Tatoosh

My mother recently wrote to me asking about the Tatoosh range in Washington. It is a few miles to the south of Mt. Rainier, separated by a valley with waterfalls, lakes and the headwaters of the Nisqually and Paradise Rivers. The range has over a half dozen peaks, all around 6000ft. Pinnacle, Denman, Plummer, Lane, Eagle and Chutla peaks are the more prominent ones, and The Castle. All these pictures were taken looking south from Paradise. Mt Adams can be seen on the horizon in a few of the pictures.

I have seen it many times, but have only been there once. I hope to change that in the future. The Tatoosh range is in the background of many of the pictures, but should be easy to identify.

The next three pictures were taken on a training trip to the Nisqually Glacier in June 06.

This picture was taken on a Snowshoeing trip in December 05. It was a perfectly clear day, with crisp temperatures and nothing but a light breeze all day.

This picture was taken the next day on an attempt at reaching Camp Muir. It was still clear, but we had to face strong winds with a nasty wind chill before turning back. Mt Adams is on the horizon on the left, and Mt. St. Helens on the right.

These two were taken on the Muir Snowfield on my third attempt at Camp Muir, when I finally made it in June 06.

This is the only trip that I've actually made to the Tatoosh. The picture is of Me and Josh at the crest of the ridge near Chutla Peak. We thought it was Chutla peak, but we couldn't see much at the time.

R&R Olympics Hike

My wife thought that I needed a new post here. So she posted these pictures for me, practically forcing me to write something new. It will have to be all about the pictures, because i hardly even do anything at work and have spent 99% of the last 3 weeks in a 1 square mile area, and the 1% hasn't been much further. It's quite boring and I'd like to do something else soon. Like this...

The first weekend in February I was still on leave and realized the Super Bowl was coming up soon. So I called Daniel and we both agreed that spending an afternoon and evening hiking through the rain, sleet and snow in the woods near a lake would be a wonderful way to spend Super Bowl Sunday. After some discussion, we decided to drive in the direction of the Olympics and see what happened.

I decided we should visit the Lake Cushman area, because I'd never been there before. The weather was great for hiking. It snowed some, rained a bit and did nothing for a while. We saw some very pretty cloud formations at dusk. The lake was very peaceful and very gray. If I'd had more time, it would have been a great weekend to go camping.

Mud and Music

It has rained for the past two nights, and most of the area is covered in think, sticky, gluey mud. Whenever I walk in it, it gets stuck in the tread and around the edges of my boots. Small rocks will often stick to the mud on my boots until I scrape them off on something, or if I’m walking in gravel, every step will fling rocks behind me. This is perfect mud for flinging and driving my Xterra through, but it’s horrible for living in. The drainage is so bad that it takes 3-4 days without rain for the mud to dry up. It the mean time it’s everywhere. I have to take my boots off as soon as I get in my room to keep it clean, and I try to avoid leaving my room so I don’t have to deal with mud. At work, it’s unavoidable. My job takes me to all the muddiest places on the base. My HMMV is filthy because I’ve had to get inside it many times with half an inch (no joke) of mud caked on my boots.

When it first started to rain, I had a great time driving through the dirt areas of the base in my HMMV. It was part of my job, and I thought I was immune to the mud and rain. It would drift a bit, but I was in an open area and had plenty of room. As it rained more, the mud got worse and the turret started to leak on me. At about midnight, I parked the truck a few feet from a ditch to wait, and I put it in park, I felt the vehicle shift. I decided that wasn’t the place to be, and put the truck in drive and tried to get away, but the weight of the vehicle sunk down into the ditch until I was stuck, passenger side down at a 30-40 degree angle. The door on an armored HMMV weights several hundred pounds so if I wanted out my only option was to crawl out through the turret hatch. I had two radios, but my only contact on one was unavailable, and I was trying to avoid calling my own unit on the other and telling them I’d gotten stuck in a HMMV. A few people stopped by to see how I was, but it was 20 minutes before someone came that could help. They had an armored vehicle with a winch and were able to pull it out. I looked in the ditch and saw that my front right tire had been 8 inches deep in the bottom of the ditch. The right side of the truck also took a thorn bush out with it, and I left it there for more of the night. In the morning I had to get rid of the evidence so no one would ask me how it got there. The right side of the vehicle was dirtier than the left, but I could just blame that on the mud. I had friends that could have gotten me out, but it would have taken some more time.

