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Valley & Siletz 70-tonner #5 emerges from the forest at Arell, Oregon with a portion of its train. A derailment near Valsetz would require an extra trip the following day. Dave Stanley photo ©2024
Woodworking is a terrific activity. If you are new to woodworking and seeking to drastically improve your skills, the key is education. You need to discover all of the top woodworking ideas and tricks. By discovering all of the best woodworking practices, you can prevent typical mistakes and take your abilities to the next level.
Always put your safety first when it concerns utilizing tools, discolorations and paints. The more variety you utilize, the more specifics there are about applications, tool use, times for drying, and more. Put your safety first by reading the directions, using any needed protective gear, and working in areas with great ventilation whenever utilizing oil-based products or anything that produces air contaminants.
When you are working with wood it is very important that you take your time. Being hasty leaves you open to making lots of mistakes. Instead of focusing on the amount of time it takes you to complete a task, do everything you can to keep your mind on the task at hand.
When you install your hacksaw blade, make certain the teeth face forward. They are developed to cut when pushed utilizing a forward stroke instead of a pulled stroke. Some of these blades have arrows pointing toward the deals with that show the right way to install them. Install it making certain it is tight and can not bend. When you do lots of cutting, your blade warms and expands, so make certain you tighten it before it begins bending.
Before you start any woodworking task, get all of the tools you will need for the task prepared. Always keep in mind to bring a calculator and tape measure with you when you go to buy your wood. Make certain you have any specialty tools you will need for your task offered also.
Take a look at your public library for books on woodworking. You will likely find books that contain ideas, special skills and even step-by-step guides that can take you from start to finish on a task. A library can be terrific source of info that people tend to forget when they are searching for knowledge, so do not let this resource slip your mind.
A stair gauge is a vital for every woodworking shop. Usually, they are utilized for the layout of stair jacks, but they can also be utilized to clamp down the carpenter's square. That indicates your square becomes a circular saw guide. If you utilize the square as a guide, your cuts will be straight each time.
Lots of people utilize utility knives to cut veneer. This can be extremely hazardous; however, take heart, there is a better way. When cutting veneer, consider utilizing a rotary cutting tool. These economical tools can be bought in your local fabric shop. Rotary cutting tools enable you to trim veneer to the ideal size.
Always inspect blade conditions before you saw. Dull blades rip wood apart. This can cause expensive mistakes in your task. Inspecting your saw blades before hand is a lot simpler than losing money and time.
Make certain to buy and use appropriate ear security. Working with wood can be extremely noisy. You want to prevent hearing loss from extended exposure. Get a pair of economical ear plugs, or buy a terrific pair of noise canceling earphones. No matter what you select, make sure that you use them whenever you operate machinery.
Learn about utilizing pilot holes. This is quite easy to do. When driving a screw or hammering a nail into a little piece of wood or getting quite near the edge of a piece, it tends to split. Often it's inevitable to put a taking care of into a place like this. However, drilling a hole through the joint that's a bit smaller than the taking care of can prevent it from splitting.
If woodworking is new to you, one of the most crucial pieces of recommendations to take is to completely read all plans and directions before you begin anything. Knowing what you are doing in advance will save you time, money and difficulty in the future. If you can not understand them or something is missing, someone from a local home improvement center might be able to help you.
Use woodworking kits when you're just beginning. The wood in these kits are already pre-cut for you and are easily joined together into a finished product This is a great way to discover all about woodworking. Practicing now will save some money and time for you in the future considering that you're going to make fewer mistakes.
Safeguard your eyes when you are working on a task. You cold end up with a blind eye if you neglect wearing your goggles. To make certain you wear them, find glasses that fit conveniently.
Select your woodworking tools and equipment thoroughly if you reside in a small space such as an apartment. You can still delight in completing woodworking tasks, but might have to pass up the 14-inch band saw. Choose tools that will do what you need but don't use up too much space.
Select the best gloves for every woodworking job. If you need fine motor skills, you must utilize more contemporary, high tech gloves of a thin, fine, strong, flexible material. When doing more coarse woodworking jobs in cold, moist weather, use pigskin gloves that insulate well and deflect moisture from your skin.
When staining a completed woodworking task stir your stain typically, particularly if you are utilizing a liquid stain. As stain sits, the sealer separates from the stain and settles to the bottom. If you do not stir the stain typically, your piece might have different shades of stain since of this separation.
As was talked about in the beginning of this short article, woodworking is a truly terrific activity. Although certainly hard, it is exceptionally satisfying. To be the best woodworker that you can be, you need to inform yourself on the top woodworking ideas and tricks. Research study this short article and all of the valuable ideas that it includes to improve your woodworking skills. stomaworld.com
Its on the tip of my tongue
by Shakil Haider
Its on the tip of my tongue
its a whisper that a heart aches for a thousand moons
its a gleam, a shimmer off the heaving sea on the bluest night
its the scent of the flowing strands of silky hair that mesmerize
its the longing of the forlorn eyes that makes a heart sink
its a nest ready for the miracle of life
I have been lost too long in the wilderness of doubts
I forgot the name, one word that covers all
I forgot what its called...
I forgot what its called...?
GoPro tip: Stash the plug cover inside the case when charging, etc. Otherwise you'll lose it instantly.
iPhone 8 tips and problems..
Cannot search for messenger to add it has a widget on the widget screen I have messenger on the Home Screen.
Messenger does not even show up and scroll down past gmail mail maps music etc where they are sorted alphabetically I can see all the other apps and Facebook. iPhone, data turned off, so it should be using the TPG Wi-Fi through the router at the moment in the kitchen.
See tip to copy between iOS to Windows..
au.pcmag.com/migrated-15175-windows-10/103502/ios-to-wind...
Using Notes and iCloud...
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Nikon D800E Beautiful Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens!
