IMBA Epic Tribute

Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) Rock Lake Trail is now an "Epic" trail. The International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) "Epic" designation was announced in November.
On June 4th (National Trails Day) CAMBA members, IMBA members, the US Forest Service, and Festival of the Trails participants gathered at Rock Lake Trailhead to pay tribute to the trail. The CAMBA Rock Lake Epic actually is a collection of interconnected trails in the Namakagon Cluster - Rock Lake, Patsy Lake, and Namakagon Trails.
After the tribute, some started off to ride the 31 miles of the new Epic. Another group rode some easier section of the trail.
The Rock Lake Epic and the other CAMBA trails are in NW Wisconsin. Eventually the area will have over 100 miles of interconnected trails around the area. Towns of Cable, Delta, Drummond, Hayward, Namakagon, and Seeley host the CAMBA trail system.
Check out the CAMBA web site for more information about the Rock Lake Epic, CAMBA trails, and Festival of the Trails.

Horse Crazy

Week before last Darcie and I spent a week at a horse jamboree in Clemson, SC. This was her first show ever. All week was spent in clinics learning how to do horse stuff such as trail riding, cantering, etc. Saturday was the show. She won three ribbons and won first place in her age division on horse knowledge. I'm very proud of her.
I had an adjoining room next door to three ten year old girls. It wasn't too bad; kind of fun actually. It was like summer camp. I had a lot of free time to catch up on my e-mails, read, write, lay by the pool, and anything else I wanted to do.
I went to Wal-Mart five times! Funny how I don't mind going there when I'm out of town. I'll bet I don't darken the door of our local Hell-Mart more than 3-4 times a year. It always takes so much time. I never want to sacrifice the time when I'm in my town. Too many other things to do, I guess. But on vacation, all I have is time, so I don't mind rambling the aisles. My husband never understands why I want to go there when we're on vacation. Weird, I know.
I found a grill thingy that lays on top of two stove eyes and has marks to make paninis. I hope I spelled that right. Spell check says it's wrong, but what do they know? They also said thingy isn't a word. Sheesh!!! I love a panini with pesto!

So, I think this horse love is here to stay. She's willing to give up dancing for it. Time won't allow both as they are both labor intensive. Of course she wants a horse. Even though we have the room to pasture one, I don't want the bother and worry of a horse. The stables are five minutes away, so she'll just have to love the ones there.
I do think it's helping her to be more confident and to get outside of herself. And those of you with young girls or can remember your own girlhood, that's ALWAYS a challenge! "It's a good thing," as Martha says.

Washington Summer

Long term high pressure systems have surrounded the mountain, and after reading the forecasts, look to remain in the area. With July coming to a close, statistically the number of climbers on the mountain also begins to fall. Climbers looking for an experience of solitude in the alpine wilderness can come take advantage of the peace and quiet now. By climbing mid-week this time of year, even on some of the standard routes, the chances of meeting other independent parties on route is greatly reduced.
The late-snow season has left many of the routes in great shape. Climbers will find that the flowers and trails are just now starting to melt out in the alpine meadows. The "peak" of the flower season is still to come. On approaches, climbers have been seeing more Black Bears, Clark's Nutcrackers, and Elephant's Head than in previous years.
As the season progresses, different routes will start to see more traffic. The Mowich Face and the Tahoma Glacier are both routes which stay "in," well into September, along with the standard routes - the DC and EW. Welcome to Remember to bring the sunscreen!

Nene Way 6 - Irthlingborough - Thrapston

With Marta. Just under 10 miles. Wet all day, muddy underfoot in places.

Action . . .

Wet - a day for testing your outdoor gear.

Ready for the pole? The trekking pole . . .

Not many photos, and I'm not entirely sure we appreciated what views we saw. Lunch at Woodford in the Dukes Arms, where they even had a wood fire in the bar. Oh August in England . . .I ♥ underwater walking.





We set off from the football ground, and found our way to the lock nearby and followed the towpath. Slightly off the official route maybe, but near enough as we soon saw the signs. We followed the river bank past the Frontier Camp, until we reached a Nene Way sign near a footbridge, pointing away from the river and uphill across fields - recently harvested and sticky with mud. We walked round the edge of these fields - it was slightly less sticky. Eventually we emerged, several inches taller and with worked-out leg muscles (I wish) into Little Addington. We walked through the village, and almost decided to wait for half an hour in a bus shelter, along with copious quantities of swallow or martin droppings, either for the rain to stop or the pub to open. No, we carried on, womanfully.





We left the village loop road, and shortly after we joined the Irthlingborough - Woodford Road we turned off to the right and followed a path back down to the river. Over a couple of bridges and through a gate which gives access to anglers' cars, and past the marina and disused railway track, and the path becomes a road leading to the old Ringstead Station. At the T junction we turned left towards Willy Watt Mill and Woodford. The pavement is raised about the road level here useful if the road floods, and has recently been improved with non-slip planking.





At the mill, which unfortunately doesn't run to a cafe for wet walkers, we found the Nene Way path leaving a track to the right, before you reach the bridge over the dismantled railway. It crosses the disused railway line and turns right again shortly before Glebe Farm.





We crossed this field diagonally, passing some wet and uninterested cows grazing there, and continued following the signs until we reached Woodford. Hunger had to be heeded, so we went to the Duke's Arms. Good food and even a fire helped us begin to dry our clothes slightly.





From Woodford the signs took us between groups of houses and through a stile into a field. The path takes you diagonally downhill to the bottom of Woodford Shrubbery, then through the woods. When we came out of the shrubbery we should have turned right and right again to get back to the Nene. We did make a slight deviation, but were soon back on track.





Then we followed the river for a short distance, crossed the dismantled railway again, and headed towards Denford. The church is slightly to the right of the lock we were aiming for.





