what about 6000 feet there? looks familiar,different plants but same feel...
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Stayfoolish
Member
Damn Jericho your post on the 6th really resonated with me. Sad times.
Yeah...right around 6000'. It's a section of the PCT that burned last summer. There are several races now that use it..as..a part of their courses. The PCT stays on the ridge lines...but you can drop off on either side. One side takes you straight down into the barren oven...the other side drops down through timber..into another network of hills.
i really want to ride the CDT,all 2700 miles of it..the mexico end isnt too far away from here,like a days riding away...thinking next year for my 50th i might do the segment in this state,ride up north on the roads and take the trail home...just dont see how i can get away to ride up to alaska next year,that would be like 2-3 months on the road,just dont see how i will have enough scratch to pay bills and ride a bike for 3 months..
Sad times. True. This case has been going on...almost a year.
Late Friday afternoon...the jury returned with a Murder in the 2nd degree verdict. Sentencing is next month...the defendant is facing 40 yrs to life..with added time..for use of a firearm.
They didn't divide us up in the court room...so during the whole thing..we were intermixed with the defendant's family...wife, parents, kids, uncles, aunts...etc....very emotional...extremely heavy and sad.
There was animosity and there were apologies amongst us. The defendant came from a good family...raised proper..and they paid for a high priced defense lawyer
My friend was a violent person..hot tempered..a drug addict (speed)...but he didn't deserve to be ambushed...shot down in his own backyard.
The defendant never denied doing it...but used a concussion (no proof of one) as self defense. My friend had kicked his ass over some bullshit...and he had gone home..cleaned himself up..got a pistol...then came back..lay in wait...shot through a fence..then claimed he couldn't remember doing it...only that he feared for his life
almost every bit of testimony from the witnesses and the defendant was 1/2 truths or out and out lies....bunch of junkies covering their own asses....really painful listening to tweakers tweak off in tweakerland....representing the end of my bro's life. I so much wanted to get up there...and straighten them out...tell them to stop lying...tell them to face up....but you can't do that..and they can't face reality anyway...so...well...you kind of..just suffer the gibberish lies
My hat is off to our prosecutor...the dude put on a rock star performance..especially in his closing argument. He fucking tore it up. Real deal lawyer. Kept the jury focused on the evidence/facts...did a great job cutting through the nonsense and calling it..what it was.
so so so
One more time to court...then I'm moving on. My friend was lost a long time ago to me...because of his addiction...and his murder came as no huge surprise. He lived his life hard...he was a hard man..and it was either this...prison...or I'd have found him under the OB pier in 20 yrs...out of his mind..a zombie. It's sad...but it is what it is...we have limited control in this chaos. The last pictures I saw of my friend....morgue and crime scene...stick with me
I want to address the defendant at his sentencing...but really..I forgive him. Once he goes upstate..he's gone from my life. The memories from this experience..will fade...come to pass. I'll get with my brother on the other side
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..the wheel rolls on...and on
..the wheel rolls on...and on
^^^^^^^ the majority of these flowers are 50 days old...flushing. Mitigating summer temps....thrip outbreaks...pH fluxes..and some fading bulbs (really need to get some news ones) in this garden
My veggie gardens are rolling...especially the hot house...but I've also been having to war with bugs
...right now I'm up on the ants and aphids...had to search and destroy 12 hornworms..last couple weeks. The moths must have worshipped the beastly Tomato (black cherry) plant they birthed their eggs upon.
Gardening really is existence. There's so much going on at all times...even if..in..the split of a second..it all changes..a world overcomes another...without a stall
a different cycle picks up..different beat. As the lord of the garden..you must realize you can't change the timing without expecting a counter time thrown at you. Dynamic are the elements.
* Ran with the wife yesterday morning.
