coldSaturday, 4/8/2006 - Snow Camping clinic - Desolation Wilderness, near Tamarack Lake
Well, it looks like I've got my trail name.
Today was avalanche safety and ice axe training day. The latter involved flinging ourselves down a snow slope and trying to recover. In full rain gear. Since i brought my DriDucks, which are not known for their durability, this involved one of the women (Donna?) making the observation that my ass was delaminating. The fabric got stretchy, non-shiny and thin - one step from rain pant failure. I complained about never being able to finds a set of rain pants that would last me and somewhere along the line philosophically suggested I'd just duct-tape the entire butt of the pants up with my red roll. [I'd picked it up to make flags for the poles we left attached to our cars in the Sno-Park parking lot. We were expecting further snow, and that would help the snowplows avoid our bumpers. -B]
She said if I did, I'd have to watch out - a story like that was trail name material.
"Redbutt?" I replied. "Or red-ass?"
So naturally it came to pass. I returned to my tent when we hit base camp - that butt area was looking pretty worn - and did what I had to to save the pants. One bright red butt and an emptied duct tape roll later, I showed it off to the party [as in adventuring party. Are my geek roots showing? -B] amid laughter and general appreciation (and Ned taking a pic). [I have not been able to secure a copy of that photo yet. Hopefully can get one e-mailed to
kadyg when I see him at ADZ. -B]I then took off on an evening conquest to build up an appetite -- a 600-foot climb up the nearby ridge. Got some good shots of Lake Tahoe and a potential Redeemers [TTU theri paramilitary group -B] location. (More windblasted and full of lodgepole pine than I expected.) Came back down the steep, ice-powdery slope ... and how could I resist one last glissade or two down the descent? I sat my freshly fortified butt down on the slope and, well. *shred*
I stopped by Jeff and Donna's tent upon my return to chat and check on Donna. (She'd hurt her neck in a fall during ice axe practice. [Not seriously -- a painful muscle strain -- but it did give me a brief chance to attempt to apply my new Wilderness First Aid skills. -B]) At the end of the talk, I said, "Oh by the way, I think my trail name is trying to stick." I turned around to show them that the giant duct tape butt had survived, but that it had ripped underneath and to the sides of the tape - making a perfect flap that lifted out like a .... well, tail.
So I guess I'm "Redtail" for good now.
Advantages of 'Redtail' as a trail name:
- Like the bird.
- Hey, a new furry archetype to play with.
- Like the beer. Guess I'll have to see if it's any good.
- Comes pre-approved by two of the PCT's best-known trail angels (Jeff and Donna Saufley). Instant street cred! ;->
- A sort of odd synchronicity with TTU.
- People have been comparing me to Dennis Redwing already. :-P Guess this seals it. Or at least adds to the irony.
- Sort of catchy.
- Though the story is mildly embarrassing. (Not that that stopped Gottago.)
- Jo suggested "Busted Ass" but the consensus seems to be with "Redtail."
- Though the story is mildly embarrassing. (Not that that stopped Gottago.)
- Sounds more risque than it actually is.
- It's not "Pole" or some other Tad pun.
QotD:
Ned: "Hey, Redtail." (Trying to get my attention as I left for the ridge.)
Me: "Is that the big test? Whether I answer to it or not?"
Today's Other Highlights
- Big morning pee - managed to hold it until after the storm.
- No more snow. Really thought another wave would blow in, but we seem clear. Hope it holds.
- Ned dug a snow pit. "Buried hoar" (aka corn snow, aka what kills you in avalanches - mind those 25-30 degree slopes) is like that stuff you make shaved ice out of.
- Flinging yourself down powder head first on your back and doing a butterfly stroke to keep your momentum makes a track that looks like a centipede crawling down the hill.
- Rice for dinner (@~7). Not as good as the noodles. Cooked a lot cleaner because I used a Yogi-book technique: Boil water, add stuff, let sit. (No cooked-on stuff from the flames.)
- Spiritually, accompanied by
dreamflow and Savi - TJ went home. They followed me up the ridge. Probably ~50 mile an hour winds up there. Staggered from wind shadow to wind shadow in the few trees around.- Hopefully laundry tomorrow.
- 12:37 am. Now sleep.
Tomorrow: Days 3 and 4. Blizzard hiking, a little posthole practice, and crapping in a snowstorm.