At the lock we turned left and the path led us across fields towards the A14.

Crossing the A14 under this viaduct.

The path goes east under the viaduct, doubling back west to make its way across fields to where the road bridge into Thrapston crosses the river near the Woolpack Inn. Was the rain starting to ease off?

I swear it's not quite so black over Bill's mother's! Ever the optimist.

My verdict on the wet weather gear - coat not really effective, waterproof trousers ok, but encourage condensation, boots dry inside, though some water got in via my socks I think. A long time since I've been wet all day like this.

No climbing today. Wedding only.

The wedding of Craig and Lotus.

This post is more for my own memory than anything else. Aknowledgements will be imcomplete. But thank you to all the special people who cast this spell.

Sandra and I talked the next morning about how we had all worked on so many details for so many months to make a majic moment. The majic doesn't last forever, but it leaves something special behind.

How to cast a spell: Prepare the space.
Aunty Lorelle showers the ground with rose petals.

Fill the air with the sacred ritual music of the Gamelan.

Bring together the beautiful bride and the nervous, terrifiedbut happy groom.Perform the ceremony

Bring together fabulous guests from around the world.

Easy!

Now Jools from Panic Hair Bazaar performs her special girls majic.


I was quite busy for the day but I did get to take a few photos. You know, can't trust the professionals and all that.










Mother and DaughterLotus and her Grandmother, Molly phoenix.

I can't take my eyes of this girl!




Kirsten and Willow


The very fabulous wine from Mike Olsen of Cypress post.


The banquet team.
127 guests, plus the Gamelan and the band, Astrid and the Asteroids.



The kids have thier own party.

It's a bake off. Sandra made cheesecake, Martha made tarts.Can you believe this cake?Willow, the Maid of Honor.Dear friends.

I was there too.The ruck.

The lovely guests.






The perfect spell.

The Serenity of arrogance part 2

What emotion other than pure arrogance could allow a cyclist to be hit by two eggs thrown from a car and continue riding along with no reaction other than a mild fit of laughter? Well, perhaps there's a touch of cynicism (pragmatism?) in there too, I've been around here long enough not to expect much else.
Anyone who's cycled any number of kilometres in Queensland or specifically on the Gold Coast has probably experienced this at one time or another. A car passes the same as so many others do, but this time there's something different, something comes flying out the window. What's your reaction? Shock? Anger? Fear? Well, once you've experienced it a few times, those reactions become muted.
Sometimes there might be a mild irritation at not getting a licence number (although I could have done tonight if I'd really wanted to). However, one or two posts on the bike-qld list last week have finally convinced me that this would be a complete waste of time (I'll save the police the trouble of shredding the report because I'm benevolent), so the irritation is also muted.
What's there, is actually a form of amusement. Think about it, these cletii have hurled two eggs with all their might (well, there were more than two, but the others missed), and they still couldn't hurt a skinny little weakling like me! Nor could they ruin what had been a very beautiful ride, not to mention the eggs they wasted. It seems they didn't enjoy their night as much as I did, oh well. I guess someone has a "small one", something with which I sympathise not at all. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Still, it's only the second time I've had anything thrown at me this year, in a touch over 17,000km of riding. That's a pretty positive result by Gold Coast standards.

Grade "A" Ride

Nearly a perfect day for a bicycle ride. Temperature was in the upper 60s to 70 degrees with wall-2-wall sunshine. There was a breeze from the West, meant leaning into the wind some times. Had the wind less, the day could have been A+.
The weather was just saying "Get out and ride". Did I want to ride my hardtail on The Trace? Maybe the Fuel EX7 for some dirt at Lake Manawa. Or perhaps some miles on pavement. Decisions, decisions. I opted for a pavement ride on the road bike.
Headed out from the Wabash Trace Trailhead. As normal, I was not sure just how far I would ride. But, with the weather, my goal was over 20 miles.
It was "breezy" with winds basically from the West. With that, I was still able to ride at about 10-11 mph into the wind. Stopped at the Indian Creek Bridge for a couple photos and a drink of water. On over to the Trails Centr.
Stopped there to sign the guest book and visit. The head wind section of the ride was over! Turned North to the Bob Bridge. Lots of construction between the levee and the river - constructing a new Council Bluffs park.
Continued on the Iowa Riverfront trails to Big Lake. Was a beautiful day at Big Lake. Today's photo features the Super T and a fisherman at Big Lake. This is one of my refreshment stops - eat a granola bar and drank my bottle of G2.
South on N. 8th into downtown. Stopped at the bike shop for a visit and look as larger saddle bags. From there is was a shot 4 miles down Harry Langdon to the trailhead. Roughest part of the ride was climbing over the railroad on Harry Langdon.
Ended up with 22 miles, 1 hour and 54 minutes riding time for 11.58 mph. Oh, and reached the 300 mile mark in .

Banana Background

An Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum) leaf.

Good Skiing and Narada Falls Face Snow Pit

Howdy Everyone!

Afterseveral daysof cooler weather and some precipitation, the mountain has come back out in full sunshine with a good 6" of powder on her flanks. There is some great skiing on the south and west aspects right now; while the eastern aspects are getting crusty.

This weeks snow pit was dug at the top of Narada Falls Face, just below the Steven's Canyon Road. As you can see from the profile, the main layer of concern is between 10 to 20 cm below the surface. Some moderate failuresfor the stability tests indicated that point releases are possible especially on lee slopes. However, no propagation was observed during the stability testing.

CTM(14) @ 12 cm Q3

ECTN(18) @ 12 cm Q3

RB3 @ 12 cm Q2

Keep an eye out for possible point releases on south facing aspects...there's plenty of sluffs coming off all around the Paradise area; especially the face onPanorama Point and the 4th Crossing area.