Want a Drink?

Traveler drinking from the water hose while getting his bath. He did a lot better than I expected for his first one. Me, I just look really hot and tired. And I was.

Acadia :: Schoodic Point

Sunday, September 16th - -On the eastern side of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park is a popular little inlet known as Thunder Hole. A small cavern below the surface of the water creates a sound similar to thunder when the 'right' waves crash against the rocks. The day that we stopped by to see Thunder Hole, there was no action - the sea was rather calm and the waves were merely lapping the shore.



However, I found a spot out on Schoodic Point that was just as exciting as Thunder Hole. Maybe more so. And it was far less crowded. There wasn't quite the roar of thunder but there were some pretty loud crashes when the 'big ones' hit.






Much like the action of a tsunami, the water would pull away from the shore...





Gain momentum, and crash into the granite walls...





and momentarily fill up the little inlet.








I thought this man was more than a little irresponsible to let his son get so close to the edge. One really big wave and he could have been swept over the edge.





I moved around toward where the man and boy had been, but a little further away from the edge.





Thanks to the capabilities of zoom lenses, I grabbed this shot of a wave smashing into the side of the cliff. It was awesome. And so much fun watching these waves...

Trail running, The Laurel Highlands

One of the red efts I find regularly on the LHHT - Route 31 shelters

My blogging has been slow since February of this year, actually nonexistent. Here's a little to fill in my gap... Ice season was pretty much a bust, but ski season was unbelievable. The Laurel Highlands got dumped on with an abundance of natural snow this past winter. Laura and I spent a great deal of time skiing at Seven Springs in their award winning, Terrain Parks. This type of skiing is well known for producing an abundance of injuries to its participants. Here's a couple of skiing pics...

Railslide - The Streets @ Seven Springs

Light pole bonk over the gap - The Streets @ Seven Springs

My injuries included (but weren't limited to) a broken thumb, Injured (most likely broken) ribs. A bruised hip (which prohibited any running until about 5 weeks ago) and a second injured shoulder that has severely restricted my climbing. Unlike last season, I'm slowly trying to rehab it back to health. For now, I can barely dead hang on it. On a positive note, my injured shoulder from last season can now support free hanging body weight. The path back to stronger climbing might be slow and long, but climbing less challenging routes will produce an abundance of fun in the meantime. Throughout the spring Laura and I spent a fair number of days at various local crags climbing, doing trail work, etc. Bouldering has seemed to be our most focused style this year.




With my hip feeling better, I've recently been working my legs back into running condition. For the first couple weeks, I'd been testing my hip and seeing if limitations existed. I started with short, slow, road runs not much longer than 4 miles. Usually a rest day or two between runs. I felt good, with a only a couple days where my hip showed any signs of discontent. After two weeks back, the hip pain seemed to disappear completely. I quickly started stacking on the miles and feeling positive that longer pain free miles in the woods lay ahead.

Trusty footwear, Altra Lone Peaks and Powersox get my thumbs up!

This past week I managed to log 83 miles of running. All of them on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. For those unfamiliar with this trail it's a 70 mile hiking trail that starts in Ohiopyle State Park and follows the crest of Laurel Ridge north to Seward. It's a unique trail due to the fact that it has numbered, concrete markers at each mile along its entirety (a great feature for pacing and location). Built as a backpacking trail in the 70's it was designed to be covered over a week long period. Adirondack style camp shelters with additional tent camping areas are located approximately 10 miles apart along the trail. This distance makes for easy hikes between shelters. Note: (reservations must be made in advance to stay in the shelter areas overnight). While designed as a backpacking trail, the LHHT is an amazing trail for runners. The whole trail is completely runnable single track that flows over the mountains through amazing scenery. Hardwood forests, rock outcrops, streams, lakes, and wildlife are the normal backdrop along this trail. I feel quite lucky to live and have grown up a short distance from the Rt. 31 trailhead (middle) of the trail. Starting from home allows easy access to either end of the trail. I must admit that I do spend the majority of my time on the southern half of the trail enjoying the larger elevation changes. Along with the LHHT, there's plenty of other great trails in our neck of the woods. Roaring Run Natural Area, Ohiopyle State Park and The North Woods are some of my other favorite trails to run.

