Five weird things

Ron from Toad in the Hole sent me a meme, to list five weird things about myself.

I am generally not superstitious, but feel compelled to kiss my finger and briefly hold it to the ceiling everytime I'm in a car that runs a red light.

I have a vivid imagination, and can sometimes spend too much time thinking about the worst thing that can possibly happen in any given situation. (That's why I fainted at the tourniquet portion of a Girl Scout first aid lecture.)

One of my previous goals in life was to have a penpal in every country of the world. A large world map covered with red pins was my wall art. I never achieved this goal, but still get a thrill every time I receive a postcard from somewhere far away. (Karen, Box 203 Allgood AL 35013, if you want to thrill me.)

I have a hard time buying just one book on a subject. Two is a minimum, but I feel a lot better with three, and five or six or twelve is really best.

I have a hypersensitivity to (can smell from a mile away) rancid oil and green peppers. It's fading as I age, though. In the past I could hardly stomach anything that had been cooked in the same oven as a dish containing green peppers.

I think that the thing you put in your mouth (or elsewhere) and the thing you hang outdoors should not both be called thermometers.

OK well that's six things. I was on a roll.

Adieu Anastasia

Okay, this is it. The last of the photos from Anastasia Island...and Florida. I'm on my way west, towards Louisiana to visit friends for a few days...






Anastasia IslandSt. Augustine, FloridaNovember 30, ..

Leavenworth Trip ...

Adam and I did a three day weekend in the Leavenworth area finishing with helping out Matt with field trip on Sunday.

We took a midday ride out on Friday for some cragging at Clem's Holler. Arrived around Noon and headed up the steep trail. We had lofty goals of climbing some nice sport climbs, but decided to warm up on the first two pitches of Playin' Possum. Doing only the first two pitches keeps it at a reasonable 5.8 instead of the .10a rating it has for continuing onto the third pitch. I led the first pitch, and Adam led the second. While the climbing was not particularly difficult, my head wasn't totally in the lead, and I had to hang a bit at one point (mostly to rest my feet) before continuing upward. After completing the climb, I was not exactly ready to tackle the harder projects, so Adam and I went searching for Arselips and Elbows (5.8) a 14" wide top rope crack.

According to the book, Arselips is "up and left" of The Hatchet. We found it to be generally left, and that dropping down into a meadow was a more sane way of reaching said climb. We first attempted with some exposed moves on grassy ledges before dropping to the meadow and coming back up. I'm pretty sure we were mostly following goat trails. The terrain was sometimes steep, and had a thick coating of ponderosa needles on it adding to the slippery factor. Plenty of sticker bushes in the area too. You have to persevere to get to this climb. Once there, we had an easy hike up to the bolts to set up a top rope. Then it was time for the groveling to begin.

Looking up from the base

The opening moves were on the face while stepping on boulders to gain the crack. Once at the top foothold on the outside, it was time to move in. I found the chicken wing very secure, but it took a fair amount of trial and error to get some sort of secure leg into the crack. The left side of the crack is also a loose corner, with a small finger crack, but I did not feel too comfortable grabbing on it as I was afraid to pull it off. Inside the crack it was narrow, and a deep breath could mostly keep my in my place. I realized after some struggling that I had to exhale to make moving up easier. In my first attempt, I managed to gain the crack and move a few centimeters off the outside rock before needing my left foot to do something. I took a rest while Adam gave it a shot.

About to leave the outside world

Adam gave the crack a try and made no further progress than I did. He tried it first in his trail runners figuring that would give him an advantage. After his attempt, he decided his next attempt would be with rock shoes. I gave it a second go with a result of getting about six inches higher than my previous attempt. I was able to successfully use my left arm and leg in the attempt, but found the upward progress too much of a struggle to continue further. Adam gave it one last try and it looked something like this:

He's in there

After getting to roughly the same height I did, Adam melted out of the crack and I lowered him to the ground. We both agreed that that was the most effort we have ever put forth to move two inches! I thought I could get up any 5.8 in Leavenworth on top rope. Apparently, this climb proved me wrong. After our struggles, we called it a day and headed back to the car. Our sport climbing objectives at Clem's Holler could wait for another day.

We awoke late (8am) on Saturday, and had breakfast in camp. By the time we packed up camp, it was about to rain and when we arrived at parking for our intended destination for the day (Peek-a-Boo Tower) there was a light rain. Looking west made us concerned so we drove to the mouth of the canyon hoping for better weather. We stopped in the Snow Creek parking lot and by the time we rolled out of there, it was raining as well. So we headed to Peshastin again.

