Me & Dogs

Here is a photo of me, Tuffee, and Codee taking a break while stacking hay for horses. And another shot of Tuffee, and Codee as they think they are herding my bay mare, Nita, and the paint, Sundance.

Large White Gourd Vase

First Tomatoes by Variety

Experience has taught us to bring our tomatoes inside to ripen on the counter, picking them just as soon as they show any color. Anything left on the vine too long will be destroyed by birds and squirrels and bugs.

Philo & I shared two 'Black Cherry' tomatoes last week - guess they were the first little tomatoes of ... Here's what's on the counter right now, minus what we'll count as the first regular tomato- the larger 'Early Girl' at bottom in the photo was sliced for breakfast. (Click to enlarge the photo)

We've already lost a couple of green tomatoes to bird pecks - once punctured they tend to rot. That very green 'German Johnson' at upper right in the photo fell off the vine. We had a couple of 'Gypsy' peppers this weekend. A few weeks ago we had great hopes for the 'Mariachi' pepper, but it suddenly collapsed, much like the heirloom tomatoes 'Paul Robeson' and 'Green Zebra' did last year. This is a worry - and one reason the heirloom 'German Johnson' is in a large container instead of in the garden soil.
A couple of mystery squashes are developing small fruit - who will get them first? The squash vine borers, the critters, or us?

Edit Monday AM: Good thing some tomatoes were inside - something (probably a squirrel) attacked one of the few 'Black Krim' tomatoes this AM while it was still solid green -it's in the compost now. And another pepper plant collapsed.

Pueblo Montano Trailhead

There is a small park at the Pueblo Montano Trailhead that I went to this past week. I had been meaning to go for about a year or so and no one wanted to go with me so I went by myself. I found that a firefighter had made these wonderful chainsaw sculptures out the dead cottonwood tree trunks that were left from a fire that went throught this area in ... I had to take lots of photos of the sculptures and now I want to share them. I hope everyone appreciates this artwork as I do. My thanks to the artest for for doing the scuptures.

US Senate Honors Search and Rescue Personnel

May 27th-Memorial Day Weekend

Winter still rules at Mt Rainier!!

We hope to see folks on the mountain psyched to climb and camp but please be prepared! GPS, map and compass, cell phone and a completed wilderness permit are all great tools that allow both climbers and rescuers a greater safety margin when the weather turns poor. Pack your Gore-tex and skis and have a good time with great winter conditions this weekend.


On Friday May 14, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed Resolution 526, which honors the men and women who perform Search and Rescue (SAR) throughout the United States. The Resolution specifically acknowledges the role that professionals and volunteers provide to our country, and sets aside the week of May 16 to May 22, as National Search and Rescue week. Also, it encourages the people of the United States to observe and hold ceremonies and activities that promote awareness and appreciation of the role SAR personnel provide for their communities.

The Mount Rainier climbing community had a hand in making this possible, as our former Mountaineering and SAR Program Manager, Mike Gauthier, was one of the driving forces behind the Resolution. As you may recall, Mike left Mount Rainier to work in the US Senate last year. While at Mount Rainier, he participated in over 200 SAR incidents and had this to say about the Resolution, “This is a very personal story for me as my friends and fellow rangers, Sean Ryan and Phil Otis, died during a mountain rescue high on Mt. Rainier in 1995. Finding them on the glacier that day changed the trajectory of my life and career, and steeled my resolve to change the way we worked as climbing rangers. Being able to help with this resolution is part of my commitment to honor and remember them and their spirit.”

Mike and Central Mountain Rescue Volunteer Marty Lentsch have aspirations to eventually create a National Museum and Memorial for SAR. Said Mike, “some of the hardest, most valuable and rewarding moments of my time as a park ranger have been during search and rescue missions. I worked with many incredible people who gave their time and energy, sometimes risking their lives, in order to help others in emergencies. At Mount Rainier, the volunteers from the Mountain Rescue Association were very notable because they trained and prepared on their own in order to help the climbing, hiking, skiing and outdoor recreation community. So it is very appropriate that the US Senate, through our good friend Senator Maria Cantwell, acknowledge and set aside a week to recognize the work they, and the professionals from local, state and federal agencies, do in order to help people throughout the nation.”

