2016 Blog
See also:
NEW
Kintail Burn, Dusky Track,Fiordland,
NZ 2012 Six Moon Designs ‘Swift’ pack @ 450 grams
WARNING to ‘snowflakes’. This is
a Conservative Blog. It will cause
upset and offence to ‘sensitive souls’. Reading it may cause dangerous thoughts
and emotions to arise in you. Read on…
31/12/2016: Another Government Outfoxed: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-29/tasmania's-multi-million-dollar-fox-hunt-based-on-likely-hoax/8049560
31/12/2016: Robert
Conquest’s ‘Three Laws of Politics’:
Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.
Any organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing.
The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.
31/12/2016: Coyote: ‘Christmas Advice for Those Worried About Global Warming: If you are worried about greenhouse gasses and global warming, then I have some Christmas advice for you. When you are done with your Christmas tree, do NOT take it to one of those "recycling" locations most towns have. The recycling process is typically chipping and mulching the trees, which just accelerates their decomposition into greenhouse gasses. If you are really concerned about catastrophic warming, you want to use your tree as a carbon sink. Have it shrink-wrapped in some sort of plastic what won't biodegrade and then landfill it -- the deeper it is buried, the better. Those folks trying to get you to "recycle" your tree are secretly in the pay of the (Greens) and trying to trick you into ruining the environment.’
30/12/2016:
30/12/2016: Ultralight Toothpaste: ‘Tactical skills weblog Imminent Threat Solutions shares a simple method for making toothpaste dots by squeezing small, chocolate-chip sized "dots" of toothpaste onto aluminum foil, allowing those dots to harden for a week or so, and then transferring to a small waterproof bag. To use, all you need to do is pop a toothpaste dot in your mouth, chew for a few seconds, and start brushing.’ http://lifehacker.com/5979236/toothpaste-dots-keep-down-toiletry-bulk-when-carrying-light & http://gossamergear.com/wp/toothpaste-dots
28/12/2016: Time to
take another look at the AEMO’s forecasts for
28/12/2016: The ultimate snowflake ‘cri de coeur’: You can send this lass your donations, if you wish (or think she should get a real job!) http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2016/11/poverty-and-how-to-get-there.html#more
28/12/2016: 2017
Resolutions to keep
Why kid ourselves? Maintain your self-respect by resolving to meet realistic goals. One cool aspect to these is that, if you fail to keep them, it's a good thing instead of a cause for self-loathing. Samples (feel free to borrow):
1.
I will not exercise at all and
will avoid all forms of difficult or tedious exertion beyond walking around and
looking at stuff
2. I will gain weight
3. I will resume smoking
4. I will watch more TV and movies, and read fewer books
5. I will do more take-out and minimize home cooking
6. I will quit vegetables entirely
7. I will not clean out or sort out a single closet
8. I will have a messy desk and disorganized paperwork
9. I will do more things at the last minute, or tomorrow
10. I will buy one more firearm I don't need
11. I will make the HQ a Sanctuary Space for dustballs
12. I will throw more recycles into the regular garbage
13. I will continue to try to avoid the dentist and doctor
14. I will waste more of my precious lifetime looking at ephemeral, meaningless
BS on the internet
15. I will ignore "Check Engine" lights and seatbelt alarms
16. I will work harder on loving myself whether I deserve it or not
17. I will give more credit to myself, and less to God.
2. http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/29239-2017-Resolutions-to-keep.html
28/12/2016: Oz Electricity Supply/Demand: http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=4865
This is a wafer thin ‘surplus’, ie 5% (five percent). Any sane strategy (taking into account potential disasters/growth) would require at least 50% surplus. It isn’t exactly rocket science to figure a half dozen ways a couple of thousand megawatts could disappear quite quickly and not be replaced for a decade! Ergo: there will be blackouts along the eastern seaboard sometime in the future and it will last for a decade at least!
Totals: D = 19,303 G = 21,985 Surplus = 2,682 Minus Hazelwood 1,600 = 1,082
You also need to understand that some of this ‘installed capacity’ are ‘renewables’ which are uncertain at best!
28/12/2016: Human Flying
Drone: http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2016/12/darwin-award-in-3-2-1.html
28/12/2016: Russian spies confess to their involvement in US election (hilarious!): http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/russian-intervention-exposed/news-story/576784a3e4429d42901b65436d118021
27/12/2016: The
Even along the river it is barren lands.
View from Nangartschang Hill of one such cataclysmic lake.
About half way looking back towards Pangboche.
About half way looking towards Dingboche – could be out of a ‘spaghetti western’!
It is not until you see this that you are aware that the mountains are a vast crystalline growth on a truly gigantic scale. Of course you knew this intellectually all along: it is what the clash of continental plates and the uplift of crustal magma which creates them is all about, but not until you see the monstrous facets of stone mountains fissuring and fracturing away onto valley floors thousands of feet below are you truly aware that this is the same process yous see in your salt shaker or on your battery terminals at home but on a garagantuan scale.
Dingboche: Nangachang Hill left
In Dingboche you are right below the Western slopes of Ama
Dablam where there were apparently intrepid souls making their best efforts to
commit suicide trying to reach the top. It looked impossible to me! Maybe the
other side. It is the most photogenic of mountains. Some such suicide victim
was clearly being rescued by this chopper in the morning. I did not notice when
I snapped the scene the really super, supermoon hovering in the sky above it –
yet that was weeks before the ‘official supermoon’! They do things differently
in
To me Ama Dablam is forbidding.
We had an acclimatisation day in Dingboche 4410 metres
during which we climbed Nangartschang Hill just behind the French bakery where
we were staying to approx 5200 metres. BTW the bakery also have a small
Pharmacy which can be very handy if you are beginning to feel some symptoms of
altitude sickness &/or Khumbu cough (they stock both Diamox and
antibiotics, for example – also throat lozenges which you will also probably
need by now!) If you take ½ a Diamox twice per day this will help prevent the
symptoms of altitude sickness, which if you begin to suffer from, you must
immediately descend – as it can be fatal! You should have begun this prevention
strategy before you left
View od Dingboche from Nangartschang Hill: all the tiny brave potato fields.
Literally hundreds of folk were attempting the ascent of Nangartschang Hill as I set out after breakfast (Steve had preceded me – the young are always rushing ahead or lagging behind – why is it so?) Most turned back before the summit. When I arrived there I had only three others for company, including Steve. It was definitely a photo opportunity, but I must say I prefer greenery!
The Ultralight Hiker on top of Nangartscang Hill @ 5200 metres.
My head cold and sore throat became worse over the next 24
hours. I also felt very tired after the descent so reasoned that the planned
foray to
We parted just after breakfast and I headed off towards Luboche. However, I had to climb a couple of hundred metres over the hill I had climbed to the top of the day before with relative ease and after a while I could tell I was not going to make it. I could not tell whether it was altitude sickness or an onset of pneumonia at that stage, but I needed to get downhill immediately whichever it was and get well, so I headed off back towards Namche instead. I had a terrible two day walk there and on to Lukla as I decribed elsewhere, then a long, tortuous month recovering from the pneumonia which also struck young Steve down a couple of days later. I will let him carry on with his story of venturing on to Everest Base Camp:
Views (above and below) up the valley from Nangartschang Hill towards Chukkung.
‘I left Dingboche early (after saying goodbye to Steve J)
and didn’t leave Chukkung until just before noon. I made it to the false summit
of
Steve H atop
And a friend!
When I realized that the actual summit was further up, I
pushed on, but it was already quite late. The route was rather difficult as I
was climbing across loose rock on a ledge that dropped several hundred meters.
Very close to the top, I even became bluffed out and had to turn back around to
find the correct route marked by small
From the summit, I could see that clouds were rolling into the valley and began whipping up and over the saddle, from which I would descend. So, I did not stay long. The descent took forever. It was late in the evening and the sun began to set, casting its beautiful golden light on the high peaks to the east. I took a lot of pictures of this evening magic, which is why I didn’t arrive back in Chukkung until a long while past darkness.
I’ve done some crazy hikes before, but the next day was definitely the hardest hiking day of my life. It’s one thing to hike above 18,000 feet and another thing to do it with a 30 lb backpack. I’ve now had two consecutive days above 18k feet – higher than the altitude of Everest Base Camp.
It was freezing this morning when we left Chukkung and we had a few initial problems crossing the icy, glacial-fed stream, as the ‘local’ advice was completely inaccurate. We eventually headed upstream and found a makeshift bridge to cross.
Once on the true right, we traversed the Nuptse Glacier and picked up the unmarked Kongma La Pass trail…Hiking further, a beautiful bowl opened up with frozen waterfalls and glacial peaks looming high as a backdrop. Even a massive condor or eagle with a wingspan of some six feet soared above us.
Once we turned the corner, it became clear that we had to climb straight up. With my pack fully loaded, I could only manage climbing five meters at a time before I had to catch my breath. The secret is to keep your heart beat as low as possible and just move slowly in a zombie-like fashion with one foot in front of the other…
Upon reaching a plateau, I passed these beautiful frozen lakes before climbing again to the main plateau en route to the pass. On the main plateau, I was starting to feel a bit sick. Not overly nauseous, but just enough to make me unsteady. The weight of my backpack was really holding me back, but I knew that I had to push on.
Walking further on the plateau, I could see the pass and the prayer flags in the distance. All of a sudden, a beautiful turquoise lake opened up out of nowhere, so I took the opportunity to rest and to munch on two Snickers bars.
Eventually, I jumped back on the path again and began the
final ascent to the pass. It was very steep with a huge drop down to the lake.
There was so much sediment on the ground that it was very difficult to have
much traction. A hiker from
On the back side, the route descended through huge boulders before giving way to loose scree. It was a tough descent after already reaching exhaustion at the pass. After descending for well over an hour, I reached the bottom of the valley. The moraine from the Khumbu Glacier was just massive. Traversing it for roughly 1.5 km was slow going, as the rocks were loose and the route was not well defined. I was utterly exhausted, but had to push beyond my limits again in order to concentrate and avert injury.
Finally, I reached the other side. Turning around, I stood
in awe at what I had just descended and traversed. The size of the Khumbu
Glacier was just unreal. I then proceeded to descend into the
Next day I made it to Everest Base Camp (and also climbed Kala Pattar). Normally, people hike from Lobuche and do this itinerary in 2-3 days. I’m feeling pretty good. It is the third day in a row above 18,000 feet. Everything is literally freezing up here so I cannot write much of a message. For now, here are some pictures. Everest is absolutely beautiful…
Just a bit of an additional update. Yesterday was an amazing, but it is very, very cold to sleep up here at 17,000 feet. It was less than 5 degree F weather overnight here in Gorakshep. My Nalgene froze within 15 minutes. I could barely sleep due to the extreme cold and could definitely feel the altitude after such a long day. Throughout the night, you could hear huge chunks of glaciers careening off the mountains, creating a rumble that also keeps you awake…
Khumbu Glacier.
I can’t believe just how many people are doing the EBC
trek, which is precisely why I elected to do the much less trodden and much
more challenging Three Passes Trek. From Lobuche to Gorakshep, I was literally
running past groups just so that I could reserve a room in Gorakshep. Almost
everything was booked out, but fortunately, the
Upon reaching Everest Base Camp…You could only see a small
section of Everest, but the real view was of Nuptse, the Khumbu Glacier and the
infamous Khumbu Icefall. It was crazy to think that I was only one kilometer
from
Once we headed back to Gorakshep, I grabbed a plate of spaghetti and then began climbing Kala Pattar…I kept pushing on to 5,465 meters. The sun was beginning to set, so I stopped and began to watch one of the most amazing sunsets of my life. The view of Everest was clear as crystal, with Chomolungma nestled between Nuptse and another unnamed peak…How could you not be spiritual in that moment. It really was an incredible sight.
Even long after the sun had gone over the horizon and was no longer shining brilliant gold on these majestic peaks, these mountains remained as white as ever. The glow of orange and red and pink behind these mountains was also stunning…I then descended for the next 45 minutes using the moon glow to find my way back down. It was freezing. Every other person had his/her headlamp out, but I’ve done enough night hiking in my life to see and know the path…
Today, I am hiking all the way to Dzongla, which is supposed to be the most beautiful mountain town in Sagarmatha. I’m still batting a lump in my throat (due to a combination of cold and exhaustion), so I may spend an additional night there in order to recharge my batteries for the very challenging Cho La Pass…
So, I’ve arrived in Dzongla with a rather nasty throat cold. While hiking, the wind has, at times, been ferocious and, while sleeping, the air temperature has been averaging 5-10 degrees F. In the morning, I always find my window frozen with ice crystals due to the moisture coming from my exhalation. It is so cold in the lodges that the bathrooms are always frozen over with urine and faeces, presenting a not-so-appetizing trip to the loo. How people are able to avoid water-borne illnesses is beyond me. Mix in the Khumbu dust or cow dung smoke that you are constantly breathing in, and you have the perfect recipe to get sick. Tea houses are generally filled with a cacophony of coughs, of which I am now a contributor…
Walking from Gorakshep to Lobuche, I was really moving quickly. Unfortunately, due to my cold, the second portion of the hike to Dzongla really wore me down. I was very, very tired and struggled to put one foot in front of the other…my throat is completely swollen, which restricts my breathing – not a great attribute to have at 16,000 feet. My nose has constantly been running and it is very apparent that I must take a ‘zero’ day tomorrow so that I can rest. I need to be very fit to make it up and over Cho La Pass, so I’ll have to make a decision on my fitness tomorrow night.
My eyes keep crying…my throat still hurts, and I have fluid
constantly dripping from my nose. I’ve already gone through two rolls of toilet
paper and that’s just from blowing my nose 
Last night, my throat and lungs were so
constricted that I could barely breathe in the thin air. Hopefully, tonight
will be more bearable…
For all of these reasons, I have decided to throw in the towel and descend to Namche tomorrow.’
27/12/2016: A Yuletide Thought: The Dangers of Losing Christianity: You may
find this opinion strange coming from an avowed atheist, ‘Virtue is the secret
lubricant that makes all our institutions work smoothly—and it is the secret
glue that holds the social structures on which we all rely in place. The
farther
Replies to
comments: I think Maslow was wrong: the most basic needs are not the
physiological ones else folks would never die for their beliefs, country, etc.
Nonetheless I think 'virtue, honesty, tolerance' and many other things may well
stem from our Christian heritage and are worth retaining and celebrating!
Polonius to
Laertes: 'to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.'
Things like, 'How to live a good life'. 'Human betterment', 'The perfectibility of man' are perennial important issues which Christianity raised. Jesus (and Polonius) call for some really 'tough love' if you want to follow all their precepts, (and some are highly questionable) but neither really deserved being stabbed behind an arras - or becoming the first Xmas tree decoration!
27/12/2016: War veteran takes forever to get home then kills everyone (The
Odyssey) And there are more: http://www.upworthy.com/hilarious-summaries-of-classic-novels-theres-a-comic-for-that?c=ufb1
26/12/2016: Best Deer Hunter’s Cap, Best Ultralight Cap: At 76 grams in 61% Merino wool, 19% Tencel, 14% Nylon, 6% Lycra these are just the best caps I have ever found. (Black colour only) Your head stays drier and either cooler/warmer (depending on season) than any other head wear I have worn when you are working hard: http://au.icebreaker.com/en/mens-hats-neckwear/cool-lite-quantum-cap/102249.html?dwvar_102249_color=001
They are on special now (Boxing Day) at A$39.96, so snap one up; I did. You will note they also have a camo version in a slightly heavier, warmer merino fabric for winter hunts: 111 grams & A$29.97: http://au.icebreaker.com/en/accessories/explore-hat-real-tree/102359_WS.html?dwvar_102359__WS_color=901
26/12/2016: The Silver
Metal Lover Meets the Bureaucrat: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/sex/love-sex-and-robots-conferences-addresses-major-industry-in-30-billion-sex-tech-industry/news-story/c5a7c8d8c03e287db10b971b37ee297d
26/12/2016: You don’t say? How surprising: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/25/old-explorer-logbooks-reveal-antarctic-sea-ice-unchanged-from-over-a-century-ago/
25/12/2016: Andrew Hastie may be PM one day. Listen to him speak, ‘A
dark day.” “Frightening.” “Devastated.” Watching progressives react to Donald
Trump’s win made me think of the apocalyptic wasteland in Cormac McCarthy’s
novel The Road, with people “sitting in their rags by the side of the road like
ruined aviators”...Though I’m conservative, I can understand their reaction
because, for both progressives and conservatives, the “frailty of everything”
has been revealed by the rise of Trump...First, the election of Trump was
overwhelmingly a repudiation of progressive overreach rather than a validation
of the conservative world view...Many people are mistakenly reading into
Trump’s election a conservative revolution while ignoring the overwhelming
populist strain that defined his campaign. Rather than rejoice as we watch the
crashing masonry of the progressive political order, conservatives should feel
equally chastened by the need for greater communication with the Australian
people.We need to be averse to overreach. We need to listen and take heed. We
need to tell our story more convincingly. It could happen to us, too. The
second lesson is more positive: democracy is alive in the West. People remain
strongly resistant to statist activism...Like overzealous ideologues in foreign
lands, politicians who pursue a new moral order with aggressive legislative,
judicial or executive authority will invite organised resistance from
below...Pre-political institutions are the best place for securing our freedoms
and so we should take encouragement that democratic governments cannot control
them, and are sent packing when they attempt to do so. Ironically, Labor
understood this better than most when it presciently scuttled the Coalition’s
plebiscite on same-sex marriage. Rather than risk a potential defeat through a
popular vote, it prefers to ram a same-sex marriage bill through the parliament
and frustrate the will of the people. You can’t deny its intuition, even if it
is anti-democratic...Third, we have been given a rather blunt lesson that
treating people as homo economicus — the idea that our political problems can
be reduced to economic questions and that people act rationally to secure their
interests — denies the existence of social and cultural capital inherent to
Western polities. Not everything can be put up for sale. The reflexive
protectionism that defined the Brexit and Trump movement reminds politicians
that, despite the benefits of globalisation, there are always losers in the
transfer of labour and capital offshore. Loss of identity through vocational
irrelevance is a real anxiety in communities that prize skilled labour. People
are also worried about their local customs and national identity. They are
worried about the preservation of a shared inheritance — what Burke regarded as
a line of obligation between the dead, the living and unborn. They see threats
to their national identity from without and within. This is why immigration is
such a fraught issue for people, especially when competing for employment with
foreign workers. The desire to preserve culture, tradition and history
is not a bad thing. In a previous era we called it patriotism — the love of
one’s country. Trump captured the spirit of this anxiety superbly: Make America Great
Again.’
25/12/2016: The New Science of Exercise: http://time.com/4475628/the-new-science-of-exercise/
“We almost completely prevented the premature aging in the
animals,”
‘Doctors, researchers, scientists--even ancient philosophers--have long
claimed exercise works like a miracle drug. Now they have proof.
As I have said before, a rigorous exercise program might not extend your
life. It will definitely enhance and extend your quality of life even if you
begin it at any age. Everybody knows that they ought to do it, but it's hard
and it hurts and we're lazy and "busy." Plus there is that terrible part: delayed
gratification. Everybody hates that. As I say, "The flesh is willing but
the spirit is weak."
Our quite well-informed recommendations for general fitness and
conditioning for the ordinary person who wants to achieve or maintain maximal
functionality for life:
1. Nutrition: Don't be visibly overweight - it's the worst thing you can
do to yourself besides being an addict, and no exercise can help being fat.
Does a demanding exercise program require a specific pattern of nutrition? Yes.
We have discussed that in previous posts here. With a serious exercise program,
you have to keep up with the protein and fats - approx. 70-100 gms of
protein/day.
2. Weight training - as heavy as possible, approx 50 minutes twice a week
3. Approx one hr total of calisthenics/wk for mobility, balance, and
athleticism
4. 2 or 3 twenty-min sessions of cardio intervals/wk (HIIT). (For HIIT, I do stairs once,
elliptical once, rowing once. Occasionally sprints in the pool.)
Under age 35, it can take 12 months to be whipped into decent shape. Over
35-40, depending on your fitness starting point, 18-24 months. Intense sports
like basketball can substitute for calisthenics. Yoga is excellent, but does
not substitute for any of the above. Many men find Yoga to be quite challenging
and helpful. Lots of pro football players do it. If your day
job is physical, all of the above recommendations would differ.’
25/12/2016: ‘We are living through a disruptive innovation as far-reaching as the steam engine or the discovery of petroleum…The people who created the shale gas revolution, and their gutsy backers in the financial markets, sank billions of dollars into often fruitless gambles over long periods before eventually reaping rich rewards. It is a reminder that innovation is neither easy nor cheap nor inevitable…Yet we… can now benefit from their efforts…They reduced the use of chemicals by 95 per cent to very low levels; they proved that significant earthquakes or the contamination of aquifers by fracking are both almost impossible; that methane leakage is no worse than in conventional gas drilling; that the time and cost spent in fracking a well can be greatly reduced with experience. We can come in, in other words, when others have shown how effective, safe and affordable slick-water fracking in shale is.’ http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/the-frackers.aspx Just thought it was time I reposted this from 10/12/2013.
24/12/2016: Yarra Falls 3:
There are some amazing wilderness areas in
S/he writes: 'It is about 11,000 steps in from the main road to here, some very short ones as the terrain is quite steep in places, particularly the last few hundred metres. There is also some horizontal scrub to negotiate, very tricky unless you are shown the way, or keep a careful look out. On the way in you walk North across the head of a gully then follow the ridge (just north of centre) sloping roughly NE for a couple of kilometers until you reach the top of the first waterfall, one of six falling a total of over 250 metres, the highest in Victoria. There is a very small spot you might pitch a tent about fifty metres before the first fall. A hammock or two could be pitched at the falls. There is no water for the next 9,000 steps till you reach the Yarra confluence.
Some beautiful wildflowers on the way.
You cross above the top waterfall, climb diagonally onto the ridge to the West then follow it all the way to the bottom, keeping exactly on the top. After about 2,000 steps there is a view of some of the falls seen poorly through the tall timber. There is a clearish view of probably the second one, whilst others below it, glimpsed only indistinctly give an impression of their immense height. A side track needs to be contoured in from just downhill of this spot to access a better view of these five falls. It used to be possible to climb them on the Eastern (true right) side.
The last couple of hundred metres of the ridge the path leads a little to the left of its centre through some horizontal scrub bringing you out onto the Falls Creek about 100 metres upstream from the confluence. There is a substantial flat area downstream of the creek where several tents could be pitched.
You can camp right on the Yarra here and catch a trout for your breakfast.
The 'Shelter Hut' was on that ridge above the tent. It would have had a superb view.
Trout are plentiful and easy to catch in this section of the infant Yarra. The old Shelter House used to lie just up the ridge from the river flat on the downstream side of the creek. There are a number of flattish areas where it might have been, but no sign of the concrete chimney, so further investigation is needed. The vegetation here is quite thick.
It is probably not too difficult to push your way from this
campsite through the vegetation up to the base of the
Possibly site of 'Shelter Hut'.
It will take you a day to walk in to the confluence and a day to walk out. Or you can walk in to the top of the first falls and out again in a day. Especially along the ridge the forest litter is probably nearly a foot deep. Underlying it there are many stones. Your feet are constantly rolling on the deep litter, and as you crash through it you are often pitched in unexpected directions by the stones etc. You will need hiking poles to minimise falls but they are quite awkward to use in the densely vegetated sections.' It would be useful if you brought a machete (such as this: https://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-worlds-greatest-machete/) and some pink fluoro tape to improve the path for others.'
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/yarra-falls/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/yarra-falls-2/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/yarra-falls-3/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-early-visits-to-yarra-falls/
http://archive.bigben.id.au/victoria/melb/yarra_falls.html
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/yarra-falls-1928/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-historic-photos/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/1925-sketch-map-of-yarra-falls/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-heres-a-little-treasure/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-some-history/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track/
Video of
24/12/2016: Astonishingly, police are reported to not be investigating this
other ‘incident’ in
24/12/2016: It’s getting
to be a lot like Christmas as Moslems terrorists plot to commit mass murder in Melbourne Australia Australia Baghdad or Damascus
24/12/2016: Meanwhile,
at the real battlefront a brave soldier defends her comrades and her country: http://tribunist.com/lifestyle/this-female-idf-soldier-fights-off-23-terrorists-in-ambush-attack-after-being-shot/
24/12/2016: Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wishes us all a Merry Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oIQXIZbxg0
22/12/2016: Good God in Heaven, what will they deconstruct next? Denying Santa Claus: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/academics-tackle-the-big-issues/news-story/0335794d6066bfad5a9ca72960433799
22/12/2016: Clearly Turnbull’s days
are numbered: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2016/12/22/reports-bernardi-to-split-from-the-coalition.html How much longer will we have to put up
with a Conservative Government which isn’t – and which doesn’t even attempt
to fix the nation’s problems? Go Now
Malcolm, Just Go! Couldn’t agree more: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2016/12/resign-malcolm-just-go/
22/12/2016: Under Turnbull this is still what is
happening to your money (Meanwhile the country slides into bankruptcy!): http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/12/julie-bishop-looking-forward-to-co-chairing-un-green-fund-with-saudi-arabia.html
Donald Trump probably is our last chance to rid ourselves of this whole vast,
evil Green scam: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/12/19/trump-versus-the-green-blob-the-battle-that-will-define-his-presidency/
21/12/2016:
21/12/2016: Save Hazelwood: Instead of spending $200 million to save Alcoa,
Andrews should spend it to save Hazelwood whose closure will cause much worse
disruption than ‘merely’ the closure of Portland. Prediction: Within three
years the Victorian Government will be building new coal fired power stations!
21/12/2016: Legendary German Efficiency Fail: (I may not buy a Mercedes after
all!) So they have released the ‘suspect’ in the Berlin Semi ‘incident’. Mind
you they only need to deport a million or so people to ensure they have rid
themselves of him. I am expecting news of a new German ‘solution’ to their
immigrant ‘problems’ any day!
21/12/2016: The Centenary of the Russian Revolution is coming up…So many folks
still hanker for the ‘promises’ it made, instead of the reality of the tens of
millions murdered and the billions enslaved and held in poverty. A time to
remember and reflect on the awful ‘legacy’ of the Left: http://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/12/the-centenary-of-the-russian-revolution-should-be-mourned-not-celebrated/
20/12/2016: A Merry
'Shear-mas' to all! Della: ‘Yesterday was our 'Shear-mas Day'. Sing along
with the words, and token apologies to John Lennon whose lyrics were much more
trite than mine!
"And so this is Shear-mas
A day in the sun
Another fleece over
A new one just begun.
A very merry Shear-mas
And a Happy New Year
We're all sleek and neat now
No dags on our rears!"
And we celebrated the end of Shear-mas Day with a dinner of roast lamb and freshly picked raspberries with lashings of cream and ice-cream. Almost makes up for the tired muscles and excess sun-exposure!’
Lining up.
Even the lambs got a short back and sides.
Steve in fine fleece throwing form.
All over and a fresh paddock to graze.
So nice these days to finish the shearing
in one day (early afternoon) instead of at least five days of hard grind in the
blazing heat. Retirement has its blessings! We are proud though of having for
nearly 40 years participated in and contributed to what was once
20/12/2016: Pre-Diabetic: Is this the latest ‘health’ scam? ‘The study found
that more than 80 percent of Americans over age 60…(are, and)…nearly 60 percent
of those over age 40’. What (if anything) does it mean? http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/health/youre-prediabetic-join-the-club.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth&action=click&contentCollection=health®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=1
(NB: Australian results ie 3.9-5.5 = American results of 70-100 The WHO
recommends (Oz figures) of less than 6.1).
20/12/2016: Some more good news: Imitation garbage bag loses ‘refusal to stand’
case: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/stand-or-fall/news-story/a33e480ac31a9b9bd8b00834cff5db01
20/12/2016: Of course, these are the are the immigrants we need and want: Watch
this: Moslem woman refuses to shake hands with German President.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wqMJ9_xYk
Meanwhile in Germany: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/world/nine-people-killed-after-truck-ploughs-into-a-christmas-market-in-berlin/news-story/e2543c2e5a33900d3212433337f25eaa
They must be loving Angela’s decision over there to let in millions of these
‘loving’ folk.
19/12/2016: Golden Triangle Fallow: I visited Dunolly in
19/12/2016: Sambar Stalking #104: A lot can be learned about deer by observing their behaviour; I have been a sheep farmer for thirty years (longer now than I have worked at anything else – it looks odd on my census return: Occupation: Sheephusband!): They are quite like sheep. Particularly in their routines, the topography they prefer, their family behaviour, their caution and nervousness, their ability to choose a pleasant spot to be. They are also personally unsurprisingly docile and affectionate towards each other. If you have ever tried to force sheep somewhere they decided not to go you would not doubt their intelligence. It has been established that sheep can identify over 1,000 plants from a single experience of them; apparently this equates to an IQ over 60. A human being with that level of intelligence would be considered below normal – but would have the vote! We would not be able to shoot, kill and eat such a person, however.
NB: This is a draft. I will be adding to it a little later on…but folks have been asking me when I was going to post (yet) another deerhunting ‘story’ – so here it is!
There have been a number of studies of sambar deer (eg employing tracking collars) which are quite instructive about the areas they chose to inhabit and the way they travel them. I recommend you pay some attention to them rather than opinion (eg that they migrate!) Had you looked at such studies you would not doubt my opposition to trail cameras as unfair ‘hunting’ aids. Such studies also indicate their preferred food (mast ie fruit, nuts etc, not blackberries, for example). You can be paying attention to such things as you move through the bush: eg the prevalence of coprosma fruits (both sweet and prickly), lilly-pillys, etc: mast which is equally palatable to people, by the way! The early settler adopted such fruits as desserts and preserves. It is worthwhile knowing what can be eaten (by people too) in the bush and trying it out (even beetle larvae and the hearts of tree ferns, etc) as you never know when you may be lost and hungry!
Deer’s fondness for such foods leaves no surprise that orchardists view deer in much the same way as they view cockatoos and corellas. The main sign deer have feasted well on prickly coprosma may just be the absence of the fruits from suitable heighted branches as they run them through their mouths to suck off the succulent fruit. I have observed this many times. Blackberries are more of a desperation food for deer – as they are just so prickly. You will see them browsing the fresh shots in late winter/early spring when less alternative fodder is available. If it were their number one choice they would have eradicated blackberries from all those otherwise choked riverbanks and gullies!
Some folk ask whether they can be called – and indeed they can (odd times – I have). But you will need to study hard to learn what sound it is might make them come. By then you will likely have shot enough deer anyway! You will for a long while (if you ever hear it) and think something else made THAT sound. In such a situation likely two will come. You will also likely only hear such calls as may attract them if you are in quite a remote place, rarely if ever frequented by humans. Such calls as they do make are usually at the borders of two stags’ territories, though does and young make many small sounds each to each which you will have to be very close to hear. Because of my deafness, I no longer can. The voices of bats too, and many other sounds are lost to me. It is far better though than going blind as my wife has been doing.
Not unlike other herbivores one stag will often have several does (though he may tolerate a spiker or two with them). This means there are other spots where lone stags hang out or (quite often) where groups of stags hang out together, as with many of the deer family – moose for example. My old late friend, the ‘legendary’ Arthur Meyers shot three such stags out of one small gully (Poole‘s) in quick succession (I believe) in the Jordan catchment in 1962. I have personally seen a group of five stags living placidly together in a very small patch (about an acre) at the head of a gully in one of the many Stoney Creeks. The dominant stag is not always the biggest stag. Often another solitary stag is, one who was long ago beaten (perhaps because he tried too early) and has given up trying.
Having nothing else to do but grow, he might grow to an enormous size, as one Arthur’s mate George shot off my great hound Harpoon in Red Jacket in the 1990s. Harpoon and I had put this monster stag up from one of those small perched gullies high up (this one surprisingly on the South side of the Bald Hill) where deer love to shelter in wet weather (when you think they have all but disappeared from the terrain). I guess there is a spring there which keeps some fresh food alive; the vegetation is often thick (in this case all but impassable and choked with ‘wait-a-while’ or ‘lawyer’ vines). It is sheltered, warmer and drier than the surrounding bush – if you are ‘laying up’ anyway.
Harpoon put him up mid-morning. Within I guess less than an
hour the stag had commenced a ‘walking bail’ where he would neither run nor
stand. This is a tactic oft employed by large stags and is enough to shake most
hounds, but not Harpoon. He stuck with him thus for many hours, until he
cruised past George at the head of a side gully of the
He had perforce to spend a very cold night with him, huddled over a miserly fire with a couple of muesli bars for company. The radio communication there is always very bad, and we could not find him though we combed the bush until about 1:00am. Our search was made more difficult by an immigrant whom Arthur had brought along who was tasked to merely ‘keep the home fires burning’. This chap was of an excitable Italian disposition and had brought along a ready supply of ‘grappa’. Every time we would let off a shot in an attempt to zero in on George’s answering shot, ‘Giovani’ becoming increasingly inebriated would let off a shot of his own (unbeknown to us) which completely threw off our efforts to locate poor George.
He was much easier to find the next morning when we ‘rescued him around 8:00am, having driven into Woods Point to beg a loan of the gate key from the local policeman, who kindly offered to come along and assist. As I previously mentioned George was huddled against a giant log over a small smoky fire. He quickly assured us he needed a swig of rum before a drink of water. Everyone carried spirits in their hunting kit in those days. I was looking around for the stag. It took me a while to realise that the ‘log’ was the stag. He was so large he could not be rolled over (downhill) by one person. The head would not fit in the back of a Nissan Patrol, so had to be strapped to the bonnet where it over-reached both mudguards. There are monsters out there still!
At the top of this post you will see a snap of my first deer, taken off Alan Green’s hounds near Brunton’s Bridge in, I guess 1984. In the background you can see Alan’s lovely wife Carol and his faithful old hound Harry, father of my ‘Harpoon’. How young we were! 35mm photos are so eclipsed by the new digital photography though, aren’t they? There were often nearly as many women on our team as men. It would be good to see more women hunters today. I had been hunting deer for nearly two years before I took this one, so you can see why I think many potential hunters are too impatient today. We enjoyed many splendid days in the bush (ethically) trying to bag a deer. Usually we came back with lots of stories (and scratches) but not many deer. It was a great adventure however, and I deeply cherish the memories of those wonderful friendly hunts!
