Pictures from outdoor exercise.
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Rode the lift 14 times. Almost 13,000 feet vertical. About three hours total time, but only one hour actually going downhill fast.
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We got some snow. I've been xcountry skiing this year.
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Crosscountry skiing is such good exercise!!
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Looks like a fun day @sdereski!
I almost took my touring skis up to the mountains yesterday, but I knew I wouldn't likely use 'em. The weather was too nasty; barely frozen rain/snow mix. Drenched! As I passed the upper trails, I saw they hadn't even open - they don't open it up in stormy weather. It's about nine KM, and nice & quiet.
It was also quiet on the alpine side. There were so few people willing to brave the uber wet conditions. I still was able to get in about 10,000 feet of vertical in 12 runs over about three hours. "Oregon Powder" conditions. Ha.
At least I bought some new goggles on deep discount in the spring that are light enough I could ALMOST see the surface. Super flat light. Windy. Wet. My Skigee was also a good purchase. Silocone "wiper for your goggles." Clean them off each time I got off the lift, and they were COVERED again at the bottom. At one point, I could squeeze water from my gloves just by clenching my fist.
At least my shell layer kept me mostly dry. Some water sneaked in, I presume through a zipper. Either that or it was just sweat that didn't vent out from my chest. I should have brought a THIRD pair of gloves.4 -
I had never EVER done tropical diving before. I have been going to the California Channel Islands where I didn't have to wear a hood for some of the dives on the southern islands, but a 3mm wetsut? Wow.
Roatan! The water was 80 degrees. The last couple dive days were rain and wind, so we were cold on the boat. The last dive it actually felt good to jump in the water. My computer recorded minimum dive temperatures as surface temperatures. Ha!
The visibility was great. There were some drift dives on gentle currents. There was a river of Creole Wrasse that was out o site. There were squid. There were grouper. The coral was, on most sites, still quite healthy. There was grilled whole fish, ceviche to beat the band, and excellent fish tacos. Breakfast was HUGE every day including fresh ripe papaya and pineapple. Oh wow. And plenty of Salva Vida!
Sunset on the beach early in the trip before the rains came:
Grilled Whole Fish:
After the rains came:
Ceviche:
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The diving was pretty good, too, but my camera is not very good.
Green sea turtle with remoras:
Spotfin butterflyfish:
Green moray:
Nassau grouper:
Sunny day on the boat:
Rainy day on the boat:
Evening on the beach:
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Looks like a wonderful trip, @mtaratoot! Thank you for sharing the photos.
Curious: What are those on the plate with your ceviche? Plantain chips, or something like that?0 -
Looks like a wonderful trip, @mtaratoot! Thank you for sharing the photos.
Curious: What are those on the plate with your ceviche? Plantain chips, or something like that?
Yes; the Governor's Palace and the Grand Roatan Resort served plantain chips with their LARGE portions of ceviche. They were a mix of fish, shrimp, and conch. The place we stayed, Infinity Bay, and another place we ate, Beachers, serve tortilla chips.
The breakfast buffet at Infinity Bay had fried plantain chunks most days, but not every day. I ate a LOT of breakfast....
You can't get papaya like that here in the states. Or pineapple. Oh... maybe I'll save up some money to go back in a few years.
I even developed a taste or Salva Vida. I bet there's no way to get it here. That's ok. Back to craft beer! But I'd be happy for someone to throw me a "Life Saver."
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@mtaratoot
If you liked Roatan, you're going to love Bonaire. My favorite Caribbean dive site to date, against which all others are measured.
Maybe Fiji will be better. It's on my bucket list. Just not in the near future.0 -
And you haven't eaten fish until you've had lionfish! (These are from my 2013 trip to Belize.)
Tasty and you're helping control an invasive species.
Lionfish FAQs2 -
We saw a few lionfish. If hunting were allowed, I'm sure someone in our group would have clobbered them. There's no spearing allowed in the Roatan Marine Park. I bet they have lionfish roundups as organized events, but in general - nope; can't do it.
