Gunks Routes: Splashtic (5.10a) & Nice 5.9 Climb

(Photo: Gail about to make the crux move on pitch one of Splashtic (5.10a).)



What happened to my Spring season?



When I got out to climb with Maryana in late April I was feeling pretty good. After warming up with Gaston, I followed her up Obstacle Delusion (5.9), thenwe both cleanly toproped Teeny Face (5.10a).After thatI led Directissima (5.9) from the ground to the GT Ledge in one pitch and we both one-hanged Ridiculissima (5.10d) on toprope. Finally, Maryana redpointed Retribution (5.10b). I wanted to try leading it too but we were out of time, so I just followed it. It was a good day.



And then I got so busy I couldn't find time to climb. Trials at work, plus a home renovation that required us to pack up all our belongings and move, meant I couldn't find a day on which to play. I couldn't even find time to write a blog post about Directissimaand Ridiculissima.



The weeks flew by.



Memorial Day was fast approaching.I was headed to Utah with my wife and kids for a destination wedding in Park City. I had plans to stay in Salt Lake City afterwards for four--FOUR!!-- days of climbing with Adrian. I was excited to climb with Adrian again, and to see him for the first time since he moved back to Vancouver in February. The trip promised to be a climbing dream come true, but I didn't want to arrive feeling out of shape on real rock.



I was desperate to go to the Gunks. I needed a tune-up!



As is my wont, I hatcheda plan: I would tack an extraday onto my Memorial Day vacation and go to the Gunks right before we left town.



In many ways this wasn't a great idea. The forecast was not good. It had been raining for several days. And I needed to be back early. Plus I had no partner.



No matter. I decided to go for it. Iharassed Gail until she agreed to climb with me for half a day. At first she begged off, saying some nonsenseabout deadlines and proposals. When I told her this was important, that I really needed to climb to be prepared for my trip, she said that some different explanations for my behavior came to her mind. And then she used some ugly words. Words Ihesitate to repeat,like "obsession" and "compulsion..."



Luckily she is just asfixated on climbingas I am.She eventually agreed tomeet me. (She had work to do but brought her laptop computer to the cliff. Talk about obsessed. I think that woman has a problem: she works too hard.)



In addition to the climbing, I decided to cash in a gift certificate Adrian had given me for a free weekday rental from the Classic Car Club in Manhattan. At no cost, I got to drive to the Gunks in a 2007 Porsche Cayman S. So even if our day turned out to be a bust, I could at least enjoymy timedriving aroundin a realprecision speed machine.







(Photo: My ride for the day. Can you believe it?)



It had been a long time since I'd driven a stick shift. I was afraid that the Classic Car Club people would immediately discover my incompetence with a manual transmission, rip up the gift certificate,and send me packing. But even though I stalled out three times on the test drive, they nevertheless(unaccountably) let me leave the lot with this gleaming whitepriceless sports missile.



"Suckers!!" I thought as I drove away, trying my best to appear as ifI belonged in this car.



Imade believeI was an investment banker with a pocket full of Viagra.



I took corners in third gear.



Ipassed people on the right.



I think I got away with it. That's what happens when you drive this kind of car. People expect you to be an aggressive asshole and they get out of your way. I could get used to this kind of driving. It felt really good.



Isped up to the Gunks in a wet mist but by the time I picked up Gail in Gardiner the rain had stopped and the sun was beating down. It was a bit hot and humid, but hey, I wasn't about to complain. We were going to do some climbing!



I pulled my Porsche into the nearly empty West Trapps parking lot and we set off to look for something dry.



We didn't find anything dry.



There was wetness everywhere but the cliff seemed tobeless soakedas it got higher.We decided to do something with an easy start. Strictly From Nowhere was open, so we did Strictly's to Shockley's. We were using Gail's 70 Meter rope; I knew I could get from the bolts atop pitch one on Strictly's all the way to the top of the cliff in one pitch. I felt greatleading both pitches. I was so comfortable,I was unfazed by the copperhead I found nestled in a crack halfway up Strictly's. I wasparticularly happy with how Shockley's went; I managed the roof with much less awkwardness than in the past and got to the finish without any significant drag.



I wasn't so out of shape after all. Maybe it was time to try a 5.10?