PS: Carol & Alan are now the proprietors of https://www.caoutdoors.com.au/
This doe came out of ‘The Flourbag’. I was waiting for her just off the B2 track, and had been for some time – with no sound of hounds or men. The old 27 meg CB radios we used in those days (often only one channel) were little better than two tin cans tied with a length of string! Mine was a 1 watt Tandy special. I still have it somewhere. She had been bedded near the willows in the Flourbag. She had gone up and down that stream a few times, then up the river getting further and further ahead of the hounds all the time. She had then crossed the Flourbag and come across into the Thomson where I waited with no sound of an accompanying hound to warn me.
Having heard nothing for hours (and it being a warm afternoon), I confess I had sat down on a log and was having a smoke – and reading a book actually, thinking the hunt was lost to me and had gone far upriver. I must have heard the slightest sound as she crept past me, as when I looked up, there she was. This was the only day in my long deer hunting career when I had forgotten my gun! Fortunately Alan had an old ‘sporterised’ .303 exactly like mine which he was able to lend me.
As you can see, a .303 will make a deer quite satisfactorily dead if you hit it squarely in the chest. This is the main thing. I have mentioned before that I only ever use iron sights. It takes a bit more practice to hit a running target with them, but once you are adept it is easier, as you never lose sight of your target. It is also fairer on the deer. Also, if you drop the gun or fall over with it as you are bound to do sometime, nothing will move those iron sights on an SMLE or a Mauser – which is mostly what everyone had once. I still have mine. Every so often they get a ‘run’ with some novice I am training.
I was watching Attenborough’s Planet Earth 2 ‘Grasslands’ just last night and noticed that the armed rangers in India’s National Parks still use them – and that would be in case of a charging elephant or a tiger, perhaps. They used to be touted as the quickest bolt action rifle in the world. In WW1, our soldiers were supposed to be able to shoot a German or a Turk every second (or quicker) and at 500 metres plus+. It would be good if our young were still trained to that level of skill with firearms – as the world is no freer of dangers today than it was in 1914 – and never will be! Col Townsend Whelen (after whom the rifle round and tent are named) used to train US soldiers to shoot their .30-06 bolt action rifles. He could reliably put a round a second (or better) into a target the size of a man’s chest at 200 yards every time. If you can do that, you need no artificial aids to take sambar deer.
The ‘crew’ that day: Alan & Carol Green, Ray and Val Quinney.
I shot from my seated position so as not to further alarm her – she was going quite quickly enough. As sambar often do she just hunched down with the shot and kept steaming along, so that (if you were someone else) you might think you had missed her, but I had grown up busting bunnies on the run with a .22 in Western NSW, so I knew she was hit in the boiler room and would soon be down. Even so I first walked right by her even though she was leaving a quite impressive blood trail. Sambar blend in impressively well to their surroundings: I can’t imagine how those unsporting types who haul off and shoot at deer at 1,000 metres ever manage to find them again. Judging by the heads I have picked up in the bush over the years, they often don’t!
It was celebrations all round. Our tradition was that it was the successful hunter’s ‘shout’ – in the Erica pub of course! Hunting ethically you don’t take anywhere near many deer as unethical folks are doing these days with their GPS collars and computer assisted ‘culling’ systems. We even caped this doe out and took the cape to the taxidermist – as I wanted my ‘first deer’ mounted. I cared not a jot whether it was a stag or a hind. Unfortunately the taxidermist ‘lost’ the cape, so it was not to be. I have never had much interest in other trophies since so I have not bothered. I used to give away heads if someone else wanted them until my kids once asked why I never brought a stag’s head home, though I brought the meat they grew tall on, so naturally I said I would bring the next one I shot home and have it mounted – which I did.
Our kids were quite chuffed by my first deer – and just as happy to eat it!
Curiously enough it was also a deer I put up one weekday in the Flourbag though I had not been there in years. At this time I had taken to hunting mostly weekdays, often by myself or maybe (as on this occasion) with maybe one friend – to help with the carry out! Not a particularly fine specimen of a stag, though perhaps a descendant of my first deer. Nonetheless it is ‘on the wall’ somewhere in our house. I have many better antlers now which I could swap on it, but it would not be the same. It would not be the stag I shot off ‘Harpoon’ that day off that track, long ago…
And here he is!
Some Other Hunting Related Posts (there are many more):
Adventures:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/sambar-stalking-101/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/sambar-deer-stalking-102/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/sambar-deer-stalking-103/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/does-spot-like-to-hunt-deer/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/spots-hunting-adventures-1-mystery-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/spots-adventures-mystery-river-2/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/spots-hunting-adventures-mystery-river-3/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/not-quite-alone-in-the-wilderness/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dusky-track-adventures-1/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dusky-track-canoeing-the-seaforth/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hunting-in-fiordland/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/moose-hunting/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/westies-hut/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hammock-hunting-till-dark/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-gorilla-in-the-bush/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/you-take-the-high-road-and-ill-take-the-low/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-last-of-the-mountain-men/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-soft-pillow-and-a-warm-bed-under-the-stars/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/if-you-could-only-carry-two-things-in-the-bush-what-would-they-be/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-importance-of-a-roof/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-deer-hunters-tent/
19/12/2016: More amazing facts about pigeons: http://www.popsci.com.au/science/nature/pigeons-can-read-a-little-bit-new-research-shows,437745 & http://www.popsci.com.au/science/nature/pigeons-know-when-theyre-getting-bad-leadership-advice,437740
19/12/2016: What is the fifth wave? ‘Information expands in great waves which sweep over the human landscape and leave little untouched. We stand at the earliest moment of what promises to be a cataclysmic expansion of information and communication technologies: the fifth wave’: https://thefifthwave.wordpress.com/what-is-the-fifth-wave/
19/12/2016: Sedentary Youth: Young people are being treated for conditions commonly seen in the elderly such as varicose veins, haemorrhoids, back pain and knee joint problems: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/young-people-old-age-bupa-conditions-older-varicose-veins-back-knee-problems-sedentary-a7436166.html
18/12/2016: Second Lifers: ‘I’m too old to
try anything new!’ How many times have you heard folks spout rubbish like
this. ‘Not at my age’, ‘I haven’t got time for that’, ‘It would (have been)
nice’, ‘Not in my lifetime’…I even hear young people of 70—80 or less (!) bang
on with just such nonsense…Use it or lose it, guys! You won’t be getting
another innings, so make the most of this one!
18/12/2016: Lewis and Clark Weren't the Only Explorers to Map the American Frontier: http://mentalfloss.com/article/86268/lewis-and-clark-werent-only-explorers-map-american-frontier
18/12/2016: A brilliant essay in defence of Western
Civilisation: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2016/11/wests-enemies-foreign-domestic/
17/12/2016: Naplan Maths results are even poorer than I imagined. I have done practically zero maths for over 50 years yet I was able to do all these sample maths questions with 100% accuracy in less than two minutes in my head without a calculator. These are the type of exercises we used to do as ‘mental arithmetic’ (as an exercise) before class started in Grade 5/6 back in 1969!
There have been too many generations of ignorant, incompetent leftist teachers preaching (because they knew naught else) instead of teaching, it seems to me. We need to sack all of them, transfer their remuneration to the competent ones and increase their remuneration proportionately. Some simple testing and inspection of all the teachers is all that is needed to separate the grain from the chaff. Of course this will mean increasing class sizes proportionately which will in turn no doubt require a return to real discipline (corporal punishment, etc). However, this educational failing is a national crisis. http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/the-maths-questions-australian-kids-struggle-with/newsstory/f22520d5ea4191a13d43f81961e18f6f
17/12/2016: 10 Things We All Did in School That Are Banned for Kids Today: https://pjmedia.com/parenting/2016/11/10/10-things-we-all-did-in-school-that-are-banned-for-kids-today/
17/12/2016: Klymit Insulated Static V Lite Sleeping Pad: This pad is available on Massdrop (https://www.massdrop.com/buy/klymit-insulated-static-v-lite?referer=EJ89BQ) for US$62.99 (so about A$100 delivered) just now. It has a very good R rating and is 23” wide! Just what you need to keep those elbows warm! I do not need it to be so long as this but can probably cut approx 6” (15 cm) off it and reseal it with a hot iron (so bringing its weight down to 509 grams. Della would only need 5’ (150 cm) of it, so hers would weigh 463 grams!) This is heavier than my beloved Thermarest Neoair Women’s but it is wider, has a slightly higher R rating (.7) and looks to be made of a tougher material, so worth a try. ‘Lite has an R-value of 4.4 and weighs just 19.6 ounces (556 grams) . The body-mapped V shape and dynamic side rails reduce air movement and hug your body as you sleep, while the Klymalite synthetic insulation offers reliable thermal performance for all seasons—from summer backpacking to winter ski tours. Made from tear- and abrasion-resistant 30d polyester, this pad inflates easily in 10 to 15 breaths through the twist-pull valve, and when you’re done, packs down to 5 by 8 inches in the included stuff sack.’
PS: I recently received a Klymit X Ultra Light Pillow (Weight 53 grams http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-ultralight-pillow/). I am most impressed with it. Though a few grams heavier than my Exped pillow, it appears to be tougher. You can sit on it (it has a screw down valve instead of a plug) , so it makes an excellent comfortable trail seat. The configuration allows for a number of sleeping strategies but the 'X' in the middle will be ideal for back sleepers. I slept on it last night and found it superbly comfortable.
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ul-pillows/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/exped-ultralight-pillow/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/more-about-diy-pfds/
Specs
Sleeping Pad
Fabric: 30d polyester with antimicrobial laminate
Color:
Insulation: Klymalite synthetic fibers
R-value: 4.4
Inflation: 10 – 15 breaths
Dimensions, inflated: 72 x 23 x 2.5 in (183 x 59 x 7 cm)
Dimensions, packed: 5 x 8 in (13 x 20 cm)
Weight, pad: 19.6 oz (556 g)
Weight, stuff sack: 0.5 oz (13 g)
Included
Stuff sack
Patch kit
Klymit’s lifetime warranty
16/12/2016: Blocked from Pirate Bay: Just as in the Islamic and Stalinist dictatorships our great ex-Communications Minister, Malcolm has just ‘made’ it so you can no longer ‘access’ your favourite torrent site – well not unless you use a VPN (which Pirate Bay has been recommending for nearly a decade themselves - for privacy reasons!) and as I recommended here back in October 2015; http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ipvanish/ As you can read here this is the solution to all our Government’s interference with your internet freedom: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/…/how-download-torrents-downloa…/ An update; I have been using IPVanish for over a year now and they are great!
16/12/2016: An attempt to identify the object of the Bard’s affections one of poetry’s most enduring mysteries: the identity of Shakespeare’s same-sex beloved in the sonnets: https://theamericanscholar.org/too-much-poetic-license/#
16/12/2016: Woman tricks husband into thinking she 'adopted' a coyote. This is very funny: www.someecards.com/life/digital-life/woman-adopts-photoshop-coyote-husband-freaks/
15/12/2016: ‘Follow
the Leader’ Remember that game? And, follow the Pied Piper? You remember
where that led the Hamelin children? ‘Follow the Left Downhill to Destruction’
That’s the game all our ‘elites have been playing most of my life – in complete
defiance of ‘common sense’ and the will of the majority of Australia’s
citizens. There is a plethora of isues where the vast majority of the
population (say 80%+) has long since made up its mind - the death penalty and
euthanasia are two obvious examples which spring to
mind – and dare I say, immigration) but which the ‘elites’ in our parliament,
in our newspapers and public service refuse to countenance, as a result we have
to put up with monsters murdering our loved ones in unimaginable ways then
being released to do so all over again instead of swinging from some convenient
tree at the end of the street after the first time they erred. Again our loved
ones are forced to endure truly despicable agony and degradation at the end of
their so lives because the elites cannot make up their minds to allow adults to
decide that they should be able to take a simple tablet to end their own lives.
Meanwhile these same ‘elites’ foist all manner of unwanted nonsense on us: we
are required to work until sometime on Wednesday each week to provide largesse
to a deplorable bunch of sycophants and wankers who will not shift for
themselves, for example. I am sick to death of leftists and greenies dreaming up
bizarre schemes for economic waste or social control, only to be followed down
that same self-destructive path by conservative politicians – so that the voter
is left with no real choice at the ballot box as the two main political forces
play musicals chairs with our votes and so amend the electoral act that any
other choice than them simply will not get up. This is simply fascism by
stealth. It is no wonder at all that both Pauline and Cory Bernardi’s new group
have so much support. ‘Bring it on’, I say. A ‘new’ conservative party led say
by an untrammeled Tony Abbott would garner majority support.
14/12/2016: What a lot of bullshit this vile Voller spouts – and this so-called
Royal Commission is a travesty: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/making-the-offender-a-martyr-not-to-be-questioned/news-story/f9218d6ee89b128ce26d44d94959d130
14/12/2016: The New Apartheid; Astonishing:
‘Christina Hoff Sommers, author of Who Stole Feminism, says equality feminism — fair treatment, respect and
dignity — is being eclipsed in universities by a Victorian “fainting couch
feminism”, which views women as “fragile flowers who require safe spaces,
trigger warnings and special protection from micro-invalidations”. Sure enough,
when she said this at
14/12/2016: Personally, I adore Philly: http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/742143/fat-is-good-for-you-eat-up-says-new-dietary-research
13/12/2016: Swallow Update: The missing birds have at last returned. They came in day before yesterday in a veritable swarm. They all wanted to check out the garage (where many of them were born) and I was standing in their way. They were swooping and diving only inches away from me as they passed by. They must have experienced a period of low food somewhere along their migratory path which delayed them until they were fat enough again to fly. Really glad to seee them back though! Welcome home for the summer little guys! See: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/welcome-swallows/
13/12/2016: Stocking Fillers: http://www.gearbest.com/zone-deals.html Move over Dick Tracy: NB: Won’t work
on our phone system http://www.gearbest.com/smart-watch-phone/pp_364089.html?wid=21&utm_source=mail_api&utm_medium=mail&utm_campaign=regular.1212&eo=KbLsdDmSBf4P5mXd&email=b2t8c3RldmVuZGVsbGFAZmlubnNoZWVwLmNvbXwxMDcyMg==
13/12/2016:
13/12/2016: SA should reopen the Northern Power Station before they blow it up (like Playford B!) as there seems little likelihood they will not have additional blackouts over the coming summer, and a sustained blackout looks likely in summer 2018 when the demands will exceed the supply from the inter-connector by more than its capacity – and Victoria will not have any reserve to send anyway (due to the closure of Hazelwood). Indeed Vic may be having its own sustained blackouts by then. What a mad, green world we are forced to inhabit: http://joannenova.com.au/2016/12/south-australia-blackout-costs-367m-normal-electricity-twice-the-price-reserve-shortfalls-coming-in-january-2/
12/12/2016:The things they sell at the Yinnar General Store:
12/12/2016:It’s all about an Apartheid Australia: ‘Constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians has been blindsided by more radical demands, with an official forum in Hobart insisting that plans for a referendum must be accompanied by treaty talks.
The gathering, the first of 12 such invite-only indigenous community meetings nationwide, concluded that all delegates were “firmly committed to pursuing treaty” and that this must deal with “among other things, sovereignty, a land and a financial settlement” as well as an agreed time frame.
“A discussion of constitutional recognition (can) only take place simultaneously with a proper consideration of treaty,” states a written communique issued yesterday...
The 16-member Referendum Council, which has control of the consultations, will use its findings to report to Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten by July on the best way forward for a referendum proposal.
Council co-chair and Lowitja institute head Pat
Anderson, who was at the
Ms Anderson said a treaty had been “put on the agenda” since the council’s formation last December ...
The 100-person
These would include the insertion in the Constitution
of a racial non-discrimination clause specific to indigenous Australians and
the creation of a constitutionally protected indigenous representative body
that would be “stronger than just an advisory body to parliament”’. Stephen
Fitzpatrick in the Australian. Meanwhile in the Netherlands Wilders (banned
from Oz) party would take one quarter of the seats: https://www.yahoo.com/news/dutch-populist-leader-wilders-rises-polls-conviction-144358621.html
As I have mentioned before Ketih Winschuttle has this important new book on the
topic: https://quadrant.org.au/shop/books/hidden-agenda-aboriginal-sovereignty/
12/12/2016:When will this guy ever learn? Trump Appoints Most Female Members to Cabinet in History: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/someone-tell-fake-news-media-trump-appoints-female-members-cabinet-history/
12/12/2016:Top 10 Christmas Songs
Written by Jews: http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/22910/have-yourself-a-jewish-little-christmas
11/12/2016:
https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2016/12/06/decision-time-in-the-south-pacific-income-tax-or-mitchells-golden-rule/ Here in Oz too it was introduced as an ‘emergency wartime measure’ during WW1. The war’s over folks! What happened?
11/12/2016: Adler 7-Shot Ban: I have rarely seen anything quite so silly. Or the extraordinary waste of all the ‘important’ meetings which preceded it! Two cartridges just cannot make a difference of two categories. At the very best /worst a 7-Shot lever action should be category C, as is a 7-shot pump action shotgun (indeed all pump action shotguns!) whereas a 5 shot pump action high calibre rifle is Category B! There needs to be some rationality here.
The Category system after all only applies to legal gun owners who are subject to the most rigorous identity, suitability and storage requirements so that it surely can’t make a whole lot of difference if one of us should perhaps squeeze through the net and (using our two extra bullets) go on to commit some awful offence (as has not happened since long before Port Arthur actually – whoever was the perpetrator there was not a legal gun owner).
You can purchase a 10-shot Category B .303 bolt action rifle (once touted as the fastest bolt action in the world) capable of accurately delivering slightly more rounds per minute (and with a range of more than 2 km) than an Adler lever action with its miserable 5/7 shot magazine (with a range of approx 200 metres) and which need to be reloaded one at a time, whereas the .303 magazine can be reloaded or switched instantly! The .303 has been available now for well over a century - as has the lever action shotgun actually. You would think with all the hype you have read that the Adler is some startling innovation in firearms technology.
I shall probably go out an buy a 5-shot
lever action in 12 gauge for myself and a matching .410 gauge for Della, just
because we can! Meanwhile, does anyone actually care that deaths from heroin
overdoses now exceeds gun deaths in the
11/12/2016: Lamping rabbits with hawks in
11/12/2016: In
10/12/2016: Miniature Pens: Some of these would make
an interesting stocking filler. Whilst nowhere near as Ultralight as my own
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ultralight-pen/
some
of them are quite interesting. Being able to have a pen handy on your keychain
is a good idea, as is the pen which expands to full size when needed;
http://www.lamy.com/eng/b2b/pico
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/tec-accessories-picopen-keychain-pen?referer=EJ89BQ
http://www.thewritingpenstore.com/c-121-wallet-and-keychain-pens.aspx
Pico Keychain
Pen
Beta Inkless Keychain Pen
Lamy Pico Pen
See Also: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/waterproof-notepads/
10/12/2016: Race Hate Litigant Cindy Prior has been
ordered to pay costs of $200,000 for spuriously claiming that students had no
right to object to a segregated space at the University of Queensland reserved
for ‘indigenous’ stuidents and occupied by no-one at all, it seems; http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/cindy-binned/news-story/9286edaba86b1ffe180644c81ad49d90
Hopefully
this will come as a warning to other such identity politics, entitlement junkes
who not only want to mooch of the rest of us, but seek to prove we are the
enemy in court as well.
10/12/2016: Horrifyingly, University students
prefer Castro to Trump. How bad can Leftist control of our ‘educational’
institutions get: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqBBbca1Izw
09/12/2016: You Take
the High Road and I’ll Take the Low: Canoe Hunting: A canoe (or better yet,
a pack raft) can get you to many spots which would be almost impossible with a
4WD or just on foot (even just across a swollen river, or much further along a
lake), and it can get you (and your quarry) out again with a minimum of effort.
What is Pack rafting?: I just realised that many readers may not realise what pack rafting is, so I’ll try to explain. A number of folk (eg Alpacka: http://www.alpackaraft.com/ ) have developed these ultralight (but tough ie suitable Grade 3 rapids – and above!) inflatable rafts/canoes which weigh approx. 2 kg (4lb) - or less. Coupled with a paddle of 800 grams (or less) and a life vest of 500 grams (or less), you can stow this boat and what you need to ‘drive’ it safely in your hiking/hunting/fishing backpack (which should itself weigh 500 grams or less empty!)
My Fiord Explorer descending the 'Boulder Rapid' (Grade 3)
on the
You will need a reasonable waterproof liner, and I would recommend a second one inside the first to contain your sleeping bag and change of clothes. Throw in all your other ultralight hiking gear (and maybe some fishing gear) you’ll be going where they’re biting obviously - and maybe a packable rifle, and you are good to go for quite a different adventure. I use a ‘take-down’ (Browning) BLR ‘Lightning’ .308 myself in ‘take-down’ form, (meaning it ‘breaks’ into two and can be stowed inside the waterproof pack liner) in my hunting pack. This is great for keeping the rifle clean and dry. I also carry it stowed like this in my pack on walks out when carrying a heavy load. I have two shortened hiking poles (@100 grams ea – they also serve as my tent poles, selfie stick, tripod, fishing rod, etc) which help enormously with a ‘carry out’ – at least at my age! They transfer around 40% of the effort from your legs to your upper body, and mean that you can maintain your balance with ease.
Now you can walk and paddle to some really inaccessible spots. These are the places where folks with only 4WDs or motorbikes can’t get. Often they can’t get to them without several days’ walk (both in and out – or not at all), whereas you will be getting in and out relatively easily. It might be that you will also want to combine canoe hunting with a motorcycle carrier so that you can ‘do’ one long section of a river and recover your vehicle when you finish. Something like this: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/motorbike-hitch-carrier/ but there are many potential ‘loops’ as well where all you will need is your canoe and your feet.
Of course I am assuming you already have a fair degree of canoeing skill and experience. If you do not, I suggest you get it before heading off into the bush on your own – or with a friend. The three golden rules used to be: don’t get side on (particularly to a log), lean into rocks (this rule is reversed with inflatables – as you will quickly find out - splash!), stay on the inside of bends (avoid overhangs and logs). If there is likely to be a ‘stopper’ (eg a waterfall), or just anything you are unsure of, get out and walk. This is one of the beauties of pack rafts; they are so light and portable. An older style Canadian canoe could easily weigh 35+ kg. Then you maybe put in it 50+kg of gear. Portaging that becomes a serious problem sometimes. On the trip in you will have perhaps 15 kg including the pack raft and gun! You may have considerably more on the way out!
The ‘rule’ about side on/logs etc is because if your canoe fills with water with you still in it (or you stuck downstream of it), the water can easily weigh half a tonne – or more! You will not be able to lift yourself out of it, or it off you – and you will drown, as so many have! If you must cross a lake, go all the way round within 20 metres of shore. Lakes frequently have large standing waves which form suddenly and can tip you out. Anyway, you might find yourself in the lake water far from shore for one reason or another. It may be too far to swim, or as is often the case lake water is frequently just above zero (from shading, snow melt etc) just a few inches below the surface. Many folks have died of hypothermia before they could swim to shore, only 100 metres or so! ‘You live and learn, or you don’t live long’! Lazarus Long, ‘Time Enough for Love’, Robert Heinlein.
One of the beauties of raft hunting is that you can move your camp easily, so that you can check out much more territory. Access to cool water also makes keeping meat fresh (and clean) easier. You can easily take more food with you as it won’t be so much work carrying it, and you can catch some fresh fish/crays to supplement your diet.
Another advantage is that you can set up semi-permanent camps if you want. It is no big deal to take a canoe drum in (each) when you go, and to leave it there - so that some useful equipment is hidden away against future use. There is little risk that nefarious folk ill find or interfere with it. You might want a larger shelter, a saw, axe, some comfier folding furniture, some emergency supplies - & booze!, a quantity of salt, a hammock or two, dynamo radio, etc, etc. A good idea might be to write your contact details inside the drum lid so that if anyone should need to use them in an emergency they can contact you to arrange their replacement.
Happy Hunting!
Whitewater Rivers of
See Also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/gippsland-pack-rafting-routes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/more-about-diy-pfds/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ultralight-pack-rafting-life-vest/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dusky-track-canoeing-the-seaforth/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-gippslands-rivers/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-thomson-river-gippsland-victoria/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/thomson-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoeing-update/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoe-clearing/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tin-canoes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-2/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-thompson-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hornet-lite-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/home-made-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/faux-packraft-vs-alpacka-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-raft-saves-the-day/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-rafts/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/packraft-video/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-gorilla-in-the-bush/
09/12/2016: Turnbull
will throw anyone under a bus: Latterly it was Morrison. Now it is
Frydenberg who I recently predicted had Prime Ministerial potential. There must
be immense rumblings in the ranks this week. How long will the Libs put up with
mad Malcolm: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/turnbull-camp-make-frydenberg-scapegoat/news-story/3fa647c6547e22d8dd0868e58cb897a6
09/12/2016: John
Glenn who became the first man to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962,
dies. I remember this like yesterday. I even had the record once! What a man he
was! Talk about ‘the right stuff’! Hope America (and us) is still making heroes
like him! http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/12/08/publish-advance-glenn-obit/95110820/
09/12/2016: More about DIY PFDs 114 grams: You can make a lighter non compliant PFD which you fill with other inflatable items, eg Platypus bottles (I carry a 1 and 2 litre bottle, pillows (I carry the Exped Ultralight), wine bladders (who doesn’t have a few of them lying around?) and etc.
Here is the link to Mountain Laurel Designs ‘Thing’ or ‘Mopacka’: https://web.archive.org/web/20100403230340/http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=141 which weighed 4 oz (114 grams) not including its flotation ie the Platypus bottles or inflatable pillows (eg Exped’s Ultralight pillow: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/exped-ultralight-pillow/) but you carry them anyway!
Some folk have made their own. See these two discussions (I have ‘borrowed’ their photos for reference purposes – I hope they don’t mind. Thanks guys): http://packrafting.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=880 Wine bladder PFD: http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=23122
MLD 'Thing'
MLD ‘Thing’
DIY ‘Thing’
DIY ‘Thing’
DIY ‘Thing’
DIY ‘Thing’
NB: There is a Facebook Packrafting group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/156445288089260/ as well as an Australian Packrafting Association for folks who like to join things. Myself, I am like Groucho Marx: ‘I wouldn’t join anything which would have me as a member’!
09/12/2016: The Do’s and Don’ts of Memory Cards: Tips for Photographers: Some great tips here. Another you may not know. You can recover ‘lost’ photos from a memory card. There are a number of programmes which will do this. I have used (them) with success. Just Google ‘memory card recover’: http://petapixel.com/2016/12/07/dos-donts-memory-cards-tips-photographers/
09/12/2016: ‘If religion had the ability to create a 'Paradise on Earth', we would
already find it in such places as
08/12/2016: Ultralight Pack Rafting Life Vest: PFDs are often pretty
heavy. Alpacka have this one http://www.alpackaraft.com/product/astral-v-eight-pfd/
at
554 grams which is (I imagine) about as light as they get. I discovered that
inflatable PFDs you buy from boating supplies shops have an airline PFD inside
them. When I stripped one down it weighed 282 grams as shown and should be
adequate for the job.
You can (though not legally) go lighter. You can utilise an inflatable
vest such as the Aerovest or Xerovest (at about 60 grams) as I did on the
Seaforth. They are a bit awkward to let down again and are really not intended
for the purpose.
As I have mentioned before Erin McKittrick (in her ‘Long Trek Home’: http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/Journeys/WildCoast.html)
used a converted Thermarest which she had cut a hole in for her head, and
fastened it with a belt. Given thet you will need a sleeping mat anyway, this
option means that your PFD maybe weighs next to nothing. You should explore this
option further if you want to save more weight. The prospect of cutting down
one of eg Klymit’s pads for the purpose but keeping it usable for sleeping also
appeals.
Mountain Laurel Designs used to make a thing he called ‘The Thing’ which
allowed you to utilise your Platypus bottle as part of a PFD system.
I suspect Alpacka’s ‘Fiord Explorer’ & etc seats could be modifiedf slightly to make a
light (non-compliant) PFD. They weigh 224 grams without the straps and buckles
which would be needed, so it might not be worth the trouble compared with the
first example.
Another option would be to buy some of the waterproof nylon which Klymit
etc use in their products which sticks to itelf with a hot iron - and make your
own.
See Also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/gippsland-pack-rafting-routes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dusky-track-canoeing-the-seaforth/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-gippslands-rivers/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-thomson-river-gippsland-victoria/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/thomson-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoeing-update/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoe-clearing/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tin-canoes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-2/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-thompson-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hornet-lite-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/home-made-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/faux-packraft-vs-alpacka-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-raft-saves-the-day/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-rafts/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/packraft-video/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-gorilla-in-the-bush/
08/12/2016: Do you
need a good wind up watch: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2050848594/redefining-italian-luxury-watches-filippo-loreti?ref=ewr9sx&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=desktop&utm_campaign=KS&utm_content=AU_Look4-6
08/12/2016: ‘
08/12/2016: The
Butterfly effect: ‘The Earth’s dry atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen
and 0.9% argon. These are not greenhouse gases and they total 99.9%’ which
doesn’t leave much room for the so-called ‘greenouse’ gases. It’s a bit like
folks who want to ignore that big orange ball in the sky and try instead to
discover other ‘causes’ of climate warming & etc. Look first at the role of
the major gases. Worry maybe about changes in their concentraltion. (We
actually need that oxygen, for example!).https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/12/05/co2-good-or-bad/
07/12/2016: Gippsland Pack Rafting Routes:
It’s summer already, so time to get out and about and get
wet all over. I want to suggest some interesting pack rafting that you can do
by public transport (eg from
- Obviously the easiest trip is to begin with the Yarra. It is canoeable from MacMahon's Creek upstream from Warburton (public transport, walking). It is almost 24 hours of paddling before you arrive back at Flinders St, so this is likely to take you at least 4 days! Or,
- You can
catch public transport to Warburton (or to Lilydale) then begin walking
the Upper Yarra Track (See: http://www.finnsheep.com/Track%20Instructions.htm)
You can continue on it until you reach Rawson (resupply - some supplies
also at Baw Baw Village) and the nearby Poverty Point Bridge, then canoe
the Thomson River until you reach the Cowwarr Weir. NB You will have to
walk around the Horseshoe Tunnel just below the Thomson River Road Bridge
(See: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-sidetrip-horseshoe-tunnelcoopers-creek/)
You can carry on with the Thomson to Sale or you can walk back from
Cowwarr (resupply) till you are just out of Traralgon where you cross the
Latrobe River. Put in there and drift down via Rosedale (resupply) to
- Catch a
bus to Noojee (weekdays - supplies), then canoe the Latrobe river all the
way to
- For a
shorter trip, you could canoe from Noojee to the Yallourn Power Station -
exit the bridge across the Eastern end of
- You can
catch a train to Moe, walk out along the Yallourn North Rail Trail (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-update-section-one-moe-yallourn-rail-trail/),
put in to the Latrobe near the Yallourn Power Station and canoe to
- You can
catch a train to Moe, walk up the Upper Yarra Track sections (See 3) until
you reach the Thomson Bridge, (supplies Yallourn North, Erica, Cowwarr)
canoe the Thomson, walk back along the rail trail from Cowarrr to
Traralgon. Catch a train back.
Tom's
- Arriving
at Noojee (supplies) whether by public transport or on foot via the Upper
Yarra Track & etc, put in and canoe down the
- Walk
across from Noojee to the
- You can
get out at Tyers Junction (Caringal) and walk up the rail trail to Collins
Siding and thence to Erica. You can continue to follow the rail trail http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-section-five-erica-to-walhalla/
to the
- Interrupt
your voyage down the Thomson at Deep Creek which you can walk up (see 9
following) or canoe to the Weir, cross it North on the old wooden bridge,
follow the road North till you turn left at the intersection with the
Stoney Creek Rd. Walk up the
- You can walk down the T10 till you reach Deep Creek and walk all the way up Deep Creek till it splits in two. Just where it splits, if you walk up the left (West) fork about twenty yards you will find you can walk up the ridge to your right. You can follow this ridge (on an overgrown logging track after a while) all the way to Binns. The walk up Deep Creek is extraordinarily beautiful. It is quite a lot of bush bashing, but worth it. There are some flat camp sites here and there at the end of ridges. After Binns you can carry on up and over Mt Useful until you arrive in Licola (resupply) or
- Cross
the Glenmaggie Creek at (eg) Porters Track to the
- If you continued on towards Licola along South Road you can turn East and walk down to the Barkly/Macalister (Primrose Gap - off the Jamieson Rd) at the Barkly Bridge North of Glencairn then canoe down the Macalister to Licola where you can continue on till you come to Sale , or
- You can
get out at Licola and walk up to the
- Instead
of continuing on the Macalister, get out at Cheyne’s Bridge and hitch a
ride past Licola (resupply) to the
- You
could walk to the
- Instead of starting at the Tali Karng car park on the Wellington, you could hitch all the way either to the Moroka Bridge near Horseyard Flat (12) then canoe down the Moroka or
- You
could hitch up the
- From the
Wonnangatta confluence you can continue all the way to Bairnsdale where
you can catch a train back to
- Alternatively
you can walk up the Wonnagatta from the Moroka to the Humffray Confluence
following the true right bank (there is an old pack track). Put in there
and canoe down to Bairnsdale.
Mitchell/Wonnagatta
River downstream of - PS; If you walk the Upper Yarra Track (Warburton to Mt Whitelaw) then the Alp Track to near Woods Point, you can pick up McMillans Walking Track which gives you access to the head of the Macalister (downstream of Glencairn), the Moroka (near Higgins Yards), the Wonnagatta (Moroka confluence).
- PS: Massdrop has the Klymit Lightwater Pack raft (<1kg) on sale again for around $US100. With care (and a little repair it will get you lots of places or you can go the whole hog and buy an Alpacka here: http://www.alpackaraft.com/ Their lightest raft is the ‘Ghost’ Scout at 600 grams! But you might be better with the Alpacka at 2166 grams. I also have one of these. I have the Manta Ray Carbon paddle at 840 grams. It is a very tough paddle You will find the lightest paddles here: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ultralight-paddle/
- Have fun and Happy Paddling!
- PS: Don't forget to take some fishing tackle. Some hand line is really all you need to catch blackfish and trout (using set lines on whippy saplings if you like) You can use the heads etc as bait for crays. A folding landing net would be an asset (and some Alfoil!)
