i met this guy - nathan - one day while walking down highway one in pfeiffer big sur state park. he told us (myself and my coworkers) that he was walking from tijuana mexico to vancouver bc canada to try to raise 1 million dollars in 100 days, walking 2200 miles.
i decided to see if i could keep up with him for a day. here's my comment from day 55 of his adventure.
"i woke up in davis at 6am, eager with anticipation, of what the day ahead would bring. it would be my 4th time seeing nathan and first time meeting clare, and possibly my only big day with the west coast walk (i walked about 1/4 mile of it while in big sur, unofficially). i got my stuff together and was on the road to san francisco by 8am. after arriving at the north end of the golden gate bridge at 10 min of 10am (we were supposed to be meeting at the south end at 10), i decided to run over to the south end to meet up with nathan and his merry band of rotary walkers. the run over the bridge was actually very nice, breezy, a nice view, and i got 2 miles under my belt for the start of the day! after a few photos (and donuts) with the group, we made our way across the bridge (lots of photo ops) where i got to chat with some of the local bay area rotarians. i myself not being a rotarian had nothing to say about my rotary experience aside from my interactions with nathan and the project. at the end of the bridge i got a quick lesson on what the "iron lung" was all about (which was interesting and informative), we took a few more photos and then bid the rotarians good bye for now.
i followed clare and nathan in the west coast walk mobile from the bridge up to novato (a random corner in town) where we would begin our journey north - first northwest and then northeast.
it felt a bit like "take your friend to work" day, where i was seeing first hand what nathan was doing with his life, every day for the past 1.5 months and for the next 1.5 months.
i figured he would be walking incredibly fast, so on top of water and food and a map of the route, i purchased a bunch of AA batteries and made 6 mix cds to keep me company as i envisioned him running off into the distance and me plodding along, just trying to make it to petaluma before nightfall (or midnight).
as it turned out, playing rugby and hiking in the woods nearly every day paid off. when we started walking into novato, i felt very comfortable with the pace we were walking, and i thought to myself "he's gotta be slowing himself down," mentally preparing myself for the moment he decided to take off.
we walked through novato - the only notable things being the excellent sidewalk system and the high number of bus stops. then, all of a sudden, we were in the country. less trees, more hills, a very cool park, and lots of cows which seemed to really like nathan (they all turned to look as he walked by). MOO.
another thing i had considered before doing the walk was the topography of the land. i had myself convinced that the walk was going to be all uphill, and that i would surely be in severe pain and way behind for the entire trip. it turned out that almost the whole first third of the walk was fairly flat, with some gentle uphills. my legs were feeling fine, no soreness or cramping or anything. the only physical ailment i was dealing with at this point was a blister forming below my ankle and above my heal. my shoes had anti-slip pads in the backs, but they seemed to be rubbing on my feet uncomfortably. i put some moleskin on and we contined.
after not being sure if we had missed our turn for many miles, we started up a hill. i decided to have a granola bar. to my dismay it turned into paste in my mouth. it was then i realized just how sweaty i was. guess i was a little dehydrated. drank some water and ate another granola bar.
then, we saw the road where we were supposed to turn. hooray! the sign said petaluma 9 miles. piece of cake! :)
at around 13 miles we decided to stop and take a break. nathan wanted to change his socks, i wanted to check my blisters. i had been feeling some pain in my heels, but i had put the pain somewhere else, thinking "deal with it, you're fine." when i took off my shoes, i discovered TWO bloody ankles and TWO blisters forming (one on each foot) between the ankle and heel. more moleskin. ripped the no slip pads out of the shoes. and off we went.
the second half of the trip was a little more rigorous than the first. fun stuff: more hills, winding terrain, no shoulders on the roads, dodging traffic. no shade, more hills, more cows.
