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Showing posts from December 23, 2012

Wyoming and Idaho

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We are back from a quick vacation. I managed to score three (actually several more) bucket list items in 4 days. 1.) Long Snowmobile Trip. 2.) Yellowstone Park and 3.) Wyoming. I reached my 50th State --Wyoming! And we took a 90 mile snowmobile trip in Yellowstone National Park. We went to the "Craters of the Moon--National Monument and Preserve" in Idaho and also stopped at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) where I got to see (with my own eyes) the very cool nuclear powered twin turbojet engine. It was a successful experiment in the 1950s and 1960s. https://whatisnuclear.com/safety-minutes/htre-3-meltdown.html Of course, I had my Radiacode scintillation detector with me and yes, the apparatus is "Hot". The screenshot of the readings from my three walk-arounds the artifact. I swear you could smell the radiation. There was a very un-natural burnt smell something reminiscent of burned bakelite. Although, I am quite certain the emitted radition was not the source...
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I am back from my hiking and camping trip on the Appalachian trail in North Georgia. I went solo. They call it hiking, but it is really mountain climbing. When you are on the AT and you see a mountain ahead, you can be pretty sure you will be hiking to the summit. One of the benefits of winter hiking is that you can see the mountains more clearly since the canopy is not obscuring them as much. The area has lots of black bears. I have to admit I thought a little of them. Although, I certainly did not get preoccupied with the thoughts of bears. I slept long and hard. I awoke about 3:00 AM by a large tree falling in the forest. I guess I was supposed to be there to hear it fall. I am sure no other human heard it. It was rainy, and cold about half the time, but absolutely manageable. I did some night hiking as well. At some points, the fog was so thick I had a hard time seeing the trail. It was a little bit extreme and a very good way to spend Christmas.