tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39461992012-02-02T01:13:07.455-08:00He that would live in peace and at ease, Must not speak all he knows, nor judge all he sees. (B Franklin)Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.comBlogger1501100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-55088586570363628722011-11-19T15:50:00.001-08:002011-11-19T15:54:12.752-08:00

I drove to Tacoma last night to attend a Tacoma Mountaineers-sponsored talk featuring the legendary climber Fred Beckey. The talk was similar to one I’d attended about ten years ago in Olympia, where he showed slides and talked about the climbs he’d done over the decades, ranging from Alaska to Mexico. His voice was strong and his mind was razor-sharp – he didn’t hesitate for an instant as he

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-65777897974653972102010-03-13T14:04:00.000-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.310-07:00

The first draft of photo selections from my Patagonia trip are now being posted at Picasa. Though some of them need a little work and I will post more later, these are the most representative selections, at least as I see it now.

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-56137720095094697952010-03-13T13:54:00.001-08:002010-10-11T16:32:19.131-07:00

March 12. This post was to have been titled something else, maybe just “Puerto Natales,” but the logistics continued their slide from last night. We gathered for breakfast, expecting the boat at 10:30. By a little after 10, we learned that the boat wasn't coming – all day – due to mechanical problems. Apparently there was more than the weather involved last night and repairs could not be made

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-57280538967175853022010-03-13T13:50:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.311-07:00

March 11. Today was our last hike, the one reserved for poorer weather, since clouds won't obscure the views as easily. We were headed up the large, Lago Grey to the Grey Glacier, a huge glacier that rolls directly out of the South Patagonian Ice Field.Breakfast was cafeteria style, but with the usual ingredients – toast, jam, cold cuts, juice, instant coffee – and a couple of new things, like

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-28483755935693022942010-03-13T13:49:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.311-07:00

March 10. This morning dawned perfectly clear, offering views of the top of Paine Grande for the first time. We got to sleep in a bit, because we're taking a boat across Lago Pehoe, where our camp is, and it doesn't sail until 9:30. Breakfast was the usual flatbreads, cereal, and coffee. We loaded our stuff for two hikes and one night across the lake and embarked on a nice catamaran for a 30

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-50312581067286720092010-03-13T13:48:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.312-07:00

March 9 . Today's hike was up the Rio Ascencion, on the east of the Paine range. It forms the right-hand side of the “W,” which is the big hike here in the Torres del Paine National Park. Getting there was an interesting process.We left our camp at 8:30 and drove most of an hour over undulating terrain to the east. Along the way, we saw a couple of condors and a number of guanácos. At a lot

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-60460407610273314332010-03-13T13:46:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.313-07:00

March 8. This morning, we arose early again (better weather, less grumbling), ate breakfast, our new driver, Javier, and hit the road by 7:15. We drove out of the canyon of El Chaltén and onto the steppes of Patagonia. We drove out along Lao Viedma, crossed the river Leona, which drains Viedma into Lago Argentino, stopped at La Leona roadhouse (where I bought a café medio), again in Esmerelda

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-52115914073305821742010-03-07T17:21:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.313-07:00

March 7. Today's hike was up a ridge named for the “ recumbent fold” in the rock along its length. To the summit, at 1500+m (4950+'), it's 12.5 mi. round-trip from the national park guard station. Add to that the walk the length of town, at least a kilometer, and we have almost 15 miles and over 1000 m elevation gain, both the most yet, and also our high elevation point of the trip. The day

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-4705673368731909642010-03-06T16:45:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.314-07:00

March 6. The morning dawned like it ended, with clear skies overhead and clouds covering Cerro Torre. For those who awoke before dawn and walked to a viewpoint, Cerro Torre wasn't hidden. There was one of us who told that story, but she didn't have her camera... Still, we believed her. We left camp at the usual time, headed down the Rio Fitz Roy's interesting valley toward El Chaltén, where

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-46722838629109585582010-03-06T09:22:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.314-07:00

March 5. The high clouds that rolled in yesterday over the ice field were engulfing the tops of Fitz Roy this morning. That left us with a warm morning and, of course, a suggestion of rain. Breakfast was the usual little toasts and toppings, coffee, cocoa, milk, and sugar powder with hot water, and mixed cereal. Following that, we bade farewell to our kitchen staff and the camp at Laguna Capri

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-20808055015598758302010-03-06T09:21:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.315-07:00

March 4. We were so enthused by the sunset last night, that we all resolved to see the sun rise on Fitz Roy, the gorgeous and dramatic peak looming over our camp. The morning dawned clear, with only a little high cloud to the south and east (perfect for the sun rise) and we shoot a couple of hundred photos.After another good breakfast, we headed out on an easy, undulating trail, through a trough

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-74883104734708611242010-03-06T09:20:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.315-07:00

March 3. Today we loaded up the trailer and boarded our bus for the trip out around Lago Argentino then north to the north shore of Lago Viendma, another giant glacial lake collecting melt from the eastern slopes of the Andes. Our destination: The trekking center of El Chaltén, situated at the feet of Cerro Fitz Roy and Cerro Torres. Compared to the small town on Calafate (which has about 18,000

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-698043642723959772010-03-02T17:58:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.316-07:00