at some point we descended into petaluma. i had been through there before but only for work. and driving. my first walk through petaluma was actually quite pleasant. we agreed it would have been cool to stop and have a bite to eat or drink and just sit in the shade by some shops, but there was no time for that, WE HAD WALKING TO DO! and merrily we went, through the town, soaking in the shade from the planted trees (no natural forests here) and enjoying the cute houses and planted flower beds. i even stopped and smelled the roses!
we took our final turn, onto stony point road, and this is where the space between us began to grow. nathan was hitting his stride, and i was losing mine. by now, my legs were sore but not to the point where i couldn't walk, just sore and letting me know - "hey, we've been walking awhile now!" my feet were a bit sore from the blisters but i was not going to give up. i was going to finish no matter what. but nathan was far ahead of me now and showed no signs of stopping (which was fine, i had intended this to happen LONG before the last 1.5 miles!) the end straightaway started to feel like uphill, flat, uphill, flat, and by then we had been walking for 7+ hours and i was thinking - is there going to be any more downhill? we were looking for white barn door ranch road or something like that, and in my delirium i kept thinking that the next street was sure to be it. and every next street was not it. so i kept on. and then at some point i looked up and didn't see nathan in front of me and i thought - my god, how far behind have i fallen? i looked back down, then out at some cows in the pasture who were smiling in my general direction, then i looked up again and there was the west coast walk mobile, nathan, and clare!
i don't know that i had a lot of emotions when we were through. relief. amazement. excitement. exhaustion. i remember asking nathan awhile back if he ever got tired of smiling for the photos. he said sometimes at the end of the day he was so tired he didn't want to smile anymore.
so clare took our photo :)
thanks nathan for letting me keep you company on your quest for canada. i would have liked to raise some money to give to you as a part of my donation but my decision to do this walk was made somewhat last minute. i am telling everyone i can about your walk, your goal, your purpose and mission. you have a lot of support even if it's not financial. i hope i provided you with good company!
and, you never know, i might just bump into you again in oregon or washington when i can rally myself a ride. my blisters are healed now (1.5 weeks later) and i am ready to go (i bought some new shoes!)
...we never did reach white barn door ranch road."
check out nathan's blog: westcoastwalk.blogspot.com
27 July 2005
and then you realize...
i have been having this situation at work. the boss took me into his office a few months back and told me funding was running out for my job. i expected this as i heard rumors money was going and going fast. so i was not shocked at this news. i then rose to leave the office, figuring we had nothing left to talk about, and he said, 'there's one more thing i want to talk to you about' - which, by anyone's standards is usually BAD NEWS. i thought, 'what could be more bad then being told your job is ending soon?' then he proceeded to tell me he thought i wasn't doing enough work at work, that i wasn't helping out enough, and that people (everyone) didn't feel comfortable asking me to help them because of my sarcastic nature. and i'm thinking...WHERE did this come from? i have been working in this lab for 2.5 years. if people had a problem with my sarcasm, it seems it would have struck them earlier, like, WHEN THEY MET ME (because i don't think i've changed much in the last 10 years or so). i don't think i'm a harsh kind of sarcastic like some of the guys i know, so i'm wondering how it is that my sarcasm ruins everyones day or makes them not want to work with me or ask me for help.
i start thinking about it and - well at the meeting i was struck and dumbfounded and shocked and i didn't know what to do or what to say. so i immediatly started talking about my family and how they're going through some stuff and how i'm so far away (they live on the east coast) and it's hard for me to feel connected them being so far away and it's been taking a toll on me, etc. and then i just started crying. it was one of those times i couldn't stop it and didn't want to, maybe for effect or for sympathy. my boss, who everyone views as the nicest guy ever to work with, was putting me down for something i had no idea was even a problem! i then proceeded to explain my work situation which is a long story but the short of it is that i work with one girl pretty closely and she is the kind of person who takes care of things WAY before they need to get done (days, weeks, months sometimes). so when i get around to thinking 'hey i should do that' she has already done it. she does that ALL THE TIME which is frustrating to work with. we call this phenomenon "bulldozing" - like, she keeps bulldozing me because there aren't any tasks that have been directly assigned to me, so she just does everything and leaves nothing for me to do but hang around and ask other people if they need help doing something. in fact come to think of it i don't think i've ever told someone NO I WON'T HELP YOU. it's just not my nature.