Since I’ve been back from leave and developing a routine, I’ve started to work out more. Normally I like to run outside, but I do my workouts at the end of my shift at night, so I’d need a light to run at night, which I didn’t have for a while. When I went to the gym, I found that treadmills can be pretty boring. There’s just nothing to but stay there and tread and count the time until my programmed exertion is over. At least running outside there is the change of scenery and it actually seems like I am moving. To solve this problem I decided to do what everyone else was doing and buy an armband for my ipod. Yesterday I went to the gym with my ipod proudly strapped to my bicep, turned up the Relient K and found out that ipods have much in common with alcohol. Not only did it lower my inhibitions and ability to make wise decisions, I just couldn’t stop. I spent about 20 minutes more in the gym than I had planned, and that’s a lot for me.

I’ve never had too much to drink in a public place, but I imagine if I did someone might come up to me and want to hang out or something. Having lost the ability to make good decisions, I’d say “Sure, that a great idea”

So this yesterday I was just there in the gym, minding my own business when the cross country skiing machine caught my attention and asked me to come run with her at her pace. Normally I would have declined but me and my ipod said, “Sure, that’s a great idea, we’ll run at your pace, and then even faster” Or something like that.

The end result was the same. I woke up in the afternoon sore, and asked myself “What was I thinking?” At least I’ll get something out of this though. I’m taking the morning off today, but tomorrow I’ll be back, and maybe the Stairmaster will be there too.

Coming Soon: Another post

The wireless internet is down in my room, and thumb drives have been banned from the post. So right now I have no way to post anything until I get wired again. When that happens I'll post something new and possibly even entertaining.

By popular demand...

My leave was a wonderful time but all too short. It was refreshing, and gave me new energy to face the new challenges in what’s left of this deployment. Despite being delayed at every step in the journey, my return to Iraq went well and much fast than I expected. Everything went wrong, but it didn’t’ bother me. I would have liked to at least get off the plane in Budapest.

Now that I am back with my unit, I face several new challenges. The most challenging of them are boredom, safety and office life. I’ve been moved to night shift temporarily which is nice, but quiet. I’m just not used to working with people whose idea of a bad morning is coming in to work with no hot coffee waiting for them. A month ago the coffeemaker broke and it was an event to remember.

It’s still cold here. It hasn’t snowed in a while and I don’t expect it to, but it will likely rain more, and we will have more wind storms. The rich soil and poor drainage conspire to make a sticky muck that has the consistency of pea soup with glue mixed in.

I received a random care package recently. This one was unusual because it contained a rap CD, some energy drinks, energy bars and vitamin drink powder. Getting those kinds of things made go “hmm”. So I looked, and sure enough, it came from CA. At least they sent me some Girl Scout cookies too.

Vacation

I am now on my way back to Iraq. 18 days of leave didn’t go by as fast as I thought they would but still too fast for me. It seemed that as soon as I got used to being home it was time to go.

On my first leg from Seattle to Dallas there were vacancies in first class to the flight crew went through the plane and selected the youngest soldiers to fill the seats. The seat was comfortable and the food was good. The plane landed early, but was delayed on the ground in Dallas so that I missed my next flight, along with several other soldiers. The army bought us rooms in a nice local hotel and I might be flying another day.

Leavenworth, WA

Returning Home

I started my long journey home on the 16^th, with a night flight in a US Army Blackhawk helicopter to a nearby base. I love flying in Blackhawks and wish the ride had been longer. I was surprised with how many lights I saw. The country below me looked just like any other that I’m used to seeing from the air at night. To the south I could see an expanse of lights that I assumed was Baghdad. To the north I could see another city, and many small houses or villages in between.

