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New and Experienced Climbers Over 50 #13
Cosmiccragsman AKA Dwain wrote:  |
Lori Milas wrote: I was coming home from climbing today when I took that pic, Lori. Your pic is cool also. My 2 students I am teaching how to climb are doing real well and they are going to turn into real good climbers. |
Cosmiccragsman AKA Dwain wrote: I just noticed how similar they were. I was also coming home from climbing when I took that yesterday. We were probably watching the same sunset! |
rgold wrote: I'm starting to feel like a groupie, rgold. I appreciate it any time you add something to the conversation. Every time we have a dialogue here I learn something new... even the back and forth gives room to see all sides. What has stayed with me about your post, and Guy's (and others) is the words "lack of preparation and a cavalier attitude about the risks and difficulties of outdoors...". Without realizing it I've minimized the challenges of being outdoors, in a somewhat difficult terrain, in difficult weather. I've joked about being 67 and 'just starting'... but really, it's no joke. This is a late age to be heading out into parts unknown, with so little experience. So, I'm going to slow it down and be more careful. Today I am going to empty my backpack(s) and wash them. 7-up exploded in one of them, and I fought off bees yesterday--big time. I'm going to create a checklist of items for those backpacks... and figure out a system of restoring items when I use them. I finally learned to use the Garmin inReach... I can text now, and pair it up with my cell phone, But even that is a problem... I went climbing impromptu yesterday with half-charged cell phone... it ran out of battery even in airplane mode... I had no backup plans for recharging it. (no battery pack) Maybe the thing is just acknowledging that I don't have the skills you guys have in an emergency. Yea... it's 'only Hidden Valley' to seasoned hikers... for me, it's an opportunity to get really lost fast. I probably wouldn't stay calm if I were stranded overnight anywhere. If I got injured, tired or too hungry for a long hike back... it could be a problem. So, I'll check out some wilderness classes, and hopefully whoever I go out with can observe ways in which I could do this better. Just being 'less cavalier' is probably a good start. So THANK YOU so much for all the wisdom and feedback! ------------------ We did go climbing yesterday afternoon... were heading for Atlantis, but Minotaur looked better. We talked and laughed while I worked to figure out face climbing. I had a great time belaying my partner as he lead a 5.10a... falling several times, trying to work out his own moves. I'm feeling confident about this now--except that I think it would be a good idea to tether myself to a rock when my partner is doing heroic things up there. My routes were 5.7 and 5.8... I think I could have lead the 5.7. Climbing there was a reminder of the difference between outdoor and indoor climbing. You couldn't set an indoor route like these! And when I finally had a good hold, it was too painful and gritty to hang onto. There were no perfect hand jams. And then it got mentioned that this is tarantula mating season... which adds to the thrill of sticking hands way into crevices. I keep thinking about Jeremy, Bob, and others who have PERFECT foot placement. I think that must be half the game--and it doesn't require such great strength. This must be the 'technique' part. I have watched Jeremy find his spot, and place his foot exactly there... no testing and trembling about. Anytime Bob climbs it is precise, relaxed, and intentional. So, I was working on that yesterday. As soon as it gets vertical, it gets muscular. The only thing to do here is get back to upper body work. But, keeping hips in as much as possible, using core, helps. My bravery is still lacking... I saw a sequence of moves to get over the crux of the 5.8, which involved quite a lateral leap and possible swing... and an 'assisted dyno' . I finally forced myself to do it, but t was not a pretty sight.  
