Californian Adventures

Winter in the Marble Mountains

2008-11-14T13:36:00.001-08:00

There's nothing quite like a good stomp around in pristine knee deep powder to get yourself excited about the upcoming ski season. My friend Drew and I lead a group of completely random folks on a 14 mile trail in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, a sub-range of the Klamath Mountains. A six hour drive north of Berkeley the Marble Mountain Wilderness lies beyond Mount Shasta, the second most southern of the Cascades, close to the Oregon border. We drove up on Friday night arriving at the trailhead parking and campsite just after midnight, just in time to pitch our tents before the heavens opened. At 4200 feet, all this precipitation was rain which soaked pretty much everything before we had even started hiking. The hike headed along the side of a colorful canyon before emerging into what would have been a green meadown had it not been for the thick snow cover. At this altitude the snow was only a few inches deep and gave the whole scenery an fabulous wintery feel. As we passed through another meadow and a series of frozen lakes, the snow starting falling. Soon it was more like a blizzard with periods of full white out conditions. At this point we began to ascend on to the ridge line where the trail meets the Pacific Crest Trail. Here the snow was knee deep and occasionally waist deep in the drifts. Drew did a sterling job kicking a trail up to the ridge line. At this point darkness had begun to descend and all hopes of reaching the summit lake camp had been thrown out of the window and we were just happy to find a good sheltered spot in the trees at the start of the 2 mile ridge traverse. Here we made camp and attempted to stay warm until first light.

Early the following morning we woke up to freezing cold boots and in some cases frozen trousers and socks - nice! We continued along the ridge, joining up with the Pacific Crest Trail. The snow along the ridge line was mostly knee deep and after half an hour or so everyone's feet had pretty much defrosted their frozen boots. The views done into the Valleys either side of the ridge were spectacular although the freezing fog and low level cloud prevented us from more far reaching vistas of Mount Shasta and beyond. The trail itself was almost completely lost in the snow forcing us to resort to the map and compass at times or to Erica's amazing ability to spot the slightest hint of the trail under all that snow. The chutes and routes through the trees looked so perfect for some backcountry skiing and myself and Drew were cursing that our gear was in the shop getting waxed ready for next season - these untouched slopes and pristine fluffy powder would have been awesome to ride down - we'll just have to wait until xmas at Lake Tahoe and new years at Whistler/Blackcomb.

Welcome to Winter!

Cheers,
Dave

Election Night Done Right

2008-11-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

The almost FINAL results from last Tuesday, Missouri is still to be officially called though at this point it is irrelevant which way it swings:

Fright Night - Mario Kart Stylee!

2008-11-03T09:45:00.001-08:00

Halloween night - the photos speak a thousand words and yes I was Bowser:

Indecision '08: 6 days to Election Night

2008-10-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Only 6 days left on the campaign trail before America decides who should replace George W. Bush as President! Its hard to imagine that either candidate, Barack Obama (Democrat) and John McCain (Republican), wouldn't do a better job since the bar has been set so low over the last 8 years. Its a fiercely fought contest that's being going on for what seems like forever, it will be good to have it finally come to an end next Tuesday.

I think one of the most defining moments in the race and one that is still extremely important going into the vote next week was the candidates choice of running mates or the Vice Presidential candidate. Early on many people argued that Obama did not have enough experience especially of foreign policy - so wisely he chose Joe Biden, a Senator from Delaware with plenty of both to be his running mate. McCain, with more than his fair share of years in public office, chose to appeal to the more hard line members at the heart of the Republican party by choosing Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska who has very little experience but who believes in drilling oil in the National Parks of Alaska, enjoys hunting from helicopters and who believes the Earth was made some 3000 years ago! A satire show here called Saturday Night Live (SNL) thats been going for eons, does a brilliant take off of Palin with Tina Fey playing the role of Palin (she is the spitting image)! One particularly entertaining sketch was poking fun of Palin's view that there is no such thing as man made climate change, the skit goes "global warming is not man made its just God hugging us a bit tighter!" Hmmm.....quite amusing but also scary that she could end up in the white house, especially with McCain being so old, he's 72, there are concerns he may have health problems during his time in office such that she may, if elected, have the reigns of the worlds most powerful country! The entire McCain picking Palin, a hockey mom, had Matt Damon say that it was like "the premise for a really bad Disney movie"! And thanks to the folks at www.collegehumor.com, there is now a trailer for this bad Disney movie, amusingly entitled "head of skate", check it out here.

Fingers crossed for next week....I'm throwing a party to hopefully celebrate Obama as the next President or to coordinate a mass exodus to Mexico or Canada if the other guy wins!!

Wish us luck....

Dave

Love Fest: Birds Eye View

2008-10-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Just to show you that its more than a little popular, here's an aerial shot of the party outside City Hall....

LoveFest '08

2008-10-30T08:31:00.001-07:00

In the spirit of a true San Fransisco experience we donned ridiculous hats and loud shirts and heading to the city for the annual LoveFest parade and party!

A parade of floats hosting various "local" dance DJ's heads down Market Street in the city aroudn lunchtime and ending up outside the City Hall and Civic Center where the floats continue to blare out loud dance music for revellers to soak up amid booze soaked carnage. What more do I need to say!

Gotta love the party.....

Dave

Brews on the Bay 2008

2008-10-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

For the last 5 years the San Fransisco Brewers Guild have put on a beer festival to show off the finest of SF many microbrews. Entertaining it is hosted on the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, a liberty ship built during world war two. Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during the war. They were British in conception but adapted by the U.S., cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by German U-boats, they were purchased for the U.S. fleet and for lend-lease provision to Britain. Eighteen American shipyards built 2,751 Liberties between 1941 and 1945, easily the largest number of ships produced to a single design. Its quite a location for a beer festival I can tell you!

There were 7 or 8 breweries present and despite what you might think about American beer, budwesier being the major export, the ales were both varied and some were really tasty! Ale drinkers of Britain would have been proud and there were views of Alcatraz and guns to mess around once you sampled all of the aforementioned brews!

Happy days!

Dave

Conquering Half Dome!

2008-10-11T11:59:00.001-07:00

Half Dome is one of the most well known landmarks in Yosemite National Park and has been photographed many times by Californian icon Ansel Adams. As late as the 1870s, it was considered perfectly inaccessible, but now it can be ascended in several different ways. The easiest way ended being close to a 20 mile round trip after all the extra stomping around between Curry Village and the trailhead. The hiking trail begins in the Valley and culminates in climbing up the somewhat rounded east face with the aid of steel cables. It is 8836 ft above sea level and 4737 ft above the Valley floor which coupled with the 10 mile approach hike makes this a very strenous hike.

Earlier in the summer, myself and three of my friends (L-R, above right; Drew, me, Silvano and Allesandro) duly took up the challenge and can attest that as a day trip it is a stout proposition. The trail runs up the infamous mist trail, that leads to the John Muir trail, over Vernal and Nevada falls and then skirts the base of Half Dome before ascending the east face. We hit the trail around 5:30am and were on top by 10:30am just in time to avoid the overcrowded cables. In all honesty the cables are a little sketchy and I had heard that several people have slipped and fallen to their deaths,. We were not taking any chances and took climbing harnesses so we could clip in to the cables - this was a very shrewd idea as it turns out especially on the way down when there were far more people than was really safe.

Other peak bagged, bring on Mount Shasta next year!

Dave

The BIG 30: More flags, more fun!

2008-05-26T18:04:00.002-07:00

So it finally crept up on me, yep you guessed it the big three zero - I am now officially no longer in my twenties! Clearly, theres only one way to cope with the drastic realization that your getting old and thats to embrace your inner youth with a day thrill seeking at an amusement park. Our destination was the Six Flags discovery kingdom in Vallejo, 30 miles north of Berkeley.

