Wordless Wednesday - Icelandic Sunset

Near Keflavik, Iceland. Summer of 1973.Copyright © 1973/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman

DC with Friends

Yesterday we drove to Washington DC to hook up with some friends. We met up with Wendy and Kristie and their children. I met Wendy in Orlando last year, but this was the first time I met Kristie in person. It is always so neat to me to meet online friends in person. She was such a sweetie.



I also love watching kids who are fully engaged in life. Fearless and bold and daring and soaking it all up. So it was a real treat to me all the way. DC was just icing on the cake. I wish I had more pictures to share, but since my speedlight broke, I am still trying to figure out how to take pictures when it is gray and drizzly and when we are indoors and it is dark. If you have any tips, I'm all ears.



Here are the few I did snap:





We hit the Museum of Air and Space, which was very nice:







Afterwards, we went to Capital Hill to eat at the Good Stuff Eatery where I had the best hamburger I've ever tasted. It was very touching to see DC at night.





I wish we could have had a longer visit because I would have loved more time with Wendy and Kristie. We are definitely going to plan a longer visit next time. Thanks Wendy and Kristie for making our day so great.

Looking out to Sea

Where the Buffalo Roam...

Sure, they are “domesticated” Buffalo, being raised on a ranch, but they still roam...

Their manners and actions reminded me of once, a long time ago, when I stopped to photograph some cows back in Indiana. Apparently cows and buffalo are both curious creatures; they kept coming closer and closer.

So close that I could have reached out and touched them...
Momma was very protective of her calf.
Photos taken in south-central Montana on July 22, ..

Seeing What We Want to See

To a large extent, we all shape our own experiences of reality: We see the things we want to see and block out the things that do not fit our world view.

Walking home yesterday afternoon, I was amused to notice how much I tend to do this even when it comes to bicycles.

Both Vienna and Boston are full of generic modern unremarkable bikes, yet the ones I pay attention to are the classic and vintage bikes.

And since I notice these more, in my subsequent memories they are the ones that play a starring role in the city's "velo life".

In a similar fashion, I tend to pay lots of attention to architecture I like and ignore all the "ugly" stuff right next to it. As a result, a city or a neighborhood might consist entirely of beautiful architecture in my memories.

There are countless examples of this of course, and unless we point and shoot in a random direction we cannot take a picture without revealing our subjective biases. Our pictures reflect how we want to see and remember things rather than how they actually are. For example, several readers have pointed out to me that my "street scenes" tend to be miraculously free of cars, and indeed I seem to frame photos so as to avoid them. There is just something about modern cars that is not photogenic: they detract from the feel of the city landscape.

Bicycles, on the other hand, seem to enrich it - especially when the bicycles are nice and the cyclists are well dressed. Yes, that is a Hassidic Jew cycling through Vienna - who clearly has no problem cycling in a suit.

And here is a couple, cycling into the sunset idyllically. While of course I did not stage these scenes, you could say that I chose to notice them out of the many alternative scenes I could have noticed instead.

So, what is my point? Only that life can be filled with golden sunsets and lovely bicycles if we want it to - even on those days when it's not.

It's been raining

and I'm taking a few people on the walk described on Friday 3 June, ...

and today it was cloudy, but dry and warmand the whole walk is a bit over 7 miles without the detours.

All the same I ended up with muddy trousers, wet almost to the knee, from walking through a wheat field after last night's rain.

Possibly one or two more inclines than I recalled.













With Sue, Kate, Barry and Eddie.

Mt. Rainier, Tahoma Glacier

We had been wanting to climb the Tahoma Glacier for quite a while and finally got our chance. We started out on a Friday at a locked gate on the Westside Road. Two of us walked while two rode mountain bikes for the first 3.5 miles of the closed section of the old Westside Road. It seems like climbs with long approaches have great scenery along the way. This was no exception. One of the first sights were these towering Columnar basalt cliffs that are hundreds of feet high.