The afternoon before had seen a series of cloud breaks...unleashing multitudes of land slung cracks of lightening followed by bombardments of thunder...within driving rain. Watched many strikes...not surprised..to see.. soon after the cell dissolved..ships in the air spotting for ground crews..as they searched for the starts
so in the morning...while running..we came across an Oak tree that had been the scene of a start. Forest Service crews had felled it and mopped it up the evening before..but a crew of the firefighters were hiking in to check it...arriving just as we were about to get back to the run..ended up shooting the shit with them for awhile
tree was in the bottom of a drainage..right beside the trail. Doesn't matter if there are high ridges all around you..as lightening I believe...represents chaos...and goes where it pleases...to create its fire. High Low...where ever
** August is deep. The gardening is thick. The runs are drenched in sun. I love the August groove. It's such..that I can't hardly look up..as I'll find myself blinded by sky rays. The ground is hard and rocky..the brush but blades and spears...snakes and flies
body takes a beating in these terms. Feet are sore/tired...hips and legs stuck by the needle pricks..as tendons tear on the terrain..never given time to fully repair..stretched continuously further..away from one plateau to another plateau. It's all in my mind...
breathing away the days. diaphragmatic breathing...hip flexors...IT bands...stretching to overcome my weaknesses
free the hips..the ass will follow
ritual running. the running people. I AM and I AM
..the wheel rolls on...and on
^^^^^^^ the majority of these flowers are 50 days old...flushing. Mitigating summer temps....thrip outbreaks...pH fluxes..and some fading bulbs (really need to get some news ones) in this garden
My veggie gardens are rolling...especially the hot house...but I've also been having to war with bugs
...right now I'm up on the ants and aphids...had to search and destroy 12 hornworms..last couple weeks. The moths must have worshipped the beastly Tomato (black cherry) plant they birthed their eggs upon.
Gardening really is existence. There's so much going on at all times...even if..in..the split of a second..it all changes..a world overcomes another...without a stall
a different cycle picks up..different beat. As the lord of the garden..you must realize you can't change the timing without expecting a counter time thrown at you. Dynamic are the elements.
* Ran with the wife yesterday morning.
The afternoon before had seen a series of cloud breaks...unleashing multitudes of land slung cracks of lightening followed by bombardments of thunder...within driving rain. Watched many strikes...not surprised..to see.. soon after the cell dissolved..ships in the air spotting for ground crews..as they searched for the starts
so in the morning...while running..we came across an Oak tree that had been the scene of a start. Forest Service crews had felled it and mopped it up the evening before..but a crew of the firefighters were hiking in to check it...arriving just as we were about to get back to the run..ended up shooting the shit with them for awhile
tree was in the bottom of a drainage..right beside the trail. Doesn't matter if there are high ridges all around you..as lightening I believe...represents chaos...and goes where it pleases...to create its fire. High Low...where ever
** August is deep. The gardening is thick. The runs are drenched in sun. I love the August groove. It's such..that I can't hardly look up..as I'll find myself blinded by sky rays. The ground is hard and rocky..the brush but blades and spears...snakes and flies
body takes a beating in these terms. Feet are sore/tired...hips and legs stuck by the needle pricks..as tendons tear on the terrain..never given time to fully repair..stretched continuously further..away from one plateau to another plateau. It's all in my mind...
breathing away the days. diaphragmatic breathing...hip flexors...IT bands...stretching to overcome my weaknesses
free the hips..the ass will follow
ritual running. the running people. I AM and I AM
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I'm based up in the pacnw now but spent some years in LA/SD and do miss the high desert, some of my best ultralight backpacking trips were out there. Your reports are the next best thing to an actual visit.
Sorry to hear about life grinding you and your chums through its gears, it is messy work being part of this universe, but it is good to see that you handle it with the same measured elegance as your gardening and running.
I often feel that with all the combined horsepower of zillions of human neurons (some of which are smart enough to also tap into plant and animal intelligence as an added layer), we should be living smoothly, all human-invented problems should have easy human-devised solutions. So frustrating to have people living and dying in thick quagmires of bullshit when the saner paths seem so simple, so possible. It is almost like a cosmic joke to have to tolerate the BS which surrounds us, having seemingly nothing to do with the actual business of living, of consciousness.
Hope your September brings some parallel magic to complement your August mode.
Sorry to hear about life grinding you and your chums through its gears, it is messy work being part of this universe, but it is good to see that you handle it with the same measured elegance as your gardening and running.