Typical mile marker along the LHHT

Yesterday I completed my first half trail run since last year. Laura dropped me off at 31 parking lot and I went south passing a record (for me) 106 trail users along the way. Outside of the Laurel Ultra race day, I've never seen that many trail users on those sections. I stopped to chat with some of them. Here's just a few that I recall... I got a "nice beard" shout-out from a group of resting backpackers while crossing county line road. I met three trail runners from the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club enjoying an out and back run from the route 31 trailhead to Grindle Ridge Shelters. They were up for "Stills in the Hills" whiskey and music event at Seven Springs and decided to run a bit before the festivities. I met a nice younger couple that had their chocolate lab with them near route 653. They were heading in to Grindle Ridge shelters for the night. He was an experienced packer, but this was her first trip. She was smiling as she explained of her new pack and gear required to make the trip. Her excitement was quite infectious as I recalled how much I enjoy new "toys" as well.

Seven Springs Mountain Resort, the highest point on the LHHT

I was met by Laura sporting the mobile aid station at Maple summit parking lot. She provided some love and a water fill before the last stretch into Ohiopyle. Our plan was for her to park in Ohiopyle and start hiking north until we met. That way we'd get to enjoy a little trail time together. Ohiopyle was packed due to the beer and gear festival being held Saturday night. Please note this was the second booze and bluegrass festival along the trail... All kinds of partying going on in the Laurel Highlands! Laura decided to park up at King Mountain trail head and avoid the congestion. Laura was sore from previous runs this week and decided to carry a large backpack to remove the temptation of running. While she hiked north, I managed to float the flatter miles from Maple Summit down to milepost 8 to begin the "hilly" section of the LHHT. As I ran by the 8 mile marker, missing paint on the number 8 had me do a double take out of confusion. This quick glance over my shoulder was enough for me to snag a toe and go airborne, I tried to recover, but my efforts were futile. Head first into the woods Ughhh, I landed with a thud! Quickly I sprung back up and moving again checking for any blood or pains. Slightly dazed, but unscathed. Yep, got my attention and milepost 8 was still 8, not an imaginary 9?!?!? I proceeded to bomb down "heart attack hill" more alert to my footing as a stumble like minutes earlier would surely produce a less funny story.

The view after ascending from Bidwell

I cruised along finally meeting my sweetie just before milepost 3 I was heading uphill and she was coming down. I slowed to a hike at this point and we enjoyed the last several miles hiking back to the car together. We stopped at the 2.5 mile overlook for a few minutes enjoying what we usually pass by at a brisk pace. The additional 1400' of elevation gain at the end hiking up to the trail head produced more heavy breathing and I officially stopped my watch at 6:26:55. Quite a bit slower than my personal best for this run, but still a respectable time given my "casual" approach. I'll wait a little while and do this run again and see how much I can improve on this time.



Upon reaching the car we unpacked the mobile aid station and set up our chairs. Laura had packed a primo after trail picnic for us. We proceeded to kick back, eat turkey sammies, and drink chocolate milk while listening to the sweet sound of live bluegrass music coming from the festival below. What a great end to another day on the LHHT.

Laura and the mobile aid station setup at the end of the day

New Walk Way

Lee is putting in a new walk way by the hay shed. When we built the shed we found that that area was a big mud pit when we had one of our rare rains. We laid old pallets down then laid old plywood sheets on top. After 7 years the plywood decided to come apart. A couple of times Lee or I stepped on a rotten section and almost fell through the pallet underneath. The nails were so loose they didn't want to stay down and we and the dogs kept tripping on them. So the other day after the cold left and we had a couple of warm days we started mixing and pouring cement. This photos showes two sections done. The one in the center is now finished. As soon as it drys we will do the other and I will take a photo of it. It should be a lot nicer even if not as 'authentic' as the old boardwalk.

Trango Raptor Ice tool?

One of the most fun things about writing the blog is getting to be involved in the twice yearly Outdoor Retailer shows. One of the most frustrating things about writing the blog is being able to attend the twice yearly Outdoor Retailer shows. Why? Because you may see some really neat stuff that could be weeks from production or literally years.



I have been trying to get a pair of the Raptors for the last 18 months or so. And had finally just given up.



From my first impress and being a HUGE Petzl Nomic and Ergo fan I was impressed playing with the Raptor at the OR winter show.



My thought back in Jan of ?

"Trango's new ice tool??.....which I seriously think will be pretty good in comparison to the "big boys"!



For the asking price of $350 for the pair I can tell you I would have bought a set a long time ago if I could have found them.




Here is what made me look at them as serious alternative during the OR show two winters ago. Back then the BD Fusions had just come out. I'd been on the ma couple of months by the time OR began.And there was some learning to do. I had no clue what the price would be on the Raptor. And I stillthoughtthey might well be a very good option to a Nomic or Fusion. But only swinging them for real would proveit.