- I'm sure readers can help me with some of extra information, as well as suggesting some additional/alternative routes - I know you can get to Hotham and Omeo by bus, for example This gives one walking access to the Mitta Mitta (canoeable downstream from above the Glen Valley Bridge) Resupply Dartmouth. Mitta Mitta. Train back from Albuty. You could walk up along the Alps Track from Mt Whitelaw to reach Woods Point (supplies) which might begin a journey for you down the Goulburn (public transport back from Shepparton/Seymour) & etc Getting onto the Snowy would also be good. I will think about that some more...
- The
Snowy: You may not know there is public
transport to Bombala from Melbourne/Canberra: https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/timetables/linemain/1718
The Snowy is canoeable from
- Top
Photo;
28. See Also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dusky-track-canoeing-the-seaforth/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-gippslands-rivers/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-thomson-river-gippsland-victoria/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/thomson-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoe-trip/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tanjil-river-canoeing-update/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoe-clearing/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tin-canoes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-macalister-2/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/canoeing-the-thompson-river/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hornet-lite-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/home-made-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/faux-packraft-vs-alpacka-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-raft-saves-the-day/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-rafts/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/packraft-video/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-gorilla-in-the-bush/
07/12/2016: The Wonderful Pat Condell: A Word To The Criminal Migrant: We’ve had enough. The tide is turning.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9e_vcSut0A
07/12/2016: We’ve
all had house guests like that…if only it was OK to shoot them: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Florida-Woman-Accused-of-Shooting-at-House-Guests-Who-Stayed-Too-Long-402495565.html
06/12/2016: A Birthday Treat: Mirboo North Railtrail: As one of us was a year older, we took the day off for a leisurely stroll on this lovely nearby walking/riding track which stretches between the delightful Gippsland towns of Boolarra and Mirboo North.
You can park your car at the beginning of the trail between
the Brewery and the Recreation Reserve in Mirboo North or at
Plenty of tucker:
There are many other interesting shops in Mirboo North
including this one, The Wren’s Nest: 
We are off!
You must:
Plenty of park benches and seats along the way for your dogs:
Lots of lovely wildflowers;
And other interesting things. Amazing what you could make out of bricks. Note the lovely fresh water approx 2 km from Mirboo North
:
Interesting (possibly luminous - some are) bracket fungi: 
More wildflowers:
More interesting brickwork. Tiny enjoying herself:
Della and Spot exploring an underground tunnel:
Tea trees can put on a fine display:
Spot admired these lovely blue lilies:
A lovely trail:
This is the deadliest plant in
You can rest a minute at lots of pleasant spots along the
way. Spot doesn't want to:
There are two interesting bridges like this across clear flowing streams where you could camp:
A lovely campsite:
It was a warm day. The dogs became thirsty:
Some fine timber;
An excellent stand:
More interesting brickwork:
Coming in to Boolarra (about 1 1/2 km out):
You start and end each of the trail with a beautiful park:
Along the way every 3-4 km you can find good sources of
fresh water and pleasant campsites off the track a bit. Of course in
The trail is about 13km. It takes approx 2 ½-31/2 hours on foot, or as I said at the beginning you can make a delightful day of it.
PS; The photos show the trail beginning at Mirboo North and ending in Boolarra.
06/12/2016: So, Julius Caesar was not delivered by
Caesarian section. There goes another good Shakespearean line: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/44996
06/12/2016: Install your own power station: It’s a rather sorry (and expensive) way to confront the reality that your Government has let you down on providing an essential service, but it has already happened in SA – and we are well on the way here in Vic too unless the closure of Hazelwood is averted - as I said yesterday by the Federal Government using the Constitution’s Emergency Powers to forestall it. What we have needed for a long time is a new Hazelwood. The brown coal resource is still there. We can have safe, cheap electricity for many generations. Folks ought not be paying more than approx 10 cents per kilowatt hour! Here at Jeeralang Junction (where blackouts occur weekly (!) we are planning a solar/battery backup system. We are moving a water tank up the hill to provide us with backup water when the pumps are out, and we are planning to hook our heat pump hot water system (which only uses 350 watts yet heats 50 litres per hour) to both solar collectors (summer) and a wet-back (winter. As well we are planning a header dam up the hill for the garden and a hydraulic ram to get the water there. All this is ingenious and at great expense, and just ought not be needed. Cheap electricity (like clean water, public safety, good roads, an education system which delivers…) is what we tolerate having a Government for: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-03/sa-farmers-turn-to-generators-for-electricity-stability/8089996
05/12/2016: Save Hazelwood: Remember how Hawke used the Emergency Powers in the
Constitution to stop the Gordon Dam? And how Turnbull was able to rush
legislation through to defend the CFA? Twice in a very short period of time a
large slice of SA went off the grid (including BHP’s huge Olympic Dam resource
development (and
05/12/2016: Heightist Equality: As a lifelong sufferer of ‘Ducks’ Disease’ I must almost be eligible for a public ‘Sorry’ and lavish ‘compensation’ despite my earlier post (5/12/2016) railing against Mike Baird’s such demonstrations and largesse. Indeed both of us (my wife and I) have forever been challenged when it comes to reaching things down from the top shelf (particularly at Bunnings!) Bathroom mirrors reflect only the very tops of our heads (that embarrassing thinning patch!) The shower is way up there; the water barely reaches us way down here; fruit trees are too tall; how do you find your way in crowds – is there a Heightist GPS App for that? – and so on. I know that almost all centenarians are tiny people such as ourselves, so maybe we haven't so much to complain about really, but we will not be properly grateful for our being vertically challenged until we receive that telegram from the Queen (that will be QE111 probably) Still, (the Government still has lots of other people’s money) surely we could have a Royal Commission into Institutional Heightism, a Department of (and Minister of) Heightist Equality, a Heightist Compensation Scheme, a Referendum to insert ‘Shortness’ into the Constitution, Land Rights for Dwarfs…
05/12/2016: Mike Baird is simply barking mad: Firstly came his idiotic ban on dish lickers. Now he intends to squander $75 million ‘compensating’ alleged ‘stolen generation’ folk for their ‘suffering’, despite the fact that two (?) Royal Commissions failed to find a single member of this group of people. If folk were removed from their families in the past (and God knows such removal is even more desperately needed today!) then such folk have already been rewarded with a better upbringing than they would otherwise have received. Their alleged ‘aboriginality’ (an obscene C19th concept which should long since have disappeared into the annals of history) has nothing at all to do with it!
We must rid ourselves of such ‘racial’ divisions, and cease this saying ‘sorry’ and compensation for what any rational person would assess as having received a benefit (eg having been adopted out instead of being raised by ‘supporting mothers’; having received a wonderful new life in Australia after WW2 instead of growing up an orphan in the slums of London, & etc, etc) I am sick to death of my money being forceably stolen from me and squandered on imbecilic public servants, politicians, undeserving ‘welfare’ basket cases and any other silly ‘cause’ the political class thinks will win them votes. It will not win my vote!
05/12/2016: Contraceptive implants for welfare recipients: Some folks already have controls placed on their welfare money to ensure that it is not spent on drugs/booze etc – and that it is spent on their children! I’m not sure how effective such measures are, but certainly they are better than nothing. As you may know I am not a believer in welfare at all. The words ‘welfare’ and ‘benefit’ are glaring oxymorons in that their effect is exactly the opposite of their intent (literally ‘make good’). People should be getting their own living, standing on their own two feet, doing for themselves. No viable society ever did otherwise. I have long railed against folks ‘voting for a living’ and ‘breeding for a living’. Implantable contraception (lasting up to 3 years) is already used (voluntarily) by millions of responsible women (dare I say, ‘ Married Couples’?) as an aid to family planning.
I see no reason why a doctor’s certificate certifying that the woman has an implant which will last for a defined period cannot be a requirement for continuing to receive welfare benefits. Folks ought not be able to insist that the rest of us act as their parents and their unlimited children’s parents without our consent – which is just what they inflict on us by insisting on irresponsible breeding on the public purse. It also makes no rational sense to be breeding from people who already demonstrably cannot fend for themselves. No farmer would stay afloat for a minute if this was his herd improvement strategy!
The welfare bill will soon consume the whole Government budget. It already consumes over a third of it directly, and more than half when you throw in its share of the education, health, housing, education, justice etc etc proportion of it. Already over half the population receive more from the taxpayer than the taxes they pay. This is absurd. This measure would go a long way to solving (over time) numerous social problems.
Just two examples: ‘South Australia’s Royal Commission into child protection reveals a society in decay, betraying its own children’: http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/abused_children_and_shattered_care_signs_of_south_australia_crumbling/ & ‘But isn’t it fair to ask why someone chooses to have eight children she cannot raise, unless taxpayers - who weren’t consulted - hand over $1000 a week?’ http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/why_the_assumption_that_taxpayers_should_just_play_breadwinner/
04/12/2016: Welcome Swallows:
Something terrible happened to ‘our’ swallows this year; though they arrive
back like clockwork (as I have often observed: See below) only less than half
returned. I watched and waited for their brethren but they were lost! Some
calamity has befallen them. Naturally one thinks first of human predation as
there are so many folk (here) who resent the mess they make on their walls,
whilst dismissing all the good they do in their gardens! However, I suspect
some natural calamity is a more likely scenario. The failure of an important
food source due to seriously inclement weather is much more likely. There has
been a huge ‘cold blob’ formed in the Northern Pacific (which many view as a
presage of a return of ‘The Little ice Age’ – we shall see) but it might well
have affected the bloom of midges, mosquitoes, etc which they would otherwise
have gone North to feed and fatten on, so that many may have starved…it is a
simple, yet poignant tragedy. Hopefully they have just not had the energy to
make it all the way back and we shall see them again next year. Thankfully (due
to my hearing aids) I am delighting in their singing on the verandah this
morning. See eg: ‘17/08/2014: At last, the swallows are back scything the air into
long swift arcs as they herd the mayflies and mozzies into their sharp beaks:
there is nothing quite like a (mud-brick) verandah they opine anywhere between
here and 
04/12/2016: The Backpacker Fiasco: Folks who observed that
not a single pollie covered himself (or herself) with glory over the issue is
guilty of extreme euphemism! Anyone who is not a complete imbecile can see that
we already have (and pay for) a vast army of Australians (if you can call them
that) who could be doing all this work - instead of paying willing foreigners,
then obsecenly charging them tax to help pay for our own army of indigents!
If I were in
charge I would eliminate this army of unemployed, diabled, supporting parents
in less than three months and save us all $100 billion dollars of our taxes -
which we could much better spend on ourselves! Folks have to be made willing to
work, and able to work. This does not require elaborate training schemes - when
these folks could have long since undertaken suitable training themselves and removed
themselves from our backs! It just requires force!
The ‘training’
they need is this: Before they have ‘earned’ their ‘benefits’, they must work
for three days out of five, and prove they actively sought work on the other
two. We should start them on a simple regime of physical labour. To begin they
would simply turn up to a vacant lot where they would each day shovel
increasing quantities of eg sand a defined distance across a line. They could
start with a couple of metres, and work up by eg half a cubic metre a day until
they were fit enough to shovel constantly for eight hours a day (5-10 metres).
Those who begin too fat to complete a hard day’s work would be put on a diet of
1,000 calories per day. No exceptions.
When they were
sufficiently fit and thin enough to do such work they would be required to meet
a bus at 7:00am each morning which would transport them to a place where
walking tracks, plantations, clearing, landscaping, weeding etc needed doing,
where they would perform eight hours of supervised work before they were
returned whence they came.
If they refused
or dropped out there would be no benefits. A child does not put his hand in the
fire twice. Pavlov was right. Punishment is a far readier teacher than reward.
We must cease to reward bad behaviour and punish it instead. After they have
hungered awhile they will come round. If they do not, there is always corporal
punishment. If they are complete recidivists, well good riddance to them!
They must be
required to move to a place where there is work. Society is not about propping
up failed endeavours, bizarre social experiments or ghost towns.
Proof that they
looked for work on the other two days would require, eg phone GPS records of
the streets they tramped and matching mobile phone pedometer records. Video and
photographic records of their applying for work – in person. Mobile phones are
ubiquitous nowadays, so this is easy stuff. We should be able to see that they
are clean, well dressed, polite and well presented before they receive our charity.
We should be able to see that they really do want to work. Any cheating or
subterfuge would result in instant cessation of benefits, but not in the
requirement to participate.
During the
‘Great Depression’ people were required to work or move before they received
‘The Susso’ provided by other needy Aussies. Most did not resent such treatment
because they were essentially ‘working Australians’ themselves, who were just
‘down on their luck’ as a result of the economic clime. Once the economy
improved they all promptly disappeared back into the labour force. And it
improved because everyone worked at improving it! In the interim we had ‘The
Great Ocean Road’ and etc built by their labour!
None of us
wants to be paying sluttish girls to raise some defective’s bastards; nor wants
to pay for an army of pretend disabled folks who ‘would not work in an iron
lung’ as the saying was, when truly disabled folk are working and paying taxes
to support these sycophants. None wants to reward spongers and bludgers of
every description with a share of our hard-earned wages or income.
I have worked
out in the hot sun (and rain) often seven days a week for most of my life (50+
years). I was not, nor did I expect to earn or be paid a fortune, but I paid my
own way, and I’m proud of that – as I’m sure are the great majority of ‘working
Australians.’
These no-good
layabout parasites offend me deeply, as they offend the entire Australian
ethos. Why are our politicians temperamentally unable to grasp the nettle? They
pretend there is a problem with our budget deficit, yet they will not eliminate
this vast drain on our financial resource; Yes, in the next three months!
Is there anyone
who really does not see that we can end ‘the welfare state’ to the great
benefit of all our citizens in as little as three months without needing to
employ an army of ‘experts’ to advise us. Just a little will is all that’s
needed!
From December
3, 2011: The trouble with 'Equality' is there is
never an equality between who pays and who benefits. The benefit ALWAYS flows
from the hard-working and productive to the 'magic pudding' brigade. To mix
some metaphors: it is wonderful to be able to vote for 'bread and circuses' but
someone must 'pay the piper' and this won't happen if you 'kill the goose who laid
the golden egg' because you want Kentucky Fried Goose!
04/12/2016: “Australians are not being told the truth about
the proposal for constitutional recognition of indigenous people. The goal of Aboriginal
political activists today is to gain ‘sovereignty’ and create a black state,
equivalent to the existing states. Its territory, comprising all land defined
as native title, will soon amount to more than 60 per cent of the whole
Australian continent. Constitutional recognition, if passed, would be its ‘launching
pad’”: https://quadrant.org.au/shop/books/hidden-agenda-aboriginal-sovereignty/
03/12/2016: That Endless Skyway:
Everest Base Camp Trek #7:
We had a programmed ‘acclimatisation day’ at Namche and another at Dingboche. Tully had decided we would use these days to climb up to the next 500 metre ‘step’ and then descend again to sleep. This proved to be a good preventative for altitude sickness as was taking half a Diamox twice a day starting on the morning you are to leave Kathmandu. An acclimatisation day spent wandering the hills around Lukla is also a good idea.
Some views of the Namche ‘Skyway’:
Leaving Namche
Walking ‘across the top’ to the ‘Everest View’ Hotel:
A number of trekkers told me that the track up from Jiri to Lukla is
the best and most beautiful part of the trail and that there are very few
people on it. What a bonus! I suspect this is true. If I had my time again I
would probably have walked from Jiri and flown out from Lukla, but after
fighting with this terrible lung infection for a month now I doubt I will be
eager to retrace my footsteps in
Gazing up the valley towards Everest (right of centre).
Everest View.
Thus we ascended from Namche to the eponymous ‘Everest View’ Hotel, (a facsimile of Douglas Adams’ ‘The Hotel at the End of the Universe’ – and peopled identically!), then circled back through the prosperous potato towns of Khumjung and Kunde. ‘Green Towns’ a Sherpa told me, presumably because of the ‘Colorbond’ rooves. In Khumjung we sampled our first ‘Garlic Soup’ and found it good!
Another view ‘across the top’ to the ‘Everest View’ Hotel.
View up the valley from the ‘Everest View’ Hotel. Tengboche is atop that green hill centre.
Khumjung – a ‘
Interesting stone building outside the ‘
The practice of burning (yak) dung must deplete the nutrients of their fields.
The eponymous ‘garlic Soup’, Khumjung version. Cafe opposite the ‘
Someone (I will not mention who!) took a wrong turn at Syanboche on the descent (the turn-off being temporarily obscured by a camel, fit of coughing, lapse of intelligence, or etc) and ended up nearly all the way to Thame before he found a cattle pad or game trail which would allow him to descend into Namche just on dusk. A good thing he has well-honed wilderness skills!
Coming down from Kunde there was some attractive vegetation.
Even some pretty flowers.
Porters have to bear some pretty primitive accommodation – this cave on the road from Thame to Namche.
A guide or porter might help prevent such mishaps, but I encountered many such with zero English language skills. Too often they rushed ahead of their ‘guests’ forcing the pace dangerously in the low oxygen environment. In my experience they were almost universally completely unable to understand or answer any question in English, though I asked many.
For example, I was curious (at the higher altitudes) to learn when the Sherpa first ventured there – as there were no abandoned ruins at higher points which might indicate they had colonised them during the medieval warm period. None knew – or understood! Those who forget their past are destined to repeat it! The answer is clearly that they have only inhabited these regions relatively recently- ie the last 500 years or so
On my ‘trail of tears’ pneumonic return journey I staggered along with a middle aged Norwegian nurse (Lise) for two days. She had been abandoned by her entire party, including her personal guide and two porters. She was nearly as sick as I (or sicker) and also had limited English skills, but we were thankfully able to help each other, despite her being an avowed feminist (to which I replied, ‘How sad’) and my being, as I’m sure you know, a shocking misogynist who would never help a woman!
However I grew up with the tradition of the ‘
If you do not have years of wilderness experience such as I do, you might be better to venture out with a group, guides, porters etc. I prefer the dignity of carrying all my own gear – and being self-sufficient no matter what happens to me. So, for example, I carried my Delorme Inreach SE PLB http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-poor-mans-satellite-phone/ whilst Tully carried my Sat Phone – in case of real emergencies, and if we were separated. Sound practice – as it turned out! I had my Escape Bivy and My Thermorest Neoair Women’s mat, my re-engineered sleeping bag (good to -30C http://www.theultralighthiker.com/adding-down-to-a-sleeping-bag/), and lots of warm Montbell clothes (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/?s=montbell in case I had accidentally to spend a night stuck high in the snowy passes.
I even had with me my trusty Vango 450 ml cup, a titanium windscreen and an 11 gram Esbit stove in case I wanted a hot cup of Mocca on some icy mountaintop! I also had a second (and third) tranche of antibiotics in case the first (Cipro) did no good – it got me back! The second and third are yet doing battle with this dreadful lurgi. I still have no idea whether I will survive it. Some days it has the upper hand, other days I forge ahead of it. Five crises so far! Life is ever a race to the grave which you one day lose.
I am a pessimist by preparation, not by nature. I know that the larger parties were not nearly so well prepared, which would mean only that people would die en masse (as they did on the Annapurna circuit a couple of years back http://www.theultralighthiker.com/survival-shelter/) rather than alone – or not at all.
It is akin to the spurious ’safety’ such folks feel in crowds – vowing eg that cities are safer than the wilderness, imagining ‘Wolf Creek/Deliverance’ dangers lurking behind every rock, whilst ignoring the nuclear missiles aimed squarely at their cherished megapolises! Strangely though, such folks had porters to carry their gear, nonetheless they all had day packs clearly weighing more than my pack – which contained all my gear. Their sheer superfluity overwhelms my sense of wonder at their vapidity
I was appalled at how some (foreigners) treated their ‘servants’. Often I witnessed folks making what I (having grown up in an egalitarian culture) considered outrageous demands of them. For example, one person waited until his guide sat down to his own meal before demanding a bottle of water (which was in his own reach in his pack pocket). The Sherpa patiently rose and fetched it for him. When he was seated once more, his ‘master’ then demanded that he open it! The Sherpa once more patiently rose and did so. I fear one day the Sherpas may rise against such treatment in greater earnest; some of them at least are Ghurkas, remember. They appear to be the most pleasant and friendly people imaginable though.
We stayed in Namche for three days altogether, two on the way up; one on the way back. We found the Shangri La Lodge (just off to the East of the main street a block above the pharmacies) quite pleasant and the food good. A lot of local people ate there – which is no doubt a good sign!
The rooms were clean and comfy, a toilet close by – and a welcome hot shower downstairs.
Warm dining room.
This business in Namche (there are dozens of shops) was really good at fixing phones/photographic equipment etc, else I would not have been able to contact my wife (to arrange my rescue for example!).
After Namche you follow the river high on its true right bank the first few hours past a monument to Tensing, one of the first two men on top of Everest – at least if Mallory and Irvine’s camera never emerges from the ice atop the mountain. (Interestingly the Sherpas had not yet been enlisted into mountain climbing in the 1920s when Mallory perhaps stood on Everest).
Looking back down the valley towards Namche hidden behind Tensing’s chorten behind the hill (right)
Tensing’s chorten.
View up the river from Tensing’s chorten. Tully posing.
Crowds of folk flowing towards Everest.
View up the river. Tengboche is atop the green ‘hill’ centre.
The track goes along on the level for quite a distance, this section
well maintained by the collections of an old man who has climbed Everest five
times. You descend 300 metres to yet another river crossing sheltering a
pleasant little town complete with its ubiquitous military outpost. (You soon
get used to the level of fascism in
Some lovely villages along the way. Each has its tea house/s and gift shops.
Lunch at the bridge.
As you can see i am having the ‘Vegetable fried Potatoes’ We stuck to vegetarian food after Pangboche – no fresh meat.
There follows a long (but pleasant) climb up a beautifully wooded hill complete with delightful skyline views to the monastic town of Tengboche – where you used to be able to fondle a Yeti’s skull – till someone stole it! Tengboche has a tasty bakery where you can enjoy a delightful lunch complete with views of frozen waterfalls on the surrounding hills & etc. We had afternoon teas here: biscuits, doughnuts, buttered sweet rolls, etc and of course the ubiquitous lemon tea.
View to the east as you climb the Tengboche hill.
You can ogle frozen waterfalls as you sip your latte and devour your croissants – who could ask for more?
Bakery Tengboche.
This religious gibberish is ubiquitous in
After Tengboche there follows another reasonable descent again through some quite pretty forest to Duboche (the bridge across the river there marks the end of the forest). In Duboche is a pretty tea-house named ‘Rivendell’ framed by a beautiful view – somewhat spoiled by the 3 metre high barbed wire fence around it. Just a little repellent if it expects numerous customers – or perhaps you ought not want to leave?
Descending through rhododendron forests.
A forbidding ‘Rivendell’.
This bridge was well broken.
And its replacement somewhat rickety.
View upriver from the bridge.
After Duboche the bridge had been washed out and an interesting temporary bridge crafted to replace it. Because there is a detour after the bridge you might lose your way and head back downstream to where the old bridge crossed unless you remember that Pangboche is upstream on the true right bank, so that all you need to do is scramble up the yak tracks to the old path to continue your journey.
First view of Pangboche- a potato town.
As soon as you cross the river you are in quite a different type of low, straggly vegetation which I at first thought marked the treeline until I spied a seedling pine/cypress just poking above a patch of well-gnawed shrubbery. Clearly the yaks have been very busy on the forests hereabouts; maybe also the banished goats.
An easy climb (and descent) brings you to the potato town of Pangboche where we spent the night (on a guide’s recommendation) at the Mountain Peace Lodge which actually charged nothing for accommodation (the usual price is $US1-2 per night so long as you eat in), and which had an excellent hot shower (which always cost more than the accommodation – $US3-5). The host was a very friendly, entertaining chap with whom we spent many hours yarning. His ‘wealth’ had been founded on his owning an adjoining ¼ hectare potato ‘farm’ We tourists were clearly of immense benefit to him.
That night there was a beautiful sunset (and dawn) somewhat obscured by clouds/mist, though it had Tully scrambling around in the dark and cold trying to get that perfect photograph. The Young! The mountains surrounding the towns of Dingboche and Pangboche are quite awesome.
Quite startling – Everest is up there somewhere!
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/to-the-roof-of-the-world/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-followed-my-footsteps/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-saw-below-me-that-golden-valley/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/thatendlessskyway/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/everest-base-camp-three-passes-trek/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cold-weather-face-masks/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/my-life-was-wide-and-wild-and-who-can-know-my-heart/
03/12/2016: The Pocket Windschuttle: This is the most important book you (will) have read in a very long while: Before you even consider how you may vote on the ‘Aboriginal Referendum’, you should read it: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/history-wars/2010/05/pocket-windschuttle-goes-viral/
03/12/2016: People just shouldn’t be allowed to make up their own minds – not if the elites can make them up for them. Watch for a putsch for this sort of censorship here too: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/28/germanys-merkel-contemplates-social-media-crackdown-to-counter-fake-news/02/12/2016: Earning, Debt & Obligation. Some comments on yesterday’s post concerning our 45 Years together sent me looking for some of my older posts about related matters. I have copied some of them below. They are worth a review. PS: If you have some time on your hands you can catch all my old posts here: http://finnsheep.com/Steve's%20Blog.htm
02/12/2016: Earning, Debt & Obligation. Some comments on yesterday’s post concerning our 45 Years together sent me looking for some of my older posts about related matters. I have copied some of them below. They are worth a review. PS: If you have some time on your hands you can catch all my old posts here: http://finnsheep.com/Steve's%20Blog.htm
01/12/2016: Your word is your bond. The swearing of oaths, the whole area of earning, debt and obligation are serious matters which several generations now have either failed to understand or have trashed. They do so at society's great peril. We were incidentally married in the Sydney Registry Office (with just three others present). You do not swear oaths lightly or before false Gods/icons, nor under the undue influence of huge crowds. Once the swearing of oaths was such a serious thing (see eg Shakespeare) that the penalty for breaking them was always, deservedly, death!
02/12/2016: Another Blackout in Silly
SA: This is Victoria’s future too – if we close Hazelwood. Harangue a pollie
today: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-01/sa-power-outage-overnight-victorian-interconnector-blamed/8082108
Also Read: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/29/the-epa-caves-on-coal/
& http://pickeringpost.com/story/pulling-the-plug-on-coal/6704
& https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/30/more-south-australian-grid-instability-no-way-renewable-energy-can-be-blamed/
01/12/2016: 35 Years have gone by in a flash. Just the other day our little girl was modelling dad’s hat, now she is all growed up! Happy 35th Birthday Irralee.
01/12/2016: 800th Post: There is really a lot to read on TheUltralightHiker, but maybe you didn’t realise there was quite this much. (And there are now also over 1,000 pages here: http://finnsheep.com/HIKING.htm, as well as more in the Archives section, & etc) ) What a lot of work it has been (keeping me from my hiking, hunting and camping too much, perhaps!) and I know I still have lots more to do. I have the next 50+ posts already worked out, and I’m sure many more will occur to me before I have completed them.
I have been very sick of late (since my trip to Everest – and have not fully recovered) which is why most of my posts lately have not involved any new ‘adventures’, but soon I will be off again, eg to complete my explorations of the Tanjil Bren-Noojee section of the http://www.finnsheep.com/THE%20UPPER%20YARRA%20WALKING%20TRACK.htm including a loop which will allow you to view (via public transport/foot) the three main waterfalls - and including a night camped at Mt Horsefall, completion of the track clearing from Downeys to Newlands Rd allowing a loop of the Baw Baw Plateau and Western Tyers, and of course completion of the exploration of the ‘Mystery Falls’ (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-mystery-falls/) including maybe a (loop) route from the 18 Mile Road to the Forty Mile. I also plan some walks on sections of and posts about the Alps Walking Track (Victoria). Watch this space!
PS: Why not try a 'Search' using the facility at the top of the page? For example, try typing the words 'deer', or 'tent' or 'canoe' then pressing 'Enter'. You may be surprised what you find! Now might be a good time to 'Follow' The UltralightHiker (by clicking the button at the top right of the page), or by 'liking' our Facebook page, here: (https://www.facebook.com/theultralighthiker/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel).
01/12/2016: As we approach Della’s birthday on Sunday, and I
continue to fret, ‘Will her present arrive on time?’, I reflect that it we have
now been together for 45 years, that it is coming up to 47 years since I first
laid eyes on her (January 1970) – the most serendipitous moment of my lfe. And
I greedily hope that there will yet be many happy years still to come!
February 1973 – the very instant when she signed her life away!
01/12/2016: Gravity Light: Our
Renewable Energy Future: Green folks are just nuts! Check out the Specs on this
‘innovation’ https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/25/gravity-light-our-renewable-energy-future/
and see if it is any better than Coghlans ‘Eternal Head Torch’: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-eternal-headtorch/
01/12/2016: The War of the WW2 Vets: ‘Wear a damn poppy, you
bastard. Remember our fallen comrades you supercilious buffoon.’92 year old
veteran Larry Martin takes on putative 93 year old Harry Smith: ‘Your lot made a complete mess of the seventies and then returned to
make a complete mess of the late noughties. Have you no shame? Look at what
your lot have done to our then Allies: to
01/12/2016: Merkel is clearly bat
crazy. Why did she import them then – and why do we? Still
this is a move in the right direction. One we should emulate too, as I posted
on 28/11/2016: https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/11/27/merkel-says-she-will-deport-100000-migrants/?singlepage=true
30/11/2016: The Ultimate Guide to Hiking Boots: Acouple of interesting infographics. Sometimes it is the
basics we are a little unclear on…
The
Ultimate Guide To Hiking Boots
Over the past decade, the variety of hiking
boots and shoes has exploded, as designs become increasingly specialised.
Here’s a guide that outlines your choices and will help you narrow down what
you’ll need to find the perfect pair.
Anatomy of a Hiking Boot
Knowing the components of walking boots will
help you choosing the perfect type of boot for whatever activity you decide to
do.
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/expert-advice/hill-walkingboots
1. Outsole
• The
outsole is the first thing everyone looks at when buying new walking boots.
• This
is the strip of rubber or TPR along the bottom of the boot which features the
tread.
• Tread
patterns will vary depending on brand and boot, but all serve a purpose for a
certain type of terrain.
• Chunkier
patterns are better in mud, while shallow tread is better suited for a rockier
path.
• When
it comes to the outsole, the most popular and best known brand is 'Vibram'.
• A
Vibram sole has long been a sign of quality, but that isn't to say standard
soles won't be suited to your activity.
2. Midsole
• The
midsole fits between the insole and the outsole.
• The
job of a midsole is to act as a shock absorber, helping to cushion and protect
your feet as you walk.
3. Upper
• The
upper is everything on the outside of the boot above the midsole.
• Uppers
are often made from different materials such as sturdy and hard wearing
leather, or synthetic fabrics which make for lightweight boots.
4. Liner
• Some
boots will feature a waterproof liner such as GORE-TEX, whilst this makes the
boot waterproof and therefore ideal for wet weather walks, it can compromise
breathability.
• For
hot weather walking, it's advised that you choose a boot with no liner to help
your feet breathe.
5. Toe
Bumpers
• The
purpose of toe bumpers is to protect your toes from knocks, which is
particularly important on rocky terrains.
• Toe
bumpers also protect the boot from damage so they last longer.
Best Walking Boots For Your Activity
The activity you have planned is one of the
main factors of consideration when choosing walking boots.
Trail Running Shoes are best for:
• Trail
running.
• Lightweight
hiking and backpacking.
• Short
day hikes on easy terrain.
Hiking Shoes are best for:
• Day
hikes.
• Hiking.
• Moderate
backpacking.
• Long
distance lightweight hiking and backpacking.
Hiking Boots are best for:
• Day
hiking (added ankle support).
• Backpacking
with loads heavier than 20-30 pounds
• Hiking
in rough terrain or off-trail.
• Spring
or summer hiking where snow will be encountered.
Mountaineering Boots are best for:
• High
alpine travel.
• Winter
hiking and climbing.
• General
mountaineering.
Approach Shoes are best for:
• Climbing
approaches.
• Easy
to moderate climbing.
• Peak
bagging on 4th and 5th class terrain.
You’ve Picked Out a Shoe— But How’s the Fit?
Because you’re going to be spending so much
time in a hiking shoe or boot, fit is paramount. Here are some things to look
for:
• Your
feet tend to swell over the course of a day, try your shoes or boots on towards
the end of the day or after some activity.
• If
you wear orthotics, bring them along. They impact the fit of a boot.
• When
you put them on, you should feel plenty of space in the toe box.
• You
should not feel squashed on the sides of your forefoot but shouldn’t be too
spacious.
• A
good way to test the length of the shoe is to stand upright in unlaced shoes,
and then slide your foot forward until it does touch the front.
• You
should be able to comfortably slip your index finger in between your heel and
the heel of the shoe.
• Once
you have your shoe laced, the feel should be snug enough that, as you roll up
onto your toe, you don’t feel your foot sliding forward to touch the front of
the boot.
• It
shouldn’t be so snug that it cuts off your circulation or causes hot spots.
• You
should also not feel any heel lift or slip as you walk around.
• A
loose fit on the heal increases the risk of painful blisters and could lead to
injury on rough terrain if your boot goes one way and your foot the other.
How To Care for Your Walking Boots
Your walking boots will last longer if you
take care of them. Caring for your boots is simple, and here are a few things
to remember:
• Rapid
drying, heater drying and not nourishing the leather of the boots can all lead
to a boot cracking and eventually splitting.
• Clean
your boots, thoroughly removing all mud and debris.
• Boots
need nourishing when they look dry.
• Reproof
little and often.
• Do
not dry boots in a hot room or near a heater, this can cause leather and
material to shrink and crack.
• If
stuffing with paper to help dry, try not to overstuff and misshape the boot.
References
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/expert-advice/hill-walking-boots
http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Hiking-Shoes-Womens-Reviews/Buying-Advice
http://www.mountainwarehouse.com/expert-advice/walking-boots-guide
http://www.backcountry.com/explore/how-to-choose-the-right-hiking-shoes-backpacking-boots
Coutesy of: https://www.walshbrothersshoes.ie/blogs/news/147312007-the-ultimate-guide-to-hiking-boots
See:
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/expert-advice/hill-walking-boots
https://www.fortheloveofoutdoors.com/guide-hiking-boots/
I must say I am not fond of Vibram soles. The
only two pairs of shoes I have owned I must say I am not fond of Vibram soles.
