had to clip off the barb in order to free the poor little bastard, and I had to put it back in the river because I didn't have a bucket and I wasn't ready to leave. Also I didn't have my little minimum size requirement list on hand because I suck.
Toward the end I noticed I was getting more bites by moving the bobber a certain way against the current, and sure enough I got another strike (which got loose as I reeled it in, ah well). Luka has learned a new skill!
I only had some Oscar Meyer hot dogs for bait, so I went and caught a bunch of tadpoles in a shallow pool on the riverside. I only had a plastic grocery bag for a net but it worked fine... until I lost my balance during a scooping and fell into the damn river.
The mud and squishing shoes didn't bother me all that much since the weather was nice, but my flailing around ripped the ass out of my worn-out jeans (on both sides) so that the pants legs ended up hanging down like leg-warmers. That was amusing and would have been even moreso had there been enough light for random passers-by to spot me.
I only used one tadpole for bait before I decided the hot dogs were a better choice after all. I'm not fond of impaling living creatures, especially ones with helpless flailing little nubfeets.
My exposed bits got eaten by mosquitoes despite liberal lip-numbing applications of Deep-Woods OFF, but no ticks. Thank you Jesus, no ticks.
On the way out, I took a shortcut over a chain-link fence. It must have been pretty comical looking. I haven't practiced such a basic outdoor skill since about 100 pounds ago, but my pride was at stake so I didn't dare give up on it.
I assure you I looked cool as I landed.
The garden pond is now full of the excess river pollywogs, which I brought home after deciding not to use them for bait. The plan is to let them grow up into itsy-bitsy thumbnail frogs and make frog roarings at night, and hopefully eat all the mosquitos til they are so fat they roll around in a flopping heap and belch out clouds of bug wings whenever they try to croak. Probably.
I am now in a pretty good place. Still dreading the shrink visit tomorrow, but if I can survive Fight Club, I can handle a lady reading my mind and finding out all my secrets and using them to turn me into a zombie with no emotions.
Right? Right!
It had evil red eyes and used them for glaring at me as I worked to get the hook out. In the end I had to clip off the barb in order to free the poor little bastard, and I had to put it back in the river because I didn't have a bucket and I wasn't ready to leave. Also I didn't have my little minimum size requirement list on hand because I suck.
Toward the end I noticed I was getting more bites by moving the bobber a certain way against the current, and sure enough I got another strike (which got loose as I reeled it in, ah well). Luka has learned a new skill!
I only had some Oscar Meyer hot dogs for bait, so I went and caught a bunch of tadpoles in a shallow pool on the riverside. I only had a plastic grocery bag for a net but it worked fine... until I lost my balance during a scooping and fell into the damn river.
The mud and squishing shoes didn't bother me all that much since the weather was nice, but my flailing around ripped the ass out of my worn-out jeans (on both sides) so that the pants legs ended up hanging down like leg-warmers. That was amusing and would have been even moreso had there been enough light for random passers-by to spot me.
I only used one tadpole for bait before I decided the hot dogs were a better choice after all. I'm not fond of impaling living creatures, especially ones with helpless flailing little nubfeets.
My exposed bits got eaten by mosquitoes despite liberal lip-numbing applications of Deep-Woods OFF, but no ticks. Thank you Jesus, no ticks.
On the way out, I took a shortcut over a chain-link fence. It must have been pretty comical looking. I haven't practiced such a basic outdoor skill since about 100 pounds ago, but my pride was at stake so I didn't dare give up on it.
I assure you I looked cool as I landed.
The garden pond is now full of the excess river pollywogs, which I brought home after deciding not to use them for bait. The plan is to let them grow up into itsy-bitsy thumbnail frogs and make frog roarings at night, and hopefully eat all the mosquitos til they are so fat they roll around in a flopping heap and belch out clouds of bug wings whenever they try to croak. Probably.
I am now in a pretty good place. Still dreading the shrink visit tomorrow, but if I can survive Fight Club, I can handle a lady reading my mind and finding out all my secrets and using them to turn me into a zombie with no emotions.
Right? Right!
Getting Out Again
FINALLY.
Update tonight, kiddies. I apologize for the flakery; I needed to get my mind right after recent shitstorms. Tomorrow I get to see a psych on orders from the Fleet. (They're installing a tracking device so I won't even have to call in my location during the next Scientology protest.)
I am nervous, but I endure. Glory Marcabia! Glory Xenu!
Update tonight, kiddies. I apologize for the flakery; I needed to get my mind right after recent shitstorms. Tomorrow I get to see a psych on orders from the Fleet. (They're installing a tracking device so I won't even have to call in my location during the next Scientology protest.)
I am nervous, but I endure. Glory Marcabia! Glory Xenu!
February 26, 2008
Cabin Fever
Holy Christ, there's so much to do outdoors in the Northfield area. Hiking, fishing, camping, mondo bike trails... and with a drive north, tons of rock collecting. St. Paul has some rare exposed areas of Ordovician rock, full of marine fossils. The North Shore has Lake Superior agates and Thomsonites. I've found more crystals than I could carry home in rockpiles along the river not more than three blocks away from where I'm sitting now, and I barely had a month to explore before the weather turned.
The only downside is that I can't find any swimming areas that aren't municipal pools. That's something I miss about Oregon--the rivers where you can see the rock-and-pebble bottom through ten feet of crystal-clear water. You don't dare dive in the first time because estimating the depth is so tricky.
However, they do have rocky rivers in the Duluth area. And I can drive again! So I'm thinking I'll take a jaunt up north when it gets back up to 60 degrees fahrenheit. Maybe bring a little metal rake so I can check out the river gravel for interesting minerals.
Until then, though, I'll be over here, going insane while I pore over outdoor adventure blogs and trail maps on Google Earth.
How I itch to go exploring. There is so much to do if you're willing to give up spending all your time on the internet. And oh boy, am I ever. Getting a high-energy dog and moving to the country have done wonders for my spirit.
The only downside is that I can't find any swimming areas that aren't municipal pools. That's something I miss about Oregon--the rivers where you can see the rock-and-pebble bottom through ten feet of crystal-clear water. You don't dare dive in the first time because estimating the depth is so tricky.
However, they do have rocky rivers in the Duluth area. And I can drive again! So I'm thinking I'll take a jaunt up north when it gets back up to 60 degrees fahrenheit. Maybe bring a little metal rake so I can check out the river gravel for interesting minerals.
Until then, though, I'll be over here, going insane while I pore over outdoor adventure blogs and trail maps on Google Earth.
How I itch to go exploring. There is so much to do if you're willing to give up spending all your time on the internet. And oh boy, am I ever. Getting a high-energy dog and moving to the country have done wonders for my spirit.
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