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.

Happy New Years Day ice climbing...

Happy New Year to all! Hope everyone survived the welcoming of . My New Years was much like the rest. Laura and I stayed home, didn't do much. We stuffed ourselves with some Kielbasa, Hot Dogs (veggie dogs), Sauerkraut, and some New Years Pretzel Bread that Laura baked up (see photo) which was bomb diggity! We rung in the New Year and made our way off to bed to rest up for my annual New Year's Revolution ice climbing! The temperatures weren't very favorable the previous days up to New Years Eve, but we still kept our spirits up as the weather forcast was for below freezing temps by morning with it going down as the day went on. Well it did just that. There was also a small amount of snow on the ground. A welcome sight from the dreary day before. We loaded up the gear and made our way to Secret Cliffs II. As we neared the cliffs, the snow deepened and winter seemed to be back in action. We hiked down to the climbs, only to find that the ice was still EXTREMELY wet and not very well bonded in most places. We seriously debated for a while whether or not Called on Account of Security would go. I'm sure it would've, but the delaminated ice at the top looked way too unsettled to rappel down from and we opted to let it go and continue to build for the upcoming cold week. After leaving Secret Cliffs we opted to continue our quest. We decided that to surely get in some climbing we should go to Lower Meadow Run to get on the mixed lines. We found that the ice there was in reasonable condition. I'd been itching to get back on Caveman and try to get the redpoint. I tooled my way up to the crux (3rd. bolt) and made it to the ice. I couldn't pull up around the corner and came off. The ice was poorly bonded and was washing out as I was climbing. I pulled back on and clipped the 4th bolt. The section above the fouth to the Rhody was very unstable as was the mucky topout. Given a little more attached ice and I think I would've got it. I can't wait to get back on it again. Laura gave it a quick go. Despite having a severe reach disadvantage she gave it her best. Captain Caveman proved to be more suited to those with long limbs. We roped up Anger Managment and took some turns on it. We did much more climbing than initially thought. It wasn't the best New Years Revolution conditions, but we climbed what we could and had a great time doing so! -As always climbing is a great way to bring in the New Year. Welcome !

The Destination :: GeneaMecca

Friday, May 20th – I know, I'm just a little behind on posting, but there is a good reason. I've been spending some time preparing for the “ultimate destination” for any genealogist! Yes, that's right – I'm in Salt Lake City!! And spending some time with my friend Carol Stevens from Reflections From the Fence.





Here we are with our “stuff” heading out to the library this morning. Photo taken by Carol's husband “Man”.





You'll have to excuse the black and white, I was so excited that I didn't check the setting on my camera! We're at the entrance to THE Library!





Here's Carol. We go to the “great” library and what do we do? Take pictures of the pretty flowers outside the entrance! They were gorgeous. Of course, this was after a short lunch break.



Oh, and just as we were leaving for lunch, I ran into Kathryn Doyle! She does the blog for CaliforniaAncestors. What a pleasant surprise!

Sometimes It Doesn't Seem Like it's Worth the Effort

But you'll never know unless you try!



Monday, August 8th - - After leaving the Keweenaw Peninsula, I headed south (really, the only direction I could go from there!) and, after a few hours, entered Wisconsin. My sojourn in Pure Michigan had come to an end. A beautiful place, but honestly, I was tired of the humidity - I was hot and sticky during the day and cold and clammy at night! Some place with a little less humidity was in my forecast.



My stay in Wisconsin would be brief – one night and parts of two days traveling across the uppermost tip and along the shoreline of Lake Superior. A quick check of the map and I saw that Copper Falls State Park was just a few miles across the Wisconsin state line, southwest of the town of Ironwood. I arrived at Copper Falls early in the afternoon and secured a very nice campsite.



I had gotten some information about trails when I checked in and the lady at the desk told me about two popular hikes. One of the hikes was to an observation tower. Now, she didn't explicitly state that there was a nice view but it was somewhat implied. You know, it's an observation tower so there “has” to be a good view. She did state that there was a flight of stairs with a few steps involved along the trail as well as at the tower itself. My knees do much better on the way up stairs than they do on the way down, but, I thought I could handle what she described. After a short walk along a relatively smooth trail, uphill, I came to this:





It didn't look so bad. Wide steps and each one wasn't very high. Onward I went. This is the view looking down from the top.





And this is what awaited around the bend...





At the top of that stairway was more of the uphill path. And then, this:





I figured, what the heck, I'm there. Might as well go for it. And this is what I saw from the top of the observation tower.





And this is the view in another direction... I think you get the idea!





I'm sure that in the fall this would be absolutely gorgeous. Maybe even in the winter or the spring when there are no leaves on the trees. Maybe then you could actually see the surrounding countryside. But in the summer? Not so much.



Not all walks or hikes are going to give you spectacular views. But each one does give you an appreciation for nature and this amazing world in which we live. It's not the destination that matters, but the journey itself, and what happens along the way. So I tell myself when these things happen, which thankfully, hasn't been too often.



