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Trip Reports

I will undeniably mostly post jock-type trip reports. I will try to keep them high effort. I encourage all types of trips reports - drug ones, going to the bodega ones, trying out that one bar you've meant to get to but it's always just out of the way ones. A trip is what you make of it.

tripped over my rug this morning

Rough Trip Map:


Background
This trip begins with me mildly overstating my ice/snow climbing, winter camping, and high altitude mountaineering credentials (minor, minor, and none respectively). Luckily once my partner was convinced, and the trip dates were set, the trip did fall directly into my wheelhouse of “rapidly teaching myself things on the internet”. The plan was to “Ski the Truchas” - a series of mountains in northern New Mexico that contain South Truchas - the second highest peak in the state. Luckily my climbing partner had extensive experience hiking and camping in the area, leaving me to obsess about clothing, gear, and fitness.

Gear List
I brought:
Carrying Case
SAM Splint
Leukotape
Athletic tape?
Advil
Benadryl
Salt tabs?
Nitrile Gloves
Safety Pin(s)
Gauze
Steri Strips
Moleskin/Other Blister stuff
Small Neosporin

Multi Tool
Zip Tie
Duct Tape
Hex/Allen/Torx wrench/bits?
Vole Straps
Alu Pole/Can scraps
Skin Tail Clip
Paracord
Skin Wax
Cat Crap
Shell Repair Tape
Pole Basket
Bailing Wire

Sleeping Bag
Tent Footprint
Inflatable Pad
Closed cell foam pad
Camp Pillow
Insulated Soft Flask
Nalgene
Thermos

Base Layer w/hood x2
Tights
Softshell Pants
Wool Hat
Brimmed Hat
Liner Gloves
Warmer Gloves
Wind shirt
Ski vest
Puffy Jacket
Insulating lower body layer
Compression Socks
Sleep/Other Socks
Running Shorts

Skis
Boots
Poles
Helmet
Ice Axe
Crampons
Skins
Headlamp
Avalanche Beacon
Shovel
Probe

freeze dried dinners x3
Instant Coffee/tea
Miso soup
Freeze dried breakfast
Oatmeal
Microwave Indian food x2 (lunch, cold)
Various bars/snickers

Battery Pack + Cords
Video Camera
Sunglasses
Contact Case
Toothbrush
Extra contact lens
Contact Solution
Glasses
Extra sunglasses lens
Spork (non metal if poss)
Lighters
Plastic Scraper
Microfiber cloth
Chap Stick
Sunscreen
Headlamp

I put this all in a backpack I made specifically for this trip.

