Matthew Alan Thyer's Blog, page 6

Getting in Your Head

Google’s news feed seems to be learning what I’m about because the other day it brought up this gem that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. An article entitled “Environmental actions are motivated by personal experiences“. Don’t worry it gets meta. It’s a UMich “news” piece about a U-M study co-authored by a bunch of young scientists where they associated people’s willingness to make changes beneficial to the their environment/climate to their ability to share their stories about tied it...

Snow Lake (Almost)

Start by saying a hearty thank you to the Forest Service crew tearing out and replacing all those rotted old steps at the beginning of trail #1013. You guys are the best and your corners are neat!

I hiked up just past the pass on June 30th (about 2 days after the peak heat wave) and the south facing slopes of the trail are all but clear of snow. There are a number of downed trees, easily crossed, which I’ve noted in the video. Not a big deal, although with the amount of traffic this tra...

Mount Baldy & Kachess Ridge Trail Report, A Comedy

Yesterday I visited my new speech therapists in the early morning, yes two of them now, and then used my time on the mainland to go for a hike. My plan was to head east over the Cascades and nab a peak off the I-90 corridor that had opened up and by all accounts melted out. Mount Baldy (1212) is supposed to be a steep climb, but the wild flowers are in bloom and there’s an unparalleled view awaiting you when you top out, or so I’ve been told.

I made a beeline from the medical center over this...

Rough Gear List for Next Weeks MSH Assent

https://lighterpack.com/e/vurmx1

Yes, it’s probably a little on the heavy side, but I’ve also included things that I’m wearing on the climb including my shoes which often isn’t done. Whatever, I’m playing with the list still and cutting off tags. The usual (because I’m that sort of weenie).

Check Point June

Thought it might be worth a few words here to give you all some feedback, especially since I can’t do it in other ways like narratively in my videos.

Saturday June 5th was National Trails Day and while not a particularly trail filled day for me, it looks to have been mostly successful generally. Here on the island had a convergence zone move over the Puget Sound which produced some gutsy winds, which in turn, knocked down some big trees, which took out power and internet to the whole island. ...

Granite Mountain Hill Climb

I’m guessing that the 2020 WTA work was limited to the section of trail below the Pratt Lake Fork because holy cow that is some nice walking these days. The water bars are all clear, the rock work is solid and tidy, and there seems to be not a twig out of place. Well done!

Above the fork there’s a handful of the usual suspects. A couple of downed trees that need to be separated from their root balls before they can be removed from the path. A number of eroded switch back turns that ...

Headed to the Hills

“There are some good things to be said about walking. Not many, but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who’s always in a hurry; he never gets anywhere. Walking makes the world much bigger and thus more interesting. You have time to observe the details.”

-Edward Abbey

Year Over Year

Good morning. I’m sitting at my desk wishing that we, as a society, had invested more time and effort into creating better short term annual forecasting models. “Matt, you’re a nut,” I can hear you thinking. And yeah, you’re probably right. There is method to my madness.

Earlier this morning I spent time re-reading the PCTA permitting information. Knowing what’s available in 2021 means I’ll have a good idea of what will become available in 2022. I’d been thinking I’d travel with the heard NOB...

This Test

I realized today while walking on the treadmill, with my speech therapist giving me direction, what this stage of my life is about. I’ve spent most of my adult life figuring out ways to test my endurance.

That’s a head game more than anything. When your body needs fuel it’s obvious and you can just add some. Once that part is down to a practice and you’ve tamed your stomach, you’re quickly less limited by what your body can do and more by what your mind and spirit will allow you to do.

So...

The Great Internal Debate

Two-thousand six-hundred and fifty-three miles is the official length of the Pacific Crest Trail. It stretches from the Northern border of the US and Canada shared at Washington State to the Southern border with Mexico at California. And has been, for a long, long time on my bucket list of things to do.

Given my hiking pace of about 3+ miles per hour that’s about 900 hours of walking, which is no small investment of time. If you turn that into a job, hiking a mere 40 hours a week (the union e...