Obviously, we did it in true style starting with vodka shots and chocolate cake (thanks to Anne for the baking work there) at 10:30am in the car park. The park is a sort of strange arrangement with lots of animal attractions since it use to be marine world prior to the arrival of rollercoasters some 10-15 years ago. The newest two coasters being absolutely bloody awesome. (1) Vertical velocity (which being nerdy scientists we dubbed V squared), see top left and top right in the photo, is the only 45 degree impulse rollercoaster in the world. The coaster’s track is essentially a large U shape that is loaded at the base and uses a series of linear motors to accelerate the train up each side of the track (0 - 60 mph in 4 seconds). These are similar to those used in the magnetic levitation trains. One side of the track is twisted track and the other side is a perfectly vertical straight track so you get some upside twisting on one end and the sense of weightlessness on the other with acceleration like being in a sports car between the two. (2) Medusa is one of the longest (0.75 miles), highest (150 feet) and fastest (65 mph) coasters in the United States and pulls 4.5 G at the bottom of the first big drop. As a souvenir we purchased (thanks Julie and Dave) the photo from the ride, see above, from the last ride of the day! V for victory!

What a great way to usher in the 3rd decade on planet Earth.
Let the good times roll!

Bay 2 Breakers 2008

2008-05-26T18:04:00.001-07:00

The bay to breakers event in San Fransisco is an annual foot race that starts on the BAY close to the Oakland Bay bridge on the East of the city and traverses directly west through the city and golden gate park culminating at the Pacific Ocean where the BREAKERS pound pacific beach. The race attracts close to 100,000 serious runners and almost as many less serious ones! We were, as the photos will confirm, in the less serious category.

It is the longest consecutively running footrace in the world and started in 1912, as a means to lift the City's spirit after the disastrous Earthquake of 1906, which was of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter Scale. Public nudity and open alcohol consumption are prohibited although in reality it was more like the norm. A friend lent me an old bridesmaid dress (thanks Julie) so it seemed wrong not to go as "The Prom Queen" - and it was quite a hit with the other race goers! In order to facilitate extreme amounts of drinking, my friend Drew and I built a rickety old booze truck from a cooler, some pink string and wood plus wheels from home depot. Surprisingly, it lasted pretty well - 6 miles before we lost a wheel, by which point the 60 cans, half a mini-keg and 2 litres of Caipirinha cocktail where significantly depleted to render the crippled cart unnecessary.

Happy Days!

A little, longer lasting fame.

2008-04-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

So I had my 15 minutes of fame, but heres a little, more long lasting fame - a photo I took in the summer of 2007 in Nice, France has been included in a online travel guide. Click here and then scroll down to the Port of Nice photograph and low and behold one of the 10 Port of Nice photos has my name on it! Very cool indeed - paparazzi career here I come!

'Sideways' the Russian Way.

2008-03-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sideways as many of you well versed cinema goers will know is a film set in the wine country of California. Its a curious yet strange tale of a two man stagdo with what else but wine of course. It is supposed to be based in the Russian River Valley, a mere hours drive from San Francisco, although it was actually filmed down in Paso Robles near Santa Barbara. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that due to the unique meteorology of the Valley's and the strong temperature fluctuations caused by the marine fog that drifts up from the San Francisco Bay every day, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes grow really well here. Being more a fan of the reds than the whites, it was the Pinot that I was interested in sampling and what better way than straight from the barrel during the 30th Annual Barrel tasting festival.

Team Europe (from Left to Right above Silvano, Italian; Martial, French; Elena, Spanish; Me, obvious; Luka, Italian) as we shall now be known successful managed to negotiate 5 vineyards, try significant amounts of awesome Pinot Noir, got some accidentally very well priced Pinot and only one of us got completely trashed - that was Luka - apparently he blames sleep deprivation, though I believe it had a little more to do with his efficiency at getting samples!. One of the vineyards (Armida) had a heaven/hell theme (weird but definitely original) - clearly we were in hell for some time since thats were they were dolling out the Zin and Pinot. The weather was of course, hot and sunny - well it is California after all!

Take care for now...
Dave

Fifteen minutes of fame, well sort of...

2008-01-24T10:08:00.000-08:00

So the say that everyone gets fifteen minutes of fame, so heres mine. The College of Natural Resources here at Cal has a magazine called Breakthroughs and we (myself and my boss Allen) featured in an article about the instrument we're developing. Follow the link to see the article:
http://nature.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs/break_feature1_fa07.php

Enjoy...

Dave

Colorado New Year and the great snowboarding saga!

2008-01-21T11:17:00.000-08:00

Following the success of new year in the snow at Lake Tahoe last year I journeyed east this year, in search of a real winter, to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. Fort Collins, home of the New Belgium Brewing Company, was the first destination to see in the new year at Chez Colette (photo 1). Colette having just moved there to start a professorship at Colorado State University. The new Belgium Brewery (http://www.newbelgium.com/index.php) were we spend new years eve with a tour and tastings would be a great place to work and not just because its a brewery! The company is a co-operative as in all the employees own a part of the business and therefore have a vested interest in the companies success. After one year of employment, a stake in the company is awarded along with a neat New Belgium bike. After 5 years, employees are rewarded with a week long trip to Belgium to learn skills from their master brewers. Recycling and sustainability also feature heavily and all the power generation comes from wind farms. All this and theres a slide that leads to the tasting room, what more could you ask for. Being Colorado (Denver is the mile high city, being a mile above sea level), there was plenty of snow, freezing temperatures, ice skating (photo 2; I'm the one on the floor, I suck at ice skating) and snowball/ice fights (photo 3). It was a classic way to send off 2007 and welcome in 2008 with a bang.

After new years I spent 5 days up at Winter Park in the Rockies learning to snowboard with Mike (english guy I met on a research course in France 6 years ago) and a bunch of his University friends from the UK. It was a tough first few days with multiple bruises and sore muscles before I final got the hang of it and was cruising down the pistes. For the final two days we were rewarded with real Colorado powder, 4 inches of fresh fluffy snow on the first day and 8 inches on the second. This was awesome and exactly what snowboards were designed to ride! I have truly been bitten by the snowboarding bug and this past weekend I was up at the Heavenly resort at Lake Tahoe with my housemate Lindsey and several of her friends to cruise the slopes. Two weeks previously Tahoe had had 12 feet of snow, I kid you not and although snow was not as fresh and fluffy the base was pretty damn thick and it was all good. The views from the top of the Mountain were impressive looking down over Lake Tahoe (photos 4 and 7) and for the Friday at least the slopes were not overcrowded (photo 6). An impromptu performance by the University of California's band (all the musicians on skis) added to the atmosphere (photo 5) and the fact that the Condo we we're staying in was 2 minutes from the ski lift and was free (the owners are friends of Lindseys parents) were definite bonuses.

Laters,

Dave

Happy Holidays 2007-2008!

2007-12-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends, Romans and Country-'blog reading'-folk,

Firstly, I wish everyone a very merry christmas and a fruitful and prosperous 2008!
And secondly apologize for having been a little slack with updating my blog. Its been really busy here since I got back from the woods (BEARPEX) in October. I will endeavorer to make a new years resolution to provide an increase in blog posting frequency.

I hope that all are well and I will no doubt be in touch with you soon.

Have a mulled wine on me and drink to the USA signing up to the Kyoto Protocol in 2008, we can but hope.

Cheers and all the best for now,

Dave

Frichalak Wedding, Traverse City Michigan.

2007-10-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

During the last weekend of September, myself and several of the Berkeley crew (Colette, Delphine and Tim) made the trip East to the shores of Lake Michigan for the wedding of Julie and Dave. It was a classic; it had hats (of the foam cowboy variety and the Canadian 'chapeau' type), plenty of Dave's (see photo bottom middle) including the father and grandfather of the bride, champagne (from the Napa Valley, California) of course, swimming in the 55F Lake Michigan, giant pumpkins (in the forecourt of a gas station, don't ask me), parkour with martinis (cosmopolitan ones as i recall) and of course a great wedding with the best vows I have ever heard! Once I get hold of more photos I will post them!

