It's Still There!

What's still there, you ask? The residence of John Brubaker, my 3rd great grandfather, that's what! Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful fall day here in northeast Indiana and I couldn't resist taking advantage of it. After running some errands, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon by the time I got to Huntington County. A few minutes later I was in the area where I thought the house should be, and there it was! It didn't quite look the same as in the image from the atlas, but I was pretty sure it was the right house. I pulled off to the side of the road and took a couple of pictures. The sun was in the "wrong" position for a really good shot, but it does show some of the details. The house is some distance from the road. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

Comparing the two images, the first thing I noticed was that the pitch of the roof is steeper in the old image (artistic license perhaps?), several of the chimney's have been removed, and the brick exterior has been painted. The porch has been extended to the full depth of the offset and a sloped roof replaces the railed deck. There is only one entrance off of the porch into the house. The door going into the south facing section has been removed. The second window above the porch was actually a door. It too has been removed as has the "front" door (the empty space below the 3rd upstairs window). Modern insulated windows have replaced the originals, and the decorative thing-a-ma-jigs above the windows are gone.

Cropped portion of the picture used in the 1876 atlas, shown in a previous post.

Looking southeast, showing the room that was added onto the southwest corner of the house and some of the out-buildings.

After taking the pictures, I did something that I've never done before. I saw a car in the driveway so I drove up to the house. I was greeted by a very friendly black lab and a small golden haired retriever-mix. They didn't bark or make a sound, which I thought was odd. Anyway, I petted them for a minute and then went onto the porch and knocked on the door. No answer. I peeked around behind the house thinking perhaps someone was outside, but there wasn't anybody there. Went back on the porch and knocked on the door again. Still no answer. Waited a few minutes, knocked again. No answer. So I left. As I was driving down the lane out to the road, the school bus pulled up and dropped off several children. After speaking with them for a few seconds, I turned around and went back to the house, where their mother was waiting on the porch!

She hadn't heard me knocking on the door. She was very nice and friendly. I showed her a copy of the picture of John's house and she confirmed that it was the same house. She said that she was told that the house had been built in the early 1850s. She and her husband purchased the house eight years ago from a couple that had bought it about 1970. She didn't know who they had purchased it from.

After a few minutes of chatting on the porch she invited me inside. The walls are solid brick, at least 12" thick. It's hard to see from the pictures above, but the house is really two rectangular "sections" that are offset by the depth of the porch. So the back, or south facing section, is only as long as the north facing section. We didn't go down into the basement but I didn't think to ask whether it was a full or partial basement or whether its walls were stone or brick.

There are two fairly large rooms on each floor of the front section. There is just one large room in the back section on each floor but the enclosed stairway is also on that side of the house. At the top of the stairs there is a large landing area that has been converted into a closet and a hallway. I was surprised by the height of the rooms upstairs as they have 8' ceilings. I was expecting them not to be as high as those downstairs. There are no fireplaces left in the house.

The only change to the original footprint of the house is the addition of a room at the back, southwest corner, downstairs. It is actually two small rooms. One is being used as the laundry room and back entrance and the other is a galley-type kitchen.

All in all, I must say, it was a very nice day!

Death Valley :: Mesquite Sand Dunes

Located in central Death Valley near Stovepipe Wells, the Mesquite Sand Dunes are surrounded on all sides by mountains, they are essentially captive within a 14 square mile valley. The highest dune rises to a height of about 100 feet. The wind and shifting sands alters the scene daily. These photographs were taken over several days at different times of the day.


For perspective, there are people walking on the dune on the right side of this photo.

Blue Gourd Vase

Sky Glow over Speckled Trout Lake

After the moose sighting last night I continued up the road to Speckled Trout Lake where I was hoping to see some aurora activity. When I arrived at the lake the sky was mostly clear and indeed there were some northern lights visible in the sky! They weren't spectacular dancing and shimmering lights like the other ones I've seen recently, but still it's always nice to see the aurora. Basically there was this large band of soft light sort of hovering in the sky. It actually looked like a cloud, except that it wasn't moving. The color just sort of hung there for a long time. This photo was made at about 3:30 in the morning, which means that there was a little bit of daylight starting to creep into the sky. Unfortunately the bugs were TERRIBLE, but still it was fun to be out in the woods seeing the moose and the aurora and the fireflies, which were EVERYWHERE!

Real world weight comparisons?

I wanted to make an actual comparison of gear weights and see what the real world differences are on a team with very similar gear set ups and how small choices might or might not effect us.



We are suited up for a long one day of climb that is realistically rated a Grade V but generally done in a day. Although with perfect conditions I have donethe climb in 5 hrs while roped to a partner. Iin early January's short days, in fairly cold conditions it easily lives up to the overall Grade V label.



