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*Desc for mah friends* :
Những lời như vậi t kô b' t đã viết bnhiu lần r` =)
Viết nh` hay ít cũg chã s ! *Muahaha*
Đã thi xong ! Đã qua tgian căng thẳng :)
Tao cũg kô ngờ và nhớ đến rằng ngày thứ 7 đó ...
Là ngày cúi cùg t đc mặc bộ đồg phục đến trg` *Buồn*
Nhưng t đã kô đến trg` ...
Tao cúp đi chơi !
Đến khi t nhận ra thì đã quá trễ !
Chẳng bh` t đc đến trg` nhỏ bé đó !
Nhỏ đến mức phát khùg !
Nhưng nó lại chứa hàng chục , hàng trăm , hàng ngàn ,hàng chục .... triệu kỉ niệm cũa tụi mình =)
Đánh nhau (Ma cũ - Ma mới ), Giỡn vs nhau , Rồi kể cả hun nhau =))))))))))))))))))))))))))
Sao t nhớ qá tụi m` ơiiiiiiiiiii !
Và h` tao kết luận đc rằg :
- tao đánh mất nh` thứ đáng lẽ t có thể dành lấy đc :)
- tao có những đứa bạn rất rất rất ... tốt =)
- tao có những kỉ niệm rất ít ai có đc như tao=)
- tao sẽ kô bh` đc qay lại ngôi trg` đó , ngồi học , hay mặc bộ đồng phục đó nữa =)
Thi xong . !
Đời tao cũng coi như xong r` =)
Thi 3nv mà rớt mẹ nó hết r`=))
Chưa thông báo màh t b' trc' r` =)
Yên tâm !
Tao sẽ gặp tụi m` ở BÔ TÔ ZA QA =))
P/s:Về quê mẹ r` =) Kô tung tăg vs tụi m` đc =) Mỗi đứa 1 nơi :)
Fightingggggggggg :x
*Desc for B2UTY :
Lúc đầu Heo cũng nghĩ sẽ vui lắm !
Ùh . Có những lúc mới vào thì vui lắm . ! Vui cực !
Nhãm vs vợ Shan =) 2 con kh` vs nhau :)
R` qen vs nh` B2uty hơn =))
Rồi nói về các a ... cực vui =))
Đứa ở chổ nài, ở chổ kia ,chẳng gần nhau , chưa hề quen b' nhau =))
nói chiện thì y như là chị em 1 nhà =)))))))))))))))
Vui chết đc =))
Ơuuuu ~ mình lỡ mất nh` cơ hội *lên cơn* vs mng` =)
Mình kô onl đc vào sn Ủn :(
Kô chơi vs mng` =)
Nghe mng` kể lại màh ham =)
Sắp tới sn Đô lít-đờ thì mình lại đang ở quê :( [về quê r`]
Kô tung tăng đc :(
Nghe mng` bàn sẽ đi chơi :(
Huhu :(
Mình kô đi đc :(
Mong mng về sẽ bn* :))
Để mình vui ké :)
HAPPY B-DAY TO OUR LEADER - YOON DOO JOON - 4.7.2011 - 3 days :)) =)
-One girl i don't like ! But I like all B2uty other :
Mỗi ng` 1 quan điểm màh
Heo b' chứ !
Nhưng quan điểm đó s dống như là tự nghĩ : " Mình trên họ , họ phải nể mình ! " =)
OMG!
Mình nói chiện kô si nghĩ !
I know . Vì mình nghĩ s nói v. !
Nghĩ đc bnhiu thì nói bấy nhiu !
Nên nếu bạn thông minh thì đừg nói vs mình !
Mình b' mình kô bằng ai !
Nhưg mình cá vs bạn , mình hơn b. đó !
Mình nói chiện nhẹ nhàng vì mình kô mún giữa các B2uty có v.đề dì vs nhau
Nhưng mìh thấy mình càng hiền bạn càng làm tới thì phải =)
Lần đầu . Ùh thì mình coi như b. kô thíc xưg hô như v. :)
Mình kô để ý !
Đến khi b. để stt ...
=)))))))))))))))))))))))))
Mình iêu Xốp - Mình muốn Xốp là ck mình =))
- Có liên qan đến b. kô?
- Có chếc th` tây nào kô ?
- Có mắc mớ đến ba má b. kô ?
- Có ngăn đc TQ đòi chiếm VN kô ? (Tìh hìh an ninh qốc gia =)) )
B. kêu mình uốn lưỡi 7 lần trc' khi nói :)
Mắc dì mình phải nghe lời b. :))
Ngày đầu qen b' b. mình đã kô ưa !
Nói chiện như cha ngta !
Bạn nghĩ b. đẹp lắm hả , hay b. hơn ng` ta chổ nào ?
Mình nể bạn , mình nói năng đàng hoàng ...
