Biofuels in the Media

I can't say I've been listening to NPR as much as usual lately but I have been reading the news at npr.org. Check out the story "Deep Fried Fuels: A Biodiesel Kitchen Vision." Here's the link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5698538. On a day when more things are getting blown up and poor Pluto lost it's planet status, it's nice to read an uplifting story of patriotic, environmentally conscious and economically aware folks.

Staying Cool

A couple of weeks ago, I went climbing with a friend at a fantastic granite outcropping far from the maddening crowds of Yosemite Valley. Fresno Dome offers solid rock, (mostly) clean cracks, and well-bolted sport routes. It gets overlooked because of it's proximity to the Valley: the guidebook is so out of date that it's really only good for the driving directions.


It's a bumpy, rutted forest service road but nothing biggreentruck can't handle. Biggreentruck's long system of coolant hoses, though, took exception to being bounced along for hours on end, again. We stepped out of the truck at the trailhead to a strange hissing noise and a growing puddle of coolant. Since you can't work on a hot coolant system, we decided to go climbing anyway.

Several days later, when I finally got around to sorting out the coolant leak, I discovered that the Alaskan had shifted in the bed of the truck just enough to make the line-in-line (of course) coolant/fuel hose combo rub on a tiny exposed bit of metal. I tried everything from a 7 to 1 pulley system (a novel use for my climbing gear and skills) to a come-along to move the camper back that 1/4". No luck. In the end, I got a bigger hole saw and outfitted the camper and the truck bed with more padding for the hoses. The biggest challenge, though, was disassembling enough of my living space to access the veggie tank to disconnect the fuel line.

Luckily, I have learned from my grandfather that muttering under your breath really does help stuck screws loosen, uncooperative hoses cooperate, precariously balanced boards stay where you put them and hard to reach parts move a bit closer. It didn't seem to do much to clear the inevitable air bubble in the coolant system, though. That required a short drive on hilly, winding Hwy 140.

Our access to Yosemite National Park has been restored, on a limited basis. Hwy 140 is now open from Midpines to El Portal during daylight hours for controlled 1-way-at-a-time traffic thanks to 2 new bridges installed by CalTrans.

by the way, Leave No Trace....your lost scrubbie will be found....

Midsummer in the Sierra

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the wind longs to play with your hair. -Khalil Gibran