Ice Cave at Hollow Rock

This "window" of ice is looking out on the little island known as "Hollow Rock", which has been the subject of more than a few of my previous blog entries. I feel very fortunate that I now have this image in my portfolio, since the decision to head out and shoot that morning could have easily gone the other way. We had spent 5 hours snowshoeing the previous day over some very rugged terrain, and our bodies really didn't feel like going out early in the morning and shooting again so soon after the snowshoe workout. The decision was made to head out, however, and boy am I glad that we did as several good images were made on this morning.
The sunrise over Hollow Rock was very nice, with some interesting clouds to spice things up. The real treat, though, was finding two small ice caves to photograph. This particular image is of the second ice cave that I found, and when I stuck my head into this little cave I couldn't believe the view I found with Hollow Rock visible through the hole. It was as though mother nature had tailor-made this ice formation for a curious photographer to stumble upon. There wasn't much room to work inside the cave to get this image. It required crawling into the cave head-first on my stomach then propping my elbows on the rocky ground to brace the camera for this shot. There was no room at this angle to use my tripod. I shot this hand-held with my Canon EF 17-40mm lens, shutter speed 1/60, aperture f16, ISO 200.

Three O' Clock Rock ..

Rod and I headed out to Darrington to climb on what was one of the hottest days of the year so far. Not always a good idea for slab climbing, but it usually means Darrington will be dry.

The drive up was pleasant, and soon we were gearing up in the cool valley floor for a hike to the rock. This was Rod's first time at Three O' Clock Rock, and we were debating the routes to try and get on. I really wanted a second crack at Revolver after trying to climb it wet back in September. But I was also interested in climbing Big Tree One again to get some gear placement "practice" in since I hadn't been on rock in over a month. The harder rating of Revolver had Rod suggesting we start on Big Tree One. This made sense, as it is on the South Buttress, and would be sunnier in the afternoon. And Revolver was on the North Buttress and perhaps wouldn't be as hot during the hottest time of day.

We got to the base and geared up for Big Tree. Rod led it and took a while completing the pitch. I had to run off into the woods before following. I joined him at the top of pitch one. We swapped the rack and I headed off on pitch two. Perhaps it is coming off the couch after a month of not climbing, but I didn't remember this pitch to be as run out. I got to the top and brought Rod over and he prepared for the next lead.

Rod headed up the third (and best) pitch of the route. I had told him where I thought the crux was and he made good time heading up to it. At the crux he balked. He tried a higher gear placement and then even added a second cam. He down climbed a few steps and yo-yo'd a bit. He inspected holds and tried different options. After a long while, he confessed to me he did not have the moves in him. I lowered him down to the anchor and I switched to the sharp end to tackle the moves. The crux of the route in my opinion is a move where the lie backing ends and you have a few friction moves before picking up the lie backing again. I'm not sure it is the technical crux of the route, but it is the mental crux as you leave hand holds and counter pressure for some straight smearing.

I climbed up the crux on top rope and then rearranged the gear Rod had placed so I could have more gear above the crux. I tried the moves and was attempting to remember how I did it last time, but I was not being successful. I couldn't commit to my right foot. I down climbed a few times to a ledge to rest my feet. Was I no longer capable of doing the moves? I had tried low, I had tried midway. What if I tried high? I started back up and instead of forcing my moves rightward I just followed the natural rhythm of the rock and found myself going up a bit more before rightward moves commenced. It felt good. The small tree that I had previously slung appeared bigger, but not as lively. I slung it again and headed off to finish the pitch.

Rod joined me and commented that he still didn't like the moves, even on top rope. I presented him with an option to lead the final pitch as I wanted to move onto other things. He didn't feel the need to, so we started rapping the route.

Once back at the packs we huddled in the shade and ate lunch. With my need to be back in Seattle by 5pm, it was too late to start a 6+ pitch route like Revolver. We had to come up with other options. I suggested Dirt Circus, a route I had not previously done. The first pitch was bolted 5.9 and the second was a bolted 5.9+. I offered the easier first pitch to Rod and we hiked over to the base.

There must be a good reason for this route to be called dirt circus. The first 10' of stone were filthy. We joked about how we should have power washed it before climbing in the morning and that it would have been ready to go by the afternoon. Rod tied in and made several attempts to place a cam so he could continue. After a period of time he said it wasn't going to happen and I offered another route for us to climb.