Please pass this good news along and look for more information on how you can help. It will take time to organize and achieve a National Museum and Memorial, but it would be a fitting honor for those who have lost their lives in the line of duty and also for those who unselfishly give so much to help others in need.

More can be found about Sean Ryan and Phil Otis through books, and here is a link to the text of the Senate Resolution. Photo by Mike Gauthier.

~ DG

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.

Monkey cigars

Several Catalpas grow here. They're a native tree, but these were planted by previous owners, to attract the catalpa worms that are such good fish bait.



One of its country names is Monkey Cigar Tree. Ever since I learned that, the long pods always bring to mind those old smoking monkey toys.



Inside the pods are several seeds, all fringed on the ends.



Looks like twins. (They all do.)

I posted about Catalpas, aka Catabas or Catawbas, and their worms before. They grow naturally by streams, so they don't mind getting their feet wet - the trees in the flood photo last week (on the right) were catalpas.

I thought I'd read that repeated defoliation by the worms didn't harm the trees. Usually, not every tree is defoliated every year. But one that seemed the worms' favorite is now dead. Could just be coincidence though; I don't know how to perform tree autopsies.



The spring we first moved here, I found a hornworm on the porch, and mistook it for a catalpa worm. Oh, so gently did I carry him over to a branch, thinking I was helping him find his true home. I want to slap my head now, remembering that piece of idiocy! It's ok though — confusion to our enemies, and all that.

I wondered if people actually ever lit up the pods, which don't seem very smokable to me. No firm evidence, but I thought it was hilarious that the search turned up an article by my blog friend Ron as the top item. Small world!

The Avalon Theater Today

Blizzard Report, from Somerville MA

As you may have heard, we've had a little snow here in the Northeast. We were out of town in the days before it was expected to hit, and hurried to make it back before the travel ban went into effect. Yes: a motor vehicle travel ban for all of Massachusetts was declared, with violations punishable with a year of jail time. Still, here in Greater Boston many doubted the seriousness of the blizzard to come. We've been fooled before with promises of sensational snowstorms, only to receive a measly couple of inches.






This time however, the universe followed through. Over 2 feet of snow had piled up outside our front door by morning, and that was after the stairs had been shoveled the night before.






Beyond the front door I could see an awkward heap of snow, which I realised was the neighbours' car.






Our street looked like this, after the plows had gone through it.






The normally busy main road looked like this.






And this. (Notice anything missing?)






At around 9:30am I saw a procession of plows making their way down the road.






But it continued to snow until mid-morning, quickly covering any progress the plows made with another dusting.






I encountered surreal scenes, such as this one. Any car that had been left out on the street had now turned into a giant snowbank.






Once the snow stopped falling, vehicle excavations began.






They would continue zealously until sunset.






Clearing sidewalks was tricky, considering how much snow had fallen. Some dug trenches, which had to be navigated single file - the snow nearly waist-high.






But for the most part the sidewalks had not been cleared and pedestrians took to the roads.






Mostly on foot, by sometimes on sleds, snowshoes, and skis.






I was a little envious of the snowshoes I have to admit; I would love to try them.






In the first half of the day, I did not see any bikes being ridden. The road surface was too uneven and soft for most cyclists and bicycles, myself included.






At least in the first half of the day, the driving ban was enforced. A police SUV slowly circulated the neighbourhood shouting threats over the loudspeaker at anyone who attempted to drive, other than snow plow operators and city workers.







Pedestrian movement was not impeded, and soon people took over the roads.







At some point, word came that a party was being held in nearby Union Square.








Pretty soon, it seemed like the entire neihgbourhood headed that way (except those still digging out their cars!).






There was music blaring and people dancing. Despite the potentially serious nature of a blizzard of this magnitude, the atmosphere in the entire neighbourhood was downright festive. Those out on the streets were saying hello to one another, and smiling ear to ear.






Kids, adults, everyone looked happy to be outdoors, enjoying themselves.






Some wore costumes.






Others came ready to fight.





Which they did, to the sounds of dance music, with the Somerville Gateway mural as proud backdrop.






As the afternoon waned and the snowplows laboured tirelessly, I began to see a few bikes here and there.






But still mostly sleds.






Andtoboggans.






And skis.






And various snowboard-like contraptions.






I did a lot of walking throughout the day. Many layers were donned to deal with the cold, but nothing out of the ordinary.