The only two pairs of shoes I have owned with this type of sole would not grip
in the wet (particularly rocks, leaves, logs, twigs) so that I quickly ended up
crashing down onto the back of my neck (which is not pleasant). It may be that
there are Vibram soles which are not like this. I also do not favor waterproof
shoes. You are going to get wet feet. Don't be a sissy. And don't muck around
trying not to get wet feet. Shoes which are not waterproof are lighter - and
dry quicker! Carry a pair of ultralight camp shoes (such as these http://www.theultralighthiker.com/toughened-foam-flip-flop/ or these: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/no-sew-sandals
/) so you have something comfy to put on at the end of the day.
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/keen-shoes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/tight-shoes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/4wd-boots/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/boot-chains/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/foot-care/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/shoe-laces/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/survival-laces/
30/11/2016: This is very good news: It
shows Morrisson has not been entirely emasculated by Turnbull. There is hope
yet (for when Tony makes his comeback): ATO, Aust
Charities & NFP Commission lining up Islamic charity fraudsters. Sounds like
they need to investigate some other ‘ethnic groups (eg the Sudanese and Somalis
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/africans-rip-off-child/news-story/a3bdb58ca3a8e2e591109c3ce35ab67e;
then thay might start on the enormous fake ‘aboriginal’ industry too): http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/11/australias-nfp-regulator-and-tax-office-get-serious-about-charity-fraud-.html
30/11/2016: Data streaming just keeps
getting faster and faster: http://www.netgear.com.au/home/products/networking/wifi-routers/R9000.aspx?cid=auz-nighthawk-em
30/11/2016: Who’d Have Thought? Front
Page Headlines Anyone? https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/28/steepest-drop-in-global-temperature-on-record/
29/11/2016: The great Pat Condell. If there is a single thing I don’t wholeheartedly agree with this wonderful guy about, I’m yet to find it. Do find 5 minutes to watch this vid; you won’t regret it – besides you need a good laugh this morning, don’t you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjYLWadz5Yc
29/11/2016: Some of us (redheads for example) are proud to be descended from
these guys who built this stone structure deep
underground 47,600 years ago, (though we do not demand the cave be returned to
us!) http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/05/the-astonishing-age-of-a-neanderthal-cave-construction-site/484070/
29/11/2016: The biggest fraud in history, but Trump will soon end it: ‘Professor Dr. Friedrich Karl Ewert is a retired geologist and data computation expert. He has painstakingly examined and tabulated all NASA GISS’s temperature data series, taken from 1153 stations and going back to 1881. His conclusion: that if you look at the raw data, as opposed to NASA’s revisions, you’ll find that since 1940 the planet has been cooling, not warming.’ http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/24/german-professor-nasa-fiddled-climate-data-unbelievable-scale/ but note this: ‘The cooling has hit every continent except for Australia, which warmed by 0.6339°C since 2000.’ What has the BOM been doing to our weather records. Years ago I caught them changing the historic station records. No doubt they have been assiduously changing every record they could get their hands on until there is simply nothing left to rely on – maybe only the satellite and weather balloon records which have never shown any sign of the AGW!
28/11/2016: Are You Beautiful in the Buff: Sleeping out in the mountains you often get a cold nose which is annoying. Obviously you can’t tuck your nose and mouth (unlike the rest of your face) in your sleeping bag otherwise it will become saturated from your breath and no longer keep you as warm. Until now I just put up with it. Recently though I discovered this wonderful product which when worn over your nose and mouth of a night warms the air (and your nose) so giving you a much more pleasant night. The Buff: It can also be worn in a bewildering array of other combinations. It weighs only 37.5 grams. Stow one in your pack. You will not regret it. It is made of 100% pure merino wool. As you can see, it improves my appearance no end! This is a good camo colour too! http://buffusa.com/ & https://www.buffwear.com/
28/11/2016: Not sure whether to order a new head or a new body? http://www.techspot.com/news/67118-human-head-transplant-doctor-use-vr-prepare-patients.html
28/11/2016: The sooner we start doing this, the better: Even if we have to spend eg $50,000ea to rid ourselves of these unwanted ‘guests’ it will be cheaper by far than the alternative: paying them for life to bludge on us, breed like flies, undermine and then destroy our way of life, deplete our freedoms, wage civil war upon us & etc. If we outlaw Islam, and Halal, close and confiscate all the mosques and all other Islamic and Halal organisations we will have gone a long way towards recovering much of what we need to spend eg $50,000ea to rid ourselves of them. There are approx 500,000 of them, so I know it is a lot of money altogether, ie $25 billion dollars – however, we are spending more than this EACH YEAR on them – in ‘welfare’ payments, medical, health, housing, ‘education’ expenses, the criminal ‘justice’ system, counter terrorism & etc, etc. We must act now before it is too late and we are overrun and our society lost: ‘Know Thy Enemy’ as Sun Tsu used to say (‘The Art of War’ c700BC!): http://hotair.com/archives/2016/10/18/eu-nations-now-paying-countries-take-back-migrants/.
27/11/2016: Pimping a Gorilla: You can readily shave around 300 grams off Gossamer Gear’s Gorilla (http://gossamergear.com/gorilla-ultralight-backpack-all-bundle.html or Mariposa, etc) backpack by taking out the aluminium stay, removing the hipbelt and replacing it with an ultralight webbing belt, and replacing the Sitlight pad with an Airbeam pad. The pack will ride just about as well (well, just as well when you are only carrying a few kgs) and transfer weight to your hips, and you will have saved the weight of over half a day’s food!
If this is to be a permanent alteration you can also cover over the
holes where the stay went through the body of the pack both sides with some
Tenacious tape (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/gear-repairs-tape/)
to make the pack a little more watertight. You need a double buckle, some 1”
webbing and a piece of 1” Velcro and about five minutes on the sewing machine
to effect the change. As I have pointed out elsewhere (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-tardis-folding-space/),
you can make the pack carry a lot more than its rated 48 litres by utilising
Sea to Summit’s Ultrasil Compression Bags (or similar) and by adding some
tie-downs so you can carry another bag on top (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/attaching-tie-downs-to-your-pack/).
Completed belt ready for fitting. Note piece of velcro sewn on
reverse side in the middle for attaching to pack.
Standard hip belt removed and ultralight belt fitted.
The final result; a very comfy pack which weighs a third of a kilo
less!
Weights (my scales):
Gorilla Belt:
275 grams.
Alum Stay: 88
grams.
Replacement
Belt: 32.5 grams.
Weight saving: 330 grams.
Pockets: If you need hipbelt pockets, you can add
these
eg here: http://gossamergear.com/hipbelt-pocket.html 38 grams and
US$8.80ea
or here: http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/beltpouch.shtml
21 grams and $US22.50ea.
NB: Gossamer
Gear may not have the Air Beam pads at the moment.Mountain Laurel Designs still
stock the Klymit (Air Beam) Pad in 11” x 25” size and US$35ea. You can cut it
down and reseal with a hot iron to 20” if needed. It will then weigh approx 70
grams as compared with the Sitlight’s 50 grams: http://www.mountainlaureldesigns.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=46&products_id=186
They also stock Pack Pockets (if needed) at US$19ea.
Conclusion: With my Cyclone Chair (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cyclone-chair/)
in behind the Sitlight pad the Gorilla is more comfortable under load (for me)
than it was with its original stay and hip belt, yet significantly lighter.
According to the Specs it should weigh 624 grams in this configuration, (575
without the Sitlight) not too bad for a very tough comfortable 48 litre
pack. I suspect that a narrow hip belt is normally better for folks who
carry a bit of weight around their midriff themselves – as I do!
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-gorilla-in-the-hand/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-gorilla-in-the-bush/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-best-laid-schemes/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pimping-a-gorilla/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/linelok-pack-tie-down/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/attaching-tie-downs-to-your-pack/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-tardis-folding-space/
27/11/2016: Top Tune in Oz: Don’t You Like It Here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZZlo0WZ_iU
27/11/2016: Klymit Inertia O Zone
Ultralight Exclusive Sleeping Pad and Pillow combined: An interesting
idea: fits inside your sleeping bag for extra warmth. R = 1.3, from US$51.99
11.9 oz (339 grams): http://www.klymit.com/inertia-ozone.html & now on Massdrop; https://www.massdrop.com/buy/klymit-inertia-o-zone-ultralight?referer=EJ89BQ
27/11/2016: The Eternal Headtorch: Coghlans Dynamo Flashlight: http://www.coghlans.com/products/dynamo-flashlihgt-1202 available eg Anaconda @ $10.99: Wind the handle for 1 minute to get up to 7 minutes of light. Features 2 bright LED lights, 10 Lumens. Positive feeling ON/OFF switch. Convenient key chain clip. Configured as a headlamp as shown, total weight 21 grams. This would make a good emergency torch. Will still work after all your batteries fail. Bright enough to read a book at night, to cook your dinner and do your camp shoes.
27/11/2016: Cool Brother is watching you: Orbi
Prime: The First 360 Video Recording Eyewear: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/orbi-prime-the-first-360-video-recording-eyewear-camera-travel#/
27/11/2016: The One. The Only. Groucho: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEFd_2_b6X8
So much greater than Karl!
27/11/2016: Under Trump NASA will be back, and mankind can once again look up and dream of heading for the stars, even take a few small steps in that direction – like a return to the moon (this time to stay!) and the first manned trips to Mars: http://joannenova.com.au/2016/11/trump-total-skeptic-has-open-mind-on-climate-and-wants-to-shut-down-politicized-research-at-nasa/
27/11/2016: One fewer monster in the world today: May you rot in Hell, Fidel along with your Tussaud colleagues; Chavez, Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot
& etc. When the countless graves give up their dead (including the hundreds
of thousands scattered along the sea floor between
26/11/2016: Camo merino wool for deer hunting. This is the gear you need: https://gearjunkie.com/icebreaker-hunting-fishing-merino-apparel
Snapped this
one at Icebreaker’s Shop
I have this hat
in black and I have a few more on my Xmas ‘wish list’. It is the best hat I
have ever owned. It keeps the sun off your face and out of your eyes well (so
you won’t miss that critical shot because of glare). It is warm enough on a
cold day, but can be paired with one of their UL merino beanies yet on hot days
it wicks wonderfully and dries so quickly you are never aware it is wet.
More merino
wool/icebreaker posts to come…
The raincoat
made it into the Xmas basket.. I bought a beautiful green hoodie and a lovely
brown dress shirt. They were an incredible bargains!
26/11/2016: Supernovae sport Mickey Mouse ears: Just why alien civilisations should blow up whole stars just to send us poor quality pictures of Mickey Mouse, or why they are such admirers of the works of Walt Disney at all remains a mystery: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23230992-300-mickey-mouse-ears-may-explain-universe-biggest-explosions/
26/11/2016: A Big Hurrah: How to Talk
to Your Pansy Ass Marxist Nephew at Thanksgiving by Uncle Strickland: http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/5minute_arguments/how_to_talk_to_your_pansy.php
& follow it up with: Watching the Snowflakes Melt: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/11/watching_the_snowflakes_melt.html
25/11/2016: Every Victorian needs to read this today. Jo has shown just what a disastrous, economically suicidal decision the closure of Hazelwood will be. We must all work together to ensure it does not happen before it is too late and we become the economic basket case that cloud cuckoo land SA already is: http://joannenova.com.au/2016/11/victoria-paying-big-to-drive-at-breakneck-speed-to-repeat-south-australias-blackout/
25/11/2016: Bernardi has written a really great political ‘speech’ here. He is signalling that if things don’t change (and soon) on the conservative side of politics, he is going to walk – and take his 50,000 members with him! This is the beginning of the end for Malcolm: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/bernadi-gets-ready-his-email-is-a-warning/news-story/a0964c2dca92c9b11df04bbae1d609c2
25/11/2016: What if you still wanted to live in a majority European country (as the majority of people in the world probably want to do? http://pickeringpost.com/story/thank-god-for-islam-and-thank-god-for-isis/6679
24/11/2016: This will be the trigger: Turnbull’s
days are numbered (in single digits I suspect). Conservatives will not wear
this. Our civilisation will not be turned upside down by this leftist fifth
Columnist in the guise of a Prime Minster. He is not a Prime Minister’s
button-hole (Mis-typing there somewhere. You decide): http://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/savva-confirms-turnbull-considering-samesex-marriage-sellout/news-story/4d6cb7ed774e82b884a886bbd5d1573b
24/11/2016: The ‘Silent Majority’
becomes ‘The Outspoken Majority’ – and Thank Goodness For that! For far too
long we have allowed the Looney Left and the even more sinister utterly evil
greens to dominate debate – and ‘The Agenda’ in general. (Aside: Folks who
would ban the wondrous yet harmless chemical DDT knowingly condemning 100
million people plus to death from malaria - as they did, or who would advocate
‘organic agriculture’ which would produce at least 1/3 less food from the same
land – meaning either that one-third of humanity must perish, or that our
agricultural land must be extended by one-third, thereby utterly obliterating
all the wilderness and wildlife they pretend to value and protect, can hardly
be described as anything but utterly wicked!) But Brexit, Trump and (soon to
be), a resurgent Tony Abbott led Government will spell the end of all that!
Hopefully for a generation at least.
For around two
generations now we have given passive consent to these monsters to poison and
ruin the minds of our children in our schools and universities; and we have
wasted countless billions of dollars of taxpayer’s money, money which ought never have been collected, to be splurged
on one silly season scheme or another – and to subsidise their apparatchiks to
live a life of indolent plenty whilst steadily undermining all our hard-won
values, and squandering the sacrifices (for Freedom) of generations of our best
and brightest on the battlefields where our civilisation bravely defended
itself against barbarism, whilst all the while the barbarians were in our midst
beavering away as a Fifth Column to annul all the sacrifices of our heroes
(meanwhile condemning millions to hapless murder by evil monsters in their
puppet regimes everywhere, eg the 8 million souls murdered by the communists
after the Fall of Saigon, for example). The quisling efforts of myriad
treasonous communist trade unionists to destroy our troops in New Guinea and
elsewhere have been admirably highlighted by Hal Colebatch’s in his wonderful book ‘Australia’s Secret War: How Unionists Sabotaged Our Troops in World
War II’: https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2014/01-02/treachery-unions-second-world-war/
& https://quadrant.org.au/shop/books/australias-secret-war-unions-sabotaged-troops-world-war-ii/
& http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/unions-exposed-as-war-saboteurs/story-fni0cwl5-1226751793596
They continue their sabotage amongst us, weasling their way into every fabric
of society and squirreling away to undermine and destroy all that is good and
true and beautiful – but they will not win, and must be
stopped. Maybe, at long last their reign is over…
24/11/2016: Backpacking Gear Advice:
The Three ‘Biggies’: I wrote this in reply to a query from a reader about what
backpack, tent sleeping bag he should buy. As you can see, I do not always
recommend people buy.
Hi (Reader) -
and Thanks. As you can probably see from my light posting - and from my post
this morning (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pneumonia/)
, I haven't quite recovered yet from my trip to
I have had the
old Mariposa (@600 grams) for years. For some reason GG have blown the weight
out to nearly 1,000 grams. Mostly this is in the ridiculously heavy hip belt
(See: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-gorilla-in-the-bush/
) In contrast, my Zpacks Zero (previously called: Blast) pack in Dyneema weighs
380 grams with pad sleeve, rear and side pockets (one long for a tent), tie
downs etc. Add @ 60 grams for the Air Beam pad. It carries about 54 litres
inside. Della has sewn a handy inside pocket in mine for stowing important
things like passports etc in a secure, easy reach manner).
If you use Sea
to Summit Ultrasil Compression bags (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-tardis-folding-space/
) you can fit much more than this, and you can tie stuff on top as well (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/linelok-pack-tie-down/ or http://www.theultralighthiker.com/?s=tie+down ). Plenty big
enough even for a trip of once month carrying all your own food and even a pack
raft for crossing rivers (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/
& http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ultralight-paddle/)!
Joe (says he) will not do the pad sleeve any more, but he has a shock cord pad
attachment which will work just as well (See: http://www.zpacks.com/backpacks/zero.shtml Scroll down).
This will provide plenty of load transfer and comfort for a pack up to eg 15 kg
- and you should try to keep under 10 (inc food) and say 6 for your lady!
I think you would be hard put to find something lighter and warmer than Zpacks double sleeping bag (or quilt). If you are used to a hood, you should buy (eg) two of these as well. they are also great for cold nights/mornings: http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/goosehood.shtml Others make a similar thing. The Triplex tent is very good for weight, but I think my designs are better – and certainly cheaper. I have not yet completed them (I know) and when I do I think I will offer them to the public as a pattern to purchase – maybe as a kit Later I may think about having them made in a low labour cost country – I am getting ahead of myself here. However I will give you one/more for your own use, but I have not quite finished the http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-deer-hunters-tent/ yet (Soon - I will get better!), but in the meantime I think you should have a go at this one (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/honey-i-shrank-the-tent/
) in Tyvek yourself – which I think the
instructions are transparent enough for the intelligent person to work out
(with maybe a bit of prompting) See also: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/new-decagon-octagon-tyvek-igloo-tent-design/
).
When you are
happy with it, you can order the silnylon from http://www.tiergear.com.au/11/online-shop/diy-gear
and make an even lighter one. I think you will be happier with it, have a tent
which goes up (and stays up) quicker than Joe's and which will cost you a
fraction of the price. You will find it quite easy to make (the roof), and once
you have that, you can play around with the floor to your heart's content – and
will get it right (eventually). The roof (in Tyvek) weighs 607 grams. In
silnylon it will weigh 560 grams with the poncho floor - a little more if you want a sewn in floor
with overlapping mosquito net door, but still not much more than 600 grams plus
pegs and guys (@100 grams). It will be much cheaper than a cuben fibre tent -
and you can now make field repairs to silnylon with http://www.theultralighthiker.com/gear-repairs-tape/ so that cuben is (almost) obsolete!
PS: Backpack
Sizing: Some really good advice here: http://gossamergear.com/wp/how-to-size-and-fit-an-ultralight-backpack
& http://gossamergear.com/wp/which-gossamer-gear-backpack-is-right-for-you
. The advice applies equally well to other brands of backpack.
PPS: Your
height/weight is not a reliable guide. NB: My opinion is that hip belts do not
work well for everyone. Some folks may be more comfortable and walk more freely
without them altogether. Fatter people (as I have been most of my life) will
probably do better with a simple webbing (3/4’ even) hip belt. Thinner folks
might benefit from a wider hip belt. They do not need to add much weight.
Zpacks hip belts - available separately for sewing on yourself (enquire) weigh
approx 50 grams! (See ‘Padded Belt’ here; http://www.zpacks.com/backpacks/zero.shtml Scroll down).
PPPS: Instead
of buying a pack, you might think of making one. I recommend Ray Jardine’s
backpack Kit (http://www.rayjardine.com/ray-way/Backpack-Kit/index.htm).
As you will see, there are two options, one with a hip belt. Be careful which
you order, as the hip belt can’t be added later (according to Jenny). If you
are happy with it, you could always make a tougher one eg out of Dyneema at a
later date. (Two weights of Dyneema available eg. here: http://thru-hiker.com/materials/coated.php You will notice
they also have many other interesting projects – including a backpack/s. One
advantage of making your own is that you will know exactly how to fix it in the
field – should you ever need to!
23/11/2016: Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RD4imJ7wWB9FU&v=YrLk4vdY28Q
23/11/2016: Nuts! What happens when you run out of other people’s money? http://bigthink.com/natalie-shoemaker/canada-testing-a-system-where-it-gives-its-poorest-citizens-1320-a-month
23/11/2016: Pneumonia: Three weeks ago
now since I left Namche Bazar for Everest with this awful
life form growing in my chest like some incubus from ‘Alien’. Since then it and
my body have waged an uncivil war back and forth with my life for stakes.
Sometimes one has the ascendancy, sometimes the other. The medicos have been
entirely unsuccessful in isolating it, and the three types of antibiotic I have
quaffed so far have only managed to hold the line – if that. The outcome
remains uncertain, though some days I do seem almost myself. Others though I am
back to being as weak as a kitten, even if (as today) I have pumps to fix, or
other jobs must be done.
I have had I
think five crises since it hit; once between antibiotics, I was so weak I could
not rise from my couch, and could not even call loudly enough to alert Della ,
(whom I could actually see just in the next room) to take me to hospital.
Fortunately, instead of slipping away, the other antibiotic kicked in after
about an hour, and I was able to rise and resume my conversation with the
world.
Pneumonia is
not particularly distressing: when you are at your weakest you feel quite
unconcerned that you are slipping away, though I must say I do not particularly
enjoy the not breathing! The most unpleasant it has been was on my ‘trail of
tears’: the 60+ km interminable two day journey (normally four short!)
staggering myself back from Dingboche to Lukla desperate that Della would have
a chance to save my life. (She still seemed to want to – habit is a funny
thing!) And she has, so far, succeeded! ‘It is the physician’s love heals the
patient’ was Ferenczi’s dictum.
Many people
succumb to this dreaded ‘Khumbu Cough’ on the Everest Base Camp Trek. The trail
is suffused with the most awful dust during the dry season as there are
thousands of trekkers on the trail with their attendees of yet more thousands
of guides, porters, yaks, donkeys, horses, dogs…all of them defecating ,
hacking and spitting on the trail which is bleached dry by an eternal sun, so
that the dust ever whirls up, become a loathsome fug of bacterial stew which
you means must breath in. The air is too thin to breath through your nose so
you are eternally gulping in huge but unsatisfactory lungfuls though your mouth
which you make your best effort to keep covered with a neck warmer, buff ,
scarf or balaclava (against the cold mostly) – but it is not enough to keep
whatever these bugs are out.
The excessively
dry air probably aids its malevolence. The altitude, exhaustion, poor diet
& etc no doubt do not help, so that many people become quite ill and may
take long to recover – if at all. Some cough so much they break ribs –
thankfully not me! Pneumonia used to be such an infection: ‘the ‘old man’s
Friend’ they once described it as – as it gently led him to his end). If you
survived, a long sea voyage of rest and recuperation for six months was
normally prescribed – for the well to do. The poor, no doubt simply perished.
It may be possible to wear a more serious dust mask to keep it out. I would do
some research on that if you are silly enough to be contemplating this awful
trek. I will have a subsequent post with recommendations. Watch out for it!
For my own, I
wish I had cleaved to my nearby haunts. I may not travel overseas again –
certainly not to the
), Tanjil Bren (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-winter-route-western-tyers-to-tanjil-bren/), Western Tyers (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-winter-route-western-tyers-to-tanjil-bren/), Yarra Falls (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-mystery-falls/)
, the Forty Mile Break Rd, the Ada Tree, Mt St Phillack Saddle(http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-sidetrip-baw-baw-to-mt-st-phillack/)
, Whitelaws Hut Site (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-st-gwinear-track-junction-to-whitelaws-hut/)
, the Mushroom Rocks (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/upper-yarra-track-section-seven-mushroom-rocks-carpark-to-phillack-saddle/), & etc. Just so much nicer too, really.
23/11/2016: The Not So Ultralight
Hiker’s Tentpeg: What a buy these guys were at
Aldi for my old mate Jock at $2 a pack of four! He reckons on at least a dozen
uses for them including as: markers for night-time fishing set lines, toilet
markers, guy line markers, camp lanterns, night lights…38 grams ea inc AAA
battery. I know you could do the same thing in ultralight with Clam Cleat
Lineloks (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-perfect-guy-line-for-a-hiking-tenttarp/)
or with the Nitecore Tube Lights (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/11-gram-rechargeable-head-torch/)
and probably at much greater expense, but would they have the same panache or
style?
22/11/2016: The News Just Keeps Getting Better: http://www.newser.com/story/234167/biggest-ever-us-oil-find-made.html
22/11/2016: It is hard to imagine how anyone can be so deluded as to take the
Palestinians’ side against
22/11/2016: Your daily dose of ‘political incorrectness’. Well said, Larry: http://pickeringpost.com/story/frustrated-aboriginal-women-spill-the-cultural-beans/6656
20/11/2016: Boys, and their toys: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/jl-lawson-spin-tray?referer=EJ89BQ
20/11/2016: Climate change on Mars: http://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2016/11/meteorites-reveal-drought-on-mars/
20/11/2016: A big ‘Heads Up’ to Francis Galton and Matt Ridley. I have seldom
seen such a robust and lucid defence of either democracy or the free market: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/wisdom-of-crowds/
20/11/2016: The Sunset of the West:
Mind you, for every faltering, penultimate step it takes it edges
towards a dazzling apogee far greater than any the world has ever seen… Secular
humanism
I grew
up in the long tradition of secular humanism (as
you just imagine ‘we’ all did). Yet when I see a post from a friend who cleaves
yet to ‘Christianity’ (or yet ‘Islam’ Judaism’, ‘Buddhism’ etc) it saddens me.
It seems (to me) that they have had just that same opportunity to liberate
their minds from such shibboleths and fetishes as the remainder of us did. The
‘humanism’ implicit in Christianity is one thing, indeed a grand thing - the
old fogey in the sky quite another!
Such ‘humanism’ is a tradition stretching back
to the Ancient Greeks (indeed also to Judaism), though in many ways I ever
prefer the bluff pragmatism of the Romans. You can imagine someone suggesting to
them that they build another temple. ‘Or we could build an aqueduct or a mighty
straight road will last folks two thousand years’ they might reply. Engineering
is so eloquent!
I know I made a study for many years of
Philosophy and the Western intellectual tradition in general, through
Literature, History, etc. Just last night I was half fevered dreaming (with
this dread pneumonia I carried back with me all the way from Everest; see eg: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-saw-below-me-that-golden-valley/)
of my little 1970s upstairs room in the (Phil) corner of the ‘Quad’ at Sydney
Uni (a replica of C10th Oxford!) whose tiny lead-light window overlooked the
doppelganger of Bishop Berkeley’s famous tree, which I’m sure yet persists -
though neither I nor (the late) Prof David Armstrong is there to see it, though
I remember well how we watched the Transit of Venus seated on its lower
branches back in the days when the world (or I at least) was young. The lass
(Moira) who has ‘The Chair’ today I once knew as a pre-pubescent slip of a girl
- though she is no doubt an aged matriarch now. There but for fortune, go
I recognise, honour (indeed espouse) many of
the moral teachings and precepts of the Christian tradition, but even moreso
the greater lessons of Socrates! Everyone should read Jowett’s timeless
translation of the ‘Socratic dialogues, ‘The Trial and Death of Socrates’ (http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Trial-and-Death-of-Socrates-Pla/9780486270661?ref=grid-view),
then read it again, and again. The New Testament is a poor creature besides.
You can read the first, ‘The Apology’ for free right now here in its entirety: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html
The tradition of western Civilisation
encapsulates these – and much more. I used once peripatetically to recommend to
people Bertrand Russell’s timeless work, ‘A History of
Socrates used (often) to espouse (that) ‘the
unexamined life’ had no worth (often mis-translated as ‘is not worth living’).
If you re-read eg ‘The Gorgias’ carefully you will be stricken again and again
that Socrates is asking, ‘What makes a life enviable – or admirable’? It is not
the life of maximising one’s pleasures (or power) - as Gorgias thought (even
though his minions could put Socrates to death, yet fail to silence him! And as
so many in the West (and elsewhere) seem bent on advocating today. Indeed such
aims and goals are frivolous and meaningless. The quest for truth ought (to be)
paramount. As a (near contemporary) Siddhartha is alleged to have observed: ‘if
a man should glimpse a truth from a solitary cave and (in) so doing die, the
truth will not die with him, but will emanate from his fastnesses and
reverberate around the world’.
The quest for truth ought be the defining
centre of our lives, not the quest for ephemeral pleasures, nor fleeting fame.
In such regard it ought also be emphasized that not only is it not so that
‘everyone is entitled to his own opinions’ as so many demur. Indeed, the
contrary is the case. No-one is. (Leaving aside the implied theology of the
word, ‘entitled’: ie: that to be ‘valued by God’, which is to be valued by nothing,
which is what ‘God’ is, equals to have no value at all!) ‘Opinions’ are not
axioms. They are not truths in themselves. Indeed there are no axioms,
reassuring as
Many folk (including me) re-posted this homily
yesterday: ‘Cheers to all the people who change their minds when presented with
information which contradicts their beliefs.’ I like the simplicity of the
refrain, and its impressive wisdom! I would see much more of what it advocates.
The key tradition of humanism is the examined
life. The robust questioning of all received wisdom which is at the heart of
the Western ‘scientific method’ (so eloquently espoused by the great Karl Popper eg in ‘The Open Society and Its
Enemies’ (https://archive.org/stream/opensocietyandit033120mbp/opensocietyandit033120mbp_djvu.txt).
There is little hope of material or ethical progress unless we cleave utterly
to rational discourse and the careful examination of all that comes before us.
Truth testing is ever the ultimate arbiter of worth. Nothing (at all) has any
value if it is not true. Nothing follows (logically) from a false proposition.
This is the first principle of (Symbolic) Logic and ought be graven in stone
everywhere. Therefore, the single most important quality of any proposition is,
Is it true’. Nothing else matters! Especially, it matters not a jot who you
upset by asking that very question about whatever ‘they’ say. They must either
defend themselves, or if they cannot do so, withdraw. QED.
19/11/2016: Meanwhile, One Nation Surges to 12% in Qld, double the Greens’
vote! An Australian ‘Don’ becomes ever more likely. Will it be Tony Abott? http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/galaxy-poll-one-nation-on-track-to-choose-who-governs-queensland/news-story/bfe44e8d6e882484d27d4567d5f4b052
19/11/2016: Abbott’s New Ministry: It is good that folks are at least (at
last) beginning to talk about this seriously. It cannot happen too soon. Is
there anyone else out there who is not long since tired of that buffoon,
Turnbull? http://spectator.com.au/2016/11/dis-con-notes-2/
19/11/2016: Who would have thought: ‘The man who allegedly set himself on fire
in a suburban Melbourne bank is believed to be a refugee from
19/11/2016: Moslems: For 1500 years they have
been the dire enemies of our civilization. Failure to recognise a thing will
not make it go away. As Chips Rafferty used to say (in ‘Smiley’, you remember?)
‘The horse always kicks, and the gun’s always loaded’. They are ever (their
political and religious leaders) denouncing us, preaching our downfall and
indeed utter annihilation. They say again and again they will start with the
Jews, the Christians, the gays and continue until all else is obliterated and
there remains only their Moslem Caliphate. Whilst they continue to believe as
they do, there is not ONE among their teeming millions who is to be trusted or
tolerated for even a second! In reply to a comment:
Islam IS the problem. Don't be a fool! We all prefer to see the good in others.
If there was any good left in Moslems they would desert Islam in droves!
Instead we see them cleaving to it more and more. That is the greatest danger
the world faces today. ‘Know your enemy’, Sun Tsu: ‘The Art of War’ c700BC!
19/11/2016: Google's New PhotoScan App Makes it Easy to Digitize Old Prints:
Is there anything at all you can no longer do with your phone? https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/15/google-photos-photoscan-app-editing-tools/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits
18/11/2016: The Rolls Royce of Backcountry Trowels. PS: I used to think these
doohickies were pretty silly when I had a pair of heels would mostly do the
same sort of thing, and had done for decades – then I began thinking of digging
for survival water sources, purifying the water found & etc. I decided that
it might well be 13 grams well spent: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/suluk-46-tark-trowel?referer=EJ89BQ
7 http://www.suluk46.com/
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/water-hiking-desalinator/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/sawyer-water-filter/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dehydrated-water/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/rivers-in-the-sky-never-die-of-thirst/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/survival-still/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/water-filter/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/collecting-water/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-egg-ring-ultralight-wood-burner-stove/
18/11/2016: Aloksak make really great waterproof to 200 metres snaplock bags. This one is even big enough to put your rifle in (great for canoeing/boating/hunting trips. It is the only waterproof gun bag I know of: http://www.survival-pax.com/aLOKSAK-Bags-Extra-Large.html Of course the smaller ones are great for your phone, camera etc.
18/11/2016: Don’t worry. Be happy: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/16/peak-oil-indefinitely-postponed/
18/11/2016: Good Grief! Let’s Ban Mansplaining. Will the left never let go and
have some fun: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/swedish-splaining-showdown/news-story/8e864017543775c01312ba8bcee8a007
17/11/2016: I would not usually expect to agree with this guy. Perhaps I am weakened by this pneumonia (or weltschmerz), but these ideas deserve some oxygen nonetheless: ‘Depending on how you define it, "American interests" deserving of military force or threats thereof can be construed to involve everywhere on earth. However, we have just elected a guy with far less warlike or quasi-imperialist tendencies than the John Boltons, the Bushies, the Neocons, and Hillary. That's good. Governments often look for enemies for their own purposes.
Just because countries like pathetic
The world is not
Look at it this way: From Russia's standpoint,
NATO (ie mainly the
Except for
Life sucks for many people on the planet, but
we can't fix that. We are not God and we often make well-intentioned mistakes.
We must count our blessings.’ (Maggies Farm 15-16/11/2016: http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/
)
17/11/2016: The Supermoon and Other Moons That Are Super in Their
17/11/2016: Larry Pickering was not PC back in Whitlam’s day and though he is
sadly terminally ill, he is not today either. What a national treasure he is: http://pickeringpost.com/story/there-s-a-finger-in-labor-s-dyke/6646
16/11/2016: The ‘Moon Illusion’: I knew I had done posts about this
intellectual ‘phenomenon’ long since, so I set off amid my old posts (with the
aid of Control + F) to find it/them. I had thought to just be able to quote
where I wrote that if you cut out a circle of cardboard that just exactly
covers the full moon at arm’s length that you would find that it always does,
whether the moon seems to swell like a balloon or shrink like a pin-head in
your mind’s eye. As well, I found this rich horde of moon lore which I cannot
restrain myself from sharing once more:
15/11/2016: Supermoon: I got up in the middle
of the night and looked at this phenomenon; if anything the moon looked smaller
than usual to me. But I have spent years of my life sleeping on the ground,
camped under the stars gazing up at the night sky. Clearly folks will believe
anything!
16/11/2016: The Silent Majority can now shout out loud, ‘A pox on your
political correctness’. Men in dresses will not be sharing my wife’s toilet.
Neither men nor women in hijabs will dictate a thing - and soon be banished
altogether from our land. Blacks will have the same right as whites: to work,
or starve if they will not, and will have the same share of our land as
everyone else – not 60% paid for by everyone else. And that is only the
beginning of the twisted evils we shall undo forthwith!
16/11/2016: I have been thinking more about those 234 stars beaming laser messages
at us: First I supposed that it might be 234 more versions of the New
Testament, then I realised I had dropped a couple of zeroes in my calculations.