I arrived at the passenger terminal of this other base, and to my dismay I was told to come back in 48 hours, on the night of the 18^th. I checked into the temporary lodging and tried to find something to do for the time. On the night of the 17^th I decided to stay up all night to readjust to Pacific time. This turned out to be a good idea, but one that was not well timed. I had an accountability formation that I had to go to at 1445, which meant I could not sleep the whole day.

On the evening f the 18^th, I packed all my bags and reported to the terminal. After an hours wait I was told that I’d been manifested on a flight in8 hours, at 0730. I’d slept most of the day, so there was no sleeping that night, but my Brigade’s point of contact at the terminal was kind enough to let me hang out in his office and the night passed quickly.

On the morning of the 19^th, I boarded a C-130 cargo plane and flew to Kuwait. This was where I realized my timing in staying up all night was not the best. The flight took two hours and by 1400 I was in a briefing in Kuwait. I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that I would not fly to the US until the 20^th. I had another briefing in the evening, and then was free for the night.

Despite hardly sleeping that day, I wanted to try to remain in one time zone, so I waited until 0200 before boredom and exhaustion got the better of me. I slept until 0630, and then had another briefing at 0730 where I learned my itinerary for the next 24 hours. I also learned that I would arrive in Dallas at around 1200 but not leave for Seattle until 1730. I was not happy about the long layover. I had a short break from 0900 to 1200 and I tried to find another book because I knew I would finish my two during the travel.

At 1245 we started our finial briefings and manifesting for the flight. I was glad to have something to do, but we still had 12 hours before departure. I volunteered for baggage detail so I would have something to do, and it was a wise choice. The detail was the first to go through customs, and then we assisted the rest of the passengers going through. My bag was X-rayed and then thoroughly searched. We had about two hours of downtime after customs and then 1800 started the final roll call and boarded buses to the airport. Since I was on the baggage detail I got to walk around in the belly of the aircraft and stow everyone’s checked baggage. It was hard work because the ceiling was a few inches shorter than me.

The flight from Kuwait was one of the most torturous things I have endured while not actually training. Every seat on the plane was filled, and I spent 19 hours out of 24 in the air. Our first stop was in Leipzig Germany, where the current temperature was warmer than Iraq was when I left it. I am fortunate that our 9 hour leg over the Atlantic took place at night both over the Atlantic and PST, so I remember little of it. It was the best part of the trip.

When we got off the plane at Atlanta, we had to go through customs and security again, and then get back on the plane to go to Dallas. About half the soldiers got off at Atlanta, which made the trip to Dallas more comfortable.

About two hours later we arrived at Dallas Ft. Worth. When I left the gate and walked into the terminal, there was a large crowd of people waiting for us with signs and applause. Even the people waiting at he gates nearby stood up and clapped for us, and there were many people waiting to shake our hands and thank us. We went to the customs section where some people were waiting to stamp our leave paperwork and then we were free. The next stop was baggage claim where some ambassadors employed by DFW had lists of all the outbound flights and was ready to tell us how to get on the next thing leaving for our hometown. When I left baggage claim, another crowd was waiting for us with more signs, cheer and applause. The Girl Scouts were there handing out boxes of cookies, and the Boy Scouts handed out bottled water. Two ladies at the door asked each soldier where they were going and pointed out the proper bus to get on. When I got the Alaska Airlines counter the early flight had sold out, but I was put on standby with about ten other soldiers. The airline was kind enough to allow soldiers in uniform to board at the same time as the first class passengers, but we were all on standby. A little more than half of the soldiers that were on the list got a seat, and my name was one of the first called.

The Alaska Airlines flight crew was very professional even without the special courtesy that they showed us. The flight offered food for purchases and the rental of portable DVD players and the attendants refused to take any money from us, and offered the services free of charge. The soldiers sitting next to me slept through the lunch offering. When the flight attendant saw they had awakened she offered them lunch, and the cost was not even discussed.