Epic Goddess Straight Out of Hero's Odyssey Mythology! Pretty Model! :) Tall, thin, fit and beautiful!
Welcome to your epic hero's odyssey! The beautiful 45surf goddess sisters hath called ye to adventure, beckoning ye to read deeply Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, whence ye shall learn of yer own exalted artistic path guided by Hero's Odyssey Mythology. I wouldn't be saying it if it hadn't happened to me.
New 500px!
500px.com/herosodysseymythology
New instagram! instagram.com/45surf
Pretty Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! :)
Follow me on facebook! facebook.com/elliot.mcgucken
Nikon D300 Photos of Beautfiul Sexy Hot Brunette!
She was a beauty--a gold 45 goddess for sure! A Gold 45 Goddess exalts the archetypal form of Athena--the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, strategy, heroic endeavour, handicrafts and reason. A Gold 45 Goddess guards the beauty of dx4/dt=ic and embodies 45SURF's motto "Virtus, Honoris, et Actio Pro Veritas, Amor, et Bellus, (Strength, Honor, and Action for Truth, Love, and Beauty," and she stands ready to inspire and guide you along your epic, heroic journey into art and mythology. It is Athena who descends to call Telemachus to Adventure in the first book of Homer's Odyssey--to man up, find news of his true father Odysseus, and rid his home of the false suitors, and too, it is Athena who descends in the first book of Homer's Iliad, to calm the Rage of Achilles who is about to draw his sword so as to slay his commander who just seized Achilles' prize, thusly robbing Achilles of his Honor--the higher prize Achilles fought for. And now Athena descends once again, assuming the form of a Gold 45 Goddess, to inspire you along your epic journey of heroic endeavour.
ALL THE BEST on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
Modeling the Gold 45 Revolver Gold'N'Virtue swimsuit. :)
A laid-back,classic, socal lifestyle shoot!
May the 45surf goddesses inspire you along am artistic journey of your own making!
All 45surf Hero's Odyssey Mythology Photography is shot in the honor of Truth, Beauty, and the Light of Physicist Dr. E's Moving Dimensions Theory's dx4/dt=ic . The fourth dimension is expanding relative to the three spatial dimensions at the rate of c. Ergo relativity, time, entropy, and entanglement.
All the best on your Epic Hero's Odyssey from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
New blog celebrating my philosophy of photography with tips, insights, and tutorials!
Ask me any questions! :)
Pretty! Nikon D800E Beautiful Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens!
All the best on your Epic, Homeric, Heroic Odyssey into the Art of Photography from Johnny Ranger McCoy!
-Crònica Pedals de Foc en 2 dies i varies pluges i tempestes-
Etapa 1 PDF 2018
Equip: Bicicleta Trek Superfly 29’’ + llums davant i darrera + gps + casc + ulleres + ass savers.
Inicialment volia portar bikepacking a la tija, però me la vaig deixar a Barcelona, així que no tenia opció, a carregar l’esquena amb la motxilla on portava un entrepà, fruits secs, barretes i gels, una jaqueta d’abric esportiva, un impermeable per la pluja, piles pel gps que em marcava el track, un carregador de USB amb diferents cables pels diferents dispositius (llums bici, mòbil, etc), Buf pel coll, mapa, armilla fluorescent per travessar el túnel de Vielha, bossa de 2 litres d’aigua, un Maillot net de recanvi, uns pantalons curts per passar la nit a l’alberg, mitjons de recanvi, guants.
-Comença la jornada, haig de reconèixer que el dia anterior vaig anar força just preparant material, i he primat el descansar a sortir molt aviat.
Sortida a les 9:00 am (tard) de Vielha, objectiu arribar a la Torre de Capdella al alberga La Torre Vall Fosca (aproximadament la meitat del camí, just bans de una de les grans pujades del recorregut, el punt per fer nit està triat per aquesta raó per que així una de les pujades més dures, o la més dura, la faria al començar al dia, amb més energia.
Començo sortint de Vielha amb una pujada dura i constant que va direcció el túnel de Vielha, no fa calor, les pluges i tempestes del dia anterior han refrescat l’ambient. En arribar al túnel de Vielha faig el procés de demanar permís a través del telèfon SOS que hi ha a l’entrada del túnel.
El procés tracta de trucar i dir que vols creuar el túnel, has de portar llums davant i darrera + la jaqueta reflectant homologada per carretera, aleshores si tot és correcte et tallant un dels carrils només per a tú. Penseu que el túnel de Vielha fa uns 5 km i en aquest cas fa pujada, pots estar entra 20/30 m -depenent de com vagis de ràpid- en un túnel fosc on els cotxes t’han de poder veure per la teva seguretat.
Després de creuar el túnel de Vielha, el temps es fresquet i a més es veuen molts núvols durant molta estona, i molts negres que fan pensar en pluja imminent, de moment aguant o cau plugim o molt poca pluja. Amb aquest temps, comencem una petita baixada de carretera fins arribar a camins de pista que rodejant el pantà de Baserca, i tot rodant i en baixada o pla s’arriba a Vilaller passant per les poblacions de Senet, Forcat i Vinyal - tot aquest tram fa frontera amb Aragó-. A Senet paro a veure uns escrits sobre el jueus que creuaven els pirineus de forma èpica i agònica fugin del nazis, per els antics camins on ara alguns gaudim del esport i la natura, quines històries amaguen aquests antics camins...
Després de Senet en una baixada tècnica amb molta pedra gruixuda tinc la primera caiguda tonat, no molt ràpid, però això no vol dir que no fa mal, típica caiguda que no treus el peu a temps de la cala i al terra, genoll dret amb ferida i cop fort, fa mal i tinc que caminar una mica per que s’em passi... continuem!
12:30 am - A Vilaller parada per fer una cafè a Ca Txambonet. Després de llegir el diari Segre i fer un cafè amb entrepà de fuet, tornem a començar.
