Call me...

Scandalous, a boko-maru hook-up no doubt.

8/31/09

This is for English homework.

Call me The King. They call me... Lebron! That was what my cousin John said as he drew the "$" sign with his foot on the three point line and hoisted a three ball. But really, I wish I was Lebron James.

But I am getting off topic. This weekend was fun. It was Evanston and Wilmette and old Korean people and a grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.

Several years ago almost the same thing happened. There was good food, lots of pictures, boring speeches and fun times with cousins.

And now Mr. Vonnegut's attempted imitator can't think of anything else to say because he has run out of ideas, has no topic to write about and can't imitate the famed Beatnik writer.

What a shame.

Maybe inspiration will strike me later.

It is now later and I have still not thought of anything. Damn.

Back to school

8/31/09

I had my third day of school today and hopefully I can get back into the routine of posting blogs. I'd like to start off by complimenting my Giants for gaining 3 games on the Colorado Rockies with their sweep of them. It was their first sweep of the Rockies since 2005 and avenged last series, where the Giants lost 3 of 4 despite leading in every game. This sweep was especially sweet because we saw the return of Timmy Lincecum to his Cy Young form with 8 innings of no runs, Zito's continued excellence with 8 1/3 and only 1 ER and Edgar Renteria's grand slam.

Last series the Rockies won an epic extra inning series finale with a walk-off grand slam. This time it was the Giants coming from behind with Renteria's shot. He also contributed an RBI double in his previous at bat.

With the return of school means the return of football and I am pumped. Just had my annual fantasy football draft over at Pete's house and the combination of pizza, trash talking and drafting got my football juices flowing again.

Menlo has its first football game of the season this Friday, Stanford plays at Washington St. the next day and the NFL kicks off on Sept. 10. Even though I don't play football there's something about football season that gets me more excited than anything besides maybe March Madness.

NOLS Wyoming Backpacking Trip (7/12-8/13/09) Week 4

Me eating dinner

Course description

http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/rockymtn/adventure.shtml

To all my pictures from the trip go here.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22562&id=1600471205

Wed 8/5

Oliver made really rich chocolaty oatmeal scones for breakfast. They had chocolate chips in them and were really good. They made me take a crap. We had a 6-mile hike on a 4WD road and trail and Nick, Taimur, Luke, Cooney and I motored. It only took us 3 hours to get to our campsite. There was a great natural seat that a rock created and we all relaxed and basked in the sun as we waited for the other group. Taimur made black beans with jalapeño jack cheese, sausage, sun dried tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt, garlic powder, tomato base and chili powder. We had apple slices in a pb brown sugar sauce. We had a class on making splints and took about an hour to answer question on our accomplishments, things we could improve on and how to continue on them at home.

Thu 8/6

I helped Taimur make breakfast balls. They were fried dough balls of two kinds. One had cheese and sausage on the inside and the other had peanut butter and chocolate chips. The dessert balls were like doughy Reeses. We left at 10 and had a short but strenuous 2 1/2 mile hike to Emerald Lake. We got in nice and early and I spent the afternoon with Oliver and Nick talking and reading. This campsite is very pretty too and is windy. Mike helped me with some map reading and we had a first aid scenario class. Taimur, Will and I assisted to KG, who was tough on us. I made a fish cumin sauce for rice using a huge fish Taimur caught and added some peanuts. It was good and I got a lot. Mike told us our student expedition groups and the 2 leaders after dinner. Oliver and Taimur are leaders and I'm with Oliver, Cooney and Sam. I'm a little bummed I wasn't chosen as leader. KG boiled up some fish he caught and I helped to eat it with his salt and hot sauce.

Fri 8/7

Oliver made really good hashbrowns with a ton of cheese and sausage. The student expedition groups divided up the food and gear and our group wrote up travel plans for the next 3 days. Taimur, Oliver and I made chocolate chip and M&M filled gingerbread for lunch. Taimur thought it was sticking to the pan well so he turned it upside down to demonstrate and it all fell onto the ground. I wasn't laughing quite as hard as the others about it. KG gave a class on head and spinal injuries. Everyone had a lot of fun playing dodgeball with these huge, dried cow turds and we kicked around ideas for skit commercials. I gave fishing a try but it was too windy for me. We had another 1st aid scenario with KG. Sam cooked ok pasta with sausage and cheese and we played jeopardy about the stuff we've learned. It was the 2 solo groups and we presented our commercials. The one we did advertising underwear for Sam was hilarious. Afterward everyone sat around our cook area and made hot drinks and played "Oh, hell" and B.S. A cloud rolled in and we were in the middle of it.

