My Bradford Pear

this is my little Bradford pear tree that is only about 5 years old. It had more blossoms this year than it had last year. I have another one by the front door. It only has a few blossoms but is a much bigger tree.

Mt Rainier storm & flood damage photos - Ohanapecosh

Snow is accumulating at Paradise. I measured 46" total, with 15" of fresh snow this morning. It looks and feels like winter and if the park were open, skiers, boarders and snowshoers would be enjoying the early snowfall. But the floods really did a number on the roads and as the days pass, it becomes more clear how complicated the damage is, especially with the prompt arrival of winter.

Since it's going to be difficult to write about the climbing routes and upper mountain while the park is closed, I will devote more energy to the events surrounding the park being reopened. There will be updates, damage assessments, projected repairs and ongoing weather observations. I'll also pull together photos, when possible, like these NPS pictures of the Ohanapecosh area.

Above left is an interpretive sign in the Grove of the Patriarchs that has been flooded with mud and silt. Normally, this type of sign rests about 3 and 1/2 feet above ground.

The heavy rain also lead to a number of landslides, like this large one near Ohanapecosh Campground. The slide started on the road above (out of image) and swept everything in its path down to the Ohanapecosh River and Campground.

Here is the primary deposition zone for all of the timber that was unearthed in the same landslide.





The river also moved and in doing so, took a couple of the campsites with it. Here is the new loop C of Ohana.

Rana-gate

This morning, before dawn.

"Hurry, bring your camera!"



Bullfrog at the gate (Rana catesbeiana).



"I'm not stuck, I just like the view."

What's the Point?

Obviously the point of a crampon is to make life easier (and safer) on any surface that boot rubber won't.



From the inception of the blog I have harped on crampon fit and crampon durability. Broken crampons frames, broken bails and loosing a crampon mid pitch was a fairly common experience for many climbers. It is less common now with a little conversation in the community and some education as to the cause.



Thankfully this will be ashort blog post and not about crampon failures.



It really is a pretty short topic. About 7.5mm give or take a mm or two.

And thankfully the cause good or badissimple...it is your choice.



Not uncommon for some one to ask me how long I run my front points (think dual front points for the moment). For theuninitiatedthat might seem strange.



On smooth, plastic, late season Canadian ice I like to have a fairly short set of front points. I know the ice will easily supports my body weight and the sticks (boot swing and tools)are easy. Typically the front point I like on winteralpine ice as well. Alpine ice is not water fall ice. It isn't generally as steep or technical. But it is generally hard as old concrete.I don't need any more leverage on my size 45 boots than absolutely required.



A rookie mistake on water fall ice is getting your heels too high and popping a crampon. It is also a rookie mistake to run your front points too short on bad ice and ...you guessed it....pop your crampons every other footplacement.







What you are looking for in a foot placement besides full penetration of your front points is the additional support of the secondary points. Monos offer some additional options here if you know how to use them to best effect. But from what I have seen most don't know how to take advantage of a Mono on ice.







Same crampons and front points shown above on the Scarpa 6000s. Just a different point of view. I am using the back toe bail hole here. But your boot to crampon fit will be defined by your boot sole andwhich hole in your crampon isrequired to get the appropriate front point length. Other experienced climbers run even longer front points that what is hsown here in similar conditions. Monos especially so.




Rookie mistake? Been there, done that. To the point I was wondering if I still knew how to climb vertical ice. Humbling experience. And that was just on atop rope! If I had done that on lead it would be a long time before I would be back for more. It was scary, insecure and really, really pumpy just trying to get and stay on my feet.



It is a subtle call and not one I made a conscious decision on, although I should know better by now. One of the longest nights of my then very short climbing career was a 4000' alpine ice face done of crampons that had been sharpened a few too many times. The overly short front points were making my life miserable with insure feet. I vowed then not to let that ever happen again. But it seems my memory failed me. I did do it again recently on much harder technical terrain...even if it was only a top rope problem.






In typical crappy snow/neve/ice alpine conditions with snow covering anything from rotten air filled snice, to bullet hard, black ice always better to error on the side of caution and have more front point than you need rather than less. But less important on alpine terrainthan on steeper technical terrain...like the conditions you'll find on most water ice.












In the wrong conditions the only penalty is a little more strain on the calf by using longer front points. In the right conditions you gain additional security and solid feet. Always a bonus to have good feet!




The .75mm is the distance between the front an back toebail placement on a Petzl or Black Diamond crampon. Pretty much a .25". Unless you are alwaysclimb on smooth dry and plastic ice or hard mixed (rock climbing) you'll generally want more crampon front point than less. Bottom line super short version? When in doubt, goLOOOOONNNG! You just might be better at this sport than you first thought :)



Mono points? Same deal. Short on rock. Long or longer on bad ice.

Another Orchid

Although this isn't an orchid, it sure does look like one.

Crevasse fall - Climber Injured on Kautz Glacier

Kautz Glacier, Mount Rainier

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1, a climber fell approximately 15 feet into a crevasse at around 11,400 feet on the Kautz Glacier of Mount Rainier while descending the Mountain. The injured climber, Mitchell Bell, was rescued from the crevasse by his four teammates. Bell had injured ribs and visible lacerations to his head and face, but he was conscious and in stable condition. A doctor in the team quickly determined that due to his known and potential injuries, Bell could not continue the descent without assistance. Two members of the party climbed down in search of help, leaving the doctor, another teammate, and the patient at the scene. Back at Camp Hazard about 1,000 feet below, they found Alpine Ascents International (AAI). Several AAI guides responded to the request for assistance and contacted the National Park Service. A plan was put in place for two AAI guides to travel to the accident scene that evening to assess the injured climber’s condition and bring with them materials for an overnight stay on the Mountain. Based on their assessment, the Incident Commander, David Gottlieb called for air-lift/hoist extraction the following morning.

Within an hour of take-off on Wednesday morning at approximately 6:45 a.m., a US Army Reserve Chinook helicopter from Fort Lewis successfully extracted the injured climber from the Kautz Glacier. The patient was transported to Madigan Hospital for further medical evaluation. He was released later that day.

You can find more in the ST and PI.

~ Monica Magari

Reaching the end of the line

Old railway carriage at the Northampton and Lamport railway. Well worth a visit they have there own web page just click on the link for news, history and upcoming events
www.nlr.org.uk

Old British railways sign on a carriage



Steam saddle tank loco




Diesel loco under wraps





Pitsford and Brampton signal box and brake carriage






Just reward..
A pint of Guinness at Brampton Halt.I must do this again soon. I hope this has given people an insight to the Brampton Valley Way. I plan to add more photos soon. So don't worry it's not the end of the line for the blog but just the beginning.C.B