The brothers Grimmmasquerading as "Team Arcteryx LT" for this discussion.... ;-)







This is the list of weights I keep on the blog:



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//04/weights.html





What we used that was the same with slight weight differences noted below



Spantiks

Vertical front pointcrampons

Atom Lt Hoody

Arcteryx pants

Hoody pile pull over shirts

under shirt

long johns

CCW packs

EB down jackets



What we used that was different:



inner boot 5 oz / 9 oz.

harnesses 10 oz / 12.2 oz.

carabiners 10 @ 10 oz / 10 @ 25 oz

crampons 39 oz / 45 oz

packs 25oz / 38 oz

helmet 8oz / 16oz

water bottles/water 34 oz/ 68 oz

hooded/unhooded down 13.8 oz/ 13.2 oz

gloves 7oz gauntlet/ 6.5 oz x 2 with short cuff (13 oz)

pants 19 oz / 17 oz

long johns 6 oz / 6 ox x 2 (13 oz)

________ _______



177 oz verses 265.8 oz = 88.8 oz or a............ 5.5 lbs difference.



What does 5.5# mean to you?



Most of that weight difference is in the actual packs weight we used (same Cold Cold Worldbasic designs, different material, one stripped, one not) and the decision on the amount ofextra water carried. The helmets stand out as well. Interesting withthat the same manufactures helmets, that theheavier hard shell helmet broke when hit by a dinner plate and the lighter, foam coreone did not with a similar hit.We were out 10 hrs total and both of us brought water back to the car.



Low temps were -30C or -22 F at the beginning and end of the climb.

Close Encounters :: Devils Tower

Friday, August 26th - - After spending a couple of hours at the Mammoth Site the trail lead northward once again.





Mother Nature put on a fantastic display of clouds, constantly changing with the wind. Several times I just “had” to pull off onto the side of the road to take a few quick shots. Shortly after this picture was taken, there was hardly a cloud to be seen in the sky!



It was just a few hours drive to my next destination – one that I had wanted to visit for quite some time - Devils Tower National Monument in northeast Wyoming. It's hard to believe that it has been more than 30 years since “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was released - I've loved the movie and Richard Dreyfus ever since!





A tantalizing southern view of Devils Tower from the drive into the campground.

It was late afternoon when I arrived and the temperature was in the low 90s. I was thankful that the campground was full of trees that provided plenty of shade, and there was a light breeze blowing. After selecting my campsite and grabbing a bite to eat, I drove up to the visitor center, which is near the foot of the Tower.





I had planned on walking the 1.3 mile trail around the base of the Tower the next morning when it would likely be cooler. But I walked a short distance up the trail and just kept going. There were few people on the trail and the only sounds you could hear were of the wind blowing through the trees, a few birds now and then, and those of your own imagination. Far above the top of the Tower there were birds floating on the airstream.





In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devils Tower as our first national monument. One of the most popular Native American legends tells of the origin of the Tower:

One day, an Indian tribe was camped beside the river and seven small girls were playing at a distance. The region had a large bear population and a bear began to chase the girls. they ran back toward their village, but the bear was about to catch them. the girls jumped upon a rock about three feet high and began to pray to the rock, “Rock, take pity on us; Rock, save us.”

The Rock heard the pleas of the young girls and began to elongate itself upwards, pushing them higher and higher out of reach of the bear. The bear clawed and jumped at the sides of the rock, and broke its claws and fell to the ground. The bear continued to jump at the rock until the girls were pushed up into the sky, where they are to this day in a group of seven little stars (the Pleiades). The marks of the bear claws are there yet.

Scientists say that the Tower is actually the core of a volcano that has been exposed after millions of years of erosion brought on by the Belle Fourche River as well as the wind and rain. The rocks and boulders around the base of the tower are actually broken pieces of columns that have fallen from the sides. Read more about Devils Tower on Wikipedia.



The light was quickly fading as I finished my hike around Devils Tower. Heavy clouds had moved in and off in the distance I could see flashes of lightning. As I walked across the parking lot to Van Dora I felt a kind of chill even though the temperature was still in the upper 80s. The wind had picked up and a strong breeze was blowing.



Returning to the campsite I watched the lightning flashing through the clouds. It wasn't your “normal” streaks of lightning, rather it caused a kind of glow in and around the clouds that made them stand out in the growing darkness. It rained for about 45 minutes and the front moved through, which cooled the air somewhat. However, it was rather eerie given the location – all we needed was the colored lights to go along with the thunder and lightning!





Saturday, August 27th - - Above, Devils Tower in the early morning light. It rises 865 feet atop the hill upon which it stands.





This sculpture titled “Circle Wind – Circle of Sacred Smoke” by Junkyu Muto stands near the entrance to the campground. Devils Tower is a sacred place to Native Americans.





