emiror » adventure

Map & Compass

Tim — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:27:26 +0000

I got to spend some more time in the woods this weekend teaching a Map & Compass class. We went out to Bradford Woods, IU’s enormous nature preserve/camp north of Martinsville. On Saturday we spent the day hiking around and practicing map and compass skills. We went town to the “Old Swimmin’ Hole Lake” and had to cross the creek barefoot a couple times (it was cold).

Sunset on Saturday.

This picture gets an A for focus, but an F for composition.

A puddle on the trail.

We made tinfoil meals for dinner. They were delicious.

A tree overlooking the Old Swimmin’ Hole Lake.

The Hoosier

Tim — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:12:24 +0000

Last weekend I went out on a class with OA to the Hoosier National Forest. The class was “Foundations of Outdoor Adventure,” and was a backpacking trip for freshman living on the outdoor-program floor of Teter.

The Hoosier, despite being a bit cold, was absolutely beautiful — the colors this time of year are simply stunning. Here’s a few photos to share.

(And, yeah, I ditched Blogger. I just wasn’t happy with what I could do with it — it’s no good for sharing photos like I want to).

Near Hickory Ridge.

The horse trails really get muddy. But I kind of like it.

On the road a bit past the fire tower.

The morning view from the fire tower.

Lake Monroe

Tim — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:20:18 +0000

Last weekend, I was able to head out to Lake Monroe (Indiana’s largest lake) to help teach a Coastal Kayaking Class. We went to the easternmost part of the lake, near Crooked Creek, where few motorboats venture and where the lake, apart from a few channels, is less a lake and more a large, swampy marsh, full of eagles, herons, ducks, geese, fish, snakes and sucking mud.

It was a beautiful weekend, and getting outdoors and on the water was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of grad school. I’ll just share a few photos…

We made pizza on the fire – it was amazing.

After beautiful weather on Saturday, storms and low clouds rolled in early Sunday morning. Though it made us wet, the lake was beautiful — it felt like we were paddling in Alaska or British Columbia. Indiana has its moments.

This last picture is of the largest caterpillar I’ve ever seen in my life (“like a pickle,” as one person put it — just much, much hairier. And probably less tasty). I looked it up when I got home — turns out it’s an imperial moth: not overly rare (but large, with about a 5′6″ wingspan), but rare to see as a caterpillar.Lake

The fog of North Carolina

Tim — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:21:55 +0000

I really haven’t blogged much in a while, but I have some stuff I want to write about, so I’m happy to have the forum. And, of course, I’ll still put up some photography — I just got the zoom feature javascript working here so you can click on the image below to expand it.

This shot is from my recent backpacking trip to the Appalachian Trail on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. We were in a ton of fog, which spoiled some of the views but made for other beautiful scenery.

vacation, briefly

Tim — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:39:30 +0000

I don’t have much time to compose a post this morning, but I thought I’d post a couple pictures from the vacation so far. It’s amazingly beautiful here. The weather has been great, the travel easy, and we’ve seen an incredible amount of things in just a few days. We were in Yosemite National Park the last couple days and today are back in San Francisco. We’re going to do some things here today (Golden Gate Bridge, etc.). Should be a fun day!

The Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Forest:

The view from our backcountry campsite in Yosemite:

On a random dome in northern Yosemite:

Ten Thousand Islands

Tim — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:43:52 +0000

I’m not going to do a big post about the spring break trip – at least not right now – but I did want to post a couple of my favorite photos.

And no, I didn’t get to see any manatees. They must be pretty elusive. We did see plenty of dolphins, gators and other fun fauna. More on that later.

Anyway, one of the best parts of an extended camping trip is having your body adjust to the natural rhythym of sunrise and sunset. It means you get up and see the beauty of the sunrise that you often miss. Briefly, here’s two of my favorite photos from the trip. I didn’t take my Nikon (too afraid to get it wet), so these are all taken with my little point and shoot Canon.

Quinzee!

Tim — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:42:50 +0000

No, Quinzee isn’t a new take on Yahtzee. A quinzee is a type of snow survival shelter – something you could make if you were stranded in the snowy tundra of … say, Dunn Meadow for a few days.

Basically, you make a huge pile of snow – the bigger, the better – let it sit and sinter for a few hours and then dig out the middle, making a sort of igglo/snow cave combination shelter. It was actually quite warm inside, and you probably could have slept three people in the shelter we built. As it was, we had five of us sitting inside fairly comfortably at once.

Anyway, pictures: