Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Meeting an internet friend

I'm about to go Backpacking with an Internet friend whom I have never met in person. I have seen pictures of him, more of his son and dog who will both accompany us.

Some people have questioned this practise of meeting up with "strangers" because "who knows", but you learn a lot about the people in your forums when you know them over time. I remember when I met my primary climbing partner Paul when he called about an ad I had at REI. People said "how do you know he won't kill you", and his wife said, How do you know hes not a crazy and will take you out in the forest and kill you?" We've been vey close for a couple of decades now.

I met TomD for the first time in a motel outside Yosemite. I had called and made a reservation and told them to let Tom in when he arrived. When I arrived I paid and they said Tom was already there. So when I knocked on my door - TomD appeared. And we have enjoyed a close internet relationship since then.

Now I'm going to Meet Bigfoot2. I'm taking him kayak/canoeing this summer on Deer Lake by the south edge of Sisters Wilderness. If you Google Earth the area, theres a scarry story about a bigfoot sightng there - Woah huh?
More later

Spring in Bend

Woah - what happened to Spring this year???
Its the last day of April and it snowed here today. Two days ago I was skiing on an inch of fresh snow at Mt Bachelor, in a blizzard! I was wearing a helmet and goggles and had a balaclava under it all and my nose was still cold on the lift.
So I'm going Backpacing with my Friend Matt, whom I have yet to meet in person - he's an internet friend. We're going to Oregon Dunes, more specifically to Three Mile Lake which is on the beach near Elbow Lake, which does come up on Google Earth. It will be an interesting contrast in gear. He has a few high tech items and a new beta plastic "tent" to try out for a certain company. I have been considering carrying a few obsidian "blades" for any cutting purposes, and maybe my Koa chopsticks - smuggled out of Hawaii.
This wll be a three day trip with a lot of eating and since we will be at the beach we can cook over a fire so you guesed it - steaks the first night.
More on this trip to come.