The Tree of Swirl

The Tree of Swirl, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Whoa! This picture must have been Photoshopped, right?! Wrong - it's all done in camera.

This photo actually shows a tree in my backyard. I got it by zooming in while simultaneous spinning the camera. Pretty cool, huh?

Mt. Maude Aurora

Grand Portage is sitting beneath a thick blanket of clouds right now, but I am optimistic that the clouds will part later this evening and we will get a glimpse of the Auroras that they say MAY be happening tonight. I definitely need an Aurora fix... the last really good ones I was able to photograph were in mid-July. I've seen a few since then, but they weren't anything to write home about. They also occurred during a full moon so they were difficult to see and even more difficult to photograph. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good opportunity tonight! In the meantime, today I was going through some more Aurora shots from last year and found several that I hadn't worked up yet. Here's one from the night of September 10, .

Otter in da Water

Before moving to the country, I never realized that there were otters in north Alabama. I was pretty surprised the first time I saw them.

Jasmine thinks that they are trespassers.



So does Hubby.

They have eaten most of the catfish from our ponds, and are currently working on the bass, bream, and grass carp.

I still think they are cute.




Apparently, otters used to be fairly scarce, but are now on the increase. They are more numerous because beavers are also more plentiful.

The reason that beavers are multiplying is that beaver pelts are now worth diddly-squat, so trappers don’t bother with them anymore.

Less beaver pelts taken = more beavers = more dam building = more flooding = more otter habitat = more otters.

Beavers have now reached nuisance levels in many areas, and trappers here are catching them for landowners at $50 a head, with a 5-beaver minimum. I doubt that they ever got that much for pelts.

Red State Diaries recently had a story from the Huntsville Times about a man being successfully sued for $30,000 because he failed to remove beavers from his land before they caused flooding damage to his neighbor’s property.

Cooler on a Bike

There are those who dream of tropical climates and rejoice at summer's arrival. And then there are those like me, who shudder when the temperature begins to rise past 70°F. As May transitions into June, I am really having to give myself pep-talks to face the upcoming three months of scorching sunshine and suffocating humidity.




But entering my 4th summer on two wheels, one source of consolation is that at least getting around by bike will keep me cooler than other means of transportation. To many non-cyclists this seems counter-intuitive, and I understand why: They can't get past thinking of cycling as strenuous exercise. "How can you bike in this heat when you can hardly walk down the block without passing out?"




Well, there is no mystery. Part of it is simply that cycling lessens my exposure to the heat and humidity in comparison to walking, by getting me there faster. But more importantly, moving through space at cycling speed generates air flow that feels like a breeze and makes the weather easier to tolerate - something that does not happen at walking speed. The trick is to ride at a pace that is fast enough to result in this effect, but not vigorous enough to the point where cycling becomes exercise. Wearing flowy clothing that allows air to circulate enhances the breezy feel further. Over the previous years I have more or less perfected my summer cycling pace and attire, and don't even sweat that much when I ride for transportation.




There are of course other forms of transport besides walking and cycling. But while modern cars have air conditioning, driving is simply not an efficient transportation option in most cities these days. There is too much traffic and getting around during peak commuting times is a nightmare. I know a local woman who regularly commutes to work for over an hour by car, when the same distance takes me a half hour to cover by bike. I don't have that kind of time to waste, and neither do I want to pay for the privilege of doing so. As for public transportation... First, you still have to walk to it. And if taking the bus, there is also a lot of waiting outside involved, often with no shade. Then inside it's hot and chaotic, with sweaty crowds pushing each other and standing nose-to-nose in stuffy buses and train cars. Maybe some can deal with it and are none the worse for wear, but I always emerge drenched in sweat and with frazzled nerves.




Of all the methods of transportation I've tried in the summer, cycling gets me to my destination cooler, more composed, and usually faster. It might be counter-intuitive to some. But cycling does not have to mean exercise and exertion. It can mean moving around at your own pace, with your own personal cooling unit.

Soggy bottoms

We came through Hurricane Dennis just fine. In addition to weakening considerably, the storm took a more westerly route than expected. Our area was spared all but some heavy rain and gusty winds.

The rain gauge in our yard got knocked over - I believe there was a dog involved. But I don't believe totals reached those of the storm in the spring.