Sembla que surt una mica el sol a estones, també plovisqueja a estones. Forta pujada per pistes i baixada d’uns 5 km per corriols molt tècnica – massa tècnica diria, al menys per a mi- cap a Llesp. Jo no sóc molt tècnic en quant a baixades per senders i corriols, però diria que aquest tram no el fa tothom en bici, només els experts en btt. La veritat es que és molt maco, entre els arbres a la ombra, però no m’agrada caminar tant amb la bici al costat, si vaig en bici vull pedalar!
Després de Llesp pujada tècnica d’uns 4 km més pel camí de l’aigua on també hi ha trams on veig impossible pedalar amb bici a no ser que facis trial, arribada a Iran.
Continuem pujant ara ja per pista passant per Irgo i en el punt més alt de la pujada trobem l’Ermita de Sant Salvador de Irgo, amb un mirador cap a Pont de Suert, etc.
En aquest moment fa més aviat calor, ha sortit el sol i suo més, més necessitat d’aigua.
Inici d’una forta baixada per pistes que porta a Gotarta on em trobo uns nens que em pregunten si estic fent al Pedals de Foc, i que un d’ells la farà la setmana vinent, tenen uns 12/15 anys, això és bo, la joventut vol fer bici. Omplo el dipòsit d’aigua.
Continuem per un tram puja/baixa de pistes on la sorra de vegades es torna vermellosa, i arribem a Malpàs on faré parada per menjar a un bar on demano permís per menjar el meu entrepà de formatge de cabra ecològic que tenia preparat, i demano 2 coca coles + unes patates. Hi ha gent del poble i gent que està passant uns dies de vacances que em pregunten si faig la PDF, i que si la vull fer en 2 dies que haig d’estar molt fort. Hi ha una parella que la vol fer, parlem una estona i un del poble m’adverteix que venen núvols de pluja ben negres. És veritat, fa calor però al fons es veuen núvols de pluja, torno a començar sense perdre molt temps, encara em queda la meitat de la jornada en Km aproximadament.
Després de Malpàs em trobo la pujada més llarga de la jornada, ven dura i després de dinar costa.
La pujada comença per asfalt d’aquets antic i irregular, i després passa a ser pista, arriba un punt que hi ha molt desnivell i pedra, estic cansat i de sobte em quedo clavat i em caic en pujada i a 6/7 km/h, però em torna a passar el mateix; no trec el peu a temps i ara és l’altre genoll que el faig malbé, l’esquerra ple de sang i ferides, torno a parar un moment i agafar aire, recuperar les cames.
De moment continua fent calor i sembla que els núvols aguanten la pluja, continuo pujant i es comencen a veure vaques i animals d’alçada. Les vistes són impressionants.
Al iniciar la baixada forta per pistes, passo per Erta i Sas, torno a pujar un mica més i baixada forta i llarga cap a Les Esglèsies, on primer es pista i em trobo algun tractor de baixada que haig d’avançar i després es torna asfalt on el meu cul descansa una mica de tanta pedra. La meteo cada cop es veu pitjor, però aguanta, plou de vegades però poc, núvols negres i cada cop més fosc. Vistes molt maques de paisatge.
Només queda una pujada, després de la foto al poble de Les Esglèsies, començo la pujada que al mirar en el perfil la veia curta, però no m’havia fixat que era molt empinada, i de pedra, molta pedra, pujada molt dura i tècnica, es fa molt dura al final del dia. Primer es fa un tram d’asfalt típic d’aquestes pujades amb les seves paelles a les corbes amb molt desnivell, i després entres a una pista que cada cop puja més i és més tècnica. Cada cop més cansat vaig fent, no poso peu a terra, però creieu-me, de vegades tinc la temptació i gairebé ho faig en algun moment. En quant a la meteo, moltes estones sembla que vaig direcció Mordor, cap a on vaig està tot súper negre.
En arribar a dalt, i havent mirat el perfil de la ruta, semblava que hi havia 2 o 3 km de planejar i baixada cap a la Torre de Capadella on feia la nit, per tant, el meu cap deia: ‘’només et queda aquesta pujada i ja ho tens’’ – ERROR!
Els 2 o 3 km del cim eren una espècie de corriol/ camí reial on, sota el meu punt de vista, necessitaves fer trial per poder baixar-lo, molta pedra, trams impossibles de bici al ombro, alguns trams amb caiguda a la dreta. Això si, vistes molta maques, terreny vermellós com si estiguessis a mart. El tema és que jo ja veia el final, m’imaginava una baixada final fàcil i arribada al destí, se m’estava fent tard, veia els núvols de Mordor amb algun llamp també, i això em va fer patir.
Dit això, la pluja va aguantar i no va caure, al menys no amb la força que semblava que faria, i la tempesta no em va atrapar.
Tot just després del camí de trial vaig arribar a Guiró, on son casi les 21:00 de la nit, no hi ha molta llum, els fanals del poble d’aquells antics estàn encesos amb la seva llum càlida, també les llums dels monestirs romànics típics d’aquests pobles. Pregunto a un senyor del poble si queda molt per Torre de Capdella, ja que portava varies sorpreses que no m’esperava i volia saber si quedava alguna més, em diu que no, que tranquil, només queda una baixada d’uns 5-7km per asfalt, i un tram de carretera nacional d’1km i ja hi sóc, gràcies a deu! -penso, encara que no sóc religiós- omplo aigua per què no em quedava i per tenir per si les mosques, mai se sap.
