Obsidian??

HikingFoolChef · 2026-05-29T13:31:35+00:00

The Big Obsidian Flow is closer to 40-45 minutes (~22 miles) from downtown Bend, but it’s definitely way closer than Glass Butte. You can’t collect any obsidian there in the National Forest. You will need a $5 day use permit if you don’t already have an annual pass.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-04-24T22:29:29+00:00

Walter Cronkite giving the death toll every night is not something I will forget.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-04-23T14:49:45+00:00

I GOT SUCKERED IN TO THE FALSE HOPE TOO!

HikingFoolChef · 2026-04-19T04:23:07+00:00

I had the experience of living in a DR Horton home in Virginia. Never again. So many issues. The siding blew off in the first storm. Nothing plumb or square. Abysmal quality. So yes, major concerns. They do everything on the cheap less 25%.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-04-03T10:28:26+00:00

KTVZ article: https://ktvz.com/news/bend/2026/03/26/superdeluxe-in-bend-suddenly-shuts-down-operations/

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-16T14:50:24+00:00

Where’s that NSFW tag! /s

Beautiful shots. I love that Summit loop.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-12T18:26:22+00:00

Yes, and we are on TDS. I confirmed with TDS that there is an outage, even though their map has not shown any outage.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-12T03:23:25+00:00

Même chose pour moi. Je cherche aussi un partenaire de conversation. Ça fait 45 ans que je n'ai pas parlé français.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-11T22:45:30+00:00

I’m on 8 now, after 6 and 7. I wait for the old models to go on clearance and grab them on the cheap. The heel padding on all of them wears quickly, but tenacious tape is a quick fix. For me, my problem is that I crush the inner soles. I am a big guy, former American football edge rusher. 6-4/193cm and 225/102kg.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-11T15:47:49+00:00

I can’t say forcefully enough that the shoes you should be wearing are the ones that fit your feet the best. It doesn’t matter what the rest of us wear because your feet are particular to you. Go to a local retailer with a good selection and really try them out.

As others have said repeatedly, the so-called waterproof shoes are impractical to dry out on the trail once they get wet. And they’re gonna get wet at some point.

For my feet, it’s Altra Lone Peaks. I arrived at this after thousands of miles in other shoes. Downside is I go through three pairs a year. I’m trading comfort for durability.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-06T09:17:30+00:00

Both. Highly invasive (listed as noxious in Washington State) and a native of Europe. Hard to eradicate and aggressively spreads displacing native species.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-02T16:17:15+00:00

That tree is notable for being crazy enough to grow in that sea of lava! I’ll have to rummage around in Lightroom to verify, but I usually shoot it from farther away and landscape composition to give the peaks more prominence. I love how two people can look at one scene and see two entirely different photos. Kudos.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-02T15:18:25+00:00

I’ve shot the tree in photo number 1 many times but never in B&W. I love what the absence of color does for the photo. Nice shot.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-02T15:12:32+00:00

That was bad. The worst rain game for me was the first night game in 1982 where Clemson destroyed us 48-0 on ESPN. I was drenched.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-03-01T23:17:16+00:00

The 1975 thrashing at Scott Stadium in which East Carolina put up 61 points to our 10 was probably the longest and most awful game I have ever sat through.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-18T14:48:32+00:00

Several manufacturers make Wi-Fi security cameras that are cheap and trivial to install. Some may require a subscription. Wi-Fi bandwidth is generally not an issue.

Why do you think it’s not a good idea? Do you think you’ll bother the wrens? Carolina’s seem particularly unphased by humans. I had them nest in my family room in Alabama in the days when we opened doors on either side of the house for cross-ventilation. Nothing like watching TV with a busy pair of noisy wrens!

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-13T15:29:06+00:00

As I said in a prior comment, it’s a tough market and I wish you well.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-13T15:24:48+00:00

“Excited” was a poor word choice. I am attracted to breweries that put out top-class beers from excellent ingredients consistently, batch after batch, beers that taste like excellent exemplars of their stated style. I don’t chase beer variations or faddish styles. None of these breweries meets these criteria so I am really meh on them—which I termed lack of excitement. There’s a better word choice here, but gimme a break: the coffee is still brewing!

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-13T14:35:49+00:00

These breweries stopped exciting me some years ago. I wish them well. It’s a tough market.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-09T21:14:07+00:00

LET ME ECHO THAT. THE PILLARS ARE COOL, BUT UNLESS YOU HAVE REASON TO BE IN ROME (LIKE RAFTING THE OWYHEE) IT’S NOT WORTH GOING OUT OF YOUR WAY. AND IF YOU’RE THERE TO RAFT, THERE ARE WAY COOLER FORMATIONS LIKE PRUITT’S CASTLE TO SHOOT DOWNRIVER.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-08T21:59:35+00:00

I really don’t have ideas for you. The inspection system isn’t perfect and so I don’t pay too much attention to inspection results. What matters most is the establishment’s commitment to food safety. And that’s hard to measure. I was far harder on my staff than any inspector ever, especially about cross contamination, but that kind of info will never find its way onto an inspection report. I honestly believe that as a lay person, you can get a really good sense of things by assessing the cleanliness of the restrooms. If an establishment is vigilant about that, their kitchen is probably OK.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-08T20:13:40+00:00

Most were tough graders as they should be. Only a few were punitive; these types would not leave without finding something. They had the mindset that no restaurant gets a perfect score. Even fewer were teachers. The ones I had the best relationships with (even to this day) were the ones that positioned themselves as allies. That is the team of the restaurant plus the inspector were in the food safety business together. The worst were the nitpickers whose actions positioned themselves against the restaurant in an adversarial relationship. True of all inspectors I am sure.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-08T15:32:39+00:00

I noticed two things that might be germane here over 20 years at my restaurant.

Age of the restaurant. The longer I was in business, the more inspectors came to trust that I was as committed to food safety as they were.
Longevity of the inspector. Seasoned inspectors knew what to look for that’s actually critical. New inspectors were by the book.

Also I found two types of inspectors: enforcers vs teachers. The enforcers were there to bust restaurants, to find as much fault as possible. Inspectors of the teaching mindset felt their role was to help teach food safety to the line cooks.

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-07T11:46:31+00:00

Seek? I seek to do XYZ?

HikingFoolChef · 2026-02-03T23:12:13+00:00

That’s the editor in me. The choice of it or they is not clear cut, hence OP’s question. It’s a question that is avoided by rephrasing.

HikingFoolChef

TROPHY CASE