The only other small thing to mention is that i missed my first flight (missed the shuttle bus from the hotel by a whole 3 minutes) and that cause a few knock on effects which resulted in me arriving back at Blodgett some 30 hours late (after forcing Mike and Delphine to stay overnight in Reno to wait for me) and with a replacement hire car after the first got dinked proper by some huge SUV outside Reno airport....ruining my until that point clean driving licence! Boo..

TTFN,

Dave

BEARPEX field campaign - Blodgett Forest

2007-10-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

For the past 10 weeks I have been hauled up in the woods about 2 hours North East of Berkeley as part of the BEARPEX campaign. The site was located in Blodgett Forest, 2 miles away from
UC Berkeley's Forestry headquarters. The field deployment was focussed on studying the effects of the biogenic (natural vegetation) emissions from a predominantly Ponderosa Pine forest. The tower site is shown in photo 1 (and the view fromt he new tower at sunset is shown in photo 4), the new tower in the foreground to the right and the original tower in the background to the left. The deployment was long compared with other field campaigns that I had previously been involved with and there was barely time to keep up with the outside world. The purpose of the extended length was in principal to get enough weekends so as have good statistics for looking at the weekend/weekday differences. As it turns out it was necessary in order to overcome several major logistical problems mostly relating to power or should I say the lack of power. All this stemmed from changing the main site generator from diesel to propane. After two weeks or so these initial hiccups were overcome and the site was fully up and running.

There were some great people (graduate students, postdocs and principal investigators) from 9 different institutions from across the United States and these folks certainly helped to make the time pass more quickly and of course Stumpy Meadows (photo 2) - our local swimming hole. It was not all work, work, work and I got introduced to 'beerpong' - a US 'frat house' favourite on more than a few occasions, including a battleships versions (photo 3). The premise is simply you fill cups with beer at either end of a long table and then attempt to throw a ping pong ball into your opponents cups which they then have to drink. The first team to lose all their cups has to drink the remnants of their opponents. In principle a genius drinking game, except for the fact that we sucked at it and the games lasted far too long for anyone to actually get drunk! Glenn elected himself as social secretary and illustrated how much extra time you have when you only measure 3 things...sorry Glenn! But he did do a sterling job, from mulitple Beer pong adventures, to movie night and drinking with the dude (the big lebowski) - I felt pretty rough after that one, damn you natural ice! Already looking forward to the repeat offences likely in phase II next summer....NOT!!

Sorry to everyone for the lack of communication over the past few months, the satellite internet connection in the woods was terrible at best. Fortunately, I am now back in civilization and back on the grid so hopefully I will be able to catch up with you all soon.

Laters

Dave

#3 - "Slippery Melon Zest"

2007-08-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

So with the 10 week stretch in the forest approaching (the BEARPEX - Biosphere Effects on AeRosols and Photochemistry EXperiment or as Delphine christen it the "Bitter Experimentalists Always Repairing Pieces of Equipment eXperiment" since we all seemed to be having trouble getting our instruments to work pre-campaign) it seemed appropriate to have a pre-campaign party to celebrate the future absence of civilisation.

It was of course a true classic and would not have been complete without one of my now infamous cocktail concoctions. I had two hard acts to follow: the #1 "not as bad as I thought it would be" from the new years party at Lake Tahoe and #2 the "sorbet-rama" from Delphines Berkeley leaving party but the #3 "slippery melon zest" proved to be a willing contestant thanks in part to the zesting skills of Dave Michalak and the oversized Melon slices (which actually proved to be fundamental in order to prevent the Sambuca and Baileys mixing). My medicine ball again led to some entertaining moments as everyone tried to balance on it (not sure what Tim was trying to do, see bottom left photo)!

Heres to 10 weeks in the desolate forest with no TV, terrible internet and 12 miles to the nearest red neck hick bar. Bring on that post-BEARPEX party.

Cheers

Dave

Uncle Dave and the "Donner Party"

2007-07-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was climbing up in the Donner Memorial State Park at Donner Summit. This state park was named after the ill fated Donner Party. The Donner Party was a group of California bound American settlers caught up in the "westering fever" of the 1840's. After becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846 - 1847, some of the emigrants resorted to cannibalism. Although this aspect of the tragedy has become synonymous with the Donner Party in the popular imagination, it actually was a minor part of the episode. There were truly spectacular views of Donner Lake from the Summit climbing areas (photo) although the heat was a little hard to handle even at 7000 feet. The climbing, on Granite, was good but really paled in comparison to the huge and enormously impressive granite domes of the Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite NP, where I spent the previous weekend.

The Donner Pass is where the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States crosses the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This railroad linked the Eastern United States to California and the Pacific Coast and was completed in 1869. Its completion initiated a nationwide mechanised transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West. This network caused the wagon trains of previous decades to become obsolete, exchanging it for a modern transportation system. To protect the railroad and keep the tracks open year round, wooden sheds were constructed over the tracks (see top right photo below) especially during the heavy winter snowfalls.
Even more interesting is my recent ascension to the ranks of Uncle Dave - WOW do I sound old now! My niece, Teyha, was born on 16th July and weighed in at a health 7lbs something. I look forward to meeting her very soon but until then we will both just have to get by on on photos and stories alike.

Cheers

Dave

"Les cloches du mariage" at the Beau Rivage

2007-06-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

The 2nd of June saw the 2nd marriage of my under graduate "Derby Grove" housemates. This time it was Jon the Hands (and yes there were significant mentions of his gigantic digits during the Best Man's speech - nice one Phil!) finally marrying Paula after some 10 years together. It was a tremendous wedding, very befitting to both the Bride and Groom (see above), on the beachfront in Nice. They certainly broke some new ground with respect to some of the more traditional aspects of a wedding. There were 4 best men, the wedding ceremony was conducted by two of the best men and the top table was distinctly absent of any of the olds. Great food, plenty of booze and good weather (well for the most part) all added to the occasion and I was very happy to have made the 5000 mile trip and to have been apart of the celebrations!

Jon and Paula - I probably said it already but you guys are perfect for each other and I wish you all the happiness and success in your future together. See you both in a few weeks.

All the best,

Dave

Birthday Booze Up - Champagne Charlies Stylee

2007-06-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

What better way to see in my penultimate 20's birthday than drinking uncountable amounts of "Whallop" from pewter tankards at Champagne Charlies in Charing Cross with a selection of my favourite drinking partners! The reviews of the establishment were less than flattering but it was Friday in London and we had seats even though they were in a broom cupboard with out of control heating. In addition to the Whallop and some cheap champers there was cake though I only remember eating it after seeing the photos. I can't even remember who brought it so thanks!

Definitely feeling my age these days as I felt horrible for several days afterwards. I blame the jetlag myself, the farcical amount of booze could not have been a factor!

Cheers guys - it was a blast!

Dave

The Olds in CA

2007-06-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

Back in April, my Olds made their first visit to both the US and California and as I have been a little slack on the Blog front these past few months I am only just getting around to posting about it now.

What with the restrictive holidays and the requirement to return to the UK for at least two weeks in order to have my visa re-issued I could not spend as much time with them as I would have liked but they still had a great time from what I could glean.

The first week I sent them out of state to see Las Vegas (no first trip to the US would be complete without seeing the overindulgent opulence for oneself) and the Grand Canyon. My mother is a big fan of Egypt and so it was a no brainer as to where they ended up staying - The Luxor on the strip. As far as I understand they were suitably impressed by the grandness of the canyon and somewhat surprised by the snow. They stayed in Williams, near Flagstaff in what used to be a brothel during the pioneer days - the aptly named Red Garter hotel! Highly recommended for any of you that are ever passing through Arizona.