March 2. Hosteria Hainen has a nice breakfast, with very robust coffee. We left at 8:00 in a bus, with a local tour guide, for the Perito Moreno glacier. The guide explained much of the lifestyle in the area, the various creatures we might see – the big ones – none of which we did see, except the Caracara, which is pretty ubiquitous. We drove to the end of a peninsula, surrounded by two legs of

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-26600921675691878542010-03-01T17:43:00.001-08:002010-03-17T14:58:34.316-07:00

March 1. This morning we awoke early (was it still dark?) and boarded a bus for the airport to fly south to El Calafate, in Patagonia. The airport was pretty quiet that time of morning, so we were able to grab a bite and the amount of caffeine necessary to the day. The flight was delayed about an hour, so there was lots of sitting around time. Other than that, it was airport time – not much else

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-33117772268231644762010-03-01T17:34:00.001-08:002010-03-01T17:44:44.269-08:00

February 28. Our day in Buenos Aires started with a good breakfast in hotel, following which we boarded a medium-sized tour bus for a four hour tour of the town. It was a good mixture of history, culture, rich neighborhoods, and poor. There seemed to be more enthusiasm for La Boca, actually. At least half of the tour was spent there, including more time on the streets than anywhere else. At least

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-55053587317255580022010-02-28T17:24:00.000-08:002010-03-01T17:45:29.453-08:00

February 27. So far, everything has gone swimmingly. The group assembled without incident. The flights went off on time and landed safely. The views coming into Buenos Aires were amazing – flat, flat land running off into the hazy horizon and, on our route, wet, wet land, with a huge braided river (the Parana?), with many back channels, sloughs, ponds, and ditches.We made our way through fee

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-10674928985281977172010-02-23T21:20:00.001-08:002010-02-24T20:55:33.663-08:00

It's been months to get to this point, but in a couple of days, I'm boarding a plane to fly over the equator for the first time. I'm one of a dozen Mountaineers on a two-and-a-half week trip to Patagonia, in the mountains of southern Argentina and Chile, for hiking and sightseeing.We'll spend a full day in Buenos Aires for sightseeing. After that, we'll fly to El Calafate, in southwestern

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-871915348074916512010-01-29T16:48:00.001-08:002010-01-29T16:53:49.449-08:00

In preparation for my trip to Patagonia in a few weeks, I've been making preparations, including buying a cute little netbook to write my blog entries with. It's a big step up from the IPAQ and Bluetooth keyboard I used on the Alps trip a couple of years ago. This device, while heavier, runs real Windows, has a real hard drive, has much more battery, and enough screen to read Web sites on.In

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-992719298671534042009-10-19T20:43:00.001-07:002009-10-20T19:08:18.197-07:00

My wife and I spent the weekend in the northwest corner of the state. It was a fine way to spend a rainy weekend. The goal was Neah Bay and the Makah Museum, with a hope for Cape Flattery.We drove around the south and west sides of the Olympics, through torrential rains and general gloom. Talking books help a lot. By the time we got to Neah Bay, which is a trim little town, there was hope of

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-16679972714857235212008-12-04T19:07:00.000-08:002008-12-08T18:41:38.249-08:00

I thought this was interesting. I've been through or in (at least a highway-blast-through or an airport-touch-down) more states than I thought.visited 33 states (66%)Create your own visited map of The United States.

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-90165093958154748962008-11-08T16:44:00.000-08:002008-11-08T17:29:44.785-08:00

My wife and I have been travelling down to southern Oregon to visit the Oregon Shakespeare Festival every year since 1996, before we were even a couple. But it is only this year that we seem to have become “Ashland nerds.”It might have been the fact that we made the trip twice this year, as our usual five-day trip, this time in June, wasn’t enough to get us the plays that everyone was talking

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-82180581092300905942008-10-01T21:38:00.000-07:002010-02-24T20:54:10.599-08:00

I intend to log more items here than I have over the last several months. I’ll start with this summary of my backpacking season.It started during a favorite month for hiking: May. During May’s first weekend, a couple of Mountaineers and I hiked up to the beginning of the big patches of snow in the Elwha River, in Olympic National Park (ONP) – all told, 16.5 miles one way. (We were more than a

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-56040593798790443672008-04-08T20:18:00.000-07:002010-02-24T20:54:46.466-08:00

Fafblog! back to save the universe.: "So for the last five years all the liberals and the hippies and the nattering nabobs of normalcy have been coming up to Giblets and going 'Was the war a mistake Giblets?' and 'Are we losing the war Giblets?' and 'Oh look at all the dead people Giblets, maybe we should stop the war.' And the correct answers to these questions have been 'Shut up,' 'Shut up you

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-82639691630862617002008-02-23T16:11:00.001-08:002010-02-24T20:54:28.257-08:00

This is as good a way to break the silence of the last couple of months as any. I was in Washington, DC last weekend for the Winter Meetings of the National Association of Utility Regulatory Commissions (how's that for an awkward title?). I had a couple of hours to kill before the first meeting, so I walked down to the Mall from my hotel (which, while nice, wasn't as bright as the photos in the

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-32552618620322838592008-01-03T08:17:00.000-08:002008-02-23T16:13:05.160-08:00

Clive Thompson on How the Next Victim of Climate Change Will Be Our Minds:Australia is suffering through its worst dry spell in a millennium. The outback has turned into a dust bowl, crops are dying off at fantastic rates, cities are rationing water, coral reefs are dying, and the agricultural base is evaporating.But what really intrigues Glenn Albrecht — a philosopher by training — is how his

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-73080037637643166732007-12-09T18:35:00.000-08:002007-12-09T18:42:20.867-08:00

We're an inch from the month's worth of rainfall, and it's only the 9th of December. (Click on images for larger version.)