enough ranting. so i'm processing all this, and i'm angry with myself and confused at what just happened. i think to myself, 'how can i remedy this problem?' i decide the best way is to talk to 'everyone' in the lab and try to get to the bottom of this mystery tactfully and non-confrontationally. i don't want to beg forgiveness but i do want to know who doesn't like my attitude. i proceed to talk to just about everyone in the lab about this meeting i had with the boss, saying that i'm sorry if i had seemed to have a bad attitude lately or that i wasn't being myself (i thought i was being myself but maybe i wasn't, felt like apologizing for it anyway - people feel different when you apologize to them) and then i let them know that if there was anything they needed me to do, just to please let me know and i would gladly help them if i wasn't busy with something else. and after talking to about 6 out of the 9 people i work with, i came to this conclusion.
the people i talked to think i'm fine. they know i'm willing to help and think it's great i'm always asking to help them. which i do.
1 of the people i didn't talk to doesn't work with me directly. i help her occasionally but we're not really on most of the same projects, but i know she has asked me to help her probably 10-15 times in the last year and i have always agreed to help her out.
1 girl was on vacation.
the 3rd person had actually given me a pep-talk the day before my meeting (the meeting was sprung on me un-announced on a friday) telling me how i have all these great attributes and that i should try to find more things to do on my own and away from the girl i work with all the time, because i have some good specialized skills.
today at work i'm out in the woods with the girl i usually work with, and she asks me, 'can i tell you something that will just stay between us?' and i'm thinking, sure, i'm a good secret keeper. (which i am.) and she tells me not to trust one of the women in my lab - the one that gave me the pep talk. i say why not? she says "cause she talks about you behind your back. she talks about how she doesn't think you work hard enough and how she doesn't think this job is a good fit for you."
holy s*#t
...are you kidding me?
i start thinking about it and - well at the meeting i was struck and dumbfounded and shocked and i didn't know what to do or what to say. so i immediatly started talking about my family and how they're going through some stuff and how i'm so far away (they live on the east coast) and it's hard for me to feel connected them being so far away and it's been taking a toll on me, etc. and then i just started crying. it was one of those times i couldn't stop it and didn't want to, maybe for effect or for sympathy. my boss, who everyone views as the nicest guy ever to work with, was putting me down for something i had no idea was even a problem! i then proceeded to explain my work situation which is a long story but the short of it is that i work with one girl pretty closely and she is the kind of person who takes care of things WAY before they need to get done (days, weeks, months sometimes). so when i get around to thinking 'hey i should do that' she has already done it. she does that ALL THE TIME which is frustrating to work with. we call this phenomenon "bulldozing" - like, she keeps bulldozing me because there aren't any tasks that have been directly assigned to me, so she just does everything and leaves nothing for me to do but hang around and ask other people if they need help doing something. in fact come to think of it i don't think i've ever told someone NO I WON'T HELP YOU. it's just not my nature.
enough ranting. so i'm processing all this, and i'm angry with myself and confused at what just happened. i think to myself, 'how can i remedy this problem?' i decide the best way is to talk to 'everyone' in the lab and try to get to the bottom of this mystery tactfully and non-confrontationally. i don't want to beg forgiveness but i do want to know who doesn't like my attitude. i proceed to talk to just about everyone in the lab about this meeting i had with the boss, saying that i'm sorry if i had seemed to have a bad attitude lately or that i wasn't being myself (i thought i was being myself but maybe i wasn't, felt like apologizing for it anyway - people feel different when you apologize to them) and then i let them know that if there was anything they needed me to do, just to please let me know and i would gladly help them if i wasn't busy with something else. and after talking to about 6 out of the 9 people i work with, i came to this conclusion.
the people i talked to think i'm fine. they know i'm willing to help and think it's great i'm always asking to help them. which i do.
