Not Surprising

Scott "The Runner" Horton abandoned his attempt to set a record pace for the Continental Divide Trail.

That was the day Horton called off his summer-long speed record attempt on the Continental Divide Trail, following a grueling first day of running through extreme temperatures on a poorly marked section of the trail just north of the Mexican border.

After getting lost and running out of water far short of Saturday’s first-day destination, Horton came face to face with his own mortality before stumbling upon an oasis of sorts in the 108-degree Chihuahuan Desert.

If you are not going to carry water, you can not run through the desert.

“The amount of fluid we got to carry in the desert, you just can’t carry enough,” Horton said. “I was drinking two liters every four miles and (on Monday) the first section is 16 miles, so that means I would need eight liters. The next section’s 23 miles … so I just can’t carry enough fluid and I still just feel trashed and out of it.”

He is lucky that he bailed when he did. I feared he would get lost in the high mountains and experience unfortunate weather. He just does not carry what is necessary for that type of terrain.

Mt Yonah

Mt. Yonah, originally uploaded by mrkholcomb.

Some new information about the death of Elena Shaw.

The death of a young hiker Saturday on Mount Yonah near Cleveland was a sobering reminder that the wilderness can be unforgiving.

Elena Rae Shaw, 18, of Sautee, was with three teenage friends early that afternoon as they explored the sheer granite cliffs that have made 3,156-foot Mount Yonah the most recognizable landmark in White County.

She reportedly slipped and fell, plummeting about 600 feet into the Chattahoochee National Forest below. About two hours elapsed while a friend ran down the mountain to seek help and rescuers searched through the woods to locate where Shaw had fallen.

Remarkably, the teen was still alive when emergency personnel reached her. But her injuries were described as "massive," and she died before she could be taken to a hospital.

Officials stressed that Shaw didn’t do anything wrong. She had hiked Yonah a number of times and knew the area. She and her friends were not consuming alcohol or drugs.

But longtime hikers say the teens may not have had something that can help save lives: anxiety about heights.

Once again my condolences to her friends and family.

Unfortunate Weather

Kills one hiker, two waiting for rescue in Washington.

MOUNT RAINIER -- A Bellevue man who intended to spend only the day hiking on the slopes of Mount Rainier died Tuesday after being caught in a blizzard that injured two others in his party, including his wife.

The three experienced mountaineers set out Monday for a day hike to Camp Muir at 10,188 feet, but were trapped in the blizzard on the way back down.

Park rangers wanted to call in helicopters to bring the survivors down from Camp Muir, but decided that snow and strong winds would delay the rescue until Wednesday morning at the earliest.

Park rangers learned of the emergency at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday when hikers were able to get through on an emergency call. By then, they were "stuck in a blizzard with 70 mph and 5-foot snow drifts," said Mount Rainier National Park spokesman Kevin Bacher.

Read it all especially the part at the end about hiking essentials. It is easy to make a mistake by not carrying a little survival gear.

My condolences to their friends and family.

Update: Wensday morning the survivors were air lifted off the mountain.

Update 2: The hikers have been identified.

The three, all from the east Seattle suburb of Bellevue, were Mariana Burceag (Boo-cho'), Eduard Burceag (Boo-cho') and Daniel Vlad.

Mount Rainier park spokesman Kevin Bacher (Baa'-ker) says Eduard Burceag - Mariana's husband - died of exposure on the mountain. The spokesman said the dead hiker's body was being removed from the mountain Wednesday afternoon.

Update 3: It appears that Eduard worked hard to save his wife and friend.

Rescue rangers are calling a Bellevue man who died on Mount Rainier Tuesday a hero whose sacrifice may have saved the lives of his wife and friend. Eduard Burceag, 31, died after the three day-hikers were trapped by a blizzard that hit mountain Monday.

The hikers dug a trench to escape the snow and 55 mph winds, and Burceag lay in the bottom with his wife, Mariana, 31, and friend, Daniel Vlad, 34, on top of him, incident commander David Gottlieb said.

In this position, he would have taken the brunt of the punishment, Gottlieb said. When his friend and wife tried to rotate positions with him, he refused, Gottlieb said.

The three, who were natives of Romania, were experienced climbers. Eduard Burceag and Vlad both worked as engineers.

Much more information at the link.

Also, a Baltimore connection.

GLEN ELG, Md. (WJZ) ― A Howard County teen who graduated high school on Friday is returning home from his first attempt to climb Mount Rainier a hero.

Mike Schuh reports Collin Lyons, 18, and his father were climbing Mount Rainier in Washington when a freak snowstorm hit. Collin's mother tells Eyewitness News that had their expedition not been lashed together, they would have been blown off the mountain.

Update 2: A memorial fund has been set up.

Friends and colleagues of Eduard Burceag, the Seattle software engineer who died Tuesday on Mount Rainier, have established a special fund for his family.

Donations can be made to the Burceag Family Assistance Fund at any Bank of America branch.

Burceag, 31, died protecting his wife and a friend. They had been hiking when they were caught in a blizzard that produced 70 mph winds.