I often feel that with all the combined horsepower of zillions of human neurons (some of which are smart enough to also tap into plant and animal intelligence as an added layer), we should be living smoothly, all human-invented problems should have easy human-devised solutions. So frustrating to have people living and dying in thick quagmires of bullshit when the saner paths seem so simple, so possible. It is almost like a cosmic joke to have to tolerate the BS which surrounds us, having seemingly nothing to do with the actual business of living, of consciousness.
Hope your September brings some parallel magic to complement your August mode.
people wear me out
...at age 48...I'm able to see the shit flow coming. I can nearly always see the energy sucking signs..the writings on the wall.
True...10 yrs ago....we packed our shit...and said goodbye to living down the hill..with the rats. Not that all of them are rats...of course not...but in all the congestion...in all the fuss..it's hard to decipher all that's happening..and determine exactly who is out for what..or doing what to whoever.
I was an Ocean Beach local for a very long time...suffice to say...I lived on the fringes of "the life" for a lot longer than was wise. You either make it on the beach...lose it on the beach...or get the fuck out of there. It's too easy to get pulled under...and watching it happen to others is no fun...a vicious rip current..dragging life down. What used to be rock 'n roll...turns into a jaded pop song...like a Sublime song
^ These are broken in now....24.5 hrs on them. Had to gorilla glue a rip in tread...probably where a sharp rock caught me at an angle..but other than that and the previously mentioned urethane patching..
holding up nicely. I've gotten the feel for them..totally confident in letting my feet fly. I can crash brush...bounce off boulders..slide down chutes...no worries in these. That extra 2mm stack height...works for me...cushions well without losing all feel for the ground.
* Ran fuel breaks and power line trails today. Generally....power lines and fuel breaks/dozer line are much harder runs. Not designed for people to hike...mostly laid out in direct directions...slope/terrain be damned. Almost always steeper than trail (no switchbacks)...and almost always looser..slipperier..especially after a hard rain. Mostly about running up and down washes of yucca and rocks..with the decomposing granite base making it difficult to hold traction or brake on. Then there will be the wash bottoms..which is like running on the beach..knees up...plunge forth
I figure it like this: If I run 10 miles of power lines...it feels equivalent to 15 miles of trail. Well you get the idea...it's a different type of running. Temps around 90 degrees..full exposed sun over brush fields. I can almost promise alone time out there..rarely do I ever see another person on these sort of runs.
I search these type of things out. I ran power line today..that I'd never been on. Christ...this place is a trail running mecca. I've been running for years out here...and not even close to covering it all. It blows my mind. Every time I'm driving around..I'll see something else that I need to run...and I mean..technical great shit. wet dream stuff
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Peter was a bad ass. Killed by his own..as I remember it.
I don't know much about how he died, but I appreciate his music and his message. him and bob were special people... if there is such a thing 
dude,you should see the double pass crossing route here,sweet little 30 odd miles with around 7000 feet of climbing,pretty steep in spots,good trails over 90% of it,never managed the full loop,only 3/4 of it but both passes in a day...the bike ride over to that park is the burliest ride around here...climbing the pass is easy,its a highway so no more than 6% grade i think,but then of course you drop off the backside and lose 90% of the elevation you just gained and then have to climb back up on a twisty steep ass mountain road that just keeps getting steeper and steeper....the last few grades are like 38%...i mean frickin steep on a bike....
yeah....people....all i can do at this point is remember my manners and try and maintain a strict level of politeness otherwise i find myself yelling things like "excuse me is how polite people say get the fuck out of the way" once ive reached my limit...i hate to say it but my life proceeds more smoothly if i act in my own self interest first and foremost. and keeping the books balanced with people,do me a prop and i will get you back,impede me in any way and so long,see yah around,no time for energy vampires....if a relationship isnt mutually beneficial than its not worth pursuing...
yeah....people....all i can do at this point is remember my manners and try and maintain a strict level of politeness otherwise i find myself yelling things like "excuse me is how polite people say get the fuck out of the way" once ive reached my limit...i hate to say it but my life proceeds more smoothly if i act in my own self interest first and foremost. and keeping the books balanced with people,do me a prop and i will get you back,impede me in any way and so long,see yah around,no time for energy vampires....if a relationship isnt mutually beneficial than its not worth pursuing...
