Word of Rob

Weekend of Hike

2010-02-16T18:26:00.001-07:00

I got out 3 times in a row this weekend. Sunday I did a 12 mile hike to Black Top Mesa. This destination has become one of my favorite places after seeing it a second time. The top is very green and grassy this time of year. Very dramatic views from the top as well. Yesterday I did a quick hike with Dan on the Boulder Canyon trail in the Superstition mountains. And then today I mostly just piddled around the area south of the Gila River and east of Florence, AZ. I did a small part of the South Butte trail. Afterwards, I lazed by the river reading a book.

Where's the Ending?

2010-02-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

So I just finished the book "The Name of the Wind". From all accounts online, its a hugely successful fantasy book by a new author. Without a doubt, the story told amazed me and pulled me in. However the book had no end, not even a faked one. At best it ends as book 1 of 3. Written in 2007, the author still hasn't finished the next one in the series. In checking his blog its clear that he has lost his mind, much as George R R Martin has. This seems to be a huge trend with 'successful' books from what I can tell. Look at the Wheel of Time series. At least Robert Jordan kept turning them out, but he dragged in on for over twice as many books as originally planned and then died before finishing. The Sword of Truth series by Robert Goodkind follows a similar path of unending books. His story stopped advancing after the first book in the series, though, and he just kept repeating the same story over and over in each book. Stephen King and The Dark Tower had similar issues, not finished and then later he crapped out an ending series of books for it.

To me a book should tell a story, and a story should have an ending of some sort. I see some fans get mad at the authors for doing this sort of thing, but I can't blame authors for being money grubbing leeches, urged on by nothing resembling an artistic drive. What I would appreciate is a warning label of sorts on the book. This warning should be something like "Warning: this story does not end in this book or in the next 10+ books. The author went cracked/died/gave up after the first few, so really it will never end properly."

Hike around the Pass

2010-02-03T11:00:00.001-07:00

I went up to Usery Mountain Park, AZ on Monday to do the Pass Mountain loop hike. It was about 7.5 miles total, without much elevation change. I listened to a sweet audio book, "The Name of the Wind" during the hike. I've never taken an audio book along with me before on a hike and found it to be quite enjoyable. Originally I had planned on doing something a bit longer, but didn't plan ahead enough and left too later for much more than I did. I'd like to get in another 12+ mile hike soon, though.

A Long Hike

2010-01-04T09:36:00.001-07:00

Its been quite awhile since I've done a hike of any significant distance. I went out and did the 12 mile loop around Weaver's Needle yesterday. I got started a bit too late to really enjoy the hike, though. I had to push the entire time to make sure I got back before sunset (which I did arrive back at my car right at sunset). On the plus side, I didn't have any problem doing 12 miles and am not very sore the next day from it. I need to get out and do some more long hikes, but with some actual time to sit down and look at the landscape next time.

New Years BBQ

2010-01-03T07:58:00.004-07:00

Had a bit of a game day and BBQ on New Years again this year. It was a bit smaller group, so a little easier to prepare for. I also only did the meat, sauce, and buns this year and had other people bring add ons. Things went smoothly and I enjoyed the day. In other news I started playing Warhammer Fantasy a month or so ago. I have my Vampire Counts army mostly painted now, just the heroes are left. I am now interested in a new game called Malifaux, which looks to be a fun skirmish level game. I am going to try and get out on a hike today as the weather is nice and its been awhile since I've had the chance to go.

Fall Hiking

2009-10-21T07:21:00.001-07:00

Well I missed the entire summer hiking season for some reason. I just couldn't seem to get motivated to drive out anywhere to go hiking. I've been spending a ton of time on Warhammer 40k and a bit on Lord of the Rings. On Monday I drove up to Mormon Lake, AZ. This is located about 11 miles east of Mund's Park, which is on I-17 on the way up to Flagstaff. The area is quite pretty, with fairly dense forests. The lake itself was mostly dry. Weather felt quite nice, it was in the 60's with a good wind going. Really felt like fall. Hike itself was about 6 miles round trip with a 1500 foot elevation gain. At the start I felt a little sluggish, but made it up without stopping or really feeling tired. 6 miles is a pretty short hike compared to what I was knocking out earlier this year, though. I need to get out hiking more.