Quick run down of the Raptor to aNomic/Fusion comparison...









Raptor has : Excellent swing weight and balance.

Better head (stainless steel) imo and much easier to clip to your harness on raps (having found a total of 6 Nomics now seems people leave a lot of Nomics at raps stations...gotta wonder why?)



I think the lack of hammer on Nomic or Raptor is a better basic design than the Fusion's rather unbalanced head for pure ice. Having climbed on both Nomic and Fusion a good bit that is my judgement/observation. Enough so that I have spend a number of seasons trying to prefecta bolt on Nomic hammer after Petzl has blown it twice. And learned early on to simply cut down the Fusion's hammer for better effect. If you really need to pound on stuff, a stainless head is a betterd place to startthan aluminum.



The Nomic's pommel, much as I love them, still suck imo. I have had both old and new. And now stick with my old, well worn, first gen Nomics. The Raptor's grips are fixed, nothing to loosen up. The Fusion is adjustable for hand size in length but not really in hand "size".Neither Raptor or Fusionrotate as easily in hand compared to the Nomic. The Raptor is more Fusioncopy than Nomic. Most importantly the Raptor will fit small hands the best I think. Big hands (two of us with XL gloves) get bit some on the Raptor because the bottom of the grip is pretty tight/small. I think the Fusion has a similar problem but is easier to fix.If you have XL hand it is one of my few criticisms of the Raptor overall. If you have smaller hands...Medium glove or smaller i would suspect you would LOVE the Raptor. As my bud, Batboy said, "nice girl's tool". Hey, it was me climbing with them at the moment he uttered his condescending slur. What do you expect of a ham handed Idaho boy?



author's edit

*The "small grip" comments caused some confusion after the fact. The Raptor's over all grip size will likely fit anyone in length. It is only the bottom of the grip where your little finger fits that is too small and too tight for me (I wear a XL glove). The BD Fusion has a similar problem. Both tools can be easily modified to better fit a big hand by removing a little material in the very bottom of the grip and opening up that tight corner where your little finger will set. Sorry for the confusion.*



The Raptor has a "no dicking around" spike and clip in point. Morelike the the Fusion's here and in a good way. Where the Nomic is still lacking purpose. I might want to grind it down some or cut it off but at least the tool starts with a "real" one. The spike alone will hold #2000+. More on that detail below but a very cool number for sure! I didn't bother to touch the Raptor or its picks with afile or grinder before I climbed on them. Which says a lot. I did not use the pick weights and do on my Nomics. The feel of the tools set up like that (one with one without) are very, very similar to swing.



In many ways (not every) the Raptor represents to me thebest of the Nomic and the Fusion, while being soldat half the retail price. But we all know by now that copies don't always turn out like you had hoped. The Fusion is a classic example of that fact. The Raptor? Well, sorta...... for me anyway.Huge potential here though. The Raptor's pick is a few degrees steeper than the Nomic. It makes the swing more like a Fusion or a Ergo than a Nomic. But both of those tools climb hard mixed better than the Nomic, simply because of that extra bit of pick angle. I found the Raptor easy enough to use on ice. The picks look good,climbed well...and more importantly to me, cleans well.









Think the original Cascade Petzl picks here. No clue on durability though. I'm not genteel climbing on my Petzl gear and the Raptor picks remain straight and intact. Says something. Both my partner and I switched from Nomics to Raptors and climbed WI3, 4 and 5 with little comment and lots of comparison. The Trango Raptoris that close...that good. Against its two most likely technical competitors from the "bog" two the Raptoris certainly in the horse race.









My pair showedwith T rated shaft and picks. Head is investment cast stainless (nice!) and small diameter shaft (smaller than the Nomic and Fusion but not too small imo for even my big hands) is drawn 7075 T6 alloy. Tools and spare picks ($37.00 retail on the picks) are in stock and shipping @ Trango.



BD's Green Fusion's spike will go to around 1500lbs with the maximum amount of spacers allowed(3) before the bolt breaks. Petzl Nomic is full T rated if you use the biggest hole in the lower section of the grip handle above the pommel.



I just got confirmation that the spike on the Raptor is rated 10kN, which is just over 2,200lbs. Interestingly, they have had themtest significantly higher, but that is the more conservativenumber they are repeating. Weight is right in between the Quark and a Nomic. Swing, swingweight and balance however makes it feel more like a Nomic than anything else I use. (Nomic/Fusion/Ergo/Raptor)

Heady company indeed for the price point.

