BruteForce

Judge reportedly orders Colorado woman to decrypt laptop

2012-01-24T15:30:22Z

Note: While I hope this woman gets her due process and justice, I find it appalling that we're constantly facing abuses to our Constitutional rights.

Snagged via: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/24/judge-reportedly-orders-colorado-woman-to-decrypt-laptop/?test=latestnews

A judge has reportedly ordered a Colorado woman to decrypt her laptop computer so prosecutors may use the files against her in a criminal case involving alleged bank fraud.

The defendant, Ramona Fricosu, had unsuccessfully argued that being forced to do so would violate the Fifth Amendment protection against compelled self-incrimination, Wired reports.

"I conclude that the Fifth Amendment is not implicated by requiring production of the unencrypted contents of the Toshiba Satellite M305 laptop computer," Colorado U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn ruled Monday.

The case is being closely watched by civil rights groups, Wired reports, as the issue has never been fully considered by the Supreme Court. Authorities seized the laptop from Fricosu in 2010 with a court warrant while investigating financial fraud.

Blackburn ordered Fricosu to surrender an unencrypted hard drive by Feb. 21. The judge added that the government is precluded "from using Ms. Fricosu's act of production of the unencrypted hard drive against her in any prosecution," Wired reports.

Oppose the SOPA bill!

2012-01-18T14:26:39Z

Call your elected officials.

Tell them you are their constituent, and you oppose SOPA and PIPA.

Why?

SOPA and PIPA would put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA would build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.

In a world in which politicians regulate the Internet based on the influence of big money, user contributed content sites (like this one) -- and sites like it -- cannot survive.

Congress says it's trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease. SOPA and PIPA are not the answer: they would fatally damage the free and open Internet.

In South Jordan, my representatives are:

Rep. Jason Chaffetz [R, UT-3]

Phone: 202-225-7751

Twitter: @jasoninthehouse

Contact form

Sen. Orrin Hatch [R, UT]

Phone: 202-224-5251

Twitter: @OrrinHatch

Contact form

Sen. Mike Lee [R, UT]

Phone: 202-224-5444

Twitter: @SenMikeLee

Contact form

Lookout Pass

2012-01-15T22:59:56Z

Although the weather for today (15 Jan) was forecast to be 45-50F, I found it overcast and very windy. Actual on the ground temperatures felt like 25F (due to a complete lack of sun and the wind).

I loaded up the ATV and drove out along the Pony Express trail and continued west to Lookout Pass.

A little information about the Pony Express trail:

Ride the Pony Express Trail National Back Country Byway

The Pony Express Trail National Back Country Byway begins near Fairfield and ends at Ibapah, Utah. Along the route visitors can enjoy history and a variety of recreation.

To begin tracing the hoofprints of the "Pony" visit the Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn State Park on state highway 73, 5 miles south of Cedar Fort. The Inn was an overnight stop for weary travelers along the Overland and Pony Express Trail. Hours are 9 am to 5 pm. It is open 7 days a week during main season and closed Sundays from October 15 through March 31.

Next, visit the Pony Express National Back Country Byway Visitor Information Site. This interpretive site was constructed in the spring of 1992. It is located 1.8 miles west of the Faust Junction along the north side of the Pony Express Trail on an overlook. The site is clearly marked at the turn-off.

The Pony Express National Back Country Byway route is approximately 133 miles in length. Most of the route is classified as rangeland and managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The elevations along the route vary from 4,900 feet near Fairfield to over 6,100 feet at Lookout Pass. The most common use of the rangeland along the trail is livestock grazing which dates back to the mid 1800s.

The Pony Express Trail is interpreted at a number of locations:

A

Fairfield/Camp Floyd

This station was located with John Carson's Inn and was used by both the Pony Express and stage travel. The Fairfield adobe building was built in 1958 and is still standing, has a wooden facade, and is open to the public. It was operated by the Carson family until 1947 and lodged such visitors as Mark Twain, Porter Rockwell, Bill Hickman and Sir Richard Burton.

