Eye to Eye

Making Fruit boots for hard mixed climbing?

Now is a good time to put some thought into Fruit boots if it is something that interests you for next winter's mixedseason.













I'll have a review on the newest Boreal Ice Mutantmodel later on as fall approaches and the temps drop.









But nothing like thinking ahead. The fun I was havingin myhome made pair is why I searched out a commercial pair. One caution? You'll want your boot crampon combo to come in at around 2# total per foot to really take advantage of a lwt technical combo. BD raptors come in at 10oz per foot. That leaves you with 22oz per boot before you bolt the cramponon. More than one climberis just using the front half of the crampon so that candrop some weight as well.



http://bigfootmountainguides.com//03/03/how-to-make-mixed-climbing-boots/







http://climbs2high.blogspot.com//11/new-project-fruit-boots.html







http://rockandice.com/articles/how-to-climb/article/359-make-fruit-boots-do-it-yourself-crampons

Autumn Storm, Kawishiwi River

Yesterday as I was driving home from Ely there were some of the coolest looking storm clouds I've ever seen moving along the Kawishiwi River. I couldn't resist stopping and making some photographs!

Bertus, the world-famous cat in Utrecht

During the Christmas holidays Dutchman
and I strolled down Catharijnesingel in Utrecht. Catharijnesingel is a canal
that rims the south western part of Utrecht’s old centrum.





We both love walking, and of course as
part of this activity we have to stop by at a café to grab something warm to
drink. Café de Poort was a very convenient choice as it is located on the
corner of Catharijnesingel and Oudegracht.




In Café de Poort we
met ‘Bertus’. The regulars in the cafe told us that he
is very famous in Utrecht. He is a male ginger cat and he is the house cat of
the café. His favourite spot in the caféis sitting on the top back ridge of the second and
third seats facing the Oudegracht. We were also told that sometimes he can be spotted at the other café across
the road.




Bertus is a very picky and arrogant cat as well.
He has this kingly posture that says—‘Who are you? What do
you want? I am the boss here and do not mess with me, stay away from me!’



He actually gets peeved when people pats him longer than a minute. Interestingly, he doesn’t like women. How did I know? Well, firstly, he doesn’t like me (ouch, that severely injured my ego), and all the female specie that came around to pat him, he sneered and clawed at them.He does allow a few regular male
guys to stroke his back, including the Dutchman, for longer than a minute, and repeatedly as well. UNFAIR. Why is that?!




I don’t know why but cats always fall
under the charm of the Dutchman. He has this magical magnetic animalistic aura in him that
cats cannot say no. I’m envious.






Visit Period: December

Yard ArtLawn Darts ..

After sadly not going out on Sunday due to the forecast rain and not seeing any rain in Seattle, I convinced Adam to do a one day trip to Leavenworth. I was hoping to get a lot of climbing in, but the forecast was against us. (40% chance of rain after 2pm) So we drove into the Icicle and headed straight for Peek-a-Boo Tower to do the three star route Yard Art, but finish with the four star Lawn Darts.

Adam starting the first pitch

It was partly sunny as we hiked up, but we quickly donned jackets for the climb, and I ended up in my shell before leaving the ground. Adam led the first pitch which was varied 5.7 climbing and mostly gear. (I found the crux of the pitch to be a chimney like feature about half way up.) I came up to the belay and got confused by the guide's description of the second pitch. "Scary moves off the belay" was not exactly true, as the first moves off the belay were not scary. Once you clip a bolt, there were some delicate moves (crux of the pitch) left before making a few moves upward where you are able to grab a large crack and the difficulties ease off for the rest of the pitch. I led up this pitch and brought Adam up.

Adam coming up the second pitch

Adam said he'd give the next pitch a go, but balked a bit a few moves from the third clip. He started to down climb a move and I didn't like what I saw and locked him off just before he slipped and fell. He shook himself off without any injury and got back on. He started to do the same moves again but admitted his head wasn't in it after the fall. He backed off and gave the lead to me. I cruised up the spot where he peeled, and made the few delicate maneuvers to reach the next bolt and continue to the top. When I got to the anchor, instead of proceeding to the base of Lawn Darts, I stopped and belayed Adam up. There was a wet patch on Lawn Darts, and I wasn't sure it was possible to do, so I wanted to look at it while I belayed Adam.

Adam cruised the pitch on top rope, and we briefly assessed Lawn Darts from the belay. We agreed the water did not appear to affect the route, and I belayed Adam over to the base of the climb, where he brought me up.