Crossing a footbridge over the South Puyallup River.



Avalanche Lilies growing alongside the trail.



Our objective: the Tahoma Glacier, flowing from the summit down the west side of Rainier. This photo was actually taken after the climb. On our ascent, we had to find our way up the Puyallup Cleaver (left of center) in the fog and wind. We finally climbed out of the fog at the 8,000' level and found a place to bivy. After 2 hours of "sleep," when most people we know were just going to bed, we got up and continued up the cleaver to the 10,000' level. It took quite a while to find a way around the cliffs and down onto the glacier. That's when the real fun began...finding a way through the maze of huge crevasses.



A drop-off on one side and a deep crevasse on the other! Mt. St. Helens in the background.



There were huge crevasses everywhere! Each one is different and amazing. You just want to stand there and look at the layers of snow, icicles and giant features of snow and ice that hang and span from one side to the other. There is nothing like seeing one of these up close and in person.



Our rope team moving up a steep section.



Ron climbing a snow ramp to the upper lip of another big crevasse.



The team crossing a snow bridge to get by another one.



Slow and steady progress on a smooth part of the glacier.



Ron, David, Doug (and Mark) on the summit.



This debris filled crevasse was easy to cross.



We wanted a challenge and we got it! With a low camp and a lot of route finding challenges, we ended up summiting late and then spent a couple of hours on the descent that afternoon postholing up to our knees in soft snow. The 3 quarts of water that we each started out with was not enough. We ate a lot of snow on the way down. We finally made it back down to camp 24 hours after we started! Needless to say, we slept really good that night! Since we summited on Saturday, we were able to take our time getting up and heading out on Sunday. We were all smiles as we headed back down to the treeline, stopping to look back at least a dozen times. This climb starts way lower than most on Rainier and it has a lot of big ups and downs. When we got back to the trailhead, the GPS unit indicated that we had climbed 15,000 vertical feet over a distance of 32 miles. It's no wonder we were tired. It was a weekend well spent making memories with good friends! Out of all the climbs we have done, we all agree that this was one of the best!

The Southerner's return to ice

Day 1 (Saturday)What a weekend! Hope everyone got out to enjoy the current fatness. Ice climbing conditions were perfect in the Laurel Highlands. Longtime climbing friend Matt Johns finallymade the drive up from Kentucky for some ice climbing. It'd been about 9 or 10 years since Matt has climbed ice. For many years the conditions seemed to have thwarted all attempts Matt has made to come climb ice. Well this was the year.Laura and I were in need of another restday andMatt needed a slight refresher on the art of ice climbing. Schoolhouse was our destination for Saturday. After a delicious breakfast at Valley Dairy, we drove to Ohiopyle. The road into Mitchell parking hadn't been plowed so we had to park at the main parking area in town andsnwoshoe 4 miles into the climb. Matt's an adventurous guy and Laura likes to hike so we decided it was a nice way to spend the day.Laura and Matt starting the day. Photo TA

We set off from the parking area and the going wasn't bad the first 1.75 miles. Snowmobiles hadbeen down the rail trail packing the snow and making for easy travels. Stopped by a downed tree, the easy goingended there. Breaking trail in the deep snow was the norm the rest of the way. I was pulling Laura's and my gear on a sled and Matt was packing his own. It took about 2 hrs for us to reach the crag. I had been worried about the ice conditions with all the sun beating down.Matt and Laurahad slowed down a good bit in the final 1/2 mile push to the climb. He was very excited upon his arrival at the cliff. We found the ice in snowcone condition. I quickly geared up and climbed the route. I belayed Matt up as Laura took some photos.