Mà trông mắt bạn chẳg nể nang ai chút nào !
Thôiii !
Mình vẫn iêu các oppa như thường !
Vẫn ủng hộ các a !
Vẫn bên cạnh các anh =)
Nhưng sẽ chẳg màng đến sự *la liếm* cũa bạn =))
Nói ít hiễu nh` nhén :))
This reminds me of my node networks, except way better, in a monkey swinging kind of way. This iron and glass structure is the roof of some shopping mall in Singapore.
First GUI prototype of my new general purpose dataflow library: Fully extensible node architecture, asynchronous, event driven, multithreaded, JSON serialization.
The GUI aspect will only be an optional feature for building client friendly user interfaces. These classes will be fully skinnable. The NEdit core library is not intended to be a VVVV or QuartzComposer clone or similar. It's meant to provide an event driven graph model with parallel/distributed execution features, as well as useful/common node types. Events are propagated through the graph in a breadth-first approach with each event update running in its own thread. There will also be a support module for providing node types wrapping toxiclibs classes (as already shown above, e.g. SphereGenNode wraps SurfaceMeshBuilder, SceneObjectNode wraps Matrix4x4 & TriangleMesh etc.)
First release coming soon...
Source: livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/53194
This photo appeared in the University News, August 2002. The text was:
"The following is an excerpt of the eulogy delivered by Dr Bernie Curran at the funeral of his friend and Classics colleague, Emeritus Professor Godfrey Tanner.
The world and we have lost a very special person - a rare individual.
He was a gentleman, a scholar, a teacher, an orator, a citizen of the world, a patron of the arts, of culture and sport, theologian and philosopher. thus the public man - the man in the brown Senate suit, the academic gown, the Colours Blazer, the Union Jacket - the right coat, the right tie for the right occasion, be it a meeting of University council or the Anglican Synod, be it dinner at the Newcastle Club, the Athenaeum, the British Schools at Roam and Athens or at St. John's College Cambridge.
And there is the private man, the simple man, the man of great humility, the generous man who quietly gave much to many, who enjoyed the company of his friends in their homes and in his home. the man who enjoyed the peace and quiet of his own thoughts, music in the background and the intimacy of books. He was a very sensitive man, easily hurt and yet a very forgiving man - a man for whom the teachings of Christ were a way of life. This is the man of tattered and well worn clothes, old T-shirts and cardigans, funny baseball hats and knapsacks with broken straps, crumpled old shorts and sandals. The man who served tealess tea, arrowroot biscuits, 'gunpowder' coffee and sherry left over from a sixties sherry party.
Godfrey Tanner came to Newcastle in 1959 aged 32. From the University of Melbourne and Cambridge he brought excellent academic credentials. From the King's School Parramatta he brought a love of teaching and the role of the schoolmaster at the core of which is the development of mind and body - the mens sana in corpore sano ideal. From this school also he brought his knowledge and experience of the great families of rural NSW as well as his intimate knowledge of Australian history.
And he brought a suitcase, an old fashioned suitcase complete with travel stickers, filled with books like Newman's "Idea of a University", Cicero's "De Officiis", first editions of ancient texts - striped blazers, old scarves, dicky hats, a pipe, a monocle, a magnifying glass and a box of snuff (called, I believe, "Gust of Gomorrah') and of course he brought a bicycle!
Thus, like a missionary in another land he set out to bring the languages and culture of the classical world to a land that had no physical reminders of a Greek and roman past; to introduce the students of the fledgling University to the traditions of student life; and to demonstrate that the University had a part to play in the life of the Newcastle and Hunter community. The people of Newcastle had pressed for a traditional University. James Auchmuty had responded and Godfrey Tanner was one of his key instruments in realizing that dream.
By the time Godfrey retired in 1993 the tradition had become a "legend", a living treasure. His curriculum vitae will show the positions held on Council, on Faculty, in the Union, in sport, and in the Community. It is a story of public service - of virtus. His name was everywhere - from the Godfrey Tanner Bar to the Aquatic Centre at Raymond Terrace.
In 1994 the University awarded him an Honorary Degree, a Doctor of the University - a distinction and honour of which he was very proud. Nevertheless he continued to work, using the good offices of Engineering, still researching teaching Sanskrit, supporting the alumni and most important of all preparing his thoughts for 'Godfrey's Grip' on 2NURFM. His alumni work completed the cycle of his worth to the University. 2NUR took him to the world.
In 1998 the Godfrey Tanner Scholarship Fund was established with a generous endowment from him and his friend Peter Hendry. It was a scholarship to assist students who had been disadvantaged in one way or another. The scholars who have received this aware are, however, the first "official" Tanner scholars. Godfrey had supported many others through the years but this was not public knowledge.
Let me draw your attention to a passage from E.M. Forster who in his book "Pharos and Pharillon" gives a description of the modern Greek poet Cavagy, who was Godfrey's favourite modern poet. You will note an uncanny similarity between Cavafy and Godfrey Tanner.