Sat 8/8

There was a storm last night and when I got out of the tent the whole Emerald Lake had snow. there was a huge build up on the tent fly and it covered the ground. Snow in August?!

Even though my fine motor skills were zero because of the cold it was cool. Cooney and Oliver helped make choco chip pancakes. I think chocolate chips upset my stomach because I felt nauseous and only ate 1. We had a quick class on Emergency Procedure and Oliver, Cooney, Sam and I hit the trail at 9:50. We were mostly on trail and hiked past Shell Lake to our campsite (5 mile hike) and first site without KG or Mike. It rained so everyone went inside the tent and chilled. I journaled, read Oliver's The Book Thief and took a nap. The 4 of us teamed up to make pizza. I did the dough, regained a little confidence with flour products, Cooney and Oliver made the sauce and Sam cut up the cheese and sausage. My attempt at a calzone failed, but I still salvaged the pizza. It was probably my worst pizza this trip but still was really tasty.

Sun 8/9

I made a personal best hashbrowns for breakfast. I made sure they were crispy and browned and they had jalapeño jack cheese, onions and garlic. We left at 10:05 and had to climb up a pass to start. After that it was easy hiking along a game trail for a 4 mile hike. I took a crap, ate a lunch of dried fruit, perkies (similar to rice crispy cereal), peanuts and pb pretzels, had a cocoa/teak drink and now I'm close to a small furry animal I can see in a rock crack that's been chirping to another animal. I think it was protecting its home and the noise got so annoying I moved. Kind of embarrassing. A 5 pound animal scared me off. I got the NOLS Cookery and finished copying down some recipes and I read some more of The Book Thief. The student expedition isn't that fun because we get into camp early and there are no classes, no fishing and less to occupy us. I would have wanted longer hikes to keep us busy. Also, it's not as much fun without the 5 other students and KG and Mike. I'm not that interested in sitting in the tent and telling stupid jokes and talking about Southpark. The most commonly talked about thing is Southpark, it's getting pretty old. I'm writing this during the second 1 hour observation time where we go way off separate from each other and write about things like LNT and our accomplishments. Oliver cooked cheesy mashed potatoes tonight. He had potato pancakes in mind, but basically we had fried mashed potatoes. We had a small amount of potato pearls left that turned out horrible because Oliver added a tablespoon of salt to them. Because it was early and we had time kill we hiked along a 4WD road as the sun set beyond shrub studded hills. We saw some cows, checked out a small weather station and chilled on a rock. On the way back the cloud concealed the sun and below the dark cloud red embers smoldered while above it looked like God was shining a light.

Mon 8/10

Today was the last real day. We woke up late at 9:30 and Cooney made peanut butter oatmeal scones. We got ready slowly and I snoozed for about 20 min. before we left. Our hike was less than a mile to Mike and KG and we couldn't arrive before 1. We met up with the other group right as we entered. It was a relief to see everyone else because we'd been so bored on the small group expedition. Sounded like the group of 5 had more fun. We turned out our bags, set up tents, organized NOLS group gear, wrote an evaluation of the NOLS program, an eval of KG and Mike and we got our own evaluation. I got an A-, was pretty happy with my grade. At 4 we had a boring talk on things we'll bring home from the trip and how to practice LNT. I was super stuffed because I had a lot of lunch food left, (pb pretzels, honey roasted peanuts, dried fruit, perkies, almonds etc.) we didn't exercise and I ate a good milk chocolate Hershey's bar with almonds and toffee. But as soon as I made a fried rice with 4 packets of vegetables, rehydrated onions, grilled onions and garlic, a beef and veggie broth packet, sausage, cheddar and jalapeño jack cheese, oregano, spike, chili powder and cumin my appetite returned. We organized kitchen stuff afterward and assigned jobs for tomorrow. We played games of Big Booty, Bang, Bippity Bippity Bop and Yee-haw and learned a dance from KG called Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. Then we went around in a circle about a campfire doing a "slideshow" of each ay we've been out here. Then KG captivated us all with 2 stories about NOLS expeditions in Kenya: a group that hitch hiked and brought coke and beer and another where President Kennedy's son got lost. The 2 nights where we made campfires were especially good because everyone gathered and we talked and told stories. I get my own tent tonight because Oliver and Taimur and I think everyone else is sleeping outside by the fire.

