Lunch, Flowers, and a Happy Dance (not mine)

Thursday, June 2nd - - Today Carol and I had lunch with the You Go Genealogy Girls, Cheri and Ruby. We heard research stories and were told that if they were repeated we would be endangering our lives! LOL. It was great fun and they are great story tellers.



It was a bright sunshiny day and we took our time strolling through the Temple gardens on the way back to The Library. Of course, we couldn't resist stopping to take pictures of the marvelous flowers. Such variety. So colorful.





I have no idea what kind of flower this is...



Same variety as the above but a different color.



Gorgeous white Iris. So difficult to photograph.



A close-up of the white Iris.



Purple Iris.



And, a close-up shot.

Later that afternoon, Carol found something that made her do a little jig at the microfilm reader. To be honest, I can't remember exactly what it was... but as we were walking out to the parking lot later she was still “full of it” with the dancing and smiling. It's fun to watch others with their reactions to a good find, but I'd sure like to experience it myself!





Congratulations, Carol...

And may you have many more opportunities to dance your little jig!

Dead Tree

This dead tree was right outside the gift shop and made an interesting photo.

End of the Season

My tropical garden winding down a few weeks ago after the addition of a small bamboo.

Family Visiting Us in Florida

All of this talk about missing Austin while he visits family has reminded me that we've had family visiting us in the past few months. We are so used to not having any family living near us that it's a special treat when we do have that. In February (27th) my cousin Mike and his wife Brenda came to visit us. They brought their sweet dog, Boo, who has since passed away. I hadn't visited with my cousin in probably over 20 years so it was an extra special treat to have time with he and Brenda. They are some of the kindest, most positive people you will ever meet. They even gave me a gift of a CD with a gospel group singing a song that Brenda wrote on it. Sometime we want to get over there way to hear her sing and play with her band. Good times!



Then we had another visit today from my Mom and nieces and nephew. Ambir and Auburn drove up one day and we got to see them on top of the other family visitors. It was wonderful to have time together. We even got to play charades together.





Living the life in already HOT Florida!

Pashley and a Burning Bush

The Co-Habitant's Pashley Roadster Sovereign has not made an appearance here in some time, but today he demanded to be featured by posing handsomely next to this beautiful "burning bush." The Co-Habitant loves this bicycle. He has been commuting to work on it since May, and says that it only gets more comfortable with time and that he is even happier with it now than on the day he got it. That is a pretty glowing review! Lately, he even seems to prefer the Pashley for longer rides, like the 25 mile trip we made today.

He is also extremely pleased with the B33 saddle, which is super-sprung to support the weight of a large man in an upright sitting position (the Co-Habitant is around 6ft and 200lb).

Tall, dark, handsome and brooding. Perfect.

You can't really tell in this photo, but the bicycle is enormous for someone with my body-frame. The saddle reaches past my waist, the handlebars to my armpits, and I can't clear the top tube. Still, I like to pose with it and pretend that I can ride it. It is a beautiful bicycle and a great partner to my Eustacia.

Umbilical attachment points again?

In the last umbilical thread I suggested that instead of clipping into the specifically built attachment points of a tool like the Black Diamond Cobra and Fusion that one might want to rethink that idea and add a cord loop to better keep the "attachment" biner of the various commercial Umbilicals attached.



One of the things I do on occasion is post a link to a thread in other forums where I think others might find the info interesting and more importantly where I'll get some feed back. I did that with the Umbilical "loop" post. You get all sorts of experience levels when you do such things and even more interesting how the terrain of a specific area defines the gear that gets used and is popular as well. All ofwhich I find interesting.



Look here:

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1000731/Umbilicals#Post1000731



http://www.mountainproject.com/v/climbing_gear_discussion/umbilicals/107022451



http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=443832



http://www.gravsports-ice.com/icethreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=8682#Post8682



http://neice.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=58508&page=1



http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/umbilicals-t57260.html



http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2453623;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread



http://www.escaladequebec.com/



I've been using one form of umbilical or another virtually since day one in my own ice climbing. Just seemed like the reasonable thing to do. Chouinard alpine hammers (or big wall hammers) were likely the first commercially.



My thought, and until recently when I changed to a commercial set up, was the umbilical should be able to take "full weight loads" or something like 2000 pounds in my mind.



