In Rust, Rc<T> will auto-deref into T because Rc implements the Deref traits. This is useful behavior and idiomatic within Rust. Unfortunately, no such auto-deref functionality exists when operating within a debugger. Instead, one must manually traverse the Rc substructure...
A little more than a week ago, while I was working on my toy OS project in one of the Recurse Center’s side rooms, a few other Recursers entered the room to discuss a shared effort toward implementing the Raft...
Rust is a modern systems programming language from Mozilla that focuses on memory safety, high performance, and powerful language constructs (ADTs, type inference, pattern matching, lambdas and closures, and lots more). For more details on the language, refer to the...
I’ve just finished the Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours wikibook, implementing a basic REPL and stdlib for Scheme using Haskell and Parsec. You can browse the code on my GitHub; it’s only some 500 lines. Having completed it,...
A few days ago I started working through the Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours wikibook. The book uses Haskell to build a working Scheme parser and REPL from the ground up. As a means of learning Haskell, one...
The advice in this article is still largely correct, but I wanted to avoid writing my password in plaintext at any point in the process. It turns out this isn’t too difficult to achieve. Both bash and zsh have builtin...
Days 50 and on: Menton to Paris Fifty days of hiking. I’m still reflecting on that. For the moment, I was just enjoying walking without a backpack. Menton is a beautiful town, mostly quiet, but with plenty to see for...
August 5—Day 49: Morga to Menton Christine made coffee in the morning and we stayed for little longer at the garden. There was no reason to hurry: it was only two hours more to Menton. And this was a place...
August 4—Day 48: Sospel to Morga Mika and I both woke up before 5AM, both ready to get away from that horrible campsite. Woke up is generous, seeing as neither of us had been able to sleep for all the...
August 3—Day 47: Refuge de Merveilles to Sospel Mika and I both woke up early, just before sunrise. It’s a good feeling to wake up so early in the morning. Somehow I wake up earlier and stay up later when...
August 2—Day 46: Pas du Mont Colomb to Refuge du Merveilles Today was all about the Vallée du Merveilles. There was a pair of cols to get there, harder and steeper than I’d figured and made more difficult because I...
August 1—Day 45: Refuge le Boreon to Pas du Mont Colomb The route through the Mercantour doesn’t pass through any towns for the first few days, but seeing as I was at the end of my trip, I wasn’t interested...
July 31—Day 44: St. Dalmas to Refuge le Boreon First morning on the GR52! This variant stays in the mountains longer and is supposed to be a much better finish than the official GR5 route into Nice, which quickly runs...
July 30—Day 43: St. Saveur du Tinée to St. Dalmas This is my seventh week on the trail, and the final few days of the trek. After so long a ways, I’m certainly ready to be done. Especially because the...
July 29—Day 42: Col de Crusette to St. Sauveur de Tinée Less than a week left now. Hard to believe. I stopped for a long breakfast at the top of Col du Crusette. Had a coffee and watched the sunrise...
July 28—Day 41: St. Étienne du Tinée to Col de Crusette After a good breakfast (coffee, crème fraîche, muesli), I left the pleasant little town of St. Étienne du Tinée behind, walking again with Patrice and Dominique. The day started...
July 27—Day 40: Lacs d’Angel to St. Étienne de Tinée Woke early in the morning and enjoyed a relaxed breakfast with Patrice and Dominique. He made some coffee and had cookies for dunking; I shared some of my granola and...
July 26—Day 39: Col du Mallamorte to Lacs d’Angel The weather here sure changes often. Apparently the combination of altitude, mountains, and proximity to the Mediterranean makes for complex weather patterns and difficult forecasting. In the morning, it was quite...
July 25—Day 38: Ancient Observatory to Col du Mallamorte After days of rain, this was a hot day with a lot of road walking. Not the best trails. At my shelter on top of the mountain I made a coffee...
July 24—Day 37: Shelter at Col du Fromage to the Ancient Observatory I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of walking down through pine forests. The trees are colorful, of dark green, weathered brown, striking yellow, deep red, and faded...
July 23—Day 36: Gîte Vers du Col de Ayes to Abri at Col du Fromage Thought the shepherd would be back early in the morning, so I was ready to go by 7. There was no sign of him when...
July 22—Day 35: Briançon to Gîte Vers de Col des Ayes Spent the morning and early afternoon still in town, waiting out the rain that came and went several times, sometimes as a light shower and then other times raining...
July 21—Day 34: Lac Rond du Cristol to Briançon No breakfast in the morning. The bugs were still terrible, so I figured I’d head for the col (Col de Barteaux, after Col de Granon) and have something there. There was...
