The Power Nap..a cautionary tale

A couple of years ago in early winter we walked into a local peak, climbed it and walked back out. With the nap I took walking out Iwas just over 24 hrs c2c. My partner a few hrs less.







Nothing exceptional for time. A bit of the climbing was spectacular. The walk? It was long enough. Longer than I wanted it to be. Shorter than it can be.



But this story has nothing to do with climbing or walks. It is all about the Power Nap.



I love a good nap when I amtired or better yet when I am tired and warm. Preferably with the sun shining on me in a protected, comfortable and safe place.



The power nap I spoke about above has a few of the elements. I was tired. Protected? Not so much I just laid down on my pack off to the side of the trail and let the cold wake me up.



Here is the rest of that story and the end result.



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//11/immersion-foot.html



Seems reasonable. Wet and cold feet pounded in a few hrs of hard walking in, on and out.



So then I decided to take another power nap. This time at 12K feet in the sun and it was AWESOME! It felt amazingly great. I was warm and cozy and comfortable out of the wind and soaking in the last bit of sunshine I knew would be the last I would see for awhile. My feet weren't wet or cold this time. Dry and warm as matter of fact. The one thing that both naps did have in common was tightly laced single boots that I couldn't be bothered to unlace for a nap. Dumb! Really dumb in retrospect.







A great place for a power nap!





So?? The result of my second power nap? Pretty much the same result as from my 1st power nap with wet and cold feet a couple of years previous...fooked up feet.









After both of these "power naps" I ended up walking for another hr or so each time after I woke up. My feet felt a little weird but never thought they had been damaged. More like they had fallen asleep a bit, not fully numb,but woke up with the additional milage. Both times the resulting nerve damage came as a surprise a few days later.



Now before you pass me off as a nut case...,OK, may be that already has happened. But in my defense I have spent a few nights out up high in the middleof the Canadian/Cascade winter and early spring in Alaska at much colder tempswith little or no gear and not fooked up my feet. The difference you ask? Well I generally spent the majority of time on those trips bouncing around trying to keep warm. I didn't lay down and take a power nap. I was more worried about getting back to some place warm enough so I could take good nap and be sure to wake up again.



The lesson? It might be obvious by nowfor any rational person ;-). If you are prone to taking power naps, mid trip, take the time to unlace your boots early on. You'll likely be happy you did.

More Moose!

(Click the image to view a larger version)

What a day! Saw FIVE moose today... 4 on the same bend of the Pigeon River, first a male and female pair, then another female with a calf showed up and scared the other two away. Fifth one was seen on Partridge Falls Road on the way home. Paddled 10 miles on the river... besides Moose saw lots of Beavers, the Otter family of 6, and many ducks. The cow and calf shown in this photo crossed the river upstream from me three times, and I was able to get images of them each time they crossed. The image shown here was my favorite.

Ideas from Zilker Garden Fest

The annual Zilker Park Garden Fest takes place toward the end of March here in Austin. This is the modern name for our annual plant spree, and while it's descriptive, long-time Austinites like MSS of Zanthan Gardens still call it "Flora Rama". Was gardening more fun years ago? In 1978, Mayor McClellan declared an entire Flora Rama Week.

It's always fun to wander the winding paths filled with vendors of every kind of plant and decoration - we found interesting plants and stopped to buy another Cobrahead from Geoff. You'll also find music & food, a flower show and lots of information. There are garden talks - in .. we heard Felder Rushing. The park itself is always beautiful and inspiring - before I had a place for my own Mutabilis roses, seeing them blooming at Zilker Park made me even more determined to grow them.

The Hartman Dinosaur Garden was begun while we still lived at our previous house. From the first sight I fell in love with the Hartman garden and the Hartman plants - Magnolia/Michelia figo/Banana shrub, large Magnolias, evergreen plants similar to Podocarpus, Purple-leaved Loropetalum, palms and sago cycads, orchid trees and horsetails, with Texas Mountain Laurels and palmettos tucked in. We began to add some of those plants almost as soon as we moved in to this house.

