Category Archives: Traveling

Sydney, New South Wales

“On holiday” it’s a phrase that has a meaning that most Americans don’t really understand- but after 6 days in Sydney with my half-brother and his family- I’ve got a pretty good read on things. “On Holiday” is about eating, lounging, doing all the fun things we don’t usually let ourselves go at and most importantly, not doing anything in particular at all.

On the other side of the Pacific.

Given my stop in Hawaii, I had almost zero trouble with jetlag, even though I left on Monday morning and showed up 10 hours later on Tuesday night. Sydney is one of the great cities of the world, and even rolling home from the airport I was eager for a detour through the city streets. Wednesday we hopped a ferry across the harbor, under the harbor bridge, and into the heart of things. Photos to tell-

I love these kids- the background is nice too.

These guys are worth travelling 8,000 miles for- oh yeah, the background is nice too.

Top down view of the harbor from Sydney Tower.

Getting a feel for old town in The Rocks district.

We’ve had a solid day on/day off pattern, with plenty of lounging around home. The Cricket thing is big here, so my nephews made sure I had a complete experience.

Fully kitted up.

In American baseball you “pitch,” in cricket- you “bowl”- the difference is signficant.

Most importantly though, it’s been over a year since I swam in the ocean, and Sydney beaches are truly world class. Friday in Kilkare was nothing short of perfect.

Salt water.

Family beach day.

Solar powered hot tub.

My brother’s house is on the north side of Sydney, and perched close to Ku Ring Gai National Park, which means I’ve had a great opportunity to meet some of the locals.

They said hello first (literally).

Backyard entertainment.

Questioning my choice of flip flops for my hike.

Questionable choice of flip flops for a hike.

Names here are hilarious.

Say it as fast as possible.

Really? Bong bong?

I’ve spent the last day catching up on some professional commitments before I leave my computer and head out climbing, but this first week with the family has been worth the whole trip. Even though he is my brother, we’ve (obviously) not spent much time together, and I’m looking forward to having some more time with him and his family after their vacation and some of my other adventures.

My nephew Morgan on the left, my brother Bob on the right- Sydney Harbor, January 2013.

HNL

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Like the title, my time on Oahu was abbreviated. That said, it didn’t lack substance. Given that December 30st started with this:

“Going to Hawaii, right…”

… it took most of the 6 hour flight from Seattle to convince myself I was going to sleep on a beach in Hawaii without a sleeping bag for the night.

I felt pretty good getting off the plane, and somehow managed to talk the rental car guy into a substantial upgrade from my originally reserved Ford Focus.

Rollin’, like I do…

My first stop might have been my most important. I’ve wanted to visit the Pearl Harbor Valor in the Pacific war memorial for quite some time, and it was the only thing I had really planned to do on Oahu. I visit war memorials a lot. I think honoring the dead is important. The Pearl Harbor memorial is well done, and powerful- and I particularly appreciated the fact that it clearly laid out the primarily economic drivers that coerced the Japanese into attacking Pearl Harbor (and entering WWII) in the first place- they are not dissimilar from our own current circumstances. I couldn’t hold back the tears while I was there. Our culture has a problem, more specifically- an addiction, to violence that I find entirely unacceptable. Maybe, with time and luck, humanity will figure out how to meet it’s needs without killing one another.

Tribute to the 4,560 men KIA, just in the Pacific Submarine Service alone.

Collecting myself, I took an obligatory pass to gawk and the absurdity of Waikiki beach, but followed some beta from the guy I sat next to on the plane and headed to Oahu’s east shore for a more down to earth scene.

Despite a thorough investigation via Yelp, Sunday night is a bad time to try to experience Hawaiian cuisine on the cheap. That said, fish tacos, an acoustic bass guitar, and a gorgeous beach all to myself were a perfect way to spend the night. With the time change, I was up plenty early on Monday morning, and around sunrise, I headed for the tallest point I could see. Makapuu Point was the perfect spot for a healthy little run and some great photos.