Adjacent to Fairfield is Camp Floyd. It was established in November 1858 and named for Secretary of War, John B. Floyd. Camp Floyd was the second military establishment in Utah and its mission was to establish a military route to California and to investigate the Gunnison Massacre.

At its peak, Fairfield had a population of 7,000 of which 3,000 were soldiers. At the time, Fairfield was the third largest city in the territory.

B

Faust Junction

As you travel west along the Pony Express Trail, this stop offers the first opportunity to view interpretive work completed in 1976 by the BLM. There is also a marker at the site which was constructed in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as part of its project to mark the original Pony Express Trail. Named after station keeper "Doc" Fausts, the station was a two-story stone structure located some distance from the present marker. A change of riders took place and the mail stage stopped for rest breaks at this station.

C

Simpson Springs Station

This station bears the name of explorer Captain J.H. Simpson who stopped here in 1858 while searching for an overland mail route between Salt Lake City and California. It is one of the most dependable watering points in this desert region. George Chorpenning established a mail station at this site in 1858, which was later used by the Pony Express and Overland Express.

A number of structures have been built and destroyed in the vicinity of Simpson Springs over the years. It is not known for sure which served as the station for the Pony Express. The restored structure is located on a building site which dates to the period (1860) and closely resembles the original. A BLM campground is located just east of the station with drinking water, toilets, and 14 camping sites.

D

Boyd Station

This relay station gets its name from Bid Boyd, a station keeper who continued to live here into the early years of this century. In the days of the Pony Express, it was known as Butte or Desert Station. Only a portion of the rock walls that once provided protection from the elements now remains.

Living conditions were extremely crude. The partially dug out, rock-walled living quarters contained bunks which were built into the walls. Furniture consisted of boxes and benches. Life at the isolated station was lonely. Activities of the station keeper, spare rider and blacksmith centered around caring for the horses and a simple existence. The monotony was broken only by the arrival and almost immediate departure of two riders each day.

E

Canyon Station

The Canyon Station was located northwest of this site in Overland Canyon. Built in 1861, it consisted of a log house, a stable, and a dugout where meals were cooked and served. In July 1863, Indians killed the Overland agent and four soldiers, and burned the station. The Overland Station was built in 1863 at the present marked site, which was a more defensible location. Stone outlines of the 1863 station are still visible.

There are remnants of a round fortification built just behind the station which served as a lookout and place of refuge. It probably never had a roof so defenders could speedily climb over the wall and begin firing through the rifle ports. The depression on the south side of the parking lot indicates where the corral and blacksmith shop were probably located.

Pony Express Facts

St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA
Distance: 1900 miles
Number of Stations: 190 (peak operation)
Note: The Utah Territory (Utah, Nevada and W. Colorado) carried 65 of the 190
Number of Horses: 420 (peak)
Number of Riders: 80 (peak)
Average Speed: 7 miles per hour
Average Time: 10 days
Fastest time: 7-1/2 days (Lincoln's Inaugural Message)
Distance per Rider: 60-120 miles each
William C. "Buffalo Bill" Cody: Rode 322 miles in 21 hours and 40 minutes using 21 horses.
Home Stations: 60 miles apart
Swing Stations: averaged 11 3/4 miles apart
Rider Salary: $120-$125 per month
Station Personnel: 2 agents, l station keeper, and l assistant

The Road Ahead

The sand and gravel road ahead can become unstable when wet. Areas may look solid, however, getting stuck is very easy. Also, watch for flash flooding during the thunderstorm season and be very careful during extreme hot and cold periods. Desert terrain is deceptive in distance and orientation, so study the map carefully.

Come prepared for desert travel--bring extra water and have plenty of gas. There is no gas available between Vernon and Wendover, however gas is sometimes available in Ibapah.

----

While en route to Lookout Pass, my first stop was a Pony Express marker.

