Cascade on McWay Creek

A cascade upstream from the famous McWay Falls.

Mt. Rainier, DC

Starting the climb in fresh snow.



Taking a break.
















Mt. Adams and the Tatoosh Range.







Tent city on the Cowlitz Glacier at Camp Muir.









Camp Muir above a sea of clouds with Mount Adams in background.




Sunrise with Little Tahoma on the right. Mount Stuart Range on the left.



Ascending Disappointment Cleaver.




The Ingraham Ice Fall.






Bethany's high point. The top of Disappointment Cleaver at 12,300'! Gibraltar Rock and Mt. Adams in the background.











Four of the finest on top of Rainier!(Jim, Mark, Theresa and Dave)




Descending Disappointment Cleaver. The tiny dots, at the top center, are tents at Ingraham Flats.

Ketton Circular

Barry led this walk, and Gordon, Eddie and I followed. Just over 8 miles, fine weather, apart from a few spots of the wet stuff, and relatively dry underfoot for a change.





We set off from Ketton, parking near the phone box, in a lay-by beside the A6121.







We turned left, following the Macmillan Way, past Hibbins House, once the home of a family of stone and memorial masons. The house has several carved decorations.

We walked along the Green, turned right at Manor Green and on past the Coach House to where the path led along a grassy lane and eventually on to a quarry track with a wide bridge above the moonscape of the quarry - used for extracting limestone which is used in the local cement.





The track is pretty clear, and we followed the joint MacMillan Way/Hereward Way northwest for a couple of miles, across various arable fields. There's a lot of rapeseed at the moment. We turned to the north near a minor road, and followed the path across the A606 and downhill. Empingham church can be seen to the left.





Towards the bottom of the slope a path crosses the main route, and we took a right turn, up to a stile in the hedge and then across a couple of fields. There was a horse near Shacklewell Cottage, and we found a reasonable spot for our snack break.

Barry and friend

The path took us back up to the A6121. We walked alongside this on a wide verge for about a third of a mile, before crossing over and taking the footpath to the right. When we emerged on to another wider track we turned right, and then left, at Shacklewell Spinney. The path took us back to the Macmillan/Hereward Way, where we turned left and retraced our steps for a mile or so into Ketton.







Ketton Quarry Wildlife Reserve

SSSI



For future reference a wander through the Wildlife Reserve could be added on to future walks from Ketton.

Queensland State Comp Results.

So many excellent competitors. So many categories. Shall we start?In the Masters,jjobrienclimbingis utterly convinced thatBrisbane urban style leader and Popeye's nemisis Elie Moubarak was robbed with Second position. Are the judges blind?!This tough guy oozes style.I mean, the man behind Brisbane’s successful West End cocktail joint Lychee Lounge and the new Fortitude Valley swank pad Laruche. How stylish do you have to be to get First?





























He makesyoung Nate Foster and Joey Driver look likesweet littlekids.

They're just a lovely bunch of boys, aren't they?









Seriously? Second?







I can only imagine the judges were trying to bust up those Ferguson boys, who they placed First and Third.



Sure, they did look coolin their uncarvedblock promo T-shirts. But I still think it was rigged.













I've got a sneaky feeling the officalphotographerfor the night was in on it too.

Autumn Climbing

A small break of warm and clear weather, after the major storm cycle, let multiple teams summit early this week. A climbing ranger climbed on Saturday morning and reported 'great-for the end of the season-conditions' on the DC. Climbing rangers at Camp Schurman had a similar report about the Emmons/Winthrop route.

End of season operations are underway. Helicopter flights for refilling propane tanks and human waste removal occurred last week over the mountain. Stairs to the half-doors on the public shelter are being put in place and the solar dehydrating toilets at Camp Muir will be closed. The larger ADA compliant vault toilet with a half-door will be opened at Camp Muir for use during the winter.

Be sure to double check registration requirements for the dates of your climb. The transition from summer registration regulations to winter registration regulations has begun. See the regs. link to the right for more info.

Brookgreen Gardens~Animal Show

I've already shared so many of the neat parts of Brookgreen Gardens, but I didn't want to forget this part before I move on because we enjoyed it so much. While we were sitting and eating our lunch, we heard this neat woman doing a Meet the Animals show.



We headed over there after we were done eating so we could catch the rest of the show. I'm glad we did because we got there in time for Nathan to make friends with a snake.