Probably the most “recognizable” view, from the east side, this was taken as I left the area later in the morning.

Midsummer Storm at the Spirit Tree

Yesterday throughout the day and all through last night we experienced one incredible thunderstorm after another. Some particulars from the weather warnings throughout the day: 70 MPH winds, possible golf-ball size hail, heavy rainfall and flood advisories. To top it off the power was out for most of the night as well. We ended up with anywhere from 2 to 4 inches of rain, depending on where the measurement was taken. The Pigeon River in Grand Portage State Park went from a discharge rate of roughly 4,000 gallons per second yesterday morning to about 28,000 gallons per second today. The storms also produced the best lightning show that we've seen so far this year.



As day turned to night I couldn't resist the light show that was going on all over in the sky. I ended up spending about two and a half hours standing on the Lake Superior shoreline trying to capture photos of the lightning. I went down to the Spirit Tree, which is not far from my home. I've always wanted to capture a "knock your socks off" photo of lightning behind the tree (similar to a shot that my dad captured on slide film years ago), but the photo I dream of still eludes me. I am getting closer, however. Last night's storms yielded my best results yet at photographing lightningbehind the tree. The photo you see here is the result of two hours of standing in the rain trying to capture the perfect bolt of lightning while thunder rumbled all around me. It was definitely one of the most uncomfortable periods of time I've ever spent outside with my camera, but an effort that I consider worthwhile when I view this image.

Azaleas in my Yard

Crampons! These Freak'n 'Pons!

Rant mode on!





The best you could buy in the late 1960's. And good enough to get a few up some damn hard climbs even by today's standards.



OK I know we have to use crampons. In the old days (geeze i have to say that a lot) I owned one set of 'pons and did everything in them. Same 'pons for a slog on Rainier, 5.10 mixed or vertical ice. Same freak'in 'pons and I was happy about it!



Jim Elzinga photo on the 1st ascent of Slipstream



Now I own and use...wait I have to write it down first to actually figure out what I do own! Dartwins, Darts, Grivel Rambo IV, and G12s, BD stainless Sabertooths and Cyborgs and finally Camp aluminum 12 points. 7 pair!



It frankly pisses me off!



What I would be satisfied with is a crampon at the weight of the best aluminum 'pons that climbed as well as the newest BD Sabertooths. Sabertooths will easily do rotten WI6 in dbl boots if you are up to the task. Of course that magic of super light and real performance doesn't exist yet. Anyone that tells you the vertical front point crampons climb ice better than the horizontal crampons is just uneducated or naive enough to repeat some salesman's logic. Either way it is crap...excuse me.. false/bad info. Because vertical front points don't climb better and in most cases they climb worse. On pure water ice the horizontal front points excel in every condition.



Add some difficult rock and you might get me to sway a tiny bit on that opinion. But while a mono point can make rock climbing easier and a dual vertical point might have a tiny advantage at times...but then I have never been on anything out side an artificial environment like Hafner where horizontal front points weren't an advantage on pure ice in every way except weight.



Then there is the issue of a crampon losing downward angled spikes to make them lighter. What kind of nonsense is that? Climb in a pair of Dartwins and then a pair of Sabertooths on moderate ground with hard ice and see what I mean. Damn Dartwins (which I like btw) feel like roller skates in comparison to the Sabertooth.



Or how about spikes so long you can hardly walk in them? Do we really need crampons that are so condition specific, hard ice, soft ice, Neve?



Modified G12s on a pair of La Sportiva Trangos Extremes







Then we get into the binding. Only thing I own is clip on 'pons. Wire bail in front and a lever lock in back. Petzl seems to think the plastic bail biting your Achilles tendon is a good thing....knuckle heads! While BD makes their stuff so burly and hell for stout you could winch a truck up on the wires. A 2nd knucklehead award!



Getting any of the major manufacturers' clip on 'pons to actually fit your boots is another crap shoot all together. I have mixed Petzl front bails with BD and Grivel heel levers to get everything to fit and work to my own satisfaction. Crazy and expensive as all that seems! Hate to think anyone in the climbing hardware industry or boot manufacturing might actually promote a DIN standard for alpine boots and 'pons. No that would be asking way toooooooooo much!



Don't get me started on the anti-botts. Take a look at the newest Grivel Rambo IVs being imported to the USA if you want to see a disaster in the making. Hard plastic botts with a hard plastic bubble to slide around on...saw that happening for a week! Scared me bad and I wasn't even climbing on them. You'd be better off to just strip them while new and enjoy a exceptional design with no bott. Hey almost as good as not putting one on the crampon....Petzl's idea on how to design them...just don't bother.







My idea of a good boot 'pon combination? La Sportiva Baruntse and BD stainless Sabertooth...but at half the current weight!









