Glacier Lake Trip Report

Our troop took a trip Glacier Lake on 6/21-6/22. Glacier Lake is located in the Bowman Lake area, north of I-80 and near Emigrant Gap and the intersection with Highway 20. After a drive on a bumpy gravel road, we pulled into the parking lot at Carr Lake. From there, the hike to Glacier Lake was about 5 miles. The hike itself was not bad in terms of terrain. It was a little steep as we approached out destination, but nothing really difficult. The problem was the mosquitoes! In many places that we crossed, it was swampy due to residual snowmelt and was teeming with mosquitoes. To add to the problem, we had to stop several times so the boys could check where we were on the map so that they would know where we were going.
When we reached Glacier Lake, it was gorgeous. It lies just north of the Black Buttes, which reach up past 8000 feet. As we approached the lake, we passed some smaller ponds which were still partially frozen. The surprising thing was just how much snow was still around the lake. The south side of the lake was completely covered with snow. As we walked around to the north end of the lake, the slope was also covered. Still, there was a large, open, snow-free area for camping. We set up our sleeping bags there with no tents. The clouds looked ominous for a little while, but then vanished. The other weather factors were not so nice though. It was quite chilly (at least to me), as the daytime high didn't pass 60, and it cooled off somewhat at night. What was worse though was that we were blasted with wind all night, so we did not get much sleep.

We woke up Monday morning for the hike out, and it was sunny and pleasant. The sky was clear, and the temperature was significantly higher. While we still had to deal with the mosquitoes, we made it out in pretty good time. I was sore afterward, but that is to be expected. My favorite part was trying out my newly acquired camera, as I took 200 pictures over the two day period. Next up is another backpacking trip, but it should be much easier, as we are bringing some first time backpackers.

Halfway Done (with reviews at least)!

The reason I started this blog was because of a kind of contest called The Cannonball Read that I read about on a website I visit frequently. The goal of the contest is to read 100 books in one year, although it is more of an individual challenge than a race against others. The other part of the challenge is to post reviews of each book that you read on a blog. The reviews don't have to be anything spectacular, but are supposed to illustrate that you have read the book.

Well for me, the reading is the easy part. Then I have to write the reviews. I have always had confidence that I would get through 100 books, especially with my months of leisure during the summer. However, the challenge has been writing a review for each one. I have hated writing since elementary school (and yet I make the students do tons of it), so I constantly put off writing the reviews when I finish each book. I am also somewhat self-conscious about my writing, as I don't want my reviews to sound like garbage, even though I know some of them do.

So now I have completed review number 50 (and finished reading book number 66) with several months to go. I am motivated to see this through to the end. I have also been contemplating adding other content to my blog, so now that I am making significant progress, I will actually follow through with this. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and tolerating my reviews so far, and I hope you are getting some ideas about things to read.

#50: In a Sunburned Country

In a Sunburned Country describes Bill Bryson's journey through all parts of Australia. I have wanted to visit Australia for some time, so I was intrigued when I picked up the book, and became further hooked as I began reading.

Bryson begins his narrative by describing some of the many ways you can die in Australia. For example, several of the deadliest species of snakes in the world live on the continent. In the ocean, there are strong rip currents along with saltwater crocodiles. In the outback, there are the high temperatures, lack of water, and distance from everything. These are in addition to the more mundane ways that a person can die in other places.

Bryson also stresses how little most people know about Australia. He includes statistics about the rarity of Australia appearing in American news sources. To further illustrate his point, he tells the story of an Australian prime minister who simply vanished in the ocean. The leader of a very well-known country just disappeared, and very few people have heard of the story.

Now, on to the subject of the book. Bryson travels throughout the country, visiting all of its major cities and comparing and contrasting them. He describes the majestic landmarks of Sydney, the beauty of Perth and the dullness of Canberra, among other things. He also describes the countryside in between, taking trips to the outback and off the coast to the Great Barrier Reef.

No Bryson book would be complete without his sense of humor. Some choice examples include his listing of place names, such as the town of Tittybong, his summary of commentators at a cricket match that he heard on the radio during a long, lonely drive, and his story about how a dozen rabbits unfortunately led to major changes to the country's ecology.

If you like reading about distant places or have an interest in Australia, be sure to pick up In a Sunburned Country.

#49: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is the first book in Rick Riordan's excellent Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. In this book, the protagonist is twelve-year-old Percy Jackson. He has always struggled with learning disabilities and always gets into trouble without trying, leading him to attend a different school every year. As a sixth grader, Percy attends a field trip to a museum with his class from the prestigious Yancy Academy. Although he tries to behave, he manages to vaporize his despised math teacher. Even stranger for him, it seems like no one has noticed. A new teacher appears out of nowhere, and no one has ever heard of the old one.

After this, Percy and his mom take a trip out to Long Island. A fierce storm arises, and Percy and his mom get into their car. Along the road, they meet Percy's friend Grover from school, who seems to Percy to be there randomly, although Percy had thought Grover knew more than he let on. They get into more trouble, and leading to a fight with a minotaur. Percy's mother disappears into thin air, but Percy manages to escape to a safe place - Camp Half-Blood.