The next stop was the peak at Lookout Pass. The cloud continued to get darker and the wind more ominous:

From this location, I proceeded further West and found a staging area adjacent to the Lookout Pass Pet cemetery. A bit of history on the cemetery:
-----

In the 1850/60 era the station keeper was Horace and Libby Rockwell. Libby, had a pet cemetery constructed for her pet dogs that passed on. Rumor has it, that her dogs were buried side by side with emigrants who died along the trail as well as employees killed by Indians. The strange part is that the dogs graves were the only ones that were marked with tomb stones.

----

All in all, it was an interesting trip to the West desert, but the 30+mph winds, low clouds and rapidly dropping temperatures brought my activities to a close.

ToyitUp ATV Rentals (Spanish Fork, Utah)

2011-10-31T23:48:41Z

A bit of narrative regarding my experience with this ATV rental operation out of Spanish Fork.

- Reserved 6x quads in early October. Provided a $300 non-refundable reservation deposit.
- Was told over the phone by ToyitUp that if I cancelled, I'd lose my $300
- I had the reservation booked for 14 Oct
- On 10 October, I phoned in to cancel. Boss decided that timing wasn't good and we'd reschedule for next May. Got voicemail when I phoned in my cancellation.
- Phoned again evening of 13 October to confirm they received my cancellation. Was told all was good.
- Checked credit card statements today and noticed that ToyitUp charged me the $300 deposit and $823 reservation fee.
- Called them today and they informed me that the legalese said that if I cancelled within 15 days without written, I'd forfeit the entire fee.

** They charged me almost $1200 for machines I never rented and are now claiming that I can have in-store credit in lieu of a refund **

Needless to say, I'm not going to stand for this. Awaiting a phone call from their "manager".

BEWARE THIS OPERATION.

Justice department proposes letting the government LIE!

2011-10-26T14:55:38Z

Note: What a crock. Obama promised to keep his administration transparent and open, and now the DOJ wants a new law to allow them to lie?

---

Original story here:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/26/justice-department-proposes-letting-government-deny-existence-sensitive/

A longtime internal policy that allowed Justice Department officials to deny the existence of sensitive information could become the law of the land -- in effect a license to lie -- if a newly proposed rule becomes federal regulation in the coming weeks.

The proposed rule directs federal law enforcement agencies, after personnel have determined that documents are too delicate to be released, to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests "as if the excluded records did not exist."

Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, says the move appears to be in direct conflict with the administration's promise to be more open.

"Despite all the talk of transparency, I can't think of what's less transparent than saying a document does not exist, when in fact, it does," Sekulow told Fox News.

Justice Department officials say the practice has been in effect for decades, dating back to a 1987 memo from then-Attorney General Edwin Meese.

In that memo, and subsequent similar internal documents, Justice Department staffers were advised that they could reply to certain FOIA requests as if the documents had never been created. That policy never became part of the law -- or even codified as a federal regulation -- and it was recently challenged in court.

A final version of the proposal could be issued by the end of 2011. If approved, the new rule would officially become a federal regulation with the force of law.

But the Justice Department got so much pushback in response to the proposal that it took the unusual step of re-opening the public comment period after it had already been closed. That second comment period closed last week.

When the new comment period began, the American Civil Liberties Union became one of the most vocal critics of the proposal. Mike German, Policy Counsel with the ACLU, authored a lengthy letter in opposition.

"It's shocking that you would twist what is supposed to be a statute -- that's supposed to give people access to what the government is doing -- in a way that would allow the government to actually mislead the American public," German told Fox News.

Melanie Ann Pustay, director of the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy, said the entire consideration process for the proposal "has been open and transparent."

She also notes that sensitive information requires special consideration.

"To ensure that the integrity of the exclusion is maintained, agencies must ensure that their responses do not reveal the existence of excluded records," Pustay said.

Sekulow says he is not buying that argument, and argued that FOIA requesters who get a response telling them that officials can neither confirm or deny the existence of documents now can at least go to court to sue for more information.

If they're told that no documents exist, there is no basis for a legal challenge at all, Sekulow said.

"The real concern is here is it changes the entire dynamic of what the law was intended to do, and really gives the Department of Justice the upper hand in area where they shouldn't have it."

Fillmore and 5th wheel saga..

