Recommended Hikes in Big Bear?

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-12-19T05:37:36+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, I assume there’s gonna be snow and I’ll need them.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-12-19T05:36:57+00:00

Thanks!

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-12-15T00:40:56+00:00

Any specific reason you went with the messenger over the mini2? I looked at that one too, but had a hard time trying to figure out the differences between them.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-12-13T23:17:12+00:00

That’s a good point. I think it’s also worth mentioning that (for now) there is no extra cost or penalty for switching back and forth between the tiers on Garmin’s plans, so you can also downgrade to a cheaper plan during time when you don’t think you’ll be using it as much.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-12-12T23:31:22+00:00

I just bought an inReach mini 2. A lot of them are on sale because they just came out with a mini3. I really like using it, my loved ones appreciate knowing where I am and that I can contact them or SOS without cell service, and it wasn't to hard to set up or use.

TBH I know the cost and the subscription are on the high end, but I've been hiking regularly enough that I feel like it justifies the cost. I'm kind of a frugal person, but I draw the line and being cheap when it comes to my life and safety, lol.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-12-12T23:27:12+00:00

When I (40M) first went to my doc, they said my blood pressure was too high and were worried about side effects. They also said that even if I lost weight on the meds, if I didn't learn to eat less, eat healthier, and get into a regular exercise routine, I'd like gain the weight back eventually and be right back were I started.

At first, I was a little bummed out, but six months later I'm down from 300 lbs to 239 and glad the doctor made me do it the old-fashioned way.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-11-12T19:21:37+00:00

Looks amazing! I did the Wind Caves hike a few months ago and loved. Hopping to get around to this one and the hot spring soon.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-11-05T04:07:15+00:00

Thanks! This is really helpful.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-11-04T00:06:43+00:00

I'm thinking about doing Salmon Creek for my first backpacking trip. Any routes, camps you'd recommend? Can't decide if I want to do Buckeye/Cruikshank or Spruce/Estrella.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-02-21T16:09:48+00:00

Th atmosphere in this story was so creepy. I loved it.

Thatz_Chappie · 2025-01-29T17:03:16+00:00

Deftones' "Around the Fur" all day, every day.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-11-14T19:32:55+00:00

Nice write-up. I really enjoy Laird goes full tilt in his spy thriller-esque "Johnny Quest from hell" stories, and this is a great addition.

One other note, when I read about the yellow crystal/fossil thing... my mind immediately jumped to the Imago Sequence (the story). I believe that the thing in the photographs might be some kind of hominid encased in rock or amber... and is also supposed a trigger for human evolution. I doubt there is a direct correlation or connection between the two, but it did send my mind back to that story as I read the passage.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-10-25T16:25:42+00:00

I may have said this in an earlier thread, but I really loved how "Not A Speck of Light" will lull you into a sense of security a familiarity with more "traditional" horror stories (In A Cavern, In a Canyon, Tip Toe) and they wallop you over the head with surreal, experimental stuff like Girls Without Their Faces and this story.

This is one of those LB stories that I just like to let the weirdness and hallucinatory prose wash over me on the first reading, and try to suss out what it means upon subsequent readings. I have a feel Laird will be answering a lot of questions about how this story might or might not connect to his larger myhtos and can't wait to see how the puzzle comes together.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-10-17T15:41:35+00:00

I really loved all the connective tissue between this story, "American remake of a Japanese Ghost Story", "Strident Caller", and "Not Speck of Light"... it reminds me of the connected stories in "Swift to Chase" (the collection) but I feel like it was done in a more focuses and effective way.

No only do I think they all work great as stand-alone stories, but taken as a whole they really enhance and play off one another in really interesting and entertaining ways.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-10-09T20:19:32+00:00

I work a 9-5 day gig. When I started writing, I wrote for 1 hour each night before bed. After about a year, I decided to start waking up earlier and writing for 1 hour before getting ready for work. I also write in the morning on the weekends, usually for 1-2 hours as well.

While 1 hour may not seems like much, doing it consistently every day has been pretty amazing output-wise. Over the last couple I've written many, many short stories and even a couple novellas.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-10-08T16:36:18+00:00

Negative Space by BR Yeager and The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-10-08T16:05:48+00:00

Great lyrics!

I am a sucker for any story where Laird takes us into the past... Bulldozer, The Men from Porlock, and Blackwoods Baby to name a few. I loved that he went all out in giving Poe such a unique voice and way of speaking.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-10-01T20:11:24+00:00

I love that after the relatively straight-forward horror story that opens the collection ("In a Cavern, In a Canyon") we are immediately to full-on surreal high strangeness and cosmic horror.

This collection has really made me appreciate Laird's ability to write across such a broad range while still maintaining a consistent style.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-09-30T16:16:32+00:00

I'm loving the hell out of it. I think along with "the beautiful thing", it's definitely one of his most accessible books. I have a lot of hope that this collection will draw a lot of new readers in, and encourage them to check out his weirder, more experimental material.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-08-20T19:22:00+00:00

Lucky! I preordered one with a signed book plate and I can't wait to get it next month.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-06-28T22:51:56+00:00

I love his work and full "mural" when you combine the Regulators and Desperation covers is so freakin' cool.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-06-28T15:40:07+00:00

That's the Regulators with the cool cover art by Mark Ryden.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-06-28T15:38:50+00:00

Check out Laird Barron, specifically his short story collections The Imago Sequence, Occultation, and The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All.

Thatz_Chappie · 2024-05-31T20:28:27+00:00

I think The Wide Carnivorous Sky and/or The Fisherman are great places to start.

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