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 9/22/2007 We're in Michigan visiting with Dory's family for the week which has given me some time to catch up on some work and write this entry. I set up a sprinkler and moved all my bonsai together so that they get watered while I am away. My neighbor Shane agreed to check on them as well just in case something happened like the sprinkler being knocked over. We came to Michigan last year around this same time for Yom Kippur and to give Bryce and ourselves a chance to visit with everyone. I find Michigan to be a beautiful place at the end of the summer; the heat is gone and with it the stiffling humidity of the middle of the summer and the plants and trees all look nice still. I was noticing the similarity of landscape maples in the area to one that I have planted in my front yard. At first I thought it was a Michigan native but after I did some research on the web I found out it is a variety of Norway maple called Crimson King.I went for my longest backpacking trip ever, three whole nights, over Labor Day weekend. I convinced my friend, Joe Dellea from the bonsai club, to go with me and he brought a friend of his along as well. They each already had a full set of gear of their own, Joe was interested in getting out to see the way trees grow in the harsh conditions up in the mountains. For me it was great; in the past I have tried time and again to go backpakcing by myself because I had never found a good person to go with, but I have always hated being totally alone out in the wilderness overnight. Friday we woke up early and drove up into the mountains. We entered the Emmigrant Wilderness east of Pinecrest (where we go each 4th of July.) We parked at the designated lot and then had to walk two miles through Kennedy Meadows Resort to get to the trailhead. This wasn't such a problem for me since I had a light backpack on, but for Jm and Joe I think it made all the difference. The hike was only about five miles total but it took us more than four hours. We set up camp at the first place that we could find. Toward the end of the hike Joe and Jim had only been able to make it about a hundred yards between rest stops. On Satruday we all went on a hike together, Joe and Jim were relieved of their large backpacks so they made better progress but we still took nine hours to do an eight mile hike. For most of the route we were on a pack trail so we were occasionally passed by surly looking cowboy types who were normally leading a train of a dozen or so mules and horses. At one point I had stepped off the trail to take a photo of what is possibly the most magestic Red Fir I have ever seen when a pack train lead by a really nice guy came along. He seemed like the happiest person on the planet whistling and singing in Spanish as he bobbed along on top of a horse. It was such an image of the old west that I could barely believe it. On Sunday I took off for a long day hike while Joe and Jim relaxed around camp; I hiked about eleven miles and found some really cool granite-bound lakes up in the higher areas of the wilderness. Although many of the trees that were growing in open ground had great branches and were really interesting it was the small ones growing out of the cracks in the granite that really gave me pause....and they were everwhere you looked. At the highest point of my hike, after clamboring over steep granite slopes and climbing over 2,000 vertical feet I came to Ridge Lake and was surprised to find more people camped there than where we had set up camp far below. Although camping higher seems to be a good idea, I think that the wind and lack of real shelter from trees would cause me to be awake half the night. I stopped to talk to a few of them and even ran into a wilderness volunteer who was quite helpful with planning the route that I took back down the mountain. That route was great because I contoured from the lake around a valley and then up over a saddle to find myself at the top of a steep section of granite which was in shelves of 4-5 feet. I scrambled down them only stopping to put a bandaid on my toe after it blistered from rubbing on the inside of my shoes. I had brought home-made oatmeal cookies for snacks rather than energy bars and twice on the ascent and once on the decent I stopped to scarf down a few and chug a litre of water. The exertion of the climb was intense but the descent was almost as difficult because I had to jump down so many drop-offs in the granite. It was easily one of the best hikes that I have ever been on, but also one of the scariest. I am not a huge adventurer and I always get a sense of urgency when I am far from my shelter. I could easily have lingered longer in the high country and made it back to camp, but the fact that I was not carrying a tent or sleeping bag made me pause as briefly as possible. Monday morning we woke early and packed up camp. I hiked ahead of Joe and Jim and made it back to the car in a little under two hours. I changed shoes, washed my feet and changed my clothes before driving the car up to the resort to wait for them at the store. I waited for almost an hour before they showed up, all the while having my ear chewed on by an obnoxiously dunk fellow who apparently had nothing better to do. We had breakfast at the dining room of the resort and then headed home. Bryce has started school again at Jean Weingarten P.O.S.D. and seems to be doing quite well. He goes there three days per week now and I no longer have to spend all the class time together with him. So, a couple times now I have managed to get out hiking while he was in class, at the nearby Edgewood Preserve. His new speech therapist is doing well with him and he has taken to his new implant like a fish to water; he is already able to repeat words with just the new implant after wearing it only a couple weeks. With the first implant it took a few months; but he is older now and has some experience with the first implant to help him along. Regardless, Dory and I are quite pleased that he is learning to talk quite well and we hope that he continues to progress at the same rate that his normal hearing peers do so that he will be able to enter a regular elementary school rather than attending a school for the deaf. 6/28/2007 5/11/2007 3/27/2007 1/5/2007 11/23/2006 10/1/2006 9/1/2006 7/20/2006 5/30/2006 5/20/2006 4/25/2006 3/22/2006 2/22/2006 1/25/2006 12/20/2005 11/17/2005 10/27/2005 10/8/2005 9/11/2005 8/26/2005 8/9/2005 8/1/2005 7/20/2005 7/5/2005 6/17/2005 5/27/2005 5/1/2005 4/15/2005 4/5/2005 3/24/2005 3/13/2005 2/5/2005 12/28/2004 11/29/2004 11/3/2004 10/2/2004 9/10/2004 8/23/2004 8/8/2004 7/21/2004 7/2/2004 6/8/2004 5/4/2004 4/20/2004 3/28/2004 3/10/2004 2/10/2004 1/15/2004 To reach entries prior to January 2004 click on one of the older entries on this list and scroll down to the bottom of that entry. e-mail Eric |