Ah yes. San Francisco. Among the many benefits of living in this fine city is that our streets are cleaned once a week. Some grumble at the fact that they have to remember what day street cleaning is so that they can move their cars.

Not I. In fact, I totally forget when street cleaning is so that I fail to move my car. It’s a great thing to wake up to a parking ticket in the morning in front of your own house! I opted not to buy a MUNI fast pass this month ($45) so that I could save money. I figured I wouldn’t be taking the bus much this month.

Nope! Instead of saving money, I will now be sending a check in the sum of $40 to the D.P.T. (I swear it stands for “Department of Parking Tickets”). Thank you!

That said, it’s totally my fault. But that sure does sting… your wallet AND your ego.

This past weekend, Michelle was able to hook me up with a membership at the YMCA. Apparently this is good at any YMCA throughout the world (hey, maybe I could use it in New Zealand?). Anyway, I’ve been taking advantage of this by going to one of the Y’s located down by my school.

I went to go run on a treadmill last night and accidentally typed in 30 minutes for the run time. Oh well, I shrugged and decided to see how far I could run anyway. I DID IT! I ran the entire time and covered a distance of 3.3 miles. That’s the longest I’ve ever run in one session without stopping.

Amazingly, I feel pretty good today too. 😉 I have to say that I kind of like running on a treadmill better than running outside. There are no cars to worry about, pot holes to pay attention to or any other inconvenient obstacle. On the treadmill you can just bring your iPod and go… and then get lost in your thoughts (and not have to worry about tripping over a log you didn’t see).

Well I didn’t come away from that back packing trip unscathed. Evidentially, my pack caused my shirt to crinkle up, exposing my back. My skin was now in direct contact with the rubbing pack as I walked. It wasn’t until I got home later that I realized I had a rug burn of epic proportions. Oh yes! Check out that nasty picture. (It’s now a week and a half later and the thing is still with me and hurts whenever I move. Yay for Neosporin!)

Anyway, back in town after visiting Southern California. That was nice to see the parents again and check out how much is being accomplished on cleaning up our yard, but as usual, I have to say it’s great to be back up here in clean air (and hey! There hasn’t been much fog lately).

Dan was up here this weekend and I want to wish him luck. He begins his climb of Mount Shasta tomorrow. He’ll be back in San Francisco on Saturday before he heads back to So Cal. I’m definitely envious of him. Hopefully he takes a lot of pictures!

We returned home from our back packing trip last night at about 10 PM. It was a blast. We spent four days in the Trinity Alps (located in Northern California) and it was my first time hiking through them. I’ve previously gone on a trip to Trinity Lake with my cousin in high school, but we spent the whole week on the lake. I do remember seeing the mountains off in the distance though.

Our trip began on Friday. Hiking into camp wasn’t too bad, though my feet were getting real sore towards to end of the day. I guess it makes a difference since I haven’t done any serious backpacking in nearly two years. We setup camp roughly 9 miles from the trailhead, along a large creek called the Stuart Fork (which flows into Trinity Lake).

On Saturday, I decided to have a moment of insanity by attempting to hike a “small” trail called the Caribou Scramble. It was only 2 miles long, but according to some literature that a few people brought on the trip, it gained over 2,500 feet of elevation and contained over 100 switchbacks. Some people expressed surprise and doubt that I could/would attempt such a thing. I figured the view would be amazing and I like hiking anyway. So I set out and did it. Finished it in just over an hour and a half (and I only counted 86 switchbacks). I did get some great photos though.

The picture above was taken on top of Sawtooth Ridge, after I completed the Caribou Scramble. That is the valley we hiked up and we were camping in a group of trees north of the meadow (the camera view is facing roughly south). Factoring all the day hikes and hiking in and out of the Trinity Alps in the first place, I put at least another 32 miles on these boots. Excellent!

Of course I am now completely sore and stiff from this weekend and am just having an easy/lazy day. Amazingly, the only blister I received this weekend was on my right thumb, from my treking poles, after I completed the Caribou Scramble.

Anyway, it’s good to be back. Though being back in the fog isn’t the greatest thing in the world. I am thinking of driving home for a few days. I may try to leave tomorrow night (though it may be hectic, since BART workers are planning to go on strike tonight at midnight, which will throw the whole Bay Area into pandemonium).