thehostelwitness

Please tell me that's papaya on your pants

My boss pointed it out to me this morning. "What's that yellow stain on the front of your pants?" she asked.

I looked down - it was all over the front of my slacks. 

"Oh you know," I replied. "Papaya."

About this time last year, I had jumped headlong into running a marathon for some reason. It was never an ambition of mine, nor was it on a life list. I told Lauren about it and she looked at me with wary eyes (a look that, by the way, I've grown quite acustomed to). To her credit though, she didn't poo poo the idea. She just kind of rolled with it. Just like she does whenever I announce something monumental. Like how one day I'm going to name my children Bishop and Ripley. 

That look. Whatever you say, dear.

Long story short, marathon was trained for and marathon was ran. Months later, my shoes sat in the closet, gathering dust. Until one day, about a month ago, I just decided I missed running and would start running the 2 miles into work in the morning and then the 2 miles back. Turns out, its faster than the bus and the only sweaty, smelly person I have to worry about is me.  

The challenge with running into work, is that you have to have your clothes on your back. This creates some logistical challenges and frankly, there is nothing I love more than planning and logistics. What kind of bag do I run with? (REI's Flash Pack does nicely!) Do I stack my work shoes one atop each other? Do I put the belt in the shoes with the socks? How do I pack my shirt so it doesn't come out a mess at the end of the run? Where do I put the tomato?

I happen to like a mid-afternoon tomato break. Getting this thing to work would be slightly problematic. 

The first time I put the tomato in the bag, I felt the firmness and judging it to be sound, placed the tomato on top of everything else. At the end of the run, much to my dismay, I had turned my bag into a giant V-8. Tomato juice was everywhere. On my white shirt. On my nice slacks. In my shoes. Safe to say, it was a bit of a mess. Apparently, the weight of the tomato caused it to work its way down to the bottom of the bag, where it became ketchup. 

So, this morning. Tomato - safe in a ziploc bag. Placed firmly in the middle of the pack. It made the run fantastically. Unfortunately, I didn't think to do anything for the papaya.

I happen to like a nice papaya in the morning. 

 

 

Backpacking the High Divide, Olympic National Park

Late August, John, Pat, Jayson, and I spent three days hiking over 25 miles of the high alpine wilderness in Olympic National Park.

The High Divide trail climbs up into the Alpine wilderness of the Olympics, some place that I haven't been before. Due to the unusually high snow pack, even in late August we were warned to pack ice-axes.

The trail is listed at about 20 miles total - leaving from Sol Duc Falls, you can hike the Deer Lake Trail, then jump onto the High Divide. From there, you can descend into the 7 Lakes Basin before continuing on past Bogachiel Peak. Rounding Bogachiel, you join up with the Sol Duc Trail to return to the Falls. All told, you gain about 3,000 feet in elevation from the trail head. 

Bugs are pretty heavy in the late Summer, moreso with the late snow melt, so bring plenty of bug juice and thick clothes. Even wearing a poncho and a sweater (in 70 degree temps, no less), John, Pat, Jayson, and I left with about a 100 love bites a piece.

Hiking the East Bank Trail at Ross Lake, North Cascades National Park

Ross Lake on Fourth of July weekend.

It just so happened that we lucked out this year - again - with permits to go over the Enchantments. I've been fortunate enough to hike the Enchantments three times previously, but this year, with permits and four days to spend over the 4th of July, I was hoping

A Weekend in Victoria, B.C.

She's back!

Lauren was smart enough to book a weekend away in Victoria British Columbia, using a nice little groupon that let us take the Victoria Clipper up to the Great North. Just so happened that Lindsay and Pat had the same idea. And so it was that the four of us took a quick weekend trip up to Canada.

The Maiden voyage - kayaking Ross Lake

Kayak finally done, I took her out for a 3 day paddle up at Ross Lake in the North Cascades a couple weekends ago and couldn't have asked for a better trip. A better planned trip, yes.

Finished!

avast! My Pygmy Coho Kayak is nearly ready!

The last two weeks on the boat have been pretty busy, with Werner having added the hatches. After adding protective coats of fiberglass and epoxy to the hatches, we were now down the home stretch!

We added the seats and we were able to take the boat out on the water for the first time!

Backpack: Rialto Beach to Chilean Memorial

On Memorial Day weekend, scores of backpackers flock to the Olympic coast, hoping to catch a break in the weather, enjoy some quite time on the beach, and greet the opening of the backpacking season with fresh eyes. Unfortunately, what often happens

Building a kayak: Days and Days later

So my initial guess at the amount of time it would take to build a kayak? 40 hours.

The truth? Well, we're still at it. Or at least, my dad is. With work calling and weekends sparse, my trips are limited to hours at a time. Still, the progress has been something to behold.

Werner is doing me a great favor by working on this boat, yes.

Building a Kayak: Days 9-10

Now that my vacation is over, the kayak building is being reserved to a weekend activity. But having nearly reached the halfway mark, its nice to see that this is going to work out as planned! 

 

The last work done to the kayak consisted of stitching the hull panels together with wire. Now that the hull was fully wired into place, it was time to glue the seams together.