Rebirth of my blog?

Today I was sitting at the top of Black Mtn, taking a break on a bike ride, and I started reminiscing about a lot of things that have happened to me in the past few years. This is a special spot for me, one of the last spots I was with my Aunt before she passed away, and it always causes me to think back. My aunt was a great inspiration to me, always pushing me to take new opportunities, and live a little. I thought of her a lot this past year after I left my job to pursue a few adventures.

I also started thinking about all the killer days I've had during my break, and it made me pretty proud of myself...I guess. I've had a few stellar, amazing days:

Biking North Shore in Vancouver
Solo overnight backpacking in Yosemite
Getting lost in the middle of the night on a mountain while trying to get out of the wild
Catching fish with my bare hands
4hr run around Lake Louise
Killer MTB ride down Moosepackers trail near Calgary
Calgary Stampede Silliness
Climbing on real rock near Penticton, B.C.
7hr solo Adventure Race in Seattle
Hiking through the Swiss Alps with 3 great friends
Visiting Potsdam with great friends, and then watching Zauberflote at the Deutsche Oper
Oktoberfest with 3 of my best friends
Catching waves off West shore of Maui
17 amazing days on the JMT, and making a great new friend while doing it
Date with a great Czech girl in Prague
Great night out in Amsterdam with another one of my best friends
Passing my Zertifikat Deutsch test in Berlin
Staying up till 5am dancing at a club in Berlin

It's a long list...and so many amazing days, and I may have missed some. Still, I look back at them all, and I realize that I haven't had that one day I'd like to constantly re-live...and that excites me! What's to come?

Sierra's

I'm preparing to head out on my John Muir Trail hike now...lot's of work! The biggest thing has been getting my meals all planned out. I also need to prepar a package for my pals Jon and Jesse to bring with them when they come out to meet me on the trail. In addition to that I've got to send out a pail full of food to my last resupply at Muir Trail Ranch.

In prep, I signed up for a Wilderness Survival Course. I'm pretty excited about it. 6 nights out in the wilderness with an instructor, learning survival techniques for the Eastern Sierras. The boast about teaching you how to catch a fish with you bare hands...sounds cool! That's happening right before my JMT trip. Makes things a little more hectic...as I'm planning on just getting to Yosemite Valley after the course, meaning I've got to have everything I'm going to need for the trail (and nothing more) with me.

I've been eating like a madman ever since I got to the Bay in a mad attempt to pack on some stores. I don't know how it happened, but since I quit my job I managed to lose 5lbs. So....I guess if there is anyone out there looking to lose a few pounds, I highly suggest quitting your job!

5 Weeks and Growing

Top of Haleakala...warm with my beard

Well...I need to give an update on my beard growth. I surpassed a milestone a few weeks back...my mustache started to pass the boundary of my upper lip. Basically, this means my mustache gets to interact a lot more with everything and anything that enters my mouth...and that's been an interesting assortment of tastes as of late. It's basically been an ongoing question of "What can I get stuck in my mustache? "

Whether it's a bit of yesterdays dinner, salt of the ocean, or a bit of vaseline, it's always an adventure! In an effort to completely cross my sexual borders I like to call it a "Mustache parade!"

For those of you who have been paying close attention to my pictures... you may have noticed I had a relapse a ways back with my beard. A short day after I arrived in Vancouver I actually shaved off my 2 week beard. I was at that critical "itchy" stage, and was questioning my "peach fuzz" beard. But, shortly after shaving it off ("shortly" being a misleading, as it took a good 20mins to clean myself up), I realized it was the wrong decision. I like the bearded Andrew look...even if the beard is rather pathetic.

So, now I'm passed 5 weeks with the beard....I'm expecting to keep it now (though a trim will be in order soon). Maybe someday, with a bit of luck, it will fill out.

How many paragraphs could you write on your facial hair? I feel comfortable with my four, and thank you for your patience.

Traded a car for a tan

July 29th

Eve of my departure from Maui... and one of the more eventful nights of my stay! My 2nd cousin left me a few voice-mails and an e-mail to let me know my car was no longer parked outside his house...location, unknown.

Kind of crappy. So, I've already had some New Yorker spend my money at the start of my trip, and now I'm carless in Seattle. At least I'm still sleeping well.

Maui

July 22nd-30th

I arrived in Maui Sunday mid-day (Hawaii time), and acclimatized myself immediately. Great weather! I should have been tired, as I'd managed only 3hrs sleep before my flight, but the locale kept me wired. It was nice to get picked up by friends. My best friend Scott was already in Hawaii, and I was planning to spend the weekend at his Uncle's pad (free of charge) with his girlfriend Adriana and his parents. We took it easy my first day, and enjoyed the first of many stellar sunsets.

The day after my arrival we all headed up to the top of the larger mountain on the island, Haleakala. It was quite the windy drive to the top, we were lucky to get some great views/weather when we reached the top. I wish we could have gone for a hike...though that was never in the cards. Still, fun to get up there.



Morning of day three in Hawaii....and finally I got to the beach! We all went down to swim in the ocean, soak up some rays. The ocean near Kihei is pretty calm in the mornings, but it tends to get a little more violent come mid-late afternoon. The following days we managed to head out later when the waves were more interesting. There was a lot of foolish kid like giggling going on with most of us as we were tossed unceremoniously around....good times.