1 of the people i didn't talk to doesn't work with me directly. i help her occasionally but we're not really on most of the same projects, but i know she has asked me to help her probably 10-15 times in the last year and i have always agreed to help her out.
1 girl was on vacation.
the 3rd person had actually given me a pep-talk the day before my meeting (the meeting was sprung on me un-announced on a friday) telling me how i have all these great attributes and that i should try to find more things to do on my own and away from the girl i work with all the time, because i have some good specialized skills.
today at work i'm out in the woods with the girl i usually work with, and she asks me, 'can i tell you something that will just stay between us?' and i'm thinking, sure, i'm a good secret keeper. (which i am.) and she tells me not to trust one of the women in my lab - the one that gave me the pep talk. i say why not? she says "cause she talks about you behind your back. she talks about how she doesn't think you work hard enough and how she doesn't think this job is a good fit for you."
holy s*#t
...are you kidding me?
26 July 2005
when the going gets tough
the tough take an online quiz and find out things about themselves.
You Are A 5 - The Investigator
You're independent - and a logical analytical thinker.
You love learning and ideas... and know things no one else does.
Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations.
You are open minded. A visionary.
You understand the world and may change it.
What number are you?
You're independent - and a logical analytical thinker.
You love learning and ideas... and know things no one else does.
Bored by small talk, you refuse to participate in boring conversations.
You are open minded. A visionary.
You understand the world and may change it.
What number are you?
25 July 2005
when you get there, you know
there are a lot of things people say, "when it happens, you'll know." and i have always questioned it until this past weekend. i made my first trip to yosemite since moving to california 2.5 years ago! it was an exciting adventure. a girl from work (a climber, actually) announced at work friday that some of her climbing buddies had gotten a group site for camping fri and sat night, would she be interested? and of course cause it was a group site, lots of room for friends, etc. no one else in the lab could clear their schedule, and though i had lots of stuff to do AND other plans in the bay area, i decided this was possibly a once in a lifetime and i had to go. blew off the dirty laundry, cancelled the plans to play pinball and pacman friday night and have a glorious homemade breakfast saturday morning...all so i could make this journey, this mecca to this place everyone talks about.
we ended up in tuolumne meadows which is above the valley for those of you who don't know. the valley is where EVERYONE goes, so the meadows were a bit less crowded. after the 5 hour drive from davis to yosemite friday night, we were pretty exhausted and just set up camp and went to sleep. it was supposed to be FREEZING at night but i wasn't super cold, and fell asleep with my sleeping bag half unzipped. then 1/2 way through the night my back got cold. i woke up and the zipper was stuck and i was in this mummy bag (not mine) so it was challenging to move around. eventually i got it working and tucked myself in.
saturday we had some breakfast and coffee with the others in the group and then made our way over to dog lake and lembert dome. the view of the dome on the way over was awesome. i haven't seen that kind of open face rock before. it was around the time we started hiking that i realized the altitude. i'm not a super hiker or anything but i do hike regularly for work. i realized quickly that i couldn't talk and hike at the same time otherwise i wouldn't be able to breathe! we walked slowly as my friend was having similar difficulty (at 10,000ft, who can blame us?) it gave us a chance to chat.
dog lake was crawling with mosquitoes. so we didn't stay there long. we followed the trail to lembert dome and then proceeded to scramble up part of it until we reached the summit! there was a rock on top of the summit, so we stood/sat on that, considering it to be the "true" summit. we had a great view! maybe one of these days i'll get some photos on here. took both 35mm film photos and digital pictures. when i download them i will post a few.