Sometimes what grows at Zilker Park does well here -like the Loropetalum, Podocarpus, 'Little Gem' magnolia and the Banana Shrub... and sometimes my attempts at copying have failed. After 4 years in my garden, two miserable leaves of Bletilla striata struggled to the surface. They've never bloomed.Above is the patch of Bletilla/Chinese Ground Orchids at Zilker Park last Sunday! This week my underperformers took a ride on the garden fork to a different border - maybe they'll like it better and bloom some day.

One of the informational booths was run by The Austin Herb Society, tucked in next to the charming herb garden with raised beds so you can see the plants up close, and benches so you can rest and people-watch.
I fell into an enjoyable conversation with Ann, the volunteer at the booth, telling her that seeing the thriving rosemary shrubs reminded me of an odd sighting in my garden last week. A pair of goldfinches (my guess is Lesser Goldfinches) spent more than 15 minutes working over the rosemary just outside the breakfast room window. They tugged off petals and tossed them to get to the ends of the branch where the seeds developed. They were so intent on their work that they didn't fly off when I held the camera to the window pane for a blurry photo.
Ann's theory was that some of the usual seed plants for finches were so affected by drought that they didn't make seeds, so even the tiny rosemary seeds are sought after in this dry spring. This idea makes sense to me, too. Ann also thought it would be a good idea to post about this interesting behavior and I agreed.

Has anyone else seen birds eating rosemary seeds?

Once in a Blue Moon

Six days after my first official Permanent, I found myself riding another. An entirely different and slightly longer route with a couple of brief stretches of dirt, but otherwise the same idea. The other day a friend was teasing that I write the most detailed 100K ride reports ever. True, it probably takes some riders longer to get through my reports than to ride the routes! But you know, there may come a time when I think a 100 km bicycle ride is not worth writing about. And that makes me a little sad. We go through our learning experiences, growing pains and all the wonder that comes with them but once. Today I appreciate that more than ever.





The Blue Moon Permanent marked this year's New England Brevet Season Kick-Off Party. The start of the ride was crowded, with a varied mix of cyclists. The bikes ran the gamut from road race to traditional randonneuring machines. Like a handful of others, I hung back and began a few minutes after the official start. Though I saw other riders along the way, I rode mostly on my own this time.



The route weaved through Boston's south-western suburbs, taking us to the scenic Noon Hill reservation and the Blue Moon Caféin Medfield. Although the towns on this side of Boston are known to be high in traffic, the route itself was remarkably quiet. Orchards and farms comprised much of the scenery, alternating with stretches of sleepy residential streets bordering bodies of water. At one point there was even a Forest Road that, uncharacteristically, went through an actual forest, rather than a series of strip malls or new housing developments! Pamela Blalock's route design skills are a rare talent.





My experience of this Permanent was very different from last week's. I didn't question whether I could finish before the cutoff time; that now seemed like a given. Instead, riding such a circuitous route solo gave me the opportunity to focus on improving my navigation skills. I made a game of trying to not go off course a single time, and succeeded. I also tried to see whether I could manage to make fewer, shorter stops while still enjoying the scenery.



I cycled the 10 miles to the start and arrived with only a few minutes to spare, not giving myself a big break before the event this time. The ride itself was just over 67 miles and I finished it in 6 hours 25 minutes. My computer shows 3,900ft of elevation gain, but the climbing was distributed in such a way that I did not especially feel it. The descents seemed tamer than last time as well. My overall average speed (including stops and the sit-down meal) was 10.45mph, which is a bit faster than last week's 9.9mph. My average rolling speed was about the same: 13.1mph. If I can improve my times a bit more, I might be able to do these rides on the camera bikesoon, with proper photo stops, and still make the cutoff - but not just yet.





After the ride I stuck around for the Brevet Season Kick-Off Party at the Ride Studio Cafe, then rode home in the dark, for a total of 87 miles. I took a quick shower, went out for a walk, then stayed up late working and woke up early to work some more. I do not feel any worse for wear after this Permanent. Unlike last time, I did not even have that crazed, feverish feeling afterward. It felt like a normal ride that just happened to be timed and counted "for credit."