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-13287263389867343902007-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:002007-11-25T10:25:34.289-08:00

My wife and I traveled down to Troutdale to spend the Thanksgiving holiday at McMenamins Edgefield. I struggled briefly with how to characterize this place, what to call it, and left it at "Edgefield." It's not exactly a resort, nor is it any one other thing that I can think of. It occupies the site and buildings of the Multnomah County Poor Farm, initially built in 1911. It now houses a hotel,

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-42557271042930497292007-10-27T17:00:00.000-07:002007-10-28T20:14:01.297-07:00

I had occasion to look into electronic books while preparing for my recent trip to the Alps. I wanted reading material for the train and plane coming home, but didn't want to carry a bound swatch of paper for two weeks before I could read it. Since I was taking a PDA, I looked into electronic books.My first impressions were disappointment. The titles on offer at several of the vendors were

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-32894338153198663762007-10-26T17:00:00.000-07:002007-10-29T19:16:18.548-07:00

Last Sunday, I participated in the for my nephew's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. It has been years since I was around Boy Scouts and it was both new and familiar to me.My son was involved with Cub Scouts, but declined to continue with Boy Scouts when he turned eleven. I, on the other hand, was certain that I wanted to continue from Cub to Boy Scouts. I remember coming home from an early Boy Scout

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-88153115275035306162007-10-22T20:50:00.001-07:002007-11-15T21:51:21.277-08:00

Preparation How to you say “Haute Route”? (Aug. 5): Text Haute Route: Find the Right Partner (Aug. 16): Text Haute Route: Going Where And Going Long (Aug. 23): Text Haute Route: Getting Psyched (Aug. 26): Text Where is the Haute Route? (Aug. 27): Text The First Week Dispatch from Chamonix, France (Sep. 6): Text Photos Dispatch from Argentière, France (Sep. 7): Text Photos Dispatch

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-63970351894113655312007-10-09T21:41:00.000-07:002007-10-09T21:50:29.810-07:00

This will be the last of my Haute Route posts, in which I’ll sum up my experience and offer some advice to those who might be considering this, or similar, trips. I’m not done with the posts I have, however. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll make some editorial corrections and additions, especially photos, other images, and links.The one thing that I didn’t have with me that I would have liked

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-3126039541390656882007-10-03T21:25:00.000-07:002007-10-09T21:51:32.522-07:00

Now that it’s been a week since I returned home and started back at work and I’m well past the effects of jet lag, it’s time for some impressions and conclusions about the trip to the Alps. I’ll follow this up with another post more focused on lessons from the trip that might be of use to others considering hiking the Haute Route.The first and strongest impression I formed along the way is that

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-91967115679312870872007-09-24T12:56:00.000-07:002007-11-18T14:59:16.162-08:00

For breakfast, Stefan and I visited the local bakery (which is right next door) where Stefan enthusiastically purchased a variety of fresh and fantastic-looking baked goods. I was struck by how many of the items there can also be purchased in my home-town German bakery, Wagner's. I have to say, though, that this bakery presents their goods more attractively. I could hang out there every day. My

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-2176955278342207382007-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:002007-11-18T14:09:48.457-08:00

So, this was a travel day -- all day on three trains to München and another to Haar, nearby. I finished packing up and dragged my stuff downstairs, checked out, and got an early breakfast. They were still setting up, but didn't bat an eye when I showed up, they just found me a seat and set me up with coffee. Great service. The train down the Mattertal is a slow ride. The track is often steep,

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-15398827736921082342007-09-24T12:52:00.000-07:002007-11-18T13:46:13.255-08:00

The hotel had a sumptuous breakfast buffet and very attentive and energetic staff. I had only to poke my head in the door for the very model of a German-style host to greet me, except that he smiled and seemed genuinely warm. He got me a table and before I could get organized, there was real, hot coffee placed in front of me.Of course, it was a clear morning, so right after breakfast, I grabbed

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-24040574349200676632007-09-24T12:51:00.000-07:002007-11-17T17:18:22.531-08:00

I awoke feeling better, though still sick, and, for a while, I wondered if I'd have a voice. (Not that there's that much need for it on the trail.) I let everyone else get up early, so by the time I got going there were just a few people still at breakfast. It was good, with a choice of cereals, bread with ham and cheese and jam, and good instant coffee. (This hut keeper knew her stuff.)It was

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-53416321743700708512007-09-21T07:19:00.000-07:002007-11-17T16:45:08.351-08:00

The morning dawned cold and cloudy. Breakfast helped my mood a bit -- lots of cereal, juice, bread, ham, cheese, and good coffee. And, the clouds thinning to the north also helped. By the time I started out, it looked promising. It was still cold, though, and there was frost in the woods.This time, I bid Glyn and Elena goodbye for real, as they opted to use one of their extra days exploring the

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-81632772757981112482007-09-21T07:17:00.000-07:002007-11-17T16:14:30.149-08:00