Encenc les llums de la bici i baixant a tota llet passo pels pobles Oveix i Astell, arribo a la nacional i faig aquests km a tota llet per no estar molta estona exposat a la nit en una nacional, no em passa cap cotxe i arribo al poble, i després de preguntar per l’Alberg, el trobo, són les 21:15 aprox. He fet un de 9 a 21h aprox. (amb parades)
El senyor de l’Alberg em diu: Has arribat! Penseu que la gent que fa rutes en bici, surt molt d’hora i fa matins, i arriba a dinar als llocs, no està tot el dia pedalant, normalment, així que sorprèn, però aquí estic ☺
Em dutxo i sopo amb un noi de Saragossa que el senyor de l’Alberg em presenta per què també viatja sol en bici. Ell està fent la Transpirinenca i el que us deia, ell havia fet 60km amb 2000 de desnivell + arribant a les 15/16 a l’Alberg.
En el meu cas havia fet uns 110km amb 3.200m de desnivell + sense pressa però sense pausa. Parant a dinar, fer fotos, veure pobles, etc. Crec que si no hi hagués aquests trams de ‘trial’ amb els que no hi contava hagués arribat molt abans, diria que en total sumen entre 10i 15km que havies de pedalar 50 metres i baixar de la bici i caminar, i així tota l’estona amb alguns trams de només caminar.
El sopar és genial parlant amb el company de Saragossa, en acabar, sobre les 22:30/23:00, toca descansar que al dia següent vull aixecar-me a les 7:00
Bona nit de somnis i experiències viscudes.
---
-Crónica Pedales de Fuego en 2 días y varias lluvias y tormentas-
Etapa 1 PDF 2018
Equipo: Bicicleta Trek Superfly 29 '' + luces delantera y trasera + gps + casco + gafas + ass savers.
Inicialmente quería llevar bikepacking al tallo, pero me la dejé en Barcelona, así que no tenía opción, a cargar la espalda con la mochila donde llevaba un bocadillo, frutos secos, barritas y geles, una chaqueta de abrigo deportiva, un impermeable para la lluvia, pilas por gps que me marcaba el track, un cargador de USB con diferentes cables por los diferentes dispositivos (luces bici, móvil, etc), Buf por el cuello, mapa, chaleco fluorescente para atravesar el túnel de Vielha, bolsa de 2 litros de agua, un Maillot neto de recambio, un pantalón corto para pasar la noche en el albergue, calcetines de repuesto, guantes.
-Comienza la jornada, he de reconocer que el día anterior fui fuerza justo preparando material, y he primado el descansar a salir muy pronto.
Salida a las 9:00 am (tarde) de Vielha, objetivo llegar a la Torre de Capdella al alberga La Torre Vall Fosca (aproximadamente la mitad del camino, justo antes de una de las grandes subidas del recorrido, el punto para hacer noche está elegido por esta razón por que así una de las subidas más duras, o la más dura, la haría al comenzar el día, con más energía.
Empiezo saliendo de Vielha con una subida dura y constante que dirección el túnel de Vielha, no hace calor, las lluvias y tormentas del día anterior han refrescado el ambiente. Al llegar al túnel de Vielha hago el proceso de pedir permiso a través del teléfono SOS que hay en la entrada del túnel.
El proceso trata de llamar y decir que quieres cruzar el túnel, debes llevar luces delante y detrás + la chaqueta reflectante homologada para carretera, entonces si todo es correcto te cortando uno de los carriles sólo para tí. Piense que el túnel de Vielha hace unos 5 km y en este caso es cuesta, puedes estar entra 20/30 m -dependiendo de cómo vayas de rápido- en un túnel oscuro donde los coches te han de poder ver por tu seguridad.
Después de cruzar el túnel de Vielha, el tiempo se fresquito y además se ven muchas nubes durante mucho rato, y muchos negros que hacen pensar en lluvia inminente, de momento aguante o cae llovizna o muy poca lluvia. Con este tiempo, empezamos una pequeña bajada de carretera hasta llegar a caminos de pista que rodeando el pantano de Baserca, y rodando y en bajada o plan llega a Vilaller pasando por las poblaciones de Senet, Forcat y Vinyal - todo este tramo hace frontera con Aragón-. A Senet paro a ver unos escritos sobre el judíos que cruzaban los Pirineos de forma épica y agónica huyan de nazis, por los antiguos caminos donde ahora algunos disfrutamos del deporte y la naturaleza, qué historias esconden estos antiguos caminos ...
Después de Senet en una bajada técnica con mucha piedra gruesa tengo la primera caída tonat, no muy rápido, pero eso no quiere decir que no hace daño, típica caída que no sacas el pie a tiempo de la cala y el suelo, la rodilla derecha con herida y golpe fuerte, duele y tengo que caminar un poco para que se me pase ... seguimos!
12:30 am - A Vilaller parada para hacer una café en Ca Txambonet. Después de leer el diario Segre y hacer un café con bocadillo de fuet, volvemos a empezar.
Parece que sale un poco el sol a ratos, también llovizna a ratos. Fuerte subida por pistas y bajada de unos 5 km por senderos muy técnica - demasiado técnica diría, al menos para mí- hacia Llesp. Yo no soy muy técnico en cuanto a descargas senderos y veredas, pero diría que este tramo no lo hace todo el mundo en bici, sólo los expertos en mountain bike. La verdad es que es muy bonito, entre los árboles en la sombra, pero no me gusta caminar tanto con la bici al lado, si voy en bici quiero pedalear!
Después de Llesp subida técnica de unos 4 km más por el camino del agua donde también hay tramos donde veo imposible pedalear en bici a no ser que hagas trial, llegada a Irán.
Continuamos subiendo ahora ya por pista pasando por Irgo y en el punto más alto de la subida encontramos la Ermita de San Salvador de Irgo, con un mirador hacia Pont de Suert, etc.
En este momento hace más bien calor, ha salido el sol y sudo más, más necesidad de agua.
Inicio de una fuerte bajada por pistas que lleva a Gotarta donde me encuentro unos niños que me preguntan si estoy haciendo al Pedales de Fuego, y que uno de ellos la hará la próxima semana, tienen unos 12/15 años, esto es bueno , la juventud quiere hacer bici. Lleno el depósito de agua.
