being geeky... getting ready for some solitude

I love reading through these diagrams so I thought it would be fun to do my own. Im going on a 5 day trip to Myakka next week and this is the gear I am taking for the week.
1. most importantly, reading material.. this happens to be Kerouak's "On the Road"
2. Important documents, maps, writing material, and an Audubon Guide to Florida flora and fauna
3. light weight wicking shorts (swim gear, underwear, and sleep gear)
4. Hand knitted wool beanie, knitted by my friend Gladis, whom I think hates me
5. Go BULLS!
6. Marmot Trestles 15 degree bag
7. Princeton Tec Fuel LED head lamp, and a couple pencils, and a Burts Bees tube
8. Light weight wind/rain resistant pants
9. Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight .5 first aid kit
10. Silva compass
11. Mountain Hardwear Epic rain shell, great in the rain, also great as an outter layer.
12. (2) Nalgene(or otherwise) 32oz water bottles
13. Evernew Titanium cook pot, containing my MSR Whisper Light stove, and water-proof matches
14. Fuel, in a bright red MSR bottle
15. my "bathroom" bag.. soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, bug repellant(100% deet, this IS Florida), emergency mirror, shit paper
16. Pack Towel by MSR
17. about 10 yards of parachute cord, for hanging food
18. tent pegs and poles
19. inexspensive tripod
20. Therma-rest Ridge Rest... big but the lightest mat you can buy, and cost less than 15$
21. exactly 4 and a half days and 4 nights worth of food.. with e few extras, including trail mix
22. yes Im a wuss, thats my pillow.. stuffed tightly into that little bag
23. Big Agnes Seedhouse 2 tent
24. snacks :)
25. me shoes, columbia trail runners
26. Osprey Kestrel 48, in paprika, yes somehow all this shit fits in this thing
27. Canon EOS D1000 Rebel XS, wearing EFS 18-55IS, hood and polarlized lense filter
28. Canon EFS 55-150IS, I call it "the long sword", wearing UV Filter
29. my old camera bag, now used as a sheath for the long sword
30. Lowe Pro top loader camera case

missing from shot:
-Clothes to be worn
-fly rod... soon
-plastic grocery bags to pack out trash, as well as trash i may find on the trail

its like stamp collecting!

A Rebel with a cause!

New camera... SHIT this thing rocks! take a look at the shots I've taken so far! SLR spells FUN!

To get the full effect, double click the shots! Especially the broad winged hawk devouring that Morhen, I got that shot up on the Seminole SPC campus today, crawled about 10 feet on my elbows and toes to creep up on him. Hire me for your next event! ha ha!

New trails and a new sense of being

I found myself with an oppotunity to go mountain biking yesterday and I tagged along with Adam (from Bicycle Outfitters) and his gang of misfits. I took the Karate Monkey out to Boyette to ride the new trails that where opening. I also brought the camera along as is expected. We didnt make it out to the grand opening festivities that were rumored to have been going on but we certainly had the pleasure of riding some of the best new trails anyone could ask for. There are several miles of ridge line, tight, technical, and very fun trails. Most of these new trails just happen to be on the more difficult side, which I found very appealing. Here are a few pics of the madness and my first ride on the MTB in months. These new trails make boyette a serious destination trail and no longer will I consider it second fiddle to Alafia. Good work SWAMP!


Kevin Hofman I believe, giving me the "who the hell are you and why are you taking my picture" stink eye. Jon Lowe in tow.

7 years of parenthood, my greatest adventure yet

Another year gone by and my son has followed suit. Caleb turns 7 today, and with him my years of parenthood. As he gets older and smarter my priorities continue to change, and my role as a parent grows in intensity. Being a parent the way I have chosen is not just about saying the right things and giving him the right room to grow, but has changed my life completely. As my son gets older and more impressionable I have had to grow as a person myself to become the example I would choose him to follow. Parenthood for my has not been about discipline and providing a roof as my father would have had my brother and I believe, though that is part of it, parenthood for the relationship between my son and I has become about lifelong learnership, and learning to love knowledge. Caleb is a sponge and everything he does is a learning experience, I have had to learn not to take this for granted. As he grows I have had to learn to not let anything hold him back, to let him know that he is capable of ANYTHING, and that the expectations of the world will always let him down, that his own expectations, regardless of anyone elses beliefs, are that which will carry him through life. His own teachers seek to hold him back in the sense that they dont see him as I do. When I look at him I see the next President of the United States, I see the cure for cancer, I see a great literary genius, I see what no one else is willing to see, and I want him to see this too. I want him to understand that the world will never hold him to the expectations that he should hold for himself and that he should always strive for learning, to hunger and thirst for knowledge, and for the sake of his own intentions not to please anyone else, for no one else lives by his own standard. Another year has passed and a baby, a little boy, has turned into a ball of information. He has learned to read this year, one of the biggest steps along the trail to learning and I am trying to teach him to love it. This relationship has many years to come and I will never give up on teaching my son above all else to think for himself and to love knowledge. Happy birthday my son! Heres to another great year!