What I found amazing is what color they look underwater (black) until you shine a light on them and they turn red.0 -
https://www.roatanmarinepark.org/invasive-species-reduction
"All spearfishing in a marine protected area is illegal in Honduras. However, with a Roatan Marine Park issued Bay Islands Lionfish Spearing License, visiting and local divers and free divers are legally allowed to use a Hawaiian sling or pole spear of up to 3 feet, only to hunt lionfish."
Ya might have to jump through a few legal loopholes but, in general, lionfish are open season 100% of the time everywhere in the Caribbean.1 -
Maybe next time. Although, I don't want to give up a dive day to go take a class just so I can clobber lionfish. I only saw about a half dozen of them. If I did shoot any, I'd leave them for the eels to eat.
I have a pole spear, but it's way longer than three feet. I think it would be fun to shoot a Hawai'ian sling. They look pretty neat. The pole spear is SO easy to reload, but you have to get pretty close to get a good shot. That reminds me: I should go to the jetty to get some rockfish.1 -
On our dives out to the Blue Hole at Belize (one dive at the Blue Hole, two dives at surrounding reefs), the dive master would spear lionfish and feed them to the large groupers that followed us (waiting for just such a handout), but he had to stop when the reef sharks showed up.2
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Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe side5 -
What a lovely picture! Thank you for sharing!0
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I know some people who have run Victoria in kayaks. Sounds nuts, right? There's a line on extreme river right. Apparently, hippos are a real threat.0
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We were exercising "physical separation" a.k.a., "social distancing," but I hate that term.
I hosted a little "happy hour" in the driveway yesterday. Four neighbors joined in, and we had a little fire in my fire pan. I also lit my Woodland Power Stove with the flame spreader inserted. Nice ambiance, but not much heat. They do sell ceramic logs that can make it look like a "real" fire and throw some radiant heat out. I have a propane outdoor space heater, but the regulator seems to be on the fritz.
I invited a few other friends, but kept the guest list under ten. As I invited people, I asked if they'd be coming, because if not, I could invite someone else.
Another neighbor had planned to host, but one of the couple got a bad headache, and if she was inside and we were standing outside, their dogs would bark incessantly. So I hosted again. As expected, G brought a Quarantini; I had one, too. S brought tall-boy PBR and Tapatio. Everyone else brought craft beer. I did end up opening a bottle of sparkling wine, and G's glass also kind of looked like a vintage champagne glass, so she had some too.
S went home to put on dry shoes, get another beer and also brought back their dried up christmas tree and tossed it on the fire. That was exciting.
K and M brought ping pong paddles and balls in a bucket of soap water. They tried to get people to play street-pong. So goofy.
We mostly kept ten or 12 feet apart, or more, at all times. It was nice we could still have some community and stay safe. It also made for a fun little video clip showing everyone standing around FAR apart.
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The joy of social distancing. My neighbourhood has several seniors. I've offered assistance but so far everyone is doing well. Not sure that "proves" that social distancing works but we'll see...1
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I was out filling my yard debris cart; that didn't take really long. So I decided to start another project.
The previous owner of my house had installed flagstones along the front window area. I have owned the house for 17.5 years, and the previous owner had rented it out many years before she sold it. She had moved to the Southwest for grad school and then back east for romance. I've known her a long time - she is a fellow river rat.
Anyway, the flagstones had slowly gone subterranean. In 30 years, soil had developed on top of them, and maybe they had settled. In the past, I had dug out some of the soil and pressure washed them. Today I dug them all up. I found sand and landscape fabric underneath, so they did the job right. I probably should add some more sand, but I'm lazy. I got the flagstones arranged ~fairly level~ but not professional type level. I am going to let them settle naturally and see how they turn out. I may end up getting some sand, but for now I have a stone path again.
