Added dog at Lake on Youtube Channel
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All posts for the month May, 2012
Antarctica January 2012
Hello All – There was some confusion last week about the day of this quarters first promotional free copy of “Going to Antarctica”. So to clear it up, on Amazon, tomorrow will be a free day to download the book. So if you are wondering about Antarctica or planning for next year this may give you a good idea on what to expect. Here is the link to the book.
Here is a link to some photos from the trip: http://yonaitis.shutterfly.com/ scroll down to the three Antarctica folders
There are a few videos (short) that I shot up on YouTube:
- Icebergs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh06GqqHnoA
- Calm Water Zodiac Ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVnDjDusV9Y
- Zodiac Ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhhynff24yc
- Chinstraps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCO154yKf3c
- and more: http://www.youtube.com/user/ryonaitis?feature=mhee
You can read this book online from any device using the Kindle Cloud Reader: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kinh_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771
I am going for a record download day, I need 503 downloads for the record. So please do share this link!
Cheers,
Rob Yonaitis
This weekend I swam for close to five hours in water that was claimed to be 62 degrees Fahrenheit, felt like 50. I hope all had a great weekend
As the Memorial Day weekend begins here in the USA it is the perfect time to kick off the summer season on the lake. The unfortunate part of this is that it is cold here, cold or not I still had to swim, so last night I swam for one hour. It was not bad, some cramps, could see my breath by the water, my toes started turning in weird directions but it was great! The hair on my face literally seemed to stand straight up and it was solid like nails sticking out of my face. I absolutely loved the swim. So much that I did another one this morning, while I could not find the temperature of the lake online, I am thinking it was around fifty degrees Fahrenheit.
Upon arriving here this weekend I discovered that the house was invaded by some sort of animal, and after plugging the hole and cleaning it up a bit all seemed fine. I think the word seemed is a lazy word, it means I did not track where the animals actually came in from and look for potential nests. Well the “Seemed” part was of course inaccurate and about 9:15am today, after my swim, the dogs went crazy and chased a chipmunk, or several of them, up a tree/trees. What was sad is that I learned that chipmunks have “Bad” smell glands. So it is time for a big cleanup around the house and time to get hot sauce and some more mothballs.
So my day holds about three hours reading on the Israel/Arab conflict, writing a professional blog post for 34a, and cleaning out a chipmunk nest. I am not complaining of course as there are worse things in life. So, back to swimming, I did one hour last night and thirty minutes this morning. I think I need to do another hour tonight and hopefully two hours tomorrow. I am excited about building my tolerance to cold, as I get closer to my July Trek.
Ciao,
Rob
Ernest Hemingway on safari
In my Expedia account today I noticed that my flight to Tanzania is in seven weeks. It hits me that I have not trained hard enough and I have not been focused enough on general preparations. I hope to adjust this over the next week. In my final month I think I will spend much time around Mount Washington. There is nothing like actually hiking up a mountain to prepare you for hiking up a mountain, yup that simple. It is somewhat appropriate as well because it was on Mount Washington that I first developed my love of hiking. I believe there are things that we do in life that stay with us forever and for me my first hike to the summit of Washington was one of those life events.
Since that first hike up Mount Washington I have hiked in many places and on every continent. So now it is time to change up “the game” a bit and the change is to make it a bit more unique. Kilimanjaro is unique and a place to go to test yourself, I will be taking the western approach. It should be noted that Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world. Ernest Hemingway’s book “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” has a great couple of lines in it:
“Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called the Masai ‘Ngaje Ngai’, the House of God. Close to the western summit there is a dried and frozen carcas of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.”
What am I seeking? From starting in a rain forest, my path, has me continuing up to more barren surfaces to points where you no longer see life all around you and of course glaciers. I think that this hike is going to be an eventful trip and I feel this way because of experience. Just as Antarctica was a view into a strange crystal desert – I believe Kilimanjaro will provide a view into my soul.
Any lover of telescopes will tell you that for the best viewing you will want to get away from the light pollution of cities and they are right. As for the hike, with getting into the wilderness you get rid of the pollution of civilization. I particularly like the idea of not showering until you come back down from the mountain, as it is hard to get away from nature when you are covered in her. It is funny, as we try so hard to keep nature out of our lives, we have climate controlled houses, cars, and even public transportation no stone is left unturned to save us from actually dealing with nature. Well, while on Kilimanjaro that will not be an option, hiding from nature that is. I suppose my next hike of any magnitude post Kilimanjaro will be in southern Azerbaijan in November or in Armenia as a tack on to this year’s IGF Conference in Baku.
So, I am prepared, as my boots are broken in and my mind is settling in on the task at hand. I am wondering what my travel clinic will say, what shots I will need and what pills I should take along with me. I will not be worrying about what is on my iPod because I think it will get as much use on kili as it did in Antarctica. That would be none. I suppose the last thing to say in this post is,”Let’s go Sixers, Let’s go”, have a great holiday weekend everyone!
Cheers,
Rob
p.s. Do not forget today is the last day to get my eBook “Going to Antarctica” for free.
