Why I'm Not Going Back To Work Right Now & Site Updates


Back in May I wrote about how with the unwavering support of my lovely girlfriend I was leaving my problematic IT job and spending the summer adventuring.

And adventure I did. I racked up another 77 -ish dives. I started and finished my scuba master diver certification. Jen and I had an amazing trip to Indonesia including an incredible 8 days diving around Komodo on the Mermaid II liveboard. We then returned home for a single day before leaving again on a 17 day road trip epic of hiking, backpacking, hot springs, paddling, and diving visiting Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Banff, Jasper, and Vancouver Island. Among other things.

Jen and I did the John Muir Trail southbound in 11 days then I learned about another 280 mile Sierra thru hiking trail called the Theodore Solomons and promptly went back out and did that in 16 brutal yet memorable days. I led about 10 experience trip backpacks for the Sierra Club Wilderness Travel Course with a wide range of awesome individuals culminating in the biennial Mount Starr King trip with Jack Kieffer.

In the meantime I dropped about 20 pounds and according to my doctor my blood pressure went from problematic and possibly requiring medication to looking great.

Once the weather turned cold I came back home and spent a frantic month diving every moment that conditions and dive buddies would allow. At the same time I wrapped up the 2019 Wilderness Travel Course while coordinating the 20th Advanced Mountaineering Program both of which had record years as far as things going slightly haywire.

So all in all it was a summer for the record books.

So here I am at the end of October which is a bit past the original deadline for returning to gainful employment. And instead of writing this from a cubicle I'm actually sitting in an airport about to fly to Thailand for two months to work on off my scuba professional certifications and hopefully spend a whole hell of a lot of time underwater in an amazing place. After that I'll be back home for the 2020 Wilderness Travel Course / Spring Advanced Mountaineering Course and and after that it's looking increasingly likely that I'll be making an attempt at the Pacific Crest Trail.

For anyone following along on my exploits you've no doubt noticed that I've done some fairly major things that I never wrote up. Those write ups are partially done and will be posted just as soon as I'm sitting still long enough to finish them. Stay tuned!

So once again I leave you with my anthem for 2019:


Diving The Cleo Street Barge (aka Foss 125) In Laguna Beach

October 11th, 2019
[Pics]
[Matt's Scuba Map]

Welcome to another extended weekday diving morning thanks to the whole not being employed thing!

Jack and I have been taking advantage of the recent ideal Laguna diving conditions and I was eager to try out some locations other than our usual Crescent / Shaws / Divers hangouts. I remembered seeing a post about the Cleo Street Barge which is one of the rare wrecks to can easily reach from the shore around here.

Two Days of Morning Dives at Crescent Bay and Shaw's Cove Laguna Beach (With Bonus Sea Turtle!)

October 6th & 7th, 2019
[PicsSunday] [PicsMonday]
[Matt's Scuba Map]

Jen still had her rental gear after yesterday's trip to the oil rigs and with shore diving conditions looking better than we'd seen in months I wasn't about to not dive.

After all:

Diving Oil Rigs Ellen, Elly, & Eureka With The Sundiver Express

October 5th, 2019
[Pics]
[Matt's Scuba Map]

I'm back in town for a few short weeks and busy letting my feet rest after a summer filled with hiking. And what better way to do that then diving my butt off?

There are three active oil rigs off the coast of Long Beach that you can dive from a boat. They are difficult dives since they take place in open water and you have to enter and exit from boats drifting around the structure. Also they all sit in water so deep that you don't have the option of reaching the bottom. And they are some of the most unique and impressive dives I've done in Southern California.

Jen and I dove them for the first time in June with the Asante dive boat and had such an amazing time we couldn't wait to go back. But a slightly frantic summer filled with out of town activities caused a bit of delay...until now! After weather conditions killed plans for a paddling / hot spring / camping trip and we were overjoyed to find last minute openings on the Sundiver Express going out this Saturday.

Diving Crystal Cove At Reef Point & Pelican Point

October 4th, 2019
[Pics]
[Matt's Scuba Map]

After yesterday's all day excursion to La Jolla Jack and I had another morning free and wanted to try something that involved a bit less driving. So we decided to head over to Crystal Cove which is located not far north of our usual stomping grounds in Laguna Beach.

Diving La Jolla Cove With The Sea Lions

October 3rd, 2019
[Pics]
[Matt's Scuba Map]

Jack and I have been taking advantage of the fact that we're both not working at the moment and getting in some more involved local dives. That means instead of just running down to Laguna and sneaking in a single tank before heading in to the office we can throw in an extra tank and drive further afield to try new areas.

I've only dove the La Jolla area once before and that was at the La Jolla Shores site last December. It was a great experience but just a soso dive and I'd been saying for a while now I wanted to go back and try it again. So with conditions in Laguna Beach looking soso Jack and I decided to give it another go on a Thursday morning.