Rod got the lead on Under the Bored Walk. A route I suggest to anyone who is climbing at Darrington for the first time. I had him lead it to the top in one pitch. I followed, experimenting with my approach shoes. This was quite scary at first, but as the difficulty eased and I got used to the feeling of chicken heads under my feet, it was not too bad. Afterward, Rod said the route was a good one to bring people new to rock climbing as it was fun and easy.

I love Three O' Clock Rock for the ease of approach and so many good climbs in a range that I can climb. It was great being out on the rock. I feel I needed this to prep me for Squamish in two weeks. We'll see how things go.

Turbulent Sunrise

I woke early this morning to shoot my first sunset on Lake Superior in over a month. There had been a good wind blowing all night long, which meant there would be some nice waves to shoot. I actually wasn't sure if the sun would even show or not. It was pretty cloudy when I left the house, but not long after arriving at this location the sun came out from behind the clouds and gave me some nice color and some great light.

Mt. Rainier, Lower Nisqually Glacier

Foursquare Mountaineering took a trip up to Mt. Rainier to have some fun and hone our mountaineering skills. We set out to find the biggest, baddest crevasse on the lower Nisqually Glacier. We found it! It had deep vertical walls made of hard ice. It was topped off with a layer of last winter's soft snow. We spent the day rappelling, ice climbing, prusiking and setting up a z-pulley rescue system.



The first thing we did was set up a few bombproof anchors and safety lines. Dan, Dennis, Jim and Caroline.

Dennis, Jim and Doug watching Dave finish his climb up from the bottom.



Jim rappelling into the abyss.

Dan moving up the rope with ascenders.



We even managed to find a snow bridge on the way out.




It was good to spend the day up on the mountain with friends. Now some of those harder routes on Rainier seem just a little bit easier and if one of us falls into a hidden crevasse, we will all know what to do.

Mount Rainier :: Wow! Perfect Timing, Again!

Wednesday, September 15th - - After leaving the visitor center at Paradise late yesterday afternoon, I drove over to the southeast side of the Mount Rainier National Park and stayed at the campground at Ohanapecosh. I woke up early this morning and, in the hopes that the mountain would once again be out, decided to go to the Sunrise area on the northeast side, about an hours drive.

The campground was sheltered beneath a canopy of tall trees and it was hard to tell what the weather was really like. Leaving the campground I was disappointed to find the sky blanketed by gray clouds. But one thing I've learned about western Washington in my brief stay here is that just because the weather is lousy “here” doesn't mean it will be “there” too!

Half an hour after leaving the campground, I was ecstatic when I rounded a curve and there was Mt. Rainier! Rather gray in the early morning gloom, but there it was!

In the next 15 minutes, the mountain could be seen in several places and each vista presented a slightly different view. The road then went on the side away from Rainier and I could see that the sun would soon break through the clouds. The road twisted and turned and the going was agonizingly slow but after another 20 minutes I was at Sunrise Point.

From there on the views were absolutely stunning, especially whenever the sun decided to make an appearance.

A few minutes later, I was at the nearly empty parking lot of the Sunrise visitor center, which was closed for the season as was the Ranger Station. I strolled along one of the numerous trails, intending to walk for half an hour or so. But it was such a beautiful day and the mountain was mesmerizing. My short walk ended up being more than three hours long.

Looking north from the Sourdough Ridge Trail. (Double-click on this one to open the larger image - it's worth the extra clicks...)

Another view, looking north, from the Sourdough Ridge Trail.
The valley between Sourdough Ridge and Mt Rainier. The road is a gravel service road. There were workers out doing maintenance on some of the trails.

I walked to the other side of Burroughs Mountain (the ridge running in front of Mt Rainier). There was a trail that went up there with a view of Frozen Lake. I started up it but turned around after realizing it would take more time and energy than I could muster.

At times, the mountain seemed so close. Like I could reach out and touch it.
Why doesn't that snow fall? What is holding it up there? How deep is it?
To return to the parking lot, I took another trail, which went down into the valley. There weren't as many views of the mountain but the stillness and peacefulness were almost overwhelming.

