Klunkerz: A Film About Mountain Bike History

Yeah, I've mentioned this documentary before, but a re-watch always puts me in a good mood.  Here's the trailer.  Even that'll put you in a good mood too.

Enough for today.  Back to the adventures.

Well that shuffles the Jazz Fest lineup a little.

Rolling Stones postpone North America tour over Mick Jagger illness at the BBC.

I notice too that the Stones' set has been removed from Local Thursday's schedule.  There is rampant speculation about a fill-in act over at the Time-Picayune and at The Advocate.

Tabletop Solar Test

Well OK, more literally it's garbage can lid solar, but hey they were handy and easy to drag into the sun.  Finally got around to integrating all the wiring on that 27 watt panel I'd picked up at a hamfest last summer, and had to give the system an all-up test before an upcoming campout.  It's easy to identify the panel; the red thing on the right is a fan rig from the 2m radio used as a test load; the blue thing in the middle is a 4.5 AH LiFePO battery (in actual car camping field use, the 12 AH would be used – it's a better balance for this system); the black box on the left is the charge controller; and the two small black boxes are in-line power meters.

It all seemed to work well, metering out about like I'd expected, and short of an actual camping trip this is all the testing it's going to get.  It puts out enough power to keep the FT-817nd 5 watt radio running indefinitely or will keep the FT-857d 100 watt radio on the air for a weekend of fun – if the sun keeps shining and I keep the radio's output power dialed back whenever possible.  The main thing though is that it weights less than ten pounds and fits in a day pack.  My back is feeling better already.

ps, 4/4:  It occurred to me that, while a bit under-batteried as a system, that 4.5 AH LiFePO would be enough to keep on the air after dark for about 5 hours, and the 27 watt panel would charge it right back up the next day – and while operating at that.  So it would be a pretty decent QRP power system.  Weighing in the battery, controller, panel, and just the cables needed comes to exactly 4.50 pounds.  (The two power meters would add another 0.40 pounds, but aren't strictly necessary.)  This is not backpacking-light, but... plus radio and accouterments, it totals into the neighborhood of 8 pounds.  That is doable, at least over short distances.  Bikepackable, even.  Hmmmm.

In Case You Missed It

State of the State Park over at the Port St. Joe Star.

Bottom line is that the new cut is still open but is filling in and no longer navigable.  I wonder if it will be walkable/wadeable in the near future?  I can see why the park people want to get things re-connected, but I can't imagine that there's much left of the RV camp sites to connect with.  Interesting though to see that the boat launch, harbor, shower house, etc. are all still there.

Procrastination.

Article on why it's so great over at the BBC.  link

Meh, you can read it tomorrow.

Jazz Fest Schedule is Up

Link here.

As always, there's an interesting bunch playing if you dig through the pile.  THE headliner act is the Rolling Stones, who take over the entire fairgrounds at the end of Locals Thursday.  Not my thing, but I wish them all well.  After that, Buffett plays the second Sunday afternoon, Van Morrison is in the mix another day, and ... so forth.

Finally, and what's always the best part, is just wandering around from stage to stage, stopping to take in something great that I never would have heard of otherwise.  I always try to anchor a day – my usual one day there – on a headliner act, but it's really the other, smaller acts that end up being the best.

Anyway, the schedule's up.  Watch for a follow-up post in a month or so.

Winter Field Day 2019 Results Are In

Following up on last winter's post, the results from Winter Field Day are back – link here.  Did tolerably well, right at the 2/3rds of the pack line.  Not bad for a fun backpacking trip!

Tuxachanie Trail: All the Rest

Water and trail notes aside, there's not a lot to say about last weekends backpacking trip.  Tried out a new quilt and, cheap blanket bags aside, I don't think I'll ever go back to a traditional sleeping bag.  Got into the vicinity of the P.O.W. Camp by 3:30, but it took the next hour and a half to settle on a campsite, fetch water, cook supper, and settle down with a book and listen to Friday evening blues on shortwave:

Not coincidentally, this is the model picked as the winner for the "what to take on the Appalachian Trail" contest over at The SWLing Post.  Just a half-pound including batteries and reel antenna.  I especially like the easy to work "power off in one hour" option.  BTW, the top vent zipper on the Spitfire tent makes a handy antenna port when turning in for the night.  Which happened around 7:30, btw, and I was out by 8:30.