We were close to Splashtic, a climb I'd glanced at a month earlier with Maryana. It looked dry now. Gail encouraged me to try it, saying she thought there was pro for the crux and that if I decided to bailI could escape around the corner to the right. And the 5.10 bit appeared like it would be short. It seemed the steep wall which began the climb was only about 30 feet high. After one or two hard face moves between horizontals itlooked likethe whole thing eased off to a low-angle romp.



I had no intention of doing the R-rated 5.9 pitch two. I didn't know how we'd get down without doing another pitch but Gail said she thought there was some kind of fixed anchor up there to the left.



I racked up and did it. My analysis: I think this is a pretty good easy 5.10. It isn't a great pitch by any stretch of the imagination. But if you are trying to get your feet wet in 5.10, as I am, Splashtic provides a short steep face with just a couple of hard moves on it.



You can come into the middle of the face from the right or the left. The right may be a little easier but there is no pro for the move that gets you established on the wall. I came in this way at first but couldn't work a C3 into the only little crack that is available. So I stepped down andtried itfrom the left, where there is a good slot for a cam and a hard, steep move to get up on the wall.



Then it's just a few moves of nice climbing to the jug below the crux. I got a nice piece in the obvious slot just below the jug. Don't block this whole slot because you might want some space available there. I don't want to give the move away so that's all I'm saying about that.



Also, because I'm a chicken (and a safe chicken at that),I placed two more small Aliens in another horizontal a few feet over to the right and a foot or so higher. These cams took a little more work, because thehorizontalis sort of flaring. But I thought they were good.



With three solid pieces in, I felt ready for the crux, which is a long reach to the next horizontal.



I stepped up and gave it a whirl. And I almost made the reach but didn't quite have it.



So I stepped back down, not weighting the rope.



Trying again, I made it! Whoa, my second 5.10 onsight, just like that.



Once up above the steep face, I moved left to the Gorilla My Dreams corner instead of right to the former Gaston belay, since I knew from my previous trip to the Gunks that the Gaston station was gone.



As Gail had remembered, there was arather small tree with some good-looking slings and rings in this vegetated corner to the left. I put in a piece to back up the tree while Gail climbed the route but then she went ahead andremoved the piece after she finished climbing, usingthe fixedstation alone for lowering.The stationseemed good enough for body weight, certainly.



With not much time left in our half day I suggested we do Nice 5.9 Climb, another 5.9 tick on my list that I hadn't led yet. I had done this one on toprope a few years ago with Nani and I had struggled at that time with the crux move, falling several times before finally getting it. Earlier this year I had done it in wet conditions, again on toprope, and it seemed much less mysterious. I figured now I would lead it quickly-- it is short--and we'd go on home. It was on the way out right at the beginning of the cliff.



Inone sense Nice 5.9 Climb resembles Splashtic as a good introduction to its grade. The crux is just one move, an escape out of a corner with an overhang,and it is well-protected. (There is an upper crux but it is just a little bit of 5.8 steepness, much easier than the lower crux, in my opinion.)



In another sense, however,I don't think Nice 5.9 is a great introductory 5.9, because that one crux move is really pretty tricky. It is a stand-up move in which you have to get your weight over your high foot just right. If my memory were erased and I had to onsight it right now I'm not sure I'd get it clean the first time.



But last Wednesday with Gailit went fine, although as with Splashtic I had to step up, step down, think it over, and try it again. At which time I got it, without ever weighting the rope.



And so I went home happy with my climbing, and ready (I thought) for Utah. Little did I realize that the granite slabs and cracks of Little Cottonwood Canyon would humble me, making this day in the Gunks seem like a distant memory.



Stay tuned. I'll tell you all about it next time.

House on Fire

After our "rest" day with minimal hiking and another soak in a hot tub last night, we were ready for another full day of hiking adventures. Our first hike of the day brought us to Mule Canyon on Cedar Mesa, to an ancient Anasazi ruin known as the "House on Fire". Since we were now at a higher elevation than we had previously been on the trip, the environment was a bit different from what we had seen so far. Mule Canyon was a beautiful hike with a LOT of trees and shrubs and even a little bit of water in the canyon. It was a shock to do a hike with so much vegetation, because most of the hikes we had done so far were in open desert andextremely dry with very little vegetation.





















































The hike to the House on Fire ruins was a very pleasant one with minimal elevation change. After about a 1.5 mile walk we rounded a bend in the canyon and immediately noticed the ruins on the right. House on Fire is just one of several ruins in Mule Canyon, and was occupied by the Anasazi. According to literature that we saw about the area, the ruins in Mule Canyon are over 800 years old and have never been excavated or restored in any way. The House on Fire ruin is so named because of the overhanging cliff above the ruins that has patterns in it resembling flames. If you visit the ruins in the morning all of the light illuminating the House on Fire is reflected light from the opposite side of the canyon, which means that the roof above the ruins glows with warm light and contributes to the "fire" look. We found it a fascinating site to visit. We would have loved to hike through more of the canyon to see some of the other ruins but we had a long hike planned within Natural Bridges National Monument so after taking in the wonder that is the House on Fire, we hiked back to the truck and continued on to Natural Bridges.