Back in the U.S.A.

2009-08-13T07:46:00.004-07:00

I got back into the States last night after over 24 hours straight of traveling. I also caught a cold while in Denmark, which added to the joy of the return trip. I am pretty much over traveling overseas at this point. The last few days felt like a complete waste of time and overall a miserable experience. I am still interested in seeing Australia and New Zealand at some point in the future. Germany also looked like it could be an interesting place to visit, but especially after getting sick, I had no interest in going there while I was in Denmark.

In Denmark

2009-08-09T20:44:00.001-07:00

After about 16 hours of travel time, I got to Denmark about 12 hours ago now I guess. First impressions of the country are much better than my trip to Ireland. The roads are wide and well labeled. Driving on the right side of the road with a GPS doesn't hurt either. There are open fields and trees all over. So far a pretty cool place from that perspective. The travel guide talked about how great the socialism is over here. Made it sound almost pleasant. Then I read a bit more and find out that tax rates are 50-70%, sales tax 25%, plus whatever else.

I don't see the fascination with Europe overall. Everything here is expensive and crappy compared to the states. They tax everyone to death and do not seem to reward those that want to get ahead. Hotel rooms represent this well. The place I'm in is a "3-star" hotel. The room is about 3x as big as a motel 6 bathroom. It has a really terrible built-in twin size bed and the bathroom smells funny. Although the water pressure from the shower does a lot to make up for this. So the room is probably about 1/4 as nice as the worst motel 6 that I've ever stayed at, although the scum factor of people staying here is much lower due to the cost. All of this for around $160-180 US Dollars a night.

Language in Denmark I find curious. Supposedly all of the schools teach English alongside Danish. Listening to the radio on the road yesterday, I would say 25-50% of the songs I heard were in English, but all of the radio hosts themselves talk in Danish. People use Danish, but most can also speak English and well. Strange to learn them both. English seems to almost be "common" in Europe. The one language that can be used between people from 2 different countries. Going into stores and such I do not know if people will know English or not. The hotel clerk had no problem, but the checkout girl at the gas station didn't seem to understand a word I said. Her greating was "hello", though so perhaps they use that same word as a greating.

The sites to see in Denmark haven't really peaked my interest too much. The country is mostly flat and largely developed out. The northern areas seem to hold the most promise of interesting things to see. I don't think that Denmark would be first on a travel destination list for someone heading to Europe, though. I perhaps should go down to Germany, as its maybe 100 miles south of me. At this point I am almost ready to go back to the USA already, though. European and World travel in general I think for me is like a lot of other things that everyone tells you how great they are and that you should do them. I just don't find any value in the experience. I would get wasy more enjoyment from exploring more of the United States. I feel very lucky to have live in such an amazing area of the world.

It's Been Awhile

2009-08-06T20:05:00.001-07:00

After getting back from California, I haven't written in here. Short Summary:

-I did make my 90 days of exercise/eating right. Now I'm back to being lazy. :)

-I haven't been hiking until just today, when I went up to the Grand Canyon.

-I started playing Warhammer 40k a little over a month ago. I've been pretty focused on it.

-Been playing Tennis a bit more and took a lesson. I still suck at it.

Yosemite Weekend

2009-06-15T06:18:00.001-07:00

I took off Friday from work and drove up to Yosemite on Thursday night. A Curry Village tent cabin provided my shelter for the night. No heat made it somewhat cold, but I got up early the next day for my Half Dome hike. The shuttle did not leave until 7:20am. I could have parked within about 1/2 a mile of the trailhead, which might have been advisable, but in the end not necessary. I finished the hike by around 3pm, which means the entire 14 miles and 4100 ft elevation gain took me only about 7.5 hours. I did quite well overall on the hike. The cables again proved to be more than I cared to attempt, so I just sat near them for awhile watching people coming up and down. The weather in the Sierra Nevada range generally was rainy and cold. I hung out around Yosemite for a bit after my hike and then decided to drive to Mammoth Lakes the next day. On Saturday I ended up not doing much other than driving around the whole day and making it back to San Jose around 8pm. Sunday I got up and went on another hike at Sunol Regional Park, attempting to go to Mission Peak. I made it most of the way but became worried that I wold not have enough time to get back for dinner at Yevgeniy's, so I turned back early. Still went about 8 miles round trip. I see that the weather this week is looking warmer than previous weeks out here, about the time that I am going back to Phoenix. Working out is still going well, P90 and/or hiking every day.

