New and experienced climbers over 50 # 25

Great pics, Bob. I love Coop. Have a cabin down on Funny River, so I move between the brownies  and the nanuqs. This is a mama and two cubs today. They swam in from the ice which is currently 10 miles offshore. Exhausted, they will sleep in a pile for many hours. 

Colden Dark wrote:

Great pics, Bob. I love Coop. Have a cabin down on Funny River, so I move between the brownies  and the nanuqs. This is a mama and two cubs today. They swam in from the ice which is currently 10 miles offshore. Exhausted, they will sleep in a pile for many hours. 

I’d really like to know what they do when they finally reach land. I mean is there anything to hunt on land or is this just where they chill for a while before heading back out to sea?  They are beautiful, Colden!   
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I guess relative to Barrow, Alaska I am in the tropics, but it is cold and rainy here and I only have some shorts and tank tops so getting thoroughly rained on. I might be able to dig up a pair of Climbing pants for dinner tonight.

But I thought on my last morning here I would try to clean up my car and just realized it’s hopeless! Tony won’t get in it. He spends a lot of time at the car wash making his car pristine but he’s given up taking mine. Besides dirt and sand and whatever I bring with me it is embarrassingly mucked up with melted chocolate. Also, I keep cans of sprite and 7-Up in my car for low blood sugars and damn if they don’t explode every time. (for a while I switch to the small plastic bottles until on two different occasions recap was welded on so tightly there was no way to unscrew it and it was in the middle of very dire diabetic crisis, so no more of that ) So it’s bad news in my car and I can’t take it to the Lexus dealership because they would probably repossess it.  but I decided rather than “just take it to the guys down the street” for some kind of surface cleaning that includes the fake smell Christmas trees I will get a rug doctor this week and just go at  it for a day or two.  

I have noticed that my biners and my gri-gri have gotten unaccountably stuck over time so this morning I brought them into the hotel room to have a look. Chocolate. They’re glued shut with hardened chocolate. So I’ve soaked and dried them off and I’m turning over a new leaf. I don’t want to be the one person in the annual accident report that says “death by chocolate“.

Lori, maybe m&m's would be less likely to end up everywhere? Seems like chocolatiers are missing a market, here. Chocolate that's not gonna melt all over the place, or if it does, stays contained? Stick 72% dark chocolate in a squeeze thingy like gogurt??

As to bottles not opening?

I've found, that if I can't get a bottle twisted open the normal way, right handed, by turning my left hand over, I get more strength. Or just clench teeth on the thing. T  The hand (or teeth) are "pliers", the right hand twists the bottle.

Not been climbing for quite awhile, as it turns out. Not last trip to COR, and the latest trip was only camping, hiking, etc. 

I was thinking of our trout lovers, though, on this last one!

Plenty of happy fisherfolk over there! Got to watch an Osprey make a pretty decent catch, no pic, or it could've gone in the trout thread!

I'm trying to get remotely caught up at home, plus, get in track with getting to the gym. Signed up for swim lessons, to try and get better at it. Also have a couple art classes starting late September. I'm pretty good....when I draw regularly. Horribly out of practice now though.

Sorry I can't shoot over to COR when you guys are there! It half kills me, but, gotta hunker down here. I still have 2 more trips scheduled, end of September camping trip, and end of October wedding in MI. That last is at least an MPer, and, they do have a nice climbing gym in his town!

Best, Helen 

Oh, and there was a flying cow this morning, over the farmers market. The barn already landed.

I love the cow Helen!

I was just thinking about how Bob has written full chapters in numerous books on how not to fuck up your gear and I hope he doesn’t permanently fire me for being such a moral failure. 

I’m sitting in a rainstorm in a forest and trying to figure out how the hell this happens on September 2! My daughter-in-law said she saw a mouse the other day, and therefore it is time to start preparing for winter. She’s done with summer, and I guess fall – – the mouse is the tip off for coming snow storms. How do they do this? IT’S STILL SUMMER! They had a full six weeks of warm weather and I guess that’s enough for them. Now onto the real weather which is snow and more snow.

So all my plans for floating down the river and spending more time in the lake are over for now. I waited too long I guess.  

Yesterday I did 16 laps of a classic Adelaide 16, Muesli. Sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1. Today I went bouldering and did a V3. Tiny crimps. Much core.  
It’s spring here. I’m bouncy. I wrote a poem.

Lori Milas wrote:

I’d really like to know what they do when they finally reach land. I mean is there anything to hunt on land or is this just where they chill for a while before heading back out to sea?  