Of course, the day started with breakfast, early, with me all packed, because I wanted an early start to get over the pass in time to make the hike up the hill to Gasenried or to take the bus. This was the best breakfast in a while, with ham, cheese, bread, jam, and the best coffee yet.I like this little place. The big hotel up the way attracts most of the business, including everyone I know, but

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-24359851254680865882007-09-21T07:15:00.000-07:002007-11-17T15:09:47.339-08:00

Breakfast at the Auberge Alpina was a good set up of mueslix, fresh bread, three homemade jams, and fresh coffee. The other person in the dormitory upstairs is named Swen and doing this segment of the Haute Route, so he, Glyn and Elena, and I set out shortly thereafter.I was last, as usual, so I last saw Glyn and Elena just before they reached the pass, Forcletta. Swen and I made the pass at

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-79051591167901378632007-09-20T12:52:00.000-07:002007-11-17T14:11:55.791-08:00

Breakfast at the Cabane de Moiry was particularly sad: dry bread and jam, warm, instant coffee, and that's all. I headed down, getting fresh water at a stream nearby (no cows above me on the ice or the peaks) and made the dramatic descent to the moraine.The morning's walk was in the shade (as has been the pattern), and traversed along the steep, meadowed slopes above the Lac de Moiry for a couple

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-14634935086183579482007-09-20T12:51:00.000-07:002007-11-10T17:10:43.379-08:00

After a good breakfast at the Hotel de La Sage, with mueslix, fruit, bread, croissant, and coffee, I started up the hill. Today would be a climb up to a pass, then down into the valley -- not too far -- and then up to the Cabane de Moiry. The weather was very good, clear skies all day, and the trail was good all the way. That means with a regular grade, a fairly smooth surface, and good footing.

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-53038644258928498412007-09-20T12:39:00.000-07:002007-11-06T21:05:02.687-08:00

The morning dawned partly cloudy, but showed no signs of trouble. The forecast is good. After breakfast of bread, jam, mueslix with yogurt, orange juice, and coffee, I used the Internet café to send a backlog of dispatches.Arolla is a little town, but has pretty nice facilities. There were a lot of people out for walks in the meadows yesterday, as well as more ambitious folks, like the two Swiss

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1786947399574111162007-09-14T01:12:00.000-07:002007-11-06T20:39:14.922-08:00

We had an early breakfast, though it was late for the hut. Because so many people stay there to climb, breakfast only runs from 5 to 7. So, I had mueslix, bread and jam, and coffee at 6:30 and made a start at 7:30.The first stop was the Col des Roux, which it right above the cabin and only needed a thirty minute climb, though frosty -- and a little slippery -- rocks. From the top, you leave the

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-16637723511288810132007-09-14T01:11:00.000-07:002007-11-04T20:09:19.925-08:00

Today was the first full day above treeline. It provided just what I came all this way for: sustained, high country travel, big views to big, snowy mountains, and wildlife sightings.The route took me up onto the slope south of Mont-Fort and out to the point, where views of the cabin end and views of the huge and beautiful Grand Combin begin. The route continues across steep, lush meadows, to Col

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-9580294986136830232007-09-14T01:09:00.000-07:002007-10-30T20:34:38.096-07:00

Since no one had been around for me to ask, I assumed that breakfast might be ready as early as 7:00 AM. So, I got up and, just one more time, checked the PDA. It came on! It only needed to have its time reset and it was good to go. One annoyance removed. The next was removed when breakfast was indeed ready at 7. The whole dining room, with one cup and plate, was ready for me. Compared to the

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-19974217152588416232007-09-14T01:07:00.000-07:002007-10-30T20:06:32.813-07:00

I'm getting into the swing of this a little more. I got my stuff organized yesterday and I got a good night's sleep last night (the end of jet lag, I figure). Breakfast hasn't been a problem, including today, with the usual selection, and my taking mueslix, orange juice, a few slices of excellent bread with cream cheese and jam, and coffee. There were about a dozen people for breakfast.Malcolm

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-68509220717040825572007-09-14T01:03:00.000-07:002007-10-29T21:26:03.774-07:00

Breakfast was the start, with mueslix and milk, bread and jam, and, of course, coffee.A little more organized, I got an earlier start today, heading up before the sun had come over the steep walls of the valley. I walked up through town, past the cat staked out in it's little patch of grass and weed, in the same place it was last night when I walked past it. The trail starts up the hill just past

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-23729694758596593902007-09-09T08:36:00.000-07:002007-10-29T20:34:08.004-07:00

Today was the first full day of hiking, 12 km and about a thousand meters of climb and descent. I had a nice breakfast in La Couronna (bread and jam, mueslix, cheese, orange juice, yogurt, and caffe noir).The trail starts at the railroad tracks (the train in this valley is called the Mont Blanc Express and runs about a dozen times a day), at an underpass. From there, it climbs into the woods

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-20493481809554013712007-09-09T08:30:00.000-07:002007-10-29T20:18:12.029-07:00

Today started, of course, with breakfast. The three people with whom I shared my room (who entered sometime the night before without making a sound I heard) were there -- bikers from Germany -- as well as the two older couples from the UK I met yesterday, as they finished their Tour Mont Blanc, and four others from the UK, probably climbers from their outfits.After that I packed up, checked out,

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-9654346880853561422007-09-09T08:25:00.000-07:002007-10-29T20:08:45.054-07:00