July 20—Day 33: Col de l’Échelle to Lac Rond du Cristol Great weather overnight, clear skies and cool temperatures. Perfect for camping in the open like I was. I woke up early again, just after sunrise, and again it was worth...
July 19—Day 32: Valéfrejus to Col de l’Échelle One of the nice things about walking for so long: I have no idea what day it is. I think it’s either Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday, I think. I’m pretty sure. Had...
July 18—Day 31: Refuge du Fournache to Valfréjus This was a day of two very different halves. The first half was spent mostly in the Vanoise, entering the park early on and later leaving for the final time. The second...
July 17—Day 30: Refuge de l’Arpont to Refuge du Fournache This was a pretty lazy day, and the hiking was a bit more dull than other parts of the trail, crossing just one easy col and then keeping steady on...
July 16—Day 29: Refuge du Col de la Leisse to Refuge de l’Arpont I slept well, warm enough inside my sleeping bag despite the freezing temperature outside. A few times I poked my head out, and boy was it cold....
Far view of the sea— Layered mountains, shaded blue. Coffee. Muesli. Peace. —Morning haiku at Col du Croussette
July 15—Day 28: Refuge de Roseul to Refuge de Col du la Leisse In the morning I ate some breakfast, then scavenged the leftovers from other tables as a makeshift lunch. It was more than five hours to the town...
July 14—Day 27: Bellentre to Refuge du Roseul The 14th of July is a national holiday in France, marking the date of the French Revolution. People used the holiday for a long weekend, and for the next few days there...
July 13—Day 26: Refuge du Plan Mya Started the day with the best breakfast France has given me: the regular French petit déjeuner of bread and jam, but the jams were all homemade, fresh from the farm. Raspberry, apricot (with...
July 12—Day 25: Plan de la Lai The storm carried on through the night, with lightning and thunder and heavy rain coming and going into the early morning. When I and the others rolled out of our tents about 7:00,...
July 11—Day 24: Les Contamines-Montjoie This was a great day, one of my favorites of the trip, with really pleasant trails, nice people, a good climb to the col, and a great hike to finish. The previous day had been...
July 10—Day 23: Les Houches This was a strange day, and not my favorite hiking-wise. I’d stayed at a campground in Les Houches with the intention of recharging my camera batteries and power bank (a battery that I use to...
As you might’ve noticed, the blog is lagging a bit behind real time. I want to try to catch it up, so I’m writing more often and will try to have things queued up so that posts come in a...
July 9—Day 22: Chalets d’Anterne I woke early again, catching a view across the valley of morning light climbing up the other side. The sight of the valley in the morning was just as beautiful as the night before. My...
July 8—Day 21: Samoëns This was a long, long day, but really enjoyable, and finished with some of the best views I’ve ever seen. I woke early, even before my alarm went off, which is nice. I was still in...
July 7—Day 20: Off trail halfway between Refuge du Chésery and Col de Coux I woke in the morning to the sound of hikers passing by on the trail. I took my time, eating the last of my muesli for...
July 6—Day 19: Les Crottes, just outside La Chapelle d’Abondance This was an easier day I thought, though the guidebook still puts it at 8 hours. It rained a bit overnight and into the early morning, but by the time I...
July 5—Day 18: Lac du la Case Exhausted from the long hike and late night of the day before, I slept in a bit, watching the sun rise over a peak from the comfort of my tent. It was an...
July 4—Day 17: Armoy Most hikers start walking early in the morning and are finished by the late afternoon—animals are more active in the morning, the scenery is nicer in the softer light, and the temperature is more comfortable for...
July 3—Day 16: Saint Cergue I woke up early, eager to reach town and catch the first ferry over the lake. The guys were a bit more casual, so while I waited I sat and had breakfast with a view...
July 2—Day 15: Chalet Rose In just about every place I’ve been I’ve heard the expression “If you don’t like the weather here, wait 10 minutes.” It’s usually true: rain rarely lasts all day, and I’ve learned from previous trips...
July 1—Day 14: Les Près d’Haut No rain came overnight, but the shelter was still nice to have for the warmth. The storage room we’d slept in had no windows and so was quite dark; when we woke up and...
June 30—Day 13: Corneau The rain carried on through the night and into the morning as a mist. We all slept in, waiting for the sky to clear. About 10:00 it had stopped raining, but wasn’t sunny enough to dry...
June 39—Day 12: Malbuisson I woke up in the morning feeling much better than the days before. Catherine had a simple breakfast ready, of bread and jams and coffee. A nice change from the handfuls of granola or muesli I...