after that we hiked leisurely back down, went back to camp, got more snacks, and headed to tenaya lake, which was beautiful with views of domes all around. after some funny bathroom incidents - these people couldn't understand that i was in the bathroom so they kept trying to open the door. then they tried to open my friends door but hers didn't lock so they walked in on her changing. she said "there's no lock" and he just opened the door more and stood there - after that we went to the beach which had mostly been taken over by the lake's volume. i wasn't really that sweaty at this point so i just sat on the beach enjoying the view while my friend went in very slowly. the weather was great.
of course i got my shoulders sunburned! ouch!
on the way back from tenaya to our camp, we stopped at this place called "the knobs" which is small rocks (but bigger than pebbles!) that you can practice climbing moves on (only a climber would know this, i guess). so we went and played on these rocks. i didn't display any keen climbing moves but i was able to get up onto some of the rocks just pulling myself up and then jumping around from rock to rock. it was fun. then we went over to soda springs where we saw the water bubbling out of the ground (neato!) and we read all these informational signs that talked about the settlers coming out west, as well as subnivean cultures of animals that live in the layer of air under the snow in the winter. watch out for the shrews!
sun was setting now and the meadow was very beautiful. more photos. then we headed back to camp again to make some dinner and hang with the other people. some had gone climbing, others just went for walks with their kids, which by the way, the kids were adorable. we sat around the campfire talking until we were fully exhausted, then went to sleep. this time i figured out the sleeping bag before i fell asleep.
up early the next day (sunday) for another set of adventures! we went over to gaylor lakes which has a great view at the summit before you get there, and then the lakes themselves were pretty amazing - the first one you come to looks like it drops off the edge of the earth at the far end. the first one also had mobs and mobs of mosquitoes which led us to quicken our pace and head for the second lake. we set up for lunch on a rock in the middle of some snow at 11,000+ft or something like that.
we hiked back over the gaylor lakes ridge and back down the car, where we proceeded to drive to mono lake! another first. we went in the visitor center for a little while, looked at the exhibits, photos, watched the movie, missed the gift shop (it closed) but then went down to the water to explore! we saw the flies that inhabit the edge of the lake and eat algae not people, although there were some people that came down to see the lake who were skeptical about the flies so i ran through the swarming flies just to show them they didn't bite, but that they all fly up when you run at them (just like a seagull trying to catch them in his beak, i ran at them with my mouth open but didn't catch any). cool. tried to take a mini movie of it on my digital camera, we'll see if it worked.
after that we stopped and had ice cream. gas prices in lee vining (the town) were over $3!!! again, another photo op. then we drove back into the park. took some photos of the meadows. then we headed to olmstead point where we got some cool lookouts and my friend said it was the second prettiest place she had ever gone to the bathroom (she climbed below the rocks and went while looking over at half dome) it was great just being there with her. then she found a place where we could make echoes so we did that for awhile, just yelling stuff and then singing.
eventually we decided it was time to start heading home. we left around 745pm and got into san francisco (after passing tons of cars on CA 120, only to stop and get some food and find all of them back in front of us again!) around 12am.
IT WAS A FABULOUS WEEKEND (aside from the sunburn) and i am so thankful i went. because i got there. and i knew. quite possibly for the first time in my life.
ps. anyone want to put some aloe on my shoulders?
we ended up in tuolumne meadows which is above the valley for those of you who don't know. the valley is where EVERYONE goes, so the meadows were a bit less crowded. after the 5 hour drive from davis to yosemite friday night, we were pretty exhausted and just set up camp and went to sleep. it was supposed to be FREEZING at night but i wasn't super cold, and fell asleep with my sleeping bag half unzipped. then 1/2 way through the night my back got cold. i woke up and the zipper was stuck and i was in this mummy bag (not mine) so it was challenging to move around. eventually i got it working and tucked myself in.
