Randy’s point about the fall TV lineup is good. There is so much material, so little time. The days of 3 channels are long gone. I have the same problems with reading material. I have picked up several mystery or thriller titles, primarily serials, out of loyalty to the writer. I see them on the new release or Fast New shelves in the library so I am not throwing cash away on a one time read. I pick them up because the product is predictably entertaining, familiar characters acting in familiar situations. On the other hand, it isn’t always that good, and I find myself wondering why I bothered.
Century
The weather having been nice on Saturday, I sat down with John Crouch’s cycling book and planned a Sunday ride. I wasn’t sure I was up to a century ride, so I did not plan a pure out and back. I joined some loops that might add up about 80-90 k with the option of cutting the loop and coming back straight down the Lochside or the Interurban Road, and the option of a loop around James Bay or along Dallas towards Ross Bay to top it up. I made the century. Use it or lose it.
Jasper
Jasper Park was busier than Wells Grey. I stayed in the Wapiti campground, between the Icefields Parkway and the Athabaska River, south of the townsite. I hiked the trail into the Opal Hills one day, and Wilcox Pass the next. I did the Opal Hills hike on a clear sunny day, with good views for pictures of Maligne Lake and mountains to the east and south:
Wells Gray
On Saturday August 5, I drove into Clearwater, and checked the information center for Wells Gray park.
Wells Gray has rugged rivers and trails. It lacks the iconic scenery of the national mountain parks but it is rougher and less spoiled.
August ’06
I learned a lesson in Victoria living, trying to get into the Interior last Friday before the August long weekend. I had planned to pack Thursday night and get to the ferry early on Friday. One thing led to another. I had to sort through gear to make sure I had what I needed for a few days of hiking. I got to Swartz Bay at 10:50 AM, by which time there was a one sailing delay. I sailed at noon, arriving in Tswassen at 1:40. I thought getting across Vancouver to the TransCanada would be the hard part. The TransCanada was congested from Burnaby out as far as Abbotsford. The traffic would move at 20-30 kph, sometimes coming to complete halt. I think it took about 3 hours to get as far as Abbotsford. The radio news was full of stories about ferry waits, accidents and traffic delays.
Upgraded MT 3.3
Another new release of MT, another upgrade. The FTP chugs along, the upgrade is easy. Once again, some little surprizes. The new online manual is clear enough, but the installation documents were not. There was a plugin for MT 3.2 called BigPAPI, which has been superceded by functions in MT 3.3. One of the instructions missing from the installation Doc was to turn off BigPAPI and plugins that used it. So I had some interesting error messages when I tested the new installation.
Race Rocks, July 23/06
Close to nature?
Sunshine and Blue Water
On Sunday, I joined the Sunday Paddle, a tour run out of Pacifica Paddlesports. I had a wonderful day. I should have done this weeks ago. The conditions were great. On Saturday, we had gale force winds down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was windy again this morning, and we hit a day in between, with relatively light winds, and a clear sky. Unfortunately, I left the camera at home. Next time I will take it in a Pelican box.
Our Inner Ape
Frans de Waal’s popular books The Ape and the Sushi Master, and Our Inner Ape are entertaining, informative and useful. De Waal is leading expert on the behavior of animals, mainly apes, and particularly chimpanzees and bonobos, as observed in colonies in the Arnhem and San Diego zoos, and in the wild.
Kayaking again
When I arrived in Victoria, I kept the Thule Tornado roof box on my car. When I moved into my house I took it off the car and secured it by a steel cable to the back fence. When my possesions arrived, I secured my kayak the same way.
Last weekend I went to lumber yard, bought two 8 foot 4×4 posts, and to an equipment rental store where I rented a manual auger. I drilled a couple of post holes in the sandy soil, and used some 2×4’s left in the house by past tenants to built a rack to hold the roof box and the kayak:
That took a chunk of last Saturday. It needs some more work to cradle the kayak – some plywood to the cross pieces, cut in a curve, and some foam noodle should do it. It needs something to secure a tarp to keep the sun and UV off the boat, but that should be easy.
I went shopping for some books on kayaking on salt (tidal!) water and found the Easykayaker books to be useful. On Sunday afternoon, on a slack low tide, I paddled the Gorge from the Kinsmen Park to the Selkirk trestle and then back up the Gorge to the bridge at Admiral’s Road, and back to the park. No pictures – it was enough to get organized and back on the water, without worrying about the camera. I have only been on the water once since 2002. I have missed it, and I am in good place to make up for the lost time.