It makes me laugh...

Just when we all think we have the lightest and best I pull out the scale. Published weights are from my certified digital scale.

Size 12, Koflach Ultra, Aveolite inner boot, circa 1980, Chouinard hinged crampons, Beck/Chouinard straps. Total weight 3#9oz.











Size 45 La Sportiva Spantik, factory inner, , Petzl Dartwin with lever lock. Total weight 4# 1oz. (lightest dbl boot and crampon, current production, combination I own)












The difference between a pair in weight? 16oz. !! The difference in warmth, comfort and climbing ability, marginal at best. Cost? $200 1980 Kolfach would be $550 in today's dollars. Retail cost of the La Sportiva $ 700. Crampon and boot manufactures could do a lot better on weight and warmth. Going backward is never the way forward.





I can however with some dicking around get the Back Diamond Sabertooth lighter than the Dartwin by changing out the BD wires and clips to Petzl and pulling the bots. Then by changing the Spantik liner to a Baruntse liner (Intuition is heavier by 3oz and doen't fit as well) I was able to get the rig down to 3#11.5oz. Closer to the Kolfach/Chouinard rig, climbs very similar, a bit more user friendly and with some added warmth. But still 5oz per pair too heavy. ( I can drop that 4oz by adding aluminum Neve heel pieces and going back to the heavier BD levers for a proper fit) I'd really like to see a sub 3# dbl boot and fully technical crampon combination for my size 12 feet. I like the lighter combo with the BD Neve aluminum heels and Sabertooth steel fronts but that set up has some obvious limitations for difficult climbing and may not be worth the 4 ounce per pair you save over standard steel heels.
















So riddle me this...which crampon do you think climbs better? Nope not the difference between vertical and horizontal front points...that is trivial by comparison.

You might think it could be the pair with 12 points on the ground or the one with 14?
The key to so much terrain and resting via French technique is the pair of points right behind the ball of the foot. Dropping a set of points there to save weight is ONE way to do it. The amount of stability those extra set of points add makes them worth while, and sadly, something I notice is missing while climbing on the Darts/Dartwins. The same set of points are also key in the ability to "kick" out a step enabling you to splay your feet out on steep, hard, ice and get off your front points.

Hardwick-Sywell-Mears Ashby-Hardwick

Led by Barry. With me, Gordon and Maureen. Cold weather, strong wind. sunny at times. almost 9 miles in all.






One of those shall we /shan't we days. Snow flurrying about, car windscreen and doors iced up, but the promise of sunshine too. No more than a few minutes behind schedule we set off to Hardwick and parked near the church.

Into the teeth of the icy blast - after five minutes, I decided I needed my waterproof-windproof layer on top of the three I already had.

We headed north along the road out of the village, and when the road bends to the right, we took a footpath to the left. It leads to the opposite corner of the first field, and then across the next field. We ended up slightly too far over and had to walk back a few yards to the gap in the hedge, and footbridge over the stream.

The route across the next field was clearer, and at the next hedge we turned left following the field boundary west, past one hedge, then across another field. We met a bridleway, and turned to the left, going south.

As we reached the minor road near Hardwick Lodge, we were greeted by barking dogs - in an enclosed area. The easier path here turns more or less west down the lane and skirts the grounds of this house and others.

We turned southwest to meet the corner of Hardwick Short Wood, and followed the edge of this wood, and then Sywell Wood. After passing Wood Lodge Farm we met the Sywell Road, going past Sywell Airport and Aviation Museum.

Exhibit 'A'

Exhibit 'B'

Exhibit 'C'

Barry had half promised us there'd be a coffee shop, but apart from the Aviator Hotel, we saw none.




Just before the main village we took a path to the left, walked for a short distance along the road and then turned left again, and slightly uphill. At the top of this field there was a seat, but we preferred to choose a more sheltered spot on the other side of the trees - not quite the comfort of a café but not bad in the sunshine.




Onward and down to the stream, then up again and across to Mears Ashby.

How about this for a guard dog? No need for walkies, either.

Along the road east as far as Highfield Road, we turned left and then along a footpath heading north. This continued over farmland, then across the Wellingborough to Sywell Road, then more farmland. Some of the fields were pretty sticky, even though there was still ice on top of the puddles.

Almost done!

We crossed another path, but carried on north before the path turned slightly northeast and back into Hardwick, past a farm, and a few houses. We turned right and were back at the car. Cold, muddy in places, but satisfying.







of walk - part 1

Part 2




The map is in two parts - technical "issues".

California:: Jalama Beach County Park

I got a late start when leaving Morro Bay on March 29th and I only went about 100 miles south. Driving along California Highway 1 near Lompoc, in Santa Barbara County, I noticed a sign for Jalama Beach County Park. It had a campground and I needed a place to stay for the night.