He was trying to use his body's warmth to protect his wife from the cold.

Burceag worked at Seattle-based ActiveVoice, a communications company.

Contributions will support the care and education of his two sons, who are 5 and 3, said Jordan Rubin, ActiveVoice spokesman.

For more information about the fund, call Bank of America at 206-585-4825.

No No No!

I do not want beer that tastes like pizza. I want beer that tastes good with pizza.

The couple developed their first batch in 2006, using fresh tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil in the mash and hops processes. Now about 800 cases a week are manufactured at the Sprecher Brewery in Glendale, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb.

The beer is "not for putting in the cup holder of your tractor," says Tom Seefurth, nicknamed "Chef" by his pals. Pry off the cap of a 16-ounce bottle (sold for $2 to $2.50) and the aroma of pizza toppings, especially the herbs, comes through. The light-golden brew has a slightly herbal taste, too.

If I want something that tastes like pizza, I will get a pizza.

Complete Collapse

Industrial farms are having a hard time regulating themselves.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's tomato industry is in "complete collapse" and $40 million worth of tomatoes will rot unless federal regulators quickly trace the source of a salmonella outbreak and clear the state's produce, an industry official said on Tuesday.

"We probably have $40 million worth of product we can't sell. We've had to stop packing, stop picking," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.

How hard is it to find out which farm has the problem? Is it like meat packing plants? Where thousands of cows are in the same batch.

The FDA has said it does not know where the contaminated tomatoes originated.

The infections have struck most often in New Mexico and Texas.

The tomatoes In Texas and New Mexico are coming from Texas not Florida. Perhaps if we had some government organization to check produce from these large industrial farms before the produce leaves. It would certainly cost less than 40 million dollars.

He Must Be Stopped

"I will veto every beer"

John McCain is a blasphemer. He should now be considered a heretic and no longer fit for polite company.
Via Atrios.

Korean Riots

How bad is our food supply? Thousands are protesting in Korea because they do not want our beef in their country.

Jun. 10 - South Korea's entire cabinet is offering to resign in the face of massive street protests that were sparked by a deal to resume US beef imports.

The April beef deal with the United States was meant to facilitate a separate bilateral free trade accord that U.S. congressional leaders threatened to block unless South Korea opened up its market to beef imports, which were suspended in 2003 after an outbreak of BSE. Instead, a public outcry over the beef issue has seen support for President Lee Myung-bak plummet.

Up to one million protesters are rallying around the country to express their anger against Lee.

Glacier Point, Yosemite

Glacier Point, Yosemite, originally uploaded by hermanau.

A hiker is missing near Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park.

Yosemite National Park officials are combing the wilderness in search of a missing 24-year-old Honduran man.

Yosemite spokeswoman Adrienne Freeman says authorities began the search for Esmeen (Ess-MEEN) Garmendia-Barrios Monday morning after he was reported missing near Glacier Point around 3 p.m. Sunday

Update: Esmeen has been found alive.

Yosemite, Ca -- Missing Yosemite hiker Esmin Garmendia-Barrios has been found near Mt. Starr King, the same area where he was last seen Sunday afternoon.

“He is alive and responsive,” says Yosemite Spokesperson Kari Cobb. “At this point we do not yet know if there are any medical injuries.”

Waterless Washer

This could save an incredible amount of energy and water. If true and when they become available, all other styles should be banned.

Xeros Ltd, which has been spun out of the University of Leeds to commercialize the technology, said on Monday the new machines would use less than 2 percent of the water and energy of a conventional washing machine.

Plastic chips are used to remove dirt and stains from clothes, leaving them dry and reducing energy consumption as there is no need to use a dryer after the washing cycle, Xeros said in a statement.

16,500 Condoms

125 scientists and staff. You do the math.

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - One of the last shipments to a U.S. research base in Antarctica before the onset of winter darkness was a year's supply of condoms, a New Zealand newspaper reported Monday

Bill Henriksen, the manager of the McMurdo base station, said nearly 16,500 condoms were delivered last month and would be made available, free of charge, to staff throughout the year to avoid the potential embarrassment of having to buy them.

The base only has a skeleton staff through the long winter.

"Since everybody knows everyone, it becomes a little bit uncomfortable," Henriksen told the Southland Times newspaper.

About 125 scientists and staff are stationed at McMurdo base, the largest community in Antarctica, during the winter months when there is constant darkness.

103 Hours

226 miles. Walking. Allie Comeau at Sierra Blogging Post.

Could you walk for 103 hours straight without stopping to sleep? Three people from Colorado just did.

Ultrawalkers Ulrich Kamm, 60, of Littleton, Debbie Richmeier, 47, of Wheat Ridge, and Glen Turner, 48, of Louisville, broke the world Endurathon record by walking for 103 straight hours last week.

Competing with thirteen other ultrawalkers, in one of many Endurathons happening around the world, the trio started walking Friday, May 30th, at 5 p.m. They didn’t stop to sleep and took only short breaks to use the bathroom. Tuesday at midnight, they were the only ones left standing.