I did meet a few interesting people on the trail: a homeschooling mom and her two kids a couple of miles in from the Hwy 49 trailhead; a recently retired couple practicing up for an upcoming hike on the Camino de Santiago; and at the horse camp, a fellow backpacker carrying virtually the same gear I was.  That was an interesting conversation.  In fact, they were all interesting conversations.  Nice folks, all of them.

As for the rest, the trail was pretty dry without getting dusty.  A little mud, but no wading the way I had to do last month.  That's lucky, because I only brought one pair of socks.  The creek was down but still useable for water, as you can see in yesterday's post.  Here, have a couple more pics of the creek and then we'll move on to other topics, tomorrow or perhaps later in the week.

Looking upstream.

Looking downstream.  This is usually 3' or so deep, sometimes 12' or more, rather than this weekend's 6".

OK, that's probably it for backpacking until sometime next fall.

Tuxachanie Trail Water Notes

Water's everywhere along the Tux, but not all of it is convenient, nor do you want to even dip you filter in some of it.  Here's a rough guide to where and what, starting at the Hwy 49 trailhead.

• The pond 100 yards from the trailhead is pretty, but it's downstream from a popular bathroom break spot.  Yuck.  But that close to the trailhead, do you need to be gathering water anyway?
• Between mile markers 1 and 5, there's an OK-to-very-good creek about every mile or so.  No worries there.
• At Airey Lake (~5-1/2 miles in), there's a potable water faucet.  Easy!
• Copeland Spring just after mm 6 is a little off the path, but probably OK.  Still need to filter it.
• Between mm's 7 & 8 there's a bridge over an OK little stream.  That's the last good water until about mm 11, where you can get down to Tuxachanie Creek itself.
• Duck Pond near mm 9 might be OK in a pinch, but it is still water and kind of green.
• All of the mud holes near the horse trails should probably be avoided, if possible.
• Once you hit Tuxachanie creek near mm 11, you've got it made all the way to the P.O.W. camp.

In general, in cool weather I'm finding that it takes 1 liter to get from Hwy 49 to Airey Lake, and 2 liters to get from Airey Lake to the P.O.W. Camp.  If you just want to section/day hike without a filter, an out-and-back from either end will get you to Airey Lake and its potable water faucet.

In any case, think ahead a little so that you don't have to drink from the mud puddles near the horse trails.  And as always, follow the CDC guidelines and filter then disinfect.  I wrote a short bit on this a while back that's full of links here; in two years I haven't had any problems following this filter-then-disinfect routine.

Two liters of Tuxachanie's Finest.

ps/note to self: 2 liters of containers is enough for the hike, but it's not enough when in camp.  Evening takes a liter, morning takes a liter, and a little extra margin would be nice.  Then you have to filter up another couple of liters when starting out the next morning, which adds 20 minutes to the get-on-the-trail time.  Next time out, use a camelbak bladder, or carry a couple of smartwater bottles, or something.  5 liters in camp isn't too much to have, and counting set-up time it's nearly as fast to filter 5 liters as 2.  So bring more containers next time.