2011-10-24T13:25:58Z

On Friday, October 21st (2011), we departed Salt Lake City for Fillmore. Our goal was to get in one more camping and ATV'ing adventure before the weather turned cold and snowy.

On the first Fillmore exit, we stopped to hit Carls Jr. for a quick lunch. Just as we parked, we noticed a guy on a golf cart inspecting every trailer that pulled into the lot. At first, we didn't think much of it.

A few minutes later, this guy was looking at my 5th wheel tires with much interest. He came over and told me that my tire tread was separating and that if I pulled my rig to the service station a few hundred feet away, his guys would gladly mount my spare. I pulled to the service station and was immediately told that all six of my 5th wheel tires were coming apart.

Initially, it looked very likely that I was in a very dangerous situation with my trailer. I was quoted $2100 for 6x Cooper "Provider" tires in 235/80 R16. I declined and we made the 2-3 mile tow to the Fillmore KOA.

Google was fired up and I researched Cooper tires. To my dismay, I learned that Cooper doesn't carry a brand called "Provider", nor did they carry my tire size. Clearly, these guys were pedaling Chinese knock-off tires at twice the price I could source replacements from Discount Tire/Sears/Walmart.

To compound matters, upon arriving at the KOA, we determined that the front electric motor for the levlling legs was not working. We had to manually crank to lower (and then raise) the legs. Additionally, the rear garage door was not sealing completely, allowing both sunlight and bugs to come through.

We settled in that Friday night and for dinner, drove the ~50 miles to Hoovers for another awesome meal.

The following morning (Saturday), we decided to sleep in a bit. Overnight temps were near freezing, so nobody was really inclined to get out into the cold morning air.

My 11am, we had the ATV's loaded and were ready to roll. Destination: Marysvale (just shy of 60 miles one-way across two mountain ranges (Pahvant & Tushar).

Our route would start at the far North/East corner of Fillmore via the Paiute 03 trail through Chalk Creek.

Somewhere near the middle of the Max Reid trail (Paiute 01), the Honda Rancher lost all brakes at one of the steepest sections of trail. My tactic: Get my ATV and my sons in front of the wife and have her just coast down using the two front ATV's at brakes. Success!

Hunters were everywhere in the woods. How they managed to spot a deer is amazing considering how close they all were to each other. Deer to hunter ratio had to be 100:1 (100 hunters for every deer).

We returned to camp after sun-down with temps in the 40-50F range.

That evening, we discussed the situation with the 5th wheel tires. I went out and inspected and determined the tires would be able to handle the 140 mile return trip home.

We departed early Sunday morning and didn't exceed 55mph the entire trip home. We arrived without incident. Seems to me that tire center in Fillmore has a pretty interesting (and unethical) racket: Scope out every trailer, spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt), then when they hook somebody, they increase their tire prices by $600-800 over normal retail.

The quest for replacement tires is underway and the 5th wheel goes back to Motorsportsland for service on Friday. What an eventful weekend. It would be nice to have one outing with the 5th wheel not end with maintenance/repair issues!

Netflix / Qwikster

2011-10-10T13:24:03Z

It would seem Netflix has reversed themselves and are not splitting DVD -v- streaming into two websites. In light of this, SNL made a pretty awesome sketch over this issue:

CNet article regarding cancellation of Qwikster spin-off:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20117888-261/netflix-cancels-qwikster-spinoff/?tag=mncol;topStories

Backyard landscaping: A transformation

2011-10-03T14:14:53Z

For years, we've disliked the layout of our backyard. It was over grown with fruit trees, rotting railroad ties and spruce/juniper bushes.

In May/June of this year (2011), we decided it was time to do a bit of cleanup, starting with our 8x10 shed.

Stage 1: Relocate the 8x10 shed from the N/E corner to the N/Central section of the yard. We had no idea how much work it would be to relocate a shed. The ground was soft and muddy from weeks of rain.

At first, we purchased 4x 12' lengths of heavy duty PVC and attempted to roll the shed. Considering we had to push uphill in mud, we had no success. I even tried hooking my winch cable around the shed (winch on my ATV) and that didn't work.

