Niagara Falls :: Awesome!

As I was standing there watching the water drop over the edge of the falls, a little overwhelmed by it, I started a conversation with the lady standing next to me. The Maid of the Mist was holding its own in the middle of the Horseshoe Falls. She and her husband had ridden on it when they were there several years ago. Well worth the time and money, she said.

We talked for a few minutes more and the conversation got around to where we were from – both of us Hoosiers. Near Fort Wayne, she said. What a coincidence! Further conversation revealed that she and her husband actually lived near Columbia City. And at one time they had lived out at Tri-Lakes (a few miles north of Columbia City), which is where I used to live. What are the odds that you'll run into someone from the old neighborhood? Even more amazing to me is that they are on an extended vacation, headed to Maine and then down the East Coast! Do you think it is possible that we'll run into each other again along the way?



Well, it's not like I hadn't been there before. I have. Twice. But never before had I played the part of a true tourist by going to The Cave of the Winds or riding on The Maid of the Mist. This time, I did. And it was the most exhilarating experience I've had in quite some time! Definitely got the old blood pumping!

Standing at the rails at the top and looking at the Horseshoe Falls you can't even imagine the power and strength of the water going over the edge. But down below, you feel it. The wind-blown water stinging your face. The incredible force of the water and wind practically bowling you over as you step onto the top platform. The feeling just can't be described.



The picture above, taken by another friendly tourist, was at the bottom of the ladders and walkway. Still dry.

After getting thoroughly drenched at The Cave of the Winds, beneath Bridal Veil Falls, I followed the trail back to the top.



To get to where the Maid of the Mist was you had to leave Goat Island. Free shuttle trolleys are available but I opted to walk, which took about half an hour. There weren't a lot of people but the boat had just left the dock so it was going to be about a 20 minute wait. The time passed quickly. We donned our blue plastic ponchos and boarded. I made my way to the upper deck but wasn't able to get along the front railing.

In front of me was a family with two children, perhaps 3 and 4 years old. I couldn't tell what language they were speaking. Behind me was a young woman with an older lady. They too were speaking a language I didn't understand. They seemed more “approachable” than the family in front so I asked them where they were from. The younger lady said, in perfect English, the Czech Republic. Across the way another couple was talking, again in a language I didn't recognize. All around me were people from different countries. It was an International group. It was interesting watching them as we headed for the Horseshoe Falls. You could tell that everyone was excited, and perhaps a little bit nervous.



Most of the people on the boat put the hood of the poncho over their heads so they didn't get quite as wet as I did. In fact, I saw several ladies leaving the boat with completely dry hair. You wouldn't even have known that they had been on the boat except that the poncho was damp. Don't know how they did it, but I certainly didn't mind getting soaked for a second time in the same day!



Upon reaching the center of the Horseshoe Falls, the boat rocked and swayed while maintaining position for about 10 minutes. Not long, but long enough. Some of us lost our balance a few times but regained it without incident.

Nisqually Icecliff

The weather was pretty much perfect on the upper mountain last Thrusday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Clear, cold, and calm. As the attached images will show, the Nisqually Basin routes (Icefall, Cleaver, Icecliff and Chute) all looked pretty good.

Nisqually Icecliff, on Saturday a solo climber successfully climbed the route. This marked the first summit for Mount Rainier in 2006, and a rather significant achievement for the climber, Hannah Carrigan.

Carrigan, headed out towards the Nisqually Basin around dawn, considering both the Icecliff or the Cleaver route. The Cleaver was tempting, but looked thin and icy (particularly near the high traverse up on the Cleaver itself.) The Icecliff also looked hard and thin in places, but doable considering the winter snowload. In the end, she opted for the Icecliff.

Carrigan reported firm snow and ice for much of the route. There were a number of difficult problems to negotiate. One section of the icecliff required commitment to both ice tools while traversing and climbing. Getting across the Bergshrund at the base of the cliff also required technical climbing. One notable comment was that slots, crevasses, and steep sections viewed from below, grew substantially in size once on scene.