It feels different to be home, but not nearly so much as it did after my first deployment. I’ve spent the last few years coming and going so much we seem to just pick up where we left off when I do get home. It helped that I was able to have so much communication with home while I was away. My wife did all the driving until we went to Leavenworth and I was sure I was comfortable with having rules to driving.

Winter in the Desert

I most unusual event occurred this morning. I first noticed it when my roommate left early in the morning to take a shower and remarked in surprise that it was snowing outside. I was only half awake at the time, but upon hearing this I was instantly awake. i got up and opened the door to see if it was true, and just as quickly shut the door because it was true and i was only wearing shorts and a shirt. It snowed well into the morning, and at least made today stand out from the last 10 days I've done nothing walk to the office and back. It melted on the ground, but stuck until after lunch in most other places. By afternoon the clouds had moved on but the cold had not. By 9pm the snow had been replaced by ice and mud. Thick gooey mud that sticks to my boots and build up until after 50 feet i've got an inch of mud on the bottom of my boot, and every step I take flings gravel behind me.

Happy New Year?

30 December 2007

My friends and I had planned to go out to the ruins and have bonfire and do some recreational training with our M4’s and an M249 for New Years, but plans have changed. I have been reassigned to another Company within the Battalion. I will be working within my Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) in this new job, but I will leave the Company I’ve grown to love.

I’m better now, but I felt sad when I packed up and left yesterday. My Company often felt dysfunctional, but it was a dysfunctional family. I have never in my military career felt so sad to leave a unit. Part of it was the people, and part of it was that I loved the job and the unit we worked with. Despite being in Iraq, I felt like I was leaving a home. I am truly proud to have been a part of this unit for the last year, because this company was one that I could be proud of. My chain of command cared about the soldiers and was easy to work with. Every one worked hard, we always got the mission done, and accomplished more with less than any other company in the Battalion.

Another sad part about the move is that I will be leaving a job out on the road and going to one in the office. I am not much of an office person anymore. I will be seeing the same sights every day, and have few new things to see. There will be little reason to learn Arabic because I won’t be interacting with the local much anymore. I will not be eating or drinking chai with the interpreters late at night. I will not be greeting the Iraqi mechanic in Arabic and learning a bit more when I see him every few days. I will not going to range anymore, or driving a pickup. I will not have the dogs or the cat anymore, because I left them behind at another base. I will not be shopping anymore, because I will be nowhere near the local markets. The only physical danger I will face is the possibility of infected paper cuts. It will be a good move for my career, and in time I will grow to accept the change, but I will still miss my old company. Perhaps one day I will change my MOS or unit to one that spends more time outside the office.

I spent most of today moving into my new living quarters. I now live in a 20x8 foot containerized housing unit (CHU). I share it with another person. It is smaller than the space I had to myself before, but it is enough. I got a bunk bed and put it up on block so I can store things above and below my bed. I also have a real desk which I am thankful for.

In the afternoon I went shopping and treated myself to a late Christmas present. I finally bought the Surefire flashlight that I had been wanting for the last nine months. The Surefire is an amazing flashlight about the size of a mini Maglight that puts out as much light as a full size four D cell Maglight. I also bought a little green LED light the size of my little finger that puts out a lot of light for its size. I was also finally able to make some of the nice gourmet hot cocoa that my wonderful wife sent me. It was helpful in combating the cold desert night.

My mailing address has also changed. I will soon send an email to my family with the new address. If you did not get the email, and wish to send me LETTERS and NOT packages (I have no need for them, and too little space as it is) contact me or my family for it.

Because my life is going to get much more monotonous, I do not expect to be writing as much as I have been recently. Check back occasionally, maybe I’ll get an infected paper cut, or something interesting will happen. I’ll write something while on vacation for sure.

P.S. For some unknown reason the software would not permit a more aesthetically pleasing layout for the pictures.