One day we got in the car again, and attempted to drive around the island to the "Seven Pools", what is supposed to be an amazing site. Unfortunately, the road was in a bad state, and so we got turned around near the goal...too bad. Still, got some good pics:


We were all eager to get out and snorkel, and so gathered some gear and started fooling around in the pool. I quickly ran into problems, as apparently a clean shaven face is more effective at sealing with a mask. I attempted to coat my mustache with vaseline (I know, hot...as in good looking), but that only lasted a few minutes, and quickly became a mess. But...I was not interested in shaving off my 5 weeks of hard work. But, we worked out a solution, some swimming goggles and a nose clip worked great!

With our pool experience, we headed to Honolua Bay to do some real snorkeling (as guidebooks had set it was a great locale). We ended up at Makuleia Bay instead...where it was a little sparse, but I managed to see an octopus jet away. I ended up swimming a good distance on my own in an effort to see more sealife, and ended up in Honolua bay. Over there I saw an eel, and sat around with a few schools of fish until some other snorkelers scared them away. Of course, by then I was a little tuckered out...and didn't think I could swim back. So, I climbed out to the road, and hiked back on my barefeet. A foolish idea, as the end result was slightly burned/blistered feet from the asphalt (stuck around a few days).

I took surfing lessons with a class of children on Saturday. Turns out most people in my age bracket already can get up on a longboard...but I was a quick learner myself. Managed to catch waves till my arms felt like they were going to fall off. That's the thing with surfing, it's hard to get past the waves and out....pretty easy to catch the wave...exciting to ride it in....which causes you to forget how hard it was to paddle out (the "One more Wave" syndrome).

It was a great, relaxing trip. Got to spend some time catching up with Scott, read a few books, soaked up some sun, and was ready for my next adventure.

Seattle

July 20th-21st

I got into Seattle Friday midday, and started driving from bike store to bike store to find a bike to rent for the Night & Day Challenge. This is a city wide Adventure Race, the idea being to get to as many check points as possible in a certain time on foot, bike, or both. I ran in the SF event with Jon & Erin back in July, and it was the most fun I've had at an event in years. So, I decided to run and bike alone in the 7hr Seattle race.

Friday night I went out for Mexican food with my second (great) cousin David Simpson. He took me to one of his favourite, very authentic Oaxacan restaurants called La Carta de Oaxaca in the Ballard area of Seattle. The food was amazing, killer Chicken Mole, and great tortillas! Food is always a good way to win me over.

Saturday morning I did my last bit of AR prep work, buying lights for my bike from the flagship REI (amazing). The race start was at the NW shore of Green Lake, a nice place. I managed to plan what I thought was a great route, and set out at 4pm. My run was going so well, I kept adding distance to it, and in the ended up hitting 13 checkpoints over 20miles...it was insane! But...it cost me. By the end my legs (calves) where cramping bad...apparently, despite the rain (that's right, it rained the whole event), I was not getting enough water into my system (stupid). This caused me to have difficulty with the bike (I had to stop and drink water & eat pretzels for a good 20mins)...it's also hard biking in the rain, on a rental bike, in the dark, in a city you don't know the least about. A challenge I suppose, though by 10pm I was pretty bummed (I was also making rather stupid decisions by that point....who looks for a shortcut through a cemetery in the dark?). In the end, I biked less than 20mi, and I think I only got to about 8 checkpoints...piddly. Still, it was a good event, a real learning experience! Oh...and I still won my class, so that was nice.

After the event, it was home to pack, and try to grab a bit of shut-eye. Hit the hay at 3am...got up at 7 to get to the airport for my flight to Maui....

To the islands!

Go West

July 15th-20th

After a nice visit in Calgary, I had to make my way back to Seattle before the weekend, still enough time to soak in some sights.

Alberta Wild Rose

I left Calgary Sunday afternoon, and got a campsite at Two Jack Main Campground near Jack Lake in Banff National Park. I mostly huddled in my tent however, as the mosquitoes were driving me nuts.

Monday I ended up tooling around Banff for a bit, and then swimming in Jack Lake. Drove a little ways through the park, and camped at Protection Mountain. A rather "chill" day in which I did little more than read and relax.

Tuesday I hit the road heavy, intending to get to Penticton for supper (my 3rd stop there on this trip making my lil sis either a very lucky or unlucky person). I did take some time to enjoy some sights in Glacier National Park as well as Mt. Revelstoke National Park along the Trans Canada Highway. Glacier National Park looked like a great, isolated park I should go back and explore some more some day.

Me & some Ancient Red Cedar Friends

I drove into Penticton, showered, and showed up late (what...me late?) to dinner at Theos, a great greek restaurant my bro-in-law used to work at. It was nice to see my parents, always good to get a lot of the family together (wish my older sis Gretchen had been there).

Family at Theos

I stuck around Wed morning to go wine tasting with my sis, Noah and parents. We tried a lot of interesting sweet, fruit wines...had to buy a few bottles to smuggle back into the States.

Grandpa P with Noah

After that, I took off again, bought some B.C. fresh fruit, crossed the border (I'm beginning to think border guards really hate me - apparently the homeless are instantly suspicious), and made my way towards North Cascades National Park. I have to say... it was hard to leave Canada. As soon as I entered the US I felt like I had been slammed in the chest. It was my longest stint in the Great White North in 4yrs...I suppose my heart is still up there.

I camped for $5 at one of my best spots yet, Early Winter Campsite. A nice, quaint, quiet camp site. Spent the early evening watching the clouds roll across the sky.

Angry Sky

Next day I drove through the park, taking few spots, and camped at Washington Park, on the ocean, near Anacortes (about an hour N of Seattle).

Sunset from Washington Park

Now, it's time to enjoy Seattle!