The hike out

I awoke in my tent after a long and hearty sleep sweetened mostly by the new camping mat that I purchased a few months back with my REI Dividend check. It cost roughly 70 bucks and I was quite worried that it would offer little to no improvement over the foam job I had used on the previous backpacking excursion. I could not have been more mistaken- absolutely worth the purchase. So much so in fact that I shamelessly plug the product for free here on my blog to all ten of my anxious readers. Without delay, here's to you Therm-a-Rest BaseCamp, size large, and keeping me warm and comfortable for a wonderful nights sleep. Shameless plug- complete.

I was surprised to find that not 30 feet or so from our selected campsite ran a very tranquil, slow-moving river. I suppose in my haste to both construct my tent and ensure we had a sufficient cooking fire before the fade of daylight, I had missed some crucial details about the surrounding environment. The river itself was quite small and laden with large rocks as far as I could see both up and down-river. Standing next to it was the only way to actually hear that familiar babble that rock-littered rivers always make. I stood on the riverbank for quite some time with fresh (black) coffee in hand brewed by the expert camp-coffee hands of Eric Laun. It was then, while all of us stood gazing that the guys noticed something odd and called my attention to it. 

For reasons that not one of us could explain with the only possible solution of, "well, it's mating season," we found a disturbingly large amount of either Ladybugs or those Japanese Beetles we have all heard so much about. On the tops of all the large rocks, at the ends of fallen logs were quite literally hundreds of these things just hanging out. 

For 50 yards in either direction of where we were standing, every few rocks were covered it these things. It was quite the sight to see- definitely something neither of us had ever seen before. The enterprising gentlemen that they are, both Jeremy and Eric took a large mug full of the bugs home to their garden to control their aphid population. Take that over-priced gardening store. 

The hike out was just as wonderful as the hike in. Not nearly as much 'up' as the hike in but it was a close match. I tell you this mountain is magical with its up-ness. As always there were scenic vistas at every turn and by the end we were all sweating under the hazy humidity that is June Gloom. 

It was a little longer hiking out than in- we took a different route out which was, even though longer, a nice way to hike out. New scenery, new terrain, new things to look at and distract you from the burning sensation in your thighs and butt. 

Once out we congratulated ourselves with a trip to In-N-Out Burger, my first time there, actually. I was surprised at the quality of such a notorious fast food establishment. The potatoes used to make the fries are freshly cut every day, the meat is never frozen, the tomatoes are on par with ones I would use at home and the lettuce is nice and crisp. Seriously- A+ for In-N-Out Burger. Great trip, great friends, great workout. Thanks Jeremy and Laun. 

Hike in to Angeles

Today was truly a dichotomy day. It began prowling the booming and blinking floors of E3- the veritable modern day El Dorado of technology and entertainment. Where ever you looked it was flashing screens and loud music. It seemed that around every corner someone from Game Design Corp. was being interviewed by a reporter from Media Mogul Inc.

It ended with backpacking in the Angeles National Forest. Our planned destination was Spruce Grove, a mere four miles into the woods, where we planned to set up camp for one night and rough it like real men. 

The day itself had been gloomy- apparently, those that live in the area refer to this time of year as 'June Gloom.' It seems that, like clockwork every year, a thick haze blankets the entire metropolitan area of greater Los Angeles. The mountains trap this 'gloom' in the valleys that which the city lay. If you get high enough, though, you can get above the ceiling of this haze. We were just high enough to see the top but weren't quite above it. This meant that during our hike in, when we would come to a clearing, we could occasionally see this haze moving through the valleys- it made for quite a view. 

As we set off on our journey, I was not made aware that we were venturing into a territory that I now refer to as a never-ending-up trail. From the moment the dirt trail began until the moment we stopped to drop our gear on the ground, we were going up. Granted- it was not a steep enough grade to feel dangerous but after a while, I began to wonder if we hadn't accidentally stumbled upon a New Everest. 