We then decided to rent an industrial fork lift. 6' forks are the longest available and we needed to move the shed lengthwise. Unfortunately, the 6' forks broke through the floor of the shed and damaged the framing.

The fix? Gorilla tape wood studs to the ends of the forks, making them 10' long. SUCCESS!

With all the heavy equipment in the backyard, the grass (what was left of it) was devastated. We needed to get the grass restored before the dogs made an even larger mess. What to do?

Initially, we thought we would just leave the lawn and put seed down, but that didn't seem to be an acceptable long-term option. The search for a landscaper was on.

We decided more work was needed. Off I went to Diamond Rental to get an excavator. I tore out all the railroad ties, many of the fruit trees and all of the juniper and spruce bushes. We'd never seen the back fence before and it was eye opening just how poorly it looked; another project exposed.

With all the debris hauled to the dump, we were ready to replace the sprinkler system, put down fresh top soil and begin laying sod. We trenched 2-3' deep to run the new lines (satellite TV, power to my sheds, phone lines, etc) and had two dump trucks full of top soil delivered.

After grading and leveling, it was time to lay the sod. The yard was looking so much better already!

I went to the Park City area and secured landscaping rocks from Brown's Canyon Quarry and put them in the new planter areas.

Next it was off to Bland's nursery & garden center to find some nice matching gravel. We found an excellent Gold lava rock. 20+ loads later and things were shaping up.

Next up (for next year); Trex fencing and a pave-stone patio.

What a difference a few months and much back-breaking labor can make!

Timelapse fly-over the Earth!

2011-09-19T13:53:30Z

Netflix Apology?

2011-09-19T12:08:41Z

I have been a customer for the past 10 years. In fact, I was one of the early customers when we were living in the Monterrey Bay, California area. Even though we were 45 minutes (by car) from the San Jose Netflix processing center, it still took 2 days to get a CD/DVD delivered.

Needless to say, we were irritated by the poor communication and 60+% price increase that was announced in July of this year. In the end, we decided to go the pure streaming route (Qwikster). We are still considering if RedBox and/or PPV via Dish might be better alternatives.

YouTube is still too expensive ($2.99 to rent a movie, then stream) and other options don't have the inventory YET.

The email I received this morning:
----


	Dear James, I messed up. I owe you an explanation. It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing. For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something - like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores - do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn't have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do. So here is what we are doing and why. Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies. I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service. So we realized that streaming and DVD by mail are really becoming two different businesses, with very different cost structures, that need to be marketed differently, and we need to let each grow and operate independently. It's hard to write this after over 10 years of mailing DVDs with pride, but we think it is necessary: In a few weeks, we will rename our DVD by mail service to "Qwikster". We chose the name Qwikster because it refers to quick delivery. We will keep the name "Netflix" for streaming. Qwikster will be the same website and DVD service that everyone is used to. It is just a new name, and DVD members will go to qwikster.com to access their DVD queues and choose movies. One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow. A negative of the renaming and separation is that the Qwikster.com and Netflix.com websites will not be integrated. There are no pricing changes (we're done with that!). If you subscribe to both services you will have two entries on your credit card statement, one for Qwikster and one for Netflix. The total will be the same as your current charges. We will let you know in a few weeks when the Qwikster.com website is up and ready. For me the Netflix red envelope has always been a source of joy. The new envelope is still that lovely red, but now it will have a Qwikster logo. I know that logo will grow on me over time, but still, it is hard. I imagine it will be similar for many of you. I want to acknowledge and thank you for sticking with us, and to apologize again to those members, both current and former, who felt we treated them thoughtlessly. Both the Qwikster and Netflix teams will work hard to regain your trust. We know it will not be overnight. Actions speak louder than words. But words help people to understand actions. Respectfully yours, -Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments.

Cummins 6.7L CCV Filter Install

2011-09-19T12:00:00Z

As found on Cumminsforum.com
http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/6-7l-tech-articles/278980-6-7l-ccv-filter-install-how.html

--------------

Tools Needed:
5/16 Deep socket
Channel Locks or some good pliers
Closed Crankcase Ventilation Filter (CCV) p/n CV5200100

This is what it looks like when removed from the package.

