Splendid Mother Nature!

Yesterday, Mother Nature gave us a beautiful day, with the temperature almost reaching 60 degrees – not that I took advantage of it or anything – most days (other than Sundays) have been spent at The Library. No “new” ancestors yet but still finding some good stuff!



Today the high was in the upper 30s due to a cold front that came through last night. Late this afternoon I noticed some interesting cloud formations in the western sky and decided to leave a little earlier than usual. I drove just a few miles west of the city on I-80, and took the exit when I saw a small pond alongside the road. The photo below is the result of that little excursion. You can't miss with a sunset when there are clouds and water involved... It was a little chilly, but worth it!

Johnson Grass

This grass is a pest but nice in a photo

Ice piles at Stoney Point

I heard through the "photo grapevine" that some big waves had produced some HUGE piles of ice at Stoney Point between Duluth and Two Harbors. So, yesterday I woke early to drive down and photograph the ice piles. I timed it so I would be in Grand Marais for sunrise, which turned out to be a very good plan. I arrived in Grand Marais about 15 minutes before the sun was to come up, and there was sea smoke (steam) drifting in and out of the harbor. There was also a large cloud bank on the horizon, which meant that it took a while for the sun to actually come up. This didn't hurt the images I made, however. The sky had a beautiful pink glow that easily made this one of the best sunrises I've ever photographed on the lake.




After shooting the sunrise I continued down the shore, headed for Stoney Point. I arrived at the point shortly after 10:00 a.m. which turned out to be a very good time for pictures. There was still some sea smoke over the lake, but the sun was also showing itself every couple of minutes from behind the clouds. The lighting was awesome. And, the ice piles were indeed quite big! It was definitely worth the two and a half hour drive!

It's Raining!

Northern California is officially in the midst of its first rainstorm of the season.

I just went outside and was amazed to see the rain coming down in sheets (not hard sheets, mind you, just light). Everything is wet, the water is tricking down the gutters, and when you walk on the brown grass it doesn't crunch underfoot.

Any other Northern California bloggers out there who are enjoying this rain?

Red Phoenix Emporium

Climbers, you know I'm a style watcher. And you've seen a couple of my photos from various fashion launches.

This year I have been honored to become more involved in Red Phoenix Emporium.

RPE is a family business and I can't tell you how proud I am of their progress so far.



Getting to the point of shooting for the new collection has taken a whole year and I can't help but share of a few scenes from the day with you.

Here's a peek at Red Phoenix Emporium Autumn/Winter Collection

The collection is on the website. It's the "All that Glitters" collection.



Kristen is on fire modelling our newpure silk dress, a photographic print of a Thai sunset, repeated and reflected. The necklace hangs three slabs of Agate from a string of Tibetan Mountain Coral







Jo wears silk with a photographic print of ruined monasteries on frozen ground, takenon our recent trip across the Tibetan Plateau.






You already know these abs. They belong to Nate

He sports the new dude wear from Red Phoenix,An addition to the usual RPE, this is my influence.

The "Double Dragon" pants in Chinese brocade featuring the double dragon motif. Necklace: "They Only Come Out at Night" Lava stone, obsidian skulls, dyed turquoise skulls and a suspended central Pyrite skull and black onyx crucifix. Lusciously dark.















Heloise is a stunner in the silk Chili dress, a photographic print of dried chillies from a roadside eatery on the first bend of the Yangtze, of all places.









This collection includes the sequined shift dress, here in black. Also comes in bronze and silver.














Double Dragon again.









We are delighted to haveWinona the intern on board!!!






Thanks Nate, for standing in the middle of the city in pyjamas.

You pulled it off well.












Here's the stylist team,Lotus and Willow on the shoot, working under a heavy burden of gems.










No one got arrested, mercifully.



Wear RPE and stay out of fashion prison.



jj

Cherry Tree

The cherry tree si on the left. The deer come here to eat grass.

Hot, Hot, Hot

The temps are soaring in Washington, and gaining altitude on Mt Rainier is one way to avoid the heat. The last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August historically mark the highest success rates and most reliable weather for the peak. If you're climbing, leave early, as the freezing level is hovering around 15,000 feet.

Recent mountain achievements include Jason Edwards personal climbing benchmark. Jason successfully made his 300th summit climb of Mt. Rainier on July 12th. Jason joins an elit clan of guides (there are only 6) who have more than 300 summits. The current summit record is held by George Dunn, who has over 480 successful ascents.

In other news, we've updated the route condition reports for the Kautz, DC, and K Spire to name a few. Please keep the updates coming.

Petzl Picks again?

Or, "Why do your new DRY and ICE picks suck on ice and mine don't?"



If you aren't having a problem ignore the rest of this. For those that are hopefully this will be helpful.



Most of us loved the original Cascade picks on the Nomics and the older Quarks simply because theyclimbed water ice better than anything else available in factory form...then or now.



Petzl in all their engineering wisdom decided to better the first generation Nomic and we see now how that has gone. I am a little amazed at just how far off their customer's requirements are in all of this.



Not like it will lose Petzl a large part of the market share but disappointing none the less that we have to fiddlewith the gear to make it work as required.



I posted most of this info previous but people keep asking as the new tools arrive and get into climber's hands.



The first change is the new DRY and ICE picks have another couple of degrees in incline. To put that into perspective there is generally 2 or less degrees of difference between the Fusion/Cobra/Viper?Reactor.



So in the grand scheme adding two more degrees on the Nomic is a BIG deal.



Top set of picks is the Cascade overlaid the new ICEMiddle is the new ICE PickBottom is the older Cascade pick for a Nomic

But the change in tooth pattern on the ICE pick is what most will easily notice on the Nomic while on ice.



It isn't easy and you can't duplicate the Cascade exactly by carving up a ICE pick. But you can get close enough to make them climb ice easier.



Again the Cascade is the upper pick. The lower is a slightly modified ICE.On this one I have only cut down the newelongated and heavy hooked front tooth.



dbl click the picture here. Top pick is a ICEImodifiedto climb pure ice easier and the lower on a brand new ICE, that is untouched.As you can see to improve removing the pick on water ice the entire row of smaller front teeth ( I dothe first 6 and taper into the higher ones) need to be cut down to the smaller proportions on the upper Cascade pick.

All of this is easily done with a hand file (I use a 10" Bastard file) in just a few minutes.



I have highlighted in the pinkcircles the new pick where I cut it down with a hand file.



Here is another look at the added angle to the new picks.Cascade pick is in back of this overlay and a new (slightly modified) ICE in front.

The new picks work great for mixed and dry tooling imo. Not so much on pure ice. I have saved a small stock ofthe older Cascade picks for pure ice just to save myself the hassle. Hopefully Petzl will still be selling the original Cascade picks.

Ice-Covered Shores

Here is a recent shot taken at dusk looking east along the Lake Superior shoreline in Grand Portage. It was a wind-stricken shore with big waves on this particular evening of January 3rd, . The lines in the foreground ice are what really caught my eye here, but I think the frothy waves in the background add a lot to the image as well. Enjoy!