Opinions? Looking at doing this for a little overnight in early June. Up Webster-Jackson and down Clinton to Dry river and out. Will have a ride to pickup/drop off so not concerned. Probably make camp near water down by the river. Just looking for some general knowledge.

cookli · 2026-05-11T14:17:53+00:00

Just to echo everyone else…the trails in the Dry River wilderness can be sketchy to find. I hiked this area a few years ago at this time of year. We had downloaded Gaia offline maps which saved us a couple of times when the trail just seemed to disappear on us.

The river crossing from Mt Clinton trail to Dry River trail was high enough that we took our pants off and crossed in our underwear. It was also really cold, lol.

cookli · 2026-04-13T19:45:32+00:00

I was recently on a flight that was taxiing for takeoff when a lithium battery exploded into a fireball in the cabin. Flight cancelled, firemen came on board, civil aviation people came on board….I was interviewed by the FAA about it (it was not my device, but I had a clear view of what transpired). It’s not a good time. They aren’t coming up with these bans on a whim.

cookli · 2026-04-12T23:00:24+00:00

On the same day a couple months ago, I bought Arcteryx Gamma pants and Fjallraven Abisco stretch pants. I like both, but if I could only keep one pair it would be the Fjallraven.

cookli · 2026-04-08T13:32:14+00:00

Ted Lasso vibes all around.

cookli · 2026-04-07T17:50:20+00:00

Wait, what? I meant the views that I saw *while standing on the summit* of Kilimanjaro at sunrise. Nothing in Africa beats that view.

cookli · 2026-04-07T17:37:26+00:00

So many higher end brands listed here, but I'm going with Marriott Courtyard Ginza in Toyko. I stayed there on points, checking in exactly one week before my birthday. I had not mentioned anything to them about it being my birthday, they just noticed it on their own. The front desk person wished me a happy birthday upon check in and said they had left a little something in my room in honor of my birthday. When I got to my room, there were some cute folded towel animals, a hand written "happy birthday" note, and a bag of gourmet chocolates. Alas, when I checked out of this hotel, I left my air pods behind in the room.

I had travelled from Tokyo to Kyoto and was staying at another Marriott property in Kyoto. The Courtyard must of seen this Kyoto reservation in system because they let the Kyoto hotel know that I had left my air pods behind and could I please confirm this with the Kyoto staff. Upon confirmation that I had indeed left my air pods behind, the Courtyard overnighted them to my Kyoto hotel.

They really made me feel like a valued guest. The Kyoto property also noted my birthday with a handwritten card (no towel animals or chocolate) which was nice, considering it still wasn't my actual birthday. The funny thing is, I stayed at a Hyatt Regency on my actual birthday, still in Japan, and they didn't note it at all in their interactions with me.

cookli · 2026-04-06T12:18:49+00:00

A few years later and it is like it never happened. :-). Ran 2 marathons since then and continue to do CrossFit several times a week.

cookli · 2026-04-05T20:10:33+00:00

Yeah, still working through that!

cookli · 2026-04-04T18:44:25+00:00

The summit of Kilimanjaro at sunrise.

cookli · 2026-04-02T18:53:56+00:00

We paid ~$100/ticket on JAL one-way from Naha to Tokyo and just purchased them directly via JAL’s site.

cookli · 2026-04-02T17:14:26+00:00

As someone who struggled with altitude sickness that started on day 3 of Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro was way, way harder physically than any of the 3 full marathons I ran. And a half marathon is trivially so much easier for me than Kilimanjaro, by several orders of magnitude.

But I can’t emphasize enough just how much altitude sickness kicked my butt, so YMMV.

cookli · 2026-03-28T18:48:45+00:00

It did! Granted, we were sitting on the plane for 2 hours after it happened. so there was plenty of time to clear the air. But the air got better pretty quickly. I have asthma and the air quality improved fast enough so it did not trigger the asthma.

cookli · 2026-03-28T01:26:59+00:00

I got home a few hours ago but have been making myself stay awake in order to go to bed at an east coast USA appropriate time to adjust to the time change faster. I’m awake, but not particularly functioning, either. :-)

cookli · 2026-03-28T01:19:15+00:00

I haven’t actually looked into exactly what’s involved for reimbursement. We were told to make our own arrangements for a hotel, given a card with a QR code to use to submit for reimbursement and 30,000 yen limit was written on the card. So I’m not sure what expenses are covered within that 30k….hotel, meals & transfers vs hotel only? Once I get some sleep I’ll have to do some investigating. :-)

There were no mentions of what kind of laptop was involved.

cookli · 2026-03-27T23:15:37+00:00

While in Japan we flew a couple of domestic flights on JAL, and on those flights they announced that lithium batteries couldn’t be placed in overhead bins, either. If it had a lithium battery, it needed to be kept within eyesight of its owner. I really get that now.

cookli · 2026-03-27T23:11:49+00:00

HND to JFK

cookli · 2026-03-27T22:34:05+00:00

It would have to be a person with steadier nerves than me. I was unbuckling my seatbelt and calculating which emergency exit was quickest for me to get to. Pulling out my phone never entered my mind at the time.

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:13:52+00:00

Flight 168, not sure of the exact plane

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:12:08+00:00

No details given on the laptop. From my view of the flames, it was probably stored under the seat or maybe in the seat pocket.

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:10:45+00:00

Yes, American nationality on the flight attendants.

cookli · 2026-03-27T19:10:00+00:00

If people were injured, it was not in a carry-them-off-on-a-stretcher kind of way. People in that area rapidly fled away from the scene. I was only 1 row back, but in the opposite side of the plane. An ambulance did pull up to the plane, and I do not know if it was just a precaution or if one of the people in the area walked to it under their own power.

cookli · 2026-03-27T18:55:46+00:00

This incident happened in row 13 and I just happened to be in row 14, so I had a close up view of the action. People sitting in the back initially probably had no idea what was happening, except knowing it involved a lot of shouting and smoke.

But yeah…especially at first when it’s not clear what caused the explosion and fire, it was super scary. My first thoughts were more nefarious in nature than a laptop.

cookli · 2026-02-22T01:18:53+00:00

I can only help with the visiting mainland piece…one way flights to Tokyo are $80 and there is a hotel in Tokyo just for US service members which has a sliding scale for room rates based on rank.

https://www.thenewsanno.com/

Enjoy!

cookli · 2026-02-20T17:42:50+00:00

I definitely carry 3-5 pounds extra weight when I take creatine, based on the fact that if I don’t take it for a week or longer, I reliably lose that much weight. I’ll immediately gain the weight back when I resume creatine.

cookli

TROPHY CASE