New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #5

Not much murdering around my yard these day, so raccoons are safe. Porcupines are another matter tho, they’ve cost me thousands in vet bills.

Tried switching from alpine to telemark some years back, still have a detached lower rib to show for my one and only run though the moguls. Ill stick to something safer like climbing, tyvm.

Doug Elkins wrote: Not much murdering around my yard these day, so raccoons are safe. Porcupines are another matter tho, they’ve cost me thousands in vet bills.

Tried switching from alpine to telemark some years back, still have a detached lower rib to show for my one and only run though the moguls. Ill stick to something safer like climbing, tyvm.

I switched to telemark to keep me out of the moguls - my knees are shot. My joints feel better with telemark skiing simply because I can't ski the same terrain as with alpine - and I have zero self control. :) 

A raccoon tore up my neighbor's dog a few days ago, my dogs are stupid enough they would go after one given the chance. I wouldn't mind too much if someone did some thinning of the raccoon populations here - I don't think they'd be very tasty in a stew though...

Weekend plans of camping and granite seeking got nixed with unanticipated work projects - ah well, it's cold and windy here anyway.

s.price wrote: 2008 Island Packet 460.

Rover

Nice boat, Island Packets have a good and well deserved reputation. I jokingly say I avoid going on other peoples boats because they often make mine seem like a hovel, it is so old school kind of like a crusty old trad climber, designed when amenities on a sailboat was a sit down toilet in a cramped head and a two burner alcohol stove, but it is often the boat with the prettiest lines in the anchorage 

Lori Milas wrote: Soooo.... speaking of Smith Rock in May.  Looks like I'd have about an 8 hour drive.  Is there enough intermediate single pitch that I could climb?  Perhaps by then I'll be ready for more-bigger-higher... will find my inner super-hero.  But just in case, would I be ok there?  

Lori, you might want to try the Climbing Route Finder. Here are the non-trad results for Smith Rock between 5.0 and 5.10a. There are 4 pages of results. I left in sport. If I remove sport climbs, there are 26 routes that can be top-roped.

If you click on the above link and scroll to the bottom of that list, you'll see a form that you can use to change the sort order and settings.

The Route Finder is useful for a first pass, but not all routes are in it. So in general, you'll find there are more routes (sometimes many more) than what turns up there.

John Barritt wrote:

Tell them squirrels no worries, the raccoons in the pic under my treestand are eating apple peel I'm feeding them. And I'd never let Jeff really shoot them.....

Squirrel told me he thinks you are fattening them up for later.

Best thread ever.....climbing, guns, hunting, sailboats, motorcycles, rvs, skiing, tanks, Thailand and Easter island.......

Long range .308 "plinker" (since we've wandered over here.....)

@Lori, raccoon is not tasty in a stew......the only reason to shoot one IMO is for the fur or if they have rabies.
Now squirrels and rabbit make a fine stew.
@H, that heart felt post earlier, right behind that pic of the little wet raccoon almost brought a tear to my eye (fortunately old hardmen don't have tear ducts)

@Doug, porcupines are the only thing I fear in the woods, last one I crossed trailing a deer owned the place......the only thing they fear is nothing (and no Lori they are not tasty in a stew)

@dragons, squirrels are known liars....and the one in your pic hasn't been missing any meals.....I have fattened a few up but I let them waddle off......;)

Lori Milas wrote:

It’s entirely my fault. I didn’t want to cross country ski. And so we discussed murdering stuff instead. I’m willing to revisit the skiing before someone gets hurt, or mowed down by a tank.  

My cousin raised Turkeys one year, and when the end of November rolled around it was time, the turkeys were dispatched for the table( I participated). He never raised them again. But I see it as the most honest Thanksgiving I have ever had.

John Barritt wrote: Best thread ever.....climbing, guns, hunting, sailboats, motorcycles, rvs, skiing, tanks, Thailand and Easter e rabies.
Now squirrels and rabbit make a fine stew. 

H, that heart felt post earlier, right behind that pic of the little wet raccoon almost brought a tear to my eye (fortunately old hardmen don't have tear ducts)

@Doug, porcupines are the only thing I fear in the woods, last one I crossed trailing a deer owned the place......the only thing they fear is nothing (and no Lori they are not tasty in a stew.