What if they were all beaming the Koran right into our lounge rooms? You think
there is nothing on TV right now? How would you feel if there was just the
Koran on all 234 channels – and in Hi Def and 3D! Say 130 or so showing
Mohammed ascending into heaven on his magic winged donkey and another odd 100
showing him raping five year old girls – as was his wont. And here you are
still an atheist unable to believe that this could be! Well, just you wait
until they translate all those messages. You’ll see: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2109139-strange-signals-from-234-stars-could-be-et-or-human-error/
16/11/2016: You’d Better Believe It: Trump’s
War on the Green Blob Will Make (Almost) All of Us Richer, Happier, and Freer:
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/11/14/trumps-war-green-blob-richer-happier-freer/
15/11/2016: Panic? Don’t Panic: Who would have thought? Imagine there being
nothing at all to worry about. What a worry. What will we worry about now? https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/14/who-needs-the-paris-climate-agreement-co2-emissions-are-declining-on-their-own/
& https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/11/08/study-earths-vegetation-is-causing-a-global-pause-in-co2-growth/
15/11/2016: Supermoon: I got up in the middle of the
night and looked at this phenomenon; if anything the moon looked smaller than
usual to me. But I have spent years of my life sleeping on the ground, camped
under the stars gazing up at the night sky. Clearly folks will believe
anything!
15/11/2016: Remember when
15/11/2016: It looks like scientists and philosophers might have made consciousness far more mysterious than it
needs to be: https://aeon.co/essays/the-hard-problem-of-consciousness-is-a-distraction-from-the-real-one?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=bb1952dd08-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_11_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_411a82e59d-bb1952dd08-68626497
14/11/2016: I Saw Below Me That
Soon you will see no more playful goats as they are banned from the National Park.
Pretty and well cared for donkeys along the way.
It is a pleasant and easy couple of km descent through a pretty forest from Lukla to the prosperous looking agricultural town of Chheplung (though it is much harder struggling back up the other way on the return journey with a chest full of pneumonia!)
Chheplung is a well laid out and prosperous looking agricultural area.
From there you follow the
MThere are many small villages.
And places to take a break.
Some more salubrious than others: Of course along the well-travelled section of the EBC most everything is dressed up to its best. In smaller rural villages you often find rougher accommodation.
There are lots of big and little villages to stop along the way to enjoy a cup of coffee (or something stronger), a snack or a meal. We planned to stop at Monjo (because of its altitude rather than its being half way), but we spent a little too long ‘catching up’ before we set off, so that we ended up staying at the Himalayan Guest House (nice), Bengkar instead. Most folk stay at Phakding (quite a big town) which is about half way to Namche, but there is no need; every tiny hamlet has its tea houses for food and accommodation.
Quaint agricultural practices: this hay is being 'raked' with a stick. I saw it cut with a kitchen knife!
Sun drying barley, I guess. Strangely in the tea houses everyone eats Dahl Bat (Rice) even though no rice could grow here.
I found the intercropping interesting; beans and grain grown together.
Everywhere the mountains tower over the valley:
And the river churns in its bed:
All along the route telephone and/or internet reception is mixed/patchy, but usually available – though it may surprise you that there is any at all. Often there is wifi eg in guest houses, etc. Sometimes it is free; at others it might cost eg US$5 for 200 megs. It is lovely though to be able to use ‘Whats App’, ‘Facebook Messenger’ or etc to conduct telephone or video calls with your loved ones on the other side of the world! (I know I did.)
Endless religious gibberish pollutes the scenery.
Everywhere in
Of course religion can be beautiful too. I was particularly impressed by these automated 'prayer mills'. This must save some time grovelling in the dust muttering incantations!
A 'Prayer-o-matic'!
Any damned fool (from Cecil Rhodes on, (with his Cape to Cairo Railway) though he was not one – what an amazing man; the only person in history to have not one, but two whole countries named after him!) can see that Nepal must have a modern conduit to the sea, else the efficient transport of goods/services and all the wealth that trade brings will never emerge. The Maoists will not even build roads. These (hiking) tracks we stumble along are funded entirely by the donations of kind passers by.
Freeway construction Nepali style.
An old man whose sign indicated he had summitted Everest five times was collecting for just such track repairs just out of Namche – and the track was being repaired right there with the proceeds. You scarce ever see that sort of thing from any government! Once they get hold of your money, it’s gone!
Meanwhile folk stagger by carrying loads on their backs which small lorries would not be ashamed of. We often saw young teenagers (girls and boys) carrying 15 slabs of canned booze up huge mountains for the later delectation of rich foreignors. PS: Is ‘Everest’ so named because of the likelihood that if you climb it you will ‘ever rest’ there - as some hundreds (starting with Mallory), do?
No 'Worksafe' here.
This poor guy staggered along under the weight of over half a cubic metre of plywood. Some other poor devil had hauled in on their backs the huge steel stoves used to heat the lodges, weights of 150 kg, I’d guess! You just know that in many of the huts you pass by there must be just such dreadfully broken human beings weeping and praying to Buddha, just as other poor beggars call out uselessly to Allah or Christ elsewhere.
Santa Claus has lost his reindeer.
I saw one poor man staggering along under a monstrous load, a huge
swelling on the side of his face where a tooth was abscessed or etc. He
clutched at it tenderly and shuffled on, tears in his eyes – you know it will
be ever so, until his death. Dental problems are yet the world’s single biggest
killer. There is not a lot really romantic about living in those mountains even
if they might seem pretty to us – which is why the seething millions hanker for
the smogs and overcrowding of
Of course the UN and other such Leftist ‘aid’ organisations hold lots of meetings there to discuss what ‘small is beautiful’ world solutions might help, then find (mysteriously) at meeting’s end that all the funding has been spent on the meetings! The population is left to pull itself up by its own bootstraps - which it will, but much more slowly than it might if it got just a little help up. A road here and there, for example.
Bridge at Phakding. Keep and eye out for the turnoff here on the way back.
There is a very long bridge across the river at Phakding which you would be well served to give the yaks first turn at, and maybe count how many others are aboard before you venture forth your feet. It is not near so high as the highest ‘double bridge’ just as you begin the climb up the mountain towards Namche. ‘Tully’ reckoned it to be 150 metres down to your death on the sharp teeth of the river far below. I did not demur - being too fearful to look down!
Old and new bridge.
Tully surges off the high bridge.
On the slopes climbing up to Namche (and elsewhere) there are some interesting plants – many extensively gnawed by yaks or hacked by folk for kindling. Others appear sacred to man and beast alike. I noticed a beautiful blackberry with pure white canes, for example.
Whiteberries.
Coming up the rise in to Namche: 
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/i-saw-below-me-that-golden-valley/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/to-the-roof-of-the-world/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/everest-base-camp-three-passes-trek/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cold-weather-face-masks/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/my-life-was-wide-and-wild-and-who-can-know-my-heart/
14/11/2016: On my Facebook feed this morning; ‘Three things cannot hide for long: the moon, the sun and the truth.’ Attributed to the Buddha. And apparently there will be a ‘super moon’ tonight! Yet so many folks still believe in the ‘butterfly effect’ eg that the Sun cannot possibly be responsible for climate, but rather some incredibly inconsequential (300 parts per million!) and weak force. Seems the Buddha was wrong!
14/11/2016: Meanwhile…a scientist has
discovered laser messages from 234 G3 stars. We may not be alone after all:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2109139-strange-signals-from-234-stars-could-be-et-or-human-error/
14/11/2016: Turnbull Embarrasses Me: As if the American people (and the
Australian people) had not spoken clearly and loudly enough against such
Leftist bullshit (NB the results in the weekend’s
14/11/2016: Solar Powered Cigarette Lighter: This is such a great idea.
Everyone should own one, or even three: http://www.banggood.com/Solar-Igniter-Take-Firearms-Emergency-Tool-Gear-Camping-p-1034979.html?rmmds=category
14/11/2016: Well, Hello, Kellyanne; it’s time you began: http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/11/congratulations-to-1st-woman-to-run-a-winning-campaign-for-president-of-the-usa.html
13/11/2016: Deconstructing Waltzing
Waltzing Matilda is an Australian icon. It is quite likely that more Australians know the words to this song than even their national anthem. There is probably no other song that is more easily recognised by a populace: young or old: native or a newly arrived immigrant.
The lyrics to Waltzing Matilda were (allegedly) written in 1895 by Banjo Paterson, an Australian bush poet, while holidaying on a huge cattle and sheep station (ranch) in the Australian Outback. He was inspired by a tune he heard being played by Christina Macpherson the daughter of the owner of the property. Banjo and Christina worked together composing the song. Whether they also got it away is left to your imagination. She set the music for Waltzing Matilda. The song was an instant hit. The words were written to a tune played on a zither or autoharp by 31‑year‑old Christina, one of the family members at the station. 31? Old for such high jinks!
Macpherson had heard the tune ‘The Craigielee March’ played by a
military band while attending the Warrnambool steeplechase horse racing in
Victoria in April 1894, and played it back by ear at Dagworth.
As with so many icons of the Left, there is a degree of dishonesty at its heart. For example, the tune was stolen: The march was based on the Scottish Celtic folk tune ‘Thou Bonnie Wood of Craigielea’, written by Robert Tannahill and first published in 1806, with James Barr composing the music in 1818. In the early 1890s it was arranged as the ‘The Craigielee’ march music for brass band by Thomas Bulch. This tune, in turn, was possibly based on the old melody of ‘Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO1DPWLumvw), composed by John Field (1782–1837) sometime before 1812. Banjo’s song was first recorded by John Collinson in 1926. You can listen to it here: http://aso.gov.au/titles/music/waltzing-matilda/clip1/ I think I prefer the original title, ‘Go to the Devil and Shake Yourself’!
Of course
First read the song Waltzing Matilda (below) again , then I will begin to ‘decontruct’ it for you:
Waltzing Matilda, Lyrics to Song
1Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
2Under the shade of a coolibah tree
3And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
4Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
5Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
6Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me
7And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
8Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
9Along came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong
10Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee
11And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag
12You'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.
13Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
14Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me
15And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
16Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
17Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred
18Down came the troopers, one, two, three
19Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?
20You'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.
21Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
22Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me
23And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
24Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
25Up jumped the swagman, leapt into the billabong,
26You'll never catch me alive, said he
27And his ghost may be heard as you pass by the billabong
28Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me.
29Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
30Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me
31And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
32Who'll come a-waltzing, Matilda, with me?
Just some key words: First ‘camped’ (Line 1) rather than ‘trespassed’. This innocuous word sets the scene for who is in the right and who in the wrong in this interchange of ideas and clash of social classes. The swagman is innocently ‘camping’ amid a benevolent nature which will provide him with all its largesse (food, drink peace) as his ‘right’. The tranquillity and ‘appropriateness’ of the scene is emphasized over and over again by the choice of words ‘waltzing’ and ‘singing’ for example (Lines 11,12,13,14,15,16!). There is no indication that he is a ruffian who has no business being where he is. In reality the swagman is a shiftless idle derelict, illegally trespassing on someone else’s private property which the owner has paid good money for and spent considerable effort and work building up, eg creating mobs of (highly edible) sheep, which the swagman wantonly kills and steals.
The ‘class’ difference between the protagonists (and the role of the Government in reinforcing this class system) is emphasized by the choice of word to describe them their conveyances and possessions. The swagman is on foot (‘waltzing) whereas the owner (described disphemistically) as a ‘squatter’ (as if he had no right to the land -though he had actually paid for it!) is ‘mounted’ (to stress his ‘
High falutin’ nature, and not just on any common nag (it would in reality have been a ‘whaler’) but on a ‘thoroughbred’ (which would in fact have been little use for mustering sheep - it would break its legs!) His actions are backed up by the full force of the establishment and the law by the presence of not just one but by a whole bevy of gendarmes (three) so that at the outset the ‘poor’ swagman is outnumbered (four to one) by the onerous forces of capital and the law – O, the injustice of it all!
Let’s look at how that crime is dealt with: The ‘jumbuck’ (‘sheep’ = Line 9) is obviously innocently coming to the stream for its evening drink when the swagman ‘grabs’ him and ‘stows’ him. The violence of this encounter is glossed over and the swagman places the remains of the sheep in his food bag as if it were his own property. There is no hint in the song though of ‘blood upon the wattle’. There is no indication even that the action was ‘unkind’. The sheep might almost later on extricate itself from the offending bag after having had a peaceful nap, and saunter on its way as if the whole episode had been a friendly jape! Performed after all, with ‘glee’. I’m not sure however if the wether appreciated the jest! He is a bloody mess of meat after all, hacked to pieces. It is astonishing to what an extent the passivity of the crime is glossed over. The swagman just ‘watches and waits’; it is the squatter and his troopers who are the actors. They ‘ride up’ and ‘come down’, etc.
The squatter at least comes straight to the point, ‘Whose is that
jumbuck’? He says. Every event in
It was clearly quite mad to drown yourself simply over the theft of
some mutton anyway, a crime which would most likely only have met with a small
fine in those days. If this event is supposed to have taken place before Samuel
Mort invented refrigerated transport (c1883 and therefore likely - Now Elders
incidentally), then you should know that meat was practically free up until
then as the only usable products of the grazing industry were tallow (fat),
hides and wool as anyone who has played the board game ‘Squatter’, an
Australian version of ‘Monopoly’ ought to know. Meat was simply a waste
product. At one time for example they used to tip up to 4 million sheep carcasses into the
You will note that the cops (troopers) do nothing. Just like cops of every age, they are just in it for the take, eg their fat horses. They do nothing to prevent crime or to solve it.
I also like the morsel of moral advice that you should ‘pass by this billabong’. Its pollution by dead swagmen and sheep is bad enough. I think there is also the suggestion that ‘you’ should eschew a like fate. Whether this means you should desist from rustling, drinking meths, bathing, having anything to do with the police or etc is left to your own imagination – as it should be!
The constant refrain ‘Who’ll’? and its answering chorus, ‘You’ll’ is just too obvious to require explanation. If you have been sucked in by leftist gibberish, no doubt you are totally ignorant and might as well be off ‘waltzing matilda’ with the fairies or lying somewhere (dare I say ‘unlamented’?) on the bottom of some Billabong or other suitable receptacle for the disposal of dead bodies!
The swagman will have his revenge. We are doomed to be haunted by his ghost – just as we are haunted by the ghosts of Whitlam and Keating! Wait a moment! Keating is not dead. He just always looks dead. His is the undead hand of capitalism! Or socialism. Well, something like that.
13/11/2016: Meanwhile in
13/11/2016: Hacked Again: Once more we have had tea leaves in our Google and
bank accounts. Clearly the same folks as last time (as they still had the
numbers of our accounts) –but how do they manage to log in to one’s Google
account (Well, check out Youtube’s instructibles…) They are also able to create
a false debit/credit card (in one’s name) but which the bank has no record of,
then use it to withdraw cardless cash from one of our bank accounts that
neither ourselves nor the bank can withdraw cash from. Something very wrong
with the bank’s systems! Meanwhile our accounts are once again (last time
9/07/2015) locked for a month while they ‘investigate’. Good luck with that,
guys… See http://www.theultralighthiker.com/warning-hacking/
12/11/2016: I would see such ‘snowflakes’ melt in Hell, first. All that is
wrong with ‘identity politics’, the religion of ‘seeming’, the moral paucity of
the Left, and etc, etc. Leak accuser, Melissa Dinnison withdraws her ‘offended’
complaint without penalty (to herself!) ‘Leak said last night he found it
“utterly extraordinary” that Ms Dinnsion was able to make the complaint under
section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and then withdraw it without any
consequences. “This woman, I believe, has very flippantly and recklessly lodged
a complaint with the ARHC,” he said. “It shows what a farcical process this is.
I’ve got News Corp backing me legally. But if I was a private citizen, this
would have cost me an absolute fortune.
“She has put me through a month or so of
incredible stress. She never met me, she doesn’t have to justify anything she
does. No one asked her any questions and it doesn’t cost her a cent. As a
consequence my life has been thrown into utter chaos. And at time when it just
happens to suit her, she just decides this could turn into a bit of a hassle,
so she can withdraw it.”’ (The Australian, 12/11/2016)
It cost us half a million dollars to
defend ourselves against (proven false) accusations (by just such folks) that
we had illegally destroyed trees (native vegetation) on our property. No
penalty ever (yet) applied to our accusers, though the court(s) recommended
they be charged with perjury!
I know where the weeds are and just which
sectors of society need to be grubbed out root and branch!
12/11/2016: Did Viking discover life on Mars: http://phys.org/news/2016-10-year-old-viking-life-mars.html
11/11/2016: I followed my footsteps: I creep into
Garden Restaurant, Himalayan Travellers Inn, Thamel,
Early morning at Kathmandu airport: the smog completely obliterates
the vast
Our plane abandoning us in Lukla, falls off the mountainside.
I have a day waiting for my friend Steve (Tully) Hutcheson to
arrive. I leave Lukla for a walk, first towards Bom, delightfully pronounced
‘bum’. If I had my druthers I would exclusively walk such backcountry trails
and eschew the EBC altogether. There is so much peace and quiet, and no doubt
the ‘real’
Dogs awaiting reincarnation contemplate the Buddha.
Quaint accommodation perhaps, but I am glad of our own modest home at Jeeralang Junction built also from the local earth and entirely with our own hands.
Close up. To underline that culture is humanity’s primary 'need', NB that a woman’s flowers bloom in pride of place even amidst this humble dwelling. The clothes are washed; the children clean.
Further down the valley I visit the local power station and the power station worker’s abode. Clearly no militant trade unions here! In Lukla I stay at the Lama Lodge in the main street http://www.booking.com/hotel/np/lama-lodge-and-restaurant-lukla.html. It has the virtue that you can book online and safely leave a bag for your return, which I did. The food is also excellent and the owners cheerful and delightful. Net it is as cheap as anywhere.
The immense physical effort of creating and linking these
micro-hydro projects all over
Our CFMEU (union) would have the workers 'out' if forced to live and work in such accommodation...they do have power and satellite however!
My cosy room at the Lama Lodge.
In the afternoon I climb the hill behind the town into the rhododendron forests to gain some extra altitude acclimatisation. This is our strategy here: ‘Climb high, sleep low’, climb higher. You must also add in a ‘rest’ day where you sleep at the same altitude twice every 500 metres’ increase in elevation. I added ½ tab of Diamox twice daily to this regime (on my doctor’s advice) to prevent altitude sickness. All are excellent stratagems.
View from the tarmac (Lukla).
Climb up into the rhododendron forests above and you can see the town laid out below you.
Lukla is a pretty town perched high on a flattish space on the side
of a mountain at 2800 metres. It has a modern high school accommodating 400
students. The Nepalis are busily pulling themselves up by their own bootlaces.
There are many shops selling practically everything imaginable. NB: If you
arrived here to start the EBC in just your shorts and thongs, providing you had
a wallet full of money you could purchase all you need along the way. It would
no doubt be even chaper than purchasing your supplies elsewhere. Right here in
the main street a seamstress crafts perfect copies of North Face,
The High School nestled below the forest.
Part of the main street. The shops stretch this for hundreds of metres.
Donkeys and oxen are everywhere.
Next morning I meet Steve at the airport. We ‘do’ a quick tour of the town (Lukla), have some breakfast then are away on our EBC hike. Right at the edge of town the path begins. Throughout it is ‘constructed’ of irregular broken stone, requiring a peripatetic step-up, step down, step carefully…avoid the dizzying abysses. Cleave to the inside edge. Give way to yaks and porters wielding heavy loads…
Steve arrives and begins immediately to get into the spirit of things, contemplating his navel, etc.
The path goes ever on and on... To be continued.
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/to-the-roof-of-the-world/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/everest-base-camp-three-passes-trek/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/cold-weather-face-masks/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/my-life-was-wide-and-wild-and-who-can-know-my-heart/
11/11/2016: To the Roof of the World: I have just limped back from a visit to
Everest - if you wonder why I have been so quiet this last fortnight. I will be
posting about this at greater length in the next few days. I developed an awful
chest infection and am still very weak, so you will have to be satisfied for
now with just this teaser. I will survive, I hope.
Everest View: I console myself with the thought that only a tiny
fraction of humankind has seen this view.
Summit of Nangartschang hill,
Himalayan Sunset.
11/11/2016:
11/11/2016: The Media: Once we used to say, ‘If only the media would deal with really
important issues’…Now, we have Youtube: Eric Cline ‘1177 BC: The Year
Civilization Collapsed’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyry8mgXiTk
10/11/2016: 170 Points! That's how much the ASX has gone up today. Close to its biggest ever one day rise. Yet the elites, the left, the political pundits all claimed a Trump win would be a disaster. I for one have long been fed up with any of these folk having any thing to do with a single cent of my money!
10/11/2016: Tony Abbott: 'Congrats to the new president who appreciates that
10/11/2016: Home safe from the EBC after 32 hours sitting up and 36 hours awake. Thanks to Bryn and Della for coming to pick me up from the airport. More later - after a nap!
10/11/2016: Is Don. Is Good!
09/11/2016: Checking in at Khatmandu. On my way home at last:
09/11/2016: My memories show that four years ago exactly I was sharing another adventure with Steve Tully Hutcheson. May there be many more hopefully not so arduous for either of us as the current one.
08/11/2016: In
Clearly the world needs old men's erections much more than it needs weird critters like that!
08/11/2016: Breakfast in the delightful back garden at the Himalayan Travellers Inn Thamel Kathmandu. Feeling a lot better today.
07/11/2016: Sadly I have had to pull out of the EBC trip as the morning after climbing to 5100 metres my lungs betrayed me. I have something like pneumonia. I have managed to drag myself painfully back to Khatmandu over three horrific days two of them walking over ten hours each from where Della Jones has arranged for my safe repatriation on Wednesday. There was a lot of time yesterday when I thought I would not make it but here I am still. No more adventures for a little while. I would like to point out that this was an unsupported hike - no porters or guides, carrying all my own gear etc. I just checked my walk logger.It says I walked 27 km yesterday and 29 the day before!
04/11/2016: Today we climbed this big hill just outside Dingboche. 750 metres straight up starting above the elevation of Mt Cook. This feather was the only sign of life I saw apart from innumerable crows and tourists.
03/11/2016: Steve Tully Hutcheson: ‘Believe it or not, that is Steve Jones
down below.’ Near Namche Bazar.
Famous quotes of our time (Steve Jones): ‘Everything is bullshit’!
01/11/2016: First view of Everest. These lovely blue flowers were everywhere. Garlic soup for lunch and dinner. With Steve Tully Hutcheson.
01/11/2016: A very hard 800 metres uphill today to Namche. Some great views along the way. With Steve Tully Hutcheson.
29/10/2016: How the other
half live. Rural
25/10/2016: The wildlife seems to get wilder everyday: Yesterday afternoon on our walk two four legged critters crossed the track at speed and at a considerable distance such that I could not quite work out what they were. The only giveaway was the white spot I noticed on the rump of the second one. When I arrived at the place they had crossed the ground was too hard for tracking. Then I began to hear their infernal growling which indicated a war was in progress between two of these guys. (Apologies for the poor quality shot – I only had my phone with me).
They do say that once you start to see them there are already too many koalas and that they are beginning to destroy the forest. Anyway there are probably enough to begin harvesting them for their beautiful coats. This one had a particularly luxuriant growth. They would be easy enough to drop out of a tree eg with a .22 short, or a sling, or a spear.
When I was a kid folk used to ‘spotlight’ critters like this (mainly possums – everything was tucker back then) by walking the full moon along the branches of a tree, then plinking them down with the help of the old Lithgow .22 single shot. PS. We usually see one or more of these little guys too. There must be plenty of ants around. There are also almost innumerable swamp wallabies and grey kangaroos.
25/10/2016: The danger green groups are to our economy: Warning: If we lose Adani I fear we lose the whole ball game: ‘A highly orchestrated, secretly foreign-funded group of Australian environmental activists opposing the $16 billion Adani coalmine in Queensland has “dampened” Indian investment interest in Australia and received heated criticism from the federal Coalition and Queensland Labor governments.
Indian Power Minister Piyush Goyal told The Australian yesterday the
years of legal challenges to the vast Carmichael coal project, now revealed to
have been funded by multi-million dollar foundations in the
After meeting Mr Goyal, federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan, who
has previously criticised the campaign to block the Indian project, said: “We
need to be able to take advantage of the demand for coal in
Mr Goyal ... warned that
It is up to Australia to decide whether they want to expand their economy, whether they want to create jobs in their states, or whether they want to forgo that business altogether,” he said.
It is estimated the Adani project would create up to 10,000 jobs in its construction phase...
In August last year environmentalists won a court fight against
Adani over the protection of a skink and a snake, but last month the Indian
company won the latest round in the Federal Court. Mr Goyal said
“We are trying to tackle them. We are looking at their sources of funding seriously,’’ he said. “It is time other parts of the world get together and take this up as a challenge. I need to get electricity to those 200 million who don’t have electricity. I need to make sure that that electricity is affordable.”’ Australian 24/10/2016.
25/10/2016: Could be a game changer: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/10/18/serendipity-yields-a-process-to-convert-carbon-dioxide-directly-into-ethanol/
24/10/2016: Cold Weather Hut Booties: I made two pairs of these (one also for my friend Steve Hutcheson who I am going with) for my upcoming Everest Base Camp and Three Passes Nepal Walk. They weigh 78 grams per pair (as you can see). They are a bit rough as I was in a hurry and they are prototypes really, but I’m sure they will work. (PS; They weighed 36 grams each next day after the glue dried)
I wanted something with plenty of insulation (3/4” of closed cell foam) as the unheated floors up there are bound to be pretty cold. I used this toughened closed cell foam intended for making workshop floors more comfortable. I reasoned that if it is up to a bit of wear and tear from walking on it should work well upside down on the bottom of a pair of shoes too.
I figure this pair will last many camping trips, and they cost next to nothing to make. I already had the 2 oz ripstop, the foam mat, the Velcro, the glue, the sewing machine…When I work out a slightly better pattern I will post it. I just cut this one by standing on the material (wedged between the two soles) and trimming it. They work OK.
24/10/2016: Must Take a Gun With Us on our afternoon walks. This afternoon, a fine fallow stag had just crossed the track in front of us and had dropped this excellent antler. When I have time I will have a look around his rub lines (and he must have a wallow in the gully nearby) to see if I can find its mate. As I have mentioned before the game around here (Jeeralang and Yinnar is really building up. Probably if I went out with a spotlight of a night I would see something interesting betimes on our top flat! In the picture I am trying to teach Spot what the stag looked like. He seems quite non-plussed!
24/10/2016: No Sew Sandals:
I made this pair as an experiment as I know there are lots of folk who don’t
sew. This pair can be made with a pair of scissors, some blue hiking mat foam,
a car inner tube, some Velcro and some contact adhesive (eg Selley’s Gel Grip)
Should take you less than half an hour. They weigh 80 grams each in
24/10/2016: Toughened Foam Flip Flop: This foam which is toughened on one side making it suitable for quieting and insulating concrete workshop floors makes a more durable foam flip-flop which also has some grip.
You can cut it out in a minute with a pair of scissors. All you need is a little contact adhesive and some Velcro to finish the job. The result is a camp shoe which should last many trips which weighs just 30 grams (each)
24/10/2016: Back in 1954 they
had real things to worry about; http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/great-tea-crisis-of-1954/news-story/d80f0d1107d32ba2f526ef772f86cd7d?nk=c7257e6cc45a2e31b6e849877532dd85-1477259579
24/10/2016: Looks like Julia may have forgery added to her list of charges: http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/10/julia-gillard-apparently-used-a-forged-letter-from-was-office-of-state-corporate-affairs.html
23/10/2016: Everything you
never wanted to know about mice. Bet you didn’t know they originated in
23/10/2016: You don’t have to be Jewish to see we could save a lot of money on submarines, get better submarines – and have them now: http://www.jns.org/news-briefs/2016/10/21/israel-finalizing-deal-for-three-nuclear-subs-from-germany#.WAqQsuB95Rw=
23/10/2016: Ever in denial: Alarmist Scientists Are Trying To Hide The Good News That The Planet Is Getting Greener: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/10/19/ala/
22/10/2016: Good on you,
Chuck: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/chuck-berry-album-90th-birthday-rock-and-roll-a7367851.html
22/10/2016: And now for the
really good news: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/10/21/first-new-nuclear-power-plant-in-u-s-in-20-years-goes-online/
22/10/2016: Just when you
thought there was nothing new under the sun: http://heatst.com/life/millennial-men-rush-to-restore-their-foreskins-feel-whole-again/
21/10/2016: Progress: it always seems more than it really is. The good news: I did eventually finish that fence; http://www.theultralighthiker.com/fencegarden/ and today I managed to plant a couple of dozen new fruit trees in the new orchard area…and the photos prove I am only half the man I once was! The new area is not quite finished I admit. The fence is not yet quite JR proof. There are still some half dozen or so trees to add, but it will look great next Spring. Hopefully by then the supports for the garden seat will be something other than plastic pots – though they seem to work very well!
Merrin,
Spot has been such a big help. I would like to tell you he dug all these holes himself!
Spot relaxing in the
21/10/2016: Why are we paying for this ‘Welfare’? ‘SEVEN in every 10 ice and speed users arrested by police have admitted being on welfare. A nationwide survey of methamphetamine users detained by police also revealed more than four in 10 committed crimes to boost their income and feed their habit. The Australian Institute of Criminology survey of 1146 detainees, to be released tomorrow, found the crimes were mainly thefts, burglaries, robberies, shoplifting and drug dealing.’
21/10/2016: Giving Government a power to tax only encourages it to grow, and grow: https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2013/02/03/the-100th-anniversary-of-the-income-tax-and-the-lesson-we-should-learn-from-that-mistake/
20/10/2016: Je Suis Bill Leak:
20/10/2016: Eclecticism: Supermarket Shopping for Ideas…the array of glittering baubles beckons so bright folks fill their mental shopping baskets with a tawdry collection of all manner of ersatz junk with no consideration for their cogency or coherence. Sophism, what Socrates used to call ‘making the worse appear the better reason’ is king. What the medieval ‘Schoolmen’ used to describe as ‘the fatal attractiveness of evil’ rules them all. Remember the ’Schoolmen’ also pointed out that Lucifer used to be the brightest and most beautiful of Angels (‘Lux’ = Light). So, such pretty gems, mostly totally counter factual are swept up into the collective consciousness and required to be adopted as public policy: climate mitigation, redistribution, anti-fracking, disarmament, human ‘rights’, free stuff for all…there is no end to the contradictory and indefensible panoply of nonsense ideas demanded by the ‘hoi polloi’.
20/10/2016: This may prove to be the greatest lecture ever given. A tiny example: ‘The CO2 fertilisation effect is already worth trillions of dollars, according to detailed calculations by Craig Idso…The greening over the last 33 years is…equivalent to adding a green continent twice the size of mainland USA.’ Read it all, carefully here: http://www.thegwpf.com/matt-ridley-global-warming-versus-global-greening/
19/10/2016: Lever Action
Shotguns (and rifles) have been available legally since the late C19th (along
with bolt actions). Most folk go with a double barrels (most side-by-side but
some under-and-over) because they are lighter, yet you can still get that
second shot off quickly (or simultaneously) if needed. Most folks
(traditionally) used shotguns to hunt small game, especially birds where more
than two shots without reloading was less likely and had to be weighed against
the additional weight often lugged through cloying swamps and other treacherous
ground. All along however some folks had
a need for multiple shots or hunted larger (sometimes dangerous game) where a
multi-shot shotgun firing ‘buckshot’ (.30 gauge pellets) or solids were needed.
Nothing has changed. Only the law. There has been no increase in firearms
offending by law-abiding gun owners. Practically all firearms offences are
perpetrated by unlicenced users with illegal firearms. A further restriction on
legal firearms owners does not make the public safer. The contrary is the case.
Rather than outlawing the Adler shotgun (and all other lever action shotguns -
I favour a
20/10/2016: An 8 cm long metal tube approx 2 cm in diameter is what separates the two sides in the ‘Lever Action Shotgun Debate’. This is nearly of the level of nicety as the ‘Little Endians and Big Endians of Gulliver’s Travels or the two sides who tore each other to pieces centuries ago in what Gibbon described as the war of the Significant Dipthong’ when two words (now unspellable with a Qwerty keyboard) between the ‘Homoousians’ and the ‘Homoiousians’ all but destroyed Christendom. Was Jesus of the same kind or of the same substance as God? Somewhat therein as I recall swung the bitter dispute (At last settled by the Nicaean Creed you may have been taught at Sunday School). Five shot Adler lever actions (with a tubular magazine holding four shot-shells are permitted, but a very like tube holding seven shots is the scourge of the ages and a source of indescribable peril from which the public must be protected at all costs (whilst the venerable .303 Enfield which saw sterling service for us in two World Wars with its 10 shot magazine (in its heyday, and arguably still the ‘fastest bolt action rifle in the world’) is freely available…Ah, the sanity of it all!
19/10/2016: Geopolitical
Insanity: UN to declare
19/10/2016: The Paper Tiger: Five men stand under an exploding nuclear bomb yet live to a ripe old age: http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/07/five-men-unanimously-decide-to-stand-underneath-an-exploding-nuclear-bomb-2/ NB: Older readers will perhaps remember how Chairman Mao once famously described the nuclear bomb as a ‘paper tiger’!
18/10/2016: Powerfilm USB +AA Solar Charger:
I fixed the broken wire I had in this unit yesterday. You should never allow a solar charger to flap uncontrollably in a heavy wind! I can see that a lot of reviewers of such units have had them fail. I suspect excessive flexing is the cause. I have mounted it to my Zpacks Blast (Zero) pack with some Lineloks and Dyneema. This is a very light option but will prove too inconvenient in practice, so I will be switching them for plastic buckles and 1 cm webbing today. Then I will quickly be able to move it out of the way when I want something out of my pack.
With the batteries straight out of the storage drawer (so not quite charged) it happily charged my Samsung galaxy 4 Mini (1900 mAh battery) in this configuration at 1% a minute in dappled sunlight (cloudy Spring 20C day) yesterday.
As configured the unit weighs 176 grams including batteries (ie minus the ‘tail’). My Bushnell Mini Solarwrap weighs 116 grams including the AA/AAA battery charger, so an increase of 60 grams. For that 60 grams you get more storage (and you can always have a couple of extra charged AAs for additional storage - at 30 grams each). Bushnell do not quote their storage capacity but I suspect somewhere between 1500 and 2000 mAhs. The Powerfilm unit also has 50% more solar cells and they are clearly much more efficient. The Bushnell unit says it will take 10 hours of sunlight to charge its internal battery. The Powerfilm unit says it will take about 4 hours to charge the two 2000 MAh batteries it comes with, so it has2 ½ times more muscle. Well worth the 60 grams.