The second week was spent exploring San Fransisco, Berkeley and the central coast, namely Santa Cruz and Big Sur. Santa Cruz is the reputed site of the first surfing in California in 1885 and has 11 world class surf breaks, including the point breaks over rock bottoms near Steamer's Lane and Pleasure Point, which create some of the best surfing waves in the world. Santa Cruz hosts several surf contests drawing international participants each year. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (not dissimilar to the Great Yarmouth Pleasure with the exception of almost certainly warmer weather) is California’s oldest amusement park and a designated State Historic Landmark. Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the central Californian coast where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean creating a landscape that is dramatic with stunning views. Highway 1 runs from San Fransisco through Big Sur to Los Angeles and hugs the rugged coastline as it goes making for a very dramatic drive.

For the penultimate weekend we all went to the National Railroad Museum in Sacramento and what better way to travel than by Amtrak train from Berkeley. Proving that the limited yet integrated public transport system in this part of the states actually works pretty well. The Bay Area Rapid Transit or BART train (something not unlike the London Tube, though with far less coverage) links up with the regional Amtrak services in Richmond and from there its a smooth 1.5 hour ride to the Californian Capitol. The Museum dates back to 1956, when local individuals advanced the concept of a national museum dedicated to the American rail road history. Two years later, a joint resolution of Congress recognized the Museum as the National Railroad Museum. Since then, the Museum has operated as a privately funded educational organization with a mission to foster an understanding of railroading and its significance to American Life. What began as an effort to acquire a single steam locomotive for a city park has grown into one of the largest rail museums in the nation and now sees over 75,000 visitors annually. The documented endeavors of forcing a railroad through the inhospitable Sierra Nevada Mountains and the significant challenge of keeping the tracks clear during the heavy winter snow storms made for some very interesting reading. In the summer months live steam rides add to the excitement and appeal and we were fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of this added bonus during our visit.

For the final week I sent my folks to explore Yosemite NP (no trip to California would be complete without seeing the most visited, 3.5 million visitors annually, NP in California). The park was the first to set aside by the U.S. federal government and covers an area of 761,266 acres or 1,189 square miles (3,081 km²) and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Neveda Mountains. Yosemite NP was designated a World Heritage Site in 1984 and is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, numerous waterfalls and Giant Sequoia groves. The geology of the park is characterized by granitic rocks and the remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, narrow canyons. About 1 million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet (1200 m) during the early glacial episode and sculpted the U-shaped valley that is the focal point of the park today.

Laters,

Dave

TAG, the GRC and CMU

2007-03-24T15:02:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks, work has been really hectic. Firstly, with a week spent at the Gordon’s Research Conference (GRC) on Biogenic Hydrocarbons and the Atmosphere, though really with a name like Gordon’s you might have expected it to be about Gin! Though there was a fair amount of drinking during the poster sessions (photo 1). The conference was in Ventura, a coastal town between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Interestingly, for all you film buffs, the hotel (photo 2) where it was based appears at the end of the movie “Little Miss Sunshine”. It was a real multidisciplinary affair with talks ranging from genetics and genetic engineering to ecology and air quality and with any conference some of the talks were engaging and inspiring and a few left you struggling to stay awake!

For the last three weeks I have been at Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania installing a version of our Thermal desorption Aerosol GC-MS/FID (TAG) instrument (photo 3), that Aerosol Dynamics Inc. sold them and training one of their graduate students. It was a challenged period with at least a years worth of ‘unforseen’ technical problems. However, even in the face of such adversity we kept our sense of humours through it (photo 5). The graduate student had the look of “what have I got myself into?” on his face for many of the days! Eventually however, after a string of very long days and plenty of elbow grease and hard work we finally began to make some head away.

CMU was formed in 1967 from the merging of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (founded in 1900 by Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie) and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research (founded in 1913 by Andrew Mellon and his brother Richard). Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company which later became U.S. Steel. He is known for having built one of the most powerful and influential corporations in United States history, and, later in his life, giving away most of his riches to fund the establishment of many libraries, schools, and universities in Scotland, America, and worldwide. Carnegie, a poor boy with fierce ambition, a pleasant personality, and devoted to both hard work and self improvement, started as a telegrapher. By the 1860s he had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, as well as bridges and oil derricks, and built a fortune as a bond salesman raising money in Europe for American enterprises. Steel was where he found his fortune. In the 1870s he founded the Carnegie Steel Company, a step which cemented his name as one of the “Captains of Industry”. By the 1890s it was the largest and most profitable industrial enterprise in the world. He sold it to J.P. Morgan's US Steel in 1901 and devoted the remainder of his life to large scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, and scientific research. Recently, the university spent 1 million dollars of student tuition fees installing this biazaar sculpture (photo 4) entitled ‘walking to the sky’ – I wonder what Carnegie and the 'pair of Mellons' would have made of it?

The weather on the flight over and during the first week and the final few days was the closest I have come to real winter since leaving the UK. The weather in the mid-west is a far cry from the delights of the California. There has been plenty of snow in Pittsburgh while Berkeley was enjoying highs of 80F and during the layover in Chicago on the flight over, the plane became covered in snow and ice (photos 6 and 7), so much so that it was necessary to sprayed down the plane with anti-freeze before we could take off into a snow blizzard! During my time in Pittsburgh we experience all four seasons in about 8 days; the weather started cold and then warmed up to give one day of glorious sunshine, three of rain and cloud before the snow and freezing temperatures returned. The cold made California all the more welcoming when I finally returned yesterday.

Laters

Dave

PS. Check out my new work webpage at http://nature.berkeley.edu/~dworton

Climate Skeptics: Read on....

2007-03-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

Since Channel 4 aired a show called "the great global warming swindle" this week, I have received numerous emails asking me to clarify the link between anthropogenic (that is man-made) activities and global warming. Fortunately, a response highlighting the flaws in the arguments put forward by the show has been posted on the RealClimate website, which I have posted below. Hopefully, this should erase any doubts you may have about human induced climate change and convince you that the only swindling going on is by the makers of this show!

On Thursday the 8th, the UK TV Channel 4 aired a programme titled "The Great Global Warming Swindle". We were hoping for important revelations and final proof that we have all been hornswoggled by the climate Illuminati, but it just repeated the usual specious claims we hear all the time. We feel swindled. Indeed we are not the only ones: Carl Wunsch (who was a surprise addition to the cast) was apparently misled into thinking this was going to be a balanced look at the issues (the producers have a history of doing this), but who found himself put into a very different context indeed.

So what did they have to say for themselves?

CO₂ doesn't match the temperature record over the 20th C. True but not relevant, because it isn't supposed to. The programme spent a long time agonising over what they presented as a sharp temperature fall for 4 decades from 1940 to 1980 (incidentally their graph looks rather odd and may have been carefully selected; on a more usual (and sourced!) plot the "4 decades of cooling" is rather less evident). They presented this as a major flaw in the theory, which is deeply deceptive, because as they and their interviewees must know, the 40-70 cooling type period is readily explained, in that the GCMs are quite happy to reproduce it, as largely caused by sulphate aerosols. See this for a wiki-pic, for example; or (all together now) the IPCC TAR SPM fig 4; or more up-to-date AR4 fig 4. So... they are lying to us by omission.

The troposphere should warm faster than the sfc, say the models and basic theory. As indeed it does - unless you're wedded to the multiply-corrected Spencer+Christy version of the MSU series. Christy (naturally enough) features in this section, though he seems to have forgotten the US CCSP report, and the executive summary which he authored says Previously reported discrepancies between the amount of warming near the surface and higher in the atmosphere have been used to challenge the reliability of climate models and the reality of human induced global warming. Specifically, surface data showed substantial global-average warming, while early versions of satellite and radiosonde data showed little or no warming above the surface. This significant discrepancy no longer exists because errors in the satellite and radiosonde data have been identified and corrected. New data sets have also been developed that do not show such discrepancies. See-also previous RC posts.

