jenglert.com

Urbandictionary in Jackson Hole

Me representing urbandictionary.com at about 9,300 ft in Jackson Hole. The hike was long but worth the effort to get the killer view. There was a small amount of new snow yesterday but nothing substantial. We fought the icyness to get 17,000 vertical feet in…not too bad. Mike, Jackson, and I are pretty sore so we’ll probably take tomorrow off to check out the town.

Headwall in Jackson Hole

Today was another beautiful day. A brisk -12 degrees F when we ventured outside to get breakfast. Had the “Cowboy Bennedict” which used Elk bacon at the Silver Dollar Grill. The grill got it’s name because there is 2032 silver dollars in the bar.

We started the day with one warmup run before hiking to the top of headwall in search of powder. The hike was long. Jackson lost his board on the hike but luckily it only fell about 30 yard or so before hitting a tree and narrowly missing me by about 3 feet. The above photo is from the top of headwall at 9,300 feet above sea level.

We explored the other side of mountain which is mostly expert terran and that wore us out. It may snow tomorrow or Thursday so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

First day in Jackson, Wy

Mike, Jackson, and I arrived yesterday afternoon and checked into the Antler Inn in downtown Jackson. On the drive into Jackson we saw a few Moose and Elk on the side of the road. The entire landscape is covered in snow and we’re surrounded by mountains.

Waking up this morning was tough. We walked outside to a brisk temperature of -16 degrees F. After a $6 all you can eat cowboy buffet we made our way the the ski resort. Got there about 11am as the temperature increased to a warm -11 degrees F. The only skin showing on the mountain is the tip of my nose and it was COLD!

Although it hasn’t snowed in a while the conditions trump California snow. Hugh wide open groomers were the run of choice today. Going slow was NOT an option as the steepness was…well…steep! 23500 vertical feet today and today was an “easy” day as we have 3 more to go!

Motorola’s Dumb Phone

This is the phone I’ve been waiting for. No camera, no color screen, no internet, no frills! This is just a phone folks, nothing more. Consumers today are so caught up by the amount of features electronics offer no matter that more features = more bugs. The cool thing about this phone is that it has an E-Ink display instead of an LCD. An E-Ink display only uses power when the screen needs to be updated. An LCD is constantly using power because it needs to be backlit in order for you to read it. The target audience is developing countries like India because the phone is cheap and can be charged via riding a bike. It probably won’t be sold in the US since there is no market for a simple phone that works…oh well, someday.

Survived Mt. Whitney

I survived, barely. Andy Joe and I hiked Mt. Whitney last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. It was by far the most difficult physical activity I have tried. Andy compared it to running a marathon by saying that climbing Whitney was harder. There was a lot of snow and we definitely needed crampons and ice axes (we didn’t have). It was really cold! I’ll give the condensed version here and possibly a more detailed version later on.

Dim Sum and REI

This last weekend I had an unusual experience. Mike and I skipped out on the Parkfield mountain bike race and took a day trip down to LA to visit Jackson and REI. Jackson took us out to the “crazy dim sum” restaurant for lunch. The place was huge…Capacity for at least 200 people. The tables were crammed together with aisles in between for the mobile food carts to travel. My first thought was “hectic.” People everywhere talking loudly in different languages while the waiters aggressively ask if you want the platter of mystery meat sitting on their cart. It took a while just to get my bearings. Jackson didn’t dabble and proceeded to order chicken feet from one of the carts whisking by. The psychological factor was difficult to get overcome but I finally relented and bit off a toe. Not bad but very, very weird. Later I nawed on the ankle a little but the novelty was gone by then.

Afterwards we all went to REI and spent about three hours looking over supplies for the Jackson Hole ski trip this upcoming January. Possible -36 degrees at night…Hurray for down!

Ride and Fire

Went on a nice 14 mile mountain ride after work and barely made it home before dark. Bummed the days are getting shorter but I have a light so looks like it’s night rides pretty soon. Today’s ride is mapped out at http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=4439 .

Yesterday there was a lot of smoke in the sky from the big fire east of us. There was an eerie orange tinge from the smoke filtering the sun. The sunset was blood red.

Belize Photos

I posted some of the Belize photos here. Enjoy

Yet Another "sorry i haven’t bloged, LOL" Post

OK, I just need to blog SOMETHING to get over the mind block of not having blogged in a long time. This post is pretty much pointless but it has to be. No picture. No explanation of that last X months. No substantial content. Nothing. Just a post to get up to date. That’s it….asta.

Bot Fly (Dermatobia Hominis)

Its semi official: I have a bot fly larva or “maggot” growing inside my left hand. Thought I was going crazy when I first noticed something moving around in the wound while at work. I had the movement confirmed by a coworker and went straight to my physician who took a noticeably quick look and said I was imaging things. I protested and claimed that there was something moving inside the wound. I also said I thought it could be a bot fly since I read about it in a travel book before my trip to Central America. He called today leaving a message requesting I call him back immediately. After further review of my case (googled bot fly?) he now believes I have a bot fly infestation. That’s what I told him yesterday!

Lets back up a bit. I was in Belize for about 8 days of which I spent 2 nights in the jungle. I was bitten by mosquitoes countless times during my stay. Now, the bot fly lays its eggs on a mosquito and they hatch when the mosquito bites you. Then the larva burrows deep into the skin and sets up shop.

Over the last week and a half I noticed a little bump on my hand where the mosquito bite uses to be. Two days ago I woke up with an extremely swollen hand so I went to the doctor ($20). He prescribed the usual antibiotics and suggested I keep my hand above the heart and not use it for a while. The next day at work I noticed a little white thing poking in and out of the wound (the larva breathing) so I went back to the doctor($20) who dismissed my claims as a wild imagination and suggested I come back in two days to checkup on the healing progress of swollen hand($20). Feeling embarrassed about appearing to “cry wolf” I told him these visits were getting expensive so he said to come back in 9 days when the antibiotics were finished. Today I woke up to sharp pains (bot fly eating) and could plainly see it move an air snorkel in and out of the obvious hole in my hand. Later on in the day is when I get the message from the doctor claiming he figured out that in fact it may be a bot fly. Thanks genius.

So far I’ve tried putting Vaseline over the air hole and red meat (so it has something to burrow into) in an attempt to force the larva out. Both with no luck. So we’ll see what happens tomorrow when I talk to the doctor.