Others got creative with plastic bags, various DIY overshoes and blanket-capes.






To see our entire neighbourhood so active and energetic at a time when it was expected to be immobilised was quite something. By mid-afternoon a few local businesses opened their doors to meet the foot-traffic demand for coffee, alcohol and groceries. All of these places were packed.






It seems that Somerville, MA has weathered the storm well, and there have been no disasters. In the meantime, the snow plows are still at it. Excavations of vehicles continue. And although the motor vehicle ban is now lifted, along the largely unplowed side streets snowshoes continue to rule the roads.


More pictures here - enjoy the rest of the weekend!

The new Petzl Quark

The is a repostfrom earlyApril . But as we roll into the fall ice season andthe winter of / I thought it worth revisting for those looking to buying new tools. I'll have a new Nomic/Fusion comparison up soon as well. And a new Cobra/Quark comparison. And finally, since so few have gotten to use the newest Ergoanother set of comments on that tool as well from some recent alpine climbing with it.





New Quark buried in Neve with a lwt C-T adze.



Hardly new now as the first tools showed up here in the States back in Oct/Nov. of . The issues with the new Nomic and Ergo appeared and for one reason or another even the unaffected Quarks weren't available in large numbers again until mid Feb. . I played with a pair at the Bozeman Icefest. But wasn't able to get my own pair until the week before I left for Chamonix in late March.For may folks in the warmer parts of the USthe ice season was winding down by that time.the tools were available again. Hard to justify new tools at full price at the tail end of your season not knowing what will be available next year.



(I don't know ofanything new coming along for -)



More than a few waiting for the new Nomic. The Nomic may be worth the wait for some but easy to over look the more durable and likely a better all around tool, theQuark. Many will have a the option of even more/better choicesfor their own use by having the new all around Quark and the even more technical (than the Nomic) new Ergo available.



The new Quark is certainly built in the Nomic's image. The handle contours are very close and most importantly the aluminum heads are exactly the same profiles.



You have to look back at the original Quark to make a good comparison. Petzl has changed more than just the head of the tool. But changing the head made a new hammer and a new adze required on the newest tool. Even the picks were changed. Making them nowT rated instead of B rated in bothversions, the new ICE and New DRY. Add to that you get a slightly deeper pick angle on the newest Quark.







Below: pictured isthe new pick angle on the top over lay. The new pick is slightly steeper, may be 2 degrees.. Middle is the newestICEpicktip profile. The DRY versionis the same tip profile. The bottom picture is the older Cascade Nomic pick profile.









So as you can see, it aint your old Quark. The new Quark with a hammerweights in at 588g or 528g with no hammmer. The old Quark with a hammer installed is 682g.











With the new Quark that includes a second higher grip in both over all weights. With after market hammers and adzes available for the new Quark and the additional factory movable second grip the new Quark has a lot of options.



The newest Petzl factory hammer on the left on a new Quark. The C-T hammer on a original styleNomic right.Weights vary from 30g for the low profile C-T hamemr to 60g for the Petzl hammer.







The other improvement that Petzl made on thenew tool is a full size carabiner hole in the spike to clip umbilicals into. Big improvement.











This one ofmy personal Quarks, with fixed trigger for high daggering, a rubber grip wrapand a C-T hammer installed. Lots of options on how you set this tool up. And an incredibly versatile tool on any terrain. The Adze in the opening photo is its mate.



Snow slogs...







Used here to good effect onhard technical dry tooling. Jack Roberts on a bolted M7+ @ adry tooling area in France.







I have climbed with the Nomic almost exclusively since it became available. The Quark before that. Abandoning every other tool in my quiver sometimes to my detriment. Only the new Ergo has swayed me untilnow. The new Quark has taken the majority of technical advantages of the Nomic and added them to a more vestal shaft of the older Quark. All the while giving you a majority of the Nomic'sadvantages in one form or another (the moving slider grip) while offering some additional advantages on less technical ground. The new Quark is one of the few tools imo that rivalsand generally betters the original Nomic as a truly all around tool. Seems I am not the only one who thinks so. I suspect this guy at any given moment has a choice of ANY tool that Petzl makes. You think?







Hard not to be pleased with the newest Quark. For many the Quark will be a better (and more appreciated) all around tool.