Lori, these guys slept for hours. Every once in a while one would stand up and look around and lie back down. They had moved on by yesterday morning. I went and checked out where they were lying down. I was hoping they left a tooth or a claw or a bit of fur behind. Even scat would have been cool. Nothing but tracks. Their massive bodies left huge impressions in the sand (and on my brain). They  came ashore right at Shop 3 which is Barrow’s trash transfer station. I could smell the garbage from the beach so they could probably smell it from miles out at sea. If they don’t leave town on their own, the nanuq patrol will run them out of town up the beach to the north where they will scavenge seal/walrus/whale carcasses that were dumped out there by village hunters during the summer. They may chill on land for a while or the ice and seals could blow back in next week. Winter is coming on fast up here.

Colden, this sounds a lot like the trash bin-raiding black bears in my 'hood.

Sadly, 2 grizzlies were just euthanized not so far from where we just were, in eastern Idaho. They get habituated pretty quickly, if people aren't super diligent with bear stuff. I was surprised, even spitting out toothpaste on the ground, in camp, was a no no. 

The garbage guy had an enthusiastic audience! The grizzly proof one was even more burly than the bear proof ones from central Idaho trip! Packing everything that had the slightest anything to do with food, and I do mean everything, into the campsite bear boxes was kinda sobering, too. I was glad my stinky sweaty self was in the car, not a tent. Even then? They warned us to lock car doors. The bears have figured out door latches.

Otoh?

It was fun to see the ravens, eyeballing everyone, in Yellowstone, knowing they have figured out pack zippers, lol!

With all of that?

It was surprisingly empty of critters of any sort, both e. Idaho and Yellowstone. Elk weren't quite bugling yet, and summer residents were exiting. Except for bison, I didn't see anything I couldn't/haven't seen much closer to home, than the almost 6 hour drive. 

It was fun, but I'm happy to be home. 

After many many years, there is now a nice new guidebook for our local bouldering area! Hopefully, we can be getting out soon to get it beat up! 

Nice poetry, Carl, it's been awhile!

Helen

Overheard in the university gym yesterday morning: "Who's Jimmy Buffett?"

Guy Keesee wrote:

Andrew… the camp “golden trout camp” is a good starting point. Head east from here- going up hill- Owens Point is to the north and a prominent pyramid shaped peak is south. 

Thanks, I know the exact spot you are talking about now. 

Hello!

I am 54, and in the past couple of months, I have noticed that my feet are becoming more problematic.   My big toes get sore after like 2 outdoor pitches, and overall I feel like my feet are weaker.   Is this an age thing? Do I need stiffer shoes?  Any advice is appreciated!
Jen 

jms wrote:

Hello!

I am 54, and in the past couple of months, I have noticed that my feet are becoming more problematic.   My big toes get sore after like 2 outdoor pitches, and overall I feel like my feet are weaker.   Is this an age thing? Do I need stiffer shoes?  Any advice is appreciated!
Jen 

Hey Jen, Both of my big toes, and to some extent second toes, are painful and mostly numb and have been this way for five years.  Whether my shoes were tight or loose it hasn’t changed things… I believe it’s mostly due to slab climbing where so much weight is on my toes.

I’ve seen a Podiatrist about it and was told it’s not dangerous, but also not fixable.  

Maybe others will have other suggestions but if you feel it’s really unbearable you might check it out with your doctor. 

I am worried about Colden up there in the Arctic mingling with the polar bears, but I don’t see many vegetables in those pictures and I’m pretty sure that walrus and whale is not a well-balanced diet.

I just fired up my farmstand again and already things are starting to grow. Maybe one of these would work up there in Barrow.  

BTW, winter is coming on hard and fast here too. I can already feel it in the air.

I had a photo gig down in my old stomping grounds.  Got a nice solo in and a hike

got to play music with old friends Fri night. worked again sat morning then went home and rushed through my editing and uploads. then i drove to the Vermont State Muzzleloading championships to camp out and compete on Sunday. I won the pistol category for the 2nd year in a row.