June 28—Day 11: L’Alcan Rest day today. After more than a week of walking over 20km (12.5mi) each day, I was fatigued and needed rest. My stomach was still off kilter, but my head felt better. I slept in, then...
June 27—Day 10: Sur la Roche I woke up about 8 in the morning and had breakfast with Jonathan and Emily. In France, breakfast is usually slices of bread with butter and jams or honey. We had some muesli as...
The result of entering a market hungry.
June 26—Day 9: Gran’Combe du Bois After two days walking along the Doubs, I was ready to be out. I hadn’t passed through any towns or seen many people, just the river and the trail, rocky and tree-rooted and green...
Rushes of wind in trees and water in rivers. Tick tock rhythm of my poles. Birdsong. Louder screech. The alarm of my watch in the morning. Crashing roar of a waterfall. Of thunder. Gentler falling of a cascade. Of rain....
June 25—Day 8: Charquemont I started the day with the leftovers from last night’s diner: a few pieces of chicken kebab and some tabbouleh. Not a typical breakfast, but quite good all the same. The storm had kept on through...
July 5—Day 18: La Chapelle d’Abondance Posting this out of order from the others since signal is rare. I’ve reached the Alps! And they’re absolutely incredible. On Sunday I arrived in Nyon, a beautiful town that felt almost Mediterranean. I...
June 24—Day 7: Fessevillers Another hot day, but I was now heading into the Doubs river valley where there was much easier walking as compared with the ascents I had done in the Vosges. I made an easy (though steep)...
June 23—Day 6: St. Hippolyte I woke up relatively early because my campsite was in plain sight. In France wild camping (“camping au sauvage” or “bivouac”) is legal on pubic land, except in certain national parks and only in a...
June 22—Day 05: Source de la Doue Not the best trails today, to say the least. On top of that it was hot and humid, making for miserable walking. I started the day by checking my clothesline, which I’d set...
June 21—Day 04: Brognard to Source du la Doubs In the morning, after breakfast, Joseph drove me down to Brognard, a small town just outside the larger city of Montbéliard. Another short trip by car that saved me a days...
June 20—Day 3: Col des 7 Chemins to Belfort I left the shelter around 10:00 and the trail started with a climb. Past that it was good walking again on forest roads, and I was enjoying myself. The road passed...
June 19—Day 2: Ferme Auberge du Grasson to Col des 7 Chemins Woke up this morning feeling strong and well rested thanks to the previous night’s dinner and accommodation. I was invited to breakfast as well, and enjoyed a coffee...
June 18—Day 1: Col du Hundsruck to Ferme Auberge du Gresson For as bad as yesterday was, today has more than made up the difference. This first day on the trail gave me reason to be out here and courage...
June 17—Day 0: Thann to Col du Hundsruck I arrived in town later than I’d hoped after waiting on the platform for two trains that never arrived. I ended up taking the tram, basically a train but with local service...
I reached Thann in the late afternoon and had a small lunch at a cafe. The place was empty except for the family running it. I talked with them for a few hours in a mix of French, English, German,...
Almost missed the train this morning. They sure don’t stay in the station for long. Fortunately, even though it was just passing 4:30 in the morning, I wasn’t the only one trying to catch the train, and a small group...
After several days in Berlin, I’ve been feeling anxious and eager to get started hiking. I thought about leaving this morning, but ended up talking with my family late into the night/morning and thought it best to stay another day....
Wir haben ein Berliner!
Sunset after rain near Berlin Hauptbahnhoff Painted section of the Berlin Wall Schloss Charlottenburg A rainy morning in Berlin Looking at Bode-Museum on Museuminsel The Reichstag Building Small books on a small shelf Suppe mit Kartoffeln und Wurst; and an...
I have a few days in Berlin visiting my friends Matt and Jess, and today I explored some of the city. I started off looking for a place to grab a coffee and pastry, but nothing caught my eye (despite...
Today I traveled from Boston to Berlin by way of Istanbul. It’s the first time I’ve been East of Western Europe. I wasn’t able to leave the airport, though, so Emily will tell you that it doesn’t count. I guess...
No trekking blog is complete without a gear list, and I’m not about to break with tradition. As the most tangible aspect of the planning that goes into a trip, it’s easy to spend a good while building the list...
Brooklyn, NY
Let’s just say that I might’ve prepared differently under different circumstances. As it is, in a couple weeks I’ll be starting on a two month-long trek, without having done much by way of planning or preparation. I bought my flight...
The GR5 is a long distance footpath that runs from the North Sea at Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands down to the Mediterranean at Nice in France. The trail covers some 2.300 kilometers (1.500 miles) and wanders through Holland,...