The trip over here went very well. All the flights were on time, no airline weirdness interrupted the smooth flow of travelers. No security weirdness (though something was missing in Frankfurt -- I could have left the terminal without checking through passport control; on the other hand, the Swiss passport control didn't even look at my passport -- just a glance and a wave). As is usual, I was

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-63454115600944548972007-08-27T22:15:00.000-07:002007-08-27T22:16:59.843-07:00

Here's a map of the trip. You can zoom in and follow it from left to right. The little yellow houses are the places I'm staying, while the green hikers are points of interest. View Larger Map

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-59059172490759633992007-08-26T20:33:00.000-07:002007-08-26T20:39:00.526-07:00

The last piece of advice Mark Jenkins has for those of us starting out in this adventure business is this: Psych up your body and mind: "You will hate yourself if you’re out of shape. Besides, training for a big trip is a way to get psyched." I took this one to heart. Besides all of the specific preparations (looking at maps, arranging transport and lodging, thinking about gear and how to stay

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-10707357327795121472007-08-23T19:21:00.000-07:002007-08-23T19:28:09.781-07:00

The next two points Mark Jenkins made about getting out into an adventure in the January issue of Outside magazine are these: Go where you want to go, period: "If this is your big escape, don't be cheap. Do what you want." Go Long: "Two weeks is the minimum. Any less and your head will never really disconnect from the office." This isn’t so much an escape, but it is my trip. It’s possible

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-37255429375809185602007-08-16T20:04:00.000-07:002007-08-16T20:07:43.900-07:00

The first point Mark Jenkins makes about getting out into an adventure in the January issue of Outside magazine is this:Find the right partner: "Everybody will say, 'Great, amazing, I want to go'; 90 percent won't. Line up a number of potential partners and hope that one will come through. If they don't, go anyway."As thinking about this trip rattled around in my head through the several years

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-32798309902800841222007-08-08T21:50:00.000-07:002007-08-08T21:56:46.641-07:00

I've been trying to test the mail-to-blogger feature for months, now, but haven't been able to actually create the e-mail address needed for this. I read the support forums, but didn't see this problem. So, I sent a message to support and got a reply back (which I inadvertently deleted) which promised some action. Didn't hear for weeks and, as of last night, it still didn't work. So, I looked at

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-80327759436681490892007-08-08T21:44:00.000-07:002007-08-08T21:45:50.395-07:00

I’d ordered an item from a local on-line retailer and had been following its progress using one of those handy package tracking sites. There was a gap in the record when it left Texas and headed out across the desert toward the green Northwest, so it slipped my mind for a day or two. When I next went to check it, I noticed that the last entry had the word “delivered” in it. Wait! It’s here? So, I

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-89144374418754502812007-08-05T20:16:00.000-07:002007-08-06T20:51:50.723-07:00

Don’t know how to pronounce it, but in a month, I’ll be there, walking it. The route I’ll follow is the summer, hikers’ version of the famous ski mountaineering route between Mt. Blanc in France and the Matterhorn in Switzerland. I came across a description of the route years ago, in an Outside magazine article, and it’s been simmering in the back of my brain ever since. After missing a couple of

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-56777282907517496902007-07-16T21:40:00.000-07:002007-07-16T21:41:47.811-07:00

A little delayed in finishing this, as it’s more than a week ago, but I thought I’d finish up, even so. Saturday’s schedule was heavy with zydeco bands, especially on the stage with the dance floor. I can appreciate zydeco – and there were some good bands – but I sometimes tire of washboard polka, even with lyrics in French. There were plenty of other fans, though, and the dance floor was teeming

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-72400860429682360992007-07-07T11:00:00.000-07:002007-07-08T21:49:35.104-07:00

We spent the better part of the day at the Festival, under hot skies moderated by a good breeze. While we waited for the "Delta Music Experience" cruise to begin, we wandered the grounds. S signed up for green power and cruised the samples at the Kashi booth (this is Ecotopia, after all). The Front Porch stage was hosting an amazing little band, fronted by Gunnar Roads (is that his real name?), a

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-74352186493337314752007-07-06T11:00:00.000-07:002007-07-08T21:28:34.069-07:00

I remember two things about the last time I attended the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival, in the late eighties or thereabouts. The first was seeing the somewhat grand, old man of British blues, John Mayall and his band.The second is that I first saw and heard an Andean band. They were playing in a margin of the festival, but had drawn quite a crowd, and I was transfixed. I loved the exotic

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-43403251019312658542007-07-04T11:39:00.000-07:002007-07-04T12:24:27.406-07:00

From Howard Zinn, on Alternet (thanks to Rick on OlyBlog):On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.Is not nationalism -- that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder -- one of the great evils of our time,

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-86349927897349132762007-06-28T20:18:00.000-07:002007-06-28T20:19:28.273-07:00

Our final day was a day of comedy, starting with As You Like It, though it played a little darker than usual. The Depression era costumes and folk-blues songs helped to enhance the sense of hardship in the forest of Arden, even while the usurped Duke reminds his followers of the blessings in their situation. As usual, the company worked both the text and the situation – even without a clue from

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-19765450560801577442007-06-24T11:00:00.000-07:002007-06-27T21:54:52.731-07:00

Yesterday afternoon's play was Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. This was the first time I've seen this play. I like Chekhov – one of my favorite speeches in drama is from Uncle Vanya (Sonia’s first speech in Act 1). I liked the interplay of character and situation, as the economic destruction of feudalism, begun with the "catastrophe" of the emancipation of the serfs, continues. It was not as

