Special full moon on Wednesday

Tomorrow's full moon is called the solstice moon.

When the full moon rises on the horizon it always looks big but this one will look 'really' big. This is because the moon hugs the horizon longer than at other times of the year. The sun seems higher in the sky and the moon seems lower. Everything is ok. It's summer. The moon isn't actually any larger, nor is it magnified. It's just an optical illusion having to do with our puny brains being unable to distinguish distances under certain conditions. NASA has the whole thing worked out here.
Remember, the Solstice is coming June 20-21 this year, depending on where you're living. (20th in the USA).

Lost in the Cascades - Update - Hiker remembered for his sacrifice

Army Reserve's 159th Aviation Regiment Chinook rescuing the surviving hikers from Camp Muir

There are more details now about the hiker who died on Rainier Monday. His wife and their mutual friend are hailing Eduard Burceag as a hero. They said that he insisted on laying in the snow which provided them some protection from the cold. They begged him to move but he kept saying he was ok and stayed until he lost consciousness.
Daniel Vlad, one of the three was somehow able to summon the strength to head up to Camp Muir before dawn in the storm. He was spotted by a guide from International Mountain Guides struggling up the mountain in what one guide called the worst storm he'd ever seen there.
Three guides met up with him 10 minutes later. Vlad gave the guides precise directions on how to find the other two. One guide, Joe Franklin, brought Vlad back up to Muir. The other guides, Kevin Hammonds and Eben Reckord went down and easily found the pair. Mariana Burceag incoherent but concious. Eduard Burceag was unconcious and had no pulse. They decided to get Mariana Burceag up to Camp first. They bundled her up and began to drag her up the mountain. Eventually more rangers came with a sled and oxygen. It took about an hour to get her to camp, Once they secured her in camp, the went back for Ed. He was later brought back to camp where doctors determined that he had died.
As we reported before, the two survivors were brought down by helicopter on Wed. Ed Burceag's remains were brought down by sled later that afternoon. The county medical examiner confirmed that he died of hypothermia.
RIP Ed Burceag.

Lost in the Sierras - Update - Missing Yosemite hiker found alive

The missing Honduran man we've been reporting about was reportedly found alive yesterday afternoon around 2:15. He was spotted by helicopter near Mt Starr King within in the search area. It's not known what happened but he is apparently ok.
The National Park Service has the story.

Surf - All aboard. Airline baggage costs for board bags

Employees at the airlines handle your board

The folks over at Surfline put together a current and comprehensive list of the prices airlines charge for your board bag. The bewildering rules are all over the place. If you want to take British Airways to your surf destination, they will not let you take your board at all. For any price. Delta wants $150 each way for any size board. Our favorite, United (not) wants $200 each way for your long board, anything under 9 ft is $100 each way.
The good US airlines who don't charge anything are Alaska & Virgin. Woot!. Jet Blue charges a reasonabl 25 each way.
The price of flying is still incredibly cheap, even with the new fuel surcharges. Flying commercial airlines are the only thing we can think of that cost the same in the 50s as it does now. Still, it pays to take into account the extra baggage costs.
For instance, a round trip flight to Puerto Vallarta from San Francisco on United and Alaska costs the same right now $881.
If you take your longboard and fly United, the cost will be an extra $400 ($1281 round trip).

It's a good idea to check with the airline for any changes to these rules before you book. These rules change all the time.

One more thing. Think hard about bringing your board at all. Every time we've brought our board on an airline, our boards have been damaged by the kind people handling the baggage. We've wrapped and padded and tried all kinds of different travel bags. If you're going to a place where it's easy to rent, it's often a much better deal to leave your board at home. This is especially true if you are going to pay someone to repair your board.

Lost in the Sierras - Update on Desolation Wilderness hiker deaths

The LA Times is reporting the cause of death of the hikers found dead in Desolation Wilderness. The first man, Thomas A. Hylton died of a heart attack. He apparently fell ill during dinner at their campsite, just 2 miles from the trail head at highway 89. Unfortunately , Hylton was the more experienced of the two. The other man, Jerome B. Smith apparently left immediately to find help, wearing only a flannel shirt. The moon was just a sliver that night and he fell down a rocky slope, suffering moderate injuries. The night time temperature at that altitude was probably in the 20s and he died of exposure sometime during the night.
There you have it.
RIP Mr. Hylton & Mr. Smith.