Wed 8/12

Left camp a little before 6:30 and walked only a few minutes to the road. For breakfast I had oats and almond cereal, a banana, some yogurt and a bagel with cream cheese, bits of cereal and strawberries. The bus ride back took longer (5 hours) but it felt shorter. We stopped again at Brandon's house and a gas station where KG gave us all $1 and I bought spicy almonds. We played Long Ranger, Oh, Hell, BS and a final game of Egyptian Slap War. I won, going out on a strong note. When we got in Lander I helped unload the depleted spices and re-bag nomad food. There were 5 other course getting back today so the RMB was busy. we had an amazing lunch of cheeseburgers with beans, potato salad and a cold bean/corn salad with 4 different kinds of cakes. I had 3 patties and when I sampled the banana cake it was awesome. I went back to the Noble and sorted through my gear after a debrief of the trip of KG and Mike by an RMB supervisor. wE got to grab a bunch of NOLS mementos and went back to the Noble. Nick, Cooney, Romy and I walked through Lander in the newfound heat. We checked out an Indian Territory store, a hunting store, a movie place and I lingered at gannet Grill because I wanted to go there for dinner. At 6 we met in the rec room and handed out diplomas and certificates before heading over to "Asian Cuisine." I had mediocre tikka masaala and Mike bought a velvet and carrot cake for us. All 11 of us, including mike's wife went. Post dinner we went to the Scream Shack and got ice cream. I splurged and got moose tracks with caramel sauce and M&Ms and Oliver and Luke pounded down the "NOLS gone wild." 3 scoops with 3 toppings, 3 sauces and brownie slices. Back at the Noble we watched t, the guys got their Southpark they had been craving, looked at hot chicks in 3 tabloids Nick's mom had sent him, I was on the computer for a while and the best part of the night was when Oliver, Nick and I compared the hot girls at our respective school over facebook. I stayed up until 5. Earlier in the day Nick received a huge package from his mom containing a ton of delicious junk food, 3 tabloid magazines, a book and a card. He shared his Cadbury, McVities, malt balls, sour gummy worms, caramel, pita chips and more. It was an amazing performance from mom.

Thu 8/13

Luke and Cooney barged into our room at 7, leaving me with only a 2 hr nap Nick, Romy, Luke, Taimur and I went to the Oxbow for breakfast and I got a breakfast burrito with hashbrowns. It's in my stomach, but I can tell I'll be hungry later. Hopped on the bus and now we're on the way to the Riverton airport. Played some cards on the floor at the Riverton airport. Sam, Luke and I talked with a Ventura, cA guy who did a 30 day course in the Absaroka mtns in WY. I downed a delicious spicy chicken pizza at Express Wolfgang Puck and said good-bye to Nick, Taimur, Luke and Sam.

NOLS Wyoming Backpacking Trip (7/12-8/13/09) Week 3

For a full course description go here.

http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/rockymtn/adventure.shtml

To see pictures from the trip go here.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22562&id=1600471205

Tue 7/28

I made hashbrowns for breakfast. Not my best work, but still tasty. Oh, by the way, Mike says we probably hiked 10 miles yesterday. Today we hiked back to the same campsite by Powell Creek. We played "Big Booty" while walking, crossed 3 rivers, hiked 6 miles, endured the fog and light rain and my back hurt for the first time this trip. It was really frustrating because it was at the very end while bushwacking and I needed help from the other guys to make it over a log. I hate how pain, yet manageable pain and frustration makes me not able to control tears. It was raining when we got into camp and I'm moving pretty slowly. Things are looking up though because it stopped raining and we're making hot drinks. I had peanut butter, honey roasted peanuts, almonds, something similar to chex mix and dried cranberries. Ah... we made a ton of cocoa. I started Our Story Begins and I like it a lot so far. Will made the worst dinner ever. He boiled water and put pasta in. Then he opened up the cold can of tomato paste and strained the pasta. It required the most meticulous planning and was terribly time consuming. I met with Mike because Oliver and I are leaders of the day tomorrow then I went to bed around 10. Zipping up the sleeping bag all the way makes me nice and toasty. It's amazing how quickly my mood turned for the better.