At Camp Half-Blood, Percy finds himself in a new world. The Greek gods that he studied about in school are real. His former Latin teacher at Yancy Academy is a centaur and Grover is a satyr. Percy, like all of the other campers, is a half-blood: one parent is a mortal and one is a god. Unfortunately for Percy, he does not know who which god his father is.

Percy eventually figures out from some characteristics he exhibits and a revelation that his father is Poseidon, the sea god. This leads him to become embroiled in a three-way struggle between Poseidon, Zeus and Hades. In order to fix things and save the world, Percy must go on a quest to the gates to Hades, located in Los Angeles. He is allowed to bring two friends: Grover, and Annabeth, a brilliant daughter of Athena.

The Lightning Thief is a very engaging book to read for two reasons. It is packed with action, the author also incorporates a lot of humor. I read it to my class this year, and they enjoyed it thoroughly. Several of the kids read the series on their own, and it got them interested in Greek mythology due to Riordan's seamless incorporation of the mythology into the story. I strongly recommend it!

#48: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is Bill Bryson's very amusing memoir of growing up in Des Moines, Iowa during the 1950's. Bryson grew up in a middle-class family, with his parents, who both wrote for the local newspaper, and his brother and sister. He describes with nostalgia the adventures he engaged in as a young boy in a quick changing society.

One of the amusing things in Bryson's book is the cavalier attitude toward safety that people in the 50's had compared with today. He describes nuclear tests in Nevada in which the fallout could easily drift across populated areas, but people did not care. In fact, they actually went closer to these sites to get a better look. He also talks about things like the preponderance of food dyes, preservatives, and artificial flavors, which people looked at as signs of progress in food preparation without considering any adverse effects.

Bryson also describes his superhero alter ego, as described in the title. Whenever someone such as a teacher or other mean adult offended him, the Thunderbolt Kid would come out that person would be vaporized.

If you have ever read anything else by Bill Bryson, you know that he has a great sense of humor. He also engages in many escapades with a variety of characters. Some brief anecdotes include when he was in high school and there was a plot to liberate beer from the distributor, as well as a set of too smart for their own good brothers who get the idea to set off an explosive device in a high school field. It is the stories like these that make the reader laugh repeatedly.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is a book that I would highly recommend, and it encouraged me to go to the library and pick up more books by Bill Bryson.

#47: Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twist

I first read Youth in Revolt by C.D. Payne a couple of years ago. Due to the upcoming movie starring Michael Cera, I decided to read it again. Because of the absurd nature of the story and the ridiculous situations that Nick gets into, I enjoyed the book as much as I remembered.

Youth in Revolt describes the travails of Nick Twisp, a 14-year-old living in the wonderful city of Oakland. His main objective in life is to lose his virginity. His parents are divorced, and when Nick's father loses his job, Nick is forced to leave his private school and endure the Oakland public school system. He quickly decides this is not for him and looks for a way out.

During the summer on a trip to Clear Lake (a couple of hours north of Oakland), Nick met Sheeni Saunders, the girl of his dreams. They scheme to get Nick's father a job in Sheeni's hometown of Ukiah (further north) and for Nick to behave so badly that he gets sent to live with his dad. Their plot seems to work, until Nick gets to Ukiah and finds out that Sheeni and her ex-boyfriend have transferred to a private school in Santa Cruz.

From here, the plot continues to thicken. Nick gets himself in to situations that are more and more ridiculous in order to try and reunite with Sheeni, and leaves a huge trail of damage in his wake. Sometimes, trouble just finds him without any effort. As things happen, one after another, the plot keeps the reader entertained.

Youth in Revolt is a hilarious novel. If you are expecting something serious, look for another book to read. However, if you want a book with an authentic voice that will keep you laughing out loud, pick this one up.

#46: Twilight

I finally decided to read Twilight because of the hype, but I wasn't sure whether I would like it. I knew it was about romance and vampires, and neither of those things interest me, but some of the kids in my class were reading it and I decided to give it a chance.

I progressed through Twilight pretty quickly. The action scenes were pretty intriguing to me, like when Bella fled to Phoenix and they tried to escape from the evil vampire. However, there were other parts that annoyed me a great deal. I skimmed quickly over all of the gushy, descriptive language about Bella's obsession with Edward, which allowed me to finish the book more quickly. I also disliked the characters, especially Bella's deference to Edward, and Edward's stalker tendencies.

Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I definitely didn't love it. I may read the rest of the series at some point, but it is not something I am excited enough to go and do immediately.

#45: Stolen Innocence

Stolen Innoncence by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer tells the story of a 14-year-old girl in the FLDS religion who was forced to marry her 19-year-old cousin. Wall and her family were very much entwined in the religion, having periodic direct contact with the leaders, Rulon and Warren Jeffs. The Wall family was labeled as rebellious by the leadership, as some of Elissa's siblings chose to leave FLDS. Her family was broken up, and she, her mom and her two younger sisters were sent to live with Fred Jessop, an important leader in the church. Soon after, Jessop told Elissa that she would soon be married. Elissa was matched with her cousin, who she could not stand. She tried to protest to Warren and Rulon, but was told that it was the prophet's will that the marriage happen, so it did.