Alongside the trail, Jeremy gave me a brief history of the path we were taking. Apparently sometime in the 1800's- backpacking and hiking really began to take off as a popular outdoor sport. During that time, no such law existed that protected lands or prohibited building upon them. So- as people started adventuring out on this very trail, they decided to take out 100-year leases on certain spots and build tiny cabins right against the train and the river that runs near it. As we were hiking past these cabins, I couldn't help but think how much it looked like The Shire- cabins made out of stone and half-built into the ground. It was actually quite cool, though I am glad the lands are now protected for fear that the buildings would soon overtake the natural landscape. 

When we finally arrived at the Spruce Grove campsite I was, needless to say, quite sweaty. It was a great hike in but now was the time to do the true nature-man stuff. It had rained lightly throughout the day and we were all a little worried that starting a fire might prove to be the bane of the trip. After a few attempts with laundry lint, twigs and a random piece of paper we found from a previous adventurer, my tried-and-true method of 'just blow on it,' made the tiny fire start to crackle. It wasn't too long before we had a cook-worthy fire and so began a feast of the ages. 

The decision was made quite early on that we should pack in some nice steaks and potatoes to cook on the campfire. Jeremy was kind enough to pick up some Ribeye steaks and prep some potatoes in foil that we could chuck on the hot coals. Each campsite is outfitted with a nice metal grate that is perfect for open-fire cooking. Bish whipped up a dry rub that we could bathe the steaks in once we were set up and out we went. I can, with a high amount of confidence, say that this was the best campfire meal ever. The steak was great, the potatoes were great and we were all ravenous from the work of getting to the campsite and getting tents up and fires going. 

All in all- a great day at E3, a great hike into the mountains, a great night with good food and good company. Adventure had.

E3!

The plan was to get ready by 9:00, be on the train towards downtown by 9:30 and hopefully be to the conference near opening time- 10:00 AM. That did not happen. We did not take the train, Laun drove, and we got there at about 11:30 AM. Things were in full swing and cranked to volume 11 when we arrived. 

When first arriving at the expo floor, it's a bit overwhelming. Needless to say, there is a LOT going on. Loud music and sounds, flashing screens not to mention a sea of people going in every direction. Laun and I managed to sample a healthy selection of games but there were a few that really drew me- games that I will probably buy. First among those was Uncharted 2- the first being Drake's Fortune. Second among those games was one of PS3's flagship games- God of War 3 which looks astounding. This game had quite the set up from PS3 with well over 20 stations all playing the game and a line that rivaled that of many theme parks. 

Lastly, and probably the game I liked the most was NEW Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. Imagine Super Mario... but with 4-person multiplayer co-op. Oh mans, talk about shenanigans and fun. 

Of course, new Wii balance board games were unveiled as well as the new High Res add-on for the Wii remote which makes the remote more sensitive and WAY more accurate. Laun got to try it out on a new Tiger Woods title- he was very impressed. Our prediction is that many of the Wii inaccuracy/jitter woes will be squelched with this little doo-dad. 

In other news- there were a lot of shooters that were unimpressive thus not noteworthy. Disney was also there and Aragorn's Quest looks lame- the booth was sadly empty. Also, SOE was in attendance representing both Everquest 1 and 2- they had a booth babe dressed as the sorceress on the original box art for EQ. I didn't get a chance to get a picture with her- here's hoping that I can tomorrow. 

Also, the Batmobile was on the floor in honor of the upcoming release of the Batman title coming out for the PS3. Batmobile = cool, Batman game = meh. 

All in all, a good show and a good day- now, though, it's pack up my crap and get ready to go camping in the mountains with Bish and Laun. Yeah, survivor men. Except we're eating steak and potatoes instead of random animal appendage. 

And so it begins...

We begin as of yesterday, June 2nd, with my departure from Idaho to Los Angeles for a few days. The purpose of this adventure is to attend this years E3 (Entertainment Electronics Expo) at the LA convention center as well as, it turns out, to visit with some old friends/former co-workers. And so the trip began with a mostly uneventful albeit (effing) freezing plane trip. There was a minor scare at the airport prior to departure from Boise as Rachel and I arrived so late to the terminal that the attendant was sure my bag would be lost in transit. Surprisingly, and pleasantly so, the bag arrived with owner. Jubilation was heard world-round. 