Yes, that means that after my morning coffee, I neglected to eat breakfast. Bacon and eggs coming up! The eggs came from my neighbor's chickens. Nice, strong shells and tasty fresh eggs. The bacon was cooked in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes, then another eight minutes at 350. Came out perfect. I have another four strips that may or may not last until tomorrow.... And I have a few more ounces of grease in my new jar. I was almost out, otherwise I wouldn't have even bought bacon the other day. Nothing like smearing bacon grease on a big russet potato before baking it for an hour. Mmmmm....
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A smiling breakfast!0
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I think there's lots of people who smile when they see bacon
On Friday afternoon, and again this afternoon, I knelt in my canoe for three hours and bothered the bass. Too much fun! I didn't take a camera or even a phone, so these pictures are just the small area I paddled back and forth on. I come back to the same boat ramp. Too much fun catching four and five pound bass on light tackle. On Friday it got to be almost no fun because they were biting so much. I took a beer with me each day but never even bothered to open it.
Friday I went by myself. There was lots of river traffic since it was gorgeous and warm. Almost more people than I see in the grocery. I stayed in a SMALL area.
Today a friend came down after about a half hour and fished from a paddle board. Wow. He had fun, and then went around the back side of the island for exercise. I fished a bit longer and tried to climb up, but no dice. I was in a whitewater canoe, so it spins a lot. Every forward stroke requires a correction stroke, and that saps forward progress. I had to go over to a shallow area to avoid strainers, and I couldn't get all of my paddle in so progress was REALLY slow. Eventually I got spun and decided it wasn't worth it. I could have hopped out and dragged maybe 15 yards over the shallow spot, but now I have dry wetsuit booties so I can go back tomorrow if I want with dry feet.
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I hope no-one hassled you re: Kung-Flu self isolating...1
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There's a nice park right there on the west side of the river that's almost 300 acres. Friends in my neighborhood aren't fond of running the bark paths there anymore because there's too many people huffing and puffing. This is because so few trails are open. It has come to their attention that being on the river can help make more distance.
There's also been a lot of folks out on the water. Most of them seem to be paddling safely, and not just with respect to physical distancing. Everyone's wearing PFDs. Doesn't seem to be drunkenness. Just people out moving.
As I got to the ramp, there was a guy wearing a bandana that was taking a canoe of a truck, and he said out loud, "This sure isn't as easy as it was when I was 70." I recognized his voice. Hadn't seen him in years! We had a nice chat from a safe distance and caught up a little. On the way back I ran into a retired hydrologist that lives in the neighborhood that I've been in touch with but not seen in a year or so. We had a nice chat, and he was curious about my boat.
See, we can still have community and get out safely while doing all we can to not be vectors of disease.
Fishing was great. I forgot how much fun CATCHING was. Actually, it got a little old on Friday. When it slowed down today, I really wanted to catch just ONE more. Oh well. There's always tomorrow......1 -
I had a fun afternoon yesterday.
I've been taking my canoe down to the river about a half mile from my house to ferry across and fish. It's been fun, but I wanted something different. We can't do shuttles right now because you would be in the same vehicle. I thought about driving about ten miles upstream (have to go a couple miles downstream first to get to a bridge to cross the river), paddle back down to the river a half mile from my house, then use a bicycle to go get my truck. There was one minor logistical issue if I took my canoe, but I could do it by carrying my dolly in the boat. I also know that there's an extremely low chance I'll get run over, and I don't want to put any more pressure on the medical response community, so I never did it.
But yesterday, I attached the wheels to my canoe and started walking upstream on this side of the river.
It's about two miles to another little access in a huge eddy right near where a side channel comes back into the main stem on the upstream end of town. So my first activity was a two mile "walk." Actually a drag... To the water.
A little gear change, take apart the cart, and lower the boat to the water. I hope in and start the second part - a paddle back to where I normally start and stop.
I did make one stop about halfway on a gravel bar to stretch my legs, shore fish a bit, and look for cool rocks.
Then I got to the take-out, hitched the boat back to my waist, and hoofed it home.
