Redwood Waters

A small stream tumbles through a redwood forest.

It's Over...

This weekend has been fantastic! I've had the bestest time ever meeting genea-bloggers as well as other genealogists and even attending a few sessions! It's been such a great time, I really didn't want it to end. I think many of us felt that way.

Thank you to the Geneabloggers Swag Bag Team of Amy Coffin, Thomas MacEntee, Joan Miller, and Denise Levenik for putting together a wonderful assortment of items for us. Another thank you goes to the Sponsors for providing that swag!

I'll post additional photos and more information in the very near future. Thanks to everyone for an absolutely amazing time!!!!


in front: Miriam Midkiff (AnceStories), fM (footnoteMaven and Shades of the Departed), Becky Wiseman
the others: Kathryn Doyle (California Ancestors.org), Cheryl Palmer (Heritage Happens), Denise Levenik (The Family Curator), Elyse Doerflinger (Elyse's Genealogy Blog).

Thomas MacEntee (Destination Austin Family and Geneabloggers), Joan Miller (Luxegen Genealogy), Becky Wiseman, Randy Seaver (Genea-Musings), Miriam Midkiff (AnceStories), Craig Manson (GeneaBlogie), and Susan Kitchens (Family Oral History).

Verbena Bonariensis

My blooming Verbena bonariensis.

Altra Lone Peak trail running shoes (600+ mile review)

Altra - Lone Peak trail running shoes after 600+ miles

In past blog posts I've touched on gear that I find extraordinary. I was surprised how many people read my write-up on the Lowa Mountain Expert ice boots. I'd like to highlight my favorite " 3-season" shoes, The Altra Lone Peak. Since purchasing these about a year ago, many of my trail runs have been done wearing the Altra Lone Peak Zero Drops. What's zero drop? Zero drop means that there is no height differential between the front and rear of the shoe. Note that most traditional shoes have a higher heel than toe. Primarily the higher heel is designed to cushion the hard impact of heel striking runners (those who's heel is the first part to impact the ground during running). Zero drops are intended to promote forefoot or mid-foot striking by not having a thick heel to get in the way, helping the runner to land mid or fore foot. Instead of me trying to get all tech-savy on you, simply check out Altra's website for a lot of information about running form, and how their shoes can help make you a stronger, healthier runner. For the record, I'm not affiliated with Altra in any way. Nor is this a paid review or did I get free shoes like some reviewers. This is simply a write-up on a pair of shoes that I think are top-notch and that fellow runners might benefit from. I've read other reviews, but most seemed like blah,blah "out of the box" reviews. I figured I'd share my thoughts after some lengthy trail use. For those who don't know me, I'm your average trail runner/climber who happens to spend a great deal of time on the trails and rocks in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania. I usually run 5 or 6 days a week (not always in the Lone Peak). I'm 6' tall, weigh about 155lbs, size 12 and normally cover between 50-100 miles per week. I've primarily used these shoes for trail running on technical single track, but they've also been worn as climbing approach shoes and general hikers on many occasions. The 600+ mile estimate is most likely very low, but we'll just call it 600. I decided to take a brush to my shoes, clear away all the trail debris, and show how great they've fared thus far...

Zero drop = no raised heel

My Lone Peaks are the first generation model. Designed for running many miles, over rough terrain. I originally read about them shortly before their release. I was excited by the wide toe box design, lighter weight, some rock protection and zero drop platform. I guess I liked most everything about them. Very close to what I would want if I designed my own shoe. Around that time I was happily running a lot of road miles in the first edition NB Road Minimus. Pleased with the lower heel and wide toe box on that model, I was in the market for a new pair of trail shoes of similar design. I purchased the Lone Peaks shortly after their availability. Fast forward over last season and some months off due to ski injuries. They've covered a few miles and are holding up very well. I will admit to being pessimistic about their durability since this was their first release of the Lone Peak model. So far they're holding up better than any other trail shoes I've used in the past and I expect that they'll continue. Here's a photo review with some comments on the current state of my Lone Peaks.

