Serenity and Scenery

“…to try to save for everyone, for the hostile and indifferent as well as the committed, some of the health that flows down across the green ridges from the Skyline, and some of the beauty and refreshment of spirit that are still available to any resident of the valley who has a moment, and the wit, to left up his eyes unto the hills.” -Wallace Stegner

Today I did  my first trail run on the Peters Creek Trail and the Long Ridge Road at the Long Ridge Open Space Perserves. Trail running in Vibram Five Fingers is an interesting experience because every stride you take is unique and the stony terrain changes from step to step . It’s a bit of a challenge because of fallen branches, rocks, pebbles, mud, and puddles. A few times I had some rocks jam right into my arch, which is a bit painful, but it taught me to read the terrain and softy and strategically land every stride.

Defeat the urge to splurge

I was planning on writing a witty and elaborate post about how my checking account number got stolen and how I didn’t have a check card for about a week and how I couldn’t splurge even if I wanted too. I’ll just get straight to the point. If you want to stop splurging, leave your cards at home and roll with cash only. Better yet, before you leave the house just ask yourself if you plan on buying anything today, and if the answer is no, just leave both the card and cash at home. I want to be like this bastard in the visa commercial–I bet he isn’t in debt.

Compost

A few days ago I created a compost bin. It’s a nice way to get rid of organic trash like banana peels, orange peels, apple cores, egg shells, and things of that nature.

Marmot Urban Hauler Review

Marmot Urban Hauler

About four to five months ago I bought the marmot urban hauler(medium size) because I needed a bag for my bouldering gear.

When I’m bouldering in a mega area where the boulders are scattered about the landscape, it can get a very tedious carrying around my gear and frequently putting my shoes on and off, searching for my guide book, finding my treats,  and moving from one boulder to the next.  This is usually the routine when I’m bouldering, so a bag that allows easy Drop-N-Go access to my gear is ideal.

The urban hauler is a hybrid backpack grocery bag, you can drop your goods in and blow out quickly. As illustrated in the pictures, the bag does not close, which is a good thing when you have stinky climbing shoes that need to be aired out. You can carry it as a tote or backpack. I prefer to carry it as a tote when my crash pad is on my back. The medium bag is 1611 cubic inches, but who cares about cubic inches? How much stuff can I put in it is the real question. Let’s take look.

Nevis Bungee

Nevis Bungee, originally uploaded by MrJBar.

So first thing this morning I went to the Nevis Highwire bungy. It’s the second highest bungy in the world; the first highest bungy is in South Africa. The jump wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, actually the ride in the cable cart was scarier than jumping. The jump is approximately 8.5 seconds, but it feels like 2 seconds. If you haven’t done it already– do it!

Rain Rain Rain

The weather forecast reports that it will rain for about a week. I guess I’ll be doing a lot of nothing for about week, hopefully I’ll find something to do.

Quantum Field

Quantum Field, originally uploaded by MrJBar.

Quantum Field is a climbers paradise, it’s like a maze of boulders. It has everything from crazy mantles to slabby highballs to making huge lunges from bomber holds to even more bomer holds. Tomorrow I’m suppose to meet up with a group of people I climbed with today around 9:00am at Spittle Hill, but my fingers tips are on the verge of exploding and I should take a rest day. I’m also gonna lead climb with a local name twuta–pronounced chu.da — in caslte hill tomorrow, which should be freakin’ scary, but it’s worth the experience. The past couple of days I’ve been staying at the Flock Hill Lodge, but earlier today I met a guy that has recently started his own packbackers lodge, and he is hooking me up with a place for seven days in Springfield which is about 20 mins from Castle Hill. The backpacker lodge is basically a house with three rooms, a bathroom, living room, and kitchen. The lodge also has a TV which is a plus, because it’s extremely boring at night.

New Zealand

New Zealand– approaching south Island, originally uploaded by MrJBar.

Ok, so I don’t really enjoy blogging but I’m going to take this one step at a time. I recently read this article about the power of doing things gradually. So I’m going to add little post here and there, and hopefully it will snow ball in a few weeks. Here is a picture of the north tip of the south island. Right now I’m staying at a hostel called the Charlie B, which is in the center of Christchurch. Christchurch reminds me San Francisco minus all the hills, it’s very busy and you see tourist everywhere snapping photos and carrying huge backpacks. Tomorrow I head out to Castle Hill (The Chronicles of Narnia was filmed there) for some bouldering, I’m not sure where I’m going to stay but there are a few hostels out there. Well, that’s enough blogging for now, I’m at a internet cafe and my bill is up to four $4NZ which is about $2.20 US dollars.

later