It appeared that others had the same idea when it started to rain in Leavenworth, and many small parties of climbers dashed out of the parking lot to get to climbs quickly. We were in no rush and decided to climb Windward which we figured no one was running to. When we got there, I was not too enthused about leading it and we decided to walk around to see if we could get on something else. When we arrived at Dinosaur, and saw no one on Potholes, we jumped on it. Adam had me lead the first (5.8) pitch and he said he would decide at the belay about leading the second (5.7) pitch. I personally have always found the second pitch harder, but that may just be me. No real surprised on Potholes except for me having more difficulty this year with the crux of the first pitch. And Adam getting a good chuckle from watching me struggle with the final moves to the anchor. We rapped off and headed to Grand Central Tower to climb the West Face.

Adam past the first bulge on Potholes second pitch

It was nice to finally lead the West Face and not have any trouble on it. Well, no trouble climbing it. There was a party that was off route on Nirvana Ridge that kept raining sand down onto us. It does not make for a comforting lead. Adam followed, and even got hit by a slightly bigger rock on the way up. We rapped off to find the wind had died off and it was downright warm out. We decided the clouds cleared enough to the west to try the Icicle again.

We drove back and watched the outside temp drop from 68°F to around 60°F by the mouth of the Icicle. We stopped there to head to Surf City to climb a few moderate cracks. We started on Paydirt, a nice 5.7 finger crack that I would revisit. I was a bit too tentative on the lead on this one, and I am not sure why. (Must have been the theme for the weekend.) I had a minor slip and even opted not to place gear at one point. Hopefully I can revisit that one with a better head.

Stepping into the finger crack

Adam then led Blunt Instruments which was one of those cracks that does not really require crack climbing technique. It was a bit dirty at the top and also finished with a slab like Paydirt did. (Although the Paydirt slab was a bit more runout.)

After that I attempted to lead another route there called Undertoe. I couldn't get a decent first piece in and so we called it a day. This time we were at The Mountaineers group campsite and had a feast. Ben Evans showed up and cooked a huge pan of bacon chorizo paella.

Sunday I was pretty spent from the weekend (and sleeping on a Z-Rest) that I had the student I was with lead all pitches on Midway. I did not climb well, and even used a piton as a foot hold before attaining Jello Tower. It was nice to sleep in a bed last night.

Old Town Walk

Most of the walk ways in Old Town have been covered to make for a more pleasent tour due to our hot sun and in the summer sudden downpours of rain in the monsoon season, which we are having now. There was no rain the day we were there but the shade was welcome. There are still several of the old cottonwood trees still along some of the streets and in the park.

Rode hard and put away wet

As I struggled all day yesterday with focus, I thought, "Well I missed sleep last night worrying, but at least I'll sleep good tonight."

Last night I woke up at 2 a.m., worried about beavers.

This is not like me at all.

It turned out to be a good thing I suppose, since I was awake at 3:30 to hear the distant tornado sirens.


(Not an actual picture of the storm.)

We spent half the night in the shop, watching tv reception fade in and out.

I don't think that fitful sleep with your clothes on adds up to much in the world of make-up sleep.

(Beavers are causing what I suspect is going to be a very expensive problem. More on this later.)

Frozen Fog

3 mornings this week we woke to find a strange world of frozen fog. We couldn't see any farther than our own yard. It was as if the world didn't exist anymore beyond our place. It gave a odd, fantasy-like feel to everything. I took some photos but they don't have the true feel that I was getting as I wondered about. Within a few hours the fog was mostly gone but it was still dark, dreary days. It made me want to hybernate instead of getting out to finish my Christmas shopping.

Ah, the joys of winter!

Of all of the family pictures in Mom's albums, this is the only one I found that was taken outside during the winter. It was the winter of 1964 and shows me and my little sister. It looks like I lost my foot, or at the very least, my boot! The houses in the background belong to the neighbors.

Winter used to be fun! Really, it was. Tromping in the wind-sculpted snow drifts. Going sledding down the big hill. Ice skating on the river. Building snow forts with my brothers. Snow-ball fights. Playing outside for so long that it took hours to get warmed up again. Hot chocolate, with marshmallows. Ah, the joys of youth and playing in a winter wonderland!

An early spring snowfall at our house at Karen Kove, north of Columbia City, March ...

My front porch. December ... It almost looks like this today. New fallen snow is pretty, even, dare I say, beautiful. That is, unless, like today, I had to go somewhere. Yesterday we got about 8" of the fluffy white stuff, which, considering conditions elsewhere, isn't all that much. But the wind was blowing too. I certainly didn't enjoy driving this morning on the slippery, snow-packed roads in below zero temperatures (with a -25°F wind chill). Brr.

For me, the best thing about winter? Spring is not all that far away...

The old crabapple tree at Karen Kove, spring of 1999.

