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A little climbing at the Hairpin Turn
We’re getting confused trying to plan some gentle exploration of the expansive climbing near Tucson. We’ve looked online and in two different books, and none of them seem to agree. Ratings, climb names, even area names are often different in each source. At last I give up and just hike in to the very closest…
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Loma Verde Loop in Saguaro National Park
We make our first trip to the park in the evening for a quick introduction. The cactus here grow nearly into a canopy. There is an area called the “cactus forest”, but that’s what it all looks like to me. We do a quick loop over Pink Hill on very friendly trails. The warm, silky…
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Lights out on the Catalina Highway
On our way home from a short climbing outing in the darkening night, I notice the airbag light come on in the truck. As I puzzle over that, the speedometer and all the other gauges flatline. I puzzle more and consult Ann. The headlights start to dim, and we pull over but leave the truck…
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Hidden Jewels Toprope
We look for something close and easy for our first Tucson climbing outing, and settle on the Hidden Jewels area in the near foothills. The approach is nearly a mile of steep trail, which is a bonus for us. The giant saguaro cacti are everywhere! The heat makes us sweat, the air smells delicious, and…
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Our First Nomad Destination – Tucson, AZ
Our first priority in choosing a destination has been to indulge in some warmth, but Ann noticed that in Tucson we could possibly indulge in an abundance of moderate climbing as well. I will be working more to keep us afloat, but of course I will find time for outdoor exploration too. The first thing…
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Rockhound State Park
We cycle between giddiness and overwhelmed exhaustion today. Even at our slow pace we pace places we’d love to explore, like the rock spires of the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces. Ann drives the rig, which is highly stressful for her still, while I experiment with using the computer in the passenger seat. It…
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First Nomad Night in the Socorro Box
It seems a little too easy to leave Santa Fe with all our possessions when Ann gets off work on Friday, and it is. But we’re eager to go before the next round of predicted snowstorms roll in, and we’re unbearably excited about our nomadic future. So we fill tanks and head south, everything apparently…
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Book: The Road / Cormac McCarthy
This book kind of leaves me speechless. The setting is so bleak, it’s tempting to give up on it, but the characters don’t give up so I didn’t. Maybe that’s what it’s about – removing all reason to hope, looking at one father-son relationship, and seeing what’s left. And being forced to admit that hope…
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Phlumf on Raven’s Ridge
Figuring this may be our last hurrah in the snow for a while, we head up the mountain in heavy snowfall. Ann has held a grudge against Raven’s Ridge ever since our six-hour posthole trudge last May, and wants a rematch in some real snow. Real snow is what we get, dumping all day long.…
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WordPress GPX Viewer Plugin
People like me who use a GPS unit to track their movements often end up with a GPX file full of incomprehensible data at some point. There are many ways to make sense of the data using maps and graphs, but my favorite so far is Jürgen Berkemeir’s GPX Viewer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t clear how…