Monday, January 31, 2011
Chinese Class
I've thought of taking Chinese for years, but never did much about it. However, that has changed as I recently signed up to take 1st semester Chinese at Howard Community College in nearby Columbia, MD. Class starts today and I'm looking forward to it!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Moonlight Monuments
The hiking meetup group holds a few other cool events throughout the year: Halloween corn maze, a summer picnic, and when the full moon is on the weekend, a Moonlight Monument Hike.
My friend Alyssa is a new DC-area resident, so I invited her to attend this. I thought it would be fun and inexpensive. We met the group at 5 pm between the White House and Washington Monument, along the Mall side of Constitution Ave. It was already dark so after splitting into 3 groups of varying size, the hike leaders handed out glow-in-the-dark necklaces and we set out. We went with the "fast" group of about 40 people, while the "medium" and "slow" groups, each about the same size as ours, trailed behind.
First up was a short walk to the Washington Monument.
We took a few pictures and before long, our group leader was rounding us up for the walk to Jefferson. We left early and walked fast, in order to put some space between our group and the other groups.
We had a little time to walk around the rotunda before we gathered up and headed to the Roosevelt monument. That one has a nice waterfall area, but my pictures didn't turn out too well. We headed on to the Korean monument and the Lincoln memorial.
The Lincoln memorial was very well lit, and despite the number of other people out visiting, it wasn't too hard to get a nice pic, because of the amount of space available. Alyssa set the timer on her camera and we were able to get a pic of us in front of the Reflecting Pool, with the Washington monument in the distance.
From there we walked the short distance to the Vietnam memorial, and then went to the World War 2 memorial.
And that was the end, other than getting back to the Washington Monument. Overall it was a fun tour, and one that anybody can do on their own. It was quite nice at night, everything is lit up and it isn't crowded at all.
My friend Alyssa is a new DC-area resident, so I invited her to attend this. I thought it would be fun and inexpensive. We met the group at 5 pm between the White House and Washington Monument, along the Mall side of Constitution Ave. It was already dark so after splitting into 3 groups of varying size, the hike leaders handed out glow-in-the-dark necklaces and we set out. We went with the "fast" group of about 40 people, while the "medium" and "slow" groups, each about the same size as ours, trailed behind.
First up was a short walk to the Washington Monument.
We took a few pictures and before long, our group leader was rounding us up for the walk to Jefferson. We left early and walked fast, in order to put some space between our group and the other groups.
We had a little time to walk around the rotunda before we gathered up and headed to the Roosevelt monument. That one has a nice waterfall area, but my pictures didn't turn out too well. We headed on to the Korean monument and the Lincoln memorial.
The Lincoln memorial was very well lit, and despite the number of other people out visiting, it wasn't too hard to get a nice pic, because of the amount of space available. Alyssa set the timer on her camera and we were able to get a pic of us in front of the Reflecting Pool, with the Washington monument in the distance.
From there we walked the short distance to the Vietnam memorial, and then went to the World War 2 memorial.
And that was the end, other than getting back to the Washington Monument. Overall it was a fun tour, and one that anybody can do on their own. It was quite nice at night, everything is lit up and it isn't crowded at all.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Seattle Weekend
I flew back to Seattle for Dawg Dash weekend, and Waffle Fest.
- Hike
- Dawg Dash
But first, I met up with my friend Carrie for a hike. We mailed back and forth setting it up: I definitely wanted to hike, but I wasn't sure of any good routes, since it had been quite some time since I moved away. We settled on 6-8 miles with ~2000 foot elevation gain, which sounded reasonable. She brought more friends and we drove out to the Teanaway forest area to hike to Navajo Peak.
These three are serious hikers!
What we wound up doing was 13 miles and ~4500 foot elevation. Carrie is a strong hiker - I think she goes every weekend all year long, sometimes both days - and perhaps overestimated my hiking fitness in her ambition to summit, and probably didn't measure the route too carefully. ;) It was a tough hike, and I was dragging a bit by the end.
Navajo pass. The summit is another ~1200 feet up.
The view at the top of the pass was spectacular, and worth the hike. I was ready to turn around at this point, roughly 5.0 miles in with ~3200 feet of gain - that would have been enough for me. But Carrie wanted to summit Navajo peak, and it was "only" another 1.5 miles and ~1200 feet... so we headed up. It was snowing at the top, so the view wasn't too good. Despite how tough the hike was (for me at least), it did feel good to reach the summit.
Just below the summit, as fog and snow moved in.
I don't think I slowed them up too much, but I know I did. We got back to the trailhead as the sun was setting so it was good timing overall. Afterwards, e were famished and ate at a Mexican restaurant in Cle Elum.
The next day I ran the Dawg Dash in the rain. We were lucky: it rained lightly before the event, and poured afterwards, but during the event it didn't rain much at all.
The Dawg Dash is a fun event because it is dog friendly, and one of the UW homecoming events. After the race we retreated to Francesca's for Waffle Fest, a UW themed waffle brunch hosted by Francesca. Yum!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Corn Maze
I drove up to Thumont, MD for a hiking group meetup at the Lawyers Moonlight Maze. The theme this year was... Iron Man.
Giant Robot pumpkin targets.