It was somewhat challenging to get to. The sign showed that it was 14 miles down a county road. Wow! What a drive. Talk about a winding road and hilly! After about the first two miles I was ready to turn back, but there was no place to safely turn around, so I continued on. It was definitely worth the drive though...

It was a rocky, sandy beach.

Late afternoon and the fog started rolling in toward the shore.

I had forgotten that there was a railroad along the coast. This bridge was on the north side of the campground. Several passenger trains came through while I was there.

It was extremely windy that day. The two fellows in the background are kite surfing. It was amazing how they jumped the waves and moved in and out along the shore.

They did occasionally fall off their boards, but quickly retrieved them and went back out for more.

Heavy fog was on its way and the kite surfers were still having fun. So am I.

The skiers are taking over!

New snow and warm temperatures this final weekend in June brought out the most skiers I have ever seen on Rainier. The DC, Emmons, Winthrop, and Fuhrer Finger were all skied. The ski conditions were great for the most part. The snow was firm but somewhat punchy down to 13,000 feet. Conditions improved as the snow softened and became less wind- affected. There was good corn skiing from about 11,500' to about 10,000'. The snow became heavy and wet below that altitude. Above is a photo of one of those skiers descending the Cleaver. Although the skiing can be fabulous, be realistic about conditions and your ability, and be sure to be "on your game", as exposure to cliffs below can severely impact your outing in the event of an uncontrolled slip!

Conditions and weather have combined this week to give us stable weather and great climbing. Climbers summitted via the Disappointment Cleaver, Ingraham Direct, Fuhrer Finger, Kautz Glacier, Tahoma Glacier, Liberty Ridge, Winthrop Glacier, and the Emmons Glacier. Of course, the warm weather has its downside: rock fall and ice fall have increased exponentially, and a few routes have started to melt out... notably Gibralter Ledges, which had seen quite a few ascents this year.
--Adrienne Sherred - Photo by Andy Anderson

Galaxy Forest

Last night Jessica and I got out to enjoy the supremely calm conditions that were prevalent across northeast Minnesota. The conditions were so calm that I have never seen stars reflecting so perfectly in the waters of Lake Superior as they were last night. We were treated to incredible views of the Milky Way Galaxy, which was our focus for the evening but we were also (as always) hoping to see some northern lights that were possible overnight. The aurora never happened but the extreme calm of the night air combined with stars that were literally jumping out of the sky at us made for an unforgettable experience. Tonight is a stark contrast to last night as we are experiencing some rainfall and wind. Every day is different! I love it :-)

Moose cow and calf on Teal Lake

(Click the image to view a larger version)

Today on my way to work I saw, for the first time, a Moose on the shoreline of Teal Lake. Not only that, but it was a cow Moose with a calf! To top it off, it was one of the Moose that have been collared by the Grand Portage Reservation Natural Resource Department! What a treat to see these animals today. The reservation has collared several Moose in order to track their movements over the course of two years and they will be using the collected data to help manage reservation lands for the benefit of Moose. I sat and watched this mother and child for about 10 minutes, and they barely moved. Just before I left the mother laid down in the grass and the calf followed suit. I wonder how long they stayed in this spot?

Awesome Lightning!

This evening an incredible series of thunderstorms rolled across Grand Portage Bay between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. It was some of the most intense lightning I've ever seen in this area. I photographed the lightning for almost 3 hours from my boat shed on the Lake Superior shoreline. The image above was a 9 second exposure, with an aperture of f8 and the ISO set at 200. I got really lucky on the image below, as the lightning flashed almost immediately after I hit the button on the remote shutter release, and it was a very bright flash so I hit the button again right after the flash. It ended up being only a one second exposure!

Travelin' thru Tennessee

As I left Indiana on Sunday morning, I wasn't too concerned with what the weather was doing in Kentucky and Tennessee. According to reports, the ice and snow would have finished falling before I got there. And the reports were right, but it sure did leave a "mess" all along the I-40 corridor from Oklahoma to the Carolinas and Virginia. Interstate 65 was clear all the way but through Nashville the exit and entrance ramps were in horrible shape and from what I saw on the news many of the secondary roads were still snow covered and icy this morning.

When I left Nashville yesterday morning, the sun was shining brightly and blue skies abounded. In the aftermath of the winter storm, Mother Nature left behind a wonderland of ice coated trees, grass, and bushes. These photos were taken as I was driving on I-65 between Nashville and Columbia on Monday morning. The bottom photo was taken through the (very dirty, salt coated) driver's side window. Once over the mountains and south of Columbia, there was no ice or snow and the temperature was a balmy 50 degrees. Nice.

French Tarragon

I finally managed to find some French tarragon. This fragrant herb is essential in many French recipes, which is what I'll be using it for.

Anyone have experience with tarragon?

Whiston - Cogenhoe - Brafield - Denton - Whiston

8 miles. Barry, Eddie, Maureen, Gordon.