The toe cap material ripped or split, Barge cement holds it in place...Usually

The toe cap failure doesn't seem to impede performance, but requires maintenance every couple of runs ;)

Stitching and the upper are holding great. The Wasatch Range is cool

The heel lining doesn't look so good, but still very comfortable

Not the sticky, climbing rubber of LaSportiva's trail models, but better thanothers I've tried. The center forefoot lugs and midsole are wearing down as expected

I really like the traction of the simplistic lugs, great for the trails of Western PA

Factory insoles, still intact with no comlaints

The trail rudder is awesome for "skiing" down steep, slippery slopes. I also like the minimal heel structure. somewhat changed in the newer Lone Peak ver 1.5

Overall, these will see many more miles and I look forward to wearing them

Personal Experience:



I'm always excited to put these shoes on and hit the trails. I will admit that they took some time to get used to. There is much less cushioning than what is found in most traditional trail running shoes, but a lot more than in a model like a NB Trail Minimus, etc. This means that if you do strike your heel on rocks and other trail obstacles, you will feel it. Most runners do experience some growing pains converting to this type of shoe. Worry not... In a short time, your feet and legs will transition into the shock absorbing machines they were designed to be. In past years, I've always had some type of leg pain that slowed my training. Since switching my running form and going to flatter shoes (especially Altras) I've been able to keep training without interruption. Its great to feel sore after a run, not injured. I'll be looking to get a pair of the new Lone Peaks(when these get a little closer to death). I'm curious to see how Altra made improvements on a damn fine, trail running shoe! In a nutshell, I'd HIGHLY recommend giving the Altra Lone Peak's a try. I'd be surprised if you don't fall in love with them like so many others. If you have any questions regarding me, my shoes or whatever... feel free to drop me a message or email. Climb High, Run Far!

We loved Clint.

Clint Westbrook

Summit Success

The weather was so good that I had a hard time coming down from Camp Muir. What was supposed to be an overnighter turned into a five-day excursion.

We arrived at Camp Muir on Wednesday despite unexpected rain, whiteout, snow and high winds. Making matters more interesting, the Muir Snowfield was a complete ice rink. That made skinning very difficult; crampons were, by far, the footwear of choice.

Like the snowfield, Camp Muir was all ice, which covered deep snow. There were three climbers camped in the public shelter waiting for the weather to break. They had attempted the ledges the night before, but left too late and had to turn back. The team reported firm/Styrofoam snow and ice all the way up the Cowlitz Glacier.

The weather improved that night, so we considered climbing the Nisqually Icefall the next day (Thursday). Like the other team, we too left late (1 PM) and due to the very warm temperatures prudently turned back upon spying a large avalanche tumble down the Nisqually Cleaver.

The three climbers in the Public Shelter decided to attempt the summit again, however this time via the Ingraham Direct. They climbed the right side of the Ingraham Glacier, and ran out of steam around 12,600 feet. Once again, they reported firm snow and ice, excellent cramponing.

I spent the better part of Thursday afternoon and Friday (with Ted, famous sledder of the Muir Snowfield) digging buildings out around camp. As of Sunday the 12th, there was excellent access to the public shelter, pit toilet, emergency radio and NPS facilities.

During the trip to Muir, I did take a jaunt to 12K on the Ingraham Glacier. We found firm snow and some ice (particularly near Cathedral Gap.) The most "crevasse free" path was on climbers right of the Ingraham Glacier. The center looked tempting, but had a HUGE crevasse around 11,700 feet. Though there has been a lot of snow this winter, I was impressed by the number of big crevasses still open on the Ingraham. And yes, the Ingraham Direct is in.

The high point of the weekend was that a climber reached the summit! That climber was a female soloist and she ascended the Nisqually Icecliff. Some consider this a major mountaineering feat on Mount Rainier. I’ll post more details on that trip soon!

Pants? A quick drive by......

Jens in the stellar mixed chimney of Blue Moon, Mtn. Snoqualmie




It was pointed out to me this morning that I don't do much on pants here on the blog but a lot of writing on thetop layers. Fair enough.









More importantly I don't put a lot of thought into pant these days. And I should. I really should.



Everyone seems to worry about the heat loss from your neck and head. Few worry about the heat loss from your legs. Myself included. Much warmth to be had by a thoughtful pant choice. Obviously this subject needs some details filled in and the thought process behind them laid out. For now it is just a drive by of the pants I do like and use. More later.



I own one pair of Gortex hard shell bibs these days. Haven't used them in years. Still own them mind you, just haven't used them. And they are really nice Arcteryx Goretex bibs.



The basic rack climbing and skiing? It is all soft shell but one.