I had about an hour before sunset, so I headed straight for the maze(s). They had 3 set up, each of different length, with several checkpoints to find inside. I did the blue and green ones on the map, finishing up in the darkness, which was a lot of fun. I made it out in time to catch the movie, Iron Man 2, and I stayed to watch a few minutes... but since it was late I decided to leave.
Giant Robot pumpkin targets.
I had about an hour before sunset, so I headed straight for the maze(s). They had 3 set up, each of different length, with several checkpoints to find inside. I did the blue and green ones on the map, finishing up in the darkness, which was a lot of fun. I made it out in time to catch the movie, Iron Man 2, and I stayed to watch a few minutes... but since it was late I decided to leave.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
North East tri
Maryland is filled with blunt names for various landmarks and places: for example there is Gunpowder Falls State Park with an associated Hammerman swim area. The swim of a popular tri over in Cambridge, MD occurs in the Choptank river... for months I'd hear people mention "getting ready for Eagleman... planning on a swim in the Choptank". I thought it was a natural wave machine. But no, it turns out that is the name of the river, the Choptank River. It may indeed be shallow and windy with lots of choppy waves.
So in the northeast corner of the state is a city named... North East, MD (amazing!) which puts on a sprint and olympic tri. Some friends signed up so I did too.
Six of us wound up going: four doing the sprint, two doing the olympic. What made this interesting is one friend, Amanda, loves to camp so she suggested we all stay at Elk Neck State Park and camp beforehand!
Now I like camping. I do. I also like to sleep in a real bed before an event. Plus I have no camping gear anymore, I had offloaded most of it to various friends before moving from Washington to Florida (I was NOT about to sleep on the ground in Florida!). But since everyone else was camping, I joined the group after some hesitation. I was able to rent a sleeping bag and split a tent so that was taken care of.
Me, Amanda, and Mike after we finished.
The event was fun and the weather was great - cloudy and cooler than normal. It sprinkled lightly and later that afternoon the skies opened up for heavy rain. But during the event it was fine and we all had a good time.
I did an overall 1:48:12, good for 10th out of 19th in my division.
The camping was fun as well - we munched on chips, lit a campfire and made smores, got to sleep early. However I think I'll go the luxurious route of getting a hotel room before future events.
So in the northeast corner of the state is a city named... North East, MD (amazing!) which puts on a sprint and olympic tri. Some friends signed up so I did too.
Six of us wound up going: four doing the sprint, two doing the olympic. What made this interesting is one friend, Amanda, loves to camp so she suggested we all stay at Elk Neck State Park and camp beforehand!
Now I like camping. I do. I also like to sleep in a real bed before an event. Plus I have no camping gear anymore, I had offloaded most of it to various friends before moving from Washington to Florida (I was NOT about to sleep on the ground in Florida!). But since everyone else was camping, I joined the group after some hesitation. I was able to rent a sleeping bag and split a tent so that was taken care of.
Me, Amanda, and Mike after we finished.
The event was fun and the weather was great - cloudy and cooler than normal. It sprinkled lightly and later that afternoon the skies opened up for heavy rain. But during the event it was fine and we all had a good time.
I did an overall 1:48:12, good for 10th out of 19th in my division.
The camping was fun as well - we munched on chips, lit a campfire and made smores, got to sleep early. However I think I'll go the luxurious route of getting a hotel room before future events.
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Hashawha Hike
To start off the holiday weekend, I carpooled up to the Hashawha Environmental Center near Westminster, MD. The hike featured an easy loop in the surrounding forest, and a "raptor center", where injured birds of prey are kept and nursed.
The raptor center was less than a mile from the hike starting point, and while we were there we saw a few of the birds. The bald eagle drew the most attention.
This bird got his own large cage.
They had several species of owls, including this pair of Great Horned Owls.
We set off again following the trail, and came to an old cabin that is probably in use as a storage area.
Our loop was a figure-8, from the raptor center we passed the historic cabin, then into the woods around past the cabin and raptor center. From there we added on a flat ~1.5 miles to a lily pond and enjoyed sitting there for a few minutes.
I saw some people fishing, but didn't see any frogs.
The raptor center was less than a mile from the hike starting point, and while we were there we saw a few of the birds. The bald eagle drew the most attention.
This bird got his own large cage.
They had several species of owls, including this pair of Great Horned Owls.
We set off again following the trail, and came to an old cabin that is probably in use as a storage area.
Our loop was a figure-8, from the raptor center we passed the historic cabin, then into the woods around past the cabin and raptor center. From there we added on a flat ~1.5 miles to a lily pond and enjoyed sitting there for a few minutes.
I saw some people fishing, but didn't see any frogs.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Hilton Area Hike
I drove up to Patapsco Valley State Park, Hilton area, to meet the hiking group for a mid-week after-work hike. Since I enjoyed myself on the previous trip, I bought a state park pass and got to use it for the first time.
The hike was a nice short 2.5 mile loop with a few decent hills. The trail went from a forested area across a utility right-of-way, back into the trees and then back across the clearing again. It was a nice sunny evening with no bugs and low humidity, a great time for a short hike.
The hike was a nice short 2.5 mile loop with a few decent hills. The trail went from a forested area across a utility right-of-way, back into the trees and then back across the clearing again. It was a nice sunny evening with no bugs and low humidity, a great time for a short hike.
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