'Pons Part Two



From another conversation...after this blog was written.



"Like many of us with an entire quiver of 'pons sitting in the gear room what we choose to climb on personally wasn't/isn't what is always recommended in print. Given a choice what I choose to climb on for crampons depends on the conditions and route choosen that day."



"I'm just interested in what you prefer for pure ice and why."





On ice you can easily go from hard blue steel type stuff to vertical slush in a single day of climbing. Road side crags aren't a big deal, longer routes can be. Climb longer routes fast or climb faster than the changing conditions and it may not make a difference. On a order of preferenece and reliability ( for good feet) the first crampon on pure ice to let you down in changing conditions are monopoints. They have the least amount of surface area to support you and will not easily support you if the ice gets bad enough. Right behind them but with twice the surface area will be dual vertical front points. Think about that for a minute. Your entire body weight goes on a mono, then you literally double the surface support on dual verts to even more support on dual horizontals. It will obviously make a difference.



The most surface area will always be horizonal front points and because of that, they will the most reliable in all conditions. The other issue I note is most but not all vertical front points require physical placement, just as a tool does, by a kick or two instead of that good swing with your tool. It also wastes energy. First kick needs to clean off the loose ice and the second or more to actually place them securely. The lack of surface area generally requires it.



Curved horizontal front points will sink into the ice under body weight, no kick required. And because of the additional surface area don't require much in the way of support by the condition of the ice in comparison to the other two styles. Energy saved. The majority of time that is true but not always. If I have to kick a cold fragile feature that might collapse I want a razor sharp, single vertical front point. But cold hard ice that is collapsing as I kick it that will eventually get to solid ice I'll want horizontals.



A fully featured horizontal crampon generally has at least 8 vertical crampon points. (Dartwin for example) While a G12 has 10 and a BD Sabertooth has 12. Doesn't take a lot of imagination to realise which will be more stable on moderate ice while using French technique. Same technique and places I get rests on hard technical ice. The Dartwin (which I climb in a lot) feels like a pair of roller skates compared to the other two imo with the BD a fair step up on the Grivel in the same conditions. Then why do I bother with the other 'pons? Simple. Overall weight mostly and even more important to me than performance at some point, the boot to 'pon fit.



Even with the big advantage of real rigids on pure ice, and it is a BIG advantage..I shy away from them now because of the same basic reason..weight.







For steep, technical climbs like these, all at about the same grade, I used crampons with horizontal front points, BD Sabertooth and Grivel G12s.







And to be fair all my partners for these three climbs choose to use some form of vertical front point or mono point. Black Diamond Sabertooth, Grivel Rambo and Petzl Darts were all represented.



So does it really matter? Only a couple of reasons for which I can justify a preference. First would be if the ice you are on starts to fall down around you when the sun comes out or you miss judge what the conditions were from a distance. These are all one or two pitch climbs close to the road. So I could choose what I wanted to climb on for crampons that day.



Or if you require a secure, easy rest or need to save energy on hard technical terrain. The added security on easy ground of a truly full featured crampon is comforting. All things I find helpful in my own climbing.

Freshwater Spring

Cool, clear water emits from the ground at this spring. The water comes out from under the rocks in the top right-hand portion of the photo.

The Dogs

Here is Tuffee, our Border Collie, Spanky the small brown dog, and Daisy the large white Great Pyrenees Pup. Yes she is only a pup and over 100 pounds. I think she was about 8 months old here.

We have a winner.

Sorry climbers, this post suffers from missing photos. I did some deleting of online albums, turns out they were linked to here. jj






Or "Michael" as his mother prefers to spell it. Sorry Mrs. Houghton. Thanks Lee.
Have you ever seen Michael look this good?






Michael recently became a follower of jjobrienclimbing to win this sharp new Consina T-Shirt from Ubud Adventure.

Instantly transforming him from style tragic to covershot cool.

Michael already knows the superior traction and style power of Dunlop Volleys.

Fact: sign up to jjobrienclimbing.blogspot.com and you are on your way to better climbing style.















Michael climbs rocks too.

jjobrienclimbing supports Michael's choice of photo-approved brilliant yellow chalk bag.













Thanks for the support Michael.













Need more Nick? Who doesn't?









Nick absolutely tears apart the crux traverse on "Evil". I can't believe this guy. I'm still refining this sequence after 191 attempts.

Lee Cujes, Matt Cochrane, Russel Bright, Tom O'Halloran, Vinny Day, Matt Schimke, have all made the demanding ascent.

I've forgotten someone. Who?

Then he flares his lats like a cobra and dispatches "A Knee Bar Too Far" 8a











Abi and Kaylee entertained/frightened us with some Aerial Tissue work.