I have many interests, but not enough time to do more than a few at one time. As a result, there are a few things that I do for fun at present, and a whole lot of things that I have done in the past, and hope to return to in future.
Making Hiking Comfortable
Something that’s a little different is my ongoing development and exploration of hiking technology. This started out as an outgrowth of my hiking objective, which was to become completely comfortable in the outdoors.
One way to address this is to adopt some of the ideas behind ultralight hiking. On my first long distance hike, I was surprised to see people stroll by my friend Richard and I. They seemed to be carrying almost nothing in their tiny packs! Clearly, I was doing something wrong with m 33 kg (72 lb.) pack.
These days, all of the unnecessary equipment has been shed, everything is half the weight it once was, items have two or three uses, and I travel two to three times as far with a smaller starting weight. I borrow a lot of ideas from the ultralight hiking movement when these are a good fit. Not all of these are appropriate for the Pacific Northwest; temperate rainforests are somewhat unforgiving, so anything that increases my risk of hypothermia quickly gets filtered out.
This interest is a bit of a “slow burn” out of caution — I don’t want critical equipment to break when I’m out of touch. On the other hand, the right equipment can help me to avoid sticky situations. I once ended up spending a beautiful summer night on the side of a mountain because my planned solo hike took too long. I met some very nice and tired Search and Rescue volunteers the next morning who were looking for me. I realized that not having a phone and GPS receiver had caused others to risk their lives to find me. Not cool.
Today I hike with a well-tested GPS navigation app on a well-tested pocket computer. It is waterproof, held in an armored case, and is attached to my pack by a lanyard. The computer also plays music, movies, displays novels, contains field guides and manuals, plays podcasts and has astronomy apps. This amazing device can even be used to make phone calls!
I carry multiple backups of all critical systems (fire-making, navigation, communication, power, food, clothing). Hiking gives me ideas for equipment improvements and changes to equipment need to the thoroughly tested. This leads to a virtuous circle of sport and hobby. As much as possible, I reduce my risk, and try to identify possible modes of failure.
Two years ago, while hiking in an area without cell phone coverage, we were approached by a group who required burn medication and pain relievers because one of their people had been seriously burned. The area was far from cell phone coverage, and one member had to run about 7 km to the nearest vehicle and drive to the nearest town to summon a helicopter. As soon as I could scrape up the cash, I added a two-way satellite communicator to my equipment list.
Looking More Deeply into Solar Photovoltaics
The focus on power production and storage while hiking has led me to work towards an increased focus on alternative energy while in the office. I’m currently investigating whether the combination of LiDAR and GIS can be used to accurately predict power production from solar arrays on residential roofs.
Keeping Abreast
Another interest that I have is keeping abreast of happenings in the world around me. I periodically read three or four international newspapers every week online. On some topics, particularly science and spaceflight, I go to specialized websites on a regular basis.
On The Shelf
In the past, I’ve had many other hobbies, and if I had unlimited time, I’d be active in all of them! These include:
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Celtic Knot window hanger, 2004
Stained glass: I’ve wanted to move from smaller pieces into building windows for my house, but this is extremely time consuming, and I would need to set up a proper workshop.
- Remote Control Aircraft and Amateur Rocketry: Fun hobbies that become very expensive in only a few unfortunate seconds.
- Languages: I would love to master several world languages, so that I could travel the world with ease, but there’s currently no time. Currently, I can manage in French and was working on Russian for work several years ago.
- Astronomy: At various times I’ve called myself an amateur astronomer, but this is an all-consuming hobby because of the time and equipment involved.