Mount Rainier Heaven

Mount Rainier , home of the Wonderland Trail, will be my playground for the next five months.

Can we say elated, astounded and ridiculously lucky? Wow. Besides cooking up at Paradise for the employees, I'll be hiking and writing and having campfires if allowed.
I always follow the rules on location.
Last thing I want is to be evicted from heaven.

My backyard includes a 14,000 foot volcano, innumerable trails, and bountiful wildlife. I plan to see it all. Of course, its probably not humanly possible in the course of one season, but winter finds many enjoying the mountain as well.

Hello Snowshoes! They're on the wish list. A shout out to gear enthusiasts. If you got recommendations, I'd love to hear them. Gear manufacturers, if you got something you'd like tested, I'm game.

If anyone wants to be on t-v, and thinks they can solo the wilderness for weeks and wants some info on that opportunity, write a comment and I'll send you the link.

Gram weenies unite. I'll be testing my new thinsulate prototype quilt this summer. Initial testing for Search and Rescue have proved promising.

Transition Time Rules

I'm not sure who wrote the following rules, or steps, for achieving a strong personal foundation. About seven years ago, I read them on the internet. The steps were so succinct and profound, I saved the list to my hard drive and later printed them out.

As I transition to my new job (Mt. Rainier) , new home (class A motorhome) and new state (Washington), I reread them. I'd like to share them now with you.
Again, I don't know the author. I didn't come up with these rules myself, but strive to employ them as much as possible.

Ten Steps to A Strong Personal Foundation
1. Honor your boundaries. Boundaries protect you from people that your spirit cannot easily afford.
2.Raise your standards. The higher your standards, the fewer problems you will encounter in life.
3.Clarify your requirements. Everyone in your life deserves to know what you expect/require of them.
4.Finish your unfinished business. The fewer unresolved items in your life, the more confident you will feel.
5.Get your personal needs met. Until your personal needs are met, its difficult to live powerfully and sustainably.
6.Orient around your values. when you orient your life and your goals around your values, fulfillment naturally occurs.
7.Build reserves in all areas. Having more than enough calms the mind and affords more experimentation in life.
8.Identify and reduce tolerations. What you put up with drains your energy and slows your development.
9.Handle the money, completely. Until your money is handled, you are not at choice in life.
10. Define success for yourself. When you define success for yourself, life becomes very, very simple.


As I typed this list, I realized each step could mean different things to different people and could be the topic of an entire high school essay. Try it. Take a step and figure it out. Its way more productive than taking one of those stupid quizzes friends on Facebook persist in posting.

Virus Warning for Hikers

 

 

We just went through a rough case of the flu/virus/seasonal bug thing here in Nampa. From kids to adults, family and friends, we learned to take sips no matter how thirsty we became.

This unnamed thing hits fast and hard. One minute you're eating supper, next thing you know, you're doubled over. Not food poisoning. Kids didn't eat what we ate. A friend flew in. She got sick, then passed it on. So, it appears contagious, with an incubation period of two -three days.

 

But the bad part is, after twenty-four hours of puking and such, you're wiped out for days. Hard to get back to the gym, let alone hike a trail.  It seems very much like the Noro Virus "epidemic" I witnessed last summer while working in the Hundred Mile wilderness as a Ridgerunner.

Of Moose and Men-Ridgerunning In Maine's Hundred Mile Wilderness

 

I met a doctor recuperating from the Noro on the trail. He didn't go to the hospital because he said it had to run its course. My personal experience seems to agree with everyone I interviewed. It will knock you off the trail for twenty to forty-eight hours and when you return, expect slow short days. Exhaustion is the main after effect.

I do recommend staying on the AT, rather than taking an obscure side trail into town. You could get too exhausted to move and if you get lost, or fall, you may become search and rescue material unless you're on the populated AT.

 

 And as I cautioned every hiker I met, even when you're in the woods, maintain good hygiene. Wash you  hands, don't share eating utensils or sacks of gorp. Your gut is depending on you.

 

 

 

 

If you have read this newly release book, could you please leave me a kind review on Amazon.com. It helps others to know if this is something they would enjoy reading. There are a lot of trail books to choose from.

Good By Old Stuff

The Geo is no more. We had good times. We've been to Key West and the Grand Canyon. Drove through Canada, twice, been to Maine. You name it.
But at some point in time, you have to say enough. Two months ago, after bad news, I decided not to put another dime in the thing.
But our relationship is over though. I bought a Mitsubishi Mirage.

I summed up my decisions to buy the Mirage, which gets 44 mpg and is an automatic:
I wanted the largest motor home I could manage, and the smallest car I could get by with.

All systems go. Within a month, I'll be moving to Mount Rainier. Stay tuned for photos and updates on one of Americas best loved National Park.