Day One
I left work at 3PM MT and drove to the trailhead with my partner. We were at a (luckily expected) locked gate by 4:30, where we loaded our packs and began [redacted]. After [redacted] ~4 miles, we hid/locked the [redacted] and started hiking. 2 miles later, we swapped to skis, and went maybe a mile further until we decided to make camp around 7:30PM.
Day Two
We woke early- ~ 4AM - because we were concerned about the southern facing slopes (with more sun exposure, and therefore avalanche risk) that we knew we needed to cross later in the day. We skinned uphill for 3 miles until we hit the base of our first climb. From there we switched to crampons and ascended a moderate snow slope. After scaring off some sheep from the ridge we swapped back to skis for a very patchy descent on a southern face, which ended with us shouldering skis and moving down a scree field. We found a suitable campsite, in the basin we had skied into, dropped non-essential gear and ascended an eastern facing slope to get some skiing in and learn a bit more about the snowpack. The snow was hard and clearly affected by the deep freeze the night before, and made for some fast, albeit chattery skiing. Unsure of wet slab avalanche risk later in the day, we retired to camp and built out our tent and snow platform(10AM). I napped, scouted lines on my GPS app, and zoned out for the next 6 hours. Once the sun began to set, we made dinner and decided that because the southern face we had crossed had been relatively bare, we both felt comfortable ascending it later than we normally would, potentially shortening our 4 day trip into a 3 day one provided we were able to ascend our main objective quickly and get across the patchy southern face before major sun exposure). We planned on a 6AM wakeup.
Day Three
Miserable night’s sleep - I think the altitude got to me as well as my relatively meager winter camping setup, so I was glad to hear the alarm go off, and have the possibility of a real bed to sleep in tonight - provided everything worked to plan. We had packed well the night before, so after a quick breakfast, we began making our way to the base of our main objective - a predominant couloir between West and Middle Truchas. After switching to crampons, my partner led the mellower first half, then graciously let me lead the narrower, steeper top part. This absolutely tested my meager snow climbing abilities, but topping out was an unbelievable feeling. A quick transition found me skiing amazing snow back to our base camp, and quickly gathering the last of our gear for an expedited ascent of our rapidly warming exit slopes. Since what we had descend the previous day was relatively bare, we decided to try to ascend a snowier couloir to the west of our decent route, with the hope that we would be able to climb the snow quicker than we would be able to bushwack through the trees we had picked our way down before. The couloir ended with a slightly technical rock band, but we were luckily able to traverse to our left onto a rocky ridge and ascend above what we had climbed over the day before. After reaching the ridgeline, we traversed until we were at the couloir we thought we had ascended the day before, but was actually the line to the east of it. The skiing was variable, with some sections deeply sun affected and some consolidated parts that had previously slid (sometime in the last 24h, according to my photos from our ascent). We skied down what we had skinned up the day before, swapped to trail runners at the snow line, found our [redacted] safe and undisturbed, and rolled downhill to the car.
What worked
I will spare care-tags the extensive gear nerdery, but I will say that I was extremely happy with how my skis, bindings, crampons, and ice axe fared for this trip. All were new to me this year, and they have proven to be great choices. My Patagonia Houdini wind shirt continues to be the layer I wear most and my Arc’teryx softshell pants were always on my bottom half with the exception of sleeping. Some no-name Amazon fishing vest has become my go to layer for skiing because of its mesh back and large front game pockets - it’s quite nice to be able to stash extra gloves, layers, skins, or food quickly without dealing with taking off my pack.
What didn’t
Winter camping sucks. I tried to get by with my 3 season sleeping bag + a puffy jacket and a lower body layer, but I definitely need either a winter bag, a more insulating sleeping pad, or some form of down pants/booties (or perhaps all 3). I was slightly disappointed with how my ski boots fared - they’re billed as a lightweight pair of boots, so I didn't expect much by the way of warmth, but my feet were VERY cold in them. I may need to look into more substantial liners to put into them for bigger trips like this. The only pieces of clothing that I brought that I didn't use were the running shorts - my plan was to use them in place of tights if we had an especially warm day, but we did not. They were nice as a fresh bottom layer for the drive home though. I also brought all my contact shit and just ended up using my glasses.

Pictures!

Sunset from camp on the first night

sunrise over the mountains to the east

Sunrise on our first climb, we went up the middle line to lookers left of the rock band.

base of our first climb, we went up the gulley to the far left of the shot

Top of our first climb, looking north

First view of our main objective

Sunset over camp for the night.

Looking down our main line

Last transition - hiking- bking

Emma wanted to go on a Sunday [redacted] ride since she'd been inside working on music for most of the day. The other night when I went to pick up barbecue for dinner I noticed that there was a brewery right next to it that we hadn't been to before. We decided to [redacted] there for a quick beer before making a dinner at home. The ride there was easy along the river path, which is mostly downhill that way. The brewery was nice, and we got a bit of afternoon sun on the patio which helped offset a bit of the chill.



The ride back home was uphill, so we worked up a bit more of a sweat. Looking up at the mountains we could see storm clouds bringing down what may be the last of the snow for the year through the sunset. A falcon swooped across our path on the dirt road near our home.

woke up at 4:30am this morning to go drop my friend at the airport

drive was nice, very chill, beautiful morning mist + sunrise

we get there for 6, his flight gate closes 6:55, no problem

he goes off to the terminal to make the flight

around 25 mins later he rings me and tells me he's not allowed to check in

because he got an NHS covid test instead of a private one (NHS was not just a rapid test it was a proper one so 0 difference in the tests lol)

has to walk back to the car

we got mcdonalds breakfast

drove back to london

some pictures:



thank you mcdonalds (love)

Lame acid trip.

Bought 200 micros. Took a quarter at 9am and didn't feel much. Took another quarter then the remaining half. So this was like 1ikke 1pm by then. All I felt was a bit of a comeup but that was it really. Mans sent me another tab from a different batch of his at like 3pm and I think that too but it was the same. Feeling like I'm about to trip but never going anywhere.