There may come a time when I think a 100 km bicycle ride is not worth writing about. In the meanwhile, I am enjoying it all. The slew of new sensations that every ride brings, the shameful yet oddly liberating experience of being the weakest cyclist of everyone I ride with, and of course, the beautiful local scenery waiting to be discovered.

Father's day

On Father's Day, my niece learned to tell fish stories...



then later caught a big one, once she stole her Dad's fishing rod.



The bream's close-up.



---

My Dad died in 1989. I miss him every day.



My Dad, very young. He lied about his age to join the army before WWII. He was probably about 17 in this picture. His father, who played the saxophone, was his Captain.

Wandering Along

Monday, April 4th - - Upon leaving Copper Breaks State Park, I continued northwest in the general direction of Amarillo. My intended destination was Palo Duro State Park, which some claim is the second largest canyon in the United States (the largest being the Grand Canyon).



However, I tired of battling the wind which was coming from the north with gusts of 35-50 mph and turned south after about an hour of driving. Several other factors added to the decision to forgo Palo Duro at this time – my left leg has been giving me some problems making hiking on uneven, rough trails a bit problematic – the wind was not due to let up until later in the day – the overnight temperature was going to drop into the low 30s - and tonight Butler was going up against UConn in the Big Game! So Palo Duro would have to wait for another time.



Just east of Silverton on Texas Highway 256 a rest area at the top of a ridge provided good views of the road just traveled.





This simple wooden cross at the top of the ridge honored “Gran” and “Pop”.





And this is the view that was off to the right... looking north.



Looking northeast.

Yes, I stopped at a motel for the night. And was disappointed by the outcome of the game. Neither team played all that good but Butler played a little worse, dashing the hopes of everyone cheering for the underdog.

Thought Pops, Edition 4: Tropic Thunder

This post, Thought Pops, Edition 4: Tropic Thunder , was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.



Can it really be almost two years since the last "Thought Pops" post? That tag was made up to designate a post with unconnected ideas, so it's useful for this misty day in January. We're getting only mist- not rain - but with possibilities for freezing sleet and rain tomorrow night. The pale peach iris that opened this morning may be in for an unpleasant surprise.


Texas Home and Garden Show
Philo and I went to the Texas Home and Garden Show yesterday courtesy of Lindsey George. Thanks, Lindsey! We didn't expect a lot of gardening products so weren't disappointed that the emphasis was home improvement. After interesting conversations with many of the exhibitors we came home with a few purchases and lots of information and literature about future house projects. Philo likes browsing (and grazing) at the food booths - he found some good stuff at Joy Peppers of Austin. We bought the Blueberry jalapeno jelly and love it!


Someone Has Eaten My Daylily
For GBBD on the 15th I showed you a confused daylily in bud. That bud opened and more buds were in waiting. How odd to see a daylily in flower with narcissus!

There are no buds in waiting now - the entire stalk has been bitten off - by a squirrel, no doubt.



Another Flower Open
The Camellia japonica 'Pius X' had no open flower for Bloom Day, but there's one today. Only two more buds left - sure hope squirrels don't find them delicious, too.

Attn Ben Stiller!
Although the all-male cast was irresistible (Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte, etc.), I refrained from seeing Tropic Thunder at the theater last summer. Seeing Mamma Mia with an audience was fun, but I wasn't so sure about seeing this rowdy comedy with a crowd. When Robert Downey Jr was nominated for the Oscar for best supporting actor last week, the DVD was serendipitously waiting on the coffee table.
Did anyone else see this loud, violent, funny, very 'R', over-the-top movie about making a movie? Should I admit how much I liked it? I also watched the actors' commentary track and if there were an Oscar for acting on the extra tracks of a DVD, Robert Downey Jr. should probably get that one!
The commentary told which scenes on the DVD were not in the original movie - including many of the scenes I liked best. Directors feel obliged to cut out exposition and dialogue and amusing asides to move a movie forward and make it commercially viable.


But like Tristram Shandy, I'm all about the asides.



This post, Thought Pops, Edition 4: Tropic Thunder , was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.

