Tiger637's Xanga

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:58:00 GMT

http://tonyfeng.wordpress.com

Hiking trip:

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 06:38:09 GMT

I don't think I want to do Whitney ever again. It's super boring because the trail is now expected. I know what's going to happen next and how long this part is or how grueling that portion of the trail will be. But the scenery is still nice?

But on this trip we went from the back of Whitney, approximately 50miles northeast starting from Onion Valley.

You can view the pictures here.

But yeah. It was a good trip.

The only thing that I can give You is the life You gave to me.

And I'm re-reading Catcher in the Rye.

Hate it if you must, but I am really liking the book again.

Day one, strike two.

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 06:09:53 GMT

Yet another restless night. I'm proud to say that I did not go to bed before 1am at all this week. The latest I stayed up was probably 3am, a feat that I haven't done in a long time. Sadly, I was still accustomed to waking up at the break of dawn.

Change is a part of life. The more you try to evade it, the faster it finds you. You just have to give in. Sorry Holden Caufield.

This monkey on my back is weighing me down. It's like a heavy rope tied around my neck forcing me to crawl. But, quote Anthony Kiedis, "I’ll make it to the moon if I have to crawl." By myself if necessary.

But we'll see. Time will tell it's tale. And one day all of the mysteries that is God will be revealed.

I kind of really want a tattoo. Of what and where? No clue.
No flowers on my face, never again.

I know who I want to be.

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:33:37 GMT

And I sort of know how to get there.

Did you know that my recent Myers Brigg test indicated that I was more of an introvert now? Kind of odd and scary.

I'm sorry. I will never understand.

Still processing...

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:23:22 GMT

I'm heading back to the wilderness on Sunday. This time I will go with people and for just about the same number of days/nights.

Doing it solo last time made me realize two things:

I hate being alone.
I can cope with being alone.

What does that translate to? Well, I thrive off of the energy of others. When William picked me up from Union Station I couldn't stop smiling because I was so overjoyed to see someone and talk to someone that I know. Climbing Half Dome by myself was grueling. There was nobody to keep me motivated to go on. It was so easy for me to quit if I wanted to. I took a lot of breaks because nobody but me cared. I didn't have to push myself, but I did, and I made it to the top, eventually. When I made a few friends along the way, the journey seemed easier. Conversations would pass time and the pace was a lot quicker.

Company makes it easier.

For the longest time I believed that I can only accomplish something grand when I have the assistance of other people. I needed their energy, I needed their company, I needed their support. But my solo trek into the wilderness proved to me that I can do it on my own as well. It might take a little longer and it might be more difficult. It's definitely not my preference, but it's entirely manageable. With only God's strength reinforcing mine, I can still do it. I don't need a partner to reach my goal, it'd just be nice to have one.

Yawn...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:06:52 GMT

Technology is boring.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:36:45 GMT

My trip was a failure. Nothing went as planned. But I liked it.

I arrived at Yosemite without a place to stay so I started to get worried. You are supposed to have a reservation but I didn't and the walk-in campsite was completely full. I prayed about it and God answered. I met a stranger and he said he'd be willing to let me share his campsite with the rest of his family. Not only that, but he made me a steak dinner complete with veggies and a beer. It was really good. We topped the night off with s'mores and pumpkin pecan pancakes for breakfast. What a blessing indeed. God blessed me with what I needed and then some.

There's something so perfect about eating your dinner next to a family of deer eating theirs. The night sky was beautiful and the sunrises/sunsets were breath taking. The wind would howl me to sleep and my noisy alarm clock was replaced by birds singing me their melodies.

I don't usually like to be alone, but these past six days and five nights were peaceful. No itineraries to live by, no deadlines to meet, no appointments to make, and no worries at all.

Well, there were SOME worries.

At 5am on Monday morning I was visited by a bear. He was very large and very hungry. I looked out the tent window and I could see his silhouette; he was about four feet away. What should I do? Take a picture! He was going through my pack looking for food. On a previous hiking trip we didn't pack the MRE's (meal ready to eat) into the bear canister because we assumed that it was sealed completely and therefore scentless. Lesson learned.
I stepped out of my tent to scare him away and he looked at me, grunted, and went back to ripping my pack. I stood there while he pulled my pack further away from me and dragged it about 30 feet. I approached him slowly calling at him "Hey bear!" trying to scare him off (because that's what you're supposed to do). He grunted again, took an MRE by the mouth, and trotted off. I watched him as he ran off and it looked kind of cute. He would
occasionally look over his shoulder at me as if he were saying, "...but I wanted more..."

I didn't use flash cause if you startle a bear, they will probably attack you. There wasn't enough lighting so the picture is blurry.

Here's another bear I saw:

All in all I got some quiet I needed, some rest I wanted, but not the thinking I thought I'd have. It was a fruitful hike, but it still felt empty. I felt lonely a few nights. I missed my family, my dog, and my guitar.

I'll put more pictures up later, maybe.

Smell ya later everyone.

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 02:18:12 GMT

If you're curious.

Last night at home.

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:04:39 GMT

Tomorrow it's sleeping on the bus for me, then the woods.

I can't fall asleep, I think I'll stay up tonight. So many thoughts.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:57:46 GMT

Hear it from my mouth, not from someone else's.

Dude, I'm hiking through this:

I'm getting worried, thanks Will.