Many reviewers of such units clearly have no understanding whatsoever of how such a unit works. Many return them saying they will not charge their iphones & etc. Now electricity (like water) will not run ‘uphill’. If you have a larger battery to charge and it is already filled to over the capacity of the charging unit it will not charge at all.
Another delusion is that the unit should fully charge the appliance to be charged. If you view the two connected batteries as a full water tank connected (on the level) to an empty water tank you will understand that the water will only flow until they are both half full. It is the same with batteries. A full 2400 charge in the charging unit will (in the absence of sunlight) charge the appliance’s 2400 mAh battery to 1200 mAhs ie 50%. When the phone etc has run down some more, it will charge it some more, eg to 40%...and so on.
Notwithstanding the above, in the Powerfilm unit, if the two AA batteries are fully charged and the unit is in full sun it has a capacity above the 2000 or 24000 mAhs the batteries supply so it will charge a battery which is larger (eg 3500 mAhs).
I swapped out the standard 2,000 mAh batteries http://www.theultralighthiker.com/eneloops-rechargeable-batteries/ for the Eneloops Pro 2400mAh versions http://www.theultralighthiker.com/eneloop-pro-aaa-battery/ to give the unit a little more muscle. I also cut off the unnecessary ‘tail’ the unit (photo below) comes with saving 10.5 grams. A new unit may weigh even less than this one.
You can charge AAA batteries if you carry a couple of AA to AA A converters.
18/10/2016: A little bit of
climate history: once folks believed that ‘rain followed the plough’: http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2016/10/19h-century-climate-pseudoscience-rain-follows-the-plow.html
18/10/2016: Did anyone ask the voters if they wanted to spend $10 – $20k per family on a program to change the weather? http://joannenova.com.au/2016/10/victorians-will-have-to-pay-2300-each-and-queenslanders-5600-to-hit-renewables-target/
17/10/2016: Everest Base Camp
& Three Passes Trek:
I am busy getting ready for this (and trying to finish some jobs around the farm so posts have been rather light of late. I am a guest on this trip, so this is mostly Steve Hutcheson’s itinerary for the trip. I will be editing/adding to it over time, so come back and check. I am posting it now so you can check where I am if I happen to eg post a photo on Facebook or etc. If the going gets too rough for me and I have to drop the passes (I am more than twice Steve’s age), I will just go up (and down) from Lobuche to Gorek Shep - but I have been training for this (and I suspect it is relatively much easier than much of what I have done in my life), so I’m hoping for the best. We will carry all our own stuff but we might hire a porter/guide for the passes as the way can be harder to find there and you can’t afford to be wasting time on such long days. Keep you posted:
Day Minus 1: Fly to
Options for
Elbrus Home – LINK (#2 of 101 specialty lodging) - $14 per night, 1 room (2 adults) **
Hotel Osho Home – LINK (#6 of 175 hotels in
Backyard Hotel – LINK (#14 of 175 hotels in
** Pilgrim’s Guest House –
LINK (#10 of 424 B&Bs in
Recommended by this guy on Backpacking Light.
Himalayan Travellers Inn. Good Reviews $11 per night.
Day 0 - Flight to Lukla:
Acclimatisation day Lukla
Stay at Lama Lodge and restaurant A$13/night twin room with ensuite.
A bag can be left here. Booked for return trip.
Better to get on first flight in morning due to fog.
Get a window seat on the LEFT (port) side for views of Everest.
Airport sits at 9,300 feet, 12% grade and drops over a 2,000 foot valley.
Labeled the most dangerous airport in the world.
FLIGHT: BOOK FLIGHT FROM KATHMANDU TO LUKLA
Depart
Arrive Lukla at 6:45 AM
Simrik (Andrei flew this), Tara Air
The reason why Tara Air isn’t as popular (crash in 2016).
Tara Air – (10 kg permitted, $147 USD, refundable)
Simrik Air – Oct 30 (10 kg permitted, $160.22 USD, refundable)
Day 1: Lukla (2800 meters, 9186 feet) to Monjo (2835 meters, 9301 feet)
Time: 4 hours
STAY: Monjo Guesthouse (Stingy Nomads recommendation)
Freshly squeezed juices, hot shower (200 NPR, $2), TEMS permit (NPR 3000, $30).
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Lukla to Cheplung (1:15 hours)
Cheplung to Phakding (1:45 hours)
Phakding to Benkar (1:30 hours)
Benkar to Monjo (1:00 hour)
TOTAL: 5 hours, 30 minutes
Day 2 - Monjo (2835 meters, 9301 feet) to Namche Bazaar (3440 meters, 11286 feet)
Time: 2 hours, 40 min. Short, hard, steep climb.
Bakery: Everest Bakery (chocolate cake)
STAY: Thamsecko Lodge (pay permit on way – NPR 2000 ($20 USD).
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Monjo to Namche Bazaar (3:00 hours)
TOTAL: 3 hours
Day 3 - Namche (3440 meters, 11286 feet) to Khunde/Khumjung (3970 meters, 13025 feet) to Namche. Acclimatisation day.
DAY HIKE: Acclimatization Day
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Namche Bazaar to Khumjung (1:00 hour)
TOTAL: 3 hours
Day 4 - Namche (3440 meters, 11286 feet) to Pangboche (3985 meters, 13074 feet)
LONG DAY
Time: 10 hours
STAY: Buddha Lodge (water now $2 for 1.5L).
En route to Pangboche, stop at Tengboche to see famed Buddhist monastery.
Just in case, Pheriche: Stay at Shangri La Lodge (owner is Tashi Dunder Sherpa); very helpful and knowledgeable.
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Namche Bazaar to Sanasa (1:00 hour)
Sanasa to Phunki Thenga (1:30 hours)
Phunki Thenga to Tengboche (1:30 hours)
Tengboche to Pangboche (1:15 hours)
TOTAL: 5 hours, 15 minutes
Day 5 - Pangboche (3985 meters, 13074 feet) to Dingboche (4410 meters, 14470 feet)
Time: 3 hours
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Pangboche to Orsho (1:15 hours)
Orsho to Dingboche (1:00 hour)
TOTAL: 2 hours, 15 minutes
Day 6 - Dingboche (4410 meters, 14470 feet) to Nangartschang Hill (5085 meters, 16700 feet) to Dingboche. Acclimatisation Day.
DAY HIKE: Nangartschang Hill is close to Dingboche and has great views of Ama Dablam
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Dingboche to Nangartschang Hill (one-way, 1:30 hours)
TOTAL: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Day 7 - Dingboche (4410 meters, 14470 feet) to Chhukung (4700 meters, 15420 feet)
Time: 5 hours, 4730 meters.
Head to
Details: Can be difficult finding trail at times, especially in a little bit of snow.
There are two peaks at the top.
The saddle b/t them is filled with many
Smaller summit is 17,700 feet.
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Dingboche to Chhukung (2:30 hours)
Chhukung to
TOTAL: 7 hours
Day 8 - Chhukung (4700 meters, 15420 feet) to Kongma La (5535 meters, 18160 feet) to Lobuche (4940 meters, 16210 feet)
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Chhukung to Kongma La (3:30 hours)
Kongma La to Lobuche (3:00 hours)
TOTAL: 6 hours, 30 minutes
Note: Lobuche is known to have the worst accommodation.
PASS AND LONG DAY: Kongma La Pass
Time: 9 hours
Start at 4-5 am.
If recent snow, it may be too difficult to go over pass. Go around to Lobuche.
Details: Lots of climbing and then flat sections. Pass waterfalls and lakes en route.
Final climb is rather steep.
Best view of the three passes.
The way down can be difficult. Many huge boulders.
At bottom of pass, large moraine.
Follow meandering path on the glacier (marked by
Head down moraine on opposite side to Lobuche.
Day 9 - Lobuche (4940 meters, 16210 feet) to Gorak Shep (5164 meters, 16942 feet)
Time: 3 hours
Details: Short trek.
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Lobuche to Gorak Shep (2:30 hours)
Gorak Shep to Kala Pattar (one-way, 2:00 hours; return, 3:00 hours)
(for sunset if it is clear, unlikely)
TOTAL: 5 hours, 30 minutes
Day 10 - Gorak Shep (5164 meters, 16942 feet) to Everest Base Camp (5364 meters, 17598 feet)
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Gorak Shep to EBC (one-way, 2:30 hours; return 5:00 hours)
Gorak Shep to Kala Pattar (one-way, 2:00 hours, return, 3:00 hours)
** Do Kala Pattar in the EARLY morning.
TOTAL: 8 hours
DAY HIKE: EBC.
Time: 3 hours up, 1.5 hours back (4.5 hours total)
Tip: Start at 6 am to avoid hiking with HUGE groups!
EXTRA DAY HIKE: Kala Pattar (5643 meters, 18513 feet) for sunset
Time: 1.5-2 hours up. Take it slow.
These are the best views of Everest that you can get from anywhere (as a trekker).
Make sure that it is a beautiful day.
However, in the evenings, you risk low clouds/no view.
The entire base camp is located on the Khumbu Glacier.
Day 11 - Gorak Shep (5164 meters, 16942 feet) to Dzongla (4800 meters, 15748 feet)
Time: 5-6 hours
Suluk: Stay at Himalayan Lodge.
360-degree view of
** Most beautiful mountain town on the hike (right next to large lake).
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Gorak Shep to Lobuche (2:00 hours)
Lobuche to Dzonglha (3:00 hours)
TOTAL: 5 hours
Day 12 - Dzongla (4800 meters, 15748 feet) to Cho La Pass (5420 meters, 17782 feet) to Gokyo (4750 meters, 15584 feet)
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Dzonglha to Cho La (3:00 hours)
Cho La to Gokyo (5:00 hours)
TOTAL: 8 hours
PASS DAY: Cho La Pass
Time: 5.5 hours + 1.5 hours for lunch
Suluk: Stay at Namaste Lodge (ALSO RECOMMENDED BY ‘LIVING IF’ blog).
Favorite place.
**NOTE: Most lodges can arrange porters, guides, or porter-guides for the relevant day. **
CROSSING CHO LA PASS:
http://www.escapeartistes.com/2013/01/04/crossing-the-cho-la-pass/
Details: Favorite pass (in terms of climb, not review).
There is a huge boulder field en route to pass.
Near the top of pass, there is a glacier, which can be very slippery. Trekking poles are essential for this section, and microspikes are recommended (need to do a cost-benefit analysis to see if the micropsikes are worth carrying).
For the last 20 feet, there is a big scramble where you have to use your hands.
Descent: Cross another glacier (Ngozumba Glacier), but it is just a wasteland of rocks.
The path across the glacier is further north than the map shows.
Head north out of Dragnag and you’ll find the path.
There is green paint on many rocks indicating the way.
Day 13 - Gokyo (4750 meters, 15584 feet) to Gokyo Ri (5357 meters, 17575 feet) to Gokyo (4750 meters, 15584 feet)
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Gokyo to
TOTAL: 4 hours
Gokyo to
BEST VIEWS OF EVEREST.
2000 feet straight up.
Stunning view of
Ask Andrei if he went up for sunrise or sunset?
DAY HIKE/CLIMB:
Back in Gokyo, should have great views of
Sacred Lakes of Gokyo!
Beautiful lake (
Details: Gokyo is a big village in the Khumbu.
Has several teahouses (a few on higher end), a bakery, and small shops.
Day 14 - Gokyo (4750 meters, 15584 feet) to Renjo La Pass (5360 meters, 17585 feet) to Lungdhen (4300 meters, 14107 feet)
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Gokyo to Renjo La (3:00 hours)
Renjo La to Lumde (Lungdhen) (3:00 hours)
TOTAL: 6 hours
PASS DAY: Renjo La Pass
Time: 7 hours
Details: First hour is pretty gradual and easy.
Many snowcocks across path (hilarious Himalayan birds).
Second hour is very steep until it opens up near the top of pass into a huge bowl.
Difficult to find path this day. Wind is ferocious and kept changing directions (b/c of being in a bowl).
The pass has gorgeous views of Everest and Lohtse.
The descent has a long set of rock steps. Easiest descent. Wind dies down once down below.
Ends up in a grassy valley with huge mountains on one end.
That valley joins up with another valley that is full of sand (frozen lakes, boulders, mountains).
Tons of potato farms.
Made it to Thame (town hit very badly by earthquake).
If fit, consider going to Thame (longer day, but lower elevation).
Day 15 - Lungdhen (4300 meters, 14107 feet) to Namche Bazar (3440 meters, 11286 feet)
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Lumde (Lungdhen) to Thame (2:00-3:00 hours)
Thame to Namche Bazaar (3:00 hours)
TOTAL: 6 hours
LONG DAY: Long day in terms of distance, but all downhill
Time: 7-8 hours
Day 16 - Namche (3440 meters, 11286 feet) to Lukla (2800 meters, 9186 feet)
LONG DAY: Another long day in terms of distance, but all downhill.
Time: 8 hours
Stay: North Face Resort
LONELY PLANET TIMES:
Namche Bazaar to Monjo (3:00 hours)
Monjo to Benkar (1:00 hour)
Benkar to Phakding (1:30 hours)
Phakding to Cheplung (1:15 hours)
Cheplung to Lukla (1:15 hours)
TOTAL: 8 hours
Day 17 – Return to Kathmandu/Buffer Day #1.
Rest day in Lukla (if too foggy)
Simrik Airlines – (10 kg permitted, $160.22 USD, refundable)
Lukla (6:50 AM) to
Lukla (8:10 AM) to
Lukla (9:20 AM) to
Lukla (10:35 AM) to
Lukla (8:30 AM) to
Lukla (7:00 AM) to
Day 18 - Buffer Day #2
*** FLIGHT: BOOK FLIGHT BACK FROM LUKLA TO
Simrik Airlines
Depart Lukla at 6:50 AM.
Arrive
Lukla to
Fly earlier.
Book an open ticket. Talk with representatives. Contact them in Lukla.
Get a seat on the RIGHT (starboard) side for views of Everest.
17/10/2016: The ‘Establishment’ is certainly running scared trotting out all these implausible allegations against Trump whilst studiously ignoring Hilary’s lesbianism and Bill’s ‘philandering’ and avoiding the main game altogether: the Clinton Foundation, the emails and Beghazi: http://gotnews.com/busted-nytimes-trump-accuser-rachelcrooks-lying-according-family-friend/ & http://pickeringpost.com/story/looks-like-a-gay-ol-time-in-the-white-house/6543 & http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/10/list-debunked-groper-allegations-corrupt-media-donald-trump/
17/10/2016: The Royal Commission’s findings regarding Kimberly
Kitching are that ‘(v) Kimberly Kitching should be charged with and
prosecuted for aiding and abetting the contraventions of each of Diana Asmar,
David Eden, Darryn Rowe, Nick Katsis, Saso Trajcevski-Uzunov and Lee Atkinson
(Chapter 9).’ Yet Shorten’s Labor
promotes her to a place in the Senate!
17/10/2016: This paper shows
that it was CFCs (banned by the
16/10/2016: Adding Down to a Sleeping Bag: I have a Montbell Super Spiral Down Hugger #3 (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/montbell/) which will take me comfortably just below freezing (-1C) but on my upcoming Everest Base Camp and Three Passes hike it is likely to get down to maybe -14C (at Gorek Shep) so I need a little more warmth. I will be adding approximately 3 ounces of 900 fill power down to the bag. I also have a Montbell Superior Down vest, coat and trousers which I can wear (plus a down balaclava and down socks!) so I will be cosy enough.
Spot would like to come too, as you can see.
If you turn the bag inside out you can see where the baffles have been closed. It is a relatively easy task to push all the existing down to the bottoms of the baffle tubes, carefully rip the stitching which closes the baffles, then push handfuls of extra down into the tubes until you are satisfied they are full enough, then sew them up again. You can buy 3 ounces (90 grams) of 900 fill power down for US$39.95 here: http://thru-hiker.com/materials/insulation.php or 800 fill power dry down here: http://www.tiergear.com.au/11/online-shop/duck-down-insulation-425g-15oz for A$30.80 This should drop the (comfort) temperature rating of your bag by approx 7C degrees.
Some additional useful instructions here: http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-replace-feathers-in-a-down-sleeping-bag See videos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRMJUZFTnHM & here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCJp2C4EFjU
16/10/2016: We now owe over a trillion dollars, yet no-one seems to have the political courage to begin reeling this in and saving us from bankruptcy: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/debt-level-extreme-but-politicians-fiddle/news-story/87688b3b5151a453cc54629ca9d3af8c
16/10/2016: That’s
2,000,000,000,000 galaxies! There will sure be some interesting things
amongst them: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/2-trillion-galaxies-astrophysics/2016/10/13/id/753275/
15/10/2016: Perhaps the biggest mystery is not why we can’t remember our childhood – but whether we can believe any of our memories at all: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160726-the-mystery-of-why-you-cant-remember-being-a-baby
15/10/2016: The problem is…‘Those who don’t believe in God
will believe in anything,’ attributed to GK Chesterton.
15/10/2016: At last a popular
writer wins the Nobel instead of some obscure turgid academic hack whom
nobody reads or can understand. Given that the Nobel prize committee is now
dominated by crazy lefties (as indicated by eg who always wins the ‘Peace
Prize’) this is an extraordinary development. Great work, Bob! ‘The Times They
Are A’Changing’. It’s extraordinary that the committee could not find someone
whom nobody had ever heard of (or bought a copy of their slim collection of
awful poems) whom they could have awarded the prize to – someone who needed the
money more even!
14/10/2016: Imagine being the first person in the world to discover that sheep were being raised for meat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DibfJvMhPY I encountered one of these ‘luvvies’ on a South Coast Track (NZ) walk a couple of years ago. Her love of (some) animals had impelled her to set off all the (volunteer funded and maintained) stoat traps from Port Craig to the trailhead, being unconcerned that these little beasties have gnawed their way through 99.9% of NZ’s birds! Vegans, anti-hunters and other assorted animal libbers are just barking mad!
14/10/2016: I know this was the norm before the fall of communism, but I just forgot to wonder whether it continued afterwards; so this is where funding for greenies, anti frackers and other nutters still comes from; https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/10/12/hillary-clinton-email-russia-funding-phony-green-groups/
14/10/2016: The relentlessly arrogant and condescending Noam Chomsky is wrong about most things. The fame which gave him a voice in politics was, of course, his linguistic theory on which, as it turns out, a generation of linguists have wasted their careers. Because that turns out to be wrong too. Much of Noam Chomsky’s revolution in linguistics—including its account of the way we learn languages—is being overturned. When will people stop quoting this guy: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evidence-rebuts-chomsky-s-theory-of-language-learning/
13/10/2016: The Greening of
Europe: You may remember how the ‘conservationists’ once claimed
industrialisation was deforestation, that we were massively clearing land even
though Landsat showed exactly the opposite was happening. Here most graphically
is the evidence that puts the lie to their alarmism. Capitalism is so good for
nature it should be compulsory! Hopefully we can soon be rid of the rest of
their greenie nonsense; https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/12/04/watch-how-europe-is-greener-now-than-100-years-ago/#comments
13/10/2016: If we are all victims of some sort, who are left to be the victimizers? http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440756/microaggressions-victimhood-close-minds-truth-tragedy-and-heroism ‘America’s impoverished ancestors at 15 years of age may have rounded Cape Horn on a schooner or ridden bareback over the Rockies. Not today’s therapeutic college youth. They have been so victimized by racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, and other -isms and -phobias that colleges often provide them “safe spaces,” outlaw “microaggressions” and demand “trigger warnings” to avoid the un-nice.’
12/10/2016: Ultralight Paddle: If you have an ultralight packraft you will need an ultralight paddle. Our lightest weighs 409.5grams. It was an Alpacka ultralight model, now alas discontinued. They also used to sell ‘Ninja paddles’ which fitted on your hiking poles. (Perhaps check the Wayback Machine: http://archive.org/web/) – they may still be available elsewhere; A comparable one is still made by these folks: 406 grams: https://supaiadventuregear.com/shop/paddle/
Here are some others: 670 grams: http://www.advancedelements.com/accessories/paddles/; 822 grams : http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=pacificdesigns&product=Paddles&exact_match=exact (I believe used to make our14 ounce 409.5 gram models; maybe ask); 826 grams: http://www.alpackaraft.com/product/sawyer/; 840 grams: http://www.alpackaraft.com/product/manta-ray-carbon/
We have the Sawyer and Manta Ray paddles as well. They are excellent whitewater paddles. I guess it works like this: If you are using a packraft for mostly flat water and river crossings you will want to go with the lightest raft (possibly a Klymit: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/) and the lightest paddles. If you are exploring more technical water you will want to go with a tougher raft such as an Alpacka (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dusky-track-canoeing-the-seaforth/) and a tougher paddle. ‘Horses for courses’, as they say.
I am contemplating walking from
Pictured; Subai Ultralight paddle (NB: The four pieces on the left are the paddle; the other bits are extraneous)
12/10/2016: ‘A Citizen of the
World Is a Citizen of Nowhere’: A truly great speech by Theresa May: “If
you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere. You
don’t understand what the very word ‘citizenship’ means… Our democracy should
work for everyone, but if you’ve been trying to say things need to change for
years and your complaints fall on deaf ears, it doesn’t feel like it’s working
for you…Because the lesson of
12/10/2016: I have observed
before that deconstruction is arguably a greater enemy than Islam or
communism for the way it essays to subvert all our reasoning processes: The
deconstruction fad died when people decided to deconstruct deconstructionism: https://bostonreview.net/books-ideas/gregory-jones-katz-deconstruction-america
I particularly liked this comment, ‘When Syphilis was carried back to the old
world from the new, the Columbian Exchange gift that never stops giving, the
English called it the French Pox, even though like deconstruction theory, it
too was a distinctly American phenomenon. Of course, the French called it the
English Pox and the Dutch called it the Spanish Pox... no one wanted to take
credit for Syphilis. So what is it we are really trying to say when we give
11/10/2016: Gretchen
discovers a problem with socialism: “I’m at the breaking point,” said
Gretchen Gardner, an
11/10/2016: Yet another reason to oppose the nanny state and their alcohol interlocks: A Navy drunk, with raccoon:
http://neveryetmelted.com/2016/10/08/us-navy-action-report/
11/10/2016: Like it or not, Steve Kates is right. Trump is the unlikely saviour of the free world: https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2016/10/dirty-donald-sunshine-conservatives/
‘THAT civilisation may not
sink,
Its great battle lost,
Quiet the dog, tether the pony
To a distant post;
Our master Caesar is in the tent…’ WB Yeats, ‘Long-Legged Fly’. We are at the
cusp. Civilisation is teetering on the abyss. If Trump loses this election we
will all go down in ruin betimes.
10/10/2016: Good on you Gina: What a great Aussie; http://www.smh.com.au/business/property/gina-rinehart-buys-australias-largest-cattle-station-company-s-kidman--co-20161009-grycif.html
10/10/2016: I imagine
elections are not decided by the prurient. If they were Hilary’s
bisexualism and Bill’s (Hillary supported) ‘peccadilloes’ would have killed the
10/10/2016: Collecting Water: This is a great tip from JJMathes: ‘Have you ever needed to fill your water container only to find there wasn’t enough clearance for you to get the opening of your container under the flow? When water levels are low the flow doesn’t always shoot out far enough to catch the water, it rolls around the contour of the rock making it nearly impossible to fill a bottle or bladder. Altering the flow is an easy fix by using the windscreen from your cook kit to form a spout; or anything flat that won’t absorb water will work, even a broad leaf.’ http://gossamergear.com/wp/ever-have-trouble-collecting-water
Sometimes you find water oozing down a vertical rock face. If there is a tiny crack in it you can drive a sharpened twig or matchstick in the crack to bring the water out to your drink bottle as in the photo above.
10/10/2016: First we had men swearing off work: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440758/nicholas-eberstadt-men-without-work-american-males-who-choose-not-work and now we have this: Men swearing off women for good: http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/dating/the-mgtow-group-really-really-dont-like-women/newsstory/d5b8dd7cbeaa2151dccf64b88c94e7c4 Such social regression. What is the world coming to?
10/10/2016: So, who is having sex with the President, and does it matter? http://pickeringpost.com/story/we-blokes-don-t-mind-being-treated-as-sex-objects/6520
09/10/2016: Self-Threading Needles: You will notice that there are (amazingly) several kinds of
self-threading needle you can use for repairs. I know the Calyxeye fits in a
floss container as I have had mine there for over twenty years (and effected
many repairs with it!). It was the type Lincraft (where I bought mine) sold, so
I make no special claim. It works. If you are a fumble fingers (like me) or
need reading glasses (same) you need a self-threading needle. Also good in poor
light!
You can see Della repairing my backpack on our
recent South Coast (NZ) Track walk here: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/backpack-repairs/ A needle, some thread and a small square of
ripstop nylon can fix many things which have let you down in the backcountry.
(I usually carry a handkerchief size piece of 1.3 oz silnylon myself as it
makes for a dry seat on an otherwise wet day). The thread I now carry is here: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/four-gram-fishing-handlines/
I was particularly proud of a rip I repaired
in a pair of hiking trousers a few years back: I had slid down a steep bank on
my derriere and whilst doing so caught the pants in a tree root which tore them
all the way from the calf to the crotch. Luckily it was not me! I have since
thrown them out else I would post a photo of my handiwork.
I also once performed a particularly neat
repair on a dinner plate sized rip on one of my hounds (he had from a
recalcitrant stag, soon deceased). I admit ‘Harpoon’ did not much enjoy the
surgery (he thought quite seriously about biting me) but he demurred, healed up
without so much as a mark and went on to hunt many another day, at least until
he was stolen by some lowlife off the Cowwarr Rd many years ago now. He would
have been dead of old age last century (and hound hunting has quit me
altogether now), yet still it galls.
Easy needle
Calyxeye Needle
Spiral Eye Needle
09/10/2016: We have been in
09/10/2016: Intelligence is not evenly distributed: This is a really interesting graphic. Maybe it shows why some countries such as Japan and the UK for example punch a little above their weight whilst many others particularly in the Middle East, South America and Africa seem to perpetually lag behind: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/children-intelligence-iq-mother-inherit-inheritance-genetics-genes-a7345596.html I came to this link after reading reports of a study which purport to show your intelligence comes from your mother (Heaven help us!): http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/children-intelligence-iq-mother-inherit-inheritance-genetics-genes-a7345596.html This conclusion was arrived at by observing the absence of paternal X chromosomes in brains. If you want to test your own IQ, try this: https://iq-research.info/en/ On the other hand: http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2016/09/16/no-research-has-not-established-that-you-inherited-your-intelligence-from-your-mother/#7894e6014551
08/10/2016: Cold Weather Face
Masks: A life saver: I ordered one of these for my upcoming Everest Base
Camp trek. It will keep my nose (& face) warm, a plus as this is one of the
things that most bothers me about camping out in winter. More importantly
though is that it warms incoming air by more than 20C and keeps it humid. This
really protects the sinuses and linings of the lungs. The air up there is
so really dry you need to drink at least
4 litres of fluid a day to keep up with moisture loss from your lungs, so it is
no surprise if your lungs take a punishing. At Gorek Shep (EBC) it will be
-14C! In the Everest region it is not all that uncommon to succumb to ‘Khumbu
Cough’ which can be so racking that you can break ribs! Definitely don’t want
that. Worse though is that it reduces lung function. This Cold Avenger face
mask has been independently tested to show that it improves lung function by
very significant amounts eg particularly in asthmatics who would suffer more in
winter conditions such as I am planning for. I am thinking that some of the
effects of altitude sickness are no doubt brought on by reduced lung function
which could be prevented with one of these. These little gadgets weigh less
than 100 grams (4 ounces) and cost around US$60: http://coldavenger.com/ I am thinking that
the face mask will get lots of future use sleeping out during winter deer
hunting expeditions in
See also: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/my-life-was-wide-and-wild-and-who-can-know-my-heart/
Below is a map of our intended route. We plan to do the ‘Three
Passes’ walk in conjunction with the Everest Base Camp walk which will get us
away from the crowds. We are carrying all our own gear. We are walking
anti-clockwise. I fly into Lukla from
08/10/2016: Elites Want a
Borderless World, but Voters Don’t So import new voters! http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440666/brexit-immigration-lesson-america-voters-want-borders-trump-clinton
08/10/2016: An interesting list: http://mentalfloss.com/article/86658/24-most-banned-books-all-time
07/10/2016: A really sad
future awaits
07/10/2016: ‘The planet has reached the point of no return, yet again…From here on in, it’s nothing but coal power and V8s for everybody!’ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/point-and-laugh/news-story/2c33a6965c893c68a38d395d3c9922ba
05/10/2016: Julia’s mates (eg Dan Andrews) are doing everything in their power to pervert the course of justice and ‘save’ her, but she may yet get her day in court: http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/09/the-australian-reports-on-ralph-blewitts-correspondence-with-victoria-police.html
05/10/2016: Would You Give Up The Internet For 1 Million Dollars? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FB0EhPM_M4
05/10/2016: Stuff this, I’m doing my own poll: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/never-ask-a-question-if-you-dont-want-the-answer/news-story/a13562a0566138287464bb7ca72c1cbc She got 70%+!
04/10/2016: And, just to show that venery is not yet dead: Hunting rabbits with hawks in
04/10/2016: ‘The biggest purchase of our life is not our home, it’s government…We work Monday to mid-morning Thursday for the government.’ Malcolm Roberts. I seriously like this guy. I think he has a future.
04/10/2016: Just a follow up from by Paris 2016 post (18/09); a reminder of what we lost: ‘The Last Time I saw Paris’… http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2016/09/know-what-we-lose-when-we-lose-paris-for-her-lovers-and-all-those-who-remember.html & now this: Hungarian authorities reveal that nearly all those responsible for the atrocities in Paris were recent ‘refugees’. Well, who’d have thought: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/seven-refugees-behind-paris-slaughter/news-story/4a0b2dbee7af29ed68064161b705eff7
02/10/2016: Otzi had serious
heart disease. Must be from the Paleo diet: http://iceman.it/en/oetzi-treacherous-murder-with-links-to-central-italy/
02/10/2016: Gaia: Don’t you just love this old guy. ‘James Lovelock, Godfather of Green: Climate Change Religion is Bunk’ Why did he start the whole ‘greenie’ thing in the first place? Everyone makes mistakes I guess: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/10/01/james-lovelock-godfather-green-climate-change-religion-totally-unscientific/
02/10/2016: Political correctness gone mad: ‘Keep Marriage Man and Woman’ is now ‘Hate Speech’ : http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perth-gay-woman-saddened-by-antimarriage-bumper-stickers-outside-royal-show-20160930-grs6uh.html
01/10/2016: Dog Waits on Ice Cream Truck: http://imgur.com/dcPUBcN?r
01/10/2016: Bullshit! Just in case there isn’t already enough of it around for you, here is a wonderful website which will generate even more at the press of a button. Try it. It will delight you: http://sebpearce.com/bullshit/
01/10/2016: It is good to see other people (in this case ex Treasury Secretary and Nationals MP John Stone) arguing the case for an immigration policy which shows some discrimination (just as I have often done) If we cannot tell the good from the bad and separate them, we will eventually lose our country to the barbarians: http://spectator.com.au/2016/09/time-to-talk-frankly-on-immigration/
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Waiting for the Barbarians |
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The Canon |
C.P.Cavafy
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What are we waiting for, assembled in the
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30/09/2016: The Frogs: The Sequel. Every dam and waterhole around here is now fringed with frog spawn such as Tiny is investigating here. The frogs are still singing their musical choruses and charmingly I thought each is guarding his/her own patch of spawn. It is going to be ‘the year of the frog’ around Yinnar this year. Listen to them sing here: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/videos/frogs/ No doubt there will also be a plague of snakes etc to eat them!
30/09/2016: It’s not often I
agree with Nicki Savva: ‘A fortnight ago, Tasmanian primary producers
travelled to
If you are not sputtering, spitting out your berry smoothie or
activated almonds, you should be. The unemployment rate in
Even if half of those on benefits were physically or mentally unable to work, you would think there would still be enough people in the growers’ back yard, capable and keen to earn a few hundred dollars, but no, the growers were not there to impress on the government the need to get young jobless Tasmanians more engaged. Sorry, not their problem.
They were there to argue against measures that they believed would deter young Italians, Germans, French or Poms from travelling across the world for a holiday and paying for it by earning money tax-free doing work that Australians couldn’t or wouldn’t.’
I heard one of the farmers explain, ‘Busy people get things done’ he said. He just did not believe that any fruit would be picked by the unemployed (because they have no idea how to work)! Our welfare systems need far fewer rewards and a few more punishments to make it work - not to mention saving the hard-working taxpayers a few hundreds of billions of dollars!
30/09/2016:
29/09/2016: Repurposing
Camping Gear: The rushes which prospered astonishingly during the drought I
made quite satisfactorily dead a few weeks’ back. Yesterday seemed like a good
day to wipe the hill of them for good. Since
Merrin starts the conflagration off.
Those clumps really go up. It shows how terrifying a grass fire can be. Of course the sheep ensure that our greass never gets that long.
Spot and
Lighting the clumps is simplicity itself.
Such a satisfying feeling watching them burn.
Spot as usual was a big help.
Time for a cuddle now Boss?
Detail of the impromptu rush burner. There is a story to everything. The children’s paddle I found washed up in some river rack many years ago. The Coleman burner cooked many frypan’s worth of sausages over the years after our hound hunting trips as we yarned around the campfire or waited for hounds to trickle in from the day’s hunt. Putting them together with a couple of cable ties was the work of a moment. And ‘Voila!’ Yet ‘they say’ we don’t need ‘all that junk’ we have mouldering in our sheds!
29/09/2016:
29/09/2016: A big ‘Hurrah’ for Maurice Newman in the Australian: ‘When your news and views come from a tightly controlled, left-wing media echo chamber, it may come as a bit of a shock to learn that in the July election almost 600,000 voters gave their first preference to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party. You may also be surprised to know that still deluded conservatives remain disenchanted with the media’s favourite Liberal, Malcolm Turnbull, for his epic fail as Prime Minister, especially when compared with the increasingly respected leader he deposed.