East side- love.

The last sunrise of 2012.

After a dip in the ocean, and a few wrong turns, I headed up the Pali Hwy and back to the airport. I can’t say much for Honolulu as a city- cluttered, dirty, and mostly ugly, but the rest of the place is pretty okay- and I’m certainly glad I poked around a bit before heading south.

Kaneohe, from the Pali Highway. Worth the drive.

The Real Thing

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While my trip to Salt Lake City was a hilarious amount of fun, my friends are also very good at asking important questions too. In the course of getting to know each other, Sarah asked me-

“What are you looking for out there (when you go adventuring)?”

To be clear, Sarah has spent more time off the beaten path having her own adventures, but this is a question worth asking between climbing partners. Reading back through some email correspondence, I felt like this was supposed to show up here. Usually New Years is somewhat of a “high holiday” for me- a time for reflection, and prioritization- but my NYE got eaten by the International Date Line and my reflections have been foggy from jetlag. Maybe this is just what I’m going to be looking for in 2013.

Simply put, I am looking for the real thing.

“Peace is who we are when we are completely honest.” (Ralph Marston)

I’ve only just recently started to describe it as “the real thing”. The real thing is honest. Honesty is peace. More that simply saying that what I am looking for is peace- describing it as the real thing reminds me of how to get there- it makes the search less illusive. Credit where due, the term comes from here.

The real thing happens when we have the right combination of risk, friendship, beauty, simplicity, authenticity, and probably a few other things I can’t name so easily. Sometimes, the real thing is enjoying dinner with new friends, and sometimes it’s a multi-day, runout, alpine scarefest. You know it’s the real thing when you realize that you don’t have to hide anything. When you can’t hide anything. When you’re scared, and you wish you could pretend, but you remember that everything works better when you don’t. Hard climbing tends to be the real thing because it demands our complete attention- we can’t fake training we haven’t done or technique we haven’t learned. I’m pretty sure the real thing happens just as much in our day to day lives as it does when we are climbing, it’s just easier to ignore.

I am much more comfortable getting to know people with my faults on display than simply the things I’m proud of. When I’m not trained up. When I’m not shrending hard. When I feel my worst. Because honestly, we are all only at our best for a fraction of the time. I’m looking for the cleanest, simplest, most authentic version of myself. I’m looking to spend time with people who are as optimistic, grateful, enthusiastic, creative, and engaged as I am (or more so). I believe that “you become who you hang around. (MFT)” and I’m looking to build friendships in which I would never say something about someone that I could not say to them. To make friends that won’t settle for my bullshit, and who are as excited about next week’s version of myself as I am.

I am looking to share experiences with people that don’t leave me wondering if they felt the same way, because how they felt will be clear in their eyes- or they will feel compelled to speak up. I hope that I can be more honest with each successive person I meet- and learn to be more honest with myself along the way. Adventuring outside inspires the most honesty, and therefore I believe it represents my path to peace.

Elves

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(I’m behind on posting, welcome to catching up on the adventure)

A few weeks ago I met some people at the Bozeman Ice Festival that really know how to have fun. Despite going to Australia this week (oh yeah, didn’t see that coming did you?), a spontaneous visit to Salt Lake City was on order for Christmas weekend. A huge thank you to Sarah, Peter, and Brit for being amazing hosts. While Salt Lake is known for Mormons and the Wasatch front, elves are apparently a big deal too:

Cousins Peter and Brit show off the latest fashions (exterior door shown for scale).

I rolled in on Saturday afternoon, and after a quick hike to check on ice climbing conditions, Sarah and I joined in the Santa pub-crawl mayhem.

Well… someone needed to step up and be Pimp Santa.

Despite a great outfit, I bailed on the pub crawl relatively early with thoughts of ice climbing on my mind. The ice was surprisingly poorly formed and thin, and while Sarah and I ticked 3 of 4 pitches on “The Great White Icicle” (WI 3, 4p), eventually my judgement won over, and we headed for Brit’s hot tub and a fun little jam session with a few other folks.