"A French gentleman in a straw hat, standing absolutely motionless at a slight angle to the universe. His arms extended positively. 'Oh Cavafy!' Yes it is Mr Cavafy, and he is going from his flat to the office or from his office to the flat. If the former, he vanishes when seen, with a slight gesture of despair. If the latter, he may be prevailed upon to begin a sentence - an immense complicated yet shapely sentence, full of parentheses that never get mixed and of reservations that really do reserve, a sentence that moves with logic to its foreseen end, yet to an end that is always the more vivid and thrilling than one foresaw. Sometimes the sentence is finished in the street, sometimes the traffic murders it, sometimes it lasts into the flat. It deals with the tricky behaviour of the Emperor Alexius Commennus in 1096 or with olives, their possibilities and price, or with the fortunes of friends, or with George Eliot or the dialects of the interior of Asia Minor. It is delivered with equal ease in Greek, English or French and despite its intellectual richness and human outlook, despite the natural clarity of its judgements, one feels that it is too stands at a slight angle to the universe."
I came across this passage in a book Godfrey had lent me only two weeks ago. Ironically I was reading this passage when Godfrey had begun his departure from the world. As I read these words 'at a slight angle to the universe', , I thought, at last I have found the mose appropriate description of Ronald Godfrey Tanner.
For me - his greatest strengths were:
He loved teaching and he knew his subject;
He saw no distinction between teaching and research and believed that they were linked and that the prospect of a research institute as a separate from the University was a complete contradiction;
He was dedicated to the all-round University experience - the Kalos Kal Agathos Ideal;
He believed that as a citizen and member of the community, he had an obligation to belong and to share in the responsibilities that came with the rights of the community;
His learning and his scholarship underpinned his daily life, his values, his perspective, his relationships and his goals in life. He did not accept that definition of the word 'academic' which implied either 'practical' or 'irrelevant';
Above all he believed in people; he valued friendship, fellowship and community. These were vitally linked with learning. His greatest strength was that although he knew so much, and had a distinguished record in scholarship, he could make each of us believe we were on his level. He had the ability to inspire faith in ourselves and our ability to learn;
He was the traditionalist, the conservative, the establishment man who seemed to be forever challenging convention, cant and hypocrisy."
This image was scanned from a photograph in the University's historical photographic collection held by Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
If you have any information about this photograph, or would like a higher resolution copy, please contact us.
This Bluesound Node 2i is a bargain.
Is stable, has great software, sounds good for the price, as a transport for an external dac is fantastic.
This unit simply works as anyone would expect out of the box, stable with very solid software, has suport for many streaming services, never disapoints me and I can’t say this on other streamers I have with the same confidence.
Clingmans Dome, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The Clingmans Dome observation tower, decorated with icicles, was emitting a mysterious, futuristic glow on that cold windy day. All of that made the journey even more interesting than expected. One could always have fun from some imagination at a strange destination, right?
They say the best camera is the one you have with you...
What does one do while waiting for the doctor? Take picutres, of course.
Source: livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/46595
This image was scanned from the original glass negative taken by Ralph Snowball. It is part of the Norm Barney Photographic Collection, held by Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
This image can be used for study and personal research purposes. If you wish to reproduce this image for any other purpose you must obtain permission by contacting the University of Newcastle's Cultural Collections.
If you have any information about this photograph, please contact us or leave a comment in the box below.
A standing wave is established upon a vibrating string using a harmonic oscillator and a frequency generator. A strobe is used to illuminate the string several times during each cycle. A nodal position is touched by a finger.
My trip to VCU was my first chance to see the Steelcase Node chairs in action. Students put their backpacks underneath, then use the fairly generous desk. The chair rolls easily and most parts swivel for comfort.
NODe+とcouvertureからのギフト、クッションです。
スカルプと影付けはnyagos、
テクスチャとポーズ作成はchocolateです。
全部で5つポーズはいっています。
オープンしてしばらくの間、0L$でSLOW SIMのNODe+とcouvertureに置いています。
SLT2010/09/19（日本だと夕方4時）オープンです！
I've been running a Bitcoin node on an old, full-size desktop computer. Today it's being replaced by this little thing. This is a 4x4 inch Intel NUC with 8GB RAM, a 120GB SSD, and a quad core 7th gen Celeron J3455. Cost:₿0.023 (cats shown for scale but they seem to approve of our new hardware).
exposed to "esposizione collettiva di fotografia artistica" Auditorium Sant'Agostino, Atri Italy and "mestieri" Mutignano, Italy
My London Node workshop. Sold out quickest, had a 20 delegate turn out. Had a good time, but in the end, spilt an entire pint in Glenn Jones' bag. Whoops!
