Nordic at Hyak ..

I discussed with Jennifer earlier in the week about getting a Sno Park permit for this winter. I wondered if she was interested in skiing and would feel up to it being pregnant. Jennifer was interested in seeing if she could go skiing and Ken wanted to go, so we headed out with him today. Jennifer didn't want to head to Cabin Creek due to the hills. She didn't want to fall. So we went to the Hyak Sno Park to follow the railroad grade.

The temp read 32° in the parking lot, but it felt colder. I put on all the clothes I had and couldn't wait to get moving. Jennifer had packed more warmly and wore a large down poofy to start skiing. Ken had little clothing but he hoped as I did that skiing would warm us. It didn't work for Ken, and he headed back to the car after we were out for 10-15minutes. I kept skiing along in an effort to get to an outhouse to pee. Once there, I warmed up a touch and started back. I saw Jennifer and she told me about Ken heading back to the car. I said we should head back too.

An interesting outing for the first of the season. Ken said one of the reasons he turned back was to not sour himself to the rest of the season with a bad first outing. While it took me the whole time to get back to the car before I actually started generating enough heat to perspire, it was a fun time. The snow conditions were better than any we had track skiing last winter. Soft snow, well packed and nicely groomed. Only there was a large group of boys (scouts?) that were snowshoeing on the groomed trail, and that is just bad etiquette. It also marks baby's first ski outing!

Baby on board

Heat wave and route condition updates

The temperatures at Paradise hovered in the high 70's all day today while Camp Muir fixated in the mid-50's. For the past couple of days it's been VERY warm, and those trends are going to continue. This sort of news is great for sunbathing but not so great for the snowpack.

There has been quite a bit of upper-mountain action over the past week. Dan McCann of UT recently ripped the Disappointment Cleaver on tele-boards (see that line in the lower center of this photo? It's his!). And rumor has it, some gnarly NW skiers are headed for the Mowich Face this weekend!

More climbing updates can be found on the Emmons, DC and Ptarmigan Ridge routes. As for the Emmons, there was some interesting action on the Inter Glacier approach, proving that you could be killed while hiking to high camp! In other words, be "heads up" for the possibility of massive rockfall and snowslides. [Ed.: stratovolcanoes are "geologic junkpiles]

In other photographic news, Eric Simonson, with Paul Baugher piloting the airplane, provided the aerial image of the upper DC , Ingraham and Emmons. Climbing ranger Stoney Richards took a number of GREAT route images on the following lines: Gib Ledges and Gib Chute, Ptarmigan Ridge, Mowich Face and South Tahoma Headwall. Check them out in the updated route reports!

The Feel of the Road

I never gave much thought to the feel of pavement until I started cycling in Ireland last spring. Then I noticed the difference straight away: The tarmac, as they call it in the British Isles, felt distinctly softer than the asphalt in my part of the US. Having lived for years in the UK before I was a cyclist, I'd somehow never noticed this. But on a bike it was difficult not to. I could feel a give in the road's surface under my tires. It was also more porous, gravely in texture. Feeling more resistance than I'd come to expect from pavement, I kept wondering whether my tires had gone flat, or whether something was mechanically amiss with the folding bike I was riding.Later I learned that the roads in Ireland are a kind of chipseal. The differences I sensed were real.




Being back this summer, and with a skinny-tire roadbike this time, the characteristics of the Irish roads feel even more pronounced. The softness and the rough texture make me exert more effort to achieve the same speed as in the US. I would place the experience as somewhere between riding on pavement and riding on tightly packed gravel.




When the tarmac is freshly laid or repaired, the top layer can be quite loose. It also loosens easily after stretches of bad weather.Cornering on such sections without realising what you're dealing with can be dangerous.




There are other interesting effects. Once I did a long distance ride in a75°F"heatwave." On the return leg around 4pm, I noticed that the road in front of mewas glistening, getting shinier and more liquid-looking by the minute - almost as if it were melting. I thought to myself "Nah, can't be. I must be tired and imagining things." Next things I know, viscous clumps of tar were sticking to my tires and clogging my brakes. I had to pull over and scrape the gooey black chunks off, then use a stick to knock the hardened clumps out of the brake calipers. Then I sat in the shade and waited for an hour, until the road cooled off enough to continue home. To my relief, the following day everyone was talking about the melting tarmac, so at least I did not hallucinate the surreal experience. I guess the tarmac here is not rated to withstand such boiling temperatures!