Not to be outdone by a grown man, this cutie pie followed suit:



His sister was thinking thanks but no thanks. Same as me! We also got to meet an eastern screech owl.





She/He was a real beauty. Completely calm during the whole show like she'd been a stage star her whole life.





We had a great time learning lots of neat facts and being a bit more up close and personal with the animals!

Antique Fetish

image from collectvelo

For those who like vintage bicycles, just how far back do you go? For me, bicycles from the 1900s to the 1930s (like the 1900s Elvish above) are absolute eye candy, and while I would not use them as commuters, I can spend hours sighing over their beauty. So I wanted to share some of my favourite photos of antique bicycle components. With their gorgeous forms and elaborate engravings, these seem especially appropriate during the holiday season.

image from radlmax

Antique bicycle lights. These are candle lights! I understand that oil lamps were also used. Say what you will about modern LEDs and dynamo lighting, but these antique lamps were works of art.

image from Corey K.

Wooden (?) grip with etched silver detailing and matching bell from a 1897 bicycle. I have always wondered about wooden grips, and these are the nicest I have seen by far.

image from the Bicycle Bell Museum
A Dutch bicycle bell from the early 1900s, manufacturer unknown. I am not certin, but this looks like sterling silver? So gorgeous I want to cry!

from the collection of radlmax
Probably the most beautiful fork crown and brake combo I have seen. This is from a 1925 Styriarad, made in Graz, Austria.

from the collection of rebalrid

Could this 1900 Gough & Co. saddle be one of the earliest predecessors to my Brooks B18 "Lady"?

image from Copenhagen Cycle Chic
These early Soviet crochet dressguards must have been breath-taking in their original state. This would be my ideal dressguard, if only I had the time and skill to replicate it.

from the collection of adl2k

Gorgeous chain case on a Hawthorne Flyer bicycle.

image from huubvanhughten
And of course, the beautiful vintage Gazelle chainwheel, featuring actual leaping gazelles. This has got to be the cutest chainwheel ever made - just look at the little tail and antlers! With its resemblance to a reindeer, this could even double as a holiday ornament. Anybody using bicycle components to decorate their home for the holidays?

Rain, rain, and more rain

By Saturday the ice went from great to unsafe. Joel Torretti, Josh Hurst and I made the best of poor conditions. Josh came all this way to climb so we did. We even put him to work. We decided to equip a new line at Upper Meadow Amphitheater. A short ice start leads to steep roof climbing, from there leave the rock, punch the curtain and finish on the last 15' of the ice pillar to the top OR continue left passing 1 more bolt to the left hanging curtain. Despite a single attempt by Josh and numerous attempts by Joel and I the line still remains unclimbed. (Josh was feeling under the weather with a head cold and busted ribs from a fall on Caveman extension the previous day). If he weren't in bad shape I'm sure he'd fired the line with little trouble. The line is strenuous and powerful. When completed it could be the hardest mixed route in SWPA. With all the rain in the forecast I doubt the finishing ice pillar will still be upright, thus rendering a true ascent impossible until ice reforms at the lip. Dont let that deter you. The route stays day and can be worked on rain days. Keep the season alive, go give it a go. Today we went back to work the line some more and possibly equip another. Instead we were lucky enough to witness a very cool natural event. As the morning temperatures rose an ice dam broke further upstream. The small, tame Meadow Run became quite intimidating in less than 2 min. We quickly gathered our gear and headed for higher ground up in the ampitheater. we sat and watched in amazment. Large ice debris and class five rapids lasted for 20-30min. then slowly the water receded. Quite a cool thing to see happen. Even though it was warm and rained we still had a great weekend, climbed hard and laughed most of the time. (Hope your ribs are feeling better Josh)!

Pristine, Pink, Breathless

That's what it was like on the mountain this weekend. I made it to Camp Muir Saturday, my first opportunity in over two months. Finally, time to survey the camp and search for possible storm damage (and test the snow conditions on the Muir Snowfield).

Things looked normal for early December. There was access to the public shelter, but the toilets were drifted in with deep snow. As for obvious signs of rain and wind damage, it seems that only the NPS suffered. We lost two storage boxes. The weather telemetry equipment for the NWAC appears to be working. It's my hope that once the power resumes at Paradise, the weather data will come back up online.