Perhaps when media outlets saturate us with “appropriate” thoughts and “acceptable” speech, and nonconformists are banished from television, radio and print, it’s easy to miss what is happening on the uneducated side of the tracks. After all, members of the better educated and morally superior political class use a compliant media to shelter us from the dangerous, racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, sexist, welfare-reforming, climate-change denying bigots who inhabit the outer suburbs and countryside — the people whom Hillary Clinton calls “the deplorables”.
They must be vilified without debate, lest too many of us waver on the virtues of bigger governments, central planning, more bloated bureaucracies, higher taxes, unaffordable welfare, a “carbon-free” economy, more regulations, open borders, gender-free and values-free schools and same-sex marriage; the sort of agenda that finds favour at the UN.
Yet history is solid with evidence that this agenda will never deliver the promised human dignity, prosperity and liberty. Only free and open societies with small governments can do that.’
29/09/2016: 11 More venery: http://www.arkinspace.com/2010/12/collective-nouns-alphabet-of-animals.html
28/09/2016: 11 Gram Rechargeable Head Torch: Two O-rings, a micro cord lock and a short length of 1mm Dyneema transforms this 9 gram wonder into an 11 gram wonder. At 45 lumens for 1 hour or 1 lumen for 48 hours (or anywhere else in between) this Nitecore Tube Light is a wonderful torch. The 1 lumen setting is quite adequate for reading of a night (if you still use books) or for finding your way around in the dark once your eyes are adjusted.
These little guys weigh less than the AA battery used to power most ultralight torches (such as this excellent example: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/mini-super-torch-a-weeks-light-weighs-50-grams/) so it is well worth carrying a couple in your pack especially if you have the means of recharging them (such as this: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/charging/)
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/smallest-rechargeable-flashlight/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/diy-head-torches/
28/09/2016: Another thought about the Plebiscite: there is no guarantee that Labor members would not vote in Parliament to bring in so-called ‘marriage equality’ (even if as seems likely the plebiscite showed Australians were overwhelmingly opposed to it) given that their party position is that it should be enacted by the Parliament and that Labor members who would vote against such a proposal (according to their consciences) would be expelled from the party! This is a divisive issue concerning really only a tiny minority of Australians, less than 1% which could more appropriately be dealt with by a separate form of marriage rather than changing the definition of marriage for everyone else…I can see why Statists might favour it though as it supports a move to tax (by stealth) ‘couples’ who cohabit as married or de facto (or adjust their welfare benefits to more accurately reflect their real status). Some really big budget savings there!
28/09/2016: Spare a thought
for the gharial: http://www.arkinspace.com/2012/10/gharial.html
27/09/2016: Gear repairs: Tenacious Tape: Many folks have long carried some duct tape for this purpose. I have carried cuben tape for many years http://www.theultralighthiker.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1797&action=edit . I can attest that it successfully repaired a Neoair pad which had been relentlessly chewed by a certain puppy, and that the repair has held now for 3+ years! One of the virtues of this ‘new’ tape (apart from that it sticks to practically everything) is that it comes in rolls up to 3” (75mm) wide, Such a roll weighs 21 grams. It could easily be cut in half: https://www.mcnett.com/gearaid/tenacious-tape#10691
Additional Information
Length 500mm
Weight 21 grams
Color Clear, various
Width 75mm
27/09/2016: Woody Allen: 'There's an old joke . . . two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life.' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comedy/comedians/woody-allen-best-jokes-and-one-liners/
27/09/2016: Gay Marriage is one thing, but changing marriage for everyone else is quite another. I understand that a form of civil union contract has been available to gay people in many Australian jurisdictions for some time. Only a minority of even the LGBTIQ community favours what is recklessly termed ‘marriage equality’. Certainly a minority of Australians generally do, else its advocates would not be opposing the plebiscite, and arguing instead that it be imposed on everyone else against their wills.
What is currently being advocated is not a form of ‘gay marriage’ but that the Marriage Act for the 99% be changed (for them) to ‘fit’ a tiny minority most of whom do not want it anyway. This requires that the meaning of marriage for the 99% will change to ‘include’ ‘practices’ and ‘customs’ which in many cases were deemed (to say the very least) ‘wrong’ and ‘illegal’ not so very long ago (or still are in many jurisdictions) and which a great many people still at the very least look askance at if they do not outright condemn (supposing only that such opinions have not already been made ‘unlawful’). This is a very wholesale change where a piecemeal change (such as a wholly separate ‘gay marriage) would surely suffice.
It should also be realised that this advocacy represents only a small part of a much more thoroughgoing agenda whose totality will be quickly imposed as well, including many things which most would consider wrong, distasteful &/or undesirable. Such things, for example as banning the terms ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘bride’, ‘groom’, ‘husband’ and ‘wife’, gay adoption and surrogacy, public funding of a host of alternative birth arrangements which are almost completely unnecessary in normal heterosexual relationships and parenting, the outlawry of many conventional opinions and practices such as conventional church weddings or expressing that normal heterosexual marriage is the most desirable social relationship and best practice for the nurture of children (which it demonstrably is) and that it deserves public support. The awful consequences of the somewhat wholesale move to ‘fatherlessness’ over the last 40 years clearly warn against any worsening in how children are raised.
The adoption of ‘marriage equality’ (which it is not) will also inevitably lead to a push for polygamy/polyandry, lowering of the age of consent, decriminalisation of public displays of sexuality, legalisation of incest & bestiality – just generally a subversion of all that is ‘normal’ and ‘decent’. Notice that I already feel it necessary to enclose these terms in scare quotes. Such is the heavy hand of ‘progressivism’. It is not ‘anti-gay’ to have such views. I am not advocating that people have the bad manners to discriminate against or condemn such individuals (I do not) – just that time-worn institutions and practices which have suited the 99% for untold centuries ought not be hastily thrown away because a tiny few radicals think we should. The consequences of such a decision are very likely to have very many undesirable ramifications - and costs.
A solution (satisfying to libertarians) presents itself: perhaps the State should ‘get out’ of marriage altogether? Civil marriages and registration are a relatively recent thing in our society going back less than two centuries. If the State were to completely renounce any power and interest in this area of personal relationships (as was the case in all the centuries prior to the C19th for example), might this not satisfy both the supporters and opponents of ‘marriage equality’? Whilst we are doing this it might be timely for the State to get out of a lot of other matters as well! Back before the C18th even Defence was a private matter!
26/09/2016: Sleeping Pad Reinvented: Big Agnes Q-Core SLX: Big Agnes has been redesigning some of its great pads. For example, their Big Agnes Q-Core SLX Petite Pad: 15 oz (427 grams) and rated to 15F (-9.5C ie R = 4.5) and 4.25” (10.5cm) thick! Reputed to be superbly comfortable and dramatically robust. The square ends also make the Q-Core an excellent hammock pad, particularly if you chose one of the wider models. RRT US$139.95 https://gearjunkie.com/big-agnes-q-core-slx-sleeping-pad ‘Offset I-beams, ‘micro’ air-pressure adjustment, and aviation-grade TPU lamination… sleeping pads can be deceptively high-tech. But what does it all mean?
Stability = Comfort It’s all about the I-beams… on the contours of the sleep surface…making the pad surface more even would increase the comfort of the pad…the offset quilted pattern replaces standard parallel I-beam construction, preventing you from sliding on the pad...the outermost I-beams on both sides are slightly larger, which creates a cradle that holds you near the center of the pad.
‘Ultimate Durability’…this pad is 25 percent more durable than its Q-Core SL predecessor. We’ve improved materials and construction with new double rip-stop and aviation grade TPU lamination technology…‘Superlight,’ Micro Adjustment Total weight for this pad falls between 15-22 ounces, (ie from 427 grams) depending on the model size (66-78 inches long, and 20- or 25-inch widths).
Its micro air adjustment’ is a tiny ball that sits in the center of the inflate valve. You can press it to allow a little air to escape, reducing the pad’s stiffness. It works just like a presta valve on a bike tire.’ https://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Detail/Pad/qcoreslx
We have owned their Insulated Air Core pads for many years. When we bought them they were the only pads which had anywhere near that thickness (3.25”) and R rating 4.5 (ie good down to 15F or -10C) - and cheap. They have proved incredibly durable and comfortable pads. For example their Insulated Air Core starts off at US$84 for a full-length pad and is under 600 grams, yet over 3.25” thick. We have two, their regular 6’ pad and their Petite Mummy 5’ pad (not currently available) which is around 500 grams and actually long enough for each of us (I am 5’7”, Della 5'). Most folks will really not need a pad longer than 66” (1.675m). It doesn’t matter if your feet overhang. I am a side sleeper anyway, so they don’t. Your feet won’t touch the ground so your sleeping bag will keep them warm as it is not compressed by your weight.
26/09/2016: Jumping without a parachute…Amazing: http://surprise.ly/v/?PK0Hl0kWELE:0:0:0:100
26/09/2016: I suspect Simon is right: more than any other reason, Trump will win because he’s funny and likeable: https://pjmedia.com/diaryofamadvoter/2016/09/22/why-trump-will-win-its-the-likability-stupid/?singlepage=true Mind you, I suspect Arcan Cetin has helped Clinton along to her political grave too with his Tweet ‘We win I vote for Hillary Clinton’ http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2016/09/arcan-cetin-cascade-mall-shooter-arrested-custody-burlington-shooting/
24/09/2016: White lives matter too: ‘Australian art gallery owner
Kevin Reid has been praised as a hero by his wife after he moved her out of
danger moments before masked robbers fatally shot him dead on a US
street...Local police described one of the suspects as a black male wearing a
light-coloured bandanna over his face. The other two suspects were described as
black males. FBI stats show twice as many blacks kill whites than whites kill
blacks, even though there are five times more whites in the
24/09/2016: There’s no stopping a Jack Russell; the king of beasts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eccJ9vRHKgo
24/09/2016: A wonderfully insightful discussion of the relative merits of private vs public service (I particularly like the point that public servants must be volunteers): http://www.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/2016/09/in-defense-of-profits-why-they-are-at-least-as-moral-as-wages.html
23/09/2016: Environmental and Economic Suicide (Hazelwood to close next April!): http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/global-warmists-kill-1000-jobs-threaten-power-prices/news-story/601dea7cb5e5741a231b37b656240828
23/09/2016: How Green Is My
Valley: We are so fortunate to live in this beautiful part of the world.
Everywhere you point a camera it is something like this. Just snapped this view
of Yinnar and the
23/09/2016: Dr Joy Bliss: ‘I believe that life is deepened by physical, spiritual, emotional, social, and intellectual stress. Added as a bonus: discovering one's limitations. Doing what we "feel like doing" tends to be a dead end in life, paths of least resistance. Doing what we don't feel like doing can be amazing...the author Charles Duhigg, in his 2012 bestseller ‘The Power of Habit’, calls exercise a “keystone habit,” or a change in one area of life that brings about positive effects in other areas. Duhigg says keystone habits are powerful because “they change our sense of self and our sense of what is possible.”’
23/09/2016: A good news story: Toddler
survives three days alone in remote
22/09/2016: ‘Our Grand Mufti responds to a poll that says 49 per
cent of Australians want a ban on Muslim immigration because Muslims don't
assimilate. He doesn't understand the irony of having to use Arabic to
call for better "communication" - since he still hasn't mastered English after 19 years in
22/09/2016: Planting Della: There is no worse fate to contemplate than burying your beloved…but in this case it can be a joyful occasion. Imagine someone having named this lovely cultivar thus - and in my Della’s favourite colour too. Now to see whether it likes the very clayey soil of the native garden on the back slope behind the house where the honeyeater war is a daily occurrence.
22/09/2016: Fifteen Gram Blue
Foam Flip-Flop
Step 1: Buy a $4 Walmart blue foamy sleeping pad.
Step 2: Trace your foot and add little less than a cm all around (you can trim to fit later, though I find a little extra is kind of nice and you don't trip over it), and add wings so that when folded up together it looks like an Adidas shower sandal.
Step 3: Cut foam.
Step 4: Apply 1 piece of duct tape across the top – you may have to shorten the wings after trying on to get a tight fit.
Voila:
Thanks to Chris Morgan at backpacking light forum: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/46709/
QED.’ Indeed!
21/09/2016: Montbell make some awesome Ultralight gear. Mostly I like their sleeping bags and insulated clothing. For many years I have used the UL Super Spiral Down Hugger #3 now called Down Hugger 800 #3 & available at Larry Adler Australia for A$329). Mine was 624 grams and rated -1C. Montbell have even improved this bag by moving to 1 oz more (and) of 900 fill power down. This is the Down Hugger 900 #2 at 690 grams and -5C, which is just awesome! This ‘spiral stretch’ construction means that they are the roomiest sleeping bags you have ever used. You can even cross your legs and sit up in them.
In
Speaking of jackets and vests: I am particularly impressed by the
warmth and lightness of their ‘
21/09/2016: Why Is Socialism So Damned Attractive: This has certainly been a worrying problem for a long while. Some interesting thoughts and insights here: http://reason.com/archives/2016/09/16/why-is-socialism-so-damned-attractive
21/09/2016: Pauline is
clearly exactly where the mainstream is (not the shrieking Left or Moslem
advocates). An Essential poll shows the majority of people favour a ban on
Moslem immigration. Bring it on! http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/half-of-all-australians-want-to-ban-muslim-immigration-poll-20160920-grkufa.html
- and the Government responds by agreeing to take (Catholic) refugees from
20/09/2016: ‘My life was wide
and wild, and who can know my heart? There in that golden jungle I walk alone.’
Judith Wright, The Sisters. This might as well be TheUltralightHikers’ motto as
we march forward into the evenings of our lives, ‘bowed but unbroken’. A young
friend (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/a-friend-i-met-on-the-dusky-track-fiordland-nz/)
has invited me to come along with him on his (extended) Everest Base Camp hike
in early November in
And this: People are crap at understanding risks/stats.You have to figure risk against probable loss. When you are young you have the probable loss of your entire life to lose (a large proportion), so you ought be more careful. When you are old like me, you have much less life to lose, so you can afford to take more risks! I know, you may think that the morsel of life left is nonetheless more precious because it is all you have left, (but whatever is all you have) and it would not be much of a life if you spent it propped in a wheelchair at some Old Peoples’ Home mumbling inanities and pooping yourself. The high passes, whatever their risks gleam much brighter than that prospect.
It is also like this. Yet another friend’s widow was last week condemned to just such a fate as I hinted above, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, her husband having dropped like a stone from a cardiac a couple of years ago. ‘Live & learn or you don’t live long’ as the old saw goes.
‘Give Your Heart to the Hawks’ the old mountain men used to say.
There is a solitary rapture about gazing up at the seam where sky and mountain
meld which makes one’s heart exalt! The peaks that loom everywhere along the
20/09/2016: Ultimately this is why
20/09/2016: Quote of the Day: "What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact opposite." Bertrand Russell.
19/09/2016: Hornet-Lite Pack Raft: I see there is a new alternative pack raft on the market: ‘The Hornet-Lite is the lightest packraft in Kokopelli's fleet weighing in at 4.9 pounds (2223 grams) including the seat. Kokopelli has designed the Hornet-lite packraft to be functional while reducing weight and maximizing compactness. This packraft is ideal for crossing rivers, high alpine lake fishing and wide calm rivers’ so says their description: http://www.kokopellipackraft.com/adventure-series/hornet-lite It is a bit cheaper at US$525 than (most of) the Alpackas (http://www.alpackaraft.com/) but may not have the same durability as comparably priced models there. Another cheaper still choice for flatter water is Klymit’s offering: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/ Cheaper still is my Faux Pack Raft: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/home-made-pack-raft/
Pack Raft Links:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/alpacka-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/home-made-pack-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/solo-pack-rafting-with-a-motorbike/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-raft-saves-the-day/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/pack-rafts/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/lightweight-packrafts/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/alpacka-rafts/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/faux-packraft-vs-alpacka-raft/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/packraft-video/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/dusky-track-canoeing-the-seaforth/
19/09/2016: Peter Baldwin was a Left-wing Labor minister. But now he says the Left has changed into a neo-fascist force that promotes racism, anti-Semitism and a violent intolerance of debate:
‘In a nutshell, there has been a comprehensive rejection by
progressive academe of the intellectual inheritance from the Enlightenment, the
“revolution of the mind” that transformed Europe and
Today the “Enlightenment project”, as they now style it, is typically disparaged by intellectuals of a progressive bent. The ideal of human universality is discarded in favour of the politics of culture and identity; the value of reasoned debate questioned as argument is seen as just a mask for the exercise of power; the quest for objective truth is replaced by an emphasis on narratives and stories; and the right to strongly critique religion abrogated, albeit selectively...
Welcome to the leftist Counter-Enlightenment. In
Note that when members of a particular identity group demand respect for “oneself as different” they are not talking about respecting each person’s individuality and agency. On the contrary, they insist that people accept being defined by their identity and that they stick to the accepted script, the particular narrative of victimhood, that pertains to their group.
Members of each victim group are urged to claim ownership of — indeed, to be extremely proprietorial about — all aspects of their culture, including ephemera such as clothing and cuisine. We must all stick to our own cultural reservation. To violate this tenet is to commit the high crime of “cultural appropriation”...
And woe betide anyone who breaches this cardinal rule, as dissenters from within Islamic culture such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali have found...
They will be pilloried in progressive media and will face attempts
to bar them from speaking on campuses and elsewhere, as when Hirsi Ali was
barred from speaking recently at
These activities consistently have been backed by campus student organisations including, incredibly, feminist and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups.
The de facto alliance that has developed between the Left and militant Islam, the most reactionary force in the world today, is the strangest and most disconcerting political development in my lifetime. If identity politics is the substantive part of this mutant ideology, the compliance and enforcement arm is the system of thought control we nowadays term political correctness.
According to the PC mindset, someone who openly or even privately challenges core tenets of identity politics is not just wrong but morally depraved. Such a person is not to be engaged with argumentatively, but must be vilified, censored and, where possible, pursued legally using instruments such as the iniquitous section 18C of our Racial Discrimination Act and equivalents in other countries...
Regressive Left activists often claim to be fighting against “fascism” or “the extreme Right”. Ironically, they are the ones who, time and again, resort to classic 1930s fascist tactics such as wrecking the meetings of their opponents and in some cases harassing or attacking attendees…’
If you had the slightest doubt that every word Peter writes is absolute gospel, the bizarre case of Yasmin Abdel-Magied will dispel it. Read: The Worst Article Written By Anyone Ever: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/09/17/read-worst-article-written-anyone-ever/
19/09/2016: You just can’t beat human stupidity: http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2016/09/the_basic_laws_of_human_stupidity.html
18/09/2016: Vapor Barrier: Whether in hot wet or cold weather humidity is one of the biggest problems. For example, you must never breathe inside your sleeping bag (or sweat). You are filling it with water which must be evaporated, so you are making it colder. There is a solution. The following information is from Stephenson’s Warmlite page. They also sell VB clothing: http://warmlite.com/vapor-barrier-clothing/
Stephenson's VB Sox
‘Ice, solid water, has very low energy. To melt ice to liquid water you must add 144 BTUs per lb. (BTU = British Thermal Units = heat energy needed to warm 1 lb. of water 1°F.) It takes 1080 BTUs to evaporate 1 lb. of water to water vapor. The amount of water vapor in the air is called humidity, expressed either as absolute lbs. of water per lb. of air, or as relative, % of the maximum that could be there at that temperature and pressure. It is common to refer to water vapor as humidity.
(Steve: I BTU is roughly ¼ of a calorie, so you need approx 18 calories (2.5 ml of meths) to melt 250 ml (1 cup full) of ice and 135 calories (19 mls meths) to evaporate it). If you think of that in terms of the amount of food you would need to eat to do the same work you will understand that handling humidity requires a serious expenditure of energy).
SWEAT is the liquid water your skin exudes from sweat glands
in your skin to COOL you when you are overheated. Unfortunately, that sweat
also contains oils and SALT! Salt and soluble oils are moisture absorbents:
depending on concentration and type of salt and oil, it can take up to 3 times
the heat energy to evaporate water from such absorbents, and all that excess energy
goes into chemical change. You have noticed that initial sweat seems to cool
you much better than later sweat: dried salt and oil resist evaporation, and
release heat to your skin from contact with new sweat (see
Humans have a problem which we are told other animals don’t have: the moisture IN our skin evaporates in dry air, thus losing heat and water. That moisture loss is called “insensible sweat”, which term, like “military intelligence” is an oxymoron (ie, self contradiction). That “insensible sweat” is NOT sweat, and IS sensible: you FEEL it cooling you (but don’t feel it as wetness, thus the “insensible”). Water vapor from evaporation IN your skin, with it’s high energy, diffuses rapidly thru to outer clothes where heat is lost. Usually in cold weather the outside relative humidity is near 100% so outside air can’t accept more humidity, and thus most of that moisture condenses to cold water, soaks your clothes, disables your insulation, lowers humidity again, so more chilling evaporation occurs IN your skin, repeating the cycle of chilling and soaking your clothes. Even if outer fabric is completely porous the vapor WILL condense where temperature reaches dew point in the clothes. The outer layer (“breathable” or not) keeps water IN, out of sight, so you don’t realize you’re losing insulation until later, when miserably COLD. Evaporative cooling and water loss depends only on the relative humidity of the air next to your skin, so you have no control over it. Or do you? (think for a while).
Heat production and loss is not uniformly distributed over our bodies. We can sweat under our arms while being too cool elsewhere. We detect changes in temperature only on our skin, but can’t determine absolute temperature of our body by what we feel on skin: get cold enough to shiver, then get into a hot tub and you’ll feel too hot while actually being too cold. As you warm, your skin gets accustomed to the warmth so you don’t feel as hot! Get out of the hot tub when sweating from overheat and you immediately feel cold! Dry off and you feel warm. We rely ONLY on wetness of sweat to warn us of overheat.
If your heat loss equals production you’re comfortable. If activity then increases, overheat causes sweat, for evaporative cooling. WHEN (or IF) you notice wetness from sweat, you’ll vent or remove extra clothes, get cooling of evaporative or convective heat loss, stop sweating and you’re soon dry. Wickable underwear moves sweat from overheat away from your skin so you won’t notice it and it won’t annoy you, (which is fine for comfort indoors or for short periods). That wicking prevents cooling when and where you need it, and wets outer clothes so they won’t be warm LATER. Please note that it’s wickable and moisture absorbing fabric that aids comfort then, not just porous or so called “breathable” junk. Non wicking polyester, acrylic, Goretex and similar won’t provide any comfort, so YOU have to constantly adjust insulation or venting in response to wetness from overheat, (which can be an advantage IF you’re observant and intelligent enough to do proper adjusting). Heat stroke or heat exhaustion is caused by not being aware of and correcting for overheat. Wicking clothing makes you unaware of sweating, so can be dangerous. Instead of sweat cooling you when needed, it soaks your clothes, reduces insulation and chills you later when you need the warmth! You won’t notice overheat until soaked, so delay your normal reaction of venting or removing excess clothing, until too late. When you tire, slow down or stop, and need your insulation, you find it is wet and useless. Instead of the sweat which wicks out evaporating, humidity from within condenses, making outer clothes even wetter. That’s controlled by the temperature in outer layer(s), not whether they are porous or sealed. Before you die of hypothermia from believing false ads claiming their insulation is warm when wet, I suggest you soak your jacket, shake it out and wear it. Experience just how cold, wet insulation really is! False advertising won’t keep you warm.
Part of the idea of using wickable underwear for warmth is the insane idea that your skin continuously LEAKS, so they want to move leaked moisture away from your skin before it evaporates and cools you. Any kid old enough to talk can tell you your skin stays dry UNTIL you sweat from OVERHEAT, and then you WANT evaporative cooling AT your skin. NOTE: Just to confuse you more, several companies say their materials “wick moisture vapor”, but you know that wicking only applies to LIQUID, not vapor!
Most of this isn’t a problem if you’re going outside for short periods with steady activity and not overdressed. But for someone jogging, skiing, hiking, or mountaineering it can be a very serious matter.
Obviously wicking underwear can’t stop chill of moisture evaporating from within your skin (misnamed insensible “sweat”), since that moisture is not on the surface where it can be wicked away. The ONLY way to reduce that evaporative chilling is to raise humidity next to your skin by raising humidity in surrounding air (limited to dew point in that air), or by retaining humidity with vapor barrier (VB) next to the skin. A VB that blocks 95% of evaporative heat and water loss is excellent. (Goretex will block 97%. They call that 3% loss “breathable”).
If humidity next to your skin reaches 100% (meaning it can’t hold any more water vapor), evaporation stops, chilling stops, and “insensible sweat” stops. That’s why a humid day feels warmer than a drying day. (Note that it’s common to call low humidity dry when the correct term is drying, which low humidity causes.) A wet rainy day feels colder because the rain acts as a condenser, removing humidity from the air, leading to drying condition. Often a “dry” sunny day feels extra hot due to the high humidity the sun has caused by evaporating water that fell as rain before.
When skin moisturizing can’t keep up with rapid drying, your skin gets dry, chapped, and is more likely to suffer frostbite. Evaporative chilling makes 32°F feel like 12°F.
It’s reported that you lose up to four pounds of water each night thru evaporation of “insensible sweat”, when sleeping in a porous “breathable” sleeping bag. Weighing of such bags in the morning shows 2 to 4 lbs. increase, confirming that statement, and also showing that sweat and vapor don’t make it out of those bags: sweat wicks in, and vapor condenses in the insulation, leaving the bag wet. The 4320 BTU of heat stolen from you to evaporate 4 lbs. of sweat is lost at outer surface of your bag, as that sweat condensed to soak your insulation. It takes 144 BTU to melt one pound of ice. Thus the heat to evaporate four pounds of sweat is enough to melt 30 pounds of ice! (4 x 1080/144 = 30). Would you take 30 pounds of ICE to bed with you? That’s the effect you get by not using vapor barrier interior in your sleeping bag.
If you lose 4 pounds of water during 8 hours of sleep you can expect to lose much more during 16 hours you’re awake and active. That dehydration can lead to serious impairment of circulation due to thickened blood, increasing risk of frostbite (thus the good advice to drink LOTS of fluids in cold dry weather). You can create a warm humid condition around your body all day with VAPOR BARRIER (VB) clothing, and thus reduce dehydration.
During World War II US cold weather troops used Vapor Barrier (VB) socks to totally cure frostbite and trench foot. Those led to the vapor barrier “Korean Bunny Boots”, still the standard for cold weather use. We started promoting use of VB socks (baggies, bread bags, etc) in 1957, then gloves, shirts, and in sleeping bags since 1967. Others have sold VB clothes and bag liners on and off, but the bad response to uncomfortable coated fabrics, poor education, and problems with tie in bag liners, led most to drop VB. Manufacturers and retailers want to sell what is EASY, and avoid anything that requires educating customers. Heavy promotion of “breathable” materials makes some retailers unwilling to risk big markup sales by telling customers the whole truth. Often they won’t tell you anything about things they don’t sell. The most common excuse we hear from manufacturers and sales persons for not selling VB lined bags and VB clothing is they can’t take the time to explain it to their customers. Mighty inconsiderate! If you want an honest evaluation of VB, get it from someone who uses it. If you want to avoid it, ask someone who hasn’t used it, or sells only “breathable” gear, thus avoiding getting confused by the facts!
VB in a sleeping bag gives no added warmth when vented but always protects the insulation from condensation and sweat soaking, thus it’s advisable to have VB in your bag for ALL seasons. The surface wickability of Stephensons FUZZY STUFF makes it especially desirable for summer use when you’re sure to overheat, (even if nude.)
A common argument against VB is actually excess praise FOR VB: they say VB will ALWAYS overheat you! Wouldn’t it be nice if we could get ALL needed warmth simply by controlling humidity! Physics limits us to maximum of 20° added warmth from VB. It’s the overheat DETECTION SERVICE that VB provides (by making you immediately aware of sweat when it starts) which “they” think is overheat caused by VB: don’t blame the messenger for the message!
Will Steger used “breathable” Quallofil sleeping bags for his much advertised dog sled trip to the north pole: those 17 lb. bags (almost as thick as our 4 1/2 lb Goose Down bags) were carried loose on top of sleds “for best drying”, yet weighed over 52 lbs. in a few weeks from sweat condensing to ice. Luckily they were flown out from the pole. Meanwhile a Canadian – Soviet team cross country skied across the pole, using WARMLITE bags they had purchased, which stayed dry and warm for the whole trip. Will Steger bought FUZZY STUFF Vapor Barrier liners from us for his Quallofil (read, $500,000 support from Dupont!) bags for the much longer south pole trip and thus kept the bags dry and warm the whole trip.
VB clothing that doesn’t wick sweat over it’s surface is likely to be uncomfortable and lead us to frequent insulation changes, or sadly mislead some into rejecting VB and the benefits it can give them. Proper comfortable use of VB requires more intelligence and awareness than some people have, but is made a lot easier with modern VB material having wicking inner surface, such as FUZZY STUFF.
With VB keeping water vapor and wet sweat out of your sleeping bag and clothes, you can use ANY fabric, ANY insulation without concern for wickability, and can use ANY exterior wind breaker without concern for “breathability”.
How do users of VB react? Generally with orders for more VB clothing and sleeping bags, and recommendations to their friends. From 1967 to 1998 we sold about 9500 VB lined sleeping bags, and only about 1/2% of customers objected to having to consciously adjust insulation. But even they agree that VB is good for extra warmth and insulation protection, and most of those became best promoters of VB! We’ve found many of those people have low metabolism, need more insulation to stay warm, and thus NEED VB the most! No matter what one’s metabolism is, the extra heat produced from activity is the same, and thus the person who wears thicker clothes for warmth when inactive will sweat more when active due to those extra clothes. To stay dry they must adjust clothes more. VB underwear helps them notice the need to adjust, and keeps all outer clothes dry even if they fail to control sweating.
When you are awake and active it is easy to adjust insulation to avoid overheat without venting VB clothing. When asleep the normal reaction to overheat is to push covers away, reducing the extra warmth, while VB still protects the bag from condensation and sweat. Sleeping bags rarely get wet from outside. Bags without VB ALWAYS get wet from INSIDE condensation and sweat!
Most of you are aware that wind can chill you. If nude, wind reduces the insulating air boundary layer on your skin, increasing conductive heat loss thru that layer. Stop the wind, or block it with wind tight fabric, or get inside a structure, and that chilling stops. Then as you all know, adding ANY layer of even the most porous clothing makes you warmer. At some point any additional layer overheats you, which you notice only when you start to sweat and feel wet. Do a test: In a wind blocking shelter when it’s cool enough to need a warm jacket, replace the jacket with two thick bulky knit sweaters (as open a knit and thick as you can find). Soon you’ll start sweating from the overheat (note that it is only the sweat that tells you that you’re overheated!) Mere porosity or “breathability” clearly can’t keep you cool. Replace the thick sweaters with a light raincoat (after you cool down). Soon you will feel too cool, clearly proving that a simple waterproof coating is not enough to keep you warm or overheat you, but it can help. Assuming condition cold enough so you are wearing an undershirt, 1 or 2 insulating shirts, and the warm jacket: replace just the innermost shirt with a vapor barrier shirt (lacking a proper one, use a plastic bag with holes cut for head and arms). Soon you will notice sweat from overheat and will need to remove the jacket to stop overheat (if smart you’ll speed up the test by not putting the jacket back on after changing to VB shirt, and will then notice you are as warm as before and not sweating.) The VB shirt reduces loss of humidity and thus reduces evaporative cooling at your skin, much like a humid day in summer.
In each case if you carry test to point of overheat, notice that it is the wet feel of sweat that told you “you are overheated”. Our bodies are very poor at telling us how warm or cold we are, and skin senses changes more than absolutes.
VB clothing has many other benefits:
Elimination of condensation in your tent. People who regularly over dress and rely on wickable clothing to carry away sweat, add much more humidity to a tent.
If you must change your shirt in less than 3 days due to sweat odors you will also likely cause excessive condensation in any tent you use. Wearing VB helps you recognize and correct overheat and unnecessary sweating.
Elimination of sweat odors on clothing and yourself. It’s obvious how outer clothing is protected. Apparently quick sensing and thus avoidance of sweating, plus blocking of air circulation that causes sweat to turn rancid, reduces or eliminates sweat odors on you and the VB clothing as well.
(Polypropylene underwear is infamous for terrible sweat odors: apparently it passes sweat so well that people sweat excessively with it without realizing it. BUT it absorbs all the oils in the sweat, and those oils turn rancid, stink, and stick to the polypro.)
Reduces dehydration and amount of water you must obtain and drink. Dehydration is a major contributor to frostbite, hypothermia and altitude sickness. It thickens your blood, impairs circulation (thus decreases proper heat and oxygen distribution), and reduces oxygen intake. It’s especially difficult to drink enough fluids when not wearing VB clothes and ALL your water most come from melting snow! In several days the weight of fuel saved due to use of VB can greatly exceed the weight of the VB clothing.
With 1st layer VB you can then wear any kind of material for outer layers, no matter how uncomfortable or impractical that material might be otherwise, since you’ll have no concern with it getting wet. Your outer windbreak layer can be any coated or laminated fabric, preferably NOT “breathable” so you don’t have to be concerned with dirt causing it to leak. When weight is a consideration, chose your layers for the most thickness per pound. Use coated Nylon rain wear windbreaker.
Avoiding winter “colds”: most medical writers say a “cold” is only a “cold virus infection”, (typically with symptoms of irritated nose and throat and clear fluid from your nose), which your body self cures in 3 to 7 days. But, your nasal and throat passages usually have lots of all kinds of infectious bacteria in them, which are harmless to you as long as they can’t get past mucus surfaces. Virus infection, or bad allergy attack, or dry irritated nasal passages due to excessively dry air, can ALL let those bacteria attack, resulting in what we usually know as a “cold” with greenish yellow nasal discharge, sore throat, cough. Untreated that can last a whole winter, or be stopped in 3 days with antibiotic. Wearing VB clothes at home allows you to keep air temperature about 10° cooler resulting in less drying and irritation of throat and nasal passages.
For some of us with poor circulation to hands and feet, VB gloves and socks are essential to keep hands and feet warm enough to function (other common solution is to move to warm climate!)’