I'm pretty self centered. I have no problem saying that. I'm self centered...but respectful of others. I fall short of the glory...because I've failed to learn how not to talk. If you never open your mouth...people don't have much on you. The human condition needs the human condition...why? I have no idea..but there it is...and it'll never change. It's a bunch of clingers...fearing existence..together.. hand in miserable hand.
cool folks too...birds and trees...and the pathways leading out
You have cool terrain over there. I've been thinking about The Gila...mystical woods over that way. Been a long time since I've been there.
been too long since ive been to the gila as well,but like you,theres just so much riding to be done around here,even just going back to places ive been to before in the area i still have dozens of spots i could ride to plus all sorts of new places to go to now that i finally have the endurance and technical skill to get in and out safely....and it just goes on and on around here,its mostly public land so ride on!
yeah,im self centered to the point of being a jerk about it sometimes,but im also old enough i stopped caring....i like riding bikes,dont need a whole crowd of people around when i do it,unless im on the trails no one aside from one or two people around here go where i would go,only know one of those guys and i see his tracks everywhere...
yeah,im self centered to the point of being a jerk about it sometimes,but im also old enough i stopped caring....i like riding bikes,dont need a whole crowd of people around when i do it,unless im on the trails no one aside from one or two people around here go where i would go,only know one of those guys and i see his tracks everywhere...
that's the thing too: I can't be bothered with what other people think or believe. People are..plainly speaking...regurgitating robots..clones of clones.
for the most part anyways...or at least that's how..I go about dealing with them.
but I have enough blessings too. There's good stuff everywhere. good people good days
I'm all stoked...on these little stupid things...like finally finding a company (Buff) that makes the headbands I need. See how self centered I am? I needed a headband that was UV, no seams, wide, and that wicked away the sweat. You have no idea...it took me a long time to find the kind I sought...but today...that changed. Buff headbands = #1 people with a clue...very happy
and...getting some new toe socks (injinji) ...yay....my little world. Can retire some shredded socks now.
o yeah...and pay the mortgage....pay the taxes...self centered worlds can get pricey...what a crazy world
hah! thats funny....halo headbands for me,does a good job of rain guttering the gallons of sweat that pour off my brow out of my glasses,and finding good shorts,which are absurdly expensive,is always a tough one,im riding so much im wearing them out in 9 months which sucks because i need at least 5 pairs since i go commando in them and dont even get me started on nut butter and the like,if im going out for 6 hours im slathered up like a thanksgiving turkey....and gloves,i burn through gloves like crazy...not like im wrecking all the time or anything but i get maybe 3 months out of a pair of gloves...the things i do for love....
well you know,whatever you can do to quiet the noise of shouting legs and yelling feet so you can just get on with it,i think the reason we do these things is for that quiet time when you can float free of your body and let it do its thing,theres a beautiful silence during those mindless moments....and the perfect primal joy of cresting a long hill or nailing a technical section in spite of the pain/fear fear of pain...of shouting down that doubt that says you cant do it...and figuring out it was only ever you telling you it couldnt be done....
hash is good...
well you know,whatever you can do to quiet the noise of shouting legs and yelling feet so you can just get on with it,i think the reason we do these things is for that quiet time when you can float free of your body and let it do its thing,theres a beautiful silence during those mindless moments....and the perfect primal joy of cresting a long hill or nailing a technical section in spite of the pain/fear fear of pain...of shouting down that doubt that says you cant do it...and figuring out it was only ever you telling you it couldnt be done....
hash is good...
I'm down in Santa Cruz for a few days, so went to a shop listed as an Altra dealer, wanted to see if they would accomodate my mutant 3E wide feet. Shop only had two models (Odin and something), but only carried size 10 and up. Being a complete outsider in terms of physical size (I am 5'6"), I am used to not being able to find clothing/shoes... but this was a disappointment. Anyway, I do have some Provisions in my size awaiting me at home, arrived the day after I left on this trip, of course.
I've been wearing some Feelmax shoes which are essentially slippers, but I really dig them. Not at all up to rough trail tasks but I am still taking it slow and gentle, the trails around me are pretty tame aside from the blackberry and salmonberry.