Thinner than it looked.

Sarah isn’t as into backcountry skiing as I am, but fortunately she’s got some great friends. Matt C, Hasen, Tyler, and Matt X, thanks so much for letting me join the fun. It was dumping powder in the Wasatch, and while that pushed us on lower angle slopes, we still had an amazing day of skiing. Sarah had lunch on the table when we rolled home, and suddenly my cello was in hand while Matt C sang Talking Heads.

Doing due diligence in the avy pit.

Sweetness.

Christmas Eve finished cooking a stellar meal with Sarah, then a small gathering of friends hosted by one of her former professors.

My drive home featured dry roads, and clear skies, so the hours passed quickly. Even with all of the outdoor sports centered in Salt Lake, I’ve spent very little time there. With friends like these, I suspect I’ll be back soon.

Somewhere south of Dillon, MT.

Council

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Power for a new Montana.

This past weekend, one year ago, I drove out to Montana from Portland to attend the 2011 AERO Annual Meeting. The drive felt familiar from ice climbing trips, and the landscaping was just as stunning as I had remembered it from previous trips. If you’ve been following, you know that the trip in 2011 was different, because the only trip back to Portland was to collect my belongings and say goodbye.

Welcome.

This past weekend, I drove a little further east to Lewistown, Montana, to attend the 2012 AERO Annual Meeting. Driving across the beautiful Montana landscape, I remembered AERO being introduced to me as “a tribe”, and the Annual Meeting, our highest council. Our tribe is that of sustainable living, and while we are far between on the vast landscape, our bonds are strong.

Senator Jon Tester opens the morning by video-conference. We had a nice little chat about energy conservation…

Measurement and verification data from regenerative grassland practices using cattle. Compelling.

I wish I could stick links in the photo captions, but I can’t. Jim Howell from Grasslands LLC and The Savory Institute uses cows to heal land (and feed people). I used to think that sustainable ranching was an oxymoron. Now I think it might be the only thing that could actually fix our North American eco-system.

I love Jeff and Betsy Funk. They might be two of the most influential people I’ve met in Montana. I’ve got to figure out how to spend some time with them without making significant financial contributions to AERO (which I did, again…)

One of Jeff Funk’s amazing tools, up for the live auction. I’ll be headed back to make some more.

I’m not sure if people expected to see me again, but they welcomed me as if they did. There was a certain sense of pride in connecting with people I had not seen since last year, and sharing that I had indeed found my place in Missoula, in Montana. We shared successes and failures, and hopes and dreams- and more than anything, when this tribe gets together, we have a really, really good time.

Caption Unnecessary.

Everything

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It is my favorite season.

“I like your life here Skander.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Margaret and I were driving back from a perfect day of rock climbing in Mill Creek, and her observation, like her visit, helped flush away some of the chaos that I’ve been keeping at bay lately. How do you describe a weekend that encompasses every conversation, every part of yourself, all of your past, all of your future? Well, it was Friday noon through Tuesday morning, but everything is a lot.

Home grown tomatoes at the PEAS Farm

Margaret and I met at Northwestern while working to push sustainability into the engineering school agenda. Her intelligence, tenacity, and unlimited joy were obvious from the start, but I never suspected how our friendship would grow. After Northwestern, Margaret moved to Alaska and my subsequent expeditions were always bookended with homemade bread, midnight sunsets, and time with her and her amazing boyfriend in their cabin in Palmer. We share common dreams for sustainable business, social services, and food systems. We pursue common goals for introspection, self-enrichment, and service to others. She was the last of my summer visitors this year, and early October celebrated her visit with clear skies and perfect temperatures to enjoy the best of Missoula.

Topping out one of Margaret’s first real rock climbs.