Temperature leads CO₂ by 800 years in the ice cores. Not quite as true as they said, but basically correct; however they misinterpret it. The way they said this you would have thought that T and CO₂ are anti-correlated; but if you overlay the full 400/800 kyr of ice core record, you can't even see the lag because its so small. The correct interpretation of this is well known: that there is a T-CO₂ feedback: see RC again for more.

All the previous parts of the programme were leading up to "so if it isn't CO₂, what is it?" to which their answer is "solar". The section was curiously weak, and largely lead by pictures of people on beaches. It was somewhat surprising that they didn't feature Svensmark at all; other stuff we've commented on before. Note that the graph they used as "proof" of the excellent solar-T connection turns out to have some problems: see figure 1c of Damon and Laut.

Along the way the programme ticked off most of the other obligatory skeptic talking points: even down to Medieval English vineyards and that old favourite, volcanoes emitting more CO₂ than humans.

It ended with politics, with a segment blaming the lack of African development on the environmental movement. We don't want to get into the politics, but should point out what the programme didn't: that Kyoto exempts developing nations.

[Also: other discussion at InTheGreen, Stoat and The Guardian.]

Presidents Day Weekend

2007-02-19T19:50:00.001-08:00

This weekend saw another very welcome bank holiday weekend - Presidents Day. The origins of the holiday dates back to the Uniform Monday Holiday Bill of 1968, which became effective in 1971 and celebrates both George Washingtons (February 22nd; 1st US president 1789 - 1797) and Abraham Lincolns (February 12th; 16th US president 1861 - 1865) Birthdays. Although my impression is that the day celebrates all the US presidents.

This weekend the weather was absolutely spectacular considering its February - there isn't really much of a winter in the bay area - and I promised myself that I would not do any long road trips or work the whole weekend. So early on Saturday I went with Vince, a friend from the Christmas Joshua Tree trip, to the Consumnes River Gorge to climb. The climbing here was in a spectacular setting (photo 1 - me at the start of the second pitch) with the longest routes beginning on boulders in the river and heading up a 500 foot face (photo 2 - view down from the summit). It turned into something of an 3 pitch epic requiring 6 rappels to descend (photos 3 and 4 - Vince on the penultimate and final rappels) due to the wide spacing of the fixed rappel bolts meant we had to move diagonally between two sets of fixed bolts on the face - we have been nice to have know we needed double ropes, ah well, you live and learn!

The Amgen Tour of California bike race began on Sunday with a time trial race in San Fransisco. The first of the 7 stages starting today at Sausalito and traversed ~100 miles through Marin County finishing at Santa Rosa. Myself and Tim, a friend from UC Berkeley, rode out through Marin and intersected the race about 10 miles in at the top of the hill sprint. In the shade it was pretty chilly except on the hill climbs so soaking up the sun at the top of the hill sprint turned out to be a perfect break, shame that my camera battery was dead as there were so great views both out over the Pacific Ocean and down onto the Golden Gate Bridge and San Fransisco.

Laters

Dave

DA IRY - Granter of the Wonder Tonic!

2007-02-14T13:44:00.000-08:00

I want to share the amusing TV adverts of the Californian Milk Board, which I realise does not sound very exciting BUT they are very good!

The website is http://www.planetinneed.com and you need to navigate to TV transmissions - there are 5 episodes.

Enjoy...

Dave

Viva Las Vegas II - Multipitch Mecca

2007-01-30T18:20:00.000-08:00

After surviving the freezing conditions of Red Rocks earlier this month, a return trip during warmer weather was necessary in order to climb some of the long multipitch routes in the canyons. This trip was smaller than the previous with just myself and one of colleagues, Laurent, partaking. With only a few weeks notice we secured cheap (~100 bucks) return flights to Vegas from San Fransisco heading out last Thursday and returning unpleasantly early on Monday morning giving us three full days of climbing.

The weather was greatly improved this time, with low temperatures higher than the warmest temperatures last time. Still we spent little time, other than sleeping, at the campsite because of the restrictions on flying with stove fuel meant we could not cook. Still good cheap food is a plenty in Vegas so starvation or poverty were not likely.

Las Vegas airport is like a zoo (a weird human zoo), huge numbers of people and a farcical number of slot machines or one arm bandits. They are often referred to as the "crack cocaine of gambling" and when you see people barely able to pull themselves away from them you begin to understand why. Apparently, there are over 50,000 slot machines in Vegas (1 for every 10 residents) and some 45 million visitors a year. A frightening number considering that Vegas is primarily selling gambling and vice - hardly a moral living. Even more frightening are the numbers of people who bring their children to Vegas on holiday - not what I would call responsible parenting.

Of course, it was the climbing at Red Rocks (photo 1) that we were here for. On the first day we climbed "Cat in the Hat" (a Red Rocks classic, photo2 Laurent at the start) on the south face of the Mescalito in Pine Creek Canyon. This climb turned in something of an epic. Starting with getting lost on the approach and almost climbing a crack on a different face that we thought was the right climb, whoops! The route had 5 pitches, 3 good long (50m) ones with good protection and fun moves and two traverse pitches, the later of which had no protection and was pretty sketchy. The views from the summit were excellent, unfortunately the light got the better of us and we had to descend quickly in order to beat the sunset. The descent was 5 double rope rappels and the rope drag at each rappel station made pulling the ropes through really hard work. We were both done in by the time we reached the base of the route and so was the sun - so we had to return to the car in the dark.

On the second day, we opted for short sport routes for a little variety and to avoid any epic rappels. We climbed at two spots - the gallery and the black corridoor, the later being a very popular summer spot due to the protection from the sun. In the evening we went boozing in Vegas - at the Mirage and the Venetian and took the time to laugh at the Venice Grand Canal (photo 6) complete with Gondolas inside the Venetian (note: the clouds painted on the ceiling)!

On the last day we climbed another multipitch route called "solar slab gully" in Oak Creek Canyon (photo 3 to the south of the Canyon) this was another 5 pitches (photo 4 - me leading pitch 2 and no I didn't place any gear on this pitch; photo 5 - me and Laurent at the top of pitch 5) which gives access to more routes higher up the face. In all you could climb around 1500 vertical feet of rock and I'm sure we'd have a go if we hadn't both got up to late and then got stuck behind some slow climbers. I very much look forward to returning later in the spring to try one of these routes in hopefully even more hospitable weather.

Laters

Dave

Viva Las Vegas I - The big freeze

2007-01-15T22:26:00.001-08:00

Last weekend was the Martin Luther King Jr. bank holiday and to take advantage of the extra day I went climbing at Red Rocks, Nevada near Las Vegas with a few of the CHAOS crew (photo 1, left to right Kat, Meg, William and me). Red Rocks is located a few miles West of Las Vegas in Nevada some 560 miles from Berkeley - yes it was quite a drive (8 hours), done in one non-stop overnight session involving large amounts of sugary and caffeinated drinks!

Fortunately for myself and Kat we arrived the morning after the 80 mph winds at the campsite that put Meg and William's tents to the test (photo 2, tents still standing). It was freezing, almost certainly around 10F (-15 C) at night (note the snow in photos 1 and 2) and so other than sleeping we did not hang around the campsite much. The climbing here is excellent on great rock with some really fun routes. After getting over the shock of climbing in the snow on the first day, the second day we found a sunny crag in Pine Creek Canyon (photo 3) and were there until the darkness descended and the ranger arrived to throw us out of the park.

Las Vegas was just as I remembered it from my two previous visits in 1998 and 2000 - bright, lairy and very cheesey BUT all good fun. An example of the over the top nature of Vegas for those of you that haven't been yet is that each hotel has some king of gimmick with the intention of luring you to their casino to lose all your money, I mean gamble. For example, at Treasure Island two galleons battle it out four times a night with a live cast in front of the hotel and one of them sinks, Paris has its own Effiel Tower and a Volcano erupts outside the Mirage once an hour (see photo 4).