I took it slow and easy on the way down. Yeah, the knees were hurting some by the time I got back to the bottom. But once back on level ground the pain eased up and I continued on to another little hike.

Beachcombing #1

Padre Island National Seashore
Corpus Christi, Texas
February 17, ..

Saguaro in the Sonoran

A huge saguaro cactus in the Sonoran desert of Arizona.

Sunset over Kanopolis Lake

Saturday, May 7th - - After such an exhilerating visit to the Center of the US and the Largest Ball of Twine, I headed south and ended up at Kanopolis State Park. It is located 33 miles southwest of Salina. It was a scorching 95 degrees by the time I arrived – and the air conditioning wasn't working in the van! I found a nice primitive campsite with shade and settled in for a late afternoon nap.



Toward evening, it started cooling down and I went for a walk down toward the lake. There I found just the “right spot” for viewing the setting sun. The skies had been hazy all day and the haze created the perfect atmosphere for an amazingly colorful sunset.

Some thoughts on gear..ski specific?

Two pairs of Praxis GPO!




Good gear is a collaboration of the builder, the design team and the end users.



Studying weapons, and climbing gear, which are all just tools really, I've come to one solid conclusion.



The more the end user is involved the better the product. Seems simple but it only takes a few minutes of looking around at any one piece of gear you use to play with or defend yourself with to see just how connected the end user has been to the design team. Doesn't matter if that 'tool" is a season old or a several millennium.



The best designs are built to be used with a LOT of influence by the peoples using them!



The closer your requirements are to the designer's/end user'soriginal applications are the better those tools will likely work for you.



I can think of a half dozen designs just off the top of my head that have stood well over the test of time.



New technology can be a really fun thing and make ushumans much better with less effort at what we do.



In this case skis are on my mind. I've been skiing a long time.The Volant Spatula,DPS 112RP, the Dynafit Broad Peakall come to mind as game changers for me. But there are lots of skis out there I never got on. And lots of skis that likely changed your own skiing. My original fiberglass ski, the K2 Holiday, changed skiing for me :)



The newestCho Oyu, the RPC and the Huascaran are current choices that make me wiggle in anticipation for the first snows of winter while I am out enjoying myselfon sun warmed alpine rock in mid July.



But I have a couple of new toys you'll be hearing about the next chance I get on some snow. (Mt Hood In July hopefully) I'm pretty stoked for the obvious reasons. When the real players are involved, magic happens. Think CCW packs, theNomic, Low tech racebindingsand the newest RebelUltra.



Drew Tabke:



"The story that Praxis Skis has played in my career as a skier cannot be underestimated. Since I started riding their Powder Boards in 2007, they’ve been a steadfast source of support and innovation for me as well as the core group of skiers who support their small brand. Praxis is a puzzle piece that doesn’t always fit in to the makeup of the ski industry. For example, as an athlete it has been difficult to secure sponsorship from binding or boot sponsors without committing to a particular manufacturer’s ski line as well. But I’ve always believed that having access to the innovation and quality that a small brand like Praxis offers is well worth giving up a the visibility and contracts that can come with the bigger brands."



More here:



http://praxisskis.com/custom-skis/drew-tabkes-notes-on-the-gpo/



and here:



http://www.powdermag.com/stories/small-brand-shout-out-praxis/#.Ucjgmy2ygLs.facebook



You can spend a lot of dollars, hire bright new engineers and designers to little avail. The guys that can make the stuff work? Really work for those of us actually using it? It is the guys/gals deep in the game are the ones that will really make a difference. Pity the fool who hasn't figured that one out yet. And trust me...more that haven't, than those that have.

Double boots, one more time.....

There is no story of a great feat or feet in this case. Just a caution and a a little jubilation of getting away unscathed, again. And another lesson. learned or relearned, taught by a hard, but incredibly beautiful mistress. No technical difficulties to over come or one arm pull ups involved. It happens every day, all year long, in Chamonix. For myself and my partners on this tripjust a small part of a bigger adventure this winter.



I was lucky enough to climb most of Feb, March and a tiny bit in April this year in Chamonix. That after starting the ice season earlier than ever in Nov. in Canada and then Montana and back to Canada again in Jan. And the season isn't done yet. Hopefully I'll get another month yet in Canada again before everything has fallen down.



In all that ice climbing I have used dbl boots once this winter in NA (Canada) and on fourclimbs in the Alps.

But more than once I have regretted my choice in footwear. Never while wearing dbl boots however.



No one dislikes climbing in dbl boots more than I do. They (any of the three best currently available) are big, and bulky and heavy in comparison to the single boots I am using. The up side to that is they offer more support for your calfs and feet and more protection from the pounding endurance alpine ice will give your toes. All that before you get to the added warmth they offer and the added benefits of a dbl boot drying out in a bivy.



Check out the climbers on the S. Face of the Midi.



And for perspective the little bump in the middle of the Massif which was our school room on several occasions. The Cosmic Arete is the sky line ridge, left to right. S. Face of the Midi is the clean wall on the right.