Arcteryx Gamma LT, AR, SV, MX

Gamma LT is my most used pant, by a fair margin, winter and summer, climbing and skiing. The LT is the only one of the bunch I have actually worn out and then replaced.



NWAlpine Salopettes

My idea to get Bill making these. Used something similar back to the '70s.

I have them in the standard fabric NWA offers which is somewhere between the LT and the AR material but not as good as either. Two more pair in different weights of insulated Neoshell.

Great bib pattern, stock fabrics and workmanship could be better. Price point helps you ignore the flaws.

Worn out one pair of the original bibs.

Don't own the pant





Patagonia

Great fabrics. Weird and over complicated design work.

North Wall pants......Polartec Power Stretch Pro? Best material made for cold weather pants to date imo. Still not thrilled with the design work.

Mixed Guide Pant. Love the fit. Close as I come to a hard shell that I actually use. Wish they were more soft shell and less hard shell. Others who know a lot more than me really like the combo of hard shell soft shell. Vents that work.

Alpine Guide Pant...nice pant, nice fabric.

Weird as it might sound I bought all the Patagonia pants because they fit me in the waist extremely well. Cuffs on all of them are FUBAR though. in comparison to the other pants I use more. Annoying that.









Dynafit

Easy to poke fun at lycra.I really like the lycra based Dynafit Movement pant. Even the white ones. Lycra has its place in the mtns. I own two pair of theseand would use them everywhere they were warm enough or I could more fast enough. If only they were easier to replace. Thoughtful combination of pockets and lycra with wind blocks and a built in gaiter that really works. Now I generally save them for fast ski days or sunshine. Wish I didn't have to save them. For the right weather and given the right fitness level by far my most favorite pant in the mountains.



Take a look through the photos here on the blog. Most of these pants are well represented.

Base layers to go under them? That is another story waiting to be told.

Flashfloods

As soon as we left the Valles Caldera it started raining. It poured for a while so we pulled over and had some snacks of canned beans, chips, and cookies. When we got back down to Jemez Springs we could tell it hadn't rained as hard there but there are several low places on the road through town where the water pours across it when it rains in the higher elevations causing some smaller flashfloods. Flashfloods can be deadly if you get caught in a big one. We had seen were the road crews had be doing some work in these same areas when we had come through in the morning. Now they were going to have to work them again. In fact we had to wait about 15 minutes at one place to let the grader make it safe enough to cross. Here are some cars that were in front of us as we went across the bad places and some of the water running on into some natural ditches beside the road.



In this wash out the pavement had let go and there was a drop off of about 5 or 6 inches and then you had to go back up on the other side.



















Much worse than these and the road would have been closed.

Thoughts on Bar-End Shifters

When I was getting my first new roadbike in spring , I had it built up with bar-end shifters. This decision was arrived at via a process of elimination. I had ridden a couple of vintage roadbikes before with very limited success and found the classic downtube shifters too challenging. I had also tried to test ride some modern roadbikes and found their combination brake/shifter levers ("brifters") to be so uncomfortable that I had trouble using the brakes. Other cyclists I knew recommended bar-ends - an older style that had grown popular again in recent years. Rivendell - the manufacturer of the road frame I was having built up - was also strongly recommending this setup. And so that is what I went with.






A bar-end shifter is exactly what it sounds like: a gear-changing lever installed at the end of the handlebar. There are different styles. Some are longer, others are shorter. Some are friction, others are indexed. I have tried a few now on different bikes, and my favourite remains what I went with originally: Silver friction shifters. The length and shape make them easier for me to operate than other models; I get more leverage. I find the friction mode easy and intuitive to use, and I like the control it gives me. If a gear is imperfectly adjusted, I can simply move it a tiny bit manually. I can also shift multiple gears at a time quite easily.






The shorter, indexable Shimano bar-ends are another popular choice for this style of shifters. The Co-Habitant uses them on his bikes and loves them. But personally I find them more effortful and less comfortable to use that the Silvers.






Over the time I rode with bar-end shifters, I was more or less fine with them. I was able to switch gears and I was able to install the brake levers I liked, since they were independent from the shifters. But I did find two things about the shifters less than ideal. One was that they required me to dramatically change my hand position(s) on the bars in order to switch gears. I got better and quicker at this over time, but nonetheless I was never "in love" with the process. The other issue was that when stopped or off the bike the shifters would often poke me and give me bruises. But both of these points seemed relatively minor at the time, and I was not considering a different lever setup.