Maybe we got off to a bad start on this thread (that you fixed, John).  I’m seeing very little discussion on climbing...except Jeff’s courtesy post half naked which I believe is a stunt double on a bouldering set. 
So this must be where guys go when they get bored in the dead of winter...right off the rails.   Where does it go from here?  This could be one of the first times I would NOT want to be a fly on the wall when a bunch of restless guys get together to talk guns, sailboats, and why not women? Why hold back?
Are you absolutely sure that porcupines don’t taste good and how would you know? I guess this whole what-is-and-what-is-not-good to eat discussion is something you learn down in your soul when you grow up in god forsaken places. I’m trying to picture porcupine sirloin...
I believe REI is going to throw us out of here. 

dragons wrote:

Lori, you might want to try the Climbing Route Finder. Here are the non-trad results for Smith Rock between 5.0 and 5.10a. There are 4 pages of results. I left in sport. If I remove sport climbs, there are 26 routes that can be top-roped.

If you click on the above link and scroll to the bottom of that list, you'll see a form that you can use to change the sort order and settings.

The Route Finder is useful for a first pass, but not all routes are in it. So in general, you'll find there are more routes (sometimes many more) than what turns up there.

THANK YOU, Dragons, for bringing this thread back to its rightful purpose.  I'm really thinking about Smith.  I wrote to a guide group there who assured me that they could also take me out... so between friends and maybe a little professional intro, I think I'd be fine.  It LOOKS beautiful.  

I would really like to make this happen.  There are some personal things I have to work on... my business hacking has been on again and off again... the hackers disappeared once again.  I don't know where I'll be in May.  But I can always plan as though everything will work out right.  It just looks and sounds so fun.    

John Barritt wrote: It takes a special kind of crazy to 'coon hunt......

Now deer hunting, that's the stuff right there......

John

If you get out to eastern PA, you can hunt in my back yard. There are 6 houses in the development and we all have a little over 10 acres.

Deer in back yard

Turkeys   There were 9 females and 2 males. First time I saw a male with a beard.

Turkeys in tree and ground. I let our jack russell to chase the turkeys away. One flew about 200 feet into the field.

We even had a baby deer got through our old wooden fence and fell into the pool. My wife scoped him out with the pool brush.

Even got a picture of a fox by the diving board.

Also, out son in law has a pheasant hunting preserve. Last year, they let loose over 16,000 pheasants. The preserve is around 170 acres.

John

Thanks John! I've always wanted to "hunt" deer from a hot tub...... ;)

Sorry Lori, (you started it)

John

You can also hunt squirrels from the back deck. It was hot this summer and he needed a drink.

John

John Barritt wrote: @dragons, squirrels are known liars....and the one in your pic hasn't been missing any meals.....I have fattened a few up but I let them waddle off......;)

Squirrel says you're the liar, and who're you calling fat?

Lori Milas wrote:

THANK YOU, Dragons, for bringing this thread back to its rightful purpose.  I'm really thinking about Smith.  I wrote to a guide group there who assured me that they could also take me out... so between friends and maybe a little professional intro, I think I'd be fine.  It LOOKS beautiful.  

I would really like to make this happen.  There are some personal things I have to work on... my business hacking has been on again and off again... the hackers disappeared once again.  I don't know where I'll be in May.  But I can always plan as though everything will work out right.  It just looks and sounds so fun.    

Lori, I also want to go on a "real rock" climbing trip, but also have some other stuff going on, and don't know if I'll be able to do it. But I will not be easily deterred. I know you won't be, either.

FWIW Squirrels are totally relevant to any climbing thread. Those guys are truly amazing climbers, and they take falls remarkably well, most of the time, rgold's story notwithstanding.

Lori Milas wrote:

THANK YOU, Dragons, for bringing this thread back to its rightful purpose.  I'm really thinking about Smith.  I wrote to a guide group there who assured me that they could also take me out... so between friends and maybe a little professional intro, I think I'd be fine.  It LOOKS beautiful.  

I would really like to make this happen.  There are some personal things I have to work on... my business hacking has been on again and off again... the hackers disappeared once again.  I don't know where I'll be in May.  But I can always plan as though everything will work out right.  It just looks and sounds so fun.    

Lori, there is a women's climbing guide service at Smith if that's what you want. I have met some of their guides, they seem super nice. Happy to offer a belay, set up a top rope, and show you around Smith. My guess is Helen would be happy to meet you there as well. May is the busy season, but if you know where to go you can usually find stuff. Sometimes it just requires hiking further.