Hometown Pride

I am so proud.

The term "white trash" seems to have emerged in the 1820s in Baltimore.

Trail Funds

$128,280 for the Continental Divide Trail, in New Mexico.

SANTA FE—Work on the Continental Divide Trail across New Mexico will get a boost from a $128,280 grant from the state in recognition of National Trails Day on Saturday.

The Continental Divide Trail Alliance will use the money to reroute several miles of trail in the Jemez Mountains and build 17 miles of new trail in the Cibola National Forest near Mt. Taylor.

Other projects include planning for the best route near Cuba and construction of a new piece of the trail through the Big Hatchet Mountains.

About 740 miles of the Continental Divide Trail will cross New Mexico when complete.

Sad To Hear

A hiker fell and died in New York's finger lakes region.

Yates County sheriff's deputies say Rodger Smith of Geneseo was hiking early Sunday afternoon in the High Tor State Wildlife Management Area in the town of Italy, on the southern end of Canandaigua Lake about 42 miles southeast of Rochester.

Deputies say Smith fell about 75 feet. Emergency crews from Yates and neighboring Ontario County helped rescue Smith from the wooded area.

He was taken by helicopter to Strong Memorial Hospital, where he later died.

My condolences to his friends and family.

Wind Power

Oil prices are making wind power more competitive.

MADRID (Reuters) - Soaring oil prices have made wind power more competitive but Spanish government subsidies will be needed for some time to allow the industry to meet ambitious growth plans, generators said on Monday.

Spain has about 16,000 megawatts of installed wind power capacity, making it the world's third-largest producer, after Germany and the United States.

Spanish government plans call for that capacity to expand to 20,000 MW by 2010, and the industry is eyeing 40,000 MW by 2020, in order to comply with European Union objectives to obtain 20 percent of all energy from renewable sources.

Notch Top Mountain

Notchtop mountain, RMNP, originally uploaded by JoePylePhoto.

Another hiker has fallen to his death this weekend. This one in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Witnesses said the Fort Collins man fell at least 500 feet on a steep slope covered with snow above Emerald Lake Saturday afternoon. He was wearing crampons and a helmet.

Park spokeswoman Kyle Paterson says witnesses who reached the man soon after the fall reported he had suffered massive trauma and had no pulse. Park rangers arrived about two hours later and then removed his body.

The fall happened about 2.5 miles from the Bear Lake Trailhead.

My condolences to his friends and family.

The hiker has been identified as Richard Frisbie.

Solar Power

It seems energy deregulation has driven up the price of energy so much that solar is now competitive.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Apple Inc is considering harnessing the sun to power its iPod music players. California's Ironwood prison is installing more than 6,000 solar panels, and Boston's Fenway Park is tapping solar power for Red Sox baseball games.

After decades on the fringe, solar power is closing in on America's mainstream as surging fossil fuel prices and mounting concern over climate change spur states, businesses and homeowners into a quickening embrace with alternative energy.

Panels bolted to roofs to convert sunlight into electricity are still too expensive in most regions to compete with cheaper, less environmentally friendly fuels like coal without generous subsidies. Solar's high costs have kept the resource out of reach for many residences and businesses,.

But not for long, industry analysts and scientists say.

Ouch Ouch!

An article about the hiker in Arizona that was attacked by bees three weeks ago with video.

He said he is still pulling bee stingers out of his skin.As for his future plans, Connell said he has "no desire to eat honey and no desire to hike for quite a while."

Damn!

A young hiker was lost this weekend.

CLEVELAND, Ga. --

Officials say a teen died Saturday night after falling off a mountain while on a hiking trip with friends.

White County fire department spokeswoman Ana Newberry said the 18-year-old Elena Shaw was hiking at Yonah Mountain along with three or four teens, calling them "avid hikers."

Newberry said Shaw lost her footing and fell over 600 feet. She said the teen had "massive" internal injuries and experienced cardiac arrest before she died. The incident happened in White County 25 miles north of Gainesville.

Shaw recently graduated as salutatorian from a private school in Dahlonega.

My condolences to her friends and family.

Cruizin Cooler

DPP_0006, originally uploaded by cmac610.

A cheflovesbeer approved hybrid vehicle. However, you can get a DUI if you are not careful. It is probably not a good idea to post pictures of you drinking and driving either. Unless it is root beer like this gentleman.

Here is Terrance O'Brien from endgadget.

Leslie J. "Bomber" Marr learned this the hard way when he was arrested on Memorial Day in Whitehall, NY and charged with DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle after police saw him swerving around the streets and driving on the sidewalk... on a cooler. Marr was driving around town on a Cruizin Cooler, which puts a seat on top of a three-wheeled cooler and attaches an electric motor similar to those found on electric scooters. It even has a hatch so you can pull out a icy cold drink while driving. The hatch also has a cup/can holder on top, suggesting that this sort of activity is exactly what the designers had in mind.

Via Clusterflock.