One Last Chance...

Thursday, March 15th - - As I was driving east along Interstate 40 I decided to take the time to visit one of my favorite places – after all, I might not get back this way again, at least not any time soon. The Grand Canyon is only about 60 miles north of I-40 and it was simply not possible for me to pass it by, especially after I checked the weather report and found that it was going to be a beautiful day!



It was about 11:30 in the morning when I arrived to find the parking lots nearly full. I certainly wasn't expecting that!





Like most visitors, the first place I went was to Mather Point. As you can see, it was a bit crowded.





But the view from Mather Point is worth bumping elbows with other visitors or having to wait until someone moves away from the railing so you can get that “perfect” shot. The weather could not have been better. The temperature was in the low 60s and there was barely a breeze blowing. Also, the “blue haze” wasn't too bad either.



Because there were so many people and I had only a few hours, I decided to skip the western end of the rim trail. You had to walk or take the shuttle buses to see that side of the canyon and I had walked much of it the last time I was here. Instead, I went to get some lunch and then take the drive along the road to Desert View at the eastern end of the park.



While in the cafeteria line I learned why there were so many people here – it's Spring Break! I should have known but the thought just never crossed my mind.



It was a leisurely drive to Desert View (over four hours to drive 30 miles!) with stops at nearly every viewpoint along the way and spending as much time as desired at each one. The further along the drive, the fewer people there were. I took lots of pictures, but I also took time to simply sit in the sunshine and enjoy the gorgeous day and the awesome views.





The view from Grandview Point near the beginning of Desert View Drive.



This tree is amazing. Beyond words.



It looks so close, but 'tis far away. I think that foreground area is Cedar Ridge!



There will be a few more posts on my short visit to the Grand Canyon... so many pictures, and such a beautiful day!

Changing Seasons

So if you haven't already heard, summer is fully upon us here on the Mountain. Since the beginning of this month we have had thousands of climbers and skiers coming out to play on Rainier. Looking around the mountain last week from the side window of a Chinook helicopter we saw evidence of people climbing and skiing almost everything around. There were ski tracks down all the standard routes, plus a good many down some more technical non-standard routes. This was pretty amazing considering all of it was happening in mid to late July, a time of year people usually put away their skis and stop attempting routes like Mowich Face and Liberty Ridge.

With all of the beautiful weather we have been blessed with over the past few weeks our large snowpack is starting to morph into its usual mid-summer condition. This means that while most routes on the mountain are still in very good shape and holding lots of snow, climbers may start to encounter some ice poking through the snow in steeper areas, and some crevasses opening up forcing climbers to do a little more routefinding and endrunning of large cracks.

Over the past week Climbing Rangers have been out climbing Mowich Face and Ptarmigan Ridge along with all the standards like the Emmons and DC. Reports have been of excellent conditions in all places. Want to get an early August ascent of some steeper west side routes? Now is the time! With great snow-free trail conditions making for fast approaches and snow still clinging to most everything above 10,000' the stage is set for some great climbing. Just be aware that with warm days rockfall and icefall hazard increases, so climb at night when it's cool and be aware of what and who is above you at all times. Ya know, like when to hold 'em, when to fold 'em, when to climb and when to run. Speaking of running check out the fracture on Lib ridge below Thumb Rock! Although not normal at all for this time of year it is a testament to how much snow we have received and how warm the days have been.


Check out the new route updates and photos from the past week of climbing, training (always), and flying. Come on up and enjoy this seasonal transition with us here on Rainier!

Greetings from... Iowa

Tuesday, May 3rd - - Continuing west after my brief stop at the Round Barn near Colchester, Illinois I crossed the mighty Mississippi River into Keokuk, Iowa. It's a pretty little city with some beautiful houses on the bluff overlooking the river. My route briefly took me on into Missouri then north to Fairfield, the county seat of Jefferson County, Iowa.