It's now like 5.30am and I've just been uncomfortably sweating for hours and trying to avoid everyone since I'm a bit jittery. Not on meds atm or did any other weird things that might have ruined the trip. Bad acid or bad applications on my part. Not sure if all I did was just extend my initial microdose.

Rain app has been vaguely vibey though soundtrackingg my insomnia.

Ketamine IV infusion


1st trip - Thursday

I got a Ketamine IV infusion after I started seeing a psychiatrist again. On my initial visit they gave me Seroquel 400mg and Mirtazapine 15mg but I'd already told them I'd tried these meds before at higher doses and they didn't work. When I came back after two weeks unchanged except for sleeping better they asked if I wanted to try a different approach and described how a drug called ketamine helps with rapid relief from depression but had the side effect of possible hallucinations. Naturally I pretended I'd never heard of it, gasped at the thought of hallucinations and then put up a little fight before outwardly resigning myself to trying it.

He then wrote a prescription for IV Ket and dumped me on a nurse.



The nurse first let the saline drip into me till the bag was about half-empty then injected the ket. I felt that rushing-sinking feeling you get with an anaesthetic but didn't go under. Instead I became high. I was listening to DJ Python's Santiago Boiler Room


on soundcloud and forgot I was in the hospital and felt like I was on a beach. The nurse told me to vocalise everything and when I was describing how high I felt she injected me with what I assume is the diazepam. My high then went away

When I got back home I didn't feel any different really. I wasn't sure if the dose was too small or the diazepam cancelled the benefits.

2nd trip - Monday
I woke up on Monday in a terrible mood. I'd given up alcohol and weed in the two weeks I'd been taking the other meds but I got trashed on Sunday night watching euros and chatting shit on group chat. Funny enough I only had 4 beers but I took them along with my meds and ended up passing out right before the penalties.

Anyway I went for my ket treatment again and this time I only dealt with the nurse. She did pretty much the same stuff with the IV except this time I stayed silent. When the ket hit I was listening to Traumprinz and kinda felt like I was swimming in the music and completely forgot I was in the hospital. There was also another part of my brain that was contemplating various parts of my life like they were stacked up on multiple levels and I could evaluate each one while seeing the bigger picture. I was pretty pissed off at my mum that morning but that dissolved away and I was wondering why I was taking things so seriously.

I was totally silent the entire time and near the end of my trip the nurse removed my IV and asked if I was ok. I said yeah then tried to get off the bed and walked-ish with my mum to the car. Walking after the infusion was weird. It was like I was a robot learning for the first time how to use human legs. I was surprised how little time had passed. I wish the trip had lasted longer.

I spent most of the day sedated (just like my first few days of seroquel) and while my mood had been horrendously low/snappy when I'd woken up, after the infusion I was very neutral. I was feeling content. Dunno if it's because the dose maybe got upped or because the nurse didn't use diazepam. I'd learned to stfu. I still pretty much stayed in my room the whole day listening to music and browsing the net but yeah I felt content.

Woke up today and while I feel neutral-ish, the feeling of contentment is pretty much gone.

So yeah that's it. First time ever experiencing ketamine. Not sure how long these biweekly infusions will go for but I'm assuming it's some stopgap thing while I keep taking the other meds.

Also they just leave this shit lying around coulda easily just gone home with it lol