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-9396140094270643122007-06-23T11:00:00.000-07:002007-06-27T21:37:42.625-07:00

We were privileged to be able to spend another long weekend in Ashland for our annual visit to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The drive down here was so uneventful that I don't remember much of it at all. Talking books and good weather can do that. We're staying in the Shrew's House, a bed and breakfast along Siskiyou Blvd. This is the first time in a B&B in several years and, interestingly

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-87489768073658366542007-06-19T20:53:00.000-07:002007-06-19T20:55:58.086-07:00

Nearly thirty years ago, my then-wife and I took our baby H, just a few months old, to visit my friend M in the Haight, in San Francisco. We spent a few days exploring that historic neighborhood and the larger city. One evening, we planned to go out to a movie (A Dream of Passion, with Melina Mercouri and Ellen Burstyn), so we needed someone to stay with H. I wasn’t sure how we’d find someone

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-6021076281370049612007-06-09T17:07:00.000-07:002007-06-19T20:55:19.502-07:00

I don’t have a good explanation for the hiatus, except that time passes whether we blog or not. So, here we are, two months gone.I wanted to start back in with a shout-out to those writers that keep me coming back to the Web, ‘cause I have been reading, even if not writing. These are the ones that give me a little frisson when I see a new entry in my blogroll.I welcome my son’s new blog. It took

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-73573456516596087942007-04-07T17:30:00.000-07:002007-04-07T17:46:30.644-07:00

I'm basking in that moment, when everything is ready to go -- the winter's cache of branches and limbs torn out of the Douglas-firs next to our house have been hauled to the chipping pile, thanks to the thoughtfulness of our friend Ule, who called this morning offering to share his rental of a trailer and his help in loading and unloading; the house has been cleaned up: vacuumed, swept, tidied (

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-54643021167553213492007-02-25T14:25:00.000-08:002007-04-18T21:01:03.414-07:00

A very special person, whom I was proud to call a friend, died last weekend. I met Jo Jenner at a discussion group we call The Salon in late 1992. She had recently lost her husband, Julian, and was spreading out a little into the community. I was struck, at the time, by her dignity and her sadness. The Olympian had a very nice article about her impact on the community of artists in town and an

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-78007315307262324602007-02-14T08:38:00.000-08:002007-02-14T21:19:34.660-08:00

I write about Intercity Transit from time to time, most recently about a slightly wobbly trip home. I came across this story, on OlyBlog, describing our community's response to huge cuts in Intercity Transit's routes due to the dramatic reduction in tax support for the system due to I-695 (Eyman's $30 tab initiative). When we heard how people were going to be stuck, some of us got together and

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-58944024921328616612007-02-07T22:21:00.000-08:002007-02-07T21:22:57.580-08:00

I’ve been scanning my grandfather’s slides this week. The cute little device to the left tracks the progress I’ve made against my estimate of 3700 slides. All of the last few days’ scanning has been from the years 1946, 1947, and 1948. Many of them are of trips: the Pacific coast, southern Oregon and northern California, Colorado, eastern Washington, and Mt. Rainier. There is another set of

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-57204353762808886462007-02-03T22:49:00.000-08:002007-02-03T23:00:27.585-08:00

This item in today's Olympian...A former Thurston County paralegal secretary has filed an $86,000 sexual- and disability- discrimination and retaliation claim against the county and the office of Prosecuting Attorney Ed Holm.Holm, who could not be reached for comment late Friday, was not specifically named in the claim, which was filed Jan. 9 with the county's human resources department by

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-65844299696346868552007-01-31T20:08:00.000-08:002007-01-31T20:38:20.212-08:00

I started a long-awaited project this month. It’s to digitize the collection of 35mm slides and 16mm movies that I inherited from my grandfather when he passed away over twenty years ago. I’ve lugged them around ever since. They were taken over several decades (I’m not sure of the entire scope), at least the Thirties through the Fifties. It’s a sizable collection: over 3500 slides and

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-31907275395708273232007-01-27T15:51:00.000-08:002007-01-27T16:05:30.913-08:00

So said Dwight Pelz, Washington State Democrats Chair, in a short speech this afternoon at the Heritage Park fountain, which followed a pretty successful (as far as success can be measured for these symbolic events) rally against the war along 4th Avenue today. Of course, his use of the word insane was based on the folk definition of insanity, which is doing the same thing repeatedly while

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-74773806937851495322007-01-25T18:33:00.000-08:002007-01-25T18:37:00.697-08:00

The work project I was bending all of my energy toward through the fall has, more or less, been completed. (When is an application development project ever finished?) It’s taken me this long to recover my energy from that push (and to get over my irritation over how under-appreciated it was).I’ve converted my blog to New Blogger Beta a few weeks ago and I’m going through my old postings and

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1164591633815910622006-11-26T17:40:00.000-08:002006-11-26T19:50:57.188-08:00

I’ve been so taken up with work for the last couple of months that I haven’t had energy for much of anything else, but this four-day weekend was just the thing. I got some rest, let the work stuff subside for a while, hit Wagner’s twice, and visited my family in Seattle for the annual feast.Months ago, I had decided on a new car, but was stymied by the anticipation of a repeat of the deeply