Wed 7/29

Woke up at 5:41 AM because we have a long day. I made some pretty good couscous for breakfast. We left an hour late at 9. I could barely feel my toes. We bushwacked, crossed Powell Creek, walked up Medicine Cabin Park, up Florence Pass, down past Gunboat, Florence and Mistymoon Lakes, along Paint Rock Creek, past Lake Solitude and then after following P.R. Creek for a while and crossing it 1 last time, (6 river crossings total) arrived at camp. It took 8+ hours and was about 9 1/2 miles. Walking through Medicine Cabin Park was my favorite because it was sunny, breezy, we had a river to our left, trees on the right and snow capped cliffs behind the stream. KG gave everyone candy bars at the culmination of our hike and I had a delicious Snickers with almonds bar. Joseph is cooking rice right now. Romy gave me the good advice of waiting up for Will and the people behind him when I'm leading. I felt like I did well as leader of the day. Joseph Cooney made good fried rice with onions, garlic, sausage and peas. KG told us a funny story about a counselor pretending to be a ghost and we got a new assignment on flowers. It is incredibly cold at this campsite. Pooped today.

Thu 7/30

Coldest morning on this trip so far. There is frost everywhere and my boots and socks are frozen solid because I left them outside. Cooney made really good sugary oatmeal scones. Once again we left an hour late. I had to smack my boots against logs to get the ice off. We hiked 5 miles today, which felt like much less because of the length of our previous hikes. there was a ton of deadfall on Solitude trail that we had to walk around. The trees that got uprooted were massive; the mud at the root base was twice as long as me for some trees. We got into camp on our own and nice and early. Was able to dry my socks for the first time in so long. Don't think my boots will be completely dry though by morning. I took advantage of a little sunshine. KG says there's no summer in the Wyoming mountains and I agree. It's rarely clear and sunny for a whole day and is never that warm. I mean, it was well below freezing last night. I made pasta with a thick sausage, cheddar, onion, garlic, beef broth, vegetable sauce for dinner. I gave a presentation on the Indian Paintbrush flower and Mike gave a class on Communication. We played some fun games called "Bang" and "Hi-yah."

Fri 7/31

Everyone woke up early because KG and Mike threatened to take away our rock climbing day if we left late again. Will made oatmeal. Our hike today was 4 miles and it felt like a breeze because of the difficulty of previous hikes. We're camping in a high mountain lake spot near Lake Elsa. When we arrived I had to poop so bad I couldn't even get into a squat; I dumped the initial load standing up. After eating a little snack and warming up with a hot drink I'm perched way up on a rock looking down on Lake Elsa. I have cocoa in my Nalgene pressed against my tummy, a light wind in my face, a beautiful view and plenty of down time. Once again, lake mtn. camp spots come through. We had a class on rope tying for rock climbing tomorrow and learned the basic figure eight, the figure 8 follow through and the flemish figure 8. Cooney made falafels, a little too strong for me. Everyone was super relaxed because we had no meeting after dinner. This campsite takes over as my favorite. I had a ton of free time to read, the weather was nice, it's a high mtn. lake campsite, the moon was super bright and the sky was a beautiful pink and the lake a pale purple as the sun set. My idea of sleeping sans fly got shut down.

Sat 8/1

I woke up at 7 with Nick because we're making oatmeal hotcakes. I'm glad we put the fly back up. I read the mag The Week as the mixture sat. They weren't nearly as good as oatmeal scones. Everyone fished down at Lake Elsa and everyone caught at least 1 fish because it's been super easy. I've caught 5 so far. I think the oatmeal and my cocoa gave my the problems because i had a little diarrhea. Now I'm just chilling by Elsa reading, writing, relaxing and fishing. I went rock climbing and climbed 2 routes. I was 1 of only 2 people who made it up the hard route and good climbers didn't make it so I felt proud. I washed in the pond / lake we're camped by and a bunch of people jumped in. Nick spotted 2 baby birds that were cute and plump. KG gave a class on Risk Management. Cooney, Will and I all made pizzas and I made mine with a ton of jalapeño jack. It turned out really well and Taimur liked it a lot. Will and I are LOD tomorrow so we wrote up a Travel Plan. It's super short but off trail and my map reading is still a little shaky. Oh, yesterday and today were awesome, relaxing and fun-filled days with great weather and food.

Sun 8/2

Cooney made good brown sugar and almond rolls this morning. They were so doughy on the inside it was almost cheesy. Yummm. Then we had our last lesson on Patient Assessment. I was lOD and hiked with Romy, Sam and Oliver on our shortest distance hike. We hiked around 2 miles because of permit restrictions and are camped near an unnamed lake. We chilled by Rainbow Lake for about 2 hrs and 15 min. and busted out the frying pan and made popcorn and sugary nuts. I fished for a while and got a few bites but didn't catch anything. It's hard for me to tie the fly to the reel so I always end up frustrated. Then we had just a 15 min. walk up to our campsite where it took a while to find a place to pitch our tent. I did some map reading with Mike and we had a class on heat illnesses and kG taught us a song in Swahili. Will made beans for dinner. It rained a little and was super windy. Since we have a long off trail hike tomorrow Taimur, Will, Cooney, Romy and I all wrote up travel plans in our tent.