By comparison, Hurricane Ivan last year dropped about 7 inches (18 cm) of rain!

Just before the rain began yesterday, my husband came back from a walk and told me that the Bottlebrush Buckeye was blooming. Since it looked like the bottom was about to fall out, we drove there in the truck to snap a few pictures.


The creek was already muddy from the rain we'd gotten the night before.


Bottlebrush buckeye close-up (Aesculus parviflora).

On the way back, we spotted a couple of small Sassafras trees (Sassafras albidum). There aren't many in the immediate area.


If you've ever bought Gumbo Filé (Filé powder), that's all it is: powdered dried Sassafras leaves.

I also found some Skullcap (Scutellaria sp.).


I need to go back and examine it more closely - I didn't realize there were so many species until I tried to look this one up.

Angels Landing :: The Finale

By the time I went to bed on Wednesday night (May 5th) I had talked myself into making the climb to Angels Landing. I got up early Thursday morning and caught the eight o'clock shuttle bus to the Grotto stop.

The trail up to Scout's Lookout was just as strenuous as it had been on Tuesday. The uphill grades and switchbacks were still just as steep. It didn't take long before I was huffing and puffing and stopping often to catch my breath. And just like on Tuesday, other hikers started passing me within a few minutes on the trail. I didn't care. I took my time and got there all the same.

Soon I was navigating through Walter's Wiggles and had arrived at Scout Lookout. I stopped briefly for a quick snack, and before I could even think about it was up and over that first peak. Then before me was Angels Landing. Still intimidating. Still awesome. I stopped long enough to get a couple of pictures of the trail, then with a rush of adrenaline, I was on my way. I didn't stop to think about what I was going to do, I just knew that I “had” to try.

The first few steps are the most terrifying. But it is mostly psychological. The trail is several feet wide. The Virgin River is almost 1200 feet below.


Left: This was the hardest and scariest part for me. It was a pretty high step up to the cut-out in that first rock and the chain was down low. And I have short legs. And there was nothing on either side of that rock except air. I “knew” if I could get through this section at the beginning, then I could do the rest of it too.

Right: Going up the “spine” of the peak.


Left: Looking back at where I had gone.
Right: Offering a helping hand.


Left: Getting near the top.
Right: Walking across the ridge at the top of Angels Landing.

This is it! The end of the trail. The top of Angels Landing!

Do I looked pleased with myself? You bet!

The Lower Zion Canyon from atop Angels Landing.

The following four photos were taken on the way down from the top and show a bit more detail of the trail.




The descent down took me about half as long as the climb up. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. You really just concentrate on where that next step is going to take you and you are looking at perhaps ten feet or so in front of you. There were a lot more people on the trail on the way down, everyone was patient and helpful, no one was in a hurry. We all just wanted to get safely down. And we did.

It was amazing! I still find it hard to believe that I DID IT!!

Other posts in this series:

• Angels Landing :: The Prelude
• Angels Landing :: The Overture
• Angels Landing :: Interlude

The Infinite WI5 FFA

The Infinite WI5 Photo by Ray Burnsworth

As I write this blog entry, I sit here tired and satisfied with today's adventure. 28" of new snow fell on the Laurel Highlands from Friday at noon until Saturday at 5:00pm. Roads were in bad shape. Snow was to most, a major nuisance. As the events of our Sunday unfolded, we began to agree with the "most". The cold weather has brought new vigor to the ice climbing in SWPA. Everything is back in good condition and almost could be considered FAT.Ray, Laura and Ihit up our usual Sunday spot only to find the usual 2 lane road slightly larger than one lane.Ray was already there "parked" in the middle of the road.A 4' wall of snow denied us ofour usuallyeasy place to park. After numerous attempted rammings with the whip, we resorted to 40 minutes of shovel duty to clear enough room to park and allow a car to pass.