Duringlate Feb and early March in Chamonix my partners and I kept getting bounced between -20 temps or lowerand 20+ cm dumps of new snow up high. All that while trying to get acclimatized on the Midi at 12391 feet(3777 m).



Most every chance I got I would hop on the Midi tram and head to 12K feet or at least to 10K on the GM lift. For a flat lander coming straight from sea level there were some painful days in all that. And the GM had a better lunch :)



One of our first adventures was a little trip out the tunnel on the Midi in a wind storm after a 15 to 25cm dump of snow. The first lift on the tram was late as is typical after new snow but I was pressing to get some climbing in. At that point I was 7 days into a 44 day trip and not done any climbing yet. But the skiing was good :)









In crotch deep new snow (so much for the 15cm) before we even hit the end of the rope hand rail on the Midi arete Josh's noise was white withskin freezing up. It was cold and the wind was whipping. Hard to judge just how cold it would be at 12K from our apartment in town. (and that got only slightly easier in the next month) Josh was smart to turn around as his Rudolf's nosedeclared for the next week or so. He got revenge by coming back on a still and blue bird day for his solo climb as we road the lift down off the mtn.









Matt and I continud and ventured off to "look" at the Cosmic Arete. Two French parties were held up in the old worker's hut at teh basse of the ridge out of the wind. The sun felt good and Matt and I thought, "why not take a look". After all how hard could it be?



Mind you the last tram down is at 4:30 and we didn't even get off the tram till after noon...so the real question should have been, "just how fast are we?"



In good conditions the Cosmic Arete is a awesome alpine romp that generally takes an hr or so. We hit the Midi platform at 5:30 that afternoon. More to that story but not the point thsi time out.







-20C (around -5F) and a strong wind can be pretty cold. At 12K feet it is cold even in the sun if you are not acclimatized. By the time we got to the last 4 pitches of climbing I was full on shivering even in a MEC Tango belay jacket over a Atom LT and two hoodies. Thankfully my feet we not yet cold. I was wearing a pair of Scarpa Ultra single boots. But it was obvious to me that when my feet did get cold...and it was just a matter of time....I would be totally FOOKED. Quick way to end a climbing trip, that.









The good news was the last 4 pitches were excellent and funclimbing in most any conditions, even that particular day. And thankfully no more trail breaking in deep snow. My feet were out of the snow for the most part and my core was finally warming up again from the effort of easy technical climbing.







I made myself a promise after thatfirst climb...."always bring full face goggles and always wear my dbl boots up high here".







Of course I failed to keep that promise and regretted it every, single, time.



By the end of my trip it was early April. Things had warmed considerably up high aroundChamonix.

More storms were rolling through the mountains by the end as well. The power of a good storm in the Alps rivals anything I have seen in Alaska. Impressive. Scary if you have to be out in it.



There is a reason for all the huts in the Alps. Getting caught out in those conditions with out brick and mortar around you, canjust aseasily kill you. The final storm we weathered at the Cosmic Hut would have, if you had been unprotected onroute.







The obviously now happy campers leaving the upper tram terminal after being stuck on the Midi for two days..





When the final tally was made and the tram started down again on day three, half of the 20 passengers were French Mountain Police and Chamonix Guides. Bad weather can catch anyone, even the most experienced. I counted. There were 4 pairs of single boots in the crowd. I felt terribly under dressed. And happy I had a hut and WC to hid in for ourtime up high. Spantiks weren't a fashion statement there...but a survival tool.















It is all about conditions, isn't it :)

1st Stop - 1st Breakdown - Connecticut

After a great time with Robin & Bill, we get ready to leave but snow is forcasted so we stay one more night and leave the next day. While traveling down the Westchester Cross Expressway we are enveloped in a cloud of smoke?? No turns out to be steam. Heater Hose broke!



Gary gets it fixed good enough to get off the expressway and we look for a parking lot to pull into. Turn into what looks like a business park parking lot - but is a roadway into a underground parking garage to an enclosed apartment complex. Must unload the car from the tow dolly, disconnect the tow dolly from the RV and back it up and out.

Mt. Rainier, Little Tahoma

Another wet weekend forecast for Mt. Rainier caused us to change our plans from a three day climb of the Emmons Glacier to a one day attempt on Little Tahoma. We spent most of the day walking on snow. Dave and Brad crossing over Fryingpan Creek.
Brad, Mark, Doug, Norm, Collin (and Dave) almost to Summerland. Little Tahoma is in the background. Our view of the summit did not last for long. Collin and Norm nearing Meany Crest and the Fryingpan Glacier.
After going up the Fryingpan Glacier, we crossed a ridge to the Whitman Glacier. The five tiny dots are climbers from our group heading up into a lenticular dome (with GPS units on).
Mark, Dave (Doug, Norm and Collin) at our high point of 10,300'. Unsafe conditions and worsening weather made us turn around 800' from the summit.
Mark was able to ski about halfway back to the car. We enjoyed great views of Fryingpan Creek beside the trail. Although we did not summit, it was still good to spend the day outside exploring another part of creation with friends.