Nights 285 and 286

EMC will practice gymnastics anywhere

Hi and welcome back!

On Sunday our church participated in a CROP walk at the Lehigh Canal, so our whole family was out hiking. We walked about half a mile in on the towpath and then turned off onto a single track trail. The trail was made about 20 years ago by my grandfather and my cousin when he was my age.

The Lehigh River

We walked on that trail for about a mile until we got back on the towpath. We then walked for another mile to an observation deck and turned around.

Yesterday we rode our bikes at the Lehigh Gorge. We rode about 5 miles out to a sign that says "Watch for Black Bears" and had a snack.

While everyone else was still eating I scrambled down to a tiny beach along the Lehigh River. I noticed that on top of sand there was a thin layer of coarse black dust that I think was coal.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 283 and 284

Hi and welcome back!

Welcome to the new reader from Timor!

The answer to the other day's trivia question is a book. The book is titled The Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, which was written in 1979 by Allen Steck and Steve Roper. Ironically, the cam was also invented in 1979, and it revolutionized climbing.

It rained on Thursday night, and when I checked my tent I realized that it was leaking. Thankfully, earlier that day I had taken everything inside, because the forecast was calling for rain. I stuffed my shell in between the tent body and the fly, and that fixed the leak.

When it was time for bed I took my sleeping bag and my dad's SOL bivy out with me.  The bivvy is pretty much just a waterproof space blanket in a sleeping bag shape. Just in case another leak formed, I slept in the bivy and put the bag in the part of the tent that was least likely to leak. That way I was able to stay dry all night!

Thanks for reading!

Nights 281 and 282

Hi and welcome back!

Welcome to the new reader from Denmark!

It's been wet and warm lately.  I think at some point in each of the last few evenings it's at least drizzled at some point overnight.

On Tuesday night, as I was staking out one of the guy lines, the tent fabric ripped a bit where the line attached to the fly.  The UV light has thinned the nylon so much that it is starting to tear easily.  I also think being wet makes it more prone to ripping.

I'm a little afraid that the tent will literally fall apart before the end of the year.  It's not the tent's fault.  That's what being exposed to sunlight for almost 300 days has done to it.  I hope it holds up!

Since this is kind of a short post, I thought I would have a trivia question.  Mark and Janelle Smiley are almost done with their 50 Classic Climbs project.  Does anyone know where the list of 50 Classic Climbs of North America came from?

Thanks for reading!

Nights 279 and 280

Pull ups in the Woods

Hi and welcome back!

I hiked with my mom  yet again today. On our way up we noticed that they were cutting all of the corn down. It was a LOT easier hiking than before. It also smelled really good.  They were cutting the corn down with a combine and loading it into a tractor trailer.  We tried to get into the woods just as the combine turned away from us becuse we were afraid it would hit us.

On the way to the top of the hill, there are three logs that are in a cluster.  I stepped over two of them and then I was stepping over the third one and my foot got caught underneath and I fell.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 277 and 278

Hi and welcome back!

Marbled Orbweaver

Yesterday I hiked with my mom. We just went around the field. As we went around one turn I saw some movement in the woods ahead of us, and then a doe and a fawn jumped out and started running away. I noticed that they were a dull grey and not their usual golden brown which made think about the mule deer in Yosemite which are the same color. The mule deer were a bit bigger and more used to people. Once my dad and I even got to see two bucks rubbing their antlers on a tree to get the velvet off.

I also hiked with my mom today. Today, though, we went all of the way up. On our way up my mom got a really sticky spider web stuck in her hair. She told me to feel how sticky it was and I noticed there was a huge spider on her back. It had a red body and a big yellow abdomen. When we got back I looked it up and I think that the closest match to it was a marbled orbweaver.

Thanks for reading!

Nights 275 and 276

Hi and welcome back!

I've been back in the tent at home for almost a week now. It's been very warm, but I'm looking forward to the temperature getting cooler soon.

It's just not the same as hanging out in Yosemite, though...

Thanks for reading!

Nights 273 and 274

Hi and welcome back!

Northern Lights on Mount Washington

Today my dad found a picture of the Northern Lights taken last night from Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

The last few nights it's been fairly warm (in the 50s).  It's also been wet compared to California.  Because there's almost no humidity out there, there's no dew when you wake up in the morning.

Here, because it's humid, the grass is really wet in the morning when we hike.  Also, when I wake up the fly is usually wet, so when I get out of the tent I have to worry about the fly dripping into the tent and making my sleeping bags wet.

Thanks for reading!