Weekend of Hike

2009-06-08T13:14:00.001-07:00

I drove up to the Sonoma, CA area on Saturday. Jack London State Park provided the first entertainment. The park closed at 5pm, however, leaving me with only about an hour of time to explore it. The land and trees throughout the area were beautiful. Hills and Oaks much like the Bay Area, but with added larger redwood trees and generally a bit more tree density. I then drove to Sugarloaf Ridge State Park where I hiked about 5.5 miles round trip to Bald Mountain. In deciding whether to drive north to the redwood parks or go back, I decided on driving east towards the Desolation wilderness, west of Lake Tahoe.

I stopped in Davis, CA for the night and then stopped by the Ranger station for a map and hiking suggestions in the morning. Settling on a nice looking hiking around around Wright Lake, I started out on the Rockbound Trail around noon. The area's beauty reminded me of the high elevation areas I had visiting before and brought me to realize that I had not done a hike in higher elevation mountain ranges since Mount Whitney in 2004. Being in those areas for me is like looking at creation itself. The unimaginable vastness and seemingly endless rows of mountains humbles me and I believe focuses my thoughts in a very spritual way. I am really looking forward to doing Mount Whitney in July and then going to Colorado in August. I've been away from those mountains for too long now. The weather was overcast, wet, and cold. I enjoyed the about 12 miles round trip a great deal, though. I almost made it to Rockbound Pass, but had to stop just short due to a large amount of snow on the side of the mountain and thus the trail.

Working out is going along still, P90,Hiking Sunday,rest monday.

California Gaming and 30 Days In

2009-06-03T18:21:00.003-07:00

Well, I've made it over 30 days now into my workout routine. Things are going good so far, I believe that I'm beginning to see some "results", but I'll know better in another few weeks probably. Wed:P90+Hike, Thu:P90, Fri:P90, Sat:Hike, Sun:P90, Mon:Rest, Tue:P90, Wed:P90

Sunday I went to Santana Row. I had lunch, read some of my book, listened to live music, and bought some stuff from the farmer's market. It was a good time and I might go back this weekend. I also visited a couple of board gaming events this week. Monday I went up to Yahoo's campus for a pretty big weekly meet up there. I wrote up a little session report from that:

Galaxy Trucker - I played 2 games yesterday, first one was Galaxy Trucker with the Big Expansion. Played with Steve, Walter, and Alon(spelling?). I've played the base game a number of times and the expansion sure put a hurt on us. Our ships continually were being destroyed. Going in to the final round, Steve had a "commanding" lead of about 6 points compared to the rest of us with 0. I gave up early after scoring 10 easy points. I thought I would assured victory. :) However, Alon had looked ahead on the cards and knew that this final voyage was actually pretty much a cupcake run compared to the last 2 gauntlets of death. So he pulled out the win with ease after pulling like 30 points of cargo alone.

Ghost Stories - Next game was one I brought that I played with Steve and Randy. This was my 3rd time playing and I have to say it has quickly become one of my favorite cooperative games. We were holding pretty strong against the onslaught of ghosts, however our Taoist monks started to run out of Qi about 5 ghosts too soon and the Incarnate over powered us. We were all killed the village overrun. I'm now 0-3 at the initiate level in that game. Lots of fun and very strategic in my opinion, though. The dice can help or hurt you, though.

Last night I checked out a group that meets weekly at the Mountain View community center. I played a game of Through the Ages. I did not remember the rules well and the person I played against was a bit impatient in the very brief teaching of them. I ended up winning the game interestingly enough.

