Hiking in Cave Creek
This morning we drove to Cave Creek Regional Park to go for a hike. It was about 40 minutes from where we are staying but well worth the drive. We did a loop heading out on Go John Trail, then to Quartz Trail, and then back on Slate Trail. We hiked 3.5 miles, gaining 425 feet, and took a total of 1h 22m.
It was a really nice hike with great views. There were gentle climbs up but overall it was a nice trail that wasn’t overly difficult.
There were Saguaro Cactus all over the place. 🌵
Family selfie at the intersection of Go John and Quartz trails.
The Quartz Trail has a lot of quartz on it. This huge outcropping of quartz was impressive.
Lucky was tired out and incredibly dusty.
We also added an extra mile of hiking before this hike because we took off down this trail, and didn’t notice the “North” part. After going a half mile we turned around and started over on the right trail. Ooops!
If you are in Mesa, Arizona and looking for delicious pizza make your way to Myke’s Pizza . We’ve been there twice now and it is amazing. Pair it with some delicious hard cider from Cider Corps! 🍕🍺
We watched Finding ‘Ohana tonight. Good option for family movie night.
Day 20 of the February Photoblogging Challenge: Weather
The weather was gorgeous at Saguaro Lake today.
Wind Cave Trail
We hiked up the Wind Cave trail this morning and had a great time. Tammy declared it perhaps her favorite hike ever. It was 1.7 miles with 800 feet of elevation on the way up. It took us just short of an hour.
The views were fantastic and the terrain was challenging and varied. Lucky went up with us and did a great job. The trail was already busy at 8:30a and when we were going down we passed large groups. So get out there early!
Approaching Crypto
I’ve recently clarified my thinking on Bitcoin and related crypto. To be transparent, I’ve followed this for years and had plenty of opportunities to buy BTC for a few hundred dollars. It’s now over $50,000 a coin. So, based on that, you may want to stop reading now. 😊
Focusing on 3+ year horizon / Investing
First, I’m not looking to become an active trader. That isn’t my game. So I’m going to look at all crypto investments with a 3+ year horizon. I have a long view that crypto is real and will be a component of corporate and personal balance sheets over the next decade. How large of an element? More than it is now!
Only $10B instruments / Limit Risk
I’m only considering crypto that has a total market cap over $10B for at least 30 days. I’m also only considering crypto I can trade on Coinbase. Setting a value threshold limits the noise and distraction. I am sure there is positive activity below $10B, but I’m choosing to ignore that for now. Based on that limit Bitcoin (BTC) at $1.1T, Ethereum (ETH) at $233B, Litecoin (LTC) at $16.2B, Chainlink (LINK) at $15B, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at $13.8B, and Stellar Lumens (XLM) at $11.8B are the only things I’m watching. (Market caps as of Feb 20 2021 7:00 AM CT.)
Any crypto over $10B in value is worth a nominal investment and puts it on the radar to consider more broadly.
The one exception I am making to that limit is stablecoin. I don’t know what to think of stablecoin, and I am tracking USD Coin (USDC) to learn more.
Develop a Model / Diversify
Crypto are very different, with different objectives. You can treat them as a basket for broad crypto investment and a bet on decentralized financial systems. But that is where it ends. I think you should develop a model for each one and why it is applicable for investment. My current thinking is:
| Crypto | Value |
|---|---|
| BTC | Stored value. I think of it as gold. |
| ETH | A bet on a different compute model. |
| LINK | A bet on smart contracts. |
| LTC | Money in your wallet. You might buy a coffee with LTC. |
| BCH | Bitcoin version of LTC. Same thesis. |
| XLM | Financial backend and potentially an alternative to systems like SWIFT. |
| USDC | Question mark for me right now. |
Overall Allocation / Portfolio
Crypto is super volatile and risky. I like Ray Dalio’s comment.
Bitcoin looks like a long-duration option on a highly unknown future that I could put an amount of money in that I wouldn’t mind losing about 80% of.
So with that in mind, this shouldn’t be your retirement fund!
I’ve watched this for too long from the sidelines and have not participated other than some small dollars for fun. My brother-in-law Hector made a comment that resonated with me. With a handful of public companies now holding BTC on their balance sheet, others will follow suit. I’ve also had many people approach me about using BTC as a hedge on inflation.
The net of all this is that crypto has moved from experimental to maturing and I expect we will see a multi-year increase in demand.
I haven’t talked about the technology behind it all. I’m entirely confident in that component, and I use Coinbase to manage my wallet for me.
The information provided on this website does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice and you should not treat any of the content as such. This website does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Watching Perseverance land on Mars today was another amazing example of engineering and discovery being done at amazing levels. Perseverance has a drone on board! How cool is that! Congratulations to the team that made this a reality today!
Day 18 of the February Photoblogging Challenge: At home
We aren’t at home, so I am doing at Airbnb instead.
Record cold hits Central United States on Feb 17, 2021 via New York Times.
COVID-19 Maps on Feb 17, 2021 via New York Times.
COVID-19 Update on Feb 17, 2021 via New York Times.
Day 17 of the February Photoblogging Challenge: Still
Had to use my library today. Grand Tetons. Mt. Moran from Oxbow Bend.
Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum
Today we visited the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Museum in Joshua Tree. We weren’t familiar with Purifoy, but his background is very impressive and the outdoor museum he created here is unique, interesting, and a little confusing. We spent a while walking around and taking pictures. We didn’t read up about Purifoy until we left which we actually liked since it allowed us to see the art “as is”.
Skull Rock Trail
After hiking Ryan Mountain Trail and checking out the famous Skull Rock, we decided to take a hike amongst the giant rocks along Skull Rock Trail.
The kids had a fabulous time running and climbing up the rocks while I anxioulsy watched worrying someone might fall. 🤷♂️
Skull Rock in Joshua Tree National Park.
Ryan Mountain Trail Hike
Today we got up early and were on the trail at 8am to hike to the top of Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree National Park.
We hit the trail and were thinking it would be warming up so we had shorts and just shirts on. Immediately we saw people with snowjackets, hats, gloves. I’m not sure who was dressed right, but one of us picked wrong. It was mostly us.
The way up was a 1,000 foot ascent that was pretty much non-stop. It was strenuous but that also made it a great accomplishment when we got to the top!
Day 14 of the February Photoblogging Challenge: Compassion.
I struggled to get a photo for this one. I ended up having the kids pose for me as the sun was setting by Joshua Tree, CA.