Truth is...even if the Raptor was at the Nomic/Fusion price point I'd still own apair of Raptors if I could as spares and for steep mixed. I'm using Raptors in thenew C/T mast head photo.





540 g without pick weights / 605 g with weights

Quark with hammer 588g or 1# 2oz / 528g with no hammer or weight.

Petzl Nomic with mixed pick/weight 1# 6.8oz / 648g

Nomic with just a pick..no weights or hammer 1# 3.5oz / 558g

Trango Raptor 1# 3oz / 540g / 605g with pick weights

Black Diamond Fusion (green) 1# 9oz / 680g





"The Raptor's grip is one piece molded rubber for comfort,and reduced fatigue. The pick penetrates theand cleans easily and comes with removable weights adding to its versatility. The cold forged shaft is incredibly light yet stiff, limiting pick shift when on rock.

• Molded one piece grip for comfort and durability


• Pick weights add to versatility


• Shaft and pick are CEN-T


• Lightweight: 540 g without pick weights / 605 g with weights"

Petzl Nomic with mixed pick/weight 1# 6.8oz / 648g



2nd gen Black Diamond Fusion (green) 1#9oz / 680g

Electric Sky

Well, I am still without my camera (going on two weeks now), but it is in transit and should be here in 3 more days. I have also been busy preparing for my upcoming photo exhibition at the Johnson Heritage Post in Grand Marais, MN. Those two factors mean that I essentially have not had any new photos to post from the last two weeks. So, here is one from 2006 that I would like to share. This was a lightning storm that hit in the middle of the night and woke me up from a deep sleep. I actually shot this photo from my open bedroom window. The storm and the lightning were VERY close, so I didn't want to risk going outside. As it turns out, the best lightning was happening directly over my driveway which was perfectly visible from my upper-level bedroom window. I opened the window, popped the screen out and set up my tripod. For the next half-hour I had a blast capturing photos of the lightning. This is not the "best" shot of the night, but it is a favorite. I will have a print of the "best" shot on display at my upcoming show. Be sure to check it out, the show runs from August 17th to September 8th!

My Bike is Not a Vacuum Cleaner! (or, a Little Romance Goes a Long Way)

An object is never just an object: It is a symbol for the experience it enables. It is a catalyst for a series of associations. It is a keeper and evoker of memories. An object can inspire, impress, or depress. An object can leave us cold or it can excite us. All of this depends on how we feel (or don't feel) about the experiences it symbolises.




This is why I cannot get on board with the idea that our relationship to the bicycle ought to be exclusively utilitarian, devoid of romance or sentimentality. In his discussions about developing a successful bicycle culture, the author of Copenhagenize.com likes to compare the Danish attitude towards the bicycle with that to the vacuum cleaner:

"We all have a vacuum cleaner, we've all learned how to use it and we all use it. But we don't go around thinking about our vaccum in the course of a day. Only when the bag is full do we roll our eyes and sigh. Kind of like when our tire is flat/chain is loose and we chuck our bike into the bike shop.

We don't have a 'stable' of vacuum cleaners. We don't ...wave at other 'avid' vacuum cleaning 'enthusiasts' whilst we clean. The relationship to our bicycles is the same as to our vacuum cleaners. They're both merely incredibly effective and useful tools for making our daily lives easier."

While I respect Mr. Colville-Andersen's work and agree with him on many issues, this insistence on stripping the bicycle of emotional and personal value is misguided and philosophically flawed.




Though on some level, both the bicycle and the vacuum cleaner are utilitarian objects, the type of experiences they represent could not be more different. A vacuum cleaner evokes associations with: order, work, domesticity, obligation, enclosed spaces, headache-inducing noise, and boredom. A bicycle evokes associations with: movement, freedom, independence, wind in your hair, the outdoors, and joy. It is only natural the the latter invites emotional connectedness and the former does not. An object is never just an object.



The fact that the bicycle performs the very practical function of transporting us from one place to another need not compete with the fact that it inspires romanticisation; the two things are not at odds. On the contrary: It seems to me that the very reason the bicycle is so appealing, is its potential to transform ordinary acts of everyday travel into magical experiences of beauty, fantasy, joy and freedom. My bike is not a vacuum cleaner, and I do not feel silly for loving it.

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.

Morning Dance

As the sun rises each morning over the Platte River in Central Nebraska, it is a regular activity for the cranes, as they are waking up, to stretch their wings and sometimes do a little dance for their partners or potential partners. After they stretch they will often jump up and down in the air, flapping their wings and exhibiting a number of other "dance" moves for any partner that might be interested :-)