I've playedaround a lot with umbilicals over the years. Here is a comment I made in March of , here:



http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/947206/Re_New_Nomic



"4mm is rated to 900#. (which is what I currently use to tie my umbilicals in with) I took a full length fall onto my BD tethers this winter. My first. By full length I mean tool below chest level and that tool catching me at full extension on the other umbilical. As close as I want to get to a 6 or 7 foot, factor 1 fall. I am no fly weight so the load was pretty high I suspect.



Not a tether yet made that will hold a true factor 1 Fall let alone a 2.



But people have already been asking for them. You'll want to rely on good gear and a rated climbing rope for that with a 8 or 9' fall possible on umbilicals/tethers.



Mine you the other tool was placed higher and ripped through the slush causing the fall. The tool that caught me also ripped through a good 12" or more of bad ice before finally catching the fall. Ripping through the ice worked as a natural "screamer" absorbing energy and the fall did "blow" the 4mm enough to easily see it needed to be changed out. But no core showing yet



From an earlier BD email exchange this winter when I asked about the issue of the small BD biner (worried about the sharp edged proto types that I was using. The new Production stuff has much better and rounded edges) on 4 and 5mm cord laced to Nomics with a BD Spinner umbilical.



Black Diamond said:



"Just tested this to 800lbs (single leg). No damage to the 4mm cord or our steel clip (production quality with more tumbling to the part); the bungee webbing breaks first. Then pull tested our steel biner clipped to 5mm cord, this went to 1600lbs before the cord broke."



Not like I want to use 4mm! I would also make sure to use a knot like a dbl Fisherman's in drop form instead of an Over Hand which is typical and much weaker (30% less or more?) in this application. And something like half of the original tensile strength of the rope! Easy bet the cord broke at the knot no matter what knot he was using. But worth hedging your bets here for several reasons. But 4mm seems a good compromise for size (getting it under the pommel or in your hand) and strength. Hanging on a tool is not a dynamic load. Fall far enough and require static cord and webbing to take the dynamic impact load and you'll blow through 5mm or the webbing easily.



More on the dbl fisherman's knot and knot strength.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_fisherman's_knot



http://www.caves.org/section/vertical/nh/50/knotrope.html



More on fall factors

http://www.southeastclimbing.com/faq/faq_fall_factor.htm#add



If you filter through the posts it seems pretty clear what is available currently on a commercial basis could easily be improved upon. Many have done just that already. It doesn't really matter how the companies think the umbilicals should be used...climbers are going to use the umbilicalhow they see fit or make their own. But we all need to be careful. Getting smacked in the head/face/handwith a biner on the end of a sling shotted umbilical is going to be a serious injury. And it has happened already.



My point? Know your ownsystem. Know how strong it is and what your intended use is. I want my umbilicals to be strong enough with some reserveto catch a slip soloing if required...andretain my tools 110% of the time. YMMV

Weekend Update

After the past few weeks of stormy weather, the skies have cleared and there is a bunch of new snow on the mountain. During the last storm cycle, waist deep snow drifts were being reported with consistent winds in the 40 mph range. There were significant avalanche hazards with point release and slab avalanches occurring naturally as well as a few that were skier triggered. Thankfully no one was buried or injured. The Nisqually basin especially saw a considerable amount of activity with the rapid warming that came after the storms.



The past week has seen climbing parties being stymied by wintry conditions and increased avalanche potential, but that is changing with more stable weather and snow conditions. The past couple of days have seen successful ascents of the DC, Gib Ledges, Liberty Ridge, the Emmons and more (we'll be putting up info as we get it from some of the more remote areas).



Point release avalanches, rising freezing levels and unsupported snow bridges are still a concern but should not keep interested climbers away. With the recent new snow and rising temperatures, be on the look out for loose snow and rock above you and unsuspecting climbers below. Climbing early and being off route before the solar radiation impacts the snow is critical right now but conditions overnight and early morning could be great for climbing.



Potential hazards aside, its going to a beautiful week, so enjoy the warm weather out there and climb safe!

Mystery Photo # 7

This is the sixth post (and 7th photo) in a series of unidentified photographs from the Charles Wiseman Family Bible. See this post for background information. Click on the "Mystery Photo" label at the bottom of the post to see all of the photographs in this series. As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.



Paper photograph on card stock. 2 3/8 x 4 1/16. Printed on back: 1856-1884 H. C. Millice, Photographer. Warsaw, Ind. P. O. Box No. 246.