Here is a close up of the part number. Note that this is factory spec with the Cummins stamp on it even though its not from the dealer...

Ok moving on once the hood is opened you will need your 5/16 and remove the 4 bolts that hold on the EGR cover...

Once that is off it will look something like this... Then with your 5/16 start by removing the 7 bolts and 1 stud that hold down the CCV filter cover.

NOTE:Their is one stud which is located on the rear passenger side on top of that stud is a wire loom holder. Make sure that when reasembling it goes back on the same way. Here is the stud...

Now that you have all the bolts and stud out you can pull off the cover and use your channel locks to remove the PCV hose as seen here...

Then with the cover off it should look like this...

Then all you have to do is pull up on the filter which comes out with little effort. Lube up the seals on the new filter and install it. After its in make sure it is fully seated. Then it goes back together in reverse order.

Brothers Ride 1

2011-09-14T03:05:27Z

Over Labor Day weekend (2011), both my brothers came into town. My oldest brother is retired Air Force, now IT Tech residing in Vacaville, CA. My youngest brother is a 7-8th grade Math teacher, residing in Olympia, WA. Although my oldest brother hunts and camps a bit, he and my youngest brother are still inexperienced ATV'ers.

My plan was to stage at the Panguitch KOA (south end of town), get the guys oriented with the machines on Day 1 (ride toward Bryce Canyon, etc.). On Day 2, our plan was to ATV tent/camp at Castlerock Campground, just off I-70 and West of Richfield (over 100 miles to the North).

Garmin tracks and Google KML found here:

Panguitch_to_Marysvale.gdb

spot_messages.kml

Day 1: Staging at the KOA. We had hoped to come in Friday night, but the KOA owners were worried that our rig was so big that we'd take their trees and power lines down. Apparently through the night, they had friends at work clearing branches and making the campground accessible to our monster-5th wheel. I'm sure glad they did. It was still tight.

Day 1 went without issue. Both brothers proved they could handle the machines, not get lost or destroy anything. We retired back to the 5th wheel for the evening. Overnight, the temperatures dropped to the mid-30's. Far too cold to get up and turn-on the furnace. My brothers, now sleeping in the garage area (on two drop-down queen beds) were freezing and had no issues with telling me so the next morning. That morning, we got an updated map of the area and instructions from the KOA owners that temps overnight had been getting very cold. My youngest brother and I were the only two to have packed sweatshirts. My oldest brother started seeking out a source to purchase on (no success).

Off we went. Our first leg was to ride through the entire Casto/Lime-Kiln loop. After that, it was the Fremont 02 trail to Circleville.

As my older brother was staging this video, I had just had a collision (low-speed) with a tree. I pushed in the right headlight, bumper and frame. I was upset as evidenced in the second video below where I ram the gate and create new suspension issues that won't manifest for another ~80 miles. (upper A-arm bushing)

Somewhere en route, my youngest brother (who was in the middle) was no longer visible. Seems he had "popped off" the ATV and rolled down a small hill and my older brother had just passed him by. We all had two-way radios, so made contact, determined what happened, cleaned him up and continued on our way.

Shortly after the "pop-off" event, my oldest brother pulled up next to me while taking a break and I noticed a tire had gone flat. Apparently, he had cut several gashes in the sidewall of his front/right tire. I set out to plug the leaks and fill the tire with SLIME. To our surprise, it all HELD!

6 or 7 plugs later and we were back on the trail.

Prior to reaching Circleville, we decided to teach my youngest brother how to shoot. He had informed us that morning that he had never fired a handgun. Out came my trusting Walther P99 9mm and a few magazines of ammo and he was zeroed in. He was an quick learner!

After finally arriving at Circleville and finding the RV Park open, we refueled, grabbed cold soda's and proceed up the Paiute 01 switchbacks. We left the Panguitch KOA at around 0900 and it was now 2:30pm.