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1163226073899760432006-11-10T22:21:00.000-08:002006-11-10T22:21:13.903-08:00

My wife and I attended a great Bruce Cockburn concert at the Washington Center last Tuesday. It was a near thing – we almost missed it – and I’d have to say that it was poorly promoted. Perhaps the change from the Capital Theater, where I saw him perform to a packed house a couple of years ago, interfered. The audience that was there certainly seemed to enjoy and appreciate him. I know I did. His

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1163223634869235012006-11-10T21:40:00.000-08:002006-11-10T21:40:34.876-08:00

In my first Italy post, I mentioned a lot of the places we visited and the sights we saw. In this one, I thought I’d highlight the, well, highlights of the places we visited.No visit – certainly no first visit – to Italy would be complete without spending at least some time amongst great art and amazing antiquities. This trip was no exception, but we also saw some wonderful modern art and

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1162796354915135902006-11-05T22:59:00.000-08:002006-11-05T22:59:15.193-08:00

I’ll expand my previous post, in which I described the itinerary of our recent trip to Italy, by describing the places we stayed in more detail and bringing a focus onto the big discovery for me – the agriturismo. All of the places we stayed in Italy were very nice, with helpful staff, enough English to get by, and comfortable beds. They’re marked on this map with the blue tags.In Rome, we stayed

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1162444222556082962006-11-01T21:10:00.000-08:002006-11-01T21:11:19.946-08:00

I had the wonderful pleasure of spending two weeks in Italy last month with my wife and another couple, friends of ours. This was a long-awaited trip for us – it’d been postponed at least once in the past – and we are grateful that we were able to finally to make the trip.We arrived in Rome on the evening of Oct. 3 and had a fast and interesting taxi ride (that Fiat hit 170 kph on the way) to the

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1159766752440477102006-10-01T22:25:00.000-07:002006-10-01T22:26:32.103-07:00

So, the executive will now be able to declare anyone in the country an enemy of the people, seize him, and lock him away for as long as it suits, without charges, and without any opportunity for any judicial review or appeal. Add to this the ability to define criminal torture now rests with that same executive and the removal of any accountability for those who might still engage in criminal

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1159413788898684002006-09-27T20:23:00.000-07:002006-09-28T20:37:46.803-07:00

This continues a series of ruminations, discussion on method, and answers to Kevin Kelly’s The Big Here, a query and challenge to know the space we live in, in its shape and relationships.4) When you flush, where do the solids go? What happens to the waste water?I live within the sewer district of the LOTT Alliance, which, according to its Web site, provides:wastewater management and reclaimed

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1159151052201299042006-09-24T19:24:00.000-07:002006-09-24T21:23:36.430-07:00

Yesterday, I accompanied the amazing Eric and seven other fellow Mountaineers to the Goat Rocks Wilderness on an excellent hike up the Lily Basin Trail and over Angry Mountain to Heart Lake. The weather was perfect with clear skies and warm air. And the company was excellent. Here’s a map and a slideshow.The road to the trailhead climbs over 3000’ with one serious bump that requires either very

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1159143439095956472006-09-24T17:00:00.000-07:002006-09-24T18:46:26.410-07:00

I’ve been very busy with work the last two weeks, but it’s calmed down a bit, so I have a few processor cycles to spare for writing. Thursday night was a good start putting work back into its place, because my wife and I and a set of friends traveled up to Seattle for dinner and a show.We had a fun dinner at the Dragonfish Asian restaurant. They have an interesting menu, great food, and the

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1158555860308250082006-09-17T22:04:00.000-07:002006-09-17T22:04:20.310-07:00

I haven’t been able to put together a coherent blog-thought this week, because we’re installing a major portion of a major application this weekend. It’s pretty-much taken up all of my energy and it took up pretty-much all of my weekend, too. Even after an intense week (too much to do to get ready, too many other demands), which left me rather tired Friday night, I found myself excited to be

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1158554853701917962006-09-17T20:30:00.000-07:002006-09-17T21:53:50.406-07:00

As the anniversary of what we all know this is about was approaching, I was finishing up James Green’s Death in the Haymarket, about the Haymarket “Riot”. Not to tie these two events together too closely, but there was a common element in the reaction of “better” Chicago to the agitation for workplace rights and the eight hour day in the aftermath of the Civil War, and the reaction of the larger

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1157951126794835242006-09-10T22:05:00.000-07:002006-09-10T22:08:23.270-07:00

I described the Olympic National Park’s Draft General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Draft GMP/EIS) in this post and my review of that plan in this post. Here are the comments that I sent to the Park Service today. Comments are due by Sept. 30. See this post for information on commenting on the draft Plan.Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Olympic National Park’s

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1157426143804534582006-09-04T20:15:00.000-07:002006-09-04T20:16:58.986-07:00

I described the Olympic National Park’s Draft General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Draft GMP/EIS) in yesterday’s post. In this post, I’ll describe the elements of the plan that interest me for comment.I started with the Olympic Park Associates’ (OPA) Preliminary Assessment. While their assessment of the draft Plan covers more ground than I’m able to, it is a good place to

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1157330501188814042006-09-03T17:41:00.000-07:002006-09-03T17:44:08.143-07:00

