Just Hangin'

We have finally hung the Motobecanes up on the wall and cleared up some floor-space in my art studio. Now there are "only" four bicycles there: the Pashleys and the vintage DL-1s. It is not a large studio by any means; I have no idea how we managed to store six bicycles there. At least now these two are suspended from hooks in the bedroom.

I think the Motobecanes look rather nice here. The door on the left is a closet, and yes the positioning of my mixte makes the closet impossible to open without taking the bike down. That is okay, because it is a long-term storage closet and we only open it occasionally. There was no other place to hang the bikes in the entire apartment; the rest of our wallspace is covered with book-cases.

We used common 5" threaded, ruberised hooks that you can easily find at any bike shop. They are intended for wood, and you need to be sure that you are screwing them into wooden beams and not drywall. Also, this probably goes without saying, but this method is not intended for extremely heavy bicycles, such as Dutch bikes or English Roadsters. Our vintage roadbikes are around 30lbs each, and I would not go much beyond that weight.

We like these hooks because they are sturdy, yet unobtrusive. We did not really feel drawn to bike trees and funky wall-mounting systems, as those tend to clash with the delicate ecosystem of our dwelling's aesthetic. With these minimalist hooks, the bikes remain the focus of attention, like fine pieces of art. Incredibly imposing art.

Greetings From... North Carolina

In an attempt to evade the wind and rain, I left the Richmond area the morning of Friday the 13th, heading west and south, stopping for the night in the small town of Stuart, Virginia. It had rained off and on during most of the drive. Sometime during the night, the rain finally stopped.

The next morning I awoke to sunshine and blue skies and drove the few miles west to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The good thing about driving the Parkway this time of year is that there are very few other people doing the same. The bad thing about driving the Parkway this time of year is that all the campgrounds are closed as are the visitor centers and picnic areas.


Near Cumberland Knob, North Carolina
From the Blue Ridge Parkway - November 14, ..

Sunrise Over Kachemak Bay

After nearly a week of on-again, off-again rain, Saturday morning (August 14th) promised something different. We had hoped for a day without rain and it started out with a little bit of sunshine! And lots of clouds.

One of the larger boats in the harbor.
Two early risers getting in some fishing time.
The sun makes it up over the top of the mountains.
The fishing boats were heading out. A light breeze was blowing and the seas were fairly calm.

After these boats hooked up together they turned around and headed for open waters. The wave in front of them was caused by another passing boat.

The Robin

After setting off for my morning ramble intent on taking photos of Fieldfare that have flocked here from Scandinavia I came across this Robin who was happy to wait for me to get focused unlike the Fieldfare who left early laughing. Also along the way there was plenty of Goldfinch, Greenfinch and a Bullfinch which I have yet to get.

Ursa Americanus at Ingraham Flats

On Saturday, we heard about a black bear near Cathedral Rocks... Today, the person who photographed that bear wrote.

More about the climbing bear from David Gutzman of UT.

"We were approaching Ingraham Flats when we heard some rock fall... we looked and saw what we thought was a large, odd shaped rock tumble down a hundred feet onto the glacier. To our surprise the rock got up , shook itself, took one look at us and took off..."

David shot a few images and shared them. Wildlife high on Rainier isn't entirely unheard of, but it's certainly a rare treat to encounter something like a bear at 11,100 feet.

David continued, "[The bear] ran full speed uphill (through deep snow) across the... Ingraham and looked like it was heading towards the Emmons Glacier, all the time glancing our way."

On the climbing front, the weather finally cleared some today... but more snow is forecasted for the week. Let's see if this snow will settle.

Booze and Fast Cars

As if this area didn't have enough neat things already, it also has lots of booze and fast cars. There are vineyards, winery, and distilleries galore. And there are classic car and race car related things everywhere too. Watkins Glen has car shaped road signs and plaques in the sidewalks.

The first weekend we were here, there was a Classic Car event. I didn't grab many pictures of the cars because the area was so congested, it made it hard to drive, let alone snap pictures. Aric got to stand by some other beauties at the library one day.

From Watkins Glen Chamber of Commerce website: The community recently celebrated its 60^th anniversary of road racing.The checkered flag first dropped here in 1948 … a time when man and machine used the village streets and hillsides for its race course.Today, Watkins Glen International hosts a full calendar of international motor racing events on a world-class raceway.The original racetrack has been recognized on the National Register of Historic Places … the Village celebrates its road racing heritage each year with the Watkins Glen Vintage Grand Prix Festival…where the cars return to streets for a day of racing on the original course.