First Friday, climbing at Mill Creek, hiking on Mt. Jumbo, visits with farmers, were a perfect introduction to Missoula, but under all of it, the real highlight was in the conversation that never seemed to stop. Margaret doesn’t mince words, pull punches, or let questions go unasked- and neither do I. More than anything else, our friendship is rooted in a clear deep openness, and we didn’t waste the short time we had together. The questions she is able to ask helped me verbalize some emotions that I haven’t been able to express, and to admit some feelings that I haven’t been able to face. Some visitors I’ve had have made me wonder why I’m making life happen here, but showing Margaret around Missoula made me realize how well this place fits my life- or perhaps, how well my life fits my life, here.

Boulder, Colorado

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My mind is not on getting this posted tonight, but more on that towards the bottom. Participating in the PassiveHouse conference last week left no time for writing. My trip was sponsored by the fine folks at Zola European Windows, and I had a very good time both at the conference (in downtown Denver), and romping around more colorful places, like Boulder.

Zola- the only folks I know that can make a R-10, triple pane, 19′ wide sliding glass door (thanks to my boss for modeling).

Surprisingly, I’ve never spent much time there, but Boulder is kinda hilarious. The outskirts feel more like most little western mountain towns- copious outdoor recreation, lots of very fit people and fancy bicycles, and a Walmart here and there. But downtown is more unique- trust fund hippies play guitar next to the Gucci storefront, and the smell of gourmet, organic, fresh ground coffee is overwhelming. There is public bike sharing, and an amazing vintage theater. Half of me wants to move there, and the rest of me knows to stay away- but probably just because I wouldn’t feel unique anymore.

Classic (damn street lamp ruins my photo).

The theater architecture was nice, but the line-up was unbelievable…

There is something about being in an unfamiliar place that allows me to step away from myself. My view of things around me becomes more detached, and more objective- my normal introspective investments drop away in pursuit of new-ness. Seeing new people in new places, reminds me that we are just people- doing whatever it is that we do. Our individual heartbreak or triumph becomes far less important in a crowd of strangers. Part of this blog is about the search for the most authentic version of ourselves, and when no one around you knows (or particularly cares) who you are- its fun to take the opportunity to be exactly who you want.

In between professional responsibilities, I enjoyed a session with some like minded outdoor folk at the Alpine Training Center, and caught dinner with my friend Jen, who drove all the way from Greeley just to make it happen.

Home away from home.

The conference was certainly valuable- lots of practice talking about what I do, seeing some really cool projects (the Marshall project), learning new stuff, and making new connections. It was also hilarious to realize my own cousin was also presenting- we had a very good time catching up on the past 5 or 6 years since I’ve seen him, and I really appreciated his presentation on the Thousand Homes Challenge. It always takes a while to see what shakes out of these sort of things, but the vibes were good, and some of the interactions were… unique.

5 people debating the merits of a window detail. Only at a PassiveHouse conference.

Stand and deliver. My cousin gets it done.

By Sunday afternoon I had as much PassiveHouse as I could actively take-on and was grateful to meet a good friend and former co-worker from Portland for dinner and a local jazz jam. It’s been a while since I put my name on a list and sat in on bebop tunes, but it’s amazing how the changes still come back.

The previous commentary about feeling detached is at odds with my mood tonight. I went to invite some friends together for this weekend on facebook, only to notice that one of them seemed to evaporate. Just like anything else, the social utility is just as good at taking people apart as putting them back together. With all the traveling and dedication to task at hand, it’s pretty obvious I’ve got a fair amount of work to do at home as well.

Travel

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(the next few posts are going to be a bit out of order, wrote this on the plane and wanted to get it posted)

The flight from Salt Lake to Denver was full of a high school girls soccer team from Australia. They had been traveling for 27 hours, and Denver was their final destination. Listening to their accents I started to think about all of the planes I’ve been on since I quit my job in Portland. I’m traveling for work this week, but my work at Energetechs has never had the same rote tedium that working at Glumac did. I still feel like I’m on the journey. I remember sitting on the plane on Monday morning, November 15, 2010 on my way to the GreenBuild conference to represent Glumac. That was when I decided to quit the job and see what else the world had to offer- it’s fun to think that the journey that has been my life since then has pretty much been perfect, with just enough low points to make it real.