Tonight I am probably going to go over to Jon's and hang out for a bit. I've also been reading a book called Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross. Jade is letting me borrow it. I find the book very interesting so far, with lots of very deep scientific ideas. The problem is he has jumped between 4 different characters and multiple times in history within just the first 70 pages. I am not much of a fan of that style of writing.

California Hiking

2009-05-30T18:15:00.002-07:00

I've got in a couple of hikes already in California. On Wednesday after work, I drove to Joseph D Grant, CA and did a little 5 mile loop from Grant Lake. The trail up was quite nice, although a little steep.

Today I woke up early and drove out to Henry W. Coe State Park, CA. The morning temperature of around 50-55 degrees chilled me a little bit. Fortunately, I immediately started out with a long, steep climb up a ridge. The climb brought me quickly into a low cloud/fog that covered the upper elevations. The wet and overgrown grass along the trail soaked my pants and made me wonder if the weather would prevent my full hike. My start time was about 8:30am, and the sun started to come out around 10:15am. By probably 11am most of the clouds were gone along with the wet grass. My pants dried quickly. The rest of the hike presented no major challenges, other than typically California rolling hills. I completed the entire hike in about 7 hours, which is pretty good time for me. I find it interesting that I don't think too much about a 15 mile hike after all my Grand Canyon training hikes.

So far I am really enjoying the change of scenery from the desert. I contemplated that I could wander around like this on a more frequent basis even before I "retire".

The board gaming scene in the Bay Area seems quite good so far. I think that on Monday I will attend a group that meets at Yahoo weekly. It would be nice to have a weekly meetup in Phoenix. I have some ideas on getting people together once a week, but I will need to try and find a place that we could actually meet at.

California and Kublacon

2009-05-26T08:32:00.001-07:00

Back in California now. Dion and I made the drive out on Thursday and Friday. We played a good number of games at Kublacon, the first real gaming convention for each of us. Overall it was a good time, Dion got in 11 games in one day. There were a ton of historical miniature games setup and I got into one that was the battle of the Alamo. The detail of the terrain was quite impressive. Jon made it up for just sunday afternoon and evening. We all played a number of games together and had a great time. Dion and I were considering going to BGG con, if possible, after enjoying this trip so much.

I am still in the process of trying to nail down a place to stay while I'm out here. I have one that looks decent, except it is a bit of a drive. Each day I wait is more money to the hotels, though. If I don't hear back from some other contacts I sent off yesterday, I will just go with the farther drive to have a place.

Exercise and eating held strong over my con time, Wed:P90, Thu:Tennis, Fri:nothing, Sat:Elliptical, Sun:Elliptical, Mon:Elliptical, Tue:P90

Grand Canyon 2009

2009-05-19T14:01:00.002-07:00

Yesterday Dan and I completed the north rim to south rim hike in 12 hours and 50 minutes. Total hiking distance, 23.3 miles and 4500 elevation gain. By far, this trip proved my most successful attempt. Throughout I felt good and never reached the complete fatigue of the previous 2 trips. This morning I got up and did some cardio exercise. I feel a bit sore and stiff today, but nothing too extreme. I met a number of interesting people and chatted with them over the hike as well. We also ran into 2 people who needed emergency assistance that we had to call in at the next phone. Both were overheated and throwing up. At this point, another trip to Mt Whitney seems more likely, as I think I am in much better condition to do it this year. Great trip, very memorable and satisfying. We also got lucky in that we were able to catch an earlier shuttle and left at about 5am, instead of the normal 6am. I arrived home about 11pm. Oh and the Pioneer cabin was awesome, it has 2 separate rooms and is stand alone.

Oh yeah and my exercise is going well. Tue:Tennis, Wed:Tennis, Thu:P90, Fri:Bike, Sat:rest, Sun:rest, Mon:Hike, Tue:P90

Last hike before Grand Canyon

2009-05-11T15:00:00.001-07:00

I went to Angel Basin yesterday with Jade. Its about an 8 mile round trip hike. The weather was warm, but tolerable. I am continuing on my exercise routine. Sat:Tennis, Sun:Hike, Mon:Bike. This morning I road out to the park by me and back, about 9 miles. I am feeling a little fatigued overall and I need to probably not do any exercise for a few days before the Grand Canyon hike. I did get in that Power 90 workout program and I will take a look at it soon.