Pass It Along

A few weeks ago, I experienced my very first incident of dropping a chain. Of all the times this could happen, it happened during a paceline ride: We were transitioning from a downhill to an abrupt uphill and I rapidly switched to the small chainring. It's funny how we don't immediately recognise things that we haven't experienced before, and it took me a moment to understand what was happening. I sensed that pedaling suddenly became way too easy and that I was losing speed rapidly... but what could be the matter? It wasn't until somebody yelled "chain off!" that I looked down - and oh my God, my chain was off! It was surreal, like one of those dreams where someone says "But why are you wearing a duck costume?" and that's when you realise that, indeed, you are wearing a duck costume. First comes the wave of shock, then realisation that this must be a dream. Except this time I was awake - and aware that three other girls were pedaling behind me, so that a sudden stop on my part would likely cause a crash.

Everything happened quickly. I managed to make a "pulling over" gesture, then steered the chainless bike onto the grass and dismounted, averting disaster.But the rest was pathetic. Though I knew how to get the chain back on, my hands were not cooperating. Soon I was covered in grease and bleeding from somehow having cut myself on the chainring, but the chain would not stay on. "Need help?" said a voice next to me. I became aware that one woman stayed behind with me and was now observing my ineptitude. Still in a state of shock and now also red with embarrassment, I could not even answer coherently, and could only mutter "it won't stay on... why won't it stay on?.." Next thing I knew, she calmly took the bike from me, put the chain back on the ring, and turned the pedals until the chain was back on. I felt like an idiot as I thanked her profusely - but she expressed not an ounce of annoyance. "Don't worry about it. I froze the first time it happened too." I don't know whether this was true, or whether she was just being self-deprecating to make me feel better, but it did make me feel better.

Fast forward to my ride this morning. I stopped to drink some water and saw a woman walking her bike toward me from the side of the road. "Excuse me, could I use your phone?" I gave her my phone and asked what happened. She replied, with some embarrassment, that her chain came off and she wasn't able to get it back on. She wanted to call her boyfriend for a ride. "I know how to do it, but it's just not working." I looked at her chain and decided to give it a try. This time I wasn't nervous or under pressure to fix my bike as soon as possible. I said "May I?" and - miracle of miracles - got the chain back on. She rode the bike down the path and back, confirmed that it was working, and no longer wanted to call her boyfriend. She was just as flustered about not having been able to do it herself as I had been two weeks earlier. So I said the same thing the woman in the paceline had said to me:"Don't worry about it. I froze the first time it happened too." It was true!

When mechanical problems happen, I think it's natural to freeze. We may know how to fix things in theory, but when it's actually happening to us for the first time, it's a different story. It's nice to be helped without being judged as inept. I appreciated that help when I got it, and will reciprocate in the same manner when I can.

Tombstone Tuesday :: Fisher and Davis

On September 11, .. I visited the public library in Lawrence, Kansas. Though I was unable to find an obituary for Samuel Fisher – the brother of my 2nd great grandmother, Louisa (Fisher) Phend (they were children of Michael and Christenia Fisher) or for Samuel's wife Lucretia (Davis) Fisher I did locate obituaries for several of their children, which will be the subject of future posts. I also obtained directions to Colyer Cemetery where Samuel and Lucretia are buried. During a visit to the health department to get their death certificates I found out that the records are not available at the local level, they have to be obtained from the State of Kansas.

I had to backtrack south and west of Lawrence for a short distance to get to Colyer Cemetery. It is in a rather remote area which involved traveling a bit on gravel roads and by the time I got to the cemetery, the rear of the van and my bicycle (hanging off the back end of the van) were caked with dust. From the top of the hill where the cemetery sits, you can see for quite a distance. There was a farm to the northwest and another to the northeast but nothing could be seen to the south. Remote, indeed. Very pretty. And very quiet.