Preliminary Report on Unidentified Object 92002, "The Chiron Derelict"
Discovered by a robot probe exploring the minor planet 2060 Chiron, object 92002 appears to be nothing less than an interstellar spacecraft of nonhuman origin.
The relevant probe imagery was suppressed, and an unprecedented manned exploration mission was dispatched to investigate the artifact.
Adrift, apparently long abandoned, the vessel is nonetheless far from lifeless. Indeed, the ship itself is alive. It shows every indication of being a complex colony organism composed of many disparate subunits, which the exploration team calls "nodes".
This appears to be no natural space-going lifeform, but a deliberately assembled combination of biomechanoid modules. Most of the nodes are so completely self-contained, so tightly specialized, and so efficient at their functions, that they must have been genetically engineered with near godlike skill.
For example, this power-generating node was extracted from the derelict's outer surface. It is plant-like, photosynthesizing sunlight of almost any wavelength. The black chemistry of this process is far more efficient than Earth's green chlorophyll. The plant's waste products are digested by a symbiotic fungal matrix below it, which in turn emits a chemiluminescent glow...which is absorbed again by the power plant's ventral surfaces. Thus the loop is closed and the plant generates electrochemical energy for the colony-spacecraft with near perfect efficiency.
The unexpected discovery of such an advanced alien artifact so close to Earth is alarming, and the apparent abandonment of the vessel by its presumed crew is hardly reassuring. If they - whoever they are - are not still on board...where did they go?
This is an illuminated alien/organic greeble study for Greeble De Mayo 2015, Week Three.
Pics from various XML code just made up out of copied parts. Made it up to 400 nodes. Some were pre-auto adjusting node size.
Impressions from Skills Matter's FullStack Conference 2014.
MISSED THE CONFERENCE?
All talks have been recorded as SkillsCasts (film/code/slides) and are available to watch by Skills Matter's Community here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6361-fullstack-node-and-java...
Joining the Skills Matter community is free, and it only takes a few minutes to sign up.
FULLSTACK 2015 - LONDON, JUNE 25-26TH
We are proud to announce FullStack 2015 – the conference on Node, JavaScript and hackable electronics. This year, we will bring the world's top innovators, hackers and experts together with our amazing developer community in London to learn and share skills, gain insights and drive innovation. Join to experience three days jam-packed with talks, demos, and coding.
Join us at FullStack 2015 in London on June 25-26th!
The FullStack 2015 will kick off with two days of talks and discussions over 4 tracks each day covering JavaScript, Node, hackable electronics and other topics you may tell us you wish to see.
Each track will feature talks by some of the world's top hackers and makers who are helping evolve technologies and practices in the exciting world of web, mobile, servers, drones and robots. In addition, each track will feature a Park Bench Panel discussion and 5 lightning talks by some of the great engineering teams in our community who use FullStack technologies and practices daily and will demo their projects.
Following two days of talks, we'll continue with a Saturday featuring hands-on Tutorials, so that you can gain some hands-on experience and practical skills to implement new ideas from the talks you attended and the people you met during the first 2 days!
Like the sound of that? Find out more here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6612-fullstack-the-conferenc...
CALL FOR THOUGHTS NOW OPEN - SHARE YOUR IDEAS!
Skills Matter's community conferences are made possible thanks to our passionate community - who constantly feed us with their ideas. Who are the experts you would like to learn and share skills with next year? What topics would you like to see covered? How can we improve on 2014's conference? Help us create a great 3 days by submitting your thoughts, ideas, dreams and requirements through our Call For Thoughts Program (www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFGCDQ9) - and we'll start working on these straight away!
Source: livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/46460
This image was scanned from the original glass negative taken by Ralph Snowball. It is part of the Norm Barney Photographic Collection, held by Cultural Collections at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
This image can be used for study and personal research purposes. If you wish to reproduce this image for any other purpose you must obtain permission by contacting the University of Newcastle's Cultural Collections.
Notes
Lambton Council Chambers is now Lambton Library. Lambton Park can be seen in the background.
If you have any information about this photograph, please contact us or leave a comment in the box below.
Impressions from Skills Matter's FullStack Conference 2014.
MISSED THE CONFERENCE?
All talks have been recorded as SkillsCasts (film/code/slides) and are available to watch by Skills Matter's Community here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6361-fullstack-node-and-java...
Joining the Skills Matter community is free, and it only takes a few minutes to sign up.
FULLSTACK 2015 - LONDON, JUNE 25-26TH
We are proud to announce FullStack 2015 – the conference on Node, JavaScript and hackable electronics. This year, we will bring the world's top innovators, hackers and experts together with our amazing developer community in London to learn and share skills, gain insights and drive innovation. Join to experience three days jam-packed with talks, demos, and coding.
Join us at FullStack 2015 in London on June 25-26th!
The FullStack 2015 will kick off with two days of talks and discussions over 4 tracks each day covering JavaScript, Node, hackable electronics and other topics you may tell us you wish to see.
