Misty Morning, Autumn Forest

This morning was amazing. I brought a couple of friends up into the woods to shoot the fall colors and we were treated to some pretty incredible conditions! Thanks to the cold overnight temperatures and lack of wind, the forest was filled with fog and frost. To top it off, the leaf colors were magnificent. It all made for a little slice of photographic heaven.


Above image: Morning Fog, North Lake
Morning light, fog, trees, reflections... what more could I have possibly wanted? The only thing that would have made this scene better would be a moose standing out in the water :-)

Sunrise in the Frozen Forest

This photo was made at Tettegouche State Park in Northeast Minnesota on the shores of Lake Superior. Parts of the shoreline at Tettegouche are a wonderland of ice right now. Thanks to high winds and waves that hit the shoreline just over a week ago, the trees at Tettegouche are covered in ice. Some of the cliffs at the park angle back as they drop down towards the lake, so when the waves come in just right they literally EXPLODE back out from the cliff and if the wind is strong enough it will catch the spray and fling it up over the cliff and into the trees. This only happens once in a great while, maybe only once or twice every 10 years (or so I'm told). I've shared this ice experience with a few different friends of mine, and no matter how long you've lived along the shores of Lake Superior, this incredible ice makes you stare in amazement. Truly one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen in my life on the lake. This image was made with my Canon EF 24-105mm lens, shutter speed 1/60, aperture f16, ISO 100.

Below: Here is another photo of the same ice formation, taken later in the day after the sun had risen high into the sky.

Thistledown

Before


After

One of the purple thistles. I have to admit I didn't examine it closely, but I'm leaning towards Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense).

Summer OR? And some winter stoke!

Outdoor Retail Summer Market at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, UT
(July 30 - August 3)



Vendors for out door gear from all over the world display their newest productsand write orders for the Spring 2014 delivery of goods at Summer OR in SLC.



A winter version does the same, forproduct delivery in the Fall of the following year.

You don't walk out of OR with the newest and best gear. At best you walk out with a picture and the specs of the newest and best gear coming and available in 6 to 9 months from the show's date.



The Trade shows are not open to the public but only vendors "wholesalers", the retail store owners there to buy for the next season,working press. And every person in the free world looking for sponsorship, a freebie or some otherway to sell themselves.



Me? I go to look at the newesttoys. Simple as that. Some of them I'll eventually write about here.



Attending the shows twice a year is one wayI stay up on the newest gear being released and keep track of thenewest technologythat I have an interest in. Not uncommon for me to find "new" things that I find interesting as well.



For the retailers it is a stressful and super busy week. Generally all work, no play and spending a LOT of money based on their sales projections for the following season...6 months down the road.



For the wholesalers they are writing a full 6 months of production of their products. Made in France, China or the USA doesn't matter. They are selling gear that has yet to be made. Sales generally based on one off prototypes. Talk about stressful!



Add to the economics a trade show (small by comparison to the Euro shows btw) convention that big enough it is almost impossible to see every vendor on the floor and every new piece of gear that is displayed. And you have some idea of what an OR show become for those working them.



Summer OR is usually slim pickings for alpine and winter climbing. But hopefully I'll have a few new and interesting bits of gearto report on shortly.



Till then, how about some winter stoke?



Three new custom Praxis skis.







Praxis is unique in that they only sell via the Internet. Pricing is betterbecause of that and but it isn't the only difference from other ski companies. Quality of production is amazing. "From your mind and their hands comes a custom pair of skis made specifically for you". If you want to take the time.



What is shown above on the left is a standard pair of GPOs in a 182cm, medium /stiff flex. The yellow ski is a custom Medium+ flex and "Sun" top skin, 192cm GPO and the far right ski is a Pompeii top skin, medium flex, 187cmProtest. All of them will be getting Dynafit bindings. Hopefully I'll be skiing the short GPOs on Hood in August after OR.

Paradise Road Damaged!

Updated Winter Access to Paradise

The washout approximately 6 miles above Longmire at mile 12.4 on the road to Paradise (just above the Nisqually Bridge) has been rated to be acceptable for 1-way traffic by the Federal Highways Administration inspectors.

Mount Rainier National Park has arranged for weekend and holiday access to Paradise. There will be one-way-at-a-time traffic operation with a flagger at milepost 11.3 (Glacier Bridge chain-up area) and another flagger up above at milepost 13.3 (Canyon Rim Overlook). Expect about a 5 to 10-minute wait for cars to pass each way before the opposite direction traffic is allowed.

Overnight use, climbing, and backcountry camping are allowed, but your trip itineraries need to be limited to these periods that the road is open to the public (weekend and holiday periods).

Updated: January 31st, The NPS is trying remain flexible about road closures during the mid-week. If the weather forecast for the day looks good (clear and sunny, or at least no snow forecast), we are currently making a strong effort for the road to be opened to the public. This means that if the forecast looks good, you should be able to plan a climb!

On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays the road will close each evening at 5:30 p.m. No traffic is allowed down or up the road after the road is closed. The road crew typically is able to re-open the road sometime between 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. each day, depending on the amount of new snow received during the night.