We put the trad rack in our pack, and I counted enough draws to make it to the top. Then I proceeded up. This long pitch starts easily and then reaches a small overlap where I slipped after clipping the bolt. (I did not fall.) That shook me up as I was just standing there, and I think it really messed with my head. I hung for a bit before getting back on. The rock near my feet had a high quartz content, and was quite slippery. I had to work for good foot placements before stepping up onto the overlap, where traction got better. A few moves higher up and there were larger features and eventually some cracks/holes that made the climbing much easier through that section. Around this point, it started to rain slightly. Not enough to make the rock wet yet but enough to make me notice.

Adam at the base of Lawn Darts

The crux of the route comes surmounting a roof. It is easy to get halfway up and clip a bolt above the roof, but I found the next move right to be difficult. In my head I just wanted off the climb, and with the slight rain, I just couldn't motivate to figure out the correct sequence and eventually grabbed the draw to move over. Once in my new position I used some "bigger holds" to gain upward movement and continue to the top. I didn't find the upper section that difficult, but my mind was pretty fried and that always makes climbing feel difficult. At the top I set up a belay and brought Adam up. He hung to rest his calves, and then fell twice at the move right above the roof. Fortunately the rain waited to come down harder until he was at my side. Then we started our rappels.

Rapping in the rain

While we rapped quickly, the rain started coming down harder. By the time we were on our final rap, the rock was wet, and we were getting a little more wet too. We packed up and the rain subsided, only to return again harder about the time we reached the car. Our hopes for other climbs faded, and we headed home to Seattle where it was raining heavily on the west side of the Cascades.

A few interesting items of note. One is that I have been noticing the weather forecasts to be spot on lately. The forecast for Seattle the other day said showers until 11am, and I think they may have lasted until 10:30 before tapering off. Today on route, the rain arrived around 2pm just as forecast. This is interesting, but I have made a new policy of going out to Leavenworth as long as the forecast calls for less than 50% chance of rain. Not sure if I'd apply that same rule to the west side or mountains yet. The other item of note is that Lawn Darts is completely within my capability and I did not climb it that well. I started off with a good head for the climb, but the impending weather and generally lackluster day wore me down. As well as my unexpected slip. I'm not sure there is anything I can do about climbing in weather, but I'll try to be more conscious of my deteriorating head space in the future.

Barnwell Country Park - Ashton - Polebrook - Barnwell

With Barry and Gordon. Ten miles ( including parts where I went wrong!) Quite a lot of this walk is along the Nene Way. We had at least two hours of rain - the wettest I've been this year.





A few examples of the fauna spotted en route

homo sapiens sapiens

ardea cineria

Carterocephalus palaemon - chequered skipper

Felis catus culmis - the thatched cat

Apart from these we saw Canada geese, a goldfinch, house martins, horses and donkeys, one sheltering from the rain. Then lots of cows, calves and bullocks, swans and cygnets, and a couple of piglets, who seemed quite excited to spot us from across the road. By this time my camera was tucked away in my rucksack, and I was too wet to take photos. Worth keeping a change of clothes handy for wet weather wanders.

Ashton church

We started this walk from Barnwell Country Park, making our way to the Mill (Oundle or Barnwell?) with its guillotine lock gate. Just opposite this the Nene Way goes North East past Oundle marina, along to another lock where we crossed to the left bank of the river. We walked across the flat field to a gate where we turned very sharply right to return to the river.

We followed the water , going through some trees under the A605. The path and river meanders, and the land is quite flat on the left, but rises more steeply on the right. We could see New Lodge Farm, which we would pass later in the walk.

Along the river there are a couple of weirs and another lock. At one point we watched a heron standing on a long wooden platform, not bothered by our approach.





Still following the Nene Way we turned right to cross the river via a footbridge and the path led us into Ashton, an estate village built by the Rothschilds. The pub,the Chequered Skipper, was renamed from the Three Horseshoes in 1966 by Miriam Rothschild, the celebrated zoologist who lived in Ashton Wold.





After the pub we followed the road as far as a small wood, where an unpaved byway ( a boreen in Ireland) turns right towards Polebrook, leaving the route of the Nene Way. When we reached the road from Polebrook to Ashton we crossed it, walking as far as New Lodge and Red Lodge farms. There is a stile at the gate just before Red Lodge, which leads through fields, past a stable and after another couple of stiles (beware - they can be slippery in wet weather) the path led us into Polebrook, into a lane from where we could see the pub and the church. As it was already raining cats (on a warm thatched roof) we didn't hang about to explore, but made our way down the lane, which turned into a track, then an overgrown path before emerging near an industrial building.





