Between last night and this morning I watched the documentary 180° South which retraces a 1968 journey to Patagonia by Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins. Two lessons I took from it: Adventures don't begin until things go wrong and the best adventures answer questions you never knew you had.
I am currently reading Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. I've already quoted it once in this blog and you will definitely see it pop up again. Abbey is a bit of a radical when it comes to his views on the environment and extreme conservation. The copy I am reading originally belonged to my grandmother, who's signature graces the inside cover. Needless to say, I am proud of where I acquired my love of the outdoors. Next in line is The Monkey Wrench Gang, also by Abbey, and highly recommended by my Brother and Dad.
Alex MacPhail authors a blog White Mountain Sojourn, a natural history of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. His knowledge of the mountains far exceeds mine and is passion for them long outdates me (sorry Alex). He recently wrote a post titled The Famous (or Infamous) Hut Traverse, giving me a new long-hike goal to shoot for in the Whites. He writes about time records, which are fun, but my goal is simply to do it. Personal challenges are one of my favorite aspects of the outdoors, whether it be a peak, a distance or any other goal someone can set to shoot for. I'm thinking of trying a hut traverse during some of my time off this fall. Alex has been a great source for me regarding the AMC and White Mountains and deserves many thanks for his continued support of my adventures and thirst of knowledge of the area.
I've been doing a bit of shopping for items to pack. I am most excited about my new wool hoodie from Ibex. I also picked up a bivy sack from L.L. Bean (thanks Mom and Dad). I will be more or less living in these two items.
On Madison I am going to be babysitting a stationary camera for AMC Outdoors in hopes of making a time-lapse video of the project. The camera will be programed to take pictures a few times a day. I may move it periodically to give different angles of the project, but I'll mostly be making sure it doesn't blow over, run out of batteries or room on its memory card. The results should be pretty exciting, weather permitting.
I feel like I could write "weather permitting" after every statement I make about the Madison Hut project.
8.5 days until I head up! (weather permitting)
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