saturday we had some breakfast and coffee with the others in the group and then made our way over to dog lake and lembert dome. the view of the dome on the way over was awesome. i haven't seen that kind of open face rock before. it was around the time we started hiking that i realized the altitude. i'm not a super hiker or anything but i do hike regularly for work. i realized quickly that i couldn't talk and hike at the same time otherwise i wouldn't be able to breathe! we walked slowly as my friend was having similar difficulty (at 10,000ft, who can blame us?) it gave us a chance to chat.
dog lake was crawling with mosquitoes. so we didn't stay there long. we followed the trail to lembert dome and then proceeded to scramble up part of it until we reached the summit! there was a rock on top of the summit, so we stood/sat on that, considering it to be the "true" summit. we had a great view! maybe one of these days i'll get some photos on here. took both 35mm film photos and digital pictures. when i download them i will post a few.
after that we hiked leisurely back down, went back to camp, got more snacks, and headed to tenaya lake, which was beautiful with views of domes all around. after some funny bathroom incidents - these people couldn't understand that i was in the bathroom so they kept trying to open the door. then they tried to open my friends door but hers didn't lock so they walked in on her changing. she said "there's no lock" and he just opened the door more and stood there - after that we went to the beach which had mostly been taken over by the lake's volume. i wasn't really that sweaty at this point so i just sat on the beach enjoying the view while my friend went in very slowly. the weather was great.
of course i got my shoulders sunburned! ouch!
on the way back from tenaya to our camp, we stopped at this place called "the knobs" which is small rocks (but bigger than pebbles!) that you can practice climbing moves on (only a climber would know this, i guess). so we went and played on these rocks. i didn't display any keen climbing moves but i was able to get up onto some of the rocks just pulling myself up and then jumping around from rock to rock. it was fun. then we went over to soda springs where we saw the water bubbling out of the ground (neato!) and we read all these informational signs that talked about the settlers coming out west, as well as subnivean cultures of animals that live in the layer of air under the snow in the winter. watch out for the shrews!
sun was setting now and the meadow was very beautiful. more photos. then we headed back to camp again to make some dinner and hang with the other people. some had gone climbing, others just went for walks with their kids, which by the way, the kids were adorable. we sat around the campfire talking until we were fully exhausted, then went to sleep. this time i figured out the sleeping bag before i fell asleep.
up early the next day (sunday) for another set of adventures! we went over to gaylor lakes which has a great view at the summit before you get there, and then the lakes themselves were pretty amazing - the first one you come to looks like it drops off the edge of the earth at the far end. the first one also had mobs and mobs of mosquitoes which led us to quicken our pace and head for the second lake. we set up for lunch on a rock in the middle of some snow at 11,000+ft or something like that.
we hiked back over the gaylor lakes ridge and back down the car, where we proceeded to drive to mono lake! another first. we went in the visitor center for a little while, looked at the exhibits, photos, watched the movie, missed the gift shop (it closed) but then went down to the water to explore! we saw the flies that inhabit the edge of the lake and eat algae not people, although there were some people that came down to see the lake who were skeptical about the flies so i ran through the swarming flies just to show them they didn't bite, but that they all fly up when you run at them (just like a seagull trying to catch them in his beak, i ran at them with my mouth open but didn't catch any). cool. tried to take a mini movie of it on my digital camera, we'll see if it worked.
after that we stopped and had ice cream. gas prices in lee vining (the town) were over $3!!! again, another photo op. then we drove back into the park. took some photos of the meadows. then we headed to olmstead point where we got some cool lookouts and my friend said it was the second prettiest place she had ever gone to the bathroom (she climbed below the rocks and went while looking over at half dome) it was great just being there with her. then she found a place where we could make echoes so we did that for awhile, just yelling stuff and then singing.
eventually we decided it was time to start heading home. we left around 745pm and got into san francisco (after passing tons of cars on CA 120, only to stop and get some food and find all of them back in front of us again!) around 12am.
IT WAS A FABULOUS WEEKEND (aside from the sunburn) and i am so thankful i went. because i got there. and i knew. quite possibly for the first time in my life.
ps. anyone want to put some aloe on my shoulders?
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