The date 1884 on the back of the picture may provide a clue - if the photo was taken in 1884 it could be Nathaniel Howard Wiseman, born July 18, 1884 in Tippecanoe Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana. He died May 14, 1956. I knew Nathaniel Howard as "Uncle Howard" - All of Dad's relatives that were older than him were called "Aunt" or "Uncle" regardless of the relationship. Howard was actually my Dad's first cousin once removed. Howard was the son of Laura Mariah Alexander and Henry Weir Wiseman.
Take a closer look at the top of the picture. . . It's been altered, perhaps hiding the face of a person beneath the coverlet holding the baby?

Wild Sunflower

Sunflowers help brighten up my day.

Of Cycling and Cheeseburgers

Before I started cycling I was a vegetarian/ pescetarian for many years. It began by accident: I was on a research trip in Moscow in 1999 and got food poisoning after eating a meat dish at a restaurant. It was pretty bad, though to be fair I can't even be sure it was due to the meat. Could have been the salad or an unwashed fork, who knows. Still, for a whileafterwardI felt sick whenever I looked at or smelled meat, so I stopped eating it. Eventually the effect wore off, but the vegetarian habit remained. I did not crave meat products, and I felt healthier not eating them. Attempts to coax me back into carnivorism were unsuccessful. I could watch others eat meat and even cook meat for guests without being tempted in the least. I was pretty sure this was a permanent lifestyle change.



It was a couple of years ago that for the first time I found myself "tasting" little morsels of the Co-Habitant's food (invariably meat dishes)when we ate together. I did not want any, mind you, I just felt like a little taste. I also began to notice that these cravings coincided with bike rides. Interesting. No doubt what I was really craving was salt and protein - not necessarily meat. So I ate more salt and protein as I struggled with this unfamiliar new attraction to meatballs and burgers and barbecued ribs. And steak. And paper thin slices ofprosciutto. And spicy chicken wings. And hot dogs... One day, after an especially strenuous bike ride we went out to dinner and I just couldn't take it anymore. The smell of meat that had once made me respond with disgust, then indifference, now filled me with longing. I ordered lamb instead of my usual falafel. I still remember how those fragrant, lightly charred bits looked upon my plate. And so ended over a decade of vegetarianism.



I am bewildered by my current love affair with meat. Content for so long to live off lentils, walnuts, vegetable omelets and occasional salmon, I now fantasise about full Irish breakfast, black pudding included. The more I cycle, the worse it gets. The Co-Habitant thinks it's hilarious, but I am rather ashamed. I think vegetarianism is ultimately the healthier diet, and I feel sorry for the little animals. The tasty little animals.... See?! This is terrible. I know there are many vegetarian and even vegan cyclists out there. And they are probably very disappointed to be reading this. But I have to tell it like it is. After riding my bike, I dream of cheeseburgers.

Foggy Sunrise in the Pigeon River Valley

Can you say.... W O W !!!!!!!!!! ? This was the scene I witnessedMonday morning after spending the entire night photographing the northern lights. I had noticed the fog along the river earlier in the night and decided to come back to this location for sunrise. It proved to be a worthwhile decision. As the sun rose over the hills and the light hit the fog in the valley, the colors and layers between fog and trees were breathtaking. This was photographed from the Pigeon River Helipad and Overlook along Otter Lake Road in Northeast Minnesota.

Joslin Rendezvous :: Cemetery Walk

Saturday, August 20th - - Each time the Joslin Clan has visited the homestead, they stop by the small Cedar Butte Cemetery where about ten people are buried including two of their Hutcheson relatives, brothers of their mother/grandmother Mary Matilda Hutcheson Joslin.





George and Jim opening the gate to the cemetery.



And each time they visit, they have to go hunting and digging for the gravestones! Many years ago someone planted a few Iris near the graves and they have multiplied and multiplied until they cover a rather large area, including the two graves. A little poking and prodding and the graves were found.





SOLDIER REST THY WORK IS DONECORNELIUS MBORN JAN. 5, 1896DIED APR 3, 1930



OUR LITTLE ONEROBERT W.BORN OCT 1, 1918DIED AUG. 17, 1923



And each time they visit, they take home a few of the Iris bulbs. It was quite a chore digging up the bulbs with a little garden trowel, but Fred persevered.





The Iris patch. In the center, to the left and right are the two Hutcheson graves.