My switch to combination levers was a product of accidental discovery. I was discussing test riding a Seven roadbike with the staff of the Ride Studio Cafe, and all their demo models were set up with modern brifter-type levers. I told them about my inability to brake using brifters when I attempted to ride other modern roadbikes. Rob Vandermark asked which specific makes and models I'd tried. It had not occurred to me until then that this could make a real difference. I'd tried quite a few, all of them by Shimano and SRAM. Rob looked at the Tektro short reach brake levers on my own bike, and suggested I try Campagnolo; apparently the shape is very similar. And so it was. I test rode a demo bike with Campagnolo ergo shifters and it was as if my brain became integrated with them immediately. I resisted making a rash decision to make the switch on my own bike, but a couple of months later I finally did switch and have not looked back.






So what do I think of bar-end shifters in retrospect... Pretty much the same thing as before. I have no desire to "bash" them or to proclaim the superiority of brifters; it is really a matter of individual preference. I still like bar-ends and I am fine riding a roadbike set up with them. I especially love the friction mode. If given a choice of models, my favourites are the Silvers; they feel great in my hands. I imagine that bar-ends are well suited for those who prefer their shifters to be separate from their brake levers, who wish to have the option of friction shifting, and who have no problems moving their hands to the edges of the drops swiftly and efficiently when they need to change gears. I am sure there are other contexts in which bar-ends are the preferred choice, and those who have things to add on the subject are welcome to chime in. To me, bar-ends will always be associated with my first road cycling experiences, and I retain a fondness for them despite having switched to another system.

Blackberries

My brother-in-law Jim was unable to go on our trip to the Park because he had to work, and he seemed glad to have us back, too. The next morning he fixed us a wonderful breakfast of biscuits and bacon, with lots of blackberry jelly that he and Jan had made the previous summer. Not only was there the delicious homemade blackberry jelly there was fresh picked blackberries. Jim, with the help of his dog, Paddy, had risen very early and ventured into the blackberry patch to pick fresh blackberries. It had been years since I had eaten fresh berries, just picked from a thicket. I remembered doing it as a teenager when we lived in Sandpoint, Idaho but had not had a chance to do so after we left there. I love any kind of berry - blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, elderberries, and especially huckleberries - and I will include cherries in that list, too. You might just say that I love fruit, but berries are best. I recently received a care package full of blackberry jelly from my wonderful brother and sister. In the photo are blackberry blossoms.

The Fargo Walk of Fame

Monday, August 15th - - Upon leaving Minnesota, I stopped at the Visitor Center in Fargo to see what there was to see in North Dakota. I wasn't going to be in the state long as I had a little Rendezvous in central South Dakota in a few days!



As I walking to the visitor center, I noticed a series of concrete “blocks” running alongside the sidewalk. Upon closer examination I saw footprints, hand prints and signatures of various celebrities preserved therein.



A little further along, a sign gave an explanation:

“Founded in 1989 by Fargo printer, Mike Stevens, the Walk of Fame was originally located on the city sidewalks of Mike's print shop, Express Print, in downtown Fargo. It was moved to the current site during the summer of ... The first inductee into the walk was Jazz trumpeter Al Hirt. Since then movie stars, musicians, authors, athletes, religious leaders and celebrities from all walks of life have joined the Walk of Fame. Mike privately funded all expenses for the first 95 celebrities, and felt it was a small way he could repay a community that's been so kind to him.”

So just call me a name dropper...





Hee Haw... Roy Clark.



He got kids to say the darnedest things! Art Linkletter.



Love these guys! The Oak Ridge Boys.



It was a long time ago, but I miss his television show; his humor. And he could sing pretty good too. Jimmy Dean.





What this guy could do with a basketball – amazing! Meadow Lark Lemon. I actually got to see him and the Globe Trotters play in person once and loved watching them perform on television.





He always came through and told us the rest of the story... Paul Harvey.



These fellows could sure put on a great show! Alabama.



A “Hoosier Gal” from Whitley County, Indiana - Janie Fricke.



I Love You, You Love Me… the big blue dinosaur, Barney. I can't tell you how many of his videos I watched over and over and over again with my nephew Zach, oh, 12-15 years ago! He's a big boy now!!





Gary knew what was going to happen before it happened – Gary Burghoff aka Radar O'Reilly.





He was one high-flying, fast-flying dude! Chuck Yeager.