After passing the technical secions in the Icecliff, Carrigan then ascended the upper Nisqually Glaciers to the crater rim and Columbia Crest. She reported a number of open crevasses on the upper Nisqually and Ingraham glaciers. Despite the deep snowpack below 10K, there still seems to be some gapping crevasses up high.

Carrigan descended the Gibraltar Ledges back to Camp Muir. An excellent solo journey on a big mountain in the winter, Good Job Hannah!

Gibraltar Ledges, a few climbers have reported STELLAR conditions on this classic Rainier winter route. They stated that the route has more snow and ice than normal. The traverse along the ledge, and chute were particular hard and icy. This makes for excellent climbing, but also increases the difficulty. Climbers should bring pickets AND a few ice screws.

Ingraham Direct, there is some ice going through Cathedral Gap, but nothing too daunting. Once past the Flats, climbers have been ascending the right side of the glacier up to the top the Disappointment Cleaver. Though no teams have summited this route, it looks as though the route does go.

I can stretch my wings just like Mom and Dad!

This evening I made it back up to visit the Loons for the first time since the morning of July 19th. The chicks have grown quite a bit in that time! Their diving times have gone from lasting only 2 or 3 seconds to about 20 seconds. They also seem to be stretching their wings a bit more than a week ago. This is hands-down my favorite image of the evening!




Above: “They sure do grow fast!" - This Loon chick, just one day shy of being two weeks old, is already twice the size it was a week ago.


Above: "Sparkling Loon" - A Loon chick swims across the lake while the water sparkles all around it in the morning light.

The Huffman/Hoffman Kinexxion :: John & Dietrich

As mentioned in my previous post, the father of Susannah (Huffman) Berlin was found to be John Huffman. Based upon cemetery transcriptions in the “Henry R. Baldwin Genealogical Records” published in 1963, his date of birth was November 1779. On page 131 it states that the transcriptions were taken on June 21, 1907 for Washingtonville Cemetery in Green Township, Mahoning County, Ohio. Washingtonville actually lies partly in Mahoning County and partly in Columbiana County (Mahoning was created from Columbiana in 1846). The record shows that John Hoffman was “born 1779 died Feb. 8, 1860 age 80 years 3 mos.” and his wife Catharine was “born 1780 died Feb. 10, 1857 age 77 yrs.” with a notation that she was “age 77 yrs. 10 mos. 10 days given in another notebook”.



Other researchers with whom I've had contact, as well as numerous online family trees show that John's parents are Detrick and Susannah (Alder) Hoffman. Of course, there are no or few sources provided in those online trees. John was reportedly born in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He was married to Catherine Coy on October 24, 1801 in Washington County, Maryland. Catherine's sister, Mary, was also married in Washington County, Maryland - on November 19, 1803 to Michael Huffman, reportedly the brother of John.



But there is a slight problem with the presumed parentage of John Huffman – one that other researchers I've been in contact with in the past did not mention - and this is where my heart sinks and my stomach gets tied up in knots - In looking at deed records, tax lists, and census records for Columbiana County, I found that there was more than one man named John Huffman/Hoffman living in the county during the same time period, 1808-1860.



Tax lists prior to 1816 are not available at the Family History Library. However, volume 1 of “Index Ohio Tax Lists 1806-1810” edited by Ronald Vern Jackson has the following entries in Columbiana County for the Hoffman surname of various spellings (Hoffman, Hufman, Huffman and possibly Huffan). The township was “Not Listed” except in 1808 when it was given as Springfield. The index does not provide any other information so there is no way of knowing, without looking at the originals, where the land was located or even if there were absentee landlords. Just because they were taxed on land doesn't mean they were actually living there.