Continuamos por un tramo sube / baja de pistas donde la arena a veces se vuelve rojiza, y llegamos a Malpàs donde haré parada para comer a un bar donde pido permiso para comer mi bocadillo de queso de cabra ecológico que tenía preparado, y pido 2 torta colas + unas patatas. Hay gente del pueblo y gente que está pasando unos días de vacaciones que me preguntan si hago la PDF, y que si la quiero hacer en 2 días que tengo que estar muy fuerte.
Hay una pareja que la quiere hacer, hablamos un rato y uno del pueblo me advierte que vienen nubes de lluvia bien negros. Es verdad, hace calor pero al fondo se ven nubes de lluvia, vuelvo a empezar sin perder mucho tiempo, aunque me queda la mitad de la jornada en Km aproximadamente.
Tras Malpàs me encuentro la subida más larga de la jornada, vende dura y después de comer costa.
La subida comienza por asfalto de estos antiguo e irregular, y luego pasa a ser pista, llega un punto que hay mucho desnivel y piedra, estoy cansado y de repente me quedo clavado y me caigo en subida y 6/7 km / h , pero me vuelve a pasar lo mismo; no saco el pie a tiempo y ahora es la otra rodilla que el estropeo, la izquierda lleno de sangre y heridas, vuelvo a parar un momento y tomar aire, recuperar las piernas.
De momento sigue haciendo calor y parece que las nubes aguantan la lluvia, sigo subiendo y se empiezan a ver vacas y animales de altura. Las vistas son impresionantes.
Al iniciar la bajada fuerte por pistas, paso por Erta y Sas, vuelvo a subir un poco más y bajada fuerte y larga hacia Las Iglesias, donde primero se pista y me encuentro algún tractor de bajada que debo avanzar y luego se vuelve asfalto donde mi culo descansa un poco de tanta piedra. La meteo cada vez se ve peor, pero aguanta, llueve a veces pero poco, nubes negras y cada vez más oscuro. Vistas muy bonitas de paisaje.
Sólo queda una subida, después de la foto en el pueblo de Las Iglesias, empiezo la subida que al mirar en el perfil la veía corta, pero no me había fijado que era muy empinada, y de piedra, mucha piedra, subida muy dura y técnica, se hace muy dura al final del día. Primero se hace un tramo de asfalto típico de estas subidas con sus sartenes a las curvas con mucho desnivel, y luego entras a una pista que cada vez sube más y es más técnica. Cada vez más cansado voy haciendo, no pongo pie en el suelo, pero creedme, a veces tengo la tentación y casi lo hago en algún momento. En cuanto a la meteo, muchos ratos parece que voy dirección Mordor, hacia donde voy está todo súper negro.
Al llegar arriba, y habiendo mirado el perfil de la ruta, parecía que había 2 o 3 km de planear y bajada hacia la Torre de Capadella donde hacía la noche, por lo tanto, mi cabeza decía: '' sólo te queda esta subida y ya lo tienes '' - ERROR!
Los 2 o 3 km de la cima eran una especie de sendero / camino real donde, bajo mi punto de vista, necesitabas hacer trial para poder descargarlo, mucha piedra, tramos imposibles de bici al hombro, algunos tramos con caída a la derecha . Eso si, vistas mucha bonitas, terreno rojizo como si estuvieras en marte. El tema es que yo ya veía el final, me imaginaba una bajada final fácil y llegada al destino, se me estaba haciendo tarde, veía las nubes de Mordor con algún rayo también, y eso me hizo sufrir.
Dicho esto, la lluvia aguantó y no cayó, al menos no con la fuerza que parecía que haría, y la tormenta no me atrapó.
Justo después del camino de trial llegué a Guiró, donde son casi las 21:00 de la noche, no hay mucha luz, las farolas del pueblo de aquellos antiguos están encendidos con su luz cálida, también las luces de los monasterios románicos típicos de estos pueblos. Pregunto a un señor del pueblo si queda mucho por Torre de Capdella, ya que llevaba varias sorpresas que no me esperaba y quería saber si quedaba alguna más, me dice que no, que tranquilo, sólo queda una bajada de unos 5-7km por asfalto, y un tramo de carretera nacional de 1km y ya estoy, gracias a diez! -pienso, aunque no soy religioso- lleno agua para que no me quedaba y para tener por si las moscas, nunca se sabe.
Enciendo las luces de la bici y bajando a toda leche paso por los pueblos Oveix y Astell, llego a la nacional y hago estos km a toda leche por no estar mucho rato expuesto por la noche en una nacional, no me pasa ningún coche y llego al pueblo, y después de preguntar por el Albergue, el encuentro, son las 21:15 aprox. He hecho uno de 9 a 21h aprox. (Con paradas)
El señor del albergue me dice: Has llegado! Piense que la gente que hace rutas en bici, sale muy temprano y hace mañanas, y llega a comer a los sitios, no está todo el día pedaleando, normalmente, así que sorprende, pero aquí estoy ☺
Me ducho y ceno con un chico de Zaragoza que el señor del Albergue me presenta para que también viaja solo en bici. Él está haciendo la Transpirenaica y lo que os decía, él había hecho 60km con 2000 de desnivel + llegando a las 15/16 en el Albergue.
En mi caso había hecho unos 110km con 3.200m de desnivel + sin prisa pero sin pausa. Poniendo a comer, hacer fotos, ver pueblos, etc. Creo que si no hubiera estos tramos de 'trial' con los que no contaba hubiera llegado mucho antes, diría que en total suman entre 10i 15km que tenías que pedalear 50 metros y bajar de la bici y caminar, y así toda la rato con algunos tramos de sólo caminar.
La cena es genial hablando con el compañero de Zaragoza, al acabar, sobre las 22: 30/23: 00, toca descansar que al día siguiente quiero levantarme a las 7:00
Buena noche de sueños y experiencias vividas.