Upon reaching the parking lot I decided to go down one more trail. A short one, less than half a mile round-trip, to Emmons Vista. Probably one of the most-photographed views of Rainier, just because it is so close to the visitors center.

Less than an hour later, you guessed it, the gray clouds had moved back in and the sun had taken its leave. And so did I.

Velo Vision

About a year ago, I started to notice that I couldn't see things in the distance as well as I used to. I could read and see up close just the same as before, but things far away were losing their clarity. I noticed this most of all while cycling.The landscape was not as sharp as it once was, far-away roadsigns were more difficult to read, faces of people riding toward me were harder to recognise. As someone who's always had perfect eyesight, I had no prior experience with vision loss and it took me a while to acknowledge what was happening. But finally I went to have an eye exam and the loss of "perfect" status in the eyesight department was confirmed. I was given a prescription for glasses that the doctor said I would need mostly "for driving."






I expected shopping for glasses to be a nightmare, for the same reason finding a decent pair of cycling sunglasses had been a nightmare. But I underestimated modern technology and our neightbourhood's offering of optical shops.Picking up friends' glasses in the past, I remember them being heavy. But apparently eyeglasses today can be made extremely lightweight - with high-tech plastic and titanium frames. There is also enormous variety in shapes and sizes. I had no problem finding some that fit my face and weighed next to nothing.






With cycling in mind, I got a pair with plastic frames and photochromic lenses. They cover a good part of my face, and the lenses turn dark in the sun, but clear at night. I have already worn them on a couple of rides and the fit is very comfortable.But wearing corrective lenses will take some getting used to!Everything in the distance now looks unnaturally sharp, or hyper-3-D. My feel for how close or far away objects are is a little disturbed by this, but I am assuming my brain will adjust eventually.






Another thing that's happening, is that whilethe glasses correct my far-away vision, they do so at the expense of making things blurry up close. On the bike, this means that I can't really see anything that's directly in front of me or at handlebar level (i.e. the cycling computer on my roadbike) unless I take them off or look underneath the lenses. I am still working out how to adapt to this. Meanwhile, it's a relief to see clearly at a distance again.

Rough Roads

the roads going up Mt. Taylor are rough. From just past the outskirts of Grants the pavement stops and it is dirt roads all the rest of the way. Here are a few photos I took leaning out the window as we drove. As you can guess we were glad to have 4-wheel drive in our little Chevy pickup. Sorry if the photos are a bit blurry but we were moving as you don't stop on this kind of road unless it is a real have too. Of course some of the road is graveled which really doesn't make it any better as it seems to make the road slick even without being wet. In the winter with snow on the gravel it can really be bad if I remember right. We used to bring snowmobiles up here to play in the snow. Of course the fact that the mountain is a lava bed since it was a volcano doesn't help. When you get close to the top (the last 4 miles or so) it is nothing but bump, bump, bump over the lava rocks embedded in the road. We didn't do the last four miles to the top where the firetower is. What a great job it must have been to be the fire lookout on top of a volcano mountain. That is except during a lightning storm.

Fort Lewis Chinook Pilots Climb to Summit

Pilots Richard Bovey, Bryan Campbell and Scott Salkovics from the 159th alpha Company Army Reserve, accompanied by two climbing rangers, spent four days at Mount Rainier training and climbing to the summit via the Emmons Winthrop Route. All three men have trained at Mount Rainier in high altitude rescue and provided critical support in Search and Rescue. In addition to their assistance with SARs, Bovey, Campbell and Salkovics are also huge supporters and fans of Mount Rainier. Bovey and Campbell have done volunteer work to help restore two of the lookout towers and all are avid outdoorsmen. Although they have all hiked in the Park extensively (Campbell completed the Wonderland Trail in a seven day period) none had summitted Mount Rainier.

This trip afforded the pilots the opportunity to look at many of the training and rescue locations on the ground, as well as train in crevasse rescue, glacier travel and route finding on the upper mountain. The conditions for the climb where ideal - great weather, excellent food and lodging (the hut and barbecue at Camp Schurman). This is a special thanks to them and to the U.S. Army unit that supports climbers and search and rescue operations on Mount Rainier. There is more information about the unit and its work from previous trainings and missions.