1807: Detrick p5

1808: Derick p63*, John p62*

1809: Oedrick p13, John, p11, John, p12, Nicholas, p12

1810: Derrick, John p24, John p27, Michael, p27

On December 19, 1807 Michael Hofman purchased 101 acres in S10 T16 R3 (Green Township) from Daniel Ruigle and his wife May (v1 p316). All parties were of Columbiana County. This land was sold on April 27, 1819 by a Sheriff's sale to David Coy, John Clinker, Daniel Coy, Nancy Coy & Susanna Coy for a judgment of debt and damages. (v5 p418).



The first land record I found for Detrick Huffman was on March 6, 1809 when he purchased 81 ¾ acres in the NW 1/4 of S12 T15 R3 (Salem Township) from Christopher Bair and his wife Susana (v2 p28). He owned this land for the remainder of his life.



How many John Hoffmans were there? Two? Three? or more? It's hard to say for sure...



On the 8th of March 1808 John Hoffman of Washington County, Pennsylvania purchased Lot 189 in the town of New Lisbon from Gideon Hughes and his wife Rebecca (v1 p349). Three years later, on March 10, 1811 John Huffman and his wife Elizabeth, of Washington County, Pennsylvania sold Lot 189 in the town of New Lisbon to George Huffman (v3 p346).



On April 14, 1808 John Hoffman purchased 155 acres in S6 T8 R1 (Unity Township) from John Snook and his wife Catherine. All participants were “of Columbiana County” (v1 p382). On the same day, John Hoffman and Elizabeth his wife of the county of Columbiana, sold that land to John Whitmore (v2 p463). Columbiana County marriage records show that a John Hoffman married Elizabeth Shnok on May 26, 1808 (v1 p37). Several online databases show her name to be Snook. Anyway, the marriage was a month after the sale of land so it can't be the same John and Elizabeth. It could be the John and Elizabeth who were of Washington County, Pennsylvania in the March transactions. There were additional purchases by a John Hoffman in Unity Township – he was taxed on 85 acres in the NE 1/4 of S6 from 1816 through 1833.



June 4, 1808 John Hoffman purchased 160 acres in S36 T16 R3 (Green Township) from John Roller and wife Catherine, all were of Columbiana County (v1 p404). On the same day, John Huffman and Catharine his wife sold a portion of that land to David Coy “said section was confirmed to John Hufman by John Roller and his wife Catharine by deed dated June 4, 1808... the part now sold... containing 60 acres (v1 p399). David Coy was a half-brother of Catharine.



On August 24, 1811 John Hoffman of Columbiana County purchased 17 acres in S31 T9 R1 (Springfield Township) from William Chain and his wife Nancy (v3 p12). In 1819 Adam Hoffman purchased 124 acres in that section. In 1822 Jacob Hoffman purchased land in that section. In 1823, Adam Hoffman sold his 124 acres to John Hoffman. In 1826, John and Elizabeth Hoffman sold 60 acres to the five children of Henry Harmon and 64 acres to Christian Hilt. In 1828, John Hoffman (no wife listed) sold 6 acres to Jacob Hoffman. And there were other transactions by Jacob and John Hoffman in this section... it makes your head spin!







In 1846, Green Township and Springfield Township became part of Mahoning County. From the map above you can see that Springfield township is directly north of Unity, while Green Township is directly north of Salem. The land of John & Catherine was in Green Township north of Washingtonville while Detrick's land was in section 12 of Salem Township on the south side of Washingtonville. This places them in relatively close proximity to each other but does that mean that Detrick and "my" John are father and son?



To be continued... see The Huffman/Hoffman Kinexxion :: Detrick

Failure to Yield and Crosswalk Design

In Somerville, MA we have this community path for bicyclists and pedestrians that stretches all the way to the neighbouring town of Arlington, grazing Cambridge along the way. The path is great, except that it is frequently interrupted by busy roads and the crossings can be challenging. We had this one particular interruption, where cyclists had to make a complicated series of turns and negotiate a major intersection in order to get from one stretch of the path to another.Then sometime last year, construction began at that intersection. Rumor had it they were making a crosswalk that would cut through the series of islands - a straight line connecting the disjointed stretches of community path. That is exactly what they did, and the new intersection was unveiled a couple of months ago.






