Little Package Blog

Under the Bridge
2016.04.30
Hayduke, Latergram
Part two of two of my “Ain’t Too Proud” series. Ain’t too proud to sleep under a bridge. Maybe really stupid, considering it’s raining and this is BUCKSKIN WASH, but not proud. I got rocked to sleep by the sound of semi trucks roaring by above (soothing because it reminds me of living in my van), bumped out of sleep by rats scampering over my bed roll and other unidentifiable animal sounds, and *really* stared down and mooed at in the morning by cattle who really envied my dry spot. I had lots of deep thoughts and internal dialogue about the allegory of sleeping under a bridge or settling at a crossroads such as this, but I’m pretty sure Hanta or Bubonic is already chewing through my […]

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Ponderosa
2016.04.29
Hayduke, Latergram
Those black clouds hit like a wall and found me huddled under a ponderosa, eating clams and Reese’s peanut butter and trying to look cool. Joery came up behind me in his ridiculous turquoise poncho and announced that the old LeFevre shack was less than 100ft from where I was huddled so we went there and stayed slightly more dry, signed the walls like everyone else before us had (Joery did the classic three letter Dutch word for “crazy man” and I drew a pentagram), recoined it the Hanta Hovel, then I left him there BECAUSE I HIKE ALONE. Honestly I was in my happy place with all that giant, wet sage – so fragrant… Ecstasy!

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TCPDF Performances
WordPress Plugins
Make sure to test your watermarking thoroughly before going live! TCPDF is a fallible third-party library which does its best to parse/understand and re-write your PDF with your desired changes (watermarks/encryption/etc), but it cannot possibly work on all PDFs and on all servers 100% of the time. Stay realistic, think carefully through the process, plan, and do your testing. PHP Version You should be running at least PHP version 5.6 for the plugin to work, but higher that for it to work WELL. WordPress recommends you run PHP version 7.2 or higher. Our plugins are PHP version 8.3 compatible, so don’t hesitate to upgrade after making backups. PHP 7.0 is twice as fast for WordPress as PHP 5.6, and processes demands much more efficiently! Updating the PHP […]

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Bryce 1 of 3
Hayduke, Latergram
A little 8-mile walk through Bryce this morning to pick up my backcountry permit and bear vault. Crossing my Ts and dotting my Is, cuz I’m a goodie two shoes. Permits were easy because as fate would have it I met the cool ranger, Amanda, in February when we were both hiking the Super Bloom in Death Valley (cool, huh Pepperflake ?) No hassle about weather, being solo, bear safety, elevation, water sources etc etc. It helps when the ranger already knows you’re nuts (😉 @muddyhikingboots). I got hailed on the second I left the Visitor Center, but the sun poking through clouds and glancing off these steeples, sometimes making them look translucent, was worth the mild discomfort. “Feels like” temp was 32° but tons of foreign […]

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Willis Creek Falls
2016.04.24
Hayduke, Latergram
On this hike through Utah desert in this wet(ter) year, finding water isn’t the problem. It’s just that you can’t choose when and where you find it, it may or may not taste like it’s run through 10,000 cow pies (and it likely has), and it might be just a tiny trickle. I found this shortly before booking myself a nice little cabin near Bryce (for my second zero in 31 days) and was torn. But not so torn that I didn’t tear off my backpack and half my clothes and get under it immediately. Pretty cold, way too much water pressure, uncertain soft sinking sandy pool bottom. But for the second time in a month I was wetting my hair, and it felt so good. I […]

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Willis Creek
2016.04.23
Hayduke, Latergram
Played my luck in two sets of narrows today against my totally inaccurate weather forecast for rain – Bull Valley Gorge and Willis Creek. This is Willis Creek narrows, much more accessible and not filled with shoe sucking mud (and snow patches!) like Bull Valley Gorge was. To fit these both in and get to town for FOOD I walked 18 backcountry miles today. By 3pm. I think I’m getting better at this walking thing but the calorie demands are ridiculous so the clear answer is to SLOW DOWN. New daily mile goal: 15 miles a day. I want to savor this better. It’s so savory!

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Yellow Mountain
2016.04.21
Hayduke, Latergram
Currently on top of Yellow Mountain near the bottom of Hackberry Canyon, some 5500 feet tall, and a mile and 800ft up off my route, just to watch the sun set and sleep out under the full moon. The surface looks like giant SKIN, it’s breezy, and there is nowhere to take cover. It looks like the moon using Google Earth. Fantastich advice from my imaginary trail boyfriend, who is real (if that makes sense) but not my boyfriend at all (more of a stalker), and Flemish, and hiking a couple days ahead of me and probably also having the same going-out-of-his-mind-hiking-solo-imagination-stuff going on. Also thank you to Will, who I found today sitting at a spring with his beagle, for letting me see your amazing handmade, […]

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420
Hayduke, Latergram
Yesterday I got to the head of the Round Valley Draw slot canyon, where a gash opens in a wash so narrow you can straddle it, but deep! The gash stays narrow and the hole gets deeper, the fun is going in. Tired and a bit nervous about the drop in (lowering my backpack with rope, getting myself down, etc) I started to make camp. Suddenly I was seized! Get in there! Not like it’s going to be warm or even lit in the morning! So I dropped in, easy peasy. Looked at my clock, 4:20, so I made a quick self portrait, 4:21. Best high EVAR. Happy 4/20

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