We should have turned slightly to the right here on another byway, and ignored the surfaced road off to the left. Eventually on track we walked until we saw a footpath sign pointing up across a recently harvested, and unusually (for this year) muddy field, so we attacked the path, and followed it through yet another field of cows. It rejoined the byway at the farm (Armston Hall). A little way along the road, and another footpath sign showed the way to the left across fields, and past a couple of donkeys, one of them sensibly sheltering from the downpour.





The path touches the edge of Armston Grove woodland - giving us enough shelter for a well-earned snack stop, but not stopping me from making yet another small detour - that'll teach me not to believe footpath signs! Within a hundred yards or so the mistake was clear - no way out of the field. Back we trotted, and from now on we followed the path into Barnwell.We passed behind Barnwell Manor on a grassy path and came into the village just before the Montagu Arms. Here we turned right along the road,then right again to rejoin the Nene Way as it follows Barnwell Brook past the manor again and the remains of the castle. We were too wet to bother looking around in any detail. At a T-junction we turned right along the road and carried on until we saw a sign to the left for the Nene Way. This took us to the Oundle bypass (A605) and across to the old road which we followed back to the country park.





- once again one or two unintended detours, but they bumped the mileage up to almost 10!

Dubai is a sauna and the view from my hotel’s rooftop

Sauna is probably the best fitting word to describe Dubai during the summer months. My skin felt lovely actually; you know, when you get out of the sauna, you are not only sweating buckets but you reap this pampered effect of having soft fresh skin and rosy cheeks. That’s Dubai for you in the summer. And that’s probably the only positive thing out of this oppressive heat in the city.







The fog is not a camera issue or a trick, this is Dubai during the summer months. Misty, er I mean, steamy.



Free sauna in Dubai



My first experience of the sweltering heat was when I stepped out of the rooftop of my hotel early in the morning. The temperature was a soaring 40-something degree celsius. I was caught off guard when I opened the metal door to the rooftop pool area. The heavy hot air instantly confronted my very startled I-did-not-expect-it-to-be-this-hot face. Humidity was skyrocket-high and I was sweating in seconds. My hairs started to annoyingly curl under my neck and ears as well and I began to worry if my light makeup will melt. I know it's petty but a lady does not want to look ridiculous, right?



It was really too hot to be walking on the rooftop of the hotel but I endured the sizzling dilemma just to take pictures, even if the lens of my point-and-click Sony camera was fogged up due to the steaming temperature. I am sure that if I break an egg on the floors of the rooftop, the egg would just cook by itself. Because of the humidity, there is not much to be seen from afar. Water in the air. Steam. Mist.



What can I say? The city is indeed a one big sauna oven and I can never thank Wills Carrier enough for having invented modern-day air conditioning!









The water in the pool looks very refreshing but it is too hot to be swimming on the rooftop in the summer. No way!

















Traditional trading boats docked on the Deira harbour along Dubai Creek.









That is Hilton on the left. But last minute I switched to Samaya because of their offer.









A mosque on Al Rigga, Deira district, just beside the hotel.







Samaya Hotel Deira



I stayed at the Samaya Hotel Deira because I want to be in the old part of Dubai. I only have a day in the city and the places I wanted to see were mostly in Deira and Bur Dubai. Luckily, both historical places are located beside each other and are only divided by the fascinating Dubai Creek.



For a better understanding of the city, I will give an overview of the districts of Dubai in my next entry.



Initially, I had my eyes set on the Hilton, until I saw Samaya offering a much lower rate. Samaya is a 5-star hotel that have seen better days, which is quite obvious in the hotel’s lobby and reception, however, the hotel rooms were still very nice, spacious, elegant and well maintained. Totally worth the switch I reckon.



I was also right with the location; it couldn’t have been any better. The hotel is just a stone’s throw away from the Gold and Spice Souks, the Abra (traditional wooden boat) station and the historical Bur Dubai district. However, during the sauna months in the city, it is almost impossible to be walking outside, thus one would need a personal chauffeur or a taxi to get to these places. Taxi fares are cheap in Dubai anyway, at least from a Dutch-Euro stand point.












The hotel has a glass capsule lift.








UAE currency: Dirhams. 1 EUR (Euro) is 4.8 AED (Dirhams). Taxi rides cost between 10 Dirhams to 30 Dirhams within the city. A 30-minute ride would probably cost about 40-50 Dirhams. That's nothing compared to the Netherlands where a 3-minute taxi ride can cost you 10+ Euros and a half an hour ride between 80 and 90 Euros.



In addition, the hotel is very close to the airport. You’d be surprised that there is traffic in Dubai, after all the city is constantly evolving, bringing new contruction and expansion sites, i.e. new infrastructure, new architecture and new road works that sometimes invites traffic.