It's hard to capture the whole thing in photographs; it is vast and consists of 4 separate crosswalk segments. But the pictures above each show a chunk that should give you an idea of how it's designed. In 3 of the 4 segments there are traffic lights with clear red and green signals. And there is another small segment not visible here where there is just a crosswalk without a traffic light. In theory the design is great, because it creates a direct line of travel connecting the community path, without forcing cyclists to make an elaborate detour. In practice however, there is one big problem: Drivers don't yield. Some drivers make right turns on a red light at full speed without even checking whether anyone is in the crosswalk, others make U-turns on a red light, and others still simply run the red light altogether. In some instances the drivers obviously see me, but proceed anyway, forcing me to stop abruptly in the middle of the intersection or to speed up if I am already in their line of travel.






Roughly half the time I go through this intersection, something like this happens - to the point where I absolutely do not trust it anymore. It's a shame that all this work was done, and drivers' failure to yield ruins it. It is also frightening that the crosswalks look so nice and friendly, while in reality it is quite dangerous. I cannot really think of a solution, but it's clear that something needs to change in the local drivers' mentalities in order for attempts to create decent, convenient infrastructure to be truly successful. The infrastructure itself is not always enough.

Beaded Horse

Sarah had to make a stop at the Dona Ana courthouse where there was a beaded horse she wanted me to see. But first as soon as we got there I saw palm trees. First palm trees I had seen in about 10 years. The drought has taken it's tole on the palms as did a very hard freeze last spring. I had seen were lots of the palms hadn't survived but these had done well here. This is the biggest, fanciest county courthouse I have ever seen. The one where I live is very small and looks to be over a hundred years old. Makes me wonder how Dona Ana County can afford this new building.
The first horse we saw was right inside the building and is life size and beaded. Yes, beaded with those very, tiny, seed beads that the American Natives like to use to make jewelry. There was actually a picture made from the beads that showed the Rio Grande Valley going through Dona Ana County. There were lizards, roadrunner, an owl, on the horse made out of beads. It was very beautiful. That is me standing by it. Next we went upstairs and saw a horse made out of newspaper. Yes, I said newspaper. It was made by a grade school class to show that recycled newspaper can make some nice.

Climbers Climbin'

So it seems like we are in the middle of an extraordinary stretch of good weather for late April in the PNW. Some motivated people have been making the best of it and getting out for some really fun looking climbs. Rangers have been mostly in pre-season training and prep work so thanks to those who sent in some conditions updates and photos, we will continue to live vicariously through your reports until we hit the mountain full time in a couple of weeks. Check out recent beta on the Ingraham Direct, Fuhrer Finger, and Muir Snowfield posted in our conditions page.

Climber on the Fuhrer Finger - Photo by the Next Adventure crew

If you are heading up for any overnight stays on the mountain make sure you register for a permit. Self registration is still available all hours at the Paradise Old Station but the Climbing Information Center will be open this coming weekend May 4th and 5th from 8:00am to 3:00pm. Stop by to say hello, talk to a ranger and get any last minute info you need for your trip. Also remember if you are parking overnight at Paradise the overnight parking is in the lower parking lot. Please follow the signs to keep your car and wallet out of trouble.



For those of you wanting to access other areas of the park, it looks like Cayuse Pass (SR 410/123) will be opening this Friday May 3. Chinook pass is still a few weeks out so don't try to go to Yakima this way yet. The road to WR campground is still closed to vehicles but should be mostly clear for those who want to bicycle in for an Emmons climb.



For those of you who want to know if its sunny at 10,000' the Muir webcam is back in operation!