Sleddog Sightings

Today I received a call from a friend who currently lives in Bellingham, WA, who asked to remain anonymous. All I can say is that we met him on the A.T. and his name rhymes with "Nearwater."

My friend could not believe his eyes, but was calling to report that he has now twice seen Sleddog, the trail legend of 2007, on the streets in Bellingham.

Since Sleddog has the ability to attach himself and take advantage of anyone who directs attention his way, my friend has not yet spoken to him. From distant observation, Sleddog appears to be in a transient situation, living on meals from the mission and relying on Bellingham's programs to help homeless.

It would be fascinating to hear what he's been up to.

John Muir Trail in the Works for 2009

Lauren and I are planning our big adventure for 2009. With her limited vacation time, it's kinda tough to see family and plan an extended adventure in the same year. So we're planning the trip now, and we'll have to play it by ear for the holidays. Jobs…

We're looking at a 2 week, southbound trip of the 212 mile John Muir Trail, from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney. I think we'll actually complete it in about 12 days.

Right now, we have the Tom Harrison maps spread out on the floor to get a birds eye view of the trail.

More details here, as the plans unfold!

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Lauren and I are exploring our options for getting to the trailhead in Yosemite Valley. If you live in L.A. / SoCal and you might be up for a road trip in late summer, we'd be willing to pay for all of your gas to and from Yosemite. Please contact me directly for more details (thompson dot ben at gmail).

Trail Life

I've been enjoying Ray Jardine's re-worked edition of Beyond Backing, now called Trail Life. Lauren picked it up for me as my Christmas gift, and I've been taking my time soaking it in as nighttime reading before bed.

The main difference in the format is that it now includes hundreds of color photos of Ray and Jenny's adventures. Also different, is that Ray presents most ideas in a "This worked for us, it might not work for you..." tone, which may ruffle a few less feathers. Personally, I didn't mind the how-to tone of the previous format, but this one works as well, and may be less off-putting to the doubters.

I'm only partway done, but am looking forward to reading a section near the end where Jenny writes about their experiences from her perspective, which I don't believe she's previously done.

Great job on the new book Ray and Jenny.

Mexico Trip

From December 26-30, Lauren and I spent time helping out in a small Mexican village. Our group of eighteen traveled about four hours south of the border on the Baja peninsula, to the town of Vicente Guerrero to spend time at the Welcome Home preschool.



Without the preschool, parents work in the field and a young child either sits nearby all day, or an older sibling has to stay home from their schooling to take care of their younger sibling.



Before meeting the children, our team tackled a bunch of projects: Replacing 5 toilets, fixing a sink, replacing 5 termite infested window frames, sanitizing crates of small toys and children's furniture, cutting a hole in a wall so we could hang a door and close off another, replacing linoleum tiles, organizing the donation pantry, building bunk beds, painting a sign, fixing drywall ceiling and collecting donations.



By far, the best part of the trip was spending time with the kids. We were able to ride along with them on the bus to see where they lived, eat with them in the dining room and play with them on the playground.



The children and school staff were grateful for our help and encouragement. On the last morning, we were treated to a small concert (below):



More photos from the trip can be seen at our flickr site.

Musical Road Remix

In followup to our Musical Roadtrip post, here is the actual Honda commercial that the road was created for.



Originally built by Honda, the road got a lot of complaints from neighbors, so it was removed shortly after we visited. And then people complained because it was gone. So the city rebuilt it somewhere else. In other words, if you're up for a road trip for 30 seconds of amusement, dreams still come true in Lancaster, CA.

Tumblewagon

I just exchanged emails with Nathan from the Tumlewagon family. Their web site explains:

Welcome to the website of our life on the road. We’re a family of three, living in an RV and making our way around the country for a year or so.

It looks like their taking a grand tour of the country, all while taking on freelance web development projects. Love it!

Dick Proenneke

A few years ago I read the account of Dick Proenneke with great fascination and admiration. At age 51, he built a cabin by hand in a remote part of Alaska, then spent the next 35 years meticulously documenting his solitude with photography, video footage and writings.

His narrated video is available on DVD, and this clip is well worth a look if you have 10 minutes.

Orange

October is here, and it was 99°F yesterday in SoCal. I'm dreaming about those fall colors, and the crisp air of the northeast.

K-Day + 1

One year ago today we summited Katahdin, completing our 2,174 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail.

This morning, after contacting Safari-26, She-Ra, He-Man and Turbo with congratulations, Lauren and I read a couple pages from our journals and reflected a bit on the decisions, growth and adventures we've experienced together.



Today it only seemed fitting to go for a hike, so I took four kids from the neighborhood for a morning climb in Griffith Park. I've been wanting to spend more time with kids with absent fathers, but today was the first time I actually put a plan together. Rewarding stuff.

Musical Road

On Saturday we took a quick road trip to Lancaster, CA to drive on the only musical road in North America. Just in time, too. It wont last more than another week, since the neighbors are getting riled up about the noise and traffic.

Fam Trip

Nice weekend trip with Dad and bros, showing them a sliver of the magnificent Sierra.



It was great they could make it all the way out here to visit in California; they were into it much more than I expected. Good times.

Simmering Sespe

Spent the Labor day weekend in the Sespe Wilderness. We made a 42 mile loop despite the river mostly dry, temperatures above 100°, and the hot springs too hot to enjoy. And due to mixed communication, we left Lauren's shoes at home, so she hiked the whole thing in crocs. (Her idea, not mine!)



Two days, and two massive blisters later, we got back to the car early and headed down to a hotel in Ventura to relax. Lauren was a champ about it, though.

NPR: Big Chill on the Appalachian Trail

Last weekend NPR had a 3 minute segment on the Half-Gallon Challenge at the halfway point on the A.T. To hear, follow this link and then click listen now.

I demolished a box of Hershey's Neopolitan at this spot in 2007 going head-to-head against Sunshine.

Doritos

I'm not convinced that mice are the best pets to have running about in my kitchen. Luckily thru-hiker shelter tricks work at home too. An empty Doritos bag hung from the edge of a counter is all it takes. Tasty cheese crumbs at the bottom at bedtime, a fuzzy little mouse in the morning.