The Joslin Clan – Babs, Richard, George, Joann, Ruth, Tim, Jim, and Sue.

Location, Lock-ation...

The Co-Habitant started a new job this week, and with it a new commute. The trip is about the same distance as before, but his cycling ritual is much changed. Previously, he rode to work on hisfully loadedPashley Roadster, which he would lock up in the secure bicycle cage inside the building's parking garage. The new job's parking facilities are less secure, and it is in an area where he does not feel comfortable leaving hisPashleyon the street all day. So he will now be commuting on his oldMotobecaneroadbike,which he has stripped down to the bare bones. This is what Myles looks like in his normal role as touring bike. And above is the new pared-down version: No saddlebag, no twined water bottles, no pump under the top tube. A U-Lock and an extra long cable lock are wrapped around the seat cluster. The battery headlight on the fork is detachable, and the tail light will now be attached to the messenger bag he plans to carry.



The Co-Habitant's response to his new commute underscores the differences in our attitudes toward bicycle security. HisPashley is a comfortable, upright bicycle and if it were me, I would continue to ride it despite the change of location and the less than ideal parking situation. I would remove the Pashley's luggage, get a detachable pannier for the rear rack, use a U-lock plus long cable combination, lock it up outside and stop worrying about it. But then again, some would say that my own lock-up methods are scandalously lax, because I typically just use a cable lock. In short, the Co-Habitant and I are separate people and often our views on things differ. I respect that he does not want his "nice" bicycle to get stolen, but it just seems like such a shame to ride an aggressive roadbike (with clipless pedals!)to work and carry all his stuff in a messenger bag, when he owns the perfect commuter bike.

How much of a factor is the location of your job (or residence) in your choice of what bicycle to ride and in your lock-up methods?

You Ride a Bike, Don't You?

I was headed toward the subway platform, lost in thought, when a construction worker shouted this to me as he walked past - rhetorically and with a good-natured smile, almost as if in greeting."You ride a bike, don't you!"



For a moment I wondered how he knew. I do not carry a bicycle helmet around. Neither do I have a U-Lock sticking out of my back pocket. Nor do I wear t-shirts with pictures of bicycles or bicycle slogans on them. And then I remembered: I was "wearing" a wheelset. A full wheelset, with tires attached. I was bringing the wheels to Framingham - an hour long trip on subway and commuter rail - and rigged up a system inspired by carrying my skates around.





Having tied the wheels together with a rope, I then slung them over my left shoulder as if the wheels were a handbag and the rope was a shoulder strap. It was surprisingly comfortable and I could hardly feel the weight, which is why I forgot about the wheels when the stranger addressed me.



Something similar happened yesterday, when I wrangled a floor pump into my handbag and walked to my art studio with 1/3 of the large, orange pump sticking out. When I stopped for a coffee on the way, the person behind me in line startled me by saying "That's quite a pump you got there!" Once I realised what he meant, I considered explaining that my hand-held pump does not fit Shrader valves. But thankfully it was my turn to order coffee just then and the person was spared that narrative.



What is the most unusual thing you've carried off the bike that distinguished you as a cyclist?

Twisted!

Twisted trillium (Trillium stamineum). The little propeller trillium! I love this one.


Trilliums are among my favorite wildflowers. At a Special Studies class on wildflowers, they told us that there are 18 types of trilliums in Alabama. They didn't name them, but I think that they are:

Trillium catesbaei (Catesby's or Bashful)
T. cuneatum (Little Sweet Betsy, toadshade, wakerobin, etc.)
T. decipiens (Chattahoochee River)
T. decumbens (Trailing)
T. erectum (Red)
T. flexipes (Bent or nodding)
T. lancifolium (Lanceleaf)
T. ludovicianum (Louisiana)
T. luteum (Yellow)
T. maculatum (Spotted)
T. pusillum (Dwarf)
T. recurvatum (Bloody butcher, Recurved sepal)
T. reliquum (Relict)
T. rugelii (Nodding or ill-scented)
T. sessile (Sessile)
T. stamineum (Twisted)
T. underwoodii (Underwood's or longbract)
T. vaseyi (Vasey's)

Many of these are found in very small numbers in Alabama, and are most easily viewed at botanical gardens.

Some older books show cernuum in AL, but this was split into cernuum and rugelii, with rugelii being the southern species.

Two of these are sometimes called "nodding", an example of confusing trillium common names. (I like dealing in latin names with trilliums.)