We ran away from the ratrace, too... bought 8 acres in coastal Oregon, but that had its problems too. Compounded by having a kid whom we didn't want to be totally feral like the local ones were. Speed is bad news... it is essentially what I was told weed was in the early 80s and the DARE days.
We just visited the old farm, we have it for sale but the current renter is letting it fall to shit (of course). She hadn't so much as opened the door to the chicken coop in a year, I can tell because it is buried in a forest of vines.
Trying to compromise, we found a small NW town that has things like clean parks and decent schools, but is hard to get to (tip of a peninsula on the tip of a peninsula), so is nicely quiet and close to lots of woods plus the Olympic National Park.
My wife and I both did time in SD, and I know the OB scene a bit... you are spot on about it getting to lots of people. A seductive downward spiral.
Today we go to SF and I am fully clenched. I hate that place now, my friends who are still there with tech jobs are absolutely insane, they have no idea it is not normal to blow $40 on an artisinal lunch, that houses shouldn't cost $950k for a 2bdr shithole, and that there can be more to life than working 70 hours a week for an iffy startup. Whatever funk and art I once dug in SF seems to have left long ago, some say to Oakland but I say I don't really care anymore, I am getting most of the mental nourishment I need either from myself or from the planet, and more and more when I do want some human inspiration, I look way back in time. Not that there are not cool people doing cool shit now, maybe they are even more than ever, I just don't care and am cut off from it. I used to enjoy things like making solar robots and sculptures for burningman, now I mostly dig working rough lumber into fine furniture by hand and have zero interest in having anything in a gallery. My garden is my real art, and hardly anyone knows about it but me, which is fine.
I've been wearing some Feelmax shoes which are essentially slippers, but I really dig them. Not at all up to rough trail tasks but I am still taking it slow and gentle, the trails around me are pretty tame aside from the blackberry and salmonberry.
We ran away from the ratrace, too... bought 8 acres in coastal Oregon, but that had its problems too. Compounded by having a kid whom we didn't want to be totally feral like the local ones were. Speed is bad news... it is essentially what I was told weed was in the early 80s and the DARE days.
We just visited the old farm, we have it for sale but the current renter is letting it fall to shit (of course). She hadn't so much as opened the door to the chicken coop in a year, I can tell because it is buried in a forest of vines.
Trying to compromise, we found a small NW town that has things like clean parks and decent schools, but is hard to get to (tip of a peninsula on the tip of a peninsula), so is nicely quiet and close to lots of woods plus the Olympic National Park.
My wife and I both did time in SD, and I know the OB scene a bit... you are spot on about it getting to lots of people. A seductive downward spiral.
Today we go to SF and I am fully clenched. I hate that place now, my friends who are still there with tech jobs are absolutely insane, they have no idea it is not normal to blow $40 on an artisinal lunch, that houses shouldn't cost $950k for a 2bdr shithole, and that there can be more to life than working 70 hours a week for an iffy startup. Whatever funk and art I once dug in SF seems to have left long ago, some say to Oakland but I say I don't really care anymore, I am getting most of the mental nourishment I need either from myself or from the planet, and more and more when I do want some human inspiration, I look way back in time. Not that there are not cool people doing cool shit now, maybe they are even more than ever, I just don't care and am cut off from it. I used to enjoy things like making solar robots and sculptures for burningman, now I mostly dig working rough lumber into fine furniture by hand and have zero interest in having anything in a gallery. My garden is my real art, and hardly anyone knows about it but me, which is fine.
Jay Adams: dead at 53
Jay Adams: dead at 53
My favorite skater of all time...died yesterday...heart attack down on a surf trip in Mex.....another Z-Boy Legend gone. I'll run some hills for JBoy..as his skating influences my running. Much Respect
On the other hand...sounds like some of us are on...pretty much..the same page.
In my eyes...I'm refusing to be totally bought off by the process. I really do believe America is a reservation...or even on a bigger scale: it's an industrial farm...where we...ourselves...are what's being farmed as...product.
I do marvel at the complexity of what has been designed
^ Hadn't harvested in 3 days...but this is the take of Boston Pickling Cucumbers from this morning. Out of the hot house...