I was a bit surprised that there wasn't more snow cover between 7-11k. Everything looked wind scoured, i.e, lots of exposed rocks along the eastern edge of the Muir Snowfield, Cowlitz Cleaver, Muir Rock, etc. As for the upper mountain, the Nisqually Glacier looked very, very good. And while we're talking, so did the Nisqually Cleaver and Gib Ledges. Plenty of snow and ice in those rocky steep sections

After surveying the camp, it was time to confirm the conditions on the Muir Snowfield. And it was just as I thought it would be: 4,500 feet of untracked packed powder, with a few rocky areas around McClure. As you can see, the mountain turned pink for our descent. Top photo by Ethan McKinley

JUST IN: The Camp Muir and Paradise weather telemetry data are back up. I hope they last! I know that they ran the generator at Paradise today.

'Off Label' Use

In pharmacological jargon, there is a term, "off label use," that refers to a treatment being used successfully for something other than it was originally formulated for. That's kind of how I am starting to feel about my Royal H.mixte. When I asked Bryan to build me this bike in the Fall of , I envisioned it as predominantly for light touring. But in practice I mostly use it as a long-distance transportation bike. I think I've only done recreational rides on it a total of maybe three times, whereas I ride it for transportation whenever I need to travel over 7 miles or so one way - which is several times a week.



Using a bike for purposes other than intended can happen for any number of reasons. For instance, our cycling preferences can change, as mine did. For recreational riding, I now prefer to ride a diamond frame bike with drop bars. Also, life circumstances can change. Just a couple of months after I got the mixte, we ended up without a car, and I actually needed a light, easy long-distance transportation bike. When I was ordering the bike, I did not foresee either of these changes.





The good thing about using the mixte "off label," is that most of the things that made it good for light touring also make it work as a long distance transportation bike. The frame allows me to wear a skirt. It can handle hills and distances without me breaking a sweat. Its compact size and maneuverable handling make it good in the sort of suburban stripmall-roadish traffic that I usually encounter out of town. The springy ride quality means that long trips don't tire me out. The 35mm tires are sufficiently wide for bad roads and even off-road. The dynamo lighting system is fantastic and I never have to worry about getting stuck in the middle of nowhere in the dark. The front and rear racks enable me to carry several small loads at a time. Everything that I need for my trips is there. The few times I've tried to use a roadbike for long distance transportation, I arrive to my destination out of breath and with sweaty hair. On the upright mixte I am a bit slower, but am always presentable and fresh.



There are however a few things that are less than ideal about the mixte given how I use it. The short chainstays made it difficult to find panniers that did not give me heelstrike, though I did find several after having made a mission of it (see Philosophy, Cristobal, and the Po-Campo pictured here). But the more irksome issue is that I get a wee bit of toe overlap on this bike, which freaks me out when cycling in traffic. It is a small amount of toe overlap that might even disappear if I wore PowerGrips or removed the fenders - but neither of those is practical on an upright transportation bicycle. Converting the bike to 650B would solve the problem, but would be expensive, considering that I'd have to get new wheels built, and buy a new set of brakes, as well as new tires and fenders. So I am kind of stuck between thinking that the toe overlap is not a big deal and the bike is fine as is, and being irritated with it, since it is the one thing that undermines my enjoyment of an otherwise fantastically versatile bicycle.



Lots of bikes are used off-label round these parts, and the prevalence of this practice made me smile last night when a carbon fiber racing bike flew by with a sizable steel front basket attached to the fork, sort of like this. My re-purposing of the mixte is not nearly as dramatic, but the question of a possible 650B conversion keeps swirling around my mind every time I ride the bike. Would you do it, or leave it be? Any interesting off-label use stories of your own to share?

Lauren's Significant Other, Dustin

For years, I've heard Lauren talk about one of the biggest loves of her life. I kept telling her that I hoped we could meet someday. Yesterday, I was finally able to meet Dustin.



I can think of a few people off the top of my head who understand Lauren's love. Jaci, my Mom and Merrin are who come to mind right away. I think horses are incredible and I enjoy time with them. But I do not have the all encompassing love for horses that Lauren has. Lauren eats, sleeps and breathes horses. She has been this way for as long as I can remember. So to see her in her happiest place in the world was a treat to say the very least.



To watch her ride, and see her great form was a special thing for us.







Most of all, I loved seeing her smile. She is a pretty serious person, so to her her look downright radiant made me smile from ear to ear.





Thank you, Lauren for letting us meet Dustin and getting to see you ride. We loved every minute of it!




I'm gonna smile every time I see this picture! Just beautiful! Both of them!