Lori Milas wrote:
So this must be where guys go when they get bored in the dead of winter...right off the rails.   Where does it go from here?  

To me, who is reminded by this photo, that my son, in kindergarten, with a young teacher just back from Australia.....with all her photos....

My son?

Asked to be an echidna for Halloween.

Sweatpants, hoody, socks on hands and feet. Bit of black for a nose. Check. Uhhhhh. Quills. Hm.

I can now report, after making a carapace of high density foam (that blue stuff) and duck tape, that just shy of 2,000 tiny black straws will get you there.

Just in case that ever comes up.

H.

Stunt doubles lol 

Wow, a lot of diversity in the last few days.  Growing up in NW Colorado in ranch country you of course hunted.  U.S. Army wanted to teach me another kind of hunting, I had trouble with it but met some folks who didn't.  So when I met this little beach bunny in Florida we had some cultural issues to work out.  She would call every Cervidae Bambi.  That was a really good marital fight, lasted months.  In the end, she understood where our food comes from, she said I could go hunting so long as I didn't bring any carcasses home. I put the guns up and haven't been hunting since.  Mutual respect, the foundation of a good relationship.

I admire people that found rock climbing early in life and have stuck with it, they are smart and very good at what they do.  I think I have ADD.  I tend to "find" a sport and hammer at it for few years and then move on to a new sport.  (Sorry Jeffrey, I still think of climbing as a sport).  

To us diversity is a huge part of our life.  No we will never be famous, no magazine articles, no reality tv shows about us.  But I feel my life is very rich. I have done things most will never know, I have been on top of mountains and deep within the sea.  I have watched children grow and become self reliant adults who are capable of moving humanity forward into the future.

All that being said Barbara and I have become ill.  We are suffering from a condition called stay-atosis.  It is very rare condition that only affects those of a Nomadic tendency.  We have been stationary for nearly 62 straight days.  We have established, if you have a queasy stomach don't read this part, a routine.  

I think we will break away and run down to St. George, UT.  The climbing there is not epic, but it's good enough for us.  We have to get down and back before the next cold front.  I was thinking Chuckwalla wall but Barb says Prophecy Wall will better suit us.  Motel 6 or similar will put up with Kota, the not so good crag dog. A little warmth, some vitamin D, change of scenery, it'll do.

Smith in May.  We will be close by at Cove Palisades SP being Kayak guides on the weekends.  We intimately know the 5.5-5.7 climbs, and a few that most could never find.  We also know the secret passage to the Upper Gorge.  Not that we can climbing anything there, but we know how to get there. We will be 30 miles away, whoever calls dibs first get's the couch.

Jeffrey, if you make it there the best dinner we can kind find if you will ropegun Voyage of the Cow Dog and/or Wherever I May Roam.  A couple of classics we have not done.  Barb should be able to clean climb following, I will probably have to embarrass everyone and break out the ascenders on the cruxes. 

 
 

Well, this thread has gone from bad to worse... now I am thinking about the 2000 black straws that make a porcupine for Helen's son.

But Russ' post did set me to thinking about the mountain goat I endlessly observed.  Until today I thought this goat was here to teach me slab technique.  But tonight I realized that the mountain goat is an 'edger'... and something I found I could do pretty well.  At least for a beginner.  As I dug deeper into pictures this evening, though, I was really overcome by the many mistakes I have made both indoors and outside--so many awkward, clumsy moves... and the many times i didn't have the muscle, or the grace, to send a climb.  It seems the hardest lesson for me in this endeavor is to accept what is... let that be enough.  Every single climb is so enjoyable and so full of life... or could be, if ego wasn't in the way.

I recall this climb so vividly, because top rope or not, it was exhilarating and difficult.  I'd be curious to watch it be lead.  Maybe some day I'll lead it myself.    

Dallas R wrote:
Jeffrey, if you make it there the best dinner we can kind find if you will ropegun Voyage of the Cow Dog and/or Wherever I May Roam.  A couple of classics we have not done.  Barb should be able to clean climb following, I will probably have to embarrass everyone and break out the ascenders on the cruxes. 

I will take that deal! Happy to lead both of those! And since I live here, I don't even need the couch.