Each track will feature talks by some of the world's top hackers and makers who are helping evolve technologies and practices in the exciting world of web, mobile, servers, drones and robots. In addition, each track will feature a Park Bench Panel discussion and 5 lightning talks by some of the great engineering teams in our community who use FullStack technologies and practices daily and will demo their projects.
Following two days of talks, we'll continue with a Saturday featuring hands-on Tutorials, so that you can gain some hands-on experience and practical skills to implement new ideas from the talks you attended and the people you met during the first 2 days!
Like the sound of that? Find out more here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6612-fullstack-the-conferenc...
CALL FOR THOUGHTS NOW OPEN - SHARE YOUR IDEAS!
Skills Matter's community conferences are made possible thanks to our passionate community - who constantly feed us with their ideas. Who are the experts you would like to learn and share skills with next year? What topics would you like to see covered? How can we improve on 2014's conference? Help us create a great 3 days by submitting your thoughts, ideas, dreams and requirements through our Call For Thoughts Program (www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFGCDQ9) - and we'll start working on these straight away!
Impressions from Skills Matter's FullStack Conference 2014.
MISSED THE CONFERENCE?
All talks have been recorded as SkillsCasts (film/code/slides) and are available to watch by Skills Matter's Community here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6361-fullstack-node-and-java...
Joining the Skills Matter community is free, and it only takes a few minutes to sign up.
FULLSTACK 2015 - LONDON, JUNE 25-26TH
We are proud to announce FullStack 2015 – the conference on Node, JavaScript and hackable electronics. This year, we will bring the world's top innovators, hackers and experts together with our amazing developer community in London to learn and share skills, gain insights and drive innovation. Join to experience three days jam-packed with talks, demos, and coding.
Join us at FullStack 2015 in London on June 25-26th!
The FullStack 2015 will kick off with two days of talks and discussions over 4 tracks each day covering JavaScript, Node, hackable electronics and other topics you may tell us you wish to see.
Each track will feature talks by some of the world's top hackers and makers who are helping evolve technologies and practices in the exciting world of web, mobile, servers, drones and robots. In addition, each track will feature a Park Bench Panel discussion and 5 lightning talks by some of the great engineering teams in our community who use FullStack technologies and practices daily and will demo their projects.
Following two days of talks, we'll continue with a Saturday featuring hands-on Tutorials, so that you can gain some hands-on experience and practical skills to implement new ideas from the talks you attended and the people you met during the first 2 days!
Like the sound of that? Find out more here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6612-fullstack-the-conferenc...
CALL FOR THOUGHTS NOW OPEN - SHARE YOUR IDEAS!
Skills Matter's community conferences are made possible thanks to our passionate community - who constantly feed us with their ideas. Who are the experts you would like to learn and share skills with next year? What topics would you like to see covered? How can we improve on 2014's conference? Help us create a great 3 days by submitting your thoughts, ideas, dreams and requirements through our Call For Thoughts Program (www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFGCDQ9) - and we'll start working on these straight away!
Impressions from Skills Matter's FullStack Conference 2014.
MISSED THE CONFERENCE?
All talks have been recorded as SkillsCasts (film/code/slides) and are available to watch by Skills Matter's Community here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6361-fullstack-node-and-java...
Joining the Skills Matter community is free, and it only takes a few minutes to sign up.
FULLSTACK 2015 - LONDON, JUNE 25-26TH
We are proud to announce FullStack 2015 – the conference on Node, JavaScript and hackable electronics. This year, we will bring the world's top innovators, hackers and experts together with our amazing developer community in London to learn and share skills, gain insights and drive innovation. Join to experience three days jam-packed with talks, demos, and coding.
Join us at FullStack 2015 in London on June 25-26th!
The FullStack 2015 will kick off with two days of talks and discussions over 4 tracks each day covering JavaScript, Node, hackable electronics and other topics you may tell us you wish to see.
Each track will feature talks by some of the world's top hackers and makers who are helping evolve technologies and practices in the exciting world of web, mobile, servers, drones and robots. In addition, each track will feature a Park Bench Panel discussion and 5 lightning talks by some of the great engineering teams in our community who use FullStack technologies and practices daily and will demo their projects.
Following two days of talks, we'll continue with a Saturday featuring hands-on Tutorials, so that you can gain some hands-on experience and practical skills to implement new ideas from the talks you attended and the people you met during the first 2 days!
Like the sound of that? Find out more here: skillsmatter.com/conferences/6612-fullstack-the-conferenc...
CALL FOR THOUGHTS NOW OPEN - SHARE YOUR IDEAS!