Mon 8/3

We had a 6 mile hike off trail today. It was our first long hike off trail in a while so it was a challenge. Taimur led and the group did a great job of navigation. We gained 600 ft of elevation passing 2 more unnamed lakes, walked along a ridge and downhill along a stream and through a forest until Cross Creek Reservoir. Then we walked along a 4WD road, caught a trail to the bottom of Bighorn Reservoir and back up the stream to our campsite. Everyone sat around a rock and talked and played cards and then I cooked bulgur with rehydrated peas and carrots, onions, alfredo sauce and monterey jack cheese. It turned out a lot better than I thought; it tasted like brown fried rice. Then we had a meeting where KG told a story, we talked about Paul Petzoldt, Nick, Sam and Oliver did a dance, KG taught us a Kenyan "cata" dance and we played a game called "Moose" and "Bang." It was a fun day.

Tue 8/4

Cooney used the rest of the flour and everyone got 2 huge cheesy biscuits this morning. We divided up the food bags and cleaned the utensils and then had a tent debrief. Joseph said I was just fun to be around which made me feel good. We hiked on a 4WD to our campsite then hiked back to the re-ration place. This campsite is our least authentic so far because there are lots of people around. We played cards with myself, Nick, Luke, Taimur and Oliver until Brandon came. We played a game like "Uno" and a game called "Oh, hell." We're camped near a stream with a bridge and we chucked a bunch of planks of wood into the water and tried to destroy them with huge rocks from above. I was laughing so hard my eyes watered and it was so perfectly simple and primitive. I made really good gado-gado pasta with some hamburger meat from KG. Will built a fire which everyone gathered around and we all told stories and played 2 truths and a lie. It was the first fire we've made this whole trip. Really fun night.

NOLS Wyoming Backpacking Trip (7/12-8/13/09) Week 2

Hiking up through snow and over the pass

Course description here.

http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/rockymtn/adventure.shtml

Check out the pics from my trip on my facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22562&id=1600471205

Mon 7/20

Luke made us oatmeal for breakfast this morning. I get the feeling that he's not the most eager backcountry chef. I mean, c'mon oatmeal is for when you've run out of food. I was the first leader of the day along with Taimur. The beginning of our hike was drizzly and it was tough navigation. KG helped us out a lot with where to go, which makes my route taking look bad. The afternoon was easier because we caught a trail. As a leader I need to work on being more confident and assertive and setting a slower pace for when people fall behind. I had to poop and the mosquitoes attacked. Moss works well. I fished on the creek right below a little water fall. I didn't even have to cast. Caught my first ever fish! Got 3 brook trout and kept 1 of them. Taimur said it was 4-5 in. That's a let down, I thought it was about a foot long. We had a lesson on baking and everyone made pizzas. You basically mix flour, baking powder and water to get your dough and we made a sauce with sausage and onions and cut up cheese. My pizza was incredible, easily the best meal of the trip. Oliver gave a short lesson about step 1 of LNT, plan and prepare. Then Mike talked about EB. We ended up everything late and I dropped the dromedary cap into the creek at night when I was filling up water. It was super dark out and I couldn't find stuff in the tent, didn't change, didn't brush my teeth and forgot to take out my sleeping bag and stuff sack before it was dark. Not a great night. But the pizza was awesome, don't get me wrong.

Tue 7/21

I slept really well, through my alarm. Cooked good hashbrowns for breakfast, but I was super late to KG's meeting on packing and wasn't even ready once I got to the meeting. Today we hiked 6 1/4 miles, by far the farthest distance we've done so far. It was all on a well=trodden and marked trail so it wasn't actually that hard and navigation wasn't an issue. We stopped for lunch (hash brown scrapings, granola, dried fruit and peanut butter) on Lake Helen with a beautiful view of 3 mtns. Now we're camping on Gun Boat Lake and we're back up in the "lake by rocky and snowy mountains" sort of campsite. These are my favorite campsites. Washed some clothes in the water and had my first check-in with Mike. Sam made mac and cheese for dinner and afterwards will gave a lesson on LNT. KG talked about shock and I had a slice of apple cider frosting pie.