En route, via SLC.

I’m in Denver to give a presentation to the Passive House Institute US National Conference. I’m a little scared that being the nerdiest construction company in Montana isn’t quite enough to hang with the other folks here, but we’ll give it our best. We’ve got an authentic story to tell, and I think we tell it well- the success is going to lie in owning that.

It is said that the world is like a book, and that those who don’t travel only read one page. I’ll be here until Monday and expect to work my tail off, learning, networking, training, and growing- and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m curious to see what coming back to Missoula feels like, particularly in comparison to returning there after Yosemite a few weeks ago. Stay tuned.

Tuolomne

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You’ve been warned, this could probably be several posts- the lack of power for my computer, internet connectivity while traveling, and free time upon my return has left me behind on writing. The last 10 days have inspired a lot of writing. Hopefully I’ll get to all of it in the coming weeks. The short summary is interspersed with the photos.

First off- I really like driving. 940 miles from Missoula to Lee Vining was no problem. 840 miles back (on a different route) was harder, but not because of the driving.

How many of my best days start.

Engine limit?

In addition to enjoying the Jarbidge, I also enjoyed a night in the desert overlooking Mono Lake, sunrise over the eastern Sierra, and beautiful (but hard to photograph) vistas across Nevada.

First light on the mountains, September 6, 2012.

I pulled into Tuolomne Meadows around 11am last Monday- John was still making his way up from SF, so I headed out for a perfect trail run/hike up to Cathedral Lake. I haven’t been running at all this summer, but it felt good to move fast again, and I’m excited to think I’ll be running again this fall (fingers crossed). Tuolomne is one of the most perfect places I have ever been, and the only other time I was there was on my solo ski tour last spring. The summer tourists certainly have their impact, but nothing really breaks the serenity of the place.

Tuesday John and I got lost and didn’t find the route we were looking for. Certainly a downer to start the trip, but it was still a beautiful day, and served us a good slice of humble pie. Weather on Wednesday looked uncertain, so we elected to fire two short routes, South Crack on Stately Pleasure Dome and West Crack on Daff Dome. The climbing here can be confusing and scary, but awesome at the same time.

Climbers are the main wildlife attraction for tourists at the base of Stately Pleasure Dome.

John charging the 2nd pitch.

100ft runout. Routine for Tuolomne climbing.

The climbing was easy and the setting was perfect. I wasn’t complaining.

New friends on the route next to us.

Tuolomne as a reputation for bad afternoon thunderstorms, and rain makes the granite slick as snot. By the time we got to West Crack, things weren’t looking so hot.

Up to be down, I hated calling the weather after a superb first pitch.

Thursday was more of the same, so we headed for some single pitch climbing at Olmstead Point. Frustrating to not tick any long routes, but the skies weren’t inspiring. We top roped, we fell off a lot, and got worked early- there are really no bad days of climbing in Yosemite.

Rain?

Even without long routes, my hands were showing signs of Yosemite by Thursday sunset.

Friday dawned perfectly. I got up early to check the weather, and we made the most of the day. It may only be 5.7, but I’ve never climbed anything quite like the complete traverse of Mathes Crest. It’s about a mile long, and much of the route can be simulclimbed, but with just enough exposure to make you think about it.

High Sierra.

This was only the beginning.

Better and better.

The views backwards were the best. Note the other parties standing where we had just been.

Everyone gets this photo, and I don’t care.

It was a sweet day out. Everything just fired like it was supposed to- we didn’t get too lost on the approach, John and I simuled the first half of the route in 2.5 hours, and despite some questionable route finding and exciting downleading, we had a hoot on the second half as well.