I warned my brothers to beware all the fast-moving machines after we arrived at the top of the mountain (we went from ~5000' elevation to about ~10000' elevation on that single trail).

The views, wildlife and trees were phenomenal. Temperatures dropped from ~85F to about 75F in that 5000' elevation change.

After another 1.5 hours of riding, we finally arrived at Delano Peak. A high point that sits just under 12000' elevation.

Part of ride required that we follow the Paiute 01 toward Max Reid. En route, there's one little hill climb that's always been problematic for 2WD machines. We quickly found out that my youngest brother couldn't make the hill climb. I was equipped and ready for the challenge:

A mandatory stop before making camp was Hoovers. Just off US HWY89 between Big Rock Candy Mountain, Joseph and Marysvale. We arrived at around 6pm and each enjoyed a great dinner. I had the 18 ounce prime rib. There's nothing like coming in after 100 miles of dirt riding and enjoying a fine dinner.

Comparing our sun-burns.

We concluded dinner just after 8pm and by that time, the sun was mostly set in the canyon. After some brief discussion, we decided we'd take an easier trail (Paiute 22) to I-70 and follow the pavement ( a legal ATV trail) to Castlerock Campground. We arrive at the campground in pitch dark just after 9pm.

From our headlights, we could only find one spot open.. the CAMP HOSTS spot. They were set to arrive the following morning. Our fingers were crossed that they wouldn't arrive in the night and run over our tents.

Fortunately, they didn't and by 8am, we were again back on the trail. MRE's, two hot cups of Pilipino coffee and we were rolling.

My goal was to not back-track, but instead to catch a trail to the East of Beaver. Unfortunately, the track would have required us to go far out of our way and fuel was a concern. We back tracked..

The old Joe Lott (now Max Reid) is a favorite section of trail for everybody that rides the Paiute 01 between I-70 and Hoovers. Although I've now ridden this short trail at least 50 times, it never fails to impress. We started at the lower gate and worked our way up.

En route back toward Delano Peak, we stopped to admire the landslide that had completely claimed the trail, forcing the USFS to keep the mountain closed until early September. The amount of debris was amazing. Nature is sure powerful!

Back along Big John Flat (about 5 miles South of Delano Peak), we encountered a very bloated cow that was not there the day before. One rock and this bloat could have exploded everywhere. Fortunately, my usually mischievous older brother left it alone.

Not even 10 miles past the cow, I heard a metal-on-metal noise from my ATV. I got off the machine to inspect. To my dismay, I noticed that my new A-Arm bushings had detonated allowing the upper/front A-arms to slop around. A bit of duct tape, everyone fueling up and we were on our way again. (Never head for a remote destination without tools and duct tape!).

Just as we were packing up, I looked into the trees and saw an odd formation. A Tee-Pee had been erected and was still standing. While I examined, I decided to etch some names into a nearby Aspen tree (Juvenile, I know.. but it didn't hurt the tree).

The remainder of the trip was not spectacular, as we came back the same way we came in. The only surprise was that we found the marked pavement ATV trail just North of the Airport and didn't have to ride HWY89 back into town.

This was the first time we brothers had gotten together in almost 10 years. I hope we can make this an annual event!

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Big Ride 6 (or my one day ride!)

2011-09-13T22:08:03Z

On the weekend of Sept 22nd, I left home with my 43' 5th wheel and ATV en route to Emory. I'd never been to this town before and didn't quite know where I was meeting the rest of the BigRide 6 group.

After accidentally driving through town (its really small), I had to find a way to flip a U-Turn in my mobile Marriott; not easy to do on two lane country roads.

I found a space on the street that was out of the way and adjacent to a rest stop and open park, but not close enough to bother the locals. I setup the 5th wheel (since I needed to stay at least one night).

As the sun started going down, cars started pulling into the field and a live music event was formed. I wandered over and listened in. Apparently the locals do this singing every Sunday evening. What a nice event!

By that evening, almost nobody from the BigRide6 group had arrived. Bill and I were mostly alone waiting for the rest. To my surprise, after 10pm many others started to arrive.