Autumn Eagle riding the thermals over Mt. Sophie

My friend Paul and I were fortunate enough to watch this eagle from eye-level on a fire tower earlier today. We were photographing the fall colors when I looked off to the West and saw this eagle coming towards us. I had my wide-angle lens on at the time, so I was quickly digging in my bag to get my telephoto and managed to change lenses and grab a few shots before the Eagle flew away. Usually when I see Eagles flying around I find myself looking up and squinting because of the sunlight. It was awesome looking straight out from the fire tower and watching this eagle bank left and right as the morning sun hit him while he rode the thermals that were rising off the surrounding hills. A great start to a wonderful day!

Gearing up?

For the guys that are really good at alpine climbing I doubt they spend as much time at sorting gear as I do. But with less time to climb and generally more time to think about it I admit to putting in some serious overtime sorting and deciding on the gear I'll useonalpine trip with a planned bivy.







The guy pictured above might be the exception to that general rule. But Mark still climbed more than he wrote or ever talked. So may be all the "real" guys just talk about it less but obsess obout itbehind the door of their own gear closet.



As I was about to finish this blog piece I got a hearty laugh. Thank God I am not selling anything as this is actually the ultimate ad for what Dane thinks is thecool shit :) Take the choices with a grain of salt here. Simply my/our choices for the moment. Things continue to change.....and I am swayed by things like cost as well as function just like everyone else. But from all thechoices available to me (and the choices are trulyunlimited) this is what we are using for this trip.

Everything else being equal (and it never really is) and I have the chance, I look at the numbers first. How much does it weigh?



If you look at the shell test we are about to do (which isthe reason I came upwith blog entry) there are shells there that weigh from 5.6oz to 22.9oz. You can bet which one I will start off in when I need a shell. But if you kick out the highs and lows there the better shells for what I had intended to test will run between 13oz. and 19 oz. Which makes much more sense "everything else being equal".



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//09/shell-shoot-off-mano-mano.html



I've had cold injuries this time of the year on Rainier's North' side. The option of dbl boots or the Batura is open to all of us. Doug and Lee will be in Baturas because they are easier to walk in and lighter than the best off the shelf doubles. I am tempted myself to take Baturas. Warmer than my Ultras but heavier as well.







Easier to climb in though than my Spantiks by volume and easier to walk in. The walk in is easy which we'll do in runners. That means I'll pack my boots from the car to 10K. When I weigh my Baturas and my Spantiks (customised with Baruntse inner boots) the difference is less than2.5 oz per boot...or 5oz for the pair. So themarginal addition of extra weight is worth the warmth and dry boots with a planed 2 days above 10K.









Nod at the moment goes to my Spantiks this time. I'll sleep better for the decision...but cuss the final 1000' of elevation gain on the walk up to Liberty Cap and over to Columbia CrestI suspect.



Crampons? I have a few choices but with heavy boots and a easierroute, a combo of the stainless Sabertooth front and a aluminum Neve heel seems appropriate for this climb. 10oz less a pair than the standard Saber so they are light. Because of the time of year for snow conditions (read cold and dry hopefully) and my questions about the durability/reliability of the stainless Sabertooth I have stripped the bots so I can more easily inspect the crampon for cracks. The other crampons being used are Doug's Petzl Dartwins and Lee's Grivels G22s.







I'm also taking along a lwt axe to supplement my Nomics (one CT hammer, new serrated pommel, ICE picksand no pick weights) on the easier snow climbing so even with out crampons I figure I could cut steps if a crampon failed. Doug has the New Quarks with CT accessories of course. Lee is using older Nomics, no hammers or pick weights. And we all have trekking poles.







At the moment with three of us in a stripepd Nemo TenshiTent a Feathered Friends Vireoseems like a good idea.







Two of us taking them. Lee is playing it smart and is taking a 2# Swallow. With Cascades Designs newest, high tech andsuper lightprototype NeoAir XTherm mattresses andthe tight quarters of the Nemo Tenshiwe should bewarm enough.







With all my gear hopefully stuffed into an admittedly small,25L Blue Ice Wart Hog pack.









Gloves between the three of us seem to be an equal split between Mountain Hardware and Outdoor Research with the odd pair from Arc'teryx thrown in. I'll get more specific on gloves later as it will consume an entire blog post. But Lee wants to take only one pair of gloves. I'll likely take three of differing weights. No sure what Doug will do. But those choices should be of interest with all the new models we have available from the three companies mentioned.







Doug and Lee will be in NWAlpine pants and Salopettes.I will either use NWAlpine Salopettes or the new Patagonia North Wall pant..depending on the tempsforecast between 10 and 14K and what I think will be required under them for longs.