In most of Alabama, Trillium cuneatum is the common "if you just have one, this is it" trillium.

For lots more info, visit Susan Farmer's excellent collection of Trillium links and photos.

The Trillium book by the Cases is considered the "Trillium Bible" and is full of beautiful photos.



-----

Edited 17 June ..:

I got a sneak peek at a draft copy of an Alabama vascular flora checklist, and it's slightly different than my list (that I derived mainly from my two Trillium books). T. erectum is not on it, but T. grandiflorum and T. sulcatum are. One of my new local wildflower friends knows a place where the grandiflorum grow (a few counties over) so I know that one is correct.

Hollow Rock Ice Cave

Remember my shot "Into the Ice Cave" from yesterday? That shot was taken from outside the cave, looking into it. Well, here is what it looked like once I crawled into it! It was a fascinating wonderland of ice! I had to lay on my back on the ice and stick my arms (holding the camera) through and around the icicles you see on the right of this photo in order to get this shot. I couldn't look through the viewfinder because my arms were outstretched to reach around the icicles, so it took several attempts to get the shot I wanted. It wasn't an easy shot to get, but I sure do like what I ended up with, so to me it was definitely worth the effort!

Autumn Climbing

A small break of warm and clear weather, after the major storm cycle, let multiple teams summit early this week. A climbing ranger climbed on Saturday morning and reported 'great-for the end of the season-conditions' on the DC. Climbing rangers at Camp Schurman had a similar report about the Emmons/Winthrop route.

End of season operations are underway. Helicopter flights for refilling propane tanks and human waste removal occurred last week over the mountain. Stairs to the half-doors on the public shelter are being put in place and the solar dehydrating toilets at Camp Muir will be closed. The larger ADA compliant vault toilet with a half-door will be opened at Camp Muir for use during the winter.

Be sure to double check registration requirements for the dates of your climb. The transition from summer registration regulations to winter registration regulations has begun. See the regs. link to the right for more info.

1/29/10

That is the date of the very first C/T blog post. The comment was onice tool umbilicals.



Cold Thistle now enters its fourthyear. Amazing to me anyone drops by here. It is still fun so I continue with a little help from other writers (hopefully more writers) and the Outdoor Industry in general.



The blog hadn't hit 4K readers in a day or 10,000 readers in a month a couple of months ago. The last few weekshave been bumping at 6000 visitors a day and wentwell past 10,000 readers in January of '13 @ 115K.



Att that isexciting for me. Humbling as well and a responsibilityI take seriously.



Thanks for dropping by! Some fun stuff in the works coming shortly.

Jam Session

I have wanted to do a jam session since we joined Thousand Trails. Austin used to play at them, so he asked us not to come and watch him. This past winter, we kept saying we'd go and one thing after another got in the way. So it was really special to us that we could do it today.



I forgot my camera, but I think I saw Rich and Dee taking some pictures, so if they did then I'll try to get them so I can post a few here.

Winners in the Pickleball for Paws Tournament

We played men's and women's doubles in the morning. We then broke for lunch. Next up was the mixed doubles. Unfortunately it started to rain during that part of the tournament so we didn't get to finish the mixed doubles. We had to just wrap up the tournament and leave due to the rain.



So the winner's in the men's and women's competition:





Austin and I were thrilled we placed and we gave Nathan a consolation hug because he deserved to place. After we left, we headed over to Paul's where Stan and Sally joined us for an early dinner. We had a great day!

Spring Flow, Glen Avon Falls

Yesterday I went down the shore to photograph some of the rivers at their spring flow. The rivers have really opened up over the weekend and boy was it ever cool to see them flowing at such high capacity. There was water everywhere along Highway 61 as I drove south. The ditches were full of water and temporary waterfalls were everywhere along the highway rock cuts. The rivers were bursting at their seams with water. Some of the larger rivers still had chunks of ice that were floating downstream. The photo you see here is of a waterfall on the Beaver River. It is a location that I visited for the first time last year, but I was there when the water was low. At that time I thought it would be cool to come back when the water was high, and I was right! This spot was amazing, I love how it doesn't even really look like a river, it looks like the water is just running straight down through the forest. It was 71 degrees here when I made this shot, and just a few miles away where the river empties into Lake Superior, the temperature was only 43 degrees! I guess spring and "cooler by the lake" is now officially here :-)