Skills Matter's community conferences are made possible thanks to our passionate community - who constantly feed us with their ideas. Who are the experts you would like to learn and share skills with next year? What topics would you like to see covered? How can we improve on 2014's conference? Help us create a great 3 days by submitting your thoughts, ideas, dreams and requirements through our Call For Thoughts Program (www.surveymonkey.com/s/VFGCDQ9) - and we'll start working on these straight away!
Pics from various XML code just made up out of copied parts. Made it up to 400 nodes. Some were pre-auto adjusting node size.
This photo appeared in the following ideotrope albums:
Biking the Mojave Fall 2007 - Introduction
I biked through Death Valley in October 1996. It was 109°F at Furnace Creek. The area is beautiful, but it was way too hot at that time of year. I knew I wanted to come back on my bicycle when it was cooler. This year it worked out to take about 3 weeks after Thanksgiving. I ended up spending 18 days to cycle from Palm Springs to Las Vegas. I spent about half of that time in Death Valley NP. In Baker I met a group of cyclists on racing bikes with a support vehicle. They were cycling from Palm Springs to Las Vegas in 2 days. I saw a lot more desert than they did.
Coachella Valley and Joshua Tree National Park
I crossed the Coachella Valley on Ramon Rd. It was over 70°F, probably the warmest day of the trip. It wasn't 'til I turned onto Thousand Palms Rd. that I felt like I was heading out into the desert on my own. The San Andreas Fault system runs along the northern end of the Coachella Valley. The faults allow groundwater to rise to the surface resulting in a number of California fan palm oases. It's wonderful to see oases in the desert.
It was a 1300m climb on Berdoo Canyon Rd. to the Coachella Valley-Pleasant Valley saddle in Joshua Tree NP. I didn't see a single person or vehicle in Berdoo Canyon. Climbing out of Pleasant Valley I saw the first person, a fellow adventurer. Patrick was walking solo across Joshua Tree NP from west to east. That's a heck of a trek. That park is huge and has only one known spring. Patrick had set up two water caches before his trip.
Amboy Road and Mojave National Preserve
I bought enough food in 29 Palms to last 4 days to Baker. Heading east on the Amboy Rd. I met the only other touring cyclist of the trip. He had come down from Bishop through Death Valley NP, Baker, Kelso, Amboy - much the same route I was planning to take. When I met him, he had run out of food. I shared some almonds with him but didn't have much sympathy with his plight. The reason he didn't buy food in Baker was because there wasn't a health food store! Well, I told him there was a grocery store in 29 Palms, but it might not be up to his standard.
One of the things I was looking forward to on this trip was experiencing the transition zone between the Sonoran Desert (lower, farther south) and the Mojave Desert (higher, farther north). Creosote bushes grow in both, but most other flora is limited to one ecosystem or the other. In the transition zones you can see a mix of vegetation. What I saw ended up being less dramatic than Washington County, Utah where the Colorado Plateau, the Basin and Range country, and the Mojave Desert all come together. Joshua Trees were the main ecosystem indicator for me. I knew I was climbing high when I started to see them.
I was surprised how much traffic there was on the Amboy Rd. It wasn't much, but a lot of the paved roads that I was on during the trip would have one car every 10-30 minutes and perhaps none all night. The only truly busy roads were the road north out of Baker (on a Saturday morning) and the Pahrump-Las Vegas superhighway which has a wonderful bicycle lane.
I climbed Sheep Hole Pass to get into the Amboy Valley. It was in the Amboy Valley where I became accustomed two aspects important to cyclists in the Mojave:
Distances are deceiving. You can see really far. It takes much longer to cross these valleys that it appears that it would.
The slight inclines up alluvial fans or other fill climb a lot more than they appear to. In Colorado I'm not accustomed to seeing the whole climb since there are usually canyon climbs here. Leaving Amboy, for example, I climbed over 3000 ft. on a slowly rising alluvial plane. It took hours.
I enjoyed time off the bike to walk out to and up Amboy Crater. The following day I climbed to the top of the Kelso Dunes. And one day later I climbed one of the cinder cones east of Baker. I enjoyed having a diversion each day. Each of those areas is beautiful in its own way. The creosote bushes in the Amboy Valley are particularly green because of the shallow water table. Kelso Dunes are simply fantastic, and the cinder cone area with over 30 cinder cones and not another person felt like another planet.
In Baker I bought enough food to last 10 days and ate at the Mad Greek at my brother's recommendation. I had taken a rest day the previous day because of rain, and Baker was a bit flooded. Folks were out pushing water around with brooms. At the store the locals were telling each other how much their roofs leaked.
Death Valley National Park
Heading north of Baker the saddle that separates the Silurian Valley from Death Valley is only about a 50' climb. From there I left the pavement and stopped at Saratoga Springs to see the incredible wetlands in the desert. I had planned on climbing the Ibex Dunes, but wind was blowing sand off the top of the dunes and everything was still a bit wet from the rain. The following day I reached the pavement, took it for 5 miles and then headed west up Warm Springs Canyon.