Wed 7/22

Luke made gingerbread for breakfast. KG and Mike didn't realize we have to be in this area for 3 days so we're spending the night here again. We hiked past Florence Lake and up Bomber Mtn. to see the B-19 bomber plane that crashed en route to Europe in 1943. It was really cool and the pieces were scattered over a huge radius. The propeller was the coolest. For lunch I had pb, almonds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and a blueberry streudel bar. Way too much peanut butter. We boot skied the way down the mtn. It was super fun. I have a theory that when my body knows I'm hiking to a remote location to poop for some reason it decides to make me poop really bad. No time to dig a hole and I smeared it everywhere trying to scrape it with a rock. Had a few LNT lessons and Patient Assessment Part 2. I made amazing fried rice with 2 things of vegetables, onions, summer sausage and jalapeño jack cheese. There was enough for almost 2 full pans. Afterward Nick, Luke, Oliver, Will and I played ESW on top of a rock with the setting sun shining in our faces. These high mtn. campsites are incredible because there are less mosquitoes, the lake is pretty, towering mtns are cool, there's a lot of snow, the sun hits the mtns just right and we're secluded. Nick, Taimur and I chilled and read outside as the sun set.

Thu 7/23

Sam made hashbrowns and we got to leave a little later than normal today. Sam was our leader and today's hike was super easy. We hiked up to Florence Lake and then it was all downhill through Florence Canyon. We hiked 3.5 miles, almost all on trail and the canyon's jagged cliffs and huge waterfall made it really cool. Everyone but Romy went down and chilled by the creek. We're camping in a heavily forested area, the kind of campsites I like the least. There are lots of mosquitoes and it's a little claustrophobic with all the trees pressing in. We had a few LNT classes and classes on mtn. hazards and lightning. Luke cooked alfredo pasta and I played a little ESW with Taimur, Will and Nick.

Fri 7/24

Sam cooked just awful Cream of Wheat which was saved by some Ramen noodle soup and other groups' cinnamon rolls. We had a lesson on soft tissue injuries then hiked up to the Powell lakes. We've just been chilling here and it's incredible. There's a cool, wide waterfall, sheer cliffs on all sides, snow and a 5-star pooping spot. This was probably my best of the trip b/c of the view and I actually had time to dig a solid hole. Before I just went when I really felt the urge, but this time I anticipated it perfectly. Who knew one could take such satisfaction in a #2? We also had a fun lesson on self-arresting. We slid down a snow bank and practice saving ourselves in case we slip and fall while traversing snow. Mike gave us a compass/map lesson. Lunch was asian trail mix, apricots, perkies and jalapeño jack cheese. I fished for a while without any luck and read Nick's book The Man Who Loved China. Super relaxing day at the Powell Lake. I made a good lentil stew with veggies, chives, sausage, KG's fish and cheese. We're making cinnamon rolls the net morning so I made the dough, unsuccessfully. It was super sticky so I added more water which just made it really slimy.

Sat 7/25

Salvaged our cinnamon rolls. Luke and sam got super messy and a little ticked extracting the dough and we made brown sugar bread. I forgot to add the cinnamon so they weren't exactly cinnamon rolls. sam got dough all over my pocket knife which I had to clean off in the creek. Today was the start of hiking without KG or Mike. For the rest of the course we won't be hiking with them. It was an incredibly easy hike today. Only 2 1/4 miles downhill and on a trail. I think they're easing us into hiking on our own and these last few days haven't been physically difficult at all. We had a class on river crossing because rivers are on of the most dangerous aspects of mountaineering. We learned the chain and eddy method of crossing. We're camped near Deer Lake and saw a male moose eating in the lake. It started pouring and there's a lot of thunder. We were able to get up our tent and fly and get everything set though before it started raining too hard. Took a little nap and we had classes on LNT, leadership and GPS. We had a bean stew for dinner.

Sun 7/26

I made slightly burnt mashed potatoes for breakfast and everyone worked on removing 2 fire circles because we were at an elevation above the legal limit for fires. Today was the first day I felt genuinely lost because we weren't in the right location, couldn't find KG or Mike and it was thundering out. We set up camp and the instructors turned up. I fished at 1 of the 7 Brothers Lakes and gave a class on Designated Leaders. KG gave a class o ndecision making and we had rice and bean stew and soup for dinner. Nice 1 piece d ump in the afternoon. I'm worried though because I still feel like I have to go. Uh-oh, my rhythm of every other day might get broken up.

