u/machobiscuit

I usually don't last a week. So far, day 1, im killing it.

My first time at Theodore Roosevelt park. Not gonna be my last, what a great place. I tried to reserve a campsite online but they were filled for a month, which turned out to be the best thing for me. First I camped 2 nights at Coal Creek, about 12 miles away from Medora, right on the Mah Da Hey. Rode my bike on the Mah Da Hey for 2 days, i was the only person at the campsite. Quiet, clean bathroom, it was spectacular. Then went into the park, got a backcountry camping permit, FREE, and headed out. The ranger seemed almost thrilled someone was actually gonna camp in the backcountry. He told me it was still busy season, i considered the 7 other people in the visitor center, thought about the last time I was at Zion, and laughed to myself. Hiked out, off trail about a mile, found a spot on top of the world looking down on creation, and didn't see another human for the next 20 hours. Weather was so nice i didn't bother putting up the tent. I did see some Bison, who let me walk past them, and a scorpion, who checked me out and eventually went away, and some other great things.

The park is HUUUGE and all the trails are empty. People drive, pull over, look, back in their car and drive. I have no idea what the campground is like, but I can guess based off past experiences.

It's a great park and Im reluctant to tell people because o hope it never becomes another Zion, but i want to post about it because Holy Shit it's soooo beautiful. Here are some pics.

So, I read the Nabakov translation and also have the Paul Foote translation that I would go to, to get a better feel for the idea and sentiments of the story. Damn, I really enjoyed this book, even though I usually don't like Russian Lit, this felt different, almost modern.

The Nabakov translation is so interesting, it's like Nabokov is arguing with and critiquing Lermentov the whole time, its kinda cool.

I loved the structure of the book; It's all about Pechorin, the main character of the book, first you have the nameless narrator telling the story, then you have Maxim Maximych tell the story, then it goes into Pechorin telling his story, it all flows naturally, you barely notice it. The story isn't linear, but feels like it is. The writing is wonderful, not too dry and heavy like other Russian Lit i've read, and it's a pretty short and quick book to read.

I kinda wanna get another translation and read it again.

Anyway, if you haven't read this, and you don't know what to read next, I would recommend it.

Here's my new bike. it's sort of janky, the steering tube is solid at the bottom but clanking around the frame part, you can see in the 2nd pic how it's just free floating. what should i use to make it more solid? It's not a big deal, it would just feel more stable if i supported the steering tube.