We took Ray and his car elsewhere to park, otherwise we would have been shoveling X2. We returned to find that someone had shown up to climb and taken advantage of our hard labor. There was a red Jeep Cherokee parked right in our spot(Gotcha...I'm only kidding)Our spot was still clear and we parked without incident.The car was officially parked. All we had todo now was hike in and climb.Not that easy. Todaywas the worst approach I've ever encountered at our little local crag. Our approach is normallya leisurely15min. stroll. Today it was 45 min. ofpost holeing in 3+ feet of snow. I've never sweated so much going downhill. It was a balmy10° as we reached the base of our climb hot, soaked and miserable.I was first onethere, so I proceed to stamp out an area for the 3 of us toinhabit while we got ready to climb and forRay to shoot some video from. You can check out some of his stuff here Wildfilm Productions

Ray Burnsworth ready to video at camp2

I chose to trythe line left of The Sick-le again. It rejected Joel Torretti and I about a monthago. We tried to send it, butwereboth utlimately shut down.The line had been top ropedseveral timesover the years, but it still eluded a FFA.The climbing is often found to be much harderand steeper thanexpected. A common reaction is"That thing is overhung!"Ican't say if its truly overhung, but it is steep and funkified right now. The single digit temps, large amounts of snow, and a nice feed of water has formed thisline into a wild 3Dlandscape.The climb went very well despite the mass removal of crust,snow and daggers. The pitch wasdemanding. It was apprx. 100' long and took1hr and 10min to complete.

My gloves were soaked and inserious need of wax on the palms. The snow on myunwaxed palms had me climbing up on my 2nd grips where I seemed to not be slipping off as much. I lowered from a couple screws and Laura tied in to 2nd. She loved the climb. She found the climb to be a lot of fun and opted to take a second lap hooking up through the blobs and sicles.

When she came down I went up, Threaded it out and lowered off. We decided to name the route The Infinite WI5. Due to the infinite amount of snow wereceivedon attempted days. We packed up our gear and made the uphill trudge out. It was nice to have broken trail downhill on the way in. It made the uphill at least slightly better than it could've been.

Laura post climb, 10° and wearing puffy pants

Still it tookwaaaaaay longer than normal. The large snowfall madethe day a little harder on us, but the beautiful landscape, great climbing and friends made it worth the efforts. Hope your day was just as good! CheersThe happy climbing couple

Next week. A Sick-le attempt? Its almost in...

A few phtosRay took today

A Most Excellent Adventure :: Sawyer Glacier

Friday, August 27th - - As we maneuvered around one of several outcroppings, Sawyer Glacier came into view.

I was awestruck by its size and intensity of color, and we were still well over a mile away!

A zoomed-in view of Sawyer Glacier.
As we moved in closer we began to realize just how big this thing was. And we were all amazed by the amount of ice floating in the water.

Slowly and gradually we moved in but the closest we got was 5/8 of a mile away. Captain Steve said that he normally gets to within a quarter mile (as he did yesterday) but there usually isn't so much ice. He went on to say that there had been several very large “events” (calving) yesterday, which is why the ice was so thick.

A close-up of a portion of the face of the glacier. Note that the upper portion, or second tier level, is now hidden from our view.

Of course, calving was what everyone wanted to see - and hear! Me too!
But I was also enthralled by all of the ice that completely surrounded the boat. The ice was constantly on the move. Every time there was an event there was also a surge in the movement of the ice. When all was quiet you could hear the ice moving – each piece scraping against the other and making a crackling, tinkling sound.

It wasn't a solid mass of ice but was made up of pieces of all different sizes.
When we first came into view of the glacier, Steve had told us to look for the seals laying on the ice. He had been in contact with two Rangers who were perched on the side of a cliff to the right of the glacier. Their task was to count the seals and at the time we arrived they had tallied more than 1,000 of them! They were everywhere, generally close to the perimeter of the cove.

There wasn't a lot of movement on their part. One would occasionally lift up its head and look around but mostly they were just taking it easy.

The seals didn't seem to be bothered one bit when ice fell off of the glacier. They just rolled with the flow.

There was quite a bit of activity with the glacier. This was a fairly large event. You can see ice still cascading down while the spray from the big chunk that fell flies up in the air. We stayed at Sawyer Glacier for nearly two hours and by the end of that time, I was freezing! But I would have stayed longer if I could. It was impressive, exciting, exhilarating. Quite simply, fantastic!

Before we left, however, Captain Steve noticed a seal not too far away and maneuvered the boat closer to it. The seal lifted its head and looked at us. It made no attempt to leave its apparently comfortable perch on that bit of ice.

And with that sweet look, we departed Sawyer Glacier, exuberant and more than satisfied with the experiences of the day. But wait! There's more...