Mon 7/27

Last meal before re-ration was oatmeal. I've realized that I'm not a huge fan of oatmeal and cream of wheat, good thing we have 2 oatmeal and cream of wheat bags. We had to do a super clean of the pot, pan and cup and do a tent group evaluation. We organized the food bags into trash, nomad and kitchen pots and consolidated the remaining fuel. I hiked with Mike, Nick, Cooney and Will. Today was the toughest hiking day and my most trying day. We set out for the re-ration at 10:45. We went the wrong way and instead of turning around we kept on bushwacking. We ended up navigating through an area of the Bighorns that had been hit by a fire in 1988. There were tons of dead trees on the ground and we had to tightrope the trees and saw through sharp branches for almost 3 hours. When we reached the trail we missed the turnoff and took a roundabout path. We finally met up with the other group who had been waiting for 2 hrs since 12:30. Packed up the food bags, chilled, read a little and headed back to the same campsite. This time we went the right way but I was carrying a heavier pack, I was super tired and it was drizzling. We finally made it back to camp after 8 hrs and it was raining. All I wanted to do was to eat quickly and be warm but I froze in the downpour. My new group is Joseph Cooney and Will. We made cocoa (incredibly satisfying) and mac and cheese.

NOLS Wyoming Backpacking Trip (7/12-8/13/09) Week 1

At the top of a peak overlooking a valley below.

Course description at the NOLS home site.

http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/rockymtn/adventure.shtml

Check out the pictures from my trip on my facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22562&id=1600471205

Sun 7/12

Dad and I flew into Riverton and took a bus to Lander. I'm staying in a dorm with Nick and Roman at a NOLS place. Dad and I ate at Gannet Grill. Did a lot of chillin in a rec room and walked to a Safeway with the other kids on my trip after an orientation.

There are a total of 9 kids and 2 instructors: me, Taimur, Roman, Nick, Sam, Joseph, Will, Luke and Oliver. The instructors are KG and Mike.

Mon 7/13

Woke up early and ate breakfast at the NOLS hotel. Then we spent the rest of the morning getting outfitted at the Rocky Mtn. Branch and getting ready to go. The RM branch is like a small warehouse. We went over our gear, rented/purchased what we lacked, packed our clothing and then packed the food and the rest. After lunch back at the NOLS Lander hotel we put all of our packs on top of a bus and rolled out for the Bighorn Mtns. It took about 4 hrs to get to the trailhead. There was some hail when we got there. We hiked to our first campsite (about 20 min.) and pitched our tents. We place the food about 100 ft. away from the tents in case the bears are hungry. Nick, Romy and I went on a walk and I played some Egyptian Slap War with the guys. Dinner was 2 pre-packed sandwiches.

Mosquitoes are brutal today, I swear they bit through my sock.

Tue 7/14

Woke up well-rested at 7. Everything up here camping takes a longer time to do so we didn't roll out until about 10:30. Breakfast was melted cheese on bagels. It's going to be difficult to eat fruits and vegetables this trip.

I suck at packing and unpacking my pack and tying down the tent with "trucker's hitches."

Mike, Nick, Luke, Will and I hiked today. The pack didn't feel as bad as it did the first time I tried it on. It's so pretty when you get out of the forest and emerge into a meadow. Meadows are super cold though because of the wind.

For lunch I had a trail mix of peanut butter pretzels, granola, dried apricots, almonds and carrots.

We got into camp around 2 and I took my first poo of the trip. I'd been holding it in a little so this sucker was massive. Nice and clean, however.

I walked in the meadow and along the creek we are camped near and am writing this while overlooking the meadow. No rain today so far.

We had 2 classes before dinner. First class was about fly fishing and the second about hygiene.

Dinner was cheesy pasta with summer sausage and KG cooked a cake.

We played a game similar to whizz, boing, bounce called Yee-haw. It was drizzling so we headed in to the tent early.

Wed 7/15

Had oatmeal like couscous for breakfast aka too much water. Being extremely slow at packing and getting ready I was the last one to the class on a Positive Learning Environment. I had my first river crossing today, 3 of them in fact. Even though some creeks look easy to cross because there are a bunch of rocks, it's better just to wade in cuz the rocks are slippery. Socks and boots got wet, thank god the nads stayed dry. Nick and Oliver are really fast hikers so it's tough to keep up. We got in to camp at 2; we're staying near a lake. Setting up the tent was a bitch because 1) I suck at tying knots 2) we had the fly inside out and 3) we had to start all over in a different spot. At 4 we started fly fishing. Good thing I remembered to bring down the reel and flies and didn't feel like shit walking back to camp and getting lost retrieving it. Now I'm chilling with a beautiful view of the lake we're fishing at. Oh, and I swear I've got bitten more than anyone else. My legs are just red splotches. I get frustrated very easily and down on myself if I don't get something and since I basically have zip experience camping, I have felt pretty low a few times. Like when I see others who just get ready way faster than I do, when my pack sucks or like today when I forgot the fishing stuff. Now I'm listening to the sounds of Egyptian slap war on top of a hill. Fly fishing was not successful, of course. Dinner was fried rice with a little trout that KG caught.