John’s last belay ledge. Perfect.

The route traverse the entire visible ridge, starting from the notch at the far right, and ending at the notch on the far left. You know it’s good when it barely fits in the camera lens.

Views on our walk back to the car were similarly perfect. We picked up the pace to race the sun down, and finished the route car to car in 12 hours.

Cathedral Peak on the way home.

Mt. Conness and the Sierra Crest. Perfect.

It was a little hard to rally for another climb on Saturday morning, but I knew I was sitting in a car for two days and wanted one more shot at the route we failed to find on Tuesday. We found it in short order, but also found another party on it that was in over their heads. After 1.5 hours of waiting at the pitch 2 belay, John and I were cold and frustrated.

Gangstas, who weren’t rolling anywhere behind another party.

We down-climbed the two pitches and headed our respective ways. Despite the disappointment of not finishing the route, watching another team disintegrate made me even more grateful to have had a competent and fun partner for the week. Many thanks to John for the sweet camping, willing attitude, and wise counsel.

The trip home was more of a challenge than the way out, but I did get one lucky photo in northern Nevada:

Train + Rainstorm + Sunset + Lightening.

More insight to follow, but the most important outcome from the vacation was that it felt like vacation- I didn’t really think or do anything in particular, and enjoyed being more away from everything familiar than I have been in quite some time.

Seasons

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Sunrise, September 1, 2012, Challis, Idaho. Music: Explosions In The Sky, Your Hand in Mine.

A few days ago I posted something on Facebook about seeing color in the leaves. I was Jarbridge, Nevada (which is really much more like Idaho than what you would normally think of Nevada) last night and the air felt distinctly crisp. Oh, and I drove through a full on hail storm to get there. So yeah, fall is in the air, and that’s cool ‘cause it’s my favorite season and I’m on vacation, making a slow trip down to Yosemite National Park. I’ve never climbed in Tuolomne, and my friend John is posted up there for the fall season in a joint venture between the AAC and National Park Service. He and I had talked about meeting up, but I wasn’t sure it would happen until my idea to go to the Wind River range didn’t pan out.

Somewhere west of Rogerson, Idaho.

Really didn’t expect to find a post office…

Jarbridge is actually pretty well on the way, but getting there takes quite a bit of doing. My friend Linda (from my last adventure to Idaho) was headed into the Jarbridge Wilderness for a little solo backpacking, and we realized it would be fun to meet up in the middle of nowhere.

I didn’t really feel like I needed a vacation, which meant it was the perfect time to take one. As I’ve hinted before, I miss the roadlife. While I certainly don’t feel settled in Missoula, my journey takes a different form there, and there’s a part of me that just loves living out of the back of my car and exploring as much new territory as I can.

The Jarbridge is worth the trip- I look forward to making it back here.

I’m very grateful for a little time with a friend I may not see again for a long time. Goodbyes are hard.

My wanderlust does not bode well for my bank account, long term financial solvency, or ability to invest in community. I don’t know what to make of this fact, but it’s the main thing on my mind. Watching the seasons change in Missoula, and on the road, makes me realize I’ve been in Missoula most of a year already. When every minute of life still counts for something, a year starts to feel like a long time. I’m always excited about fall, and perhaps unlike most folks, I can’t wait for winter.

Just north of Deeth, Nevada. Just go be out in the world today.

I’m not sure what to make of all this. I’m not anywhere near the financial position I was in when I left Portland, and I don’t feel like professional experience in Missoula is complete yet, let alone the fact that Missoula still has much to offer. Sometimes it just feels like my head and my heart are in two different seasons of my life. This is going to be a good week to feel the differences.

stickthefeeling

engineering, adventure, and balance

Category Archives: Traveling

Sydney, New South Wales

HNL

The Real Thing

Elves

Council

Everything

Boulder, Colorado

Travel

Tuolomne

Seasons