^ The wife is (right now) processing the cucumbers into pickles. She is using homegrown garlic (this year's), homegrown peppers (last year's and this year's), organic apple cider vinegar, kosher salts etc etc...we have jars and jars of this stuff
* Told you dudes...I can't stand to eat cucumbers...despise the flavor/texture....
but when pickled...absolutely love them. I've been eating some before going on a run....wow...that vinegar really draws out the saliva...as well..as alkalizes the stomach. You wouldn't think cucumbers pickled with garlic and hot peppers would be...good running food..yet..it really works for me.
** It's recommended to eat pickles before a meal. The reasoning is..that they get the enzymes firing. Have to say...think this is true.
^ What's the big deal?? This headband. I mean...finally...I've found a company that understands. The trails are a different place...having the right equipment and clothing is important to me. Having something to cover my head (pull over my eyes)...without getting heavy with sweat..without rubbing my scalp into a rash...is such a major blessing to my comfort....mitigating full summer sun. A whopping $13 well spent.
Funny how things have evolved. Over the last bunch of years I've gone through so much equipment. I've found a lot that has worked...a lot that has not...but everybody is different. I don't think there are any universal products..that will work..for every runner or every terrain. It's a very individual geared sort of sport...a growing sport as well...so there are so many more products available.. awesome to have choices
Running companies I currently support (by buying their products):
Altra Zero Drop shoes
Buff headbands
Injinji socks
Hurley board shorts: I run in cut off (cut as short as short) board shorts..the kind with no velcro/zipper on the crotch. I have yet to find actual running shorts that meet my demands for function and don't look like kook shorts. Not that I'm into fashion..but I do have my own look..and split side running shorts are not it.
Cep sleeves
Amphipod water bottles/belts
Exofficio underwear
Jay Adams: dead at 53
My favorite skater of all time...died yesterday...heart attack down on a surf trip in Mex.....another Z-Boy Legend gone. I'll run some hills for JBoy..as his skating influences my running. Much Respect
On the other hand...sounds like some of us are on...pretty much..the same page.
In my eyes...I'm refusing to be totally bought off by the process. I really do believe America is a reservation...or even on a bigger scale: it's an industrial farm...where we...ourselves...are what's being farmed as...product.
I do marvel at the complexity of what has been designed
^ Hadn't harvested in 3 days...but this is the take of Boston Pickling Cucumbers from this morning. Out of the hot house...
^ The wife is (right now) processing the cucumbers into pickles. She is using homegrown garlic (this year's), homegrown peppers (last year's and this year's), organic apple cider vinegar, kosher salts etc etc...we have jars and jars of this stuff
* Told you dudes...I can't stand to eat cucumbers...despise the flavor/texture....
but when pickled...absolutely love them. I've been eating some before going on a run....wow...that vinegar really draws out the saliva...as well..as alkalizes the stomach. You wouldn't think cucumbers pickled with garlic and hot peppers would be...good running food..yet..it really works for me.
** It's recommended to eat pickles before a meal. The reasoning is..that they get the enzymes firing. Have to say...think this is true.
^ What's the big deal?? This headband. I mean...finally...I've found a company that understands. The trails are a different place...having the right equipment and clothing is important to me. Having something to cover my head (pull over my eyes)...without getting heavy with sweat..without rubbing my scalp into a rash...is such a major blessing to my comfort....mitigating full summer sun. A whopping $13 well spent.
Funny how things have evolved. Over the last bunch of years I've gone through so much equipment. I've found a lot that has worked...a lot that has not...but everybody is different. I don't think there are any universal products..that will work..for every runner or every terrain. It's a very individual geared sort of sport...a growing sport as well...so there are so many more products available.. awesome to have choices
Running companies I currently support (by buying their products):
Altra Zero Drop shoes
Buff headbands
Injinji socks
Hurley board shorts: I run in cut off (cut as short as short) board shorts..the kind with no velcro/zipper on the crotch. I have yet to find actual running shorts that meet my demands for function and don't look like kook shorts. Not that I'm into fashion..but I do have my own look..and split side running shorts are not it.
Cep sleeves
Amphipod water bottles/belts
Exofficio underwear
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