Olympus WS-110 Digital Voice Recorder

I recently bought an "Olympus WS-110 Digital Voice Recorder" and I now take it with me everywhere. In the car for the daily commute, on hikes, everywhere. All those times when I would have an idea or want to jot down a reminder and could not easily do so are a thing of the past. It is really tiny and weighs only 1.7 ounces with the battery in it. Simply put, it is "The Awesome".

Here is a transcription (with very minor edits) of the voice recordings taken by my new lovely on a hike of Mt. Si on Saturday March 12, 2008. There are 18 entries from that hike.

1. Arriving at the Mt. Si parking lot, according to my cell phone, at 10:13 am. Elevation according to my altimeter 500 ft.
2. First quick break at mile mark 0.5. The sign says elevation here is 1120. Altimeter showing 800, so I am off by 300 ft. Adjusting now.
3. Second break 10:57. Sign: elevation 1940, mile 1.5.
4. Also, altimeter accurate at this sign.
5. At about 2400 ft the light drizzle that had been coming on and off the whole way turned to sleet and then hail. About 2500 ft started seeing patches of snow on the ground off trail. Now I am at mile marker 2.5, elevation 2760, time 11:26.
6. Bexar has been exceptionally good today. Very mindful, staying close by, very good with lots of people passing by.
7. At about 2900 ft there is snow in the path, but it is still boot hikeable. It is well packed down, not very slippery. Yaktraks might be nice, but I'm not putting mine on.
8. Revise that last, I am indeed putting my YakTracks on.
9. When I stopped to put my YakTracks on I am fairly certain I stopped at the worst place and at the worst time imaginable. It was a very narrow spot in the trail and off to the right was a pretty steep incline with trees and brush and snow. Luckily, at least there was a little stick there I could hook the end of Bexar's leash to. I took off my pack. Dig for my Yaktraks to get them out. Close my pack up. In the meantime people start going by. So I am holding my pack, pulling Bexar to the side and making him sit, and pulling on my Yaktraks. I am putting on my Yaktraks, standing on one foot, holding Bexar, people are going by and of course as I am trying to do this balancing act my butt bumps my pack and sends it sliding down the slope about 20 ft. Luckily, it hit some brush and stopped right after a patch of snow. So, after this long ordeal of putting on these Yaktraks, which are a pain in the ass to get on these boots, I have to climb down the hill to get my pack. Bexar tries to come with me while he is tied to the stake. I don't want him to choke himself so I make him "stay". I get my pack, climb back up, giant nightmare.
10. 12:05, mile marker 3.5, elevation 3620.
11. Just a little while ago the Yaktrack on my left boot came off, it was a pain the ass to put back on. I'm not liking these things.
12. It's 12:33. I'm at the top I think. Bunch of rock outcroppings around here. I'm not sure I'm at the very top, but I don't see a clear way to get there. Anyway, this is pretty good. Looks like from here, if it was clear, I could see forever. But, it's not. It's totally foggy and snowing, so I can't see diddly. Maybe 200-300 ft visibility. Very foggy. It is not snowing hard, just kind of constant light, small flakes. Got my pad out which is actually very warm on these rocks. Got Bexar's water out. Hes been eating snow like crazy so I figured he might be thirsty. I'm having a snack.
13. Time is 1:08, I've been descending for just a little while in the snow. Bexar is totally pissing me off and trying to make me fall. My knees are a little bit sore. My fingertips are little bit cold. I put on my rain jacket. All of my gloves: liner, inner glove, rain shell. Fleece jacket, undershirt, rain shell, head cover, fleece hat. Same pants, not putting on my rain shell pants. Starting to warm up now as I am going down. My fingers are not cold anymore. My Yaktrak on the left foot came off again.
14. (this entry is some poetry crap you don't want to hear, except what happened while I was making that note) *CRUNCH* Ouch! I just fell. That hurt.
15. I think I forgot to make a note about Bexar's poo. We were most of the way up. We were an area that was completely snow covered on the trail and the sides. It was hard packed snow with a crusty outer layer. Lots of people coming by, this trail is way too freaking crowded for me. Thank goodness we pulled off to the side, because right was we did that Bexar unleashed a fountain of liquid poo that was really gross and explosive. It was hot so it right into the top layer of snow and ice. He spread it out over about 2 feet of ground. So, here I am with other people going by. It stinks bad enough that some guys make are joking about it as they go by. All these people see this so I at least have to make some kind of show about cleaning it up. I scooped it up with a blue bag and buried that in a pit of snow. No one saw me do that part. I covered up the 2 ft of smeared, melted, poo-stained snow with more snow.
16. It's 2:50. I'm back to the truck in the parking lot.