2 posts tagged “hiking”
Well, on Saturday I couldn't resist the temptation to go out Terracaching with Jon and Garrett. We decided to go up and hit a cache called "Dude, I can see your cache from here!" which is in the lower Rattlesnake recreation area, just north of Missoula.
We expected a nice easy hike, which it was, but we also knew that there was going to be a creek crossing, and since it is mid-May, the water is pretty close to its highest stage for the years. So, needless to say this might not have been the best time to do this one, but hey, how bad could it be?
Here a video that Jon did for the trip, and will get a good idea of just how sketchy the river crossing was:
So we headed on up the actual cache location and found the cache, which was not too far up the hill (about 400 yards). Found the cache with no problems, and signed the log and took in the views for a little while, discussing what our plan of attack was for the way back down. We swung by another little viewpoint, and were tempted to go down and check out the creek there, to see if it would be an easier crossing, but decided it would be easier to deal with what we already knew.
When we got back to the crossing, we decided to take a slightly different route which was a few yards further down stream. It was in more turbulent water, but it was turbulent because there were rocks breaking up the flow, which would actually make it a little easier to get across. Anyway. . .we made it through quite a bit easier that time, partially because we knew what to expect, and partially because we took a little better line.
Anyway, it turned out to be a great trip, and once we were done with the creek crossing we were able to settle down and joke around a bit.
So I figured yesterday would be just like any other day. Go to school, bum around for 10 hours, then head home and watch TV till I fall asleep. Well, it end up being a lot better than that.
While I was sitting at work, I got an e-mail from my buddy Bill, who I had just visited in Southern California. He forwarded me a receipt from REI, and told me that he had bought me a graduation present, and that I needed to go pick it up at the REI in Missoula. So I was thinking, well that is nice, anything from REI is good. So, I looked at the receipt, and Bill had bought me a pair of hiking poles, COOL!
So when I got done with school, I decided to head home and grab my GPS before I went to REI. I bought the GPS just about a year before, and while I was on my big road trip it had acted up by just shutting off intermittently, which wasn't a big deal, but if you were driving in the car, or trying to record a track while you were hiking it would get pretty annoying.
So I headed down to REI with my print out for picking up the hiking poles, and the GPS. I went up to the counter, and have the associate grab the hiking poles, and while I had their attention I asked them if the GPS was still under warranty, and if it could be repaired. So she looked up the transaction. . .and boy am I glad I didn't wait much longer, I was one week shy of the GPS going out of its one year warranty period. So I asked them about having it repaired, and they said, "Oh well, it takes 6-8 weeks to get these repaired, if you can't wait that long, we will just give you a new one." So I jumped all over that.
The old GPS's screen was all scratched up, and the buttons were starting to get worn, and the rubber on the bottom was starting to worn, so to get a new GPS was great. This time I am going to get a screen protector, so that the screen doesn't get all scratched up again.
Anyway. . .everything seems to be going my way lately. Lets just hope the winning streak keeps up.