The 1400m climb up Warm Springs Canyon was not the longest of the trip, but it was the toughest. The climb started out hard from below sea level in Death Valley and continued to be hard all the way to the saddle leading into Butte Valley. I struggled in my easiest gear (which is really low) the whole way. Surprisingly I walked very little. It always seemed to be just slightly easier to pedal than to walk.
Butte Valley felt remote. The views to the east were phenomenal giving Greater View Spring its name. I could see range after range. I stopped at Stella Anderson's place and cut some chicken wire to repair my glasses. The rattling had loosened a screw which I couldn't find. It was important to get a good fix since I wore those glasses a lot riding in the early morning and late afternoon. I found I had about 10 hours of light to ride in with perhaps 45 minutes of twilight on either end to mess around in camp. The sun was theoretically up for 8 or 9 hours, but it was often a lot less than that in the canyons. My repair job worked well, and I didn't even strip the threads so the glasses are good as new again :)
Mengel Pass is rough and keeps too many people from taking this route between Death Valley and Panamint Valley. Down in Goler Wash I met Rock(y), one of two residents of Ballarat. His father is the other. Rocky was poking around Goler Wash with his girlfriend who was visiting from LA. He had worked with various mining operations in the area, and I enjoyed his stories. It was also fun to talk with his Isreali girlfriend. We compared this desert with the eastern Mediterranean desert where I have also cycled.
In Ballarat the following day I talked with Rocky some more, but the girlfriend had already returned to LA. There are a surprising number of springs on the west side of the Panamints (due to faults, I'm sure) and a surprising number of fighter jets playing overhead. I scared a coyote into some bushes near a spring and then was scared myself by the jet passing just overhead. Once the quiet returned I could hear the coyotes, packs of them, howling and yipping in the bushes. The yipping made it sound like there were a lot of youngsters. Fun to hear the bushes make such unusual noises.
Hunter Mountain to Racetrack Playa
I was pretty tired this day and finally made it to Panamint Springs where I had planned to get water. There's a store as well, but they really only have candy bars. The restaurant, however, was able to sell me some bread and cheese. I bought a veggie burger for lunch as well. That rejuvenated me enough to climb about half of the 1100m paved climb that afternoon.
I was lucky that the following day was stunningly warm since I climbed to over 7000 ft. The 1100m paved climb was followed by 600m of climbing on a dirt road. I'm sure it ended up being more than that since there were a number of descents thrown in as well. To give an idea of the terrain the only two flat places I went through that day were named: Lee Flat and Ulida Flat! Lee Flat was filled with the most Joshua trees I've ever seen in one place. I camped in Ulida Flat next to one of the only Joshua trees out there.
I made it over Hunter Mountain, through Hidden Valley, down Lost Burro Gap, and arrived at Teakettle Junction with enough water to be able to make the ~16 mile detour to Racetrack Playa. Of course I'd seen photos of the moving rocks at Racetrack Playa, but I was absolutely blown away being at the site in person. It's not simply the amazement of seeing the evidence of the moving rocks and all the different directions and shapes of the tracks, but also how well preserved the area is. It wouldn't take too many people moving rocks from the tracks, driving on the playa, or walking out there when the surface is wet to really ruin the magic of the place. Additionally Racetrack Playa is so big and so flat. The flat playa blends in in the distance with the hills miles away. I loved this place. I was lucky enough to be there when I was. The rain from 5 days earlier had completely dried out, and it rained some more just 10 hours after I was there.
I recovered my stashed gear and water at Teakettle Junction and headed uphill into a cold, stiff wind climbing out of Racetrack Valley. By this point in the trip I had started to associate Joshua trees with cold weather. At the saddle in the twilight I made it my goal to descend far enough down to get away from the Joshua trees and perhaps into warmer weather. It was practically dark by the time I got off my bike, but I succeeded! It sprinkled off and on all night, but I was dry and fairly warm.
Through the bottom of Death Valley
The downhill continued all the way to the pavement at Ubehebe Crater, but I had to push the bike a bit once I got to the lava/cinder area. The black sand of the roadbed was much finer and deeper than the surface of most of the descent. Getting to Ubehebe concluded what I had planned for this trip. The only thing left was to get to Las Vegas. Berdoo Canyon, Mengel Pass, and Hunter Mountain had all been hard excursions, but each took about a day less than I had (conservatively) expected. I had time to make it a pleasant, easy ride to Vegas. I hiked around Ubehebe Crater and relaxed in the wind at the parking lot. Only two cars plus a ranger came by during the ~3 hours I was there. Each car stopped, the occupants got out, took a couple photos, and were driving away less than 2 minutes later. Incredible! This place is the middle of nowhere. I couldn't understand why anyone would drive so far and spend so little time. It turns out though that Ubehebe is only a 10 mile detour from the Scotty's Castle road.