Shortly after her marriage to William Klingaman in Whitley County, Indiana on October 12, 1865 Anna Eliza Joslin moved to Jefferson County, Iowa where they settled north of Fairfield in Black Hawk Township. Anna Eliza was the daughter of my 3rd great-grandparents, Lysander and Lydia (Robison) Joslin. In October 1866, Lysander sold his land in Whitley County, Indiana and removed to Black Hawk Township settling near his daughter Anna Eliza. Another daughter, Mandella, was born in December 1866 in Indiana so the family probably didn't go to Iowa until the spring of 1867.



On June 4, 1868 Lydia Joslin gave birth to the last of her 15 children. They were twins named Elmer and Elmus. Elmer died on June 30th and is presumably buried somewhere in Black Hawk Township although he is not listed on the cemetery transcriptions. In August of that same year, Lysander reclaimed his land in Whitley County, Indiana due to mortgage foreclosure on the man who had purchased it in 1866. Lysander moved his family back to Indiana – except for Anna Eliza who remained in Iowa with her husband. There they lived for the remainder of their lives, raising their family of three sons (Charles Sherman, Olen Valerus, and Frank Ellsworth) on their farm in Black Hawk Township.



At the Public Library I obtained obituary notices for some of their children and grandchildren but none for Anna Eliza or her husband William Klingaman. Oddly enough, an obituary for Anna Eliza was published in the Columbia City Commercial in Whitley County, Indiana announcing her death on July 28, 1885 at the age of 40 years, 9 months and 20 days after a long and painful illness with Brights disease.



If you have people in Jefferson County, Iowa your first stop should be the library in Fairfield. It is a wonderful resource with a tremendous amount of information gathered over the years by several volunteers. Their cemetery books include maps and directions to each of the cemeteries so I was easily able to locate McDowell Cemetery where Anna Eliza, her husband, and several children are buried.





McDowell Cemetery sits atop a hill on Mahogony Road at the junction of 115th street.





A small cemetery, it was easy to spot the large brown marker designating the Klingaman family plot. I'll have more on this family in later posts – someday!



On my way to the cemetery, I spotted this old barn and couldn't resist the impulse to take pictures. The photos have been manipulated a little to warm up the hues of the barn. Reality was actually a little garish what with the bright green grass, blue sky, and white clouds. The colors didn't look real, so now they have a bit of that “old-timey” feel to them!









The night was spent at a pretty little campground in Jefferson County Park just south of Fairfield. There were several trails meandering through the forest and meadows of the area. I got brave and ventured down one. It was a good walk on a fairly smooth path part of which was gravel and other parts were grass. It did have a few large hills with steep ups and downs but the legs held up just fine. I'm soooo glad they are feeling better!

Sunrise over Hollow Rock Bay

This morning's sunrise certainly wasn't "knock your socks off" beautiful, but it was still pretty. Generally I like to have some nice clouds to accent the sunrise, but a lot of times that doesn't happen. One thing that really stood out about this morning was how calm everything was. The lake was very flat, just a barely perceptible surge that was moving in and out of the bay. The trees were absolutely still, not a lick of wind to stir their branches. The sound of the ice crunching underfoot was almost deafening in this silent air. The morning started off chilly with a temp just below 20 degrees, but not long after the sun came up the temp rose to above 30 and with no wind and that radiant heat, it felt quite warm!

Big fun for me!

If you didn't know I spend some spare time designing and buildingice tool partsyou wouldn't know how excited I get seeing those tools getting used as intended.



The pictures here should giveyou anidea of where "my gear" has been.



http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com//08/ice-climbing-gear.html



But I have to say this one got me pretty jacked up this morning. Congrads to Ally and Dave on the Colton- MacIntyrevia the Alexis.





http://allyswinton.blogspot.com//09/something-that-i-am-starting-to-see.html







I hope Dave and Ally forgive me for stealing the picture!

Fountain

I do not remember this large fountain being in the Patio Market the last time I was here but it looks like it has been here forever. Inside of it somewhere was a pump that kept the water constantly circulating so that it looked like the bucket was always spilling water out.

Exit The Gun Show ..