Der Aurorafalter war Schmetterling des Jahres 2004!
Der männliche Aurorafalter ist als weißlicher Falter mit orangeroten Flügelspitzen unverkennbar. Die Weibchen sind auf der Oberseite weiß haben aber auch die dunklen Zeichnungen, halt ohne orange wie sie das Männchen hat.
Diese Männlichen Falter sind von April bis Mai auf Brautsuche.
Der Name kommt von Aurora (lat.: Göttin der Morgenröte).
The Orange Tip butterfly was in 2004!
The male Orange Tip is unmistakable as a whitish moth with orange wing tips. The females are white on the top side also have the dark drawings, containing orange as it has without the male.
This male moth from April to May on bride search.
The name comes from Aurora (Latin: Goddess of Dawn).
The much weathered and cobwebby tip of my letterbox, on the edge of the driveway. You can just make out my red car and the blue tarp covering my bike in the background.
Taken with iPhone 3GS and this bought magnetic macro lens.
women at Sturgis
Search on SL "Locks and StarZ Gallery" ....I'll be loading Sturgis photos in there soon...so you can decorate your SL home with some Sturgis photos!!
From the autumn 2016 trip to Vietnam:
Touchdown brings me ‘round again to find…solid ground. Though I sometimes do feel like a rocket man. Including layovers, this trip to Vietnam consisted of 8 separate flights. The third one brought me to tiny Phu Quoc Island, a tropical island 40 kilometers west of the southern tip of Vietnam (and less than 5 kilometers from Cambodia on the mainland). The island, then, is actually west of the southern tip of Vietnam, and less than an hour flight from Saigon. The flight goes something like this: “Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated as it’s time for take…and now we’re landing.”
There are actually two tropical islands off the southern coast of Vietnam that I would have liked visiting, Phu Quoc being the more appealing of the two. (The other, for those curious, are the Con Dao Islands which actually are south of the mainland…but there doesn’t seem to be daily flights to/from there, which took it out of this trip’s consideration.)
Compared with Thailand, you would probably never think of coming to Vietnam for a tropical island experience – mainly because it’s not developed – and you’d be correct. I can easily name a handful of islands in Thailand (or Malaysia) that I would prefer to visit from an island standpoint.
However, that’s not to say that I was disappointed by Phu Quoc. On the contrary, I love the island. I found myself thinking, many times, “If I were an investor interested in developing a tourist resort, this would almost be at the top of my list.” (So, any investors reading this…feel free to take a slightly closer look at this island.)
It’s an easily accessible island with many daily flights to Saigon, and also flights to Hanoi. It claims to be an international airport, so I assume there are flights from Cambodia, as well, though I can’t say for certain. I can only say…it’s easy to get here.
Once you get here, you’ll find Vietnam’s largest island (though not large in comparison with many others). It’s 50 kilometers from north to south and 25 kilometers at its widest. It’s triangular in shape and, poetically speaking, can be said to look like a tear drop. Located in the Gulf of Thailand, the island also includes smaller neighboring islands as well.
Phu Quoc has slightly over 100,000 full-time residents, mostly living in Duong Dong, the island’s main town on the midpoint of the west coast of the island. Other than tourism, the economy here is driven, obviously, by the sea. Fishing, seafood, and so on are the staple here. Phu Quoc is the producer of the most famous fish sauce coming out of Vietnam. (Phu Quoc’s fish sauce can be found on grocery store shelves around the world.)
It’s also an island of hills. Our tour guide claimed that Phu Quoc has 99 mountains and, while I can’t (or won’t) dispute that, it struck me as a curious claim. There are hilly parts, though, and they include two waterfalls, one of which we visited on a day trip.
I mention that Phu Quoc struck me as being somewhat underdeveloped. I’ll elaborate by saying that they have a solid foundation – lots of restaurants (catered to foreigners; western food, pizza joints, etc., in addition to local/Vietnamese cuisine) – and hotels ranging from budget to top end. The basic utilities on the island (electricity, internet, etc.) are also completely stable and reliable. Where they could develop more is in the following: infrastructure and the actual amenities of tourism.
The roads weren’t shoddy, by many standards, though there’s still a lot of room for development. Once this is improved, it’ll make getting around more comfortable for anyone who wants to be completely insulated from “natural.”
The other thing that struck us as a little odd is that there doesn’t seem to be much going on at night (unless you’re a fisherman). It’s still a very quiet island and there weren’t many options for bars, clubs, live music, for example. (This is a huge difference between here and, say, Koh Chang in Thailand; the only other nearby island I have for comparison.) There aren’t convenience stores here that are open 24 hours a day and they don’t have much to offer after dark…besides the Night Market. Perhaps that’s the way they want to keep it, but there’s certainly potential here.
During the daytime, though, there’s plenty for tourists. As a photographer not equipped with waterproof gear, I was much more limited, but for the typical tourist you have options of fishing, diving, snorkeling, and swimming. The beaches were, in my opinion, a little dirty, but there are others on the island that are better, I think. (All in all, it would be nice to see things cleaned up a bit…)
In addition to water pursuits, there’s Phu Quoc National Park (that we didn’t visit; apparently better other times of the year) and – though the crux of the economy is tied to the sea – there are also other aspects of the economy that they represent well: pearl farms, pepper farms, cashew plantations, fish sauce factories, and local wine (wine aficionados, don’t get your hopes up).
For the land-loving folks, this is far from a crowded island. There are a number of beaches, the national park in the northern part of the island, and a few small waterfalls (one a classic, the other more of a rapids where you can swim). In short, there’s not a lack of things to do during the day.
With the long-winded generalities about the island out of the way, time to carry on with our experience. We took an early flight out of Saigon, around 9 or 10 o’clock. Flying into the airport, in the heart of the island (on the south side), my first impressions were “green” and “hilly.”