I didn't make much distance this day even though it was flat and I had a tailwind after Ubehebe. I camped illegally near the paved road but was careful to avoid washes since I could tell it was going to storm. Storm it did. The wind bent my tent sideways, and rain poured down for hours. Death Valley received about a third of their annual average rainfall in this ~6 hour period. It was December 7, and it rained almost as much as it had from January 1 to December 6. The nice flat sandy spot I had chosen for my tent was just a bit lower than the surrounding area. The whole area was really quite flat, but the soil there can't absorb water very quickly. In the middle of the night I found my tent sitting in an inch or so of water. Only my thermarest was above it. I moved the tent in the pouring rain, but it was too late. Most of my stuff was pretty wet. Both pairs of socks and the bottom of my down bag were soaked. I wrapped my feet in a wool scarf like a Ace bandage and tried to get some sleep.
I was up early in the morning. I had managed to keep my down coat fairly dry so I put that over my damp clothes to ride away in the morning. Tons of rocks up to the size of softballs had poured across the 2-lane paved highway out of washes that were only a foot or two wide. It had snowed down to 4000'. In every direction were snow-covered peaks. I was so lucky to be down low, near pavement. The dirt roads that I had spent much of the last week on were probably impassable that morning. Ulida Flat where I had camped two nights earlier was probably covered in snow. I was able to keep warm biking in my down coat, but I was down at sea level, the warmest place around!
The sun came out. Everything warmed up. The views were phenomenal. In spite of the damp clothes it was a fantastic day to be cycling. At Furnace Creek I was directed to the sunny employee picnic area where I pulled everything out of my bags and dried everything out while enjoying lunch and wine from the grocery store. I hung out there for 2-3 hours before anyone else showed up. It was Herb, the night maintenance man. Enthralled with the bike he asked lots of questions about touring and the LHT specifically. He kept getting calls on his radio but continued to talk with me. Herb plans to live on his bike for a while and had been researching bicycles. I enthusiastically encouraged him since I know from experience that a lot of folks discourage that kind of crazy plan. Before he left to finally answer one of his calls, he asked me, "did you find the free showers?" I hadn't. Hohoho, that shower felt wonderful.
I spent a rest day at Furnace Creek and talked to Herb to 2 or 3 more times. I also met Mary and Paul from Rogue River, Oregon, who invited me to dinner at their campsite. I didn't carry a stove on this trip. The hot meal that Mary put together was the best meal of the trip. She had dried tomatoes and zucchini from their garden, a hot sauce with peppers that they grew, a jalepeno artichoke dip as an appetizer, and plenty of red wine. Was I ever a happy camper!
And on to Las Vegas
Back on the bike I rode south with a tailwind past Badwater all the way to the 5 miles of paved road that I had ridden between Saratoga Springs and Warm Springs Canyon over a week earlier. Instead of heading south to Baker I climbed Jubilee Pass. The following day I climbed Salsberry Pass on the coldest day of the trip. I simply couldn't warm up since I couldn't get away from the wind. And then I came to Tecopa Hot Springs! That cut the chill even though the wind was so fierce that I was dry within minutes of getting out of the pool. Around the corner I stopped at a RV park to get some water and ended up spending an hour talking with the 75-year-old man who runs the place with his wife. He ran an ultra-marathon when he was 55, had biked from Las Vegas to Sedona, had run a bunch of marathons. In the summer they leave Tecopa Hot Springs and explore the country in their 35' motorhome.
Later that afternoon I came upon Victor. Stopped at the side of the road, he handed me a Guinness and two granola bars. We chatted for a while using his car as a windbreak. He's taking a break from his 'round the world bicycle trip on a crazy rig that he built himself.
The following morning the only indication that I entered Nevada was a sign reading "Inyo County Line". Lower down on the same post was a smaller sign at an angle because it was falling off. That sign said "leaving". About 3 cars passed me in an hour, and then a car stopped. It was the couple from RV park in Tecopa Hot Springs. She had baked muffins that morning, put together a package of them for me, and handed them to me! They were still warm! Oh, I was cycling with a big smile yet again! I was on a gradual climb that continued all the way to Mountain Springs Pass. To get an idea of how long the climb was, consider that the couple drove all the way to Las Vegas, went to the dentist, drove back, and passed me just one minute before I crested the pass. They honked, smiled, and waved as did I. The first 2000' of descent was fast and cold, but I was warm and happy in my down coat.
My last excursion before Las Vegas was to ride through the scenic Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The cliffs and cemented sand dunes in that area reminded me much more of the Colorado Plateau than anything I'd seen on my journey through the Mojave Desert. In the morning I rolled into Vegas, found a bike shop, boxed my stuff, and took a taxi to the downtown Greyhound station. In Denver a day later I rebuilt my bike at the Greyhound station for the short ride to Market St. Station. I took the bus to Boulder and rode through the snow to get home.