The road to Colyer Cemetery, Marion Township, Douglas County, Kansas. Looking to the north.

The Fisher plot, looking to the northwest. The two barrell-shaped stones are for Lucretia and Samuel.

LUCRETIA A. FISHER / BORN AUG. 23, 1845 / DIED OCT. 31, 1909

SAMUEL FISHER / 1840 – 1913 / CO. A. 9 KAS. VOL. CAV.

FOOTSTONE.
SAMUEL FISHER / CO A / 9 KANS. CAV.

A Tale of Two Pensioners chronicles the mix-up of the pension records for this Samuel Fisher and another man of the same name.

In the second photo above, there is a marker to the south of Lucretia, which I am guessing is her mother. According to her marriage record (Douglas County Marriage Book 2 Page 33 Located at the County Clerks Office in Lawrence, Kansas), Lucretia's maiden name was Davis.

See detail below.

OUR MOTHER
GLORIANNE M. / CASWELL / WIFE OF / IRVIN DAVIS
BORN JUNE 10, 1821 / AT WATERTOWN N. Y.
DIED JAN. 30, 1882 / AT LAWRENCE KAN.
ALL'S WELL

Birthday Trip

We decided to take a driveup to our favorite place yesterday, the Jemez Mountains. It was to be part of my birthday present. We stopped at several places we frequently stop at. It had rained the day before and everything seemed fresh and clean with the smell of pine, juniper, and wet dirt.







We stopped at the Forest Service Office where this huge cottonwood tree is, and bought our yearly permit to cut firewood.









We were interested in seeing the area where the fire had gone through in June on Thompson Ridge where we had heard it had jumped the paved road that goes between Jemez Springs and Los Alamos, New Mexico. We saw these gates and signs at most of the places where you can get off the road. One sign said Closed to Public Use with a sign beside of it that read Please Close the Gate. I know the yellow sign had been there before but it looked funny.











We could see where the fire had burned most of the trees on the hilltops but left a lot of the small grassy areas. This pretty little ranch was lucky, as it came almost to their door.











You can see the burnt trees on this ridge.
















But we did see lots more wildflowers than we expected.

It is a tough Spring.......

Photo courtesy of Ben Tibbetts (permission pending)

http://bentibbetts.com/gallery/show/9




First Jon and crew on Everest.



ThenAlly decides to scare the chit out of everyone.

Just when I had convinced myself skiing was a much safer sport.

Ally takes up swimming and cliff diving.

Read Ally's post this willall eventually make sense.



Check Ally'smost recent blog post:



http://allyswinton.blogspot.com//05/swim-on-blanc.html

Review of "Lucy 3-Speed": Raleigh Lady's Sports

Lucy 3-Speed is a prototypical vintage Raleigh Lady's Sports, and I initially questioned the need to review her. But in the end I decided to go ahead and write the review, making it a sort of general commentary on buying a vintage 3-speed.

The benefits of Raleigh 3-speeds are that they are sturdy, comfortable, durable, easy to ride, have good front and rear loading capacity, and can be fairly easy and inexpensive to obtain. Some people, myself included, are also drawn to their aesthetics and history. The late Sheldon Brown wrote a great deal in praise of the English 3-Speed, and I invite you to read about it here and here.

From my own experience I especially stress the "easy to ride" aspect. Lucy 3-Speed is very much a "hop on and go" kind of bicycle. It is comfortable, but lighter than the Pashley. It is sporty, but more stable than the Motobecane. I don't think about it too much, I just get on it and go - and it always feels great.

A blurry illustration of the "lighter than the Pashley" factor.

My Lady's Sports is a 1970 model. It was "re-claimed" by me from the depths of my parents' garage, and you can read all about that here, as well as see lots of photos in its "before" state. In the classic "Raleigh green" colour and 21" frame size, this bicycle had all the standard features of a Lady's Sports, including a lugged straight step-through frame, 3-speed Sturmey Archer AW hub, North Road handlebars, matching fenders and chainguard. Though it sat abandoned for decades, there was nothing really wrong with the bicycle, other than a stretched out chain, flat tires, and some rust around the handlebars. Still, I made some upgrades to it that I consider crucial when one is buying a vintage 3-speed:

New Tires: As a rule, you should always get new tires after purchasing a vintage bike with original tires. It does not matter if the previous owner (or the bike shop you bought it from) assured you that the original tires are fine. Replace them anyway. The reason for this, is that vintage tires have a tendency to explode after their second decade of life, even if they appear "fine". You don't want this to happen while you are cycling in traffic. It is easy to find new tires for an English 3-Speed, because they come in standard 26" and 28" sizes. When you are buying new tires, spend a few extra dollars and get ones with kevlar protection to save yourself the trouble of getting flats. The nice cream tires on Lucy 3-Speed are Schwalbe Delta Cruisers, and I have written a detailed review of them here.