Naturally, it’s a small airport – everything here is small – which made it easy to get our things and be on our way to the hotel. I paid about $5 for the ride into Duong Dong. Our hotel, the Sea Breeze, had very friendly staff. (I can actually say that about every hotel we stayed at, with the New Moon in Danang being the least friendly…and they weren’t bad by any means at all.)
Anyway, the Sea Breeze was a fine place to sleep, though the Cat Huy was slightly nicer. But, for three nights, this hotel was perfect. Comfortable bed…and they did same day laundry service. I don’t remember the cost, but it was probably between $20-30 USD/night.
The hotel wasn’t one that had a restaurant or breakfast included (Saigon, Hoi An, Hue, and Hanoi all did), but there was a restaurant attached and a few feet away. I had breakfast there two of the three mornings and, while not the best western breakfast I’ve had, the staff were exceptionally friendly. I think that’s a Vietnamese quality…be really cordial to folks.
We had most of Friday on the island, plus the entire weekend, with a Monday morning flight to Danang (via Saigon) around 10:00 in the morning. Friday, then, was a completely unplanned day. So we spent Friday toddling around Duong Dong.
The first place we went (besides the hotel, obviously), was to find something to eat. We ended up going with was a decidedly non-Vietnamese restaurant named Buddy’s, walking there via the Night Market street. For me, I loved ‘em because they had milkshakes with real ice cream. Didn’t matter what else they had. That was enough to get me to go back 2-3 times.
After lunch and sitting around Buddy’s for a while, we walked across the street and followed the river out to its mouth in the Gulf of Thailand. (The river is why the main town was built at this spot.)
At the river’s head is a curiously named spot called Dinh Cau Castle. There is nothing about this place that shouts out “castle” if you were to just chance upon it. It’s actually a combination lighthouse-temple. The temple aspect is just a small room with a statue dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea. The lighthouse, obviously, has its practical purposes. It’s more a light station, though; there’s no house for a keeper.
However, this was a very enjoyable spot (much nicer than the Thien Hau “Pagoda” in Saigon) and would end up being the spot where we watched the sunset on Friday and Saturday. The lighthouse-station-temple was built in 1937. There are a few tables benches on an upper platform to sit and enjoy the view of the sea (or the river mouth with its fishing fleet behind you) and there’s also a jetty going out into the sea that gives some nice perspectives. I can only say that I was surprisingly pleased with both Friday and Saturday’s sunsets.
Staying at Dinh Cau well past sunset, we strolled back towards the Sea Breeze via the Night Market, which is rather clean as far as Asian markets go. (I mention this to contrast it with Phu Quoc’s Day Market, mentioned below.)
Before getting back to the hotel, we stopped at the recently (2015) established Crab House (Nha Ghe Phu Quoc) on the main road at the south end of the market. The owner was – as all seem to be – very friendly and talkative. I was curious to know why the interior had banners from a handful of SEC schools (US folks will know what this is) along with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Turns out, the guy used to live in Muskegon, Michigan, which isn’t terribly far from where I was born (and a town I’ll be passing near in about 3-4 weeks’ time).
Junebug & I split the Crab House battered garlic pepper fries (65,000 VND); miniature crab cakes with sweet mango coulis (175,000 VND); and com ghe: hot, steamy jasmine rice with fresh, sweet crab meat, julienne cucumber, and nuoc mam cay (Phu Quoc fish sauce) for 175,000 VND. Add in two cans of Sprite at 20,000 VND a pop and that’s a happy stomach. (The exchange rate, while we were there, was around 21,000-22,000 VND to the US dollar, so we’re looking at…$20-25 for a fresh seafood dinner for two.) With a thoroughly happy stomach, it was time to call it a night, even though it was barely 8:00.
Saturday brought with it another day trip with a small group. This was similar to the Saigon trip with Bao in terms of time and what we did, though I think Bao was a better guide than the girl here. She seemed disinterested half the time, though was never rude or mean, per se. Anyway, at $11/person, it wasn’t a bad way to spend the day.
Since the one part of this tour I was looking forward to most was a waterfall, I was grateful that it was overcast almost the entire day. For parts of it, rain was pretty heavy. (It even made me mildly – albeit very mildly concerned about the flight out on Monday as it was the first of two for the day.)
First up, though, was a pearl farm where I found it interesting to see them pulling pearls out of oysters. That thrill lasted for about a minute or two. However, we were scheduled to be here for close to an hour. (They were hoping that people would buy pearl jewelry.) Given that we were in a fairly heavy rain, I was surprised that there were so many people here. It made me think the entire day would be like this with overcrowded spots. (Forunately, that didn’t come to pass.)
With no interest in buying jewelry, I spent the hour on the back patio looking out at the very rough and stormy sea, and a few of these shots are from there. Finally ready to go, we were waiting on two Vietnamese women from the group (a recurring theme for the day) before we headed off to the next stop: a pepper farm.
To call it a pepper farm would be to stretch one’s imagination to its utmost. It was about 5 rows of pepper trees with each row being no more than 10 meters long. (I’d like to hope this is just the “sample” section they show us dopey tourists.) Much more attractive was the attached shop where they hoped you’d buy pepper. This time around, I pulled out my wallet. There’s one of us born every minute, you know. I bought four separate jars of pepper, one of which wasn’t a powder (and was subsequently confiscated in Guangzhou as I rarely check luggage and this trip was no exception). At about a dollar a jar, it wasn’t a bad deal.
From the pepper farm we were off to the wine shop. This tour was beginning to feel like just going from one spot to another to buy local goods. This wasn’t grape wine, but was a berry wine and was, for the most part very sweet. Don’t think port or sherry, though. It wasn’t quite that sweet, but it was close. Certainly not bad, but also something I could’ve done without. However, they seemed proud of their wine, and I don’t blame them. (It’s better than most of what I had in Korea.) Once again being held up by the Vietnamese ladies, we finally all settled back into the van and went off to Suoi Tranh.