We were riding along a dirt track surrounded by narrow hedgerows and fields, it was dusky and raining quite hard but visibility was good. Ahead we could see two figures with dogs walking towards us. Didn't pay them much attention but as we got closer I heard a woman's voice screaming "No! No! No!" It seemed like she was talking to the dogs but she sounded quite harrowed. I started to slow down in case the dog was out of control or something. I realised that the figures had moved apart and both crouched down. My first thought is that they've had a report of a nearby lightning strike and are crouched because that's the safest thing to do if you think you're going to get stuck by lightning, but I know that I haven't heard any thunder or lightning and honestly it didn't seem like a thunderous day. As we roll slowly closer I see the figure further away is a an older woman, witchy looking with in a long black coat with streaks of grey in her black curly hair, she's holding both the dogs, they're dark and sleek looking, setters maybe, I don't know much about dogs. The closer figure is a young man, looking at something on the path that from distance seems like a dishtowel. The young man is wearing a Barbour, wellington boots, square thick rimmed glasses, he stands up as we approach and looks at us with a nervous smile. The woman sounds like she's about to cry as she shouts "You have to kill it, Charlie, you have to put it out of it's misery." The grey dishtowel on the floor in front of him resolves into a rabbit, bloodied and twitching as I comprehend the situation. "Woah, shit." I say, stopping in front of him. The rabbit cycles its legs on the floor. "Are you OK man?" I ask, he just shrugs, still smiling nervously at me, he seems resigned. "What are you going to do?" I ask, trying not to look at the rabbit. He says "Going to have to kill it." and pulls a face. "Wow, well, do you need any help or anything?" I ask, it seems like the right thing to do, though obviously I have no skills that are useful in this situation. "Not really" he says with the same nervous smile and shruggy demeanour. I get back into the saddle and say "well..ok....good luck man." and pedal away, the woman, looks up from the floor and at me as I ride past, she seems harrowed, extremely disturbed, her hair in her face as she weakly held the expensive, proud looking dogs by the collars.

Bromazepam 1.5mg three times a day.

I am not hyper aware of strangers but still "search the faces of people I see looking at me"

I am finally comfortable on public transportation. Like legit enjoying myself listening to music and straight chilling on the bus which I never do.

I do not give a fuck and do not feel on edge around anyone. Really enjoyed walking in the sunshine today.

Body feels heavier but in a nice way. I am also more sleepy. Definitely sedating cause words be slurry sometimes. Otoh I finally know how to "relax" and do shit like couchpotato tv.

I am trying to cram in as many dates as possible before this one month prescription ends. Might fuck around and use the pills only when I leave home so I can stretch em.

Does anyone have recommendations for how I should spend my 1-week-long alone vacation in Stockholm? I forgot to come up with any ideas.

I don't really like fine art, I'm willing to drink or even daydrink, I don't think I'll dance. Their subway system is inexpensive, and I have a great amount of money for someone who doesn't have an unspeakable amount of money (I work in midtown manhattan, so things more or less can't be shockingly expensive).

It will be NYC winter type weather (highs in mid 30s F), but I think I should make a [redacted] rental and [redacted] a considerable amount, an idea which I think I could satisfy myself with for a day or so. A good friend suggested I should go to their Jewish museum, which I was frankly surprised to learn they have! I'll be bringing 4 or 5 books.

you're gonna walk away loving it. Stockholm syndrome...

Trip report:

rjbman wrote: ↑Mon Nov 13, 2023 3:57 pm you're gonna walk away loving it. Stockholm syndrome...

Yes. And also they are so good at making music compared to Denmark, it is unreal and I can't make sense of it.

I loved my lonely vacation, and seeing Sweden for the first time. Stockholm is, I think my Norwegian cousin who has lived in the 3 capitals extendedly put it this way, grand. But I don't know why. It felt dark and cold in tone, but - well - it was overcast and cold out, and I've only been to Copenhagen in the summer. So. What do I know.













A note on myths.
Do not believe the Expensive Sweden propaganda. Do not believe the Bashful Scandies propaganda. If it didn't get any colder and the day any shorter (and it does, in fact, get dramatically colder and less sunny than when I visited) I'd believe it was heaven. They pronounce their consonants, which can't be said of every language in the region, and adds a nice texture and color to the skeleton of each word, 4 to 6 copies of the letter "a".

I love how open-ended and casual trip reports can be—they're often just real snippets of life. One of my memorable trips recently was to Orlando with my family. We spent most of the time exploring theme parks, but what really stood out was staying somewhere where we could unwind after a long day. The place had activities to keep the kids busy while my partner and I could just relax. If you're ever planning a family trip, check out some customizable vacation packages like these: https://www.westgateresorts.com/vacation-packages/. Makes it all much easier.