The Olympic National Park has released, for public comment, its Draft General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Draft GMP/EIS), the first management plan draft since 1976. The comment period has been extended to Sept. 30. I’m interested in the Park’s plans as an avid hiker and seeker of wilderness, and as a citizen, in a sense an owner of this incredible resource, I have an

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1157229119072408592006-09-02T13:31:00.000-07:002006-09-03T15:13:53.816-07:00

I went to the wedding of a dear friend last weekend. The bride is a young woman whom I have known since her birth. In fact, I’d known her father since the year I graduated from high school. We’d been camp counselors for several summers and, once I dropped out of college, roommates and hiking partners. By the time we were both married and living in town here, I considered him one of my two closest

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1157173396310790692006-09-01T22:02:00.000-07:002006-09-01T22:03:16.323-07:00

We went to a late afternoon matinee of this movie today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Pack a marvelous mess of dysfunction into a grinding, beeping VW van and take it on a road trip, desperately seeking success in a creepy, even-more-dysfunctional children’s beauty pageant, and you’ve got a heck of a good time. It was the best comedy I’ve seen all year.

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1157002806501320892006-08-30T22:40:00.000-07:002006-08-30T22:43:11.663-07:00

The weekend before last, I went on a hike with three other Mountaineers to Buck Creek Pass. It’s located in the central Cascades, just east of Glacier Peak, which looks like this: It was a great backpack, with a great group.The first day was more driving than hiking, so we started in the heat of a hot day on the hot side of the mountains. That and the late start meant that we didn’t get to the

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1156738399711654142006-08-27T21:05:00.000-07:002006-08-27T21:13:20.300-07:00

I’ve been absent here for almost two weeks because of the press of events, but also because I’ve spent every available computer hour with any sort of mental energy on applying for a different job. I’ve finished that now, so we’ll see how that works out. In the meantime, I’ll catch up.About ten days ago, I attended a session of the summer lecture series at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1155701543821877172006-08-15T21:12:00.000-07:002006-08-15T21:12:23.886-07:00

This continues a series of ruminations, discussion on method, and answers to Kevin Kelly’s The Big Here, a query and challenge to know the space we live in, in its shape and relationships.3) Trace the water you drink from rainfall to your tap.This one’s easy, because of how well the water utility of the town I live in, Olympia, Washington, reports to its customers. Each year, the city sends out a

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1155519651670514152006-08-13T18:38:00.000-07:002007-01-25T18:16:21.851-08:00

I meant to revise this entry, but decided to leave it there and just complete my thoughts here. In adding the links to that earlier entry, I see that it illustrates some of the defects of “real time” posting – most of the post was spent setting up the point, too little time to develop my thoughts, and no chance for revision within the limited time available on the public equipment. So, here’s my

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1155275067457446012006-08-10T22:44:00.000-07:002006-08-10T22:48:20.436-07:00

My wife and I made our annual journey to the small town of Ashland, in southern Oregon, for a weekend of theater, good food, and relaxation. It works every time. The pattern is to drive down (about 400 miles straight down I-5) on a Thursday, see two plays a day on Friday through Sunday, and then drive back home on Monday. Every now and then we through in a visit to friends along the way or a

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1154720670327943902006-08-04T12:32:00.000-07:002006-08-13T17:39:34.706-07:00

I'm writing this from the public library in Ashland, Oregon, where my wife and I have made our annual pilgrimage to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We'll have our usual grueling theatrical two-a-days, interspersed with good meals and other lounging-about-type activities.I've not blogged from the road before. A lot of the trips we make are not well suited to taking the time to do this. Either

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1153891568439380072006-07-25T22:26:00.000-07:002006-08-27T19:47:27.396-07:00

This continues a series of ruminations, discussion on method, and answers to Kevin Kelly’s The Big Here, a query and challenge to know the space we live in, in its shape and relationships.2) What time is sunset today?One of the pleasures of living in the north half of the Northwest is the difference in the length of the days, from season to season. Not like Alaska, of course, but they might be

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1153460259656491262006-07-20T22:37:00.000-07:002006-07-20T22:37:39.716-07:00

This begins the first of series of ruminations, discussion on method, and answers to Kevin Kelly’s The Big Here, a query and challenge to know the space we live in, in its shape and relationships.1) Point north.I have what I like to think of as a good sense of direction. I think I came about it naturally, but I’ve learned, through some disruptions, that what we call a sense of direction doesn’t

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1153286528895435652006-07-18T22:22:00.000-07:002006-07-18T22:22:46.486-07:00

On a Saturday almost a month ago, my wife and a friend and I went on a beach walk at the Purdy Sand Spit, presented by a collection of local and state water quality agencies. The weather was terrific, the tide was -2.8’ at 11:08, and the beach was teeming. There were a good fifty people of all ages in attendance.The guide for the walk was the local celebrity Alan Rammer, who is a Conservation

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3946199.post-1152767026064715232006-07-12T22:03:00.000-07:002006-07-12T22:05:02.336-07:00

In response to Blue Wren’s challenge, here’s what on my desk, right now, besides an irregular, but noticeable layer of dust:1. An older, but serviceable HP Deskjet 895Cse which needs a new color cartridge (it doesn’t print green anymore). 2. A Mountaineers Go Guide, July 2006 issue, and a stack of printouts (lacking in green) from the ConsumerReports.org Car Buying Kit (it’s a bit of a sore

Mike Kretzlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03205575495336130211noreply@blogger.com1