Speaking of longs I am excited to try some of the newest technology (again a Polartec concept) in Cabela's E.C.W.C.S. It is aThermal Zone® Polartec® Power Dry® and might be much betterthan simply dbl layering my longs as I have done in the past to gain warmth in really cold conditions. Guess we'll find out soon enough with all three of us using the Thermal Zone technology.I had heard a rumor thatMr. Twightwas involved in the early design work on these.







The NWAlpine hoodies are a given for all of us as a base or mid layer. We have RAB Infinity Endurance 800 fill down jacketscomingfor a insulation layer.







I am hoping we can use the RAB high quality downgarments under/over these testshells and have the newest technology there WOW us with the performance.







Nastia climbing high on ourcurrent objective. (photo courtesy of N. B.)

UltraLite Alpini Shelter 200

Over the years I have used a lot of kit. Much of it home made. Not because I was cheap but because you simple couldn't always buy the gear you needed in the US. Back in the '70s I made my own bivy sacks (bothy bag) from coated nylon on my Bernina sewing machine.



A quick search under goggle images for "bothy bags" will turn up a pot full of them



But here in the US you would be hard pressed to come up with a proper bivy sack. I am not talking sleeping bag covers here, but real climbing bivy sacks. The kind that will make the difference between survival and death if caught out in really bad weather in the mountains.



Thankfully I know one place that can square that situation away, Brooks-Range.



http://brooks-range.com/home.php



Half the size of a Nalgene 1 liter bottle and 8 1/2 oz on my scale for the two man version.



http://brooks-range.com/UltraLite-Alpini-Shelter-200.html





Simple idea, coated nylon generally, keeps heat and moisture in. Works better than you would ever suspect keeping you warm. They were made from silk or canvas before nylon and used on most ofthe big north face in the Alps as standard survival gear from the '30s on.



Not bad in a pissing cold rain either.

A Christmas Gift to Remember

The topic for the December 10th installment of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Thomas MacEntee is: "Christmas Gifts. What were your favorite gifts, both to receive and to give?"

Probably the most unusual and most memorable Christmas gift I ever received, though not necessarily my all-time favorite, was a present from my 14-year old sister in 1968. As you can see by the picture, it was a very large box, the biggest one "under" the Christmas tree. In fact, so big it couldn't fit under the tree!

I opened the box, and inside was another box. And inside that one was another box! And another, and another! Six in all. The box that actually held the gift was only about 4x4 inches. By the time I opened the final box, it really didn't matter what was in it. We had so much fun with getting to it. But, what was it you ask? A watch. Actually, a broken watch. It was a watch that didn't work! Not only was this a surprise to me, but to my sister as well. Being only 14 years old, she didn't have much money, and had gotten the watch from a friend. It didn't matter. As they say, it's the thought that counts, and a great deal of thought (and effort) had gone into that gift. Favorite gift, no. Memorable, yes!

What's for Dinner?

Ya, no, not what you are thinking.

Dinner as in "dinner plates", the kind you get on hard, cold ice and can reap some havoc even if you are careful.

Most of us have been cut at one time or another. Some have had stitches or just as likely should have had stitches and didn't. I've been knocked out cold, by a dinner plate while leading...imagine that!?




So we wear helmets. But in addition to the helmet there is something else I used to make fun of now I doubt I'll ever climb ice again without one. It is the visor. Couple of companies offering them in different versions. Easiest one for me to get my hands on was a Petzel.

Last year I popped a small piece of ice directly into my eye on a hard lead. Big enough piece and high enough velocity it bruised my eye ball just off the lens. Scared me a bit honestly, since my eye sight is much of how I make a living. That and the fact it hurt bad enough I couldn't open my eye, let alone see out of it, for several minutes. That while hanging on tools in the midst of a serious lead for me. A sore eye ball for several more days after that trip kept up the reminder. So I found a visor this summer and added it to my Canadian ice gear list. Still not convinced it was worth the effort on local ice. Then on the last trip the visor deflected a fist size piece of ice bound for my chin that I never saw coming. Decided by now that the visor is a good thing on any ice. Bit hard to pack around but easier than expected so far. It is a gimmick...and I hate gimmicks but this one really does work and worth the silly price tag imo.




A new one on me was having a dinner plate smack me in the foot this trip and dang near break a toe. Never would have imagined! The purple toe nail pictured below is a week old now. I will obviously lose the nail in time. Didn't hurt terribly bad at the time although I did notice the smack while leading on a pillar of hard ice. But...WOWIE..was it sore the next few days afterwards.






Not that big a piece of ice either. I would have thought my boots would have protected me more. No mark on the boot but with some inspection of the boot toe it is easy to see a big piece of ice could collapse the boot enough and damage your foot. You have to be careful out there :)




Just helps to be aware of what could happen in lwt boots. If this incident (my first in 30+ years of waterfall ice) is any indication a broken foot is not out of the question with a well planted crampon and a big piece of ice.