Nostr notes by Tom Lechner

Last weekend I went on my first multiday backpack, 3 nights near ...

2026-07-09T22:34:24Z

Last weekend I went on my first multiday backpack, 3 nights near Green Lakes in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Also my first time in the area, it was quite nice! Broken top is about 300,000 years old, but the Three Sisters are all about 50,000 years old, plus there's lots of little old lava flows spilling out all over the place. The USGS says there are 466 distinct volcanoes of age under about 3 million years in the area.

A video from Benn Jordan talking about, among other things, ...

2026-06-18T16:20:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…m4y0
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A video from Benn Jordan talking about, among other things, measuring infrasound exposure from datacenters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bP80DEAbuo

The Eagle Creek Trail was hit pretty hard in the big rain storms ...

2026-05-19T21:45:44Z

The Eagle Creek Trail was hit pretty hard in the big rain storms in December, but opened back up last week. Each time I hike this trail I've seen something new, this time it's fresh trails cut through large washouts, and also first time ever seeing 4 harlequin ducks in between waterfalls, diving and swimming around the river.

My last day in Germany was in Franconian Switzerland, kind of ...

2026-05-15T19:26:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…zw75
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My last day in Germany was in Franconian Switzerland, kind of northern Bavaria's excuse to not go to the Alps. I hiked a big loop starting from Ebermannstadt, a little north of Nuremberg, #hiking past or through caves, large limestone pillars, old stone ruins, rivers. Also many of the best benches I've seen on any trails!

Several trees had I guess bird houses? There were a whole bunch ...

2026-05-13T02:36:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…d25a
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Several trees had I guess bird houses? There were a whole bunch of them in the middle of the forest.

I spent a few days after the Libre Graphics Meeting for #hiking, ...

2026-05-13T02:32:33Z

In reply to nevent1q…fx79
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I spent a few days after the Libre Graphics Meeting for #hiking, first at Houbirg, next to Happurg, slightly outside #Nuremberg. A pleasant hike up through some forest to a couple large natural arches, one of which is for the birds. I mean literally blockaded to protect nesting birds.

Travel photos from in and around Nuremberg.. Fun fact, ...

2026-05-13T02:27:32Z

Travel photos from in and around Nuremberg.. Fun fact, Nuremberg's old city has a 3D minimap! Most of the old city is very old buildings (by my US standards), but sometimes there are unexpected, more modernist swooping glass and concrete buildings. Whatever your feelings about modernist architecture, there is a street with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights carved in stone just down the way to keep you grounded.

Recently back from travel to the Libre Graphics Meeting in ...

2026-05-04T20:51:47Z

Recently back from travel to the Libre Graphics Meeting in Nuremberg, so naturally I postponed fully unpacking and photo processing to go to Loowit/Mt St Helens, my first time doing the Worm Flows route. Might as well use my residual 8 hour sleep offset for early morning hiking. The cornice is still pretty big, so no great view into the crater, but there was plenty of snow to glissade on from the top, so I guess it worked out?

From Silver Star summit, quite a clear day. Helens, Rainier, ...

2026-01-18T01:04:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…ukj4
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From Silver Star summit, quite a clear day. Helens, Rainier, Adams. I think Goat Rocks(?) just visible between Rainier and Adams. Goat Rocks used to be a volcano, so it gets honorary mention. In the south you could clearly see Hood and Jefferson, and at it seemed like maybe the Sisters too!

#Hiking at Silver Star Mountain a couple days ago. Abnormally ...

2026-01-18T00:49:31Z

#Hiking at Silver Star Mountain a couple days ago. Abnormally sustained high temperatures probably melting it.. I kind of wanted to try for Bluff Mountain, but off the main trail away from the sun, I was sinking into snow up past my knees, and alas, I had opted not to have snow shoes, and the shoes I did have were proving that "waterproof" was mostly marketing.

So the amount of #beargrass around Silver Star Mountain is really ...

2025-06-18T01:35:15Z

So the amount of #beargrass around Silver Star Mountain is really bonkers right now. It's like the mountain has been possessed by Dr. Seuss! I have never seen so much while #hiking around.

Further #hiking adventures in knee testing. 4.7 miles! With heavy ...

2025-04-25T04:16:00Z

Further #hiking adventures in knee testing. 4.7 miles! With heavy trekking pole usage to minimize impacts, I'm not a doctor, but it seems ok, woohoo! I went to Lyle Cherry Orchard for the first time. It had lots of lupine, and some sections with lots of yellow balsamroot. A fairly new trail for the area, it exists because Nancy Russell, a founder of Friends of the Gorge bought it in the early 1990s with the purpose of protecting it as a natural area.

For Saint Patrick's day, and #mosstodon Monday, some greenery ...

2025-03-18T04:47:56Z

For Saint Patrick's day, and #mosstodon Monday, some greenery on the rocks from Beacon Rock, and more greenery on Wind Mountain. I recently read Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass, which was really interesting. I had no idea that moss reproduced with sperm, one of the first organisms on earth to do so! Also had no idea how dependent on very specific local conditions each moss is.

A visit to Eagle Creek, one of my favorite places. It is also ...

2025-02-28T04:07:50Z

A visit to Eagle Creek, one of my favorite places. It is also administered by the US Forest Service that a couple rancid billionaires and Project 2025 zealots have decide to decimate. Those bastards can't stand any concept of publicly owned anything or anything that works in the public interest, because they can't hoard it, pretend they invented it, and make money off the backs of everyone else from it.

Currently still very lovely #hiking though!

To celebrate MLK day today, I went #hiking at Mt. Defiance on the ...

2025-01-21T05:02:32Z

To celebrate MLK day today, I went #hiking at Mt. Defiance on the Columbia River. A brutal incline, with only a couple of good views, but still worth it to put in the effort. I only did an out-and-back hike, so it was a lot of defiance. Had I done the loop instead of out-and-back, it would have taken so much time that by the end I would have gotten past Starvation Ridge, and ended in darkness, but I didn't want to push the metaphor that far.