We grouped up at 8am the next morning, made sure gear was loaded, stickers were handed out and that everybody was there. Garmin tracks for BigRide6 here:

Big_Ride_6.gdb

We departed the staging area and started our Day 1 ride to Manti. The skies were clear and the trails weren't that dusty. It was starting to look like the makings of a great initial ride.

The first trouble started along Rock Canyon. Climbing these tight switchbacks and rocky terrain, my machine started to overheat. Somewhere along that trail, Bill Walke's RZR made contact with my machine and ripped my rear facing camera off. Fortunately, I had planned ahead and affixed a bungee to keep it from getting lost (falling off).

After several hours of riding, we stopped for lunch (about 2pm). I refueled (because it was starting to rain and I didn't want to refuel in a full storm).

The group started to fire up their machines, but mine wouldn't start. I had power, but the fuel pump wouldn't engage. I was dead. Fortunately, two comrades agreed to tow me to the our preplanned hotel in Manti. After ~20 miles of being towed, eating dirt and having my fog lights broken (from debris flying from my tow machine), I made it to the hotel.

A quick phone call to the wife and she came to pick me up. I left the ATV at the hotel and we drove ~80 miles back to Emory so I could drive the 5th wheel and truck back to Manti to haul out my machine.

And so ended BigRide 6 for me.

American Airline "combat" Wings - 9/11 Tribute

2011-09-08T23:15:41Z

With the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 about here, I find this a touching tribute by the men of 160th SOAR and the young lady from American Airlines. God bless America and NSDQ!

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Camping at 5 Mile Pass in July?

2011-07-11T13:19:48Z

Originally, I was intending to volunteer for USFS trail work in the Marysvale/Richfield area over the 9th of July weekend. Instead, a good friend of mine was in need of companionship, so I offered to meet him at 5 Mile Pass for a ride to Eureka (and back).

My youngest (Nick) and his friend (Kevin) thought it would be fun to make a camping trip out of it. That evening (Friday), we loaded the 5th wheel and prepped to head out first thing Saturday morning. I have NEVER camped at 5 Mile Pass in July. Normally, its just too hot and uncomfortable. This weekend, it was supposed to stay in the low-to-mid 80's.

After a few stops for necessities (Starbucks, Walmart, etc) we departed for 5 Mile Pass. We decided to stage on the extreme North/East corner. It took some work, but we got the trailer leveled and situated in less than 45 minutes.

Bill arrived and we took off to Eureka. Unfortunately, 30 minutes into the ride, Bill had a
change of mind and went back home. The boys and I continued our ~50 mile trek to Eureka.

Although temperatures were "supposed" to be mild, it was HOT out in the west desert. The hiking/cliff climbing at 3pm didn't help much with chafing, sweating or general discomfort, but we endured and made it to the top of our favorite cliff-climb.

Burgers in Eureka are phenomenal. If you ever have the chance to drive through, do stop at the East side of town and try a Miner-Burger.

We arrived back at camp just in time for the storm to hit. Within one hour, the sky went from cloudless to some awesome formations.

BruteForce

Judge reportedly orders Colorado woman to decrypt laptop

** Oppose the SOPA bill! **

Lookout Pass

Ride the Pony Express Trail National Back Country Byway

The Pony Express Trail is interpreted at a number of locations:

A

Fairfield/Camp Floyd

B

Faust Junction

C

Simpson Springs Station

D

Boyd Station

E

Canyon Station

Pony Express Facts

The Road Ahead

ToyitUp ATV Rentals (Spanish Fork, Utah)

Justice department proposes letting the government LIE!

Fillmore and 5th wheel saga..

Netflix / Qwikster

Backyard landscaping: A transformation

Timelapse fly-over the Earth!

Netflix Apology?

Cummins 6.7L CCV Filter Install

Brothers Ride 1

Big Ride 6 (or my one day ride!)

American Airline "combat" Wings - 9/11 Tribute

Camping at 5 Mile Pass in July?

Oppose the SOPA bill!