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Lori Milas wrote: Most likely,except if you are on a different planet than I am. |
Lori Milas wrote: Do you have the Inreach Mini or the Explorer+? You don't need a cell phone to operate the Explorer+. So if your phone's battery dies, just use the Explorer as a standalone device. |
Lori Milas wrote: I guess everyone needs to be careful, but maybe as we enter our twilight years we're more prone to injury and so need to be extra careful. Power banks are so cheap and small these days you really should always have one. Black Diamond makes one that's a flashlight as well as a power bank. I think one does need to seriously consider what;s in one's backpack. What do you actually need? You can take 'all of everything' but then you've got a lot of weight to carry. I always take, for instance, my old army water bottles (1 or 2). I can literally throw them off a cliff and they'd be OK. I'd always rather two smaller bottles than one large one. This way if one gets a hole i have the other. If you lose or puncture your single bottle your screwed. Unless I'm close to camp on easy terrain I'll pack a headlamp. Imagine spraining and ankle and limping back to camp very slowly as the sun goes down and being without a light. Did you know that a fist, held vertically at arm's length with the bottom of the fist on the horizon lets you know how many hours daylight you have? A Silva brand compass is light and takes up little room and can help you out too. Spare socks can be a blessing if you've got your feet wet, wet socks may cause blisters. I always carry toilet paper (it's light), a beanie, a hat, a compression bandage. However, I'm not obsessive about it. If i'm close to camp, know the area well and it's not late afternoon i may actually go for a walk with only a bottle of water. BTW, it's odd your phone ran out of charge on airplane mode. Did you have everything else off too? Normally hitting airplane mode turns off bluetooth and location services, but you can turn them on after turning on airplane mode which takes more power. Did you know you only had a half changed battery when you left? You could have turned the phone off altogether. That way it uses NO power :-) https://awesci.com/calculating-sunset-time-with-your-fingers/ |
Lori Milas wrote: I'm not sure if this was answered, I haven't read all the replies, so sorry if it's been answered but yes, it does give you more useful info. It tells you for instance that after 1/2 mile you should start descending. Then the ground should rise again. So you keep info like that in mind so you can compare it with what you're experiencing. In the army we used to make what were called navigation data sheets. These were essentially a table which described the 'going' of the route, taken from a map, so one could refer to it. We'd be navigating only with a prismatic compass and a map. And creating the table prior to departure allowed a quick reference to bearing, distance, description of terrain. We'd break the route down in to chunks, 'legs' separated by obvious points. So, "March at a magnetic bearing of 2800 mils for 1.5 Ks. There should be high ground on your right until 1.2 Ks when it starts dropping off. Cross a stream at 1.3 Ks. It's very fulfilling when you can navigate well with just a map and compass on unfamiliar terrain. Navigating in real jungle or flat featureless desert can be quite challenging. I agree with the comments about not shunning technology, but it's fun to learn to do it in an 'analogue' way and use the GPS as a back up and to confirm position. Blindly following a GPS can lead to getting lost too. BTW I'd rather see a topographic map than see the graph thing representing the elevation. |
wendy weiss wrote: That's a new one to me. I'll still peel the icing off some things and eat it first, sometimes even throw the cake part away lol. |
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Thank you, Carl! I wish I could head out with you and see how it's done. I appreciate your input on the backpack, too! I would never have known how much time would be spent here just learning how to pack for an outing. It says something when I gush over someone's tidy and well-packed backpack (instead of, say, a friend's new dress.) I'm all into the pack now. Dallas mentioned renting a helicopter and getting an aerial view of Joshua Tree. I realized that I have an aerial view, to some extent, of at least part of Joshua Tree when I hike to the top of some rock formations. (PLEASE don't bother to watch this unless you happen to be interested in that view.) Most residents would find this really boring. But as I sat on my perch yesterday, I decided to take a 360 video of the part of Joshua Tree I was in, and narrate what I can recognize. What surprises me is how different the layout and the rocks look from the higher perspective. On my way back I walked past a couple of rock formations, just to make sure I got them right. The Blob always appeared to me to be an afterthought. From where I sat, it is HUGE. But also, Guy is right... no horse could find his way out of Real Hidden Valley, but there are enough rocks and large formations that it would be pretty easy for a human to get turned around. If anyone knows what those formations adjacent to Sentinel are, I would really like to know. I have tried several times to hike to them via Illusion Dweller... there's always a boulder in the way. I don't know what they are called. Maybe the way to get to them is to rap off of Sentinel. Just really curious, since they look fun. |