Matt had a good time seconding the climb and getting back onto ice after so manyyears. We left it rigged on the shuts and walked down. We took turns climbing thequickly deteriorating ice. We finished up a little before 3 o'clock. Whilepacking up our gear Dr. Bob and Regina camewalking up thetrail to the cliff.We briefly chattedthen let themget to climbing as the routedidn't appear that it would be climbablemuch longer.Surprisingly the hike outfelt a little better than the hike in.At one point Laura hopped on thesledwith all the gear to take the easy way out. She was grinning ear to ear duringher 1/2 mile of sleighing through the woods.She was surprised I could manage the load and her. It was the least I could do since I didn't get hera valentines present this year.At the car we snapped a photo and made our way to dinner atTall Cedars in Donegal. We all agreed that the day was a lot offun. The weather was warm and it was great to getMatt on the elusive route. Remember Matt, the cliff is always 10min. away!

Laura climbing Flying Dutchman. Photo TA

One of many bent trees on the way out. Photo LH

Laura's viewon the Schoolhouse shuttle. Photo LH

The happy crew

The southerner says -mmmmmm good eatin'. Sneak photo LH

Day 2 (Sunday)We enjoyed our "casual day" Saturday saving our energy for a climbfest on Sunday. We met Joel Torretti, Dr. Bob, Regina, Mike, and Kenny atanother local cliff. I think Matt was impressed at his first sighting of the crag. We stopped at the top and I pointed out the different lines while Laura took some pics.Matt & I checking out the routes. Photo LH

We made our way down to the climbs. Matt and I decided to start the day on Called on Account of Security. It was in thebest conditions I've ever climbed it. The normal mixed start was buried under about 12' of snow. It was still thin through the bottom, with a huge middle pillar and a slightly thin finish. It was a lot of fun.



The super fat middle of Called on Account of Security WI4. Photo LH

Matt Johns seconding Called on Account of Security. Photo LH

Laura was giving Joel a belay on G Gully. He led the initial pillar and threaded off.Mike and Kenny did the same on the Central left pillar. Ropes were left on all the lines while we all took turns climbing each of the lines. After our warm ups, Joel racked upfor theline he tried last week. He quickly made his thread and pushed up the nextstep to below the crux. He went upto thecrux,poked around a bit and backed down to the rest stance. This happened severaltimes before commiting to the moves. He worked up through on thethird try, placing several screws and looking solid.He did a great job of keeping it together and finishing what he startedthe week ago. Congrats on the send Joel! What's it called?



Joel Torretti on his new unamed line. Photo LH

My goal for the weekend was to get back onmy attempted routefrom Valentines day.Regina and Bobfinishedup on Called on Account of Security andit was "Go Time"The route looked slightly better or should I say "wetter" than last weekend. Some new blue ice graced the top of the climb concealing the V threads from the week before, all the while making the final bulge abit bulgier.The water was really running on the route. Temps were on the rise and I wasn't sure if I would get another shot next weekend or even the rest of the season.I figured it might be my last chance. I tied in and started up the route with Matt on the catch.



A cool perspective of me startingup the route. Photo LH

Climbing through one of the earlier crux sections. Photo LH

I found the climbing to feel a tad easier than the previous week. Still very commiting, but not as much work clearing the rotten shit as I had on last Sunday's attempt. Knowing the route, I utilized all the possible rests andthings went well (except for dropping my lucky BD stubbie in the snow. Gone forever!)



Finishing up the FFA of World of Pain WI 5+ Photo LH

Matt instilled great confidence as my belayer. I placed nowhere near the number of screws as the week before.Pulling the final bulge and not being pumped gave me a great sense of accomplishment. I placed an anchor screw, clippedin and relaxed.The view from the top was sweet.In a fine show of style Matt offered Laura to second mysend. ThanksMatt!She didincredible showingsmooth, effortless climbing.Matt was 3rd up the line doinga great job and enjoying the climb. I'm gladmy sweetie and old buddywere in on my send.



Laura seconding World of Pain. Photo MJ

"The Southerner" Matt Johns enjoying SWPA ice. Photo LH

Mike led The Awakening with Kenny as the last lineof the day. We hiked out to the cars satisfied as the day was drawing to a close.With some luck and cold weather we'll get in another weekend of climbing.