The waterfall was actually much nicer than I expected. Apparently, half the year, it’s dry, so it worked out well that we came at the end of the rainy season. The fall is a classic cascade in a very nice, wooded setting. (Even if it were sunny, it probably would’ve photographed rather well because it had enough cover to give it shade.) We were given 45 minutes to walk the 600 meters up to the falls and back, which meant a bit of a rush for me, but…fortunately, the Vietnamese ladies were even slower than I was.
The creek leading up to the falls had some nice rapids, too, but it also had some unfortunate eyesores: a manmade fall at the entrance (why would you need that when you have the real thing a few minutes away?) and, worse, some fake animal statuary. Count my lucky stars, but these all disappeared after the first 100-200 meters, and you were left with a tasteful and well-made natural path leading up to the falls.
After this – it was around 12:00 or 12:30 by this point – we hopped in the van and headed to Sao Beach at the southern tip of the island. To get here required driving down a very bumpy road for a few minutes at the end. (As I said…they can still do a little infrastructure work here unless one of the unstated tourist goals is to make people feel like they’re bouncing around in a bag of popcorn.)
The beach was…pleasant, I guess I can say. It wasn’t a large beach. In length, it covered a small cove, so it had a nice setting. It also isn’t a wide beach; only about 30 meters from the restaurant to the water, and maybe even less than 20 meters. I saw a little too much trash around which disheartened me, though we aren’t talking dirty to levels that I’m accustomed to seeing in China. I didn’t go swimming, and the lunch at the restaurant here – though Vietnamese – was among the most unimpressive meals we had in the entire two weeks here. The best part of the time at the beach is that the weather cleared up from overcast and rainy to mostly cloudy. So it wasn’t crowded here, nor was it raining.
We left the beach at 2:00 and drove to a nearby fish sauce factory. This was a lot like the pearl farm, pepper farm, and wine shop. “We make this here. Please buy it.” Of the four of these places, the pearl farm is the only one who actually had some kind of “demonstration,” and that lasted about a minute.
If it seems I’m being critical of the roped in commercialism of these types of tours, perhaps I am a little jaded. The spots in and of themselves are actually quite interesting and I just accept this as an unnecessary evil. They need to survive somehow, and for that, I guess I’m grateful that they do this. Back to the actual tour, the fish sauce factory was quick and interesting. (Though I don’t like seafood that much, I do like fish sauce to add flavor.)
The last “scheduled” stop was Nha Tu Phu Quoc – Coconut Tree Prison – right across the street. This isn’t a place that I would otherwise go out of my way to visit, though in conjunction with the beach and the fish sauce factory, it was perfect. (Individually, none of the three spots amazed me, but as a whole, they were quite pleasing.)
The prison was built by the French in the 1940s and this was one of the ARVN’s POW camps during the Vietnam War. Apparently, prisoner treatment here was quite inhumane, as detailed by the signs around the barracks. The recreations of people, though, aren’t the most lifelike I’ve ever seen and seem kind of cheap. There aren’t any period photographs, so there’s a little “oomph” missing here, but it’s still a good effort all around.
Our last stop before being dropped off back in Duong Dong was at Ham Ninh, a small fishing village on the east coast of the island (almost directly across the island from Duong Dong. We didn’t do anything here except have 15-20 minutes to walk to the end of the pier and come back. As uneventful as that may sound, I enjoyed it a lot because the surrounding scenery and seeing the fishing fleet up close (along with a lot of small floating restaurants) made it unique and worthwhile to me.
When we got dropped off, we went right back to Buddy’s and repeated the same thing from Friday night (minus eating at the Crab House). I can’t recall what we ate for dinner on Saturday night and perhaps we didn’t. Lunch at Buddy’s was late enough that I doubt we were terribly hungry by evening except for some snacks.
The only difference between Friday & Saturday was my positioning to photograph the sunset. Friday night was from up near the lighthouse, and Saturday was a little ways out on the jetty. Skies were equally moody both nights.
I’m easy like Sunday morning. No rush to wake up since there was absolutely nothing whatsoever on the agenda. Brunch, around 9:00 or 10:00, after stopping by the post office to send off some postcards, was at Buddy’s. From there, we crossed the river to the day market and spent about an hour or so wandering up and down the street photographing a variety of things.
Going back to the west side of the river, we spent a little while at Dinh Cau, but decided not to watch the sunset there for the third night in a row. We had a late (and small) lunch of a wood-fired pizza, which was surprisingly delicious – so much so that I considered going back for dinner.
Instead, we went to one of the few access points for Long Beach (the beach nearest the hotel) to watch the least spectacular of the three sunsets in my opinion. Sunday night’s was cloudier than Friday and Saturday’s. However, there are still some interesting pictures. It’s just the most muted of the three, by far, and there’s simply less to work with.
After sundown, we walked the few hundred meters north up the main road, passing the Sea Breeze, and stopped at a local restaurant. (I suggested it not because it was local, but because they proudly talked of the ice cream that they have.) The food was not terribly great. I had fish and chips that didn’t have enough tartar and was a bit bland. I also ordered some smoked cheese that, when they brought it, they didn’t say what it was and, since it looked more like noodles than cheese, didn’t eat it. The ice cream, however, was sorbet, and it was wonderful.
All in all, Phu Quoc was about as good as I wished it would be, and I was lucky enough to have three reasonably good sunsets and decent weather for the weekend. Also, the waterfall was actually nicer than I had expected, we ate well (for the most part), and it was a relaxing weekend. Not a bad way to spend life.
After breakfast Monday morning, we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport at 9:00 for the first of two flights on the day.
As always, thanks for dropping by and viewing these pictures. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and I’ll answer as I have time.