Listed below are good guidelines to follow regarding estimating when the road may open. Please bear in mind that these estimated times are by no means a promise, so your patience is requested. Many variables exist that determine when the road is ready to open. Snow density affects plowing operation, with lighter snow being easier to move. Wind is another factor, since drifts and wind-packed snow take longer to remove. A large front-end loader or extended times with a blower are often needed to remove avalanche debris. How many plow drivers are on duty is a yet another factor. But generally, at Paradise:

0-3 inches of new snow: 7:00 - 8:00 a.m. opening
3-6 inches of new snow: 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. opening
6-10 inches of new snow: 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. opening (avalanche danger may be an issue with this much new snow)
10-15 inches of new snow: 11:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. opening (avalanche danger may prohibit the road from opening at all)!
15 inches or more: The road may remain closed either due to snow removal problems or due to avalanche danger!

It is very important for visitors to realize that during or for an unspecified time after heavy snow periods, the road may not open at all. Be flexible! To make the best use of time at Rainier during these periods plan an alternate trip itinerary, perhaps to a backcountry destination such as Eagle Peak, Indian Henry’s, or even up into Van Trump Park and onto the upper mountain via the Kautz Glacier Route!

Don't forget to pick up a climbing or backcountry permit and a climbing pass at the Longmire Museum, open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

Have fun, stay out of avalanches, and be safe!

Cascade River Waterfalls

Here are a couple of waterfall shots during our outing to Cascade River State Park earlier this week. We had a perfect day for exploring the river and looking for flowers. The sky was overcast which makes for ideal photography of waterfalls and flowers.

Rutland Round 4 - Barrowden to Normanton

With Marta. Fine day, with a slightly chill wind. Sun mostly, a few spots of rain. Underfoot good. Lunch at Ketton, Northcliffe Arms. Just over 11 miles in all.

Leaving Barrowden

We set off from Barrowden, with an unaccustomedly chill wind today. Walked through the village to the road towards Wakerley until we found the footpath going off to the left. We walked with the hedge on our left through three fields, then when the path meets a bend in the river we went through a stile and along above the river for another three fields before entering Welland Spinney.

The path is clearly marked. When you come out of the spinney it is usually easier to follow the edge of the field, rather than cut the corner as the official path does. Turn left and right following the field boundary, then carry on, ignoring paths to the right, including the one to Tixover Church, which stands in splendid isolation away from the village.

Is this really a cairn?

The path goes past Manor Farm, Pear Tree Cottage and other houses before turning to the right and downhill. After Tixover Hall and Lodge the road peters out and becomes a footpath, separated from the A47 by some shrubs. Before long you arrive at the point where the road to Duddington leaves the A47, and you can see the bridge over the Welland.

Bridge and old mill at Duddington, seen from the path

Just before the bridge the path turns to the left - it is both Rutland Round and Jurassic Way for some distance here. We walked this on 25 July .







The blue paint - anti-vandal paint perhaps - is still on the gate, as before, and still sticky, but this time the gate was open, so we had no contact! We followed the path over a large field with sheep, and up to a stile into a strip of woodland. While we were walking we heard a green woodpecker, then saw it fly and land on a nearby telegraph pole. There were a couple of herons across the river, and a red kite. We chose to have a break at about the same spot as last time, but today, instead of seeking shade, we looked for somewhere out of the wind.



Next we crossed the playing field - or so marked on the map. The path goes straight across the middle of the field, and emerges on to the road near Tixover Grange. Just after the drive the path leaves the road on the left hand side, and cuts diagonally over a field, cutting the corner off the road. The route continues directly opposite and there is about a mile of perfectly straight walking along the edge of arable fields. Near Kilthorpe Grange it has been slightly re-routed, but is clear and easy to follow. It continues along a narrow path with fencing from large gardens on the left, and trees on the right, until it meets the Collyweston to Ketton Road. At this point the Rutland Round diverges from the Jurassic Way again, so instead of turning downhill we carried on into Geeston and Ketton. Signs for the Hereward Way are also good for the R.R.

There was a convenient bench near here.

We walked along the road past the house in the picture until we reached a house called 'Newnham'. Here we turned left and followed the track and path to the railway line. We crossed the footbridge.

You can just see the signal

We followed this to reach the bridge over the River Chater, and the old priory and church









Then we wandered along the main street in search of food. We had lunch at the Northcliffe Arms, which has a pleasant outside non-smoking area.

The Railway Inn was closed

The word Ketton was removed pre-world war II, in case of invasion

After we had eaten we found the path close to the Post Office. It leads past Home Farm, and climbs gently up towards the huge quarry. The path is clearly marked and easy to follow across a very strongly built bridge.




We had a little trouble working out the way just after this section, but with a bit of map work and aligning the cement works with our position we sorted ourselves out before we'd gone off track.

We went past New Wood Lodge and made our way to the road. It was straight over the crossroads, and in about 200 yards we turned right. This road took us directly past Normanton village - we didn't take the turning to the right, but carried straight on. We went past Oak Tree Farm, and Rutland Water was visible ahead of us. When we reached the main road we crossed over and turned left into the car park.