Photo and post by David Gottlieb

So Long Old Friend by Chip Py

I bought this TV in 1986 at the Peoples Drug Store on Old Georgetown Road for $129.00. It was a wedding gift to my sister. For the last ten years, it has been my basement TV. Something to turn on while I painted furniture, strung up my fishin' poles or any other basement project. It has no remote, the channels are changed with a knob, and it gets UHF! (that round thing on top is a UHF Antennae) I have chosen not to buy it a conversion box because it just doesn't seem right.

I will miss my basement TV. It will probably sit in my basement for a few more years until I take it to the dump. Or perhaps, like LPs, I could wait for the analog TV comeback! That High Def is probably just a fad. One day my TV will be retro cool, and I'll be cutting edge!!

In Case You Were Wondering...

Yes, I did find someplace cooler! When last I left you, I was sweltering in 100 degree temperatures, along with much of the Midwest and the East Coast! Thursday morning (July 21st) I continued driving through Toledo and on into “Pure Michigan” northward. At Standish (north of the “thumb”) I followed U.S. 23 along the coast of Lake Huron. It was a very nice tree-lined drive with little traffic, but views of the lake were few and far-between. Of course, I could have stopped at one of the many public access areas but the temperature was still near 100 degrees and I was quite comfortable in my air conditioned van!



The temperature did drop the further north I drove but still in the 90s. Oddly enough it wasn't until I turned inland a ways that the temperature dropped into the upper 80s. I spent the night at very pleasant State Park at Onaway on the shores of Black Lake near the upper tip of the Lower Peninsula. The temperature actually got into the 70s overnight. Upper 70s but 70s nevertheless!



It seems that every campground has a different atmosphere to it. Some have open campsites with little privacy but the people seem friendlier there than at the campgrounds where the sites are more secluded. Some, by their very nature – such as those on or near lakes - tend to be noisier than others. It was tempting to spend a few days at Onaway but it was a busy place with lots of kids and dogs and was very noisy.



So on Friday morning I went in search of a more quiet, secluded place where I could simply relax and perhaps work on the research papers I had accumulated while in Ohio...



No, it's not Michigan! But thought I'd share this, which was taken about six weeks ago in the Rocky Mountains. Perhaps it will make someone feel a little cooler during this heat wave ;-)

Heading Back East

Leaving Salt Lake City on the morning of June 9th, I took I-80 through the Wasatch Mountains toward Park City where I picked up U.S. 40, which is a very scenic route. I stopped for the night in Hayden, just before getting into the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains.





The next morning I passed through Steamboat Springs and stopped for pictures at one of the lakes. This is where the climb into the Rockies really begins. Because of the record amount of snowfall this winter, the rivers and lakes are full to overflowing.





If this lake gets much fuller, these houses will have some problems!



Somewhere in the mountains along U.S. 40

Several hours later, just before entering Granby, I turned off of U.S. 40 onto U.S. 34, which is the highway that goes through Rocky Mountain National Park.





Approaching Rocky Mountain National Park on U.S. Highway 34



North of Grand Lake



And onto the Trail Ridge Road (still U.S. 34)



At the first parking area inside the park. The snow was several feet above my head.

Achor clipping from Will Gadd..

Most of this stuff is the same ice or rock. Will is known for ice but it is worth a few minutes to read his recent thoughts and the resulting discussion if you haven't already. Loved the reality check and the common sense approach.



http://willgadd.com/anchor-clipping/



http://willgadd.com/anchor-clipping-2/



"Most of the people proposing various strategies have simply not gone out and tested their strategies. I have. Bluntly, until someone experiences the violent forces and speed of high fall-factor falls I just don't think he or she really has an informed opinion on this topic"



My general thought isthis:



"There are very few “absolutes” in climbing systems..."



Understanding the dynamics and the systems we are using is what I think is important and more than a penny of simple common sense added to the problem each time. I can count the number of times I have clipped straightinto the anchor. It aint many.

Southeast Aurora

Fromthis pastweekend's incredibly awesome geomagnetic storm. You know it's an excellent display of the northern lights when the best views are no longer to the north! This particular formation of the Aurora was actually emanating up from the southeast horizon! This was a 20 second exposure taken at ISO 1600 with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and Canon EF 17-40mm lens.

Desert Hillside