Down the hill from Whiston to Whiston Lock on the Nene. The couple going through with their boat had spent one month travelling back to Oundle from Bath. The water was pretty choked with weed, and the gates were difficult to close. Some weed has been raked out and left on the path at the side.From there we walked along the Nene Way by the river as far as Cogenhoe Mill, then up into the village itself.The path emerges into Cogenhoe near Mill HouseChickens and Indian runner ducks (?) by the playing field in Cogenhoe. We took the footpath towards Brafield on the Green.

St Laurence's church at Brafield. From Brafield we took the path behind the church and made our way to Denton,, across some ploughed fields, and on one occasion we needed the machete.

Through the hedge, and onward.

Denton.





Free range chickens between Denton and Whiston

Whiston church tower dominates this part of the Nene Valley, but is not, as far as we could see, easily accessed by car. It was built by the Catesby family, and is very much their monument.

One of the Catesby cats inside the church.

There are traces of some structure on the ground. I'm not sure what it is.

Thorp Lookout ..

Jennifer's birthday getaway.

We had lofty ambitions to go hiking/camping in the North Cascades, but the 30% chance of thunderstorms scared us away. I was hoping for views, while Jennifer was hoping for lake swimming. In the end we found a combination that should work just fine; Thorp Lake and Thorp Mountain Lookout.

We got a leisurely start and drove up to the trail head arriving around 11am. Unfortunately, the signage is not ideal and we drove to what is listed in the book as the shortcut. This is a trail at the end of a logging road that leads to the lake. After we geared up and started up the trail we immediately noticed a sign stating it was not the trail. We opted to continue as the trail looked well used (and there was more than a half dozen cars at the "trail head.") However, a few hundred meters from the parking lot we made a right instead of a left. This put us in some open clear cuts and following some trails that looked like game trails. There was flagging tape, so we figured we were heading in the right direction.

After a while of not seeing tape, we stopped for lunch. I scouted ahead, and did not like what I saw. We decided to head back down to the parking lot and hopefully pick up the trail somewhere in between. It was difficult to retrace our steps, and the way down was more slippery than coming up. We slipped a bunch and had to bushwhack even more. After reaching the parking lot elevation, we traversed through some devils club and rejoined the trail. But not after a fair amount of suffering.

Fruits of our labor

This time we noticed the correct trail heading left and followed it. It was nice being on a real trail, and in no time, we were at the lake. Jennifer felt that the two hours of off trail travel was good because the actual trail to the lake was too short. (Mind you, this was the "shortcut" trail.)

Once arriving at the lake we noticed what we often do every time we go in the woods for Jennifer's birthday: the bugs. The mosquitoes at the lake were voracious. Fortunately, it wasn't that hot and we were able to put on jackets and pants to keep ourselves somewhat protected. On the flipside, it did not make us determined to do anything outside, so we hung out in the tent a bit to escape.

Home sweet home

After a bit of relaxing in the tent we got out and scouted the route to the top of the mountain for the next morning. We also took a path part way around the lake to a boulder field and watched the pikas who were apparently watching us. When we returned to the camp, we made dinner.

After dinner, we did a bit more local exploring before retiring to the tent. (The mosquitoes were driving us crazy and we had no repellent.) It was early, but Jennifer felt she could use the sleep.

When we awoke in the morning, the mosquitoes were not as bad. But as we ate breakfast, they became worse. We figured we had to move quickly once done and hopefully the higher we went, the better off we would be.

We started the hike to the lookout and kept moving because stopping made you a target. It was fairly humid, and for the most part going higher did not result in more breeze. It was warm, but I opted to keep my pant legs on to keep the bugs off. There were a few trail intersections, including the one for the real trail to the lake. For the most part the trail switchbacked through subalpine meadows below cliffs.

Flowers
In what seemed like a very short time we were at the lookout, greeted by the lookout, Lori, and her dog Grace. We took in the views and ate snacks, then chatted with Lori for a while before signing the register and heading back down. The lookout had told us the view was better than the previous day, so we were fairly happy that we waited until the morning to come up to the lookout. Rainier was under the clouds, but the Snoqualmie peaks to Dutch Miller Gap were visible as well as Hinman and Daniel. Mount Stuart was just a shadow in the haze.


The hike back down to camp was warm and uneventful. When we arrived back at the lake, we considered swimming, but we cooled off fairly well with the breeze off the lake. We also weren't sure about subjecting more skin to the swarms of mosquitoes. So we packed up and hiked out. While trying to find the trail out, we stumbled upon the toilet. We passed the not so obvious real trail head on the drive out.

I think this is a nice trip for families, but if you needed to do more and just a day trip, there is a nice loop that can be done incorporating Little Joe Thorp Lake as well. It seems to me the ridge trails there would also be nice options, but we didn't consider them at the time.

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.

Coyote