90 Days Later

2009-05-08T14:26:00.001-07:00

So I think I've decided to try and exercise on a regular (6 days a week) basis for the next 90 days. This goes along with the Power 90 workout system idea I guess somewhat. I started on about May 1st, although it wasn't really an official start, but now seems like as good a day as any to remember by. I played Tennis in the morning that day. Rest of the days: Sat:nothing, Sun:17 mile hike, Mon:Bike, Tue:Can't Remember, Wed:Bike, Thu: Bike, Fri:Hike. I kind of feel like I've been a bit of a sloth for too long now. My diet I started to clean up a few weeks or so ago, so that is already back on track. I also should be receiving the Power 90 system in the mail today. Those routines should help fill in nicely days that I can't get outside to exercise. People seem to recommend it.

On my hike today, I thought on the Grand Canyon hike and why I do it. The challenge of doing something difficult would be the easiest reason. Along with that reason, of course, comes the sense of accomplishment from it. Those reasons may be enough for me to do it, but I think generally other reasons also drive me. One other is a revalidation of my self. The hike represents something that is purely me. I do this for myself and no one else. Its a very inner and personal thing to do. The hike and journey also serves as an anchor in my life. I view the time between hikes and reflect on my state of existence between those two points. And finally, a lesser reason, would be to reaffirm that I am still in good shape and able to do those things I did in years past just as well, if not better. I am looking forward to my hike.

Long hike in Superstitions

2009-05-04T08:15:00.001-07:00

Dan and I did a nice hard hike yesterday in the Superstitions. The route was Campaign Trail to Reavis Gap Trail to Reavis Ranch Trail to Fire Line Trail to Campaign Trail and out. The trail guide said it was 15.3 miles total, but the GPS route says about 17 miles. I'm inclined to believe the GPS route, since it tends to be shorter than the actual distance. We got an early start (6am drive start, 8:15 trail head time) and were back at the car at 5:07pm. I feel pretty good about the hike afterwards and am looking forward to the Grand Canyon hike. We were getting tired at the end of the hike, and both of us running out of water for about the last 2 miles did not help. This morning I feel surprisingly good. I even went on a bike ride with Paul.

A Journey Begins

2009-05-02T19:25:00.005-07:00

The weather today was perfect in every way. So, earlier I spent some hours at a local park and had these few thoughts.

Tomorrow I will rise early to take on my last large hike before the grand canyon trip. Today brings hope of a life to follow that will be exciting. Under sky and tree now, I remember sitting as I did years ago when I was a child in my yard. The breeze takes away my heat and any ill feeling. I am reminded, too, of beginnings. How to me the best part of any journey shines through at it's start. When all the possibilities swirl around in your mind. You feel and even believe that nothing limits where you might go. If one were inclined, and one should be, each day could be viewed in this same way. Each moment you could feel that anything is possible. I think this is the excitement of life. May I learn to understand and always embrace this.

BBQ and Game Day

2009-04-26T12:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had my 2nd annual BBQ and Game Day at my house. Things went very smoothly and I had a very enjoyable time. I spent a good amount of time cooking the day and night before. A made about twice as much food as I needed to for it as well. I cooked up 13 lbs of brisket and about 30 lbs of pork. Although I had about the same number of people as last year (40), I think less food was consumed this year. People started showing up a bit after 11am and we played until about midnight. I had enough tables (7) and chairs (44) to accomodate everyone who came. A very enjoyable time, although tiring.

Waterfall Hike

2009-04-13T10:09:00.002-07:00

Dan and I did a hike out to Reavis Falls yesterday. It was around 14 miles round trip. I did this hike last year about this time. It is a rather hard climb out from the bottom, but both Dan and I seemed to do quite well on it. I really didn't feel like any section of the trail was taking a long time. Everything went very smoothly. We did run into yet another rattlesnake on the hike, though. About a mile or so before the end, Dan about stepped on a big one across the trail. He backed off and it slowly slid off of the trail. It never reacted to him. It had distinctive black and white banding at its tail. There were several rattlesnakes with this kind of marking, so I am not sure what kind it is.

