Mortaine’s Blog

The conservatives are really irritating me today. I respect those on my friends list who are conservative, but frankly, I am getting really sick of hearing from:

DesertRat66 on User Friendly
The Diplomad
The Mormons
Fox News

None of these are in any way, shape, or form objective sources of information, and the slant is just really pissing me off right now.

*brought to you by the “I’m going to warn you when it’s getting to be too much” department*

I didn’t take any kitty pictures last night, but to make this post a little more fun, here’s a picture of a beautiful kitty cat:

If anyone wants to go backpacking this weekend, my husband John is going to Sykes Hot Springs (near Carmel) and is looking for some hiking buddies to go with him. Need to be able to hike 10 miles each day, and want to soak in a hot spring at night.

Sykes Hot Springs Sat Jan 22nd - Sun Jan 23rd

This weekend. I know this trail very well and I can say that it is
one of the very best overnight trips in the area.

PLEASE RSVP SO I KNOW WHO TO EXPECT AT THE TRAILHEAD.

THE TRIP:
Jan 22-23 (Sat/Sun)
Ventana Wilderness (near Carmel)
Big Sur Station to Sykes Hot Springs
Backpacking 10 miles in, 10 miles out

RANGER AND TRAIL REPORTS INFO:
Reservations: No. First-come, first served.
Crowded: Not at this time of year
Fee: No. (See parking though.)
Parking: At Big Sur Station $5
Dogs allowed: Yes.
Water: Plentiful, carry only 1 liter.
Fires: Yes, with [free] fire permit, available at any ranger
station.
Current trail conditions: Good, but some blow-downs (trees)
Bugs: Not a problem this time of year.

PROPOSED SCHEDULE
Overnight stay Saturday, Jan 22 - Sun Jan 23
Distance is 10 miles each way. Trail shadows a ridge so there is
quite a bit of up and down.

Sat 9:30 AM - Meet at Big Sur, Pay to park, Obtain fire permit.
Sat 10:00 AM - Begin Pine Ridge Trail
Sat 12:30 PM - Lunch (5 miles in, approx. 1/2 way)
Sat 4:00 PM - Arrive at Sykes Trail Camp (10 miles in)
Sat 5:21 PM - Sunset
Sat Evening - Dinner. Hot Springs. Campfire.
Sun 7:17 AM - Sunrise
Sun Morning - Breakfast. Enjoy the area. Relax.
Sun 11:00 AM - Leave Sykes Hot Springs area
Sun 12:00 PM - Lunch
Sun 5:00 PM - Depart Big Sur Station

Contact Information for Big Sur:
Big Sur Station
Big Sur, CA 93920
(831) 667-2315

Directions to trailhead:

From San Jose, take US 101 South to California 156.
Follow CA 156 towards Castroville to California Coastal Highway
1.
Follow 1 south past Monterey for about 25 miles to Big Sur.
Big Sur Station is on east side of California 1.

EQUIPMENT
This is an *overnight* trip. You will need to carry everything you
need for a night in the wilderness on your back for 10 miles!
Contact me if you need help with equipment selection.

FOOD
Everyone brings their own food.
2 Lunches, 1 Dinner, 1 Breakfast
Suggest campfire snacks, Smores, hot cocoa or tea.

WATER
Available from rivers near the trail and cap. I’ll have a purifier.

WEATHER
Forcast is currently: Highs in the mid 60s. Overnight lows in the
mid 40s. 10% chance of precip. The moon will be 82% illuminated and
should be visible all night.

Sounds so good, if not for the fact that it’s 10 miles of hiking and I want to spend the weekend at home and away from my darling husband, even I would go!

I made garlic bread last night in the bread machine. Unfortunately, I started it too late to really go with our ravioli dinner. Sigh. At least John can have some tonight with dinner.

I also made sourdough in the bread machine earlier this week and it was waaaay too yeasty. The Just For Dinner machine requires a full packet of yeast (but fewer other ingredients), and I think the shorter cycle plus the sourdough meant it all didn’t have enough time to rise. I will have to tweak that a lot to figure out how to make it better. I think tomorrow night, I’m going to try a new recipe in the bread machine and go for something simple as the rest of my dinner-making (I haven’t cooked this week… bad Stephie!)

In related news: : let me know a day when you want to meet for lunch or after work to transfer the sourdough starter I saved for you.

I will be at Coffee Society tonight. Hope to see you there!

Because it happened 3 1/2 years ago and someone should have remembered this!

My comment in the post that talks about it this time in .