Tent living is the Life

I put in my first 100 mile week since the begining of last year this past week and it felt great. I have been commuting to school and work every day for the last 5 days rain or shine, though it was mostly rain. I learned really quickly that my "rain gear" was not suitable for anything more than a light drizzle. Better to learn now then when im out there and really need it. being wet sucks.

Caleb and I did a short hike to the front yard the other day to have a slumber party in the yard. It rained nearly all night and not a drop inside the Seedhouse. what a peaceful way to sleep. Another note... i slept without the mattress pad but brought a pillow from in the house and slept comfortably.. bigger camp pillow? perhaps a better stuffed dry sack? anyway..

So the final count is 95 miles on the bike and 10 miles by foot for the week. im going to try to do better than that for this week but we'll see. Was thinking of going to NC this spring break to do some hiking, but now I am contemplating shooting for Myakka River State Park... saving the big NC for this summer when its warmer and I wont need to buy long johns. Though i eventually hope to do some hiking(read potholing) in the winter. Another rad book read under my belt, i finished Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston... highly recomended. more thoughts later.

Less talk more action... or not (thoughts with bRiaN on life and backpacking)

I realize I have not posted in a while and there are some good reasons for that. Well for one, after not paying bills for 3 months my brother finally moved out and left me with the storm surge. So I have been trying to keep up with the doubled rent, power and water bills, forget the cable/internet. But some good things have happened in the world of bRiaN. I have been trying to ride my bicycle more, mostly for the training aspect, but I have been commuting to school at least one day a week since the begining of the year. Another nifty thing, I have obtained a backpack, an Osprey Kestrel 48, and I am planning on doing some hiking. I know this seems like a bit of a departure from the bicycle touring I have been doing, and your right it is, but it is completely different. On the bike you see roadways and towns and all that goes with travelling some 60-100 miles a day. With backpacking you are going much slower, you are typically as far away from any town or roadway as you can possibly be, and your chances for experience with wildlife are much greater. One thing that I realized though by packing my back pack with my camping gear is that I can fit everything I really need for a bicycle tour into a much smaller bag. With all the added space of the pannier bags I felt obligated to fill that space. It was rather enlightening to see how much i could get away with cutting out of my supply. Between the two the only difference now is the tools and spare tubes I would need for touring, and even then I was able to determine there were certain tools I didnt really need. But as it stands, since I got the Kestrel, the idea of being on foot and not having to rely on a bicycle is a bit freeing. I know that I am a mechanic and repairs are not really a big deal but the fact that I wont have to do repairs, and the fact that I am not worrying about where my next flat will come from... its a sigh of relief. Also the idea that I am not tied down to the big steel contraption opens me up to several new angles I had not considered with the bike. With the bike I have to lock it up where ever I go.. grocery stores, diners, camp.. and I am thinking about how long I can stay in the store without someone seeing my bags and deciding I wont be around long enough for them to go rummaging around through my bags, or to just take the bike entirely. I hate to think in such caloused terms, i hate to have such a distrust for man kind... but I have had things like this happen as well as having heard the stories from some of my friends who have lost bikes and gear to would be good people gone thief. I cannot imagine I would ever cut out cycle touring exclusively, as backpacking does not lend itself to highway travel like riding does, and the length of trip by hoofin' it would be much longer. But the pack opens me up to getting lost in the woods and seeing the beauty of nature. I am thinking about planning a trip to Asheville this spring break to go hike through the mountains of Pisgah, or perhaps even spend some time on the AT. There are several hiking trails in Florida as well and I certainly wont be too snobby to explore my own state.