Thu 7/16

Good cheesy summer sausage hashbrowns for breakfast. Today's hike was long and difficult. There was a ton of rock scrambling. Rock scrambling is very fun without a pack, but with a 30+ lb pack it is tiring, slow and demands all of your attention. We stopped at a small pond and took off our packs for our first peak ascent. Peak "79" was 11,279 ft high and took a deceptively long time to get there. There was a "poop tube," no idea why the name, at the top that is basically a summit box. Didn't get in to camp until after 6 so we were out for 8+ hours. Will was slow and had some breathing problems. We camped in an area by a lake surrounded mtns. on all sides. I felt better once I got to camp because I was able to tie a trucker's hitch and set up the cooking equipment. Dinner was a ton of snacks in the food bag and instant soup. Will was throwing up from dehydration. KG emphasized the importance of hydration and layering to protect from mosquitoes and then we played a new game called "Big Booty." I took a dump with some sweet views.

Fri 7/17

We salvaged a rice, hashbrowns and sausage breakfast despite 2 spills. Had some tough bushwacking and we had to backtrack in order to get out of the mtns. Slowly gaining more confidence being the leader and deciding the path the group takes. It's not like there are huge trails with signs. You have to orient with the map using big landmarks like peaks, rivers and lakes and then find the small path. Now we're chilling at a lake with an extended lunch break because people are fishing. Our lake that we're camping at is again surrounded by mountains. I chilled with Nick on the lake and we fished and discussed the various maniacal ways we would kill a fish if we caught one. It was super relaxing. For dinner our bean, powdered cheese, onion and vegetable burritos didn't work so it was soup instead. KG and Taimur caught fish which was shared and Romy, Nick and I made brownies. We played a super epic game of Egyptian Slap War by headlamp light and stayed up late.

Sat 7/18

We woke up early because we were going to be walking through a lot of snow and didn't want it to be melting while we were hiking. We had oatmeal for breakfast. At this campspot there is not a tree in sight. Only the lakes, rocks and snow. There's been a lot of snow for the last 3 days or so. In the morning we had our most difficult climb so far. We hiked out a pass walking through rocks and the most snow so far this trip. Lunch was leftover oatmeal, a peanut butter cookie luna bur, smashed peanut butter pretzels, peanuts and almonds. After the tough ascent we walked downhill to Mirror Lake. It included downhill snow walking (fun) and some bushwacking. Nick and I talked for most of it, so it went quicker. Poo #3 was bad. Didn't have time to dig a hole and the mosquitoes were biting me everywhere. Went down to Mirror Lake and watched the guys fish and Nick and I fished elsewhere. Nick dropped my camera in the water. I was fishing and turned around to see my camera clacking against the rock hurtling towards the water. Nick ran and admirably slid into the water, but the camera fell and isn't responding. We were really running low on food so we had soup. Our classes were on assigning Leave No Trace projects and we discussed the re-ration. Nick, Romy, Taimur, Will and I played Egyptian Slay War in our tent after dinner. The mosquitoes here are really bad, I have two cuts on my foot and the camera is probably broken but things are still well.

Sun 7/19

Nick woke early to go fishing and I made tomato soup for breakfast. This is the last meal before re-ration and all we had was tomato sauce, a few soup packets, butter and almonds. Mike gave us an extensive lesson on "Patient Assessment" and we did our first leadership activity where a blindfolded person tries to drop a stick into a Nalgene and bring it out of the circle. Then KG gave us a lesson NOLS 471 leadership. We had consolidated, that's a new word I learned that I'm going to bust out a lot now, the food bags and brought them to a designated re-ration spot about 15 min. from the campsite. This is a way longer re-ration so we got loaded down with food. some new stuff we got was flour, chocolate covered stuff, M&M gorp and asian trail mix to name a few. I worked on a short lesson on designated leaders and read a little of the leadership education notebook while it rained outside for a bit. For dinner I made some kick-ass gado-gado spaghetti which had a sauce of sunflower seeds, peanut butter and cheese.

The reration meant new tent and cooking groups so I leave Nick and Roman for Sam and Luke. I don't think I will ever be in a better group than Nick and Roman.