As soon as she was married, Elissa began to be subjected to abuse by her husband. She began looking for ways to escape, such as spending time with her mother, visiting her sister in Canada, or simply driving and staying out all night just to avoid her husband. It was on one of these drives that she met the love of her life, when he helped her out of trouble while she was stuck in the desert.

Wall's story is very compelling - she begins to understand that the way of life that she has been following is not fair and that she can reject it and still be a good person. It also provides firsthand insight into the pure evil of Warren Jeffs.

Luckily, Wall's story has had a happy ending so far. Unfortunately, there are many others still in similar situations.

#44: Science Fair

Science Fair is a book for kids written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. While I previously enjoyed the first two novels of the Peter and the Starcatchers series that they wrote, I found Science Fair to be hilarious.

Science Fair is set in a middle school in the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC. Toby, the main character, is enrolled in the school's gifted program, along with other gifted students and others whose rich, powerful parents have bought their way in. The rich parents are obsessed with their kids' success to the point that they do the work for their kids. For example, one mother was said to have worked hard for all of her son's grades, starting with the professionally bound animal report he turned in in first grade.

Each year, the school conducts a science fair with a large corporate-sponsored prize. One of the rich kids always wins, because they purchase complicated projects from a strange store in the mall. However, there is a problem - Grdankl the Strong, the leader of the rogue nation of Krpshtskan, has enlisted an operative to rig the science fair so that the rich kids' projects can be utilized for a terrorist plot. Toby finds out about this, and he and his friends have to fix things.

The plot and the details of Science Fair are absurd and over the top, but that is why I enjoyed it so much. Barry describes Krpshtskan in a way similar to the fictional Kazakhstan in Borat, with details like the national holiday for the tournament of the fighting death hamsters and Grdankl's slogan of "Vote for Grdankl or die." Another episode I found amusing was when two of Grdankl's operatives who were sent unwillingly to the U.S. to straighten out problems became addicted to the Home Shopping Network.

Science Fair is a book that definitely would appeal to kids, with its mix of humor and action. In fact, I loaned it to one of my sixth graders after I finished and he read the entire book in a single day. It would also appeal to adults who can enjoy a book that doesn't take itself seriously.

#43: Dave Barry's History of the Millennium (So Farr)

This was the first book I read by Dave Barry that was written for adults. (I read Peter and the Starcatchers a while back, and I used to read his newspaper column.) The book was very quick to read and amusing. Barry poked fun at various subjects through history. He started with a single chapter covering the years 1000-1999, then adds a chapter for each year up through 2006. He mocks all of the major scandals and news stories from each year, such as the 2000 presidential election and the Y2K hype. Still, while the book was enjoyable while I read it, nothing really stuck with me that I can remember a month after finishing it. It served its purpose as a way to occupy my time on a couple of car trips.

#42:Cryptid Hunters

Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith is about people who are looking for creatures long thought to be extinct. Marty and Grace, 13-year-old twins, are attending a Swiss boarding school when they receive news that their parents have disappeared. They are sent to live with their Uncle Travis on an island off the coast of Washington state. They find out about their uncle's passion for hunting cryptids, or hidden creatures, and see the array of gadgets he has at his compound.

After unsuccessfully lobbying their uncle to take them with him to the African jungle on a research trip, Grace and Marty are on their uncle's plane heading back to school, when they are unexpectedly dropped into the jungle with his supplies while roaming the cargo hold. This leads to their struggle for survival against the forces of nature, as well as their uncle's rivals.

Cryptid Hunters did a good job developing the characters of Marty and Grace, so I was interested in finding out what would happen next. It had a lot of action that young readers would enjoy, but did not stand out to me.

#41: A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson came highly recommended to me by a coworker because of my penchant for hiking and the outdoors. This book describes the author's experience attempting to hike the Appalachian Trail. Bryson, who was born and raised in the U.S., had recently returned and taken up residency in Hanover, NH. As a way to refamiliarize himself with his homeland, he decided to hike the Appalachian Trail from beginning to end, despite having very little backpacking experience. He also brought along his childhood friend, Stephen Katz, who was not known for making good decisions.

The bulk of the book is about Bryson's adventures (and misadventures) while hiking the trail. He describes in detail the scenery and the feeling of accomplishment that one gets from the spectacular view at the top of the mountain. He also describes the various characters he meets along the way, such as a woman who talked incessantly who tagged along with him for a period of time, as well as a group of snooty hikers he met on a rainy evening who were unwilling to share a limited amount of space.

Whether you are an experienced hiker or not, A Walk in the Woods is an enjoyable read. Like in his other works, Bryson uses humor to keep the book moving quickly and to make his story more interesting.