On Sunday, William wanted to climb "Fear and Loathing III" on the Wall of Confusion (photo 5). Being a 5.12a (7a+) route, he was pretty much on his own with that one, but the rest of us enjoyed watching him with awe as he powered his way through the various roofs (photo 6) to the rap station following rests at the majority of the fixed bolts.

Heading back to Red Rocks in two weeks to hopefully warmer weather and some multi-pitch climbs. Oh, and I'm flying - I am so done with the 10 hour drives...at least for this month!

Laters

Dave

Tahoe from 10,000 feet....

2007-01-02T17:15:00.001-08:00

Following a great week climbing at Joshua Tree NP with a great crowd of people (photo 1; from left to right Vince, me, Edwin, Kat, Clement, Ian and Daniel), we (myself and various work colleagues) headed to Lake Tahoe on the Nevada border to spend new years in a ski cabin close to the Alpine Meadows ski resort. Some Lake Tahoe trivia for you:

(1) It is the largest (22 miles long and 12 miles wide) and one of the highest (6225 feet above sea level) alpine lakes in North America,
(2) It contains enough water to submerge California (total surface area of 158,869 square miles or 411,471 square km) to a depth of 14.5 inches (thats 37cm to the metrically inclined),
(3) Scenes from “The Godfather II” and “Bonanza” were shot in and around Lake Tahoe, as well as “The Bodyguard” with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston and “City of Angels” with Meg Ryan and Nicholas Cage, and
(4) The water evaporating from its surface annually is equivalent to LA's (population 10.2 million) water consumption for 5 years.

The cabin was fantastic (photo 2) and the hot tub even more so! It made the perfect spot to see in the new year in style (photo 3; from left to right - me, Jay, Delphine, Dave, Fred, Colette, Elaine and Julie behind the camera). However, the highlight of the weekend for me was my first flying lesson. Julie's friend Fred, from her CalTech days, has built his own 2 seater plane (photos 4 and 5) and was kind enough to take a few of us up for a flying lesson and some airborne acrobatics; some steep banking curves pulling around 3 G's and a couple of "aileron rolls" - truly mind blowing. Its amazing how much concentration it took for me just to keep the plane flying straight and level.

The new year started with another first - snowboarding (photo 6). Its harder than it looks and I'm still hurting today - but i did manage to balance and stay on my feet (well on the green slopes at least, the steeper blues proved somewhat more challenging) and was getting into turning, which for an afternoons work was good going I reckon. Plenty of time left this year to master it once I recover from all the bumps and bruises!

Laters

Dave

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2006-12-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

I thought I would wish everyone reading my blog a Merry Christmas and wish you all the very best for 2007! Its been a great year and I can only hope that it continues into the next year and beyond.

For the second Christmas in a row I will be climbing in another country. Last year I was at Mount Arapiles in Victoria, Australia and this year I will heading back to Joshua Tree National Park for more climbing. Then onto Lake Tahoe, for a bit of skiing, soaking in the hot tub and drinking champagne for New Years....perfect!

Cheers

Dave

My Research, the AGU and Marin Fun

2006-12-20T16:19:00.001-08:00

Well since so many people are curious as to what exactly I am really meant to be doing over here, in addition to having the time of my life, I thought I would add a small blurb on my blog. So here goes in layman's terms: "During this postdoctoral research position I am investigating the organic composition of atmospheric aerosol particles. Understanding the organic composition of aerosols are important for two main reasons: (1) many organic compounds are toxic (carcinogenic) to humans and thus have important ramifications for human health and (2) organic compounds, depending on their functionality (loosely in this context - their oxygen content) can influence the ability of aerosols to act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and hence they have important effects for the Earths climate as a result of the contribution of clouds to the Earths 'albedo' (or its ability to reflect incoming solar ultraviolet radiation). The organics we can measure can also be used as tracer species for various sources (e.g., levoglucosane, a pyrolysis product of cellulose, is a tracer for wood burning) and for atmospheric oxidation processes. I am working with a novel Thermal desorption Aerosol GC/MS-FID (TAG) instrument developed jointly by the Goldstein group at the University of California – Berkeley and Aerosol Dynamics Inc. (ADI). Recently, this instrument has been used to identify ~300 organic compounds in aerosol particles (diameters less than 2.5 microns) at Riverside, near Los Angeles. A significant focus of my work is also to develop this instrument further by incorporating an additional orthogonal chromatographic separation. The increased resolving power should allow us to to identify ~10000 organic species within the aerosol. The data processing, with an hourly time resolution, will be a unique challenge."

Last week was the American Geosciences Union (AGU) fall meeting in San Fransisco. This conference is huge, ~14000 people, definitely the largest I have ever been too and growing larger each year. This year one of the guest speakers was Al Gore ("the former next president of the USA" - his words not mine). His speech was focused on the role of the media and policymakers in climate change. He's a witty guy, he described his transition from Vice President to now by saying:
"I use to fly on Air Force 2 and NOW I have to take my shoes off to fly!" The conference was good and provided a great opportunity for me to learn a great deal about the aerosol field as well as meeting up with former colleagues and meeting new ones.

Following the conference I spent Sunday at Muir Woods and Muir Beach, with Jen, Liz (UEA) and Matthias (a friend of Liz's from Norway), in Marin County to the North of San Fransisco. Views down the coast towards San Fransisco (top photos) and on Muir Beach (bottom photos) were great.

Laters

Dave

CHAOS thanksgiving at Joshua Tree NP

2006-11-28T16:44:00.001-08:00

The thanksgiving holiday in the US is huge, even bigger than Christmas - which probably has something to do with not having to worry about buying any gifts! It is a sort of late Harvest festival and essentially gives thanks to the Indians who showed the early settlers how to grow corn so they wouldn't starve. I am sure there are plenty of native Americans who now think "if only we hadn't been so generous we might still run this country". It is a time for families to get together so with mine so far away - I went with my adopted climbing family (Cal Hiking And Outdoors Society - CHAOS) to Joshua Tree National Park to celebrate the holiday with turkey, rock climbing and beer.

Joshua Tree NP is in Southern California (SoCal as its referred to here), east of Los Angeles. With thanksgiving being the busiest holiday of the year the traffic was as you might imagine horrific and it took us 13 hours from Berkeley, 4 hours of which was just getting out of the bay area! We arrived at around 2am and the following morning after emerging from my tent I was greeted by an awesome sight (photo 2) of Joshua Trees as far as the eye could see (photo 3). Joshua Tree NP is enormous (nearly 800,000 acres) and consists of two desert ecosystems, primarily separated by elevation, that come together in the park. Below 3,000 feet, the Colorado Desert (part of the Sonoran Desert), occupies the eastern half of the park and is dominated by the abundant Creosote Bush. The higher, slightly cooler, and wetter Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua Tree, which occur extensively throughout the western half of the park. The parks other famous stars are the Road Runner and the Coyote, remember the cartoon? Although sadly we didn't seen of their infamous antics with the ACME explosives!

The climbing in the park is excellent with a mixture of traditional and sport climbing - for those climbers amongst you, with almost all of the 5000 routes being single pitch crags (<30m). The rock is Granite and the friction is quite amazing, reminded me a lot of peak gritstone. We climbed at the "Hall of Horrors" on the first day and were treated to a great sunset (photos 1 and 4). The thanksgiving feast was very much a "pot luck" affair with Kelly (the organiser) cooking a 19lb turkey and the rest of us preparing a real smörgåsbord of side dishes. Preparing my side dish provided some entertainment for my campsite companions as my MSR pressurised liquid stove began leaking/spraying fuel around the table before bursting into flames and setting fire to my hands - no hand hair left but no serious injuries.

