Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium, part one

We just returned from the second annual Golden Gate Sea Kayak Symposium and we're still processing the experience and the photos. This was an unusual symposium for us because we attended as students, not as instructors. Alec took the BCU four-star training with Gordon Brown and Tom Burgh, while Sharon chose courses that would give her more experience paddling Pacific coast features like rock gardens and tidal races.

We've always loved Marin County, where the symposium was based. Just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, the Marin Headlands were almost developed in the 1960s but saved by a lawsuit and protected instead as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Coaches and participants stayed at the Marin Headlands Hostel, a former US Army base now converted into a hostel and arts center, and classes were based in Horseshoe Cove near Sausalito.

An aerial view of Horseshoe Cove.We've visited this area more than a dozen times over the past two decades to hike the hills, explore the historic fortifications, and collect driftwood from the beaches. It's long been a favorite vacation destination, but we never paddled in the Pacific ocean or the San Francisco Bay. Until now.

Sharon, gearing up for a day on the water.

The symposium featured an all-star cast of coaches from around the world. (Check the website for the complete list.) But we were also drawn by the opportunity to meet many of the excellent but lesser-known west coast coaches who were the backbone of this successful event. We weren't disappointed.

Cindy Scherrer isn't a lesser-known west coast coach, but she is one of our favorites.

Ironically, we also spent considerable time with midwestern coaches Kelly Blades (an old friend) and Mark Pecot (a new friend). How odd to go 2,000 miles to hang with your home team. Kelly Blades, always on.Check back tomorrow for more about the courses we took and the things we learned.

Promises of Spring

My book review of Two Gardeners is in progress, and it's been perfect weather for digging – today's post will be photos and short notes: To prove that spring is coming, here’s a White-winged Dove perched among the swelling buds of my neighbor’s Saucer Magnolia. I didn't touch the color in the photo - the sky really was that blue today.
Mrs Quad posted photos of a fun Mardi Gras dinner at a restaurant on her blog – mine may not have been quite so authentic as hers, but our homemade version of Chicken Gumbo tasted fine, the Sweet Potato pie [infused with Southern Comfort] was pretty darned good, and a few of the camellia buds were open, so I floