Urbanus Magnus

Other than the lack of green leaves, one wouldn't guess that one of these shots looking west from Highland Creek is taken  6 months  after the other. But that's global warming for you! July 15th: January 30th: *Sigh*..... I REALLY  wish there were more snow this year that the few scattered and weak ones we've had.

My first post of the new year will deal with my little Trangia stove I've picked up a while ago. Now that I've been able to use it on a few day-hikes during the Christmas break, I can confidently review it. The first, and most obvious point, is that this is an alcohol stove; these stoves can burn the commonly found methanol, ethanol and even isopropyl rubbing alcohol. This stove cannot burn anything properly but alcohol - I tried white gasoline and ended up with a sooty, fireball-prone mess - and this could leave much to be desired in a third-world setting where kerosene/autogas (petrol) is all that may be found. But, here in Canada along with the US, most of South America, and Europe, methanol is easily found in nearly every hardware shop. Often it is labelled as 'methyl hydrate', and so people overlook it, but 4L can be be had for $10. Trangia burner w/ homemade soup can pot stand. The port is wide enough to allow use of the simmer ring. It is important that I sa...

It's Sunday night... I've returned from a winter camping trip this weekend, near Acton. On the drive up, the window got stuck in the down position - so, I had a  very  breezy and chilly ride. 1 foot of snow when I got up to the site, and another foot fell on Saturday night, making the tent sag a bit under the weight. Quite great weather for a winter camp! Unfortunately, while cutting some wood, I sustained a nasty gash on my knuckle; I was able to see the bone!! Needless to say, I had to get patched up with some gauze, and then head to the hospital for a more permanent 'fix'. I wasn't really injured that badly - the blood wasn't pouring out - so the 2.5 cm cut was held together with 3 stitches. I guess I'll see how it holds up to swimming tomorrow!

As the title of this post implies, I've gone and gotten myself a pair of studded tyres on the cheap - by fabricating them. Those old Chen Shins I had on the bike's rims came off without a single stud, but went back on with a ice-grippin' 104 studs per tyre. Total cost: $12.78 for 250 1/2 in. 8-size screws, compared to $100 + tax for the cheapest pair I could find elsewhere (including the interweb).  My time is valueless, so I won't put a dollar value on the 2 1/2 hours I spent on the endeavor.   Drilling, and a lot of screwing-in  On the road, they are really grippy on ice - like being glued  to it, even while riding on an outdoor skating rink! But, since the tread pattern isn't that deep, it still has trouble in the slush or packed snow. On fresh snow, however, it performs quite superbly! One really can notice the clickity-clickity-clickity of the screws on the pavement, and feel the drag also. Tyre #1, finished - look at that! 1/4 in of spike show...

Went for a few hours' ride today - the first full test of the 'new' tyres; they are actually 16-year-old 'Dual Sport' (i.e., wide as a mountain tire!) Chen Shins which came with the bicycle. They did a real swell job, once I let some air out to run them at ~45 psi, handling the snow, road, gravel and even some ice without slipping. .  My GT has lots of extra room for an even wider tire, despite already having on 42mm ones.  The steep hill down to the buffs is  salted and in use by dump trucks   I headed down to Guild Inn to access the bluffs' lakeside trail, and enjoyed a pleasant photographing and sight-seeing session. The bluffs change so much from their summer appearance!  The bluffs look even more awesome in person. Sadly, they are predicted to gradually turn into steep hills, some as soon as 15 years from now.  Even in the winter, dump-trucks laden with dry-fill keep on tipping their load...