On day two we climbed the "Headstone" (photo 5), close to the campsite, and in the "Real Hidden Valley" (photo 6). In the evening, a group of us drove to Palm Springs to clean off in the hot springs - a welcome relief for all those aching muscles. The final day saw us climbing at the "Lost Horse" area followed by far too much booze back at the campsite and a late night game of "texan bottle walking" - those of you at DrOStock may remember something similar.

Laters

Dave

Movie Recommendation: Borat

2006-11-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

I want to recommend, to those of you who haven't already seen it, the film "Borat:Cultural learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan". It's by far the most hilarious and outrageous film I have seen in a very long time - I don't know how Sacha Baron Cohen got away with it! If you like Ali G - this film will leave you hurting from laughter!

Laters

Dave

US Regime Change?

2006-11-08T09:45:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the mid term elections over here and this morning saw what you might call "a change of regime" with the Democrats (the equivalent of new labour in my opinion) winning control of the House of Representatives (the equivalent of our Parliament) and the Senate (the equivalent of the Lords) too from the Republicans (the equivalent of the Tories).

The mid terms are often seen as a reflection of the popularity of the President. The electorate are reportedly unhappy about the state of the economy, government corruption as well as the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq with the majority of Americans now not in favour. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld has already been axed as a result.

Of course you'll all be pleased to hear that the Governor of California is still Arnold Schwarzenegger after he defeated Democrat Phil Angelides. Apparent Arnie said "that he was particularly looking forward to this sequel". I am imagining that the students close to submitting thesis or finishing degrees played a part in this as their certificates (or in the case of Ph.D.'s) are signed by the Governor and I mean wouldn't you want Arnies autograph in yours!

Laters

Dave

November Rain

2006-11-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

Finally, after 5 months of rain free weather, the rain arrived last night! This is not what I signed up for when I moved to the golden state of California BUT at least now the Mountains will have snow - time to break out the Ski's and head to Lake Tahoe! I cannot complain really since it stopped raining the next day and has not rained since!

Laters

Dave

Halloween in the Castro, San Francisco

2006-10-31T12:52:00.001-08:00

Halloween in the Castro district of San Francisco has been a tradition for a number of years! Everyone dresses up and its more like a people watching parade as opposed to a street party. However, the shear number of people attending this event in recent years has grown beyond the venue. I thought it would be fun and with approximately 100,000 other revelers it was certainly a very different night out (see photo). Halloween costumes in the US vary from the traditional spooky vampires and monsters to the more unusual - elvis, wizard of oz characters, gangsters, comic book characters and over the top period dress with full make up. Due to the huge responsibility of representing the UK I thought it would most appropriate to go dressed as a Chav. I believe I was the only one, which wasn't that difficult since no-one knew what a Chav was!

This years event is likely to be one of the last as a result of an incident where around 10 people were shot, though fortunately both none were fatal and nowhere near were I was. It was a crazy night and it would be a shame if it is canceled next year.

Laters

Dave

Yosemite National Park

2006-10-31T12:51:00.002-08:00

Last weekend, I took Rosie to probably the most internationally famous National Park in California - Yosemite. Being so infamous does have its down sides though with campsites filling up several months in advance during the summer. I booked very late (2 weeks ago) and was really lucky to book the last available campsite in the Yosemite Valley. Unfortunately for us the site was in the Upper Pines area which allows recreational vehicles (RV’s), that’s camper vans to you and me, so it wasn’t quite the serene escape to the wilderness that you might have expected. Our tent was overshadowed by 3 huge RV’s (photo 1; they're so large that I could only get two in the picture) and they’re not exactly small – more like tour buses than camper vans. The peaceful tranquillity frequently punctuated with the sound of their diesel generators - how lovely!

Yosemite NP is a five hour drive East of Berkeley, half of the drive is 4 lane freeway driving and the remainder on more normal sized roads. The quicker part being on those smaller roads as a result of the horrific traffic leaving the bay area on a Friday night. By the time we had arrived at the campsite it was dark. It wasn’t long after finishing dinner that we had our first BEAR (these are brown bears not the grizzly variety) encounter and this one was pretty cheeky – not being scared away by shouting and pot banging. It came right up close, to a few feet, and even with me banging a pot a few feet from the end of its nose and Rosie shouting, it stood up on the table to get a better look at what to eat – and very quickly the kettle chips and the bear were gone. Later on we heard that the same bear had taken a sausage straight off someone else’s BBQ while they were cooking – madness! Sad to say but this cheeky bears days are numbered.

Having visited Yosemite some 6 years ago as part of organised trip I had an idea of what the best hikes to do were. However, the time hasn’t been to kind on my memory so the idea was more a distant one, hence it took a little bit of explaining to the ranger in the visitor centre before he was able to point us the right direction for a monster hike up and around the rim of the Valley. Starting at 11am for a 13 mile hike with close to 3000 feet of ascending was potentially fool hardy but what the hell we could always run if the sun started to set. The route we took ascended close to Vernal (photo 2 from the top of the falls) and Nevada Falls before following the panorama trail to glacier point, were we were rewarded with great views of Half Dome (photos 3 and 4) and descending the four mile trail back to the Valley floor. It’s a great hike, although tiring, with fantastic views of both the waterfalls, the Valley, El Capitan and Half Dome (photo 4). We just made it down before sunset and even had time to watch the changing colours of the granite from the Valley as the sun set before finding the free shuttle bus back to the campsite. No bears today.

As the snow was still to arrive we were able to drive up the Tioga Pass road to the Tuolumne Meadows (an alpine meadow at ~8000 feet). Due to the lateness in the season it was not the lush green meadow you might imagine but was more burnt brown grass. Still surprising beautiful. We hiked out to the Cathedral Lakes on the John Muir trail (the Yosemite version of the Pennine Way in the UK). The views here were spectacular especially away from the tourist crowds of the Valley (photo 5 with Cathedral peak in the backdrop). Another close bear encounter this evening, although fortunately for us this bear was far less cheeky and was scared off when Rosie shouted "boo" at it! I of course enjoying another exercise in pot banging to scare it a little further away from our camp.

On the last day, still clearly winding down from the first days hiking, we picked all the shortest hikes: (i) the 1 mile hike to inspiration point with views of the entire Valley (photo 6); El Capitan on the left, Sentential Rock on the right and Half Dome in the centre, and (ii) the 2 mile hike to the Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoia trees. These trees are huge and the largest ones in this grove were on the order of a few thousand years old. They're pretty hardy surviving fires and diseases as a result of their very thick bark, up to 2 foot thick in some cases.

And what weekend in Yosemite would be complete without a stop in Tracy (a strip mall full of fast food) on the return leg - I convinced Rosie we needed a 24 inch pizza. We both agreed afterwards that actually we didn't! We could barely even get the box in the car.

Laters

Dave

Wine Country - Sonoma Valley

2006-10-31T12:51:00.001-08:00

My old housemate Rosie (from Norwich) arrived last week after a conference in Hawaii (ah the tough life of a Ph.D. student) and with our impeccable taste (not?!) in fine wines we spent the weekend in the Sonoma Valley, an hour or so drive north of Berkeley. Sonoma Valley boasts over 200 of the worlds most award wining wineries and runs parallel to the larger and more famous Napa Valley but is equally beautiful in its own right. On the first day we visited Loxton (photo 1), one of the smallest wineries in the Valley, and were treated to several fantastic Syrah and Shiraz wines (photo 2). The pride and joy of the winery being a 2004 Syrah and at $24 a bottle who could resist. A picnic lunch followed and the $18 Shiraz was enjoyably consumed. We camped at the northern most end of the Valley in the Sugarloaf State Park and the weather was pretty much perfect - it has not rained here since May. In the evening, the space observatory in the Park was open to the public so we got to hang out with some astrology geeks for the night! Jokes aside there were some sweet images from the hubble space telescope being shown in a slide show , which was neat.