New Brake Pads: Vintage 3-Speeds have one tragic flaw: steel rims on the wheels. This means that in wet weather, the caliper brakes do not have great stopping power. Getting new, super-grippy brake pads will help with this, somewhat. The salmon Kool-Stop pads are generally considered to be the nicest and grippiest.

Lowered Gearing: Some find the standard gearing on Raleigh 3-speeds too high, making it difficult to go up hills. This is easily remedied. Simply ask you local shop to "lower the gearing" by replacing the rear cog with a larger one. For the hills in the Boston area, I recommend a 22-tooth cog. Lucy 3-Speed is now a great climber.

I also had the chain replaced, brakes and hub adjusted, and a general tune up. All this was done by the excellent Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Mass.

Other functional/aesthetic upgrades included replacing the old saddle with a sprung Brooks B67S in "honey", replacing the original handlebar grips with shellacked cork grips, installing a Low Rider Bullet Headlight by SunLite, adding a chrome pump from Old Roads, and adding a Pletscher rear rack. The bag on the rear rack is the Sackville Trunksack.

As you can probably tell if you have been reading this website, I am detail-oriented and tend to get carried away with aesthetics! Still, none of the updates I've made to this bicycle were expensive, except for the new saddle, which I could have done without. I hope this review shows that it is possible to make an elegant and comfortable bicycle out of a vintage 3-Speed. You might be surprised how many old, neglected 3-speeds are lying around in people's garages and basements, weeping and waiting to become somebody's beloved commuter!

Hardee County Wildlife Refuge

Last night we went to a Happy Hour at Rich and Donna's place. I forgot to take my cameras so you will have to go to Donna's blog to see how much fun we had. I hope we have Happy Hours every single week this winter because we have time to chat with each other and the food is fabulous!



Today Austin discovered some very sad news. He and Lee, the manager here, were the first on the scene of a very bad accident a few days ago. Austin was understandably very shook up over what they witnessed there. There were some very serious injuries involved. He read in the paper today that one of the victims, a thirteen year old boy, passed away. My heart ached over this news even without being a witness to the accident. It is the kind of news that kicks every Mom right in the gut. To be honest, I cried and cried when he told me. I hate that this happened. I hate that it happened because someone decided to drink and drive.



I decided to grab my camera and go visit one of my favorite Peace River places. The wildlife refuge across the street. Although there are many neat animals there, my favorites today were the cats that were there. We had to make nice to get past the ones guarding the boardwalk.



Once they saw we were determined to move forward, they formed a gang. The black one was rather feisty.



Some were sitting on the guardrail, meaning they were pretty much everywhere.



They cheered me up a bit immediately. I think it was mostly due to the babies.



Have you ever seen a cuter thing than a baby kitten face?



Or maybe it was seeing the Momma with her babies. It reminded me that although death is a tragedy that is gut wrenching when it involves a child, there is also always new life to celebrate.



I hate that any mother would have to know the pain the mother of this boy is living through right now. I hate that my boy is feeling a portion of that pain due to his involvement. I love that there is always new life. And that it is how the circle of life is, sad and happy at the same time sometimes. It's just one of those weird things in life.



Austin will be attending the viewing and the funeral. I am proud of his compassion and willingness to offer comfort during this horrible time and because I am his Mom, I'm worried about how this is affecting him. So please send all the love and comfort you can for everyone involved. Kiss your kids and tell them you love them. Remember that no matter how hard it is to be a parent, it is a wonderful thing to have our children here with us. They are always our baby kittens, no matter how old they get. And every single minute we have with them is precious.

Merry Christmas

I was still feeling sick today, so I didn't do much beyond the dinner we ate here at Thousand Trails. I'm glad we already celebrated our Christmas or I'd have been very disappointed to be sick today.



The dinner was great. I think they said there was 167 people at it. We were some of the overflow tables that ate out on the porch. The food was great and there was lots of it. It was a nice way to celebrate!