Jeremy (Bishop) picked me up from the Ontario (CA) airport and the adventures thusly begun. I had the pleasure of checking out his house, where I will be staying the next few days, before being whisked away to have dinner with another friend that hasn't been seen in quite some time- Eric (Laun). 

From lunch, Jeremy and I departed for the time being and I spent the afternoon with Eric in his garage-attic office which I have begun calling the inner sanctum. This room, clearly, is untouched by anybody in his family save for himself. It's fantastically littered with computer parts, programming books, dirty dishes and adorned with an old busted couch, perfect for napping, or in Eric's case, sleeping on nightly. Love it. Eric had a family function to attend later in the evening so after a few rousing rounds of Punch Out for the Wii, I was whisked away in the Laun-mobile to a Sears parking lot where Jeremy and I met back up for yet another adventure. We were going flying. 

Jeremy has a Cherokee single-engine plane. This thing is an absolute beauty- I love this aircraft. I have, for a long time, been bugging Jeremy to take me up in his airplane sometime and he had the wonderful idea to go up for an evening ride around the LA area. I was, to say the least, more than enthusiastic to go. Prior to actual take-off, I joked that I would encourage Jeremy to put us in a barrel-roll. I did not. 

Bishop guided me through the pre-flight checklist and explained what he was doing, as he was doing it, a minor fact that I truly appreciate being the inquisitive person I am- more appropriately, though, I think it was to impart on me the importance of each switch and that flicking things on and off was probably a bad idea. I got to wear a super-cool headset and sound like a real pilot which supplied a lot of hushed internal entertainment for me- unknown fact: those things muffle a substantial amount of noise. While in the air, Bishop performed some neat maneuvers for me like a steep turn or clearing turn even a stall explaining how each was performed and why. The steep turn was exciting- you can actually feel the g-forces increase as you make your turn. Stalling was quite an experience- the aircraft literally feels like it's about to fall out of the sky when in reality you are traveling at about 50 mph, only moments before certain doom, Jeremy would increase the throttle and bring us out of the stall. Cool. 

The scenery from the sky was breathtaking and the already picturesque hills and mountains looked even more Bob Ross-ian. There was a light haze settling in the valleys of the hills as the evening went on- I could almost hear him saying, "Happy little mountains with happy trees on them." 

With about an hour or so left in the trip, Bishop decided he trusted me enough to take the helm. I have no idea what he was thinking- I didn't crash us and I didn't attempt anything crazy, but I did fly the plane and for quite some time. 

I have thereby decided, in light of recent events, to rectify the missing title on my resume- I shall henceforth be known as: Casey Hunt, Aviator. Possibly more accurately: Casey Hunt, Dude who flew a plane straight for almost an hour. Yes. Stoic and noble. Knightly, even. 

Jeremy, of course, landed the plane but by the time we arrived it was full-on night and landing in the dark was a lot more exciting than I had anticipated. I was not aware of the existence of the "two red lights" landing beacon that becomes "one red, one white" when you are on final approach and on the correct approach angle. Apparently there is a flap inside the light-box that shows a white light from the correct angle- how ingenious. Once on the ground, we gassed the bird back up, parked her in the hangar and returned to Jeremy's house for some conversation, bratwurst and inevitable (for me, at least) loss of consciousness. 

The start of my day was at 5:30 AM and by 11:30 PM I was ready for sleep, regardless of what my mind wanted to do, my body would have its way. I no sooner hit the sheets and contemplated sleeping than I was waking up after eight hours of coma. 

So far- the trip to E3 has yielded me Zero hours at the convention and an entire day of fun, new adventures and visiting good friends. I would call this day a win, to be frank. Today (June 3rd) I plan to attend a portion of the convention with Eric. More fun, more adventures, more blog posts, I'm sure. For now, though, I say cheers to you Bishop for showing me a great time and for a true adventure.

Me and Jeremy