dragons wrote: dragons, I knew we were sisters. I've been known to go to weddings of people I don't even know, just so I can have the cake with the big icing. Best of all, one of the flowers. Who needs the cake? |
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So, Matt is the person I was climbing Minotaur with on Sunday. He is also a beekeeper so he told me everything I didn't know about bees, including how and why they swarm. That's been a thing around here in the Park... occasionally a hive will swarm, and people feel endangered and hit the deck and pray. Anyway... when that 7-up exploded in my backpack, the bees figured it out right away, and soon my pack was swarming with bees. I was only worried about how I would retrieve my pack and get out of there when it was time to go. In fact, they had managed to crawl inside my pack, too. The oddest thing. Just as we were getting ready to leave, the very last ray of sunshine topped off the wall and it was 'sunset'. Every last bee got up and left, all at the same time. They just vacated the premises. Matt said they have an internal clock, they know how far they have to fly to get back to the hive, sometimes up to a mile, and they know how much daylight they have left to do it. So, in unison, they knew it was time to go. How cool is that? |
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Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I just bought the Climber's Map for City of Rocks, unfortunately AFTER my climbing was done. I kept thinking as I explored it, "wow, that would have been useful to know!" It is a fantastic companion to the guide book. I recalled that they publish one for Joshua Tree. Check it out. There are a lot of practical navigation tips. |
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Have you guys really maxed out 12 other topics? That's productivity right there! |
Lori Milas wrote: Lori, If you are referring to the many formations that you panned by in the video, there are lots (and more). All the ones with climbing on them are to be found in a guidebook (Joshua Tree West has all of the formations and routes - even the crappy ones). There are pictures of the individual formations (and approach information for each). You absolutely do not need to (nor should you) rappel from anywhere to reach any of them. You should sit there with a guidebook in hand, and try to match up what you see with the pictures. Since you shot a video, you could even do this while sitting in your living room. However, you really need to walk around the Real Hidden Valley Loop Trail, and consult the guide as you go and figure out what is what. Since the pictures may have been taken from different vantage points, they may not always exactly match what you will see from a fixed position. Though, from the video, you can recognize pretty muc everything in view - including out into the Wonderland of Rocks and beyond. This "analog" method is the only way you will really learn to orient yourself, learn to distinguish on brown blob from another, and develop an innate understanding of the relationships between the various formations. Contrary to some opinions, gadgets will only impede your ability to develop these skills of recognizing the terrain and features. It is fine to have them as "backups," but your own senses should be your primary means of navigation and learning. |
Franck Vee wrote: What’s your question? Or how about this Q Frank. What diarrhea meds do you use, when you have “days” like these? And can you still go climbing with absolute confidence after it takes effect? |
Guy Keesee wrote: @Frank Vee, we converse. When does having friendships stop??? Garlic. If you live where there are actual seasons, plant garlic cloves in the fall, pointy end up, single cloves. You probably can find starts at a good garden center when it's time to plant. Here, anytime in the fall, before the ground freezes. Onions. If you have winters, plant starts (little plants) in the spring, or the little bulbs, also in the spring. Plant before the summer solstice for bulbs, after the solstice for flowers, aka seeds. We grow a ton of both in Idaho and adjacent eastern Oregon! I've produced both onions to eat, and stored the best onions from a bigger crop to grow out the next year for a seed crop. Ask your local garden peeps, or, better yet, farmers market dudes, if you know them. Can't answer the other. Don't have any, uh, issues.... non-issue issues??? But I drink coffee every morning and eat real food, most of the time. Even if it's odd combinations, like that slice of cheesecake I've lusted for all week (with a LOT of sliced strawberries) for "dinner", than a bowl of popcorn to follow. Eat dessert first....or whatever I want the most. ;-) Best, Helen |