Tuxachanie Trail Navigation Notes

The whole thirteen mile trail is dead easy to follow – except for one section between mile markers 9 and 10.  Going west-to-east (i.e., Airey Lake to P.O.W), here are the things to watch for, the turns to make:

1. Just past Duck pond, the trail tees into a grassy road.  Go left.  You'll see some white blazes in that direction, and a few little metal signs with yellow arrows in the opposite.  Yellow arrows = horse trail.  Follow the white blazes.
2. About a hundred yards along, the trail splits off to the right.  Again, follow the blazes.
3. A quarter mile later, the trail joins into a horse trail/road.  Go right.  (When coming from the opposite way, this can be a little hard to pick out.  There's some blue marking tape, but it is not entirely obvious.)
4. The trail spits off to the right from the horse path at a set of low bridges.  They're in bad shape but passible.  Follow the blazes, follow the bridges.
5. A quarter-mile later you'll reach the "horse camp," which has a picnic table and hitching posts.
6. There are two obvious exits to the horse camp: left for the trail, and right for the horse path.
7. A quarter mile along, the trail splits: TAKE THE LEFT.  There is a white blaze just visible in this direction, but it used to be unmarked.  There is also a horseshoe on the same tree, which can be confusing.  Anyway, take the left and you'll soon pass mile marker 10 and be heading down into the Tuxachanie Creek bottom.  It's all clear from there.

Going the opposite way (P.O.W. to Airey), things are a little more obvious, except for that one turn-off a quarter mile after the low bridges.  Just to make things painfully clear:

• Continue on the Tux Trail past that "Y" (#7 above), into the horse camp, across the bridges, left onto the dirt road, and a quarter-mile.
• When things turn uphill, look for a path off left into the brush (#3 above).
• Follow that path, and merge onto a grassy road.  It's a slight turn to the left; the wrong alternative is a hard right (don't do that).
• A hundred yards along, take a right where the trail exits the road.  There'a a hiker sign there.
• The trail will cross the dam holding back Duck Pond, and you'll know you're home free.  You'll be at Airey lake in 3-1/2 miles.

This mile-long section of the trail had me stumped for years, and led to several fiascos and *ahem* negative experiences.  It's all marked currently, but the markings are pretty thin and that can change with any windstorm or control burn.  Hopefully these notes will help first timers out.  FWIW, yesterday I ran into a guy at the horse camp who was having a little trouble too.

One more beginner navigation tip when starting from the P.O.W. camp: After crossing over the lake dam, there's a confusion of trails and roads before the trail really begins.  Just hang right on those (i.e., toward Tuxachanie Creek) and you'll soon settle onto the trail and come to a signpost pointing the way to Airey Lake.

Here, have the obligatory picture.  More later.

The name of the place is "Desoto National Forest," but in fact it's largely a pine savannah – i.e., grassland without much shade.  Bring a hat, bring sunscreen.

Tuxachanie Tuckered Out

Hiked the Tuxachanie this weekend: Hwy 49 trailhead to The P.O.W. Camp on Friday, camped for the night, and back to 49 on Saturday.  Will have more to say tomorrow, but as you might expect I'm a little tired this evening.  For a teaser though, here're two pics from Copeland Spring.

What's in the spring?  Uh, blue sky and pine trees.  No wait, that's just a reflection.  Anyway, the ground was so dry that the "spring" was more a "well," albeit with the water fairly near the surface.

It was an interesting but peaceful hike both days.  More on this, with pics, tomorrow.

Dick Dale, RIP

Not unexpected, nor a lot to say.  Article at the BBC.

I'll miss his songs of enthusiasm, of the early space race days.  It was an honor to have seen him play several times however, and at least we still have his recordings.  He left an unmatched legacy in founding a genre within rock music.  That is something.  Hope his family is holding up.

ps: posts on seeing Dale et al play New Orleans in 2012 and 2013.

Theme for the Coming Week

We'll see how it works out.  We all should try and see if we can make this one work.

Book Mention: In the Garden of Beasts

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin tells the story of U.S. Ambassador Dodd's time in Germany during the Nazi regime's mid-30's consolidation of power.  Oh, here, just go read the Wikipedia summary of the book.  It's not as if you don't already know how this ends so there really can't be any spoilers, and whoever wrote that paragraph distilled things down better than I can.

