Classical Conditioning and the Invention of the Laugh Track I didn’t know what irony was when I first watched Hogan’s Heroes. I just knew I liked it. The theme song made me feel something, some strange blend of rebellion and optimism, like whistling past a graveyard. It was funny, but not in the way other […]
The Blind Seer
The book lay on the stone table, its leather binding cracked with age, golden-edged pages catching what little light filtered through the basement’s single, dust-covered window. I hesitated before approaching it, stories of its power hanging in my mind like cobwebs in the corners of the room. When I finally opened it, the air shifted. […]
Birthday Ticket
George stood motionless in the university hallway, watching avatars blur past him like autumn leaves caught in a digital wind. No one paused. No one noticed. The only acknowledgment of his existence came in brief, rehearsed phrases. “I bought a ticket for your birthday,” they’d say, offering perfunctory smiles before dissolving back into the stream […]
Location of Forrest Fenn’s Treasure
This episode of Backpack America is a little different in that I have decided to reveal the location of Forrest Fenn’s Treasure. There’s a lot more to the story, but I figured the location of the treasure would be what interested most people. I originally came across the story of Forrest Fenn’s Treasure just after […]
San Jacinto Cowboy Camping
What a fantastic night! Hiked the PCT partway up San Jacinto, not as far as I’d hoped but I had a painful blister from the hole in my toe socks. I’d drained some of it yesterday morning but it came back with a vengeance. I cowboy camped 150 ft west of the water faucet off […]
Windmill Farm Stealth Camping
I managed to get to the Metrolink Station to catch the last bus towards Cabazon. From the Morongo Casino I walked back to the PCT and what I hoped would be a warmer stretch of trail. Only it was so late and I was limping from a few newly formed blisters that I didn’t exactly […]
PCT Stealth Camping Location Ruined
East of Cabazon, CA on the PCT Watching trains of double stacked cargo containers roll by, each one filling the horizon from right to left. All the way. Windmills on the hills and 4.5 miles to go before a campsite. It’s not even 9 am and I have been sitting here for a while enjoying […]
Frozen on the PCT
My first night on the Pacific Crest Trail was also one of the coldest that I had ever put my sleep system through. Because I only have a 40 liter backpack I am limited in what I can pack. That means a sleeping bag that can pack down into a small, tight bundle. Literally a […]
Freezing on the PCT
I wasn’t trying to outdo or even replicate Trauma and Pepper who had done a winter traverse of the PCT the year before. I was just early. And I had nowhere else to go. Last night was the coldest I have ever had with this sleep system. This 40 degree F summer bag. All in […]
First PCT Hike
Mile 335.64 of the PCT. I was dropped off at Cajon Pass on I-15 just after noon. Despite hating most fast food I had a burger and fries at the iconic McDonald’s there. $3.45, the only money I’d spent that day putting me well under my $10 a day hiking budget.I hiked down to the […]