Steve and I were not feeling up to the rematch with Dreamer. (Two days earlier I had the long damp hike to Thompson, and on Sunday he was crashing, I mean jumping BMX bikes. So we canceled. I called Adam to see if he was still available and we made a plan to head to Exit 38, the Gun Show area. (Perhaps named for the numerous steep routes there?) We were heading there to climb a slab route and get on some other routes that perhaps we could.

First stop was Endless Bliss. When Steve led this and I followed it earlier this year, I knew I wanted to come back and lead it. I was hoping to do so on Thursday night with Sammy and crew, but things have been falling apart for Thursdays and this was an opportunity to do it in the afternoon, and surprisingly with no one else on route. (I have said it, and it is close to true, but it is the best route at Exit 38.) We geared up at the base and I was off. The climb can be done in two pitches, but we opted for the single long pitch. I led off and everything was going well until around the crux. I went to clip a bolt with a Yosemite draw and the biner came off with the rope. This sketched me out pretty good and I ended up placing another draw rather than attempt to reconnect the biner. The next few clips were high drama (in my head at least.) The second half of the climb is easier. And with my more settled head, I finished up the route.

Adam passed the crux on Endless Bliss

I brought Adam up and he fell and hung around the crux with his calves burning. (Just before the short fall, I could see him trying to shake his legs out.) One you get to this difficulty of slab climbing, usually it is better to move through the cruxes fast and get your rest later (or before.) I think that is what sketched me out when I had the draw mishap. After Adam reached the top, I lowered him off and proceeded to complete the two raps to the base. I looked at the next route left of Bliss and decided I really wasn't interested in leading it today.

So we walked over another route to the left. This is a two pitch route, that is rated 5.10-. The first bit is steep and blocky but appears to ease off after the first three bolts. (Generously placed in the first 15'.) Adam said if I lead it, he'll follow. So I started up. Two clips up I couldn't seem to find an adequate hold and hung a bit. I lowered off and tried again. Same issue. I hung a bit more until I figured out the moves and I was off to slightly less steep ground and a few feet to the next bolt. This lower angle (read 89°) section was the easiest of the pitch, and I should have relished that. However, I cruised up higher through steep moves before hanging again at a point where the route went right. Once again, I couldn't seem to find a hand hold. I hung a bunch of times, I tried to go straight up, but I couldn't seem to make the move. I finally tried moving a little right before up and right but my feet weren't right. I hung again, and the next attempt the feet seemed right and for some reason, I was an inch higher and was able to grab a nice hold that I didn't know existed earlier. After that I sailed through the next few bolts to the anchor.

Adam hangdoggin' on Elation...

I brought Adam up who struggled on the first three bolt section and then seemed to cruise the rest of the pitch. Unlike Endless Bliss, this pitch was a real arm burner. However, things were about to change. The second pitch is a slab, not unlike Endless Bliss. I handed the lead over to Adam who led up hanging on a few bolts, and grabbing a couple more. I followed and found the crux of the second pitch to be a touch harder than Endless Bliss. After this calf burner we rapped off.
Adam rapping the first pitch of Elation...

Once at the bottom we figured we were a little spent to keep climbing the harder routes there and moved on to Squishy Bell to finish up the day.

After the hike up, Adam led the 5.6 on the left side, and then the 5.8 next to it. I followed both routes climbing in my new approach shoes. The shoes climb better than I may have hoped. Although they will take a little getting used to and trusting before I lead climb something hard in them. While I had no issues on the 5.6, the 5.8 required some smaller footholds that I was thinking the shoes would blow off of. Each time I told Adam to watch me as I thought my foot would blow off, he said before he could take up any slack, I was already above the move. So it may just be a trust issue, but they sure are comfy to climb in. Hurrah for light comfy approach shoes I can climb in. I can't wait to see how they feel with a crampon on a glacier!

Overall a nice half day out. It was fun to lead Endless Bliss. However, Elation at the End of Eternity was an equally nice climb with the added bonus of having a completely different character from one pitch to the next. Although it doesn't have the same wonderful position of Endless Bliss. It was nice to get to work out my new approach shoes as well on some easier stuff. Most of all, it made me glad Steve and I didn't attempt Dreamer, as I wasn't in top form, and Dreamer is probably going to require that of me.