Fishing was slow. It got really windy; a front was coming through. I had gone out to target bass, specifically smallmouth. They are spawning, and the hens like to bite things. The wind blew me around so much and put the fish off the bite, but it was still a good day on the water. I did find one spot at the edge of an eddy where I could hold in place - I used my throw bag and a couple wraps around a rock. I could toss small spinners on the seam of the eddy, and I caught a few cutthroat. That was fun.
I might do this again, but it was a bit of a challenge to tow the canoe. I had to keep it close enough behind me to keep the ends from dragging that every now and then the boat would bite my ankle. Oops. But it IS doable.3 -
Sounds like a great workout, if nothing else.0
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I did hitch up my canoe today, but I did something different. I drove it somewhere first.
I put all my stuff in my truck, and I put the canoe on top. Oh my, that cart strapped to it SURE makes it heavier and more awkward, but I did leave it on since I was going to use it before putting in.
I drove through town and parked at the second to last paved parking space near the river. I took the boat down and put my stuff in the boat. When the load was balanced, I tied the bow line around my waist and started walking. I walked across the river and up to an old quarry pond near the bypass.
I hopped in the canoe and fished around the quarry a little while, then paddled into the East Channel. I worked my way down to the river, and none of the fish even bothered me. All this is part of where I usually paddle from home across the river. The difference was that once I got to the river, I went downstream just under two miles, and that's where I left my truck.
I observed some groups that I judged not to be observing our physical distancing guidelines. I tried to give them wide berth. I loaded up my boat, came home, mowed the lawn, took a shower, fed the cat, made a martini, and walked over to my neighbors to enjoy it in their front yard 12 feet apart.
I'm not sure I'll do it again. Driving down there to do this river section. Instead of the neighborhood, I have to walk on a highway. Most of the extra portion of river is not so scenic for a number of reasons. If I really want to paddle farther, there's a place I can take out that's maybe less than a mile from home. I might piece that together with the two mile upstream hike and end up with a decent river float and three or so miles of dragging a boat around.2 -
Sounds like a great day!! Well done!!
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I posted this in another group. If you're a member of both, please excuse the repeat.
I took a friend out paddling. He's also my fishing buddy. He's been wanting to try out one or both of my whitewater canoes, so off we went. I fished a little bit while he paddled around, then we tried to go all the away around the island.
The water is up a bit, so the place I couldn't get around last time was passable. I would make a move, find an eddy, duck in, and keep an eye on him over my shoulder. All was good. Then I made a move he couldn't quite make, but he doesn't have muscle memory yet. He keeps thinking about his other paddle craft (board and sit-on-top kayak). It took me two tries. I sat in the eddy and looked at it. I could see the ONE spot you had to hit to get to a little eddy behind a log (and just in front of another one). Well, I hit it on the second try, then turned on the power to get up to the next eddy. He got out and dragged the boat. Fine.
We looked at the next (last) obstacle. I didn't see how I could get past it. He tried. There was a deep spot that wasn't obvious from looking. I tried, but my initial idea of NO-GO was correct. So we dragged over maybe ten yards or so of river rock to get to the other side. As long as we were out, we stretched our legs. It looked like trout water, so I took the rubber worm off my line and put a 3/8 ounce Vibrax spinner on and made a few casts. Well... wild cutthroat. I wish I had taken my trout rod; it was too easy to drag it in with my bass rod. But I figured the bass rod & reel are cheaper and I'd feel less bad about losing them (I was in a boat I usually don't fish from, and I didn't know if I might need to give my entire attention to rescuing my pal). Next time! Made a few more casts, and got another one. Nice. I put the rod down and started bringing him to shore by hand - I want to take the hook out without even taking it out of the water. As it got to shore, tension on the line slacked, and he spit out the hook. Perfect!
Well, it started raining again, so we got back in the boats. The rain didn't last, and we practiced some eddy turns and surfing a tiny wave on the way back down. When we got back to the ramp, I asked if he wanted to try the other canoe, so we played around with that, too.
Thank goodness he wanted to go. It kept me from raiding the pantry and gaining another pound!
If I remembered to turn my device on before we left the ramp, we would have appeared to start and stop in the same place. No way to start where this map suggests:
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