It was a lot of hard work and a little bit of Drama but I got it done with about 4 points to spare.  Sat afternoon I noticed that my front  sight was falling off so I used a massive amount of super glue to re attach it. I was thinking of JB weld but the cure time was too long. Once it set up I had to re zero and then head to the venue to camp. I was able to do a few reassuring practice shots in the morning before my stage. 25 yard target went ok not great except I sliced my trigger finger on a spent cap and was bleeding pretty good. Nice and slippery. Also it really stings when you get black powder in a cut. Then on the 50 yard stage I could not seem to get my eyes to focus..  It was so bad that  I actually tried to clean off my front sight thinking perhaps I had some debris on it. Then after I had just shot my eighth shot out of 10 I realized that I was wearing my driving glasses and not my shooting glasses which have a +1 prescription.. I made the most of a bad situation and shot two perfect 10s with the right glasses and my last two shots and with a lot of luck  that was enough for the win...   Glad that is over with and I can relax for a bit. The first Biathlon is in mid January..  whole different game. I need to get in shape and get my new snowshoe set up dialed but at least I will be allowed to use two hands for the shooting.  Trying to hit a 3 inch bullseye at 50yrds one handed with a 3+lb hand cannon is pretty interesting. 

jms wrote:

Hello!

I am 54, and in the past couple of months, I have noticed that my feet are becoming more problematic.   My big toes get sore after like 2 outdoor pitches, and overall I feel like my feet are weaker.   Is this an age thing? Do I need stiffer shoes?  Any advice is appreciated!
Jen 

More barefoot time in the sand or grass helps my feet.

This is our end of summer forecast, hottest few days yet!

Nick, congratulations! Funny story about all the drama, but it actually is impressive that you dealt with all that stuff and won. 

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

...my shooting glasses which have a +1 prescription.....Trying to hit a 3 inch bullseye at 50yrds one handed with a 3+lb hand cannon is pretty interesting. 

Interesting.  I'm near sighted and have a hard time seeing a front sight with my prescription shooting glasses.  Not so bad on an Ultradot scope which I mostly used for competition.

I have a couple of pair of prescription glasses set up as "computer glasses" ("piano glasses" back in the day).  Front sight in perfect focus and good enough for distance.  Seems to work ok with iron sights.  Folks do all kinda of nutty stuff to shoot with corrective lenses...upside down bifocals, different corrections for left and right, etc.  I've not sought out an eye dr. specifically for shooting glasses but maybe someday...

Is your +1 a correction or magnification?

Way to go on your competition!  Single shot only, yes (not a percussion revolver?)?  I have a third gen Colt Walker...and...you're right...holding a heavy pistol for any distance for any time with a single hand is..."interesting"...ha ha.  Glad for stronger climbers' wrists.

Cheers!

3rd time trying to post this. Fingers crossed that MP works.

My kids came to me recently and asked me to get a tattoo with them because, "We had such amazing experiences climbing Mt. Whitney with you that we want to get tattoos of it to memorialize that."

I've never had a tattoo mostly because there was no image that meant so much to me that I wanted it on my body forever. But Mt. Whitney? Because my kids love it and loved climbing it with me? Heck yeah!

We designed the tattoo and my daughter found the artist. First photo is my daughter. It's on her tricep. My son is the middle one. I'm last. I think they turned out great.

And for those of you that don't know it. This is Whitney.

jms-

big toe pain is commonly (but not always) joint arthritis. easy to diagnose with a radiograph (x-ray). could be either or both joints in your big toes

not much you can do about it if it is arthritis but you could try long/loose shoes. not great for climbing technique but might reduce or eliminate the pain 

an orthopedist or podiatrist or anyone with expert knowledge of joints can diagnose it

Andrew Rice wrote:

3rd time trying to post this. Fingers crossed that MP works.

My kids came to me recently and asked me to get a tattoo with them because, "We had such amazing experiences climbing Mt. Whitney with you that we want to get tattoos of it to memorialize that."

I've never had a tattoo mostly because there was no image that meant so much to me that I wanted it on my body forever. But Mt. Whitney? Because my kids love it and loved climbing it with me? Heck yeah!

We designed the tattoo and my daughter found the artist. First photo is my daughter. It's on her tricep. My son is the middle one. I'm last. I think they turned out great.

And for those of you that don't know it. This is Whitney.

I love this, Andrew!  This is really special, bonding you for a lifetime.  I remember well the adventure you took with your daughter a few years ago... the pictures were stunning.  This is just SO NICE!    

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I came home yesterday and couldn't wait to get out this morning to see what's going on in the park.  It feels like the weather has changed... just beautiful, crisp morning.  I went back to Hunk Rock to check out that backside again.  Even pouring over the MP notes on this, I cannot identify the routes I was looking at.  In my mind, I would begin at the top of the large boulder (in shadow of tree left), and head straight up the face.  I guess it would help if I'd bring binoculars, because I cannot quite see the bolts on this rock.  

Unfortunately, I regret to report that the opportunity for Marlin fishing is now past.  The lake has almost disappeared.  If you want to catch your Big Tuna you have to get there fast.