And their information about the agriculture here:

Seneca Lake provides the ideal climatic environment for the areas wine-making enterprises and we lay claim to being the second largest wine producing region in the United States … second only to Napa Valley.

Over 700 feet deep, Seneca Lake’s glacial “lake effect” shelters the lush vineyards that flank her shores.

Retaining residual summer warmth in the winter and winter’s cold in the spring, the vineyards receive protection from disastrous spring frosts during grape formation and early fall frosts before the harvest.

In 2005 the area boasted 42 wineries on Seneca Lake … currently, more than 50 wineries, of the over 90 in the Finger Lakes region, open their doors to visitors from all over the world.



Beautiful, just beautiful!

Beware the Punter! A cautionary tale.

On the then unclimbed N. Face of Mt Hunter, Alaska 1981



Punter (plural punters)



1.One who bets (punts) against the bank (banque).



If you don't know what you are capable of, one way to find out is to bounce your head off a few projects and see what sticks. Risky business if you are looking for what is possible whilealpine climbing. You could end up dead even if you do get up anew line or two and do everything right. You are rolling the dice every time you go out...but you do thatgoing tothe corner store as well. More than today at the storethan back in '81 it might seem.



You try to limit the odds by experience.



None of these if you are looking for something new. You'll have to write your own when you are done.





Bradley topo courtesy of Mark Allenhttp://www.alpinelines.blogspot.com/



Strong has no excuse...



Yes, I did see that on a T shirt yesterday.



In 1981, I had already climbed in the Alaska Range 3 times and done a couple of minor first ascents. But I thought we wereprepared technically by climbing harder technical ground in other parts of the world. My partner this timehad already done the S. Face of Denali, a route onForaker and he had solo'ed the N face of the Matterhorn. More importantly he was hungry for more.



Together we had done climbs in the valley in a quick day that seemed pretty good. We were convinced we really rocked! Truth is we were punters :)







When we helped Mugs and Paul over the 'shrund that morning we were pretty much kitted the same with two glaring exceptions. One was visible and one wasn't. The most powerful tool we were missing was a duplicate of Mug's experience and mind set. Like having an over grown Ueli Steck as you partner. Ya, we lacked that :) Not to say either Brad and I were gumbies, we weren't. The other thing I left behind was a set of ice tools capable on hard Alaskan ice.



I bet there are few rolling their eyes on that one. I still do.

I though I knew my shit. But I didn't.



Brad reminded me after 30 years..not so gently that I had a "small issue at home", a pending divorce.



Never good for the mind. But here is the real truth or at least part of the truth. I got scared.



More than onerather speedymodern dayalpinist has been brought to reality of the climbing on the North Butt. The realization, if you aren't up to climbing fast, you are going to spend some miserable nights out. That hasn't changed. The fact that some accept the top of the Butt, with still a full 1000m of climbing as the goal, has.





Photo courtesy of Will Simhttp://willsim.blogspot.com/

Jon going old school here on Hunter with no tent. And suffering through the coldest hours of the twilight night.

The tools? Ya, I know. Which is one reason I write this blog. In 1980 I sewed much of my own gear and tools were changing almost by the month.I figured any tool would work. How hard can alpineice be?

Imagine taking a set of randonee race axes on steep, colfd, hardice. Possible but not reassuring.I had just climbed one of the longest water falls in the world. No water falls on Hunter. (roll of eyes here) Lwt tools that I could easily plunge make sense...or so I thought. How bad could the ice climbing be on the Butt?

The answer? Bad enough.And no plunging required.

Mark Twight and Scott Backes do the climb,Deprivation, in

asingle round trip push, 13 years later after extendedschooling on Chamonix granite and the correct mind set.



Below is the crux where Brad and I bailed in the first rock band (and I got scared) and now known at the "death pitch" 30 years later. I could see that whipper coming. I had no intention of earning my alpine wings thereand wanted no part of it.A few50m rappels soon followed.





Photo Courtesy of Colin Haley and Nils Nielsen

http://www.colinhaley.blogspot.com/

http://www.alpineaddiction.no/



Strike One..unsettled mindStike Two...the wrong bit of kitStrike Three..the reality of abad night out

The Banque wins! A hard lesson butwe lived to play another day.The divorce was final a few months later.

Strong has no excuse!And very likely something Mugs would have gotten a good laugh from!Take only what you need and ignorethe rest.



The scene of the crime in May 1981