I was just away for two weeks visiting a friend in rural Austria for Christmas and then another friend in Poland afterwards. This is the third time I've been to Burgenland for the winter holidays. To arrive, I have to first take a train to Zürich, transfer, and then take a 8/9 hour direct train to Vienna, where my friend usually picks me up. I always find trains are such a ripe place for people watching. On the ride there, I was accompanied by an American family whose patriarch works in Thailand for the US Fish and Wildlife Service; they were going to Salzburg to hopefully see some concerts. Across from me was an Austrian woman who worked in Switzerland (not far from where I live, actually) who shamed me a bit for my lack of interest in winter sports. I suppose when you're taking some form of long-distance travel, you're forced in a way to pay more attention to your surroundings, as opposed to everyday life you can just tune out the noise. This route goes directly through some high passes in the Alps, including through Ötztal, where the Iceman was discovered (the first time I took the train out there, I had a very nice time reading all about it). It was mostly clear outside between the Swiss border and Innsbruck-- assuming it snowed the night before, the trees had this silvery shimmer that was augmented by the wind gently blowing it off into the air, somehow creating a bit of a hazy effect.

My time in Austria wasn't particularly noteworthy. Now the rhythm and schedule of the trip is somewhat solidified after three years of the same things. We drank like fish: wine, beer, enough types of schnapps to make your head spin. However, I still have trouble adjusting to the eating schedule because in this region, they have a large, warm meal in the middle of the day, then a smaller meal in the evening (Abendbrot). Her cousins and all of their friends are obsessed with American Football, so we always watch the Christmas Day games on TV in their house after a few hours of heavy drinking with her uncle.

On the 27th, I met a different friend in Vienna, who accompanied me to Poland. We were in Upper Silesia, a particularly renowned region for coal production. My friend told me that he sometimes plays a game with himself where he counts all of the chimneys from coal plants. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was at any restaurant we went to. My friend is obsessed with Neapolitan Pizza, so we ended up going to one place in his town and another in Katowice that were frankly mindblowing. I was just thinking the entire time about how poor the restaurant scene in Switzerland is outside of "fine dining".

The last few days of my trip we spent with his girlfriend and her family in their house in another tiny village. I guess it never bothered me before, but I find it a bit odd/uncomfortable when staying with people and their families sometimes, how the veil of them acting in a particular way because you're a visitor is lifted. And they argue/fight around you like it's nothing. I'm never sure what to do in these situations, especially when they ask me to jump in and take a side in some political discussion. hmm...

Anyway, the train ride back was a helluva journey by itself. I took a train first from Bohumín in the Czech Republic to Vienna, then the same train from Vienna to Zürich, and then finally Zürich to Bern, something like 16 hrs in total. On the first train I kept getting shuffled around by people who had reserved the seat I was sitting in, most not even trying to say anything, rather preferring to do some hand gestures and charades with their ticket and pointing to get the message across. The teenager sitting next to me was what I think is called a "foamer"-- one who's obsessed with trains. His phone background had a locomotive on it (I was peeping, sorry, sue me.), and he was looking at various train and public transportation maps the entire time.

On the next train I had to stand for an hour because I didn't get a seat reservation. Luckily a seat freed up in one of those 4 seat configurations with a table in the middle. The other seats were filled by these three Germans who were quite chatty. They told me they were masters students in Stuttgart & Freiburg, studying sociology. I was reading on my laptop and I noticed the person sitting next to me stealing glances and at times even reading along. To be honest I felt a bit guilty eavesdropping on their conversation, but it was like watching a reality show or something. One of them detailed a social interaction that went awry, and the other gave this therapyspeak-laden advice that didn't really make much sense. It all kinda sounded good but when I thought about it more I had no clue what they were trying to say.... lots about "Kapazität". At one point, one of them turned to the other and said "I don't know if I want to become a 'Brunch person', like someone who meets their friends for Brunch on the weekends." As I write this, I guess a lot of these stranger interactions don't translate well to this format but Oh Well.

I dunno where else to put this but here are some lists noah will read

Top 5 specific names for european trains:
1. RegioShark (czech republic)
2. Frecciarossa (Italy)
3. ICE "Sprinter" (Germany)
4. RegioSpider (czech republic)
5. Northern Lights (England)

Books I read from:
Die Jahre - Ernaux
Die Krise der Narration - Byung-Chul Han
To the Lighthouse - Woolf

Movies/series:
Wings of Desire (1987)
Austin Powers (1997)
Carry-On (2024)
Simpsons S3

new german words I learned
wegbrabbeln - chatter away
verkopft - overly intellectual
techtelmechtel - hanky panky
verdauungszigarette - digestion cigarette

pics in spoiler