Rattlesnakes and Hiking

2009-04-03T09:22:00.001-07:00

I did a 14 mile loop hike yesterday in the Superstitions. I look the Bluff Springs Trail to Dutchman to Red Tanks to Whiskey Springs to Dutchman. This was a second attempt at one that Dan and I tried to do a few months ago, but had to cut it short due to weather. This time, the weather was flawless. The hike was fairly level with a number of interesting wooded spots to stop at along the way. I passed 2 rattlesnakes within about 5-7 feet of the trail (and me) early on. I felt a bit unnerved for a lot of the rest of the hike after passing the second one. Made me realize if I ever pass one that is hidden right next to the trail, there is a good chance I could get bit. The second one I passed rattled and reared his head up. As I was backing away, he raised up more and lost hold of the rock he was on and fell off it backwards. Not a big fall or anything, but if it wasn't for the danger of the situation, would have been amusing I guess.

Long hike through Roger's Canyon

2009-03-23T09:19:00.001-07:00

Dan and I went on about a 14.5 mile hike yesterday through Roger's Canyon in the Superstition Wilderness. We started from Woodbury trail head and followed a path along JF TR106 to Roger's Canyon TR110 to Reavis Ranch TR109 to Roger's Trough TH. Finishing up along road FS172A to Woodbury TR114, concluding back along JF TR106 to Woodbury TH. Had good weather for the hike, other than some strong winds towards the end. Angel Basin was warm and grassy with a slight breeze while we there there. Its a great camping spot for sure. Along the road we ran into a Gila Monster and I got a few pictures of him. I feel pretty good today after the hike, not really sore at all other than some spots on the bottom of my foot that feel almost like a blister. The whole trip took us about 8 hours, which I felt was good time given the length and elevation gain. We started about 9:15am and got back around 5:30pm.

Tucson Hike and Gaming

2009-03-20T11:05:00.002-07:00

This past weekend I went hiking down in Tucson with Jeff, Jessie, Dan, and Tomas. We got off to a bit of a late start and ended up doing a shorter hike of about 2 miles round trip. The hike was at Catalina State Park, which was a surprising beautiful area on the western side of the Catalina Mountains.

Wednesday this week I took off of work to go over and do a bit of gaming at Linda's place. Nancy and her son, David, on spring break from UofA were there. I got to meet Rick, another friend of Linda's. He was very friendly and had a big beard. He mentioned the Festival of the West going on this weekend and told me a bit about his job as auditorium cooridinator for Paradise Valley schools. I hope to get the chance to game with him again, as he seemed very interesting to me. Battlestar Galactica came out first, which I ran, rather than played in, since we had 7 total people. I then got a chance to try out a new game of mine, Age of Conan. This one was enjoyable, but I need another play to fully judge it. Then we finshed up with a game of Marvel Hereos between myself, Amos, Kim, and Linda. Another new person I met was Sherry, who also teaches for Gilbert schools after moving over from Mesa schools about 6 years ago.

I also got busy and took some pictures of some gaming stuff I had made. I am planning on selling my Doom board game, so I got some pictures of it as well. This weekend I have plans for a game or 2 of Dune as well as attending Game Depot's game night. Sunday will be another hike.

Updated the web site

2009-03-13T11:21:00.002-07:00

Just completed another overhaul to my web site. I decided to ditch Apple's MobileMe and go with mostly offerings from Google. Their Picasa photo software work much better than iPhoto for me. For one, it can actually handle all 15,000+ of my photographs without bogging down. It also does not require them to all be moved into a special location with weird directory structure like iPhoto. The online web album with Picasa is also quite nice. It sorts correctly, loads quickly, and is free up to 1GB. I am also using Google's blogger.com to handle my web site. I am enjoying it more than fiddling with iWeb and uploading a web page. I also switched to using Google's Reader for my RSS feeds. And I have my email domain handled through them now as well. All free, which is always a plus. Google seems to have a nice talent for designing applications and interfaces intelligently, much like Apple. The benefit over Apple is that Google developers directly communicate with the end users and seem to be much quicker to fixing the software.