18/09/2016: :
18/09/2016: Merkel Meets With German CEOs To Address 99.97% Unemployment Among ‘Highly Unqualified’ Migrants: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-15/merkel-meets-german-ceos-address-9997-unemployment-among-highly-unqualified-migrants
17/09/2016: Listen to the oldest melody in the world — 3400 years old. ‘The hymn was discovered on a clay tablet in Ugarit, now part of modern-day Syria, and is dedicated the Hurrians’ goddess of the orchards Nikkal...The clay tablet text, which was discovered alongside around 30 other tablet fragments, specifies 9 lyre strings and the intervals between those strings – kind of like an ancient guitar tab..... The notation here is essentially a set of instructions for intervals and tuning based around a heptatonic diatonic scale’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx6v0t5I5SM
17/09/2016: This is
incredible: the Fair Work Commission want
17/09/2016: Pauline’s maiden speech: Most Australians will find it difficult to disagree with a single word of it. Read it in full here: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/pauline-hanson-her-speech/news-story/f88e669efe306b64f383084cb03fbf7a The Left’s attempt to ‘fact check’ Pauline Hanson throw up the chestnut that there are more Buddhists in Australia whilst ignoring the fact that none of them has caused any problems at all! http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/more-buddhists-so-why-are-muslims-more-trouble-isnt-pauline-hanson-right/news-story/078d0cba0285b2cc8d0870c72785a848
16/09/2016: 580,000 who ought not be on the public purse – and that is only the tip of the iceberg: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/editorial-we-need-a-neet-and-tidy-solution-to-these-bludgers/news-story/303abcf36e6c54744b4a908685f20166
16/09/2016: Should be compulsory reading. In the past we tried to prevent or cure epidemics: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/11/opinion/sunday/before-you-spend-26000-on-weight-loss-surgery-do-this.html
16/09/2016: When
we place restrictions on the good instead of dire sanctions on the bad we
invite such incidents: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/09/07/1950-to-2010-not-one-mass-public-shooting-where-citizens-could-be-armed/
15/09/2016: Unsung Genius: Stephenson’s Warmlite: Jack Stephenson invented the inflatable insulated mattress way back in 1958. Their Down Air mattress (DAM http://warmlite.com/down-air-mattress-alone/) is now available in a stand alone for US$140 in a variety of sizes. One of the things most to like about it is its width – it comes in from 22” (56cm) through to 28” (71cm) & in a variety of lengths. People our size would be fine with their smallest models (from 65” (163cm) by 22” (56 cm) and 20 oz (570 grams). Lots of people probably find like I do that their elbows fall off the edge of ‘standard’ 20” (50cm) hiking mats. Probably I would opt for their Model 60 at 70” (178 cm) by 24” (61cm) by 22 oz (627 grams). It is a stretch up from my current Thermarest Neoair Xlite Womens at 20” (50 cm) by 66” 168 cm) and 340 grams and 12 oz (340 grams) and R 3.9 I know, but may be worth it for the comfort!
List of key ultralight innovations introduced by Stephenson’s Warmlite*
— Leader in use of ultralight 700-800 fill power down.
Jack Stephenson (Our Founder) worked hard on perfecting down sleeping bags
between 1955-1957, after a miserable trip to
— Warmlite was a real Leader in use of ultralight nylon materials derived from the sailing industry to replace heavy cotton and polyester cotton materials then in use in all tents, packs and clothing. For decades, since about 1956, we have used 1.1 oz. ripstop nylon for our bags and clothing, eschewing the heavier 1.9 oz. which became the standard when Eddie Bauer began using it during this same time period.
— Leader in use of a variety of exotic aerospace-derived materials for superlight, superstrong packs, sleeping bags and tents— products which still rival or surpass the lightest of the most modern ultralight gear. Examples include “gold mylar” tent material and aluminized fabrics for heat retention and heat rejection (eg. on tent canopies).
— Leader in the use and modern application of Vapor Barriers in outdoor clothing and sleeping bags. We experimented with various vapor barrier materials (VB) finally perfecting a “warm fuzzy” material that went a long way toward making the VB more comfortable to the wearer.– Hip-Carry Packs with true padded waistbelts. Out “Jack Pack” was being sold with a fully-padded, hip-carry suspension system in 1963, a full ten years before Kelty packs began to use padded hip belts!
— Creator of a major new tent design which has become one of the two or three major new tent designs of the Twenty-first Century. The Warmlite design (the Elliptical Arc) threw out the heavy A-frame design tents used everywhere during the first half of the Twentieth-first Century, replacing it with an extremely strong, lightweight, 4-season hoop design constructed with high-tech materials and requiring only 3-4 tent stakes even in severe weather. After 40 years, Stephenson tents are still lighter/stronger than nearly anything else available. Please note that within the modern ultralight hiking movement, one must take care to compare truly comparable products, eg. in the tent category, one should not confuse 10 or 12 oz. ultralight shelters (most with no floors and requiring 6-12 stakes) with the Warmlite tent, which is a true 4-season tent with a full floor and the strength to withstand any possible extreme weather combination of rain, wind, and snow.
— Creator of the DAM We created an air mattress filled with ultra-high quality down, held in place by baffled channels (DAM = “down-filled air-mattress”)…Our 20 oz. creation was inflated by use of a large stuff-sack, which kept damaging body moisture out of its interior. We had experimented with prototypes of it as early as 1958, but it was not officially added to theWarmlite product line until 1973-74. In very recent years, the new Ultralight backpacking movement has encouaged a new interest in this product.
15/09/2016: Good on you Pauline! In her maiden speech she has called for a ban on Muslim immigration, new mosques, the burqa and halal certification payments. She says Islam and its "hyper-masculine culture" is incompatible with our society, and claims Muslims "bear a culture and ideology which is incompatible with our own…Too many Australians are afraid to work alone at night. They are afraid of terrorism.” She notes high rates of imprisonment and welfare in Muslim communities. She claims that if we do not resist Islam we will live under sharia law, since Islam demands Muslims live in a theocracy. Her speech is a good start but I don’t think she goes far enough. The danger from Islam is much greater. We will need to do more still to dismantle that threat to our country. She needed to articulate a plan to wind back numbers over time, withdrawal of citizenship, deportation etc, outlaw this evil ideology utterly, confiscate its property, dismantle all the mosques… The Greens have walked out in protest. So did Labor's Pat Dodson and Nick Xenophon's Senators. They should be expelled from parliament and their seats declared vacant for their refusal to listen politely to views which were endorsed by millions of Australians when they elected the four One Nation senators. In the ACT their new anti blasphemy laws go in the opposite direction, so that what Pauline said in the House and this post would be criminal: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-parliament-passes-religious-vilification-laws-20160804-gqlagu Hers is a very fine speech. Read it in full here: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/pauline-hanson-her-speech/news-story/f88e669efe306b64f383084cb03fbf7a
15/09/2016: Hilary Liar: I think the tag has stuck completely now and she is finished. The latest bizarre ‘health’ problems just underline all those lies going back to her claim to be named after Sir Edmund Hilary (she was born in 1947), firings at the White House Travel Office, her claim that she braved sniper fire in Bosnia, her repeated lies about her secret email setup as secretary of state, the Benghazi ‘affair,’ the Clnton Foundation…when people see the weird head nodding, the brain freezes, her sudden drops …the refusal to hold a press conerence for nearly a year for fear of these symptoms on camera, they just (deservedly) give up on her: http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/28709-Hillarys-life-and-lies.html & http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/09/11/what-benghazi-attack-taught-me-about-hillary-clinton.html
14/09/2016:
Malcolm Roberts' first speech as a One
Nations Senator shows perhaps that a
conservative party can drive the agenda: Speaking about the United Nations,
Mr Roberts called the organisation a “socialist monolithic monster” full of
“unelected swill. We need an Aus-exit,” he said. “The people of
14/09/2016: A
Do Nothing Prime Minister. He has to go: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/turnbulls-year-of-nothing--compare-his-record-to-abbotts/news-story/49aed5d00be58fed9eabeb89222496ec
You will also note that the Libs are trailing 48:52 in the polls today.
14/09/2016: Jack Webb Dragnet - The Big Departure Speech (1966?). Just as true today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZo2hhvvlpw
13/09/2016: This
would explain a lot: Hillary Clinton's Illness Revealed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr1IDQ2V1eM
Clearly she/they can’t just keep on going along like this. If she doesn’t pull
out she will hand Trunp the Presidency whether he deserves it or not (he does).
If she does they have a chance with a fresh face untainted by the
13/09/2016: The
Global Warming Debate is Over: Articulate citizens
have understood this all along. The mismatch between cause and effect was just
too great (notwithstanding unexplained fluctuations in temperature in the past
(the 1930s having been the hottest period in the last century and the 1940s the
coldest for example). It is long since time to put this issue aside (and all the money wasted over it): http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/09/is-the-global-warming-debate-over.php
& https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/09/11/feedback-on-feedbacks/
12/09/2016: Ultralight Glasses Case: If you have got to my age (or had other bad luck) you no doubt need glasses. I now wear progressive frameless titanium glasses (14 grams) all the time, but I also need a spare pair in case I lose or break them. The quite lightweight case they came in from Zenni weighs 47 grams. I knew I could do better.
This is 350 ml (12 oz) PET drink bottle I cut down with a craft knife (I should have left a tiny bit more of the neck) and some bubble wrap = 12 grams, a saving over over an ounce ie more than the weight of a muesli bar on the trail, or more than enough weight of fuel (metho) to cook a meal. Every little bit of weight saved helps lighten the load and means you can go a little bit further, easier.
Indeed switching to these frameless glasses (two pairs) also saved me over an ounce (28.5 grams)! I have simply rolled the glasses up in the bubble wrap and squeezed them through the neck. These flexible titanium frames are quite difficult to break anyway: you can just about stand on them, so they will be fine in the ‘possibles’ bag in my pack.
See also:
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/ultralight-spare-glasses/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/zenni-the-hearing-company/
http://www.theultralighthiker.com/securing-hearing-aids/
12/09/2016: DFAT
warned of this danger before the 2007 election. Both
Howard and Rudd vowed to prevent it by restricting immigration from
12/09/2016: ‘The
child is father of the man.’ No surprise really: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160907-clues-to-your-personality-appeared-before-you-could-talk
‘My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.’ William
Wordsworth.
11/09/2016: Linelok Pack Tie Down: For those who don’t sew – or who don’t need to sew: You can use these wonderful little Clam Cleat Lineloks and some eg 2mm Spectra/Dyneema to lash your excess gear to your pack. I always use these lineloks on my tents and tarps: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-perfect-guy-line-for-a-hiking-tenttarp/
Here is my Klymit pack raft (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/klymit-packraft/) attached to my Zpacks Blast (Zero http://www.zpacks.com/backpacks/zero.shtml) @ 200 gram pack:
Here’s how to rig them:
Clam Cleats are available here in eg packs of 100 http://www.cleats.co.uk/browse-by-product/line-lok-guy-runners/cl266-mini-line-lokr-for-1-3mm-lines.html Also available locally (Oz - and quickly) here: http://www.tiergear.com.au/11/online-shop/clamcleat-cl266-mini-line-loks I find the Glow-in-the-Dark best. I always use the reflective line for guys etc too, eg: http://www.tiergear.com.au/11/online-shop/reflective-glowire-15metres The Clam Cleats are made by these folk: http://www.clamcleat.com/products/cleats-for-1-6mm-rope/cleats-rigged-on-a-rope-24.html who have some other interesting stuff.
See also: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/attaching-tie-downs-to-your-pack/
11/09/2016:
11/09/2016: A Jewish Shakespeare? Update on the Bard’s portrait: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/43981
10/09/2016: A Thrush Passes: We have lived in this house now for over 25 years. For all that time (and who knows how much time before?) we have shared our home with a female grey thrush. For many years she was without a mate, then one miraculously arrived. She nested three times that first year – always in a hole in our mud brick wall where we have yet to lay the last brick. We cannot: it is the thrush’s home too. She raised eight chicks that first year. Each year since she raised at least two clutches.
During this winter I spotted some grey feathers in the garden and was concerned that a cat or fox had taken her. Today a thrush was singing in the nest once more, but it was not she. One of her daughters almost certainly, but a voice has been stilled here at Jeeralang Junction. She may be no more, but the valley rings to the songs of her many decendants yet.
She was ever a cheerful and friendly bird, with her clear call of, ‘Cho, Cho Wee!’ I would whistle an answer and she would come to say, ‘Hello’ and practice a medley of birdsong with me. Never quite in arm’s reach but ever so near; she would sit on a twig or perhaps the back of a verandah chair close by. We would sing a round or three. Her daughter’s call is more like, ‘Cho wee, Cho wee, wee’. I answer her with her mother’s song. She cranes her head to the side and gazes at me quizzically. We have a sort of understanding perhaps.
PS: News of her death may be premature. Just as I was posting this right now, a thrush landed just outside the window, not 3′ away. The familiar ‘Cho, Cho, Wee’ seemed to ring out loud and clear. I can hear her yet moving around the garden. She has just answered me thrice! She is back for one more year then. How long do song thrushes live I wonder?
Here she is on 27 September 2014 in her favourite spot in the unfinished wall working on another clutch of her many decendants. I shall miss her.
10/09/2016: Our local council rates are not enough to pay the wages and superannuation of its employees. This Italian town has taken such shenanigans to an even higher plane: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-14/half-municipal-employees-small-italy-town-arrested-fraud
10/09/2016: There is a new game in town: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/peppers-punch-pupils/news-story/e12197be51a9ddf69a4f712e7f3511d0
9/09/2016: Modifying/Shortening Hiking Mats: Sometimes hiking mats just come in the wrong length or width. For example, I would like a wider pad but they only come very much longer. Is it possible to cut a bit off them and reseal them? Yes it is. Here are some links on how to do just that:
How to Cut and Reseal a Neoair - On The Trail - Episode #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kumSl-cbLlY
Shorten Neoair: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/73403/#625778
How to shorten a full length self-inflatable mattress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoRTAeKcA0w
Resizing a Therm-a-rest Evolite Sleeping Pad: https://hikelighter.com/2016/08/16/resizing-a-therm-a-rest-evolite-sleeping-pad/
Resizing the Massdrop x Klymit Static V Ultralight Sleeping Pad: https://hikelighter.com/2016/08/09/resizing-the-massdrop-x-klymit-static-v-ultralight-sleeping-pad/
Below are two mats I would consider cutting down to produce a mat which has more width comfort:
Thermarest XLite Large: 25” (63 cm) by 77” (196cm) by 16 oz (460 grams) R 3.2 If I cut this down to the same dimensions as my XLite Womens it would weigh 394 grams. Only 54 grams for that much increase in comfort!
Thermarest Neo Air All Seasons Large 25” (63 cm) by 77” (196cm) by 25 oz (710 grams) R 4.9 2 If I cut this down to the same dimensions as my XLite Womens it would weigh 608 grams.
I could cut an unnecessary 6” off Della’s XLite Women’s saving her 10% of its weight (or 34 grams)!
You might also want to trim a mat to make it more mummy shaped – and to save weight.
Other modifications: Erin McKittrick and her husband Hig during their ‘ A Long Trek Home’ (http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/Book/) cut down their Thermarest self inflators by cutting a hole (roughly) in the middle of them through which they could push their head. They then passed a string/belt around themselves and the mattress creating a makeshift life jacket!
9/09/2016: Bushbuddy Stove: The original wood burning double walled secondary combustion wood gasifier stove. We have owned the ‘Ultra’ (145 gram) model of this stove for many years and have used it innumerable times. Apart from some expected blackening it shows no sign of wear and still works perfectly. We use the stove on longer trips (to save fuel) and where open fires are prohibited such as some National Parks. As you can see from the picture the stove will not generate enough heat at the bottom to scorch the ground or ignite anything there. I was given the lighter Suluk alternative as a present, so I usually carry it now. Even in relatively treeless areas (or very wet areas) you can usually find enough dry twigs to light such as stove and boil the billy.
Of course my egg Ring stove http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-egg-ring-ultralight-wood-burner-stove/ is much lighter, but it will scorch the ground. I personally do not see this as a problem: over the years I have observed that there are many plants which have clearly evolved to grow after such small fires (not surprising when one considers the long prehistory of human habitation of the Australian continent. Indeed I have observed that there are plants which rapidly colonise an old campfire site which grown nowhere else!
The Bushbuddy was originally invented by Fritz Handel of http://bushbuddy.ca/indexs.html & now made by his apprentice Jeff Tinker (sic!) of: http://www.nomadicstovecompany.com/#!/our-story/ A Titanium version (86 grams) is manufactured by: http://www.suluk46.com/products%20%20-%20P14%20TDW%20Stove.html
‘About the BUSHBUDDY
Like the Bushbuddy Ultra, this stove was designed to provide the cooking needs
of one or two people, but can also serve the needs of a family or small group
if two stoves are carried.
It weighs just 5 1/2 oz, and makes a compact package 4 1/4" in diameter
and 3 3/4" high when nested (the same size as the Bushbuddy Ultra), which
will fit inside the Snow Peak Trek 900 titanium pot, and many other pots of
similar or larger capacity. It's compact size and light weight make it ideally
suited to the needs of the backpacker, cyclist, and other outdoor travelers.
Because it burns wood, it is a very economical stove to use.
There is also no need to carry your fuel with you wherever wood is available
(it does not need batteries), making it useful for long trips, or when
traveling in remote areas of the world where liquid fuels may not be available.
It is aircraft friendly too.
Under good conditions (protected from wind and rain and with a lid on the pot)
the BUSHBUDDY can boil one quart of water in about 8-10 minutes. It is a very
efficient stove, consuming only about 14 oz. of wood per hour at maximum heat,
less at lower heat.
Because of its unique design which uses a double wall around the firebox to
preheat secondary combustion air, you will find that you can burn wood as
cleanly as a candle.
Just be sure to use dry wood only, and add it at regular intervals to
maintain an open flame.
The BUSHBUDDY is made of high quality 18% chrome 8% nickel stainless steel for
many years of trouble free use. The grate is made of nichrome wire, as in the
Bushbuddy Ultra, for the longest possible life.
THE BUSHBUDDY ULTRA NOW AVAILABLE
First custom made for Ryan Jordan of Backpackinglight magazine, for his
Arctic 1000 trek in June of 2006, this stove features the same efficient
combustion design as the regular Bushbuddy, but in a lighter weight (5 ounces,
instead of 6.5 ounces for the regular model). The two stoves are identical in
size.
Specs are:
Can boil 1 liter of water in 8-10 minutes
(will take longer under adverse
conditions)
Weight 5.1 ounces
Size 4 1/4" diameter by
3 3/4" high
For compact storage, this stove is designed to nest inside the Snow
Peak Trek 900 (.9L) titanium pot, but
will also fit inside many other pots of
similar or larger capacity. (Because of the light weight construction of
this stove, it is essential to protect it by storing it in your cookpot.).
To assemble : Place the stove on the ground with the ring of holes at ground level;
remove
the upper section of the stove from within the firebox, invert it and
place
it on top of the stove.
Where to set up : The stove will not perform well in windy
conditions. It is very important to set the stove up in a sheltered area or to
create a windbreak. Any time spent in searching for or creating shelter will be
more than repaid in time saved waiting for water to boil.
The BUSHBUDDY can be safely placed directly on a wooden surface such as an
outdoor picnic table, and it will not scorch it in normal use. If you set up
the stove on the ground, clear the surrounding area of flammable materials like
grass or leaves, because the fire sometimes tosses out sparks. The stove can be
picked up and moved to a new location while burning if you are careful to hold
only the lower base section. (In hot weather you may need to use gloves or pot
holders.)
Do not use the stove indoors unless you have a means of venting the exhaust
gases to the outdoors, such as a teepee with a vent at the top.
To start a fire : Use only dry wood. When other fire starting
materials are not available, make three or four short fuzz sticks with your
knife. Also collect a handful of small dry twigs or split some fine kindling.
Light one of the fuzz sticks and place it in the firebox so the flames will
climb up the shavings. Add a second fuzz stick, and as the fire grows, some of
the fine kindling. If the fire begins to die down, add a third fuzz stick, and
then some more kindling. Once the fire is burning well, you can begin adding
bigger pieces of wood. The chief cause of difficulty in starting a fire is
using wood that is not really dry; in particular avoid using stuff found lying
on the ground to start a fire, even if it seems dry.?
Although the stove can be fed with nothing more than twigs broken up by hand,
bigger solid pieces of wood will be found much more satisfactory, burning longer
with less feeding of the fire. An easy way to cut the short pieces of wood
needed is to place the wood over a log and nick each side with an ax, then hit
the end with the poll of the ax to break it off. Or, a small saw such as the on
a Leatherman tool or Swiss Army Knife can be used to nick each side of the wood
lightly, so that it can be easily broken to length. This saves the effort of
sawing right through. With an ax, however, larger diameter pieces of wood (such
as a small dead tree) can be utilized too, by first splitting and then breaking
into shorter pieces. (Lean any leftover wood against a tree to keep it dry for
future use by yourself or others.) Twigs, chips, roots, bark, and pine cones
all make good fuel once the fire is going well, if they are reasonably dry.
Under rainy conditions anything lying on the ground is sure to be too damp. The
driest wood available is often the lower dead branches of living trees,
particularly conifers such as spruce which shelter their lower branches. If in
doubt about the availability of good dry wood at the campsite, collect some
along the trail when the opportunity arises, and take it with you.
Cooking : A frying pan or pot can be placed directly on the
stove, and wood can be fed to the fire through the opening in the upper section
without removing the pot. With a little experience, the heat can be controlled
to some extent by regulating the amount of fuel added to the fire. For example,
to simmer a pot of rice once it has boiled, add only one medium sized piece of
wood at a time and then only just when the flames are about to go out. (If the
flames do go out, add a small chip of wood only, and wait for the flames to
re-ignite and raise the firebox temperature, before adding more wood.)
For longer or more gentle simmering, it is better to suspend the pot a little
above the stove. One of the simplest ways to do this is by using the
traditional dingle stick (a stick jammed into the ground at an angle, with a
rock or log placed in the angle formed with the ground). The pot is hung on the
end of the stick, and can be raised or lowered by adjusting the position of the
supporting rock or log. Suspending the pot has other advantages too, among them
a reduced likelihood of accidentally spilling it, (especially if the ground is
not firm), and a cleaner burning fire with easier feeding. If you have a very
large pot or bucket to heat, two stoves can be placed under a suspended pot.
To sterilize water : If you are unsure of the safety of
your water supply, bringing it to a rolling boil will kill any
microorganisms--no need for prolonged boiling. Boiling will not protect you
from chemical contamination.
Using the BUSHBUDDY as a campfire : In moderate weather,
the stove makes a great alternative to an open campfire, providing light,
warmth and cheer while conserving firewood.
Safety : Use the stove where open campfires are permitted.
The stove can toss out sparks (due to tiny steam explosions of slightly damp
wood), something that a liquid fueled stove does not do. Set the stove up in an
area cleared of combustible materials like leaves and grass, and watch for any
sparks tossed out. Before leaving your campsite, dump any remaining charcoal on
bare earth and thoroughly drench it with water.’
8/09/2016: Feeling is better than doing, surely? Why else would all nine of the ‘black lives matters’ protesters at London City airport be white, or why their ‘alternative’ agenda was that ‘climate change is racist’? What isn’t racist these days - other than those folks claiming to belong to one other than simply ‘human’ and requiring special privileges for doing so.? I could make a long list; it would include spelling, maths, manners, punctuality, capitalism…BTW: How did these folk get that structure onto the tarmac (and erected) without being stopped by security? ‘They had only one job’ as the saying goes: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/09/07/racist-climate-change-killed-black-cat/
8/09/2016: This headline reinforces an interesting perspective: we too must have nearly 9 million people not in the labour force. Now, I understand a number of these folk are ‘children’ (which used to mean under 15!) and some are of ‘independent means’. Still, this leaves a startling number of people who force the rest of us to support them. The question is, ‘Why do we allow this tyranny?’ http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/94391000-not-labor-force-labor-force-participation-stuck-628
7/09/2016: Well, I had long thought I was bad just because I was a man, but now this is confirmed: https://pjmedia.com/drhelen/2016/08/31/is-your-manliness-hurting-the-planet/?singlepage=true
7/09/2016: I am fairly horrified that young Besim has been handed 10 years (and
that the Federal Government may legislate to make this ‘the term of his natural
life’) for his Anzac Day ‘plot’. I think
one should weigh the seriousness of this plot with his associated plot to fill
the pouch of a kangaroo with C4 plastic explosive and set it loose to blow up policemen.
He had (apparently) bought a knife (which would in truth have allowed him to
carry out his Anzac Day ‘conspiracy’ – but then any other of us who also own a
knife could do the same (if we were of a mind to, or half a mind – as in Besim’s case, I suspect), but in order to take the ‘kangaroo conspiracy’
seriously surely Besim would have to have had either a kangaroo, some C4,
instructions on how to train a kangaroo…you know, something substantive! An
even worse outcome from this imbroglio is what he will (likely) become in gaol
– and what others who are sent to gaol will become - being trained in that
‘university of crime’. Note the case of ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ Peter Sutcliffe in
the news clipping here: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair/theyll-take-anyone/news-story/fc08d482b935e9c1ea07dd4c44fa2aaf
If he needs to become a Moslem, you have to ask yourself about the
‘desirability’ of sending anyone to gaol, especially Moslems (who clearly would
benefit the country more if they were deported instead). Of course, I have long
argued that gaols should be abolished, that people should be punished
immediately for their crimes, either with fines and sanctions or physical
punishments, ostracism or death. Gaols are not, and never were ‘penitentiaries’
or places where people would become better. They are almost universally places
where people will become worse. There is
no sane benefit to society in making people worse.
6/09/2016: How to Magnetise a Screwdriver: If you have a mobile phone which looks something like this you are going to be unscrewing some very tiny screw before you can fix it. They are almost impossible to pick up (at least with my ancient arthritic fingers, and likewise to find when you (certainly) drop them – so you need to know how to do this. And it is just as simple as the picture shows. Wrap a length of insulated wire around the screwdriver then touch the ends a couple of times to opposite poles of a 12 volt battery (possibly not one installed in pone of these modern computerised cars which may not like it). You just have to run a current through the coil for a little while and the metal tip of the screwdriver will become magnetised and will remains so – often for a very long time depending on the steel alloy it is made from. That done you are ready to tackle those tiny screws.
I had not attempted a mobile phone repair before – I only graduated to a smart phone a bit over a year ago when I discovered its wonderful mapping/GPS functions – but I will have a go at petty much anything, and I succeeded first time in replacing the LCD & screen. Next time I will have a go at ungluing the glass screen with a heat gun and replacing it (very carefully). The screens only cost about $2 on the net so it is a knack worth mastering.
PS: A tempered glass screen protector will apparently prevent many such screen mishaps. They too are only about $2 on eBay!
6/09/2016: Mozzie Nets: Lots of folks eschew tarps for tents because they fear they will be invaded by vast swarms of biting and stinging beasties of various ilks, but mostly I find the weight and (usually) the inconvenience/unreliability of zippers is not worth the relatively rare times that need arises.
I admit there are some spots where the hordes of sandflies or mozzies can be quite daunting (and March flies here in Oz are sometimes quite dreadful) but most things can’t sting or bite through well chosen clothing (or your sleeping bag), the critters arrive in great numbers every time you leave or enter your shelter anyway, and all you needed to carry really was a head net (which can also deter flies from bothering you and works while you are walking) and such a head net need only weigh 11 grams (!) as in this iteration from Sea to Summit: http://www.seatosummit.com.au/products/bug-protection/nano-mosquito-headnets/?ref=outdoor so I misdoubt the desirability of lugging around up to a kilogram of netting inside which you will always be killing sandflies, mozzies etc anyway.
That being said, I am working on Nano Noseeum mesh doors for my http://www.theultralighthiker.com/the-deer-hunters-tent/ which I will close without zippers and which (at .7 oz/yd2) will weigh only about an ounce or 30 grams (the mesh is available here: http://www.tiergear.com.au/11/online-shop/no-see-um-mesh) for such rare occasions as I find myself camped out in sandfly heaven, eg at the Grant Burn on the South Coast track Fiordland NZ: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/south-coast-track-fiordland-nz-waitutu-to-westies/) You can slowly eliminate the sandflies/mozzies which invade your (netted) tent by clapping your hands together to kill them as they circle below your suspended lantern of a night (http://www.theultralighthiker.com/mini-super-torch-a-weeks-light-weighs-50-grams/) – or you can carry a mini atomiser bottle of insect spray.
6/09/2016: Compare and contrast: ‘Well,
a fish rots from the head, doesn’t it? Indeed, these failings are the
defining characteristics of a government headed by a clueless egotist who has
achieved not one thing of importance in the year since he became prime
minister.’ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/how-i-found-turnbulls-two-fatal-flaws/news-story/1a42df5c27eb76a6b2cf49e3133588ea
with:Miranda from 2013: ‘Tony Abbott…is
the candidate who connects with Labor’s heartland. He likes a drink, he’s a
volunteer firefighter and surf club member. He doesn’t wear Zegna suits. He’s
been going on holiday on the NSW south coast with the same families for 20
years. His roots in student politics were in the old Catholic arm of Labor, the
DLP, not the toffy Young Liberals. His ordinary rugged blokeyness, and his
instinctively moral language, strikes a chord in middle
6/09/2016: Plus ca Change: Ancient Israelis were ahead of the rest of us too: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4846834,00.html
5/09/2016: The Twelve Woodlores: Ray Mears. Some excellent advice from the introduction of Ray’s excellent ‘The Survival Manual’. If you have not caught up yet with Ray, you should. He is the original of these poor copies such as bear Grylls having trained the SAS and others for years in survival skills. You can get a taste of his style here: https://www.youtube.com/user/RayMearsBushcraft or purchase his books and DVDs here: https://www.raymears.com/
1. ‘Don't challenge Nature, challenge yourself: Occasionally you will hear people talking about beating the elements by conquering a mountain or crossing an ice cap or some such brave deed. The truth is that the challenge is internal. Have you the skill? Can you overcome your fear? No one can beat the elements; all those who fail to heed the warning signs or have the stupidity to press ahead regardless, die. Instead of taking unnecessary risks challenge yourself to know when to turn back; learn to be more skilful; above all challenge yourself to better understand the way nature works.
2. If you're roughing it, you're doing something wrong: Any fool can be uncomfortable, you gain no points for carrying a heavy backpack, or for any deeds of self-imposed endurance. While you may train for an expedition by roughing it, if there is a way of making yourself more comfortable, without the effort becoming a disadvantage, do so. In emergency situations in particular, just a small amount of hardship can prove to be fatal once your level of morale has dropped.
3. Always give z00% effort the first time: Whether shelter building, firelighting, or whatever, if you don't set about it in the right way the first time you are wasting your energy and will simply have to start from scratch again..
4. Aim to achieve maximum efficiency for the minimum effort: To work you need energy; for energy you need food. In the outdoors finding food is work. When you gather your firewood for your fire do you carry large armfuls to the log pile or do you only fill your hands?
5. Never pass by an opportunity: This is very important. As you travel along, should you find suitable water, food or firelighting materials, gather them as you pass since you may not have the opportunity later when they are needed. This is particularly true of fire building materials where by the end of a day's travel it may be raining or have rained earlier soaking the available tinder. Many of my old shirts and jackets have birch bark pieces in the pockets that I gathered some years ago now.
6. As far as you can, adapt your expectations to a level which you can meet given the circumstances: If you cannot build a large comfortable shelter, be satisfied with a small shelter. If there is not a wide variety of wild foods available to you, be grateful for the one type you can eat. Make your psychology work for you. Be realistic—make yourself comfortable but do not overwork yourself to achieve this: it's no use building a palatial shelter if you then collapse with exhaustion inside it. But also do not underestimate what you can achieve.
7. Only eat that which you have positively identified as edible: Do not trust taste tests or in any way experiment with unfamiliar plants or other materials for use as food. The only real way to eat in safety and confidence is to learn what can be eaten and just how to prepare the food before you set out. If this seems like hard work you should not be eating wild foods.
8. Suspect all water as being infected: Even the cleanest, coolest most alluring water may well be contaminated; you cannot tell at a glance. Boil or purify all water—check in particular for signs of chemical pollution, this may be concentrated by boiling!
9. The state of your fire is directly proportionate to your level of morale: Whatever your level of morale, if you can light a fire it will be raised, but if you fail it will plummet like a stone. If you are not confident of your ability to light a fire in the rain it may well be better to wait until the rain stops before trying.
10. Whenever gathering your resources use natural selection as your guide, this is the `way' of nature: Leave the strong, harvest the weak; when gathering food you should always leave a proportion of healthy plants, shellfish or whatever to continue the line. By this lore stronger healthy creatures will have the best chances for survival and thereby proliferate in the future.
11. Take only memories leave only footprints: Wherever possible minimise your impact upon the natural environment, and always aim to leave a campsite in a better state than you found it.
12. Be fit, able to swim and do not give in: Every single skill or technique which follows is easier to learn and master if you are fit. The outdoors is filled with risks and the danger of unpredictable circumstances. Your fitness may well be your last line of defence in such circumstances.
These lores are the guide to successful backwoodsmanship, but in writing them I have assumed that you are able to carry out basic first aid. If you cannot you should attend a course run by an organised body such as the Red Cross. Almost invariably every outdoors man or woman will have recourse to such knowledge at some time or another. One aspect of first aid of particular relevance in the outdoors is an understanding of how hot and cold environments affect your body, these are problems you will face on a regular basis.’
5/09/2016: People pay to send their kids to college so they can be exposed to this crap: http://neveryetmelted.com/2016/08/30/lots-of-trigger-warnings/
5/09/2016: How Civilizations Die: (And Why Islam Is Dying Too). You’ve heard about the Death of the
West. But the Muslim world is on the brink of an even greater collapse. Will we
go down in the implosion? Thanks to collapsing birthrates, much of
04/09/2016: Hammock
Hunting Till Dark: The best hunting strategy
is to be about where the deer are in the dawn and dusk. The easiest way to achieve this is to hammock
camp so that you stop hunting when it gets dark, sling your hammock and tarp
between two trees and start again at first light. If you have to knock off your
hunt so you’re not stumbling around in the dark getting out, you are missing
the best time of day to hunt. Walking in the dark is also fraught with dangers
best avoided – this is the voice of experience speaking!
Many hunters either travel too light, or too heavy. The first can be overconfidence or youth, but once you get caught out overnight you may change your mind. At least do this: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/if-you-could-only-carry-two-things-in-the-bush-what-would-they-be/ Better yet though is to work out a lightweight kit so you plan to stay out overnight normally. Here are my thoughts about that from some years ago:http://www.theultralighthiker.com/hunting