Now that you're back from that sidebar, the thing that is striking about this book is Larson's portrayal of the atmosphere in Germany, especially Berlin at the time.  People there know that bad things are happening, but are unsure as to how bad they are and what should be the proper response.  Blame is shifted, questions are deflected by the authorities, and things muddle along toward the cataclysm of World War II.  The best that can be said is that at least Dodd and a few others tried to call the bluff.  In the end, after being recalled in the late 30's, Dodd expended the last of his strength on an "I tried to tell you so" speaking tour in the U.S.  On the whole, it probably did a lot of good, at least as much as one aging college history professor could manage.

The author makes an interesting comment in his closing acknowledgements:

What I did not realize as I ventured into those dark days of Hitler's rule was how much the darkness would infiltrate my own soul.

While Larson bore the brunt of this during his deep-dive into the source material while researching for this book, a reader will get a tinge of this darkness too.  It's a very good work, but approach with caution if you're in a rough patch of life.  Overall though, I highly recommend.

Bonus Link: the author's web page has a few good tidbits and some press blurbs.  Again, don't worry about spoilers.  You already know how this thing turns out, so go have a look if you're considering this book.

Double Secret Daylight Saving Time

After a brief trip into the Eastern Time zone this week, my phone hasn't changed back to Central.  And I use it as a wake-up alarm clock...   You can imagine the rest.

This miserable transition week ends soon, but not soon enough.

The Zombie War Continues

At least a few people are talking about restoring some sanity and ending this whole switch-your-clocks-twice-a-year madness.  As seen over at the NYT: Springing forward to daylight saving time is obsolete, confusing, and unhealthy critics say  If for no other reason than, as mentioned in the article linked at yesterday's post, to avoid the on-average five additional traffic deaths correlated with this idiocy each year.

My take is that there were a lot of bad ideas that came into fashion in the 1910's: personal income tax, eugenics, prohibition, World War I and – minor yet annoying – DST.  It's like there was some cultural madness that took hold in that era.  It is high time that we reclaim what sanity remains to us and, for a start, simply set our clocks once and leave them there.

The Day The Zombies March Forth

https://www.vox.com/2019/3/5/18245095/daylight-saving-time-2019-begins-spring-forward

Don't Click That Link!

But do click this one to today's SMBC cartoon and see about why to curb your own internet access.

That's all I got for today.

Backpacker Tent Survey Results

... are up over at Section Hiker.  link

As with last January's survey of which water filter backpackers use, there's a lot of experience packed in there.  While it's a completely unscientific survey, it is from a self-selected group of somewhat nerdy online avid backpackers, those are exactly the kind of people you'd trust for gear recommendations.  At least, it's got to be more meaningful than reading the average Amazon reviews.

Back to the survey, it has a few surprises.  Big Agnes brand is the run-away winner, with slightly more than the next two brands (REI and Tarptent) combined.  Eureka, my pick and a best-seller with the car camping crowd, is way down the list.  There are also breakdowns by shelter type (tent, hammock, etc.) and a few more sub-divisions, including intention to buy a Dyneema tent ($$$$).  Interesting data, it may influence you to try something new.

ps: Weather looks poor this weekend, so that Tuxachanie trip is likely a scrub.

State of Amateur Radio Survey

If you're a ham, take a minute and go fill out the survey.  Results from 2017 & 2018 are also at the link.

Parade-Going in New Orleans Yesterday

Saw the Iris and Tucks parades in the family-friendly part of St. Charles.  It was a lot of fun, and you'd have to be a real photographer for pictures to do it justice.  Here's the best out of 20 or so phone snapshots:

Hat tip to The Darling Daughter and her crew for having me over.

TPO Solar: Don't.

First, TPO = Third Party Ownership

Not from personal experience, but instead I refer you to this article at Bloomberg:

What Happened When I Bought a House With Solar Panels

Really though, it's a pretty crappy title.  There's nothing physically wrong with solar panels on a house, apart from usually not making financial sense and having a bunch of holes in your roof.  The real problem is the complicated financial schemes some people sign into to get them on that house with no money up front.  "No Money Up Front" = "Trouble."  And afterward, good luck trying to sell that house while it's still under one of these contracts.

Anyway, there's your medium-long weekend read.