Lost in the Sierras - Update on missing Yosemite hiker

Esmin Garmendia-Barrios

A small update on the previous story on the search for the guy missing near Glacier Point above Yosemite Valley. His name is Esmin Garmendia-Barrios and is 22 years old, not 24 as previously reported. Some reports said he wanted to be alone for a bit to 'read his Bible'. Seems a bit odd to me. The Park Service is asking anyone who was in the area of Sentinel Dome, Washburn Point, or Glacier Point after 2pm on 6/8/08 to call 209/372-0311. Even if you didn't see him.
See the report from the Park Service Here

Lost in the Cascades - One hiker dies, rescue in progress on Mt. Rainier

UPDATE - The two survivors have been rescued this morning. A military Chinook helicopter picked up the pair at 6:15 and took them to the hospital at Fort Lewis. The body of the 3rd man was left behind due to agreements between the Park Service and the military. Apparently recovery operations are not in the agreement. The identities of the hikers are still being held.


One hiker died last night and another two are waiting to be rescued on Mt. Rainier. The group was out for a day hike when they were caught in bad weather and were trapped overnight Monday near Anvil Rock, below the popular base camp of Camp Muir at 10k feet. One of the hikers was able to make his way back up to Muir, where there were several guides. Luckily some doctors were waiting out the storm too.

A team of guides and climbers went back down to Anvil Rock and brought back the three hikers to the relative safety and comfort of Camp Muir. One of the hikers, a man, later died. The other two, a man and a woman are stable but suffering from frostbite. They are currently waiting for a break in the weather for a helicopter.

The weather has been quite nasty this week up on Rainier and this storm dropped 2 feet of snow yesterday. The National Weather Service has been calling out for unusually bad weather for a while now. It's bewildering why this team went up with such a bad forecast, but who knows what happened really.

I've been watching the weather a lot as I'll be attempting to summit Rainier in a few weeks.
Wish me luck!
For more see the Seattle PI

Lost in the Sierras - 2 hikers found dead in Desolation Wilderness

Strange story out of Desolation Wilderness, near Lake Tahoe. On Thursday, June 5, 2 backpackers were reported overdue near Emerald Bay, part of Lake Tahoe. Search and Rescue teams went out on foot and helicopter. They found their campsite about a mile south of Eagle Lake, not far from Emerald Bay. When they searched the campsite they found the body of one of the men, Anthony Hylton, 70 of Lincoln, CA. The backpacks of the two men were found in camp. After searching for another day, they came across the body of his friend, Jerome Bernard Smith, 78. He was near the shore of Eagle Lake. He had possibly fallen while trying to hike out to get help. It's unclear what caused the death of Hylton. News reports cite "Natural Causes".

Lost in the Sierras - 24 yr old missing from near Glacier Point

A 24 year old Honduran man went missing yesterday afternoon from the area around Glacier Point above Yosemite Valley. The Park Service sent out this message today:

"Yosemite National Park staff began the search today for Ssmyn (Ess-meen") Barrios. Barrios is described as 24 years old, a native Honduran, who is 5’7" tall. Mr. Barrios speaks Spanish and broken English. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a blue t-shirt, and black shoes.

Anyone in the area ONLY of Sentinel Dome, Washburn Point, or Glacier Point after 2pm on 6/8/08 is asked to please call Yosemite National Park Investigations Unit at 209/372-0311 even if they did not see Mr. Barrios. Media calls should be directed to Public Information Officer Adrienne Freeman at 209/372-0480."

For Updates check out the Yosemite National Park Web Site

Google Maps and NOAA maps mash-up

Magic Instinct Software has put something together very useful for sailors and other ocean navigators.
Their Geogarage application lays out NOAA navigation charts over Google Earth or Google Maps. It's sort of a palm slap to the forhead kind of thing. It's seems like a smart way to familiarize yourself with NOAA charts because you can see 'the real world' right beneath it.
I've been playing around with it for a while and it's amazing how well it lines up to the photo layer.

Let us know what you think.