If you're riding a harsh-feeling bike on Irish roads, you'll know it. The rough texture exaggerates the jarring sensations of road buzz. When I tried a friend's racing bike, my hands were vibrating so much I could not believe it. "Oh it's like riding on razor blades, to be sure," he laughed. I stroked my own bike with renewed appreciation.




Once I do get used to the roads here, the roads in the US feel unnaturally hard and smooth in comparison, and readjusting to them takes some time as well. As for the New England potholes... well, that is a topic that deserves its own post, possibly in poem form.

Fun in the Winter Sun

I have bragged in the past about the Co-Habitant's wonderous winter commuting skills. But truth be told, is that really so impressive to accomplish on a cushy modern Pashley? Yesterday, he tried riding Rodney - his vintage Raleigh DL-1 with rod brakes - and reports his experience:

In a vintage bike, the freezing temperatures can really effect the brakes and steering. The cold stiffens the grease in the headset, making the steering extremely stiff. Of course you can rebuild the headset, but this takes either skill and time, or money to spend at the bike shop - so it is yet another issue to take into consideration when buying old bikes. Similarly, old brake pads tend to harden in the cold, compromising braking performance considerably. On regular caliper brakes, the brake pads can be replaced with new salmon KoolStops to remedy the problem. But rod brakes are incompatible with the KoolStop pads, so there is not much that can be done really.
So there you have it: a vintage bicycle with rod brakes is great in the snow... unless you need to stop or safely turn. Of course none of that prevent the Co-Habitant from riding it around the neighborhood - though thankfully, he does not plan to commute on it to work.

And we're out there having funin the cold Boston winter sun

Anniversary Fashion Friday

It has recently been revealed on facebook that jjobrien is "in a relationship".

Climbers, this one snuck up on me sideways on a Tuesday afternoon.

I get this "confirm relationship" message, I hesitate for a moment, start considering the ramifications, I mean we have children, grandchildren, a house, cars, but this facebook relationship thing is looking more official than anything I've been used to up to this point.Having not officiated this relationship through achurch orstate registration, I think facebook might be the highestauthorityto recognise us.So it's time to come clean. But what facebook doesn't say is that this relationship started in 1972.It's true, I fell in love with Sandra Phoenix. Sorry, Dr. Phoenix phdHere's a few photos I have on hand this relationship anniversary day of March 4th.

Juice Alley, Mong Kok

Nice shirt jj, embroidered eagle on white cotton by Jag.

Those sunnies are mine now.



photo: Lee Cujes



Gearing up for the Chinese coldness in Mee and Gee store HKThis is where I first met mynew coat "Wolfie". Remember "Sheepy"? I still miss Sheepy.







Dressed for the chill at YangshuoSandra wearing "Peak" in black.













She also climbs.

A bit.

Sometimes.

Like this, on her 50th birthday in Ton Sai.













By the power invested in facebook, I do take this woman.













Some Aid Practice ..

Since we were blessed with another nice (not raining) November day in Seattle, Adam and I decided to hit the north wall of the Mountaineers Clubhouse for some light aid practice. It had been over a year since I had been in aiders, leading or following, so it was shaking off the rust.

I geared up and led a pitch with a short traverse to the chains at the top. I continuous ran into problems the whole pitch with my easy daisies, not having cut them loose and occasionally clipping through them. These issues stayed with me at the anchor as I had to lower down and right to get on rappel. It wasn't pretty. Once I sorted all my issues, I rapped and Adam followed.

Adam started with difficulty until he sorted the easy daisies and got his jugging setup right. Then he cruised to the top and re-aided the traverse to the chains. He enjoyed it, but we didn't have time for him to lead a pitch, so we packed up and called it a day.

Apache Plume

Desert bushs that we call Apache Plume were in bloom. The first photo is of the small white flower. The second photo is of the seed pod which gives the plant its name, Plume.