The next day, after a swift hike up Bald Mountain, with views of both the Napa and Sonoma Valleys (photo 3), we visited one of the largest wineries in Sonoma, the Cline Cellars (photo 4). We joined a coach party on a tour of the winery - strangely we did not seeing any of the actually wine making - clearly winery tour must have a different meaning in US english! Several wine tastes and minius $40 later we headed back to Berkeley with a couple of really cheeky bottles of red. That evening, my friend Colette threw a belated Canadian thanksgiving dinner. I never turn down free food, especially a good roast - and it was very good, thanks Colette! Whats good wine if not to share so we soon dispatched the last of the Sonoma wine. I have never spent that much money on wine before and probably wont again for a while until my wallet recovers and my pallet can no longer take the "2 buck chuck" that my current housemates insist on drinking!

Laters

Dave

State capitals, Glitter Party and Countdown to the Ski Season

2006-09-08T17:07:00.000-07:00

So following in the age old Tuesday pub quiz tradition that had been set in stone back at UEA, myself and several of my colleagues have started going to the Becketts Irish Pub Quiz. Unlike its English predecessor it starts at 10pm finishing just before the last BART train to the city so Rory (the quizmaster) can still get home! The first week, Colette and Julie scored a lowly 14. The addition of myself increased the score marginally to 19. We can only blame it on Rory's interesting take on the rounds, with excessively obscure Entertainment trivia and far to many Anatomy questions in the Science and Nature round for the those (being all) atmospheric chemists amongst us. It had appeared as if a trend was appearing with a question on the US State Capitals occurring at least once a week so in preparation I took it upon myself to learn all 50 of them for the following week. A grand improvement in week 3 with a score of 39 points, following the addition of Delphine to the team and a guest appearance from Julies Mum, however sadly no questions on State Capitals that week - damn it! Roll on Tuesday....

Yesterday, I went to a party (with the theme of Glitter - see the photos) in San Francisco. It was quite random since the guy (Tom) I knew I had met at my friend Debbie's wedding 3 years ago. It was even more random when he confessed that actually he could not remembered having ever met me and was even struggling to recall the wedding. Anyways, it was a great party - my shirt got unofficially voted the best, which was nice considering the hours spend cutting glittery tape to make that flashy Union Flag.

The apartment is working out great, Anna and Julia are really cool and I have found some great climbing buddies through their friends! The sunsets from the apartment are fantastic (see photo to the right) and the views are too - on a good day you can just make out the Golden Gate bridge and by just I mean literally that.

Apparently the Ski season starts at the beginning of November, so the countdown has begun - 44 days to go....

Laters

Dave

Major League Baseball: Red Sox vs A's

2006-08-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

After having caught a few baseball matches on the TV and enduring a 2 hour commentary debate about why the pitchers mound should be raised 6 inches just like the good ole days - I finally thought I had a basic enough understanding to pass as a fan so it was time to go watch a live game!

One of my colleagues is a big Boston Red Sox's fan so a group of us went to watch them play the Oakland Athletics in Oakland! I am sad to say that weak wee like beer has now passed my lips (though it wasn't budweiser) - I had no choice, it was Miller or nothing! The game was class, although the Red Sox did get completed annihilated (it was 9-0 when we left at the bottom of the 8th innings) - a continuation of one of their worse seasons ever!

Laters

Dave

Lassen Volcanic National Park

2006-08-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

I spent the last four days camping and hiking in Lassen Volcanic National Park (North East California, near Reno)! It was an ear popping five hour uphill drive (>7000 feet) from Berkeley, by the end of which I was just about coping with driving on the WRONG side of the road! The weather was absolutely perfect for the whole four days with clear blue skies and lots and lots of sun!

Lassen Peak at 10497 feet (see photos 1 and 2) is the highest in the Park and allegedly the largest plug dome volcano in the world. It is actually still classified as an active Volcano....well in the sense that it last erupted quite recently - at the beginning of the 2oth Century (1914 - 1921). A photograph (taken from 50 miles away) of the largest eruption during this spell showed a huge mushroom cloud. The volcanic ash and gas produced in the eruption reached some 30000 feet into the atmosphere and was visible from over 200 miles away. Lassen Peak is the Southern most terminus of the Cascade Mountain chain that includes Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainer in Washington State. The rough terrain, intense sunlight (not aided by the fact that i left my suncream at the campsite, whoops!) and the altitude made for a tough trek but the Summit with views across the park and of Mount Shasta (14162 feet; also in the Cascades) to the North making it all worth while.

It was one of those Summit bagging kind of trips and the day after conquering Lassen Peak I bagged Brokeoff Mountain (9235 feet; photo 3) - thats BrokeOFF Mountain not Brokeback Mountain - there was not a gay cowboy in sight! The view from the Summit was great (photo 2) although as a result of the haze Mount Shasta was not visible. The haze is only good for one thing - keeping me in paid employment!

In the far North East of the park is the Cinder Cone a 6907 feet pile of cinder! Fairly self explanatory really and and its cone shaped. The hike up though it is not particularly long is made hard work due to the path being composed of fine scree, so it is not unlike ascending a 45 degree beach! The view from the Summit down onto the 'painted dunes and fantastic lava beds' (that's the name no additional adjectives from me; photo 4) was breathtaking! All this area was the result of one eruption from a magma chamber beneath the Cinder Cone - the painted dunes resulted from oxidation reactions of the newly erupted ash with the hot molten lava.

Photograph 5 is of Bumpass Hell (the main geothermal area) named after or by some guy who fell through the thin crust and boiled one of his legs - nice! Finally, photograph 6 is of sunset over Manzanita lake in the North West part of the park. For more information on the park check out the website (see in the links opposite).

Laters,

Dave

Supplemental: The Saga of the Spare Tyre
Should just add that the trip was far from a smooth operation. To cut a long story short I had to change the rear right tyre TWICE. Which was annoying enough if not confounded by the fact that the previous renter had left everything but the kitchen sink in the boot! The good news is I got the rental for 1/2 price and a free days rental next time - a sweet deal!

Arrival in California

2006-08-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

Arrived safely in California after two long flights (well actually that was 2.5 weeks ago but i have only just worked out how to do this blog thing!). The large hangover, from the Putney send off - cheers the Londonites, seeing me through the first flight nicely -even slept straight through the safety briefing! On arrival in Minneapolis, navigating immigration was actually fairly straight forward relative to other trips and the official was even quite pleasant - surely unheard of! The whole travelling process was made so much easier by being collected at the airport by one of the new housemates! Great views of San Francisco by night as we crossed the bay bridge to Berkeley.

Last week I met the new boss and various colleagues at UC Berkeley or Cal as it is known here. The campus is fantastic, a real mix of new and old and some 60's architecture. Apparently, the old and the very new are earthquake proof and the others well they might fall down but i doubt they would be missed the 60's obsession with concrete hasn't really passed the test of time (some parts of the UEA campus in Norwich are testament to this!). Fortunately, i will be based in one of the old safe buildings so no need to panic when the allegedly overdue cataclysmic earthquake strikes! The view from the roof, which i can access from my office, is great - the golden gate bridge, the SF bay, Marin Headlands and Alcatraz are all visible although its not the best idea to spend to much time up there since thats were all the fume hoods vent to!

Spent a week apartment hunting since the current housemates are leaving Berkeley at the end of the month and found a great place sharing with two grad students, Anna and Julia, in downtown Berkeley in an area called the 'Gourmet Ghetto' near all the food and bar action! Talking of bars, you'd be pleased to hear that not a drop of Budweiser has been anywhere near me since i got here, the microbrewies are good and in plentiful supply - quite a relief i can tell you! I am looking forward to expanding my local knowledge of both bars and beers after i move at the end of the month!

Taking the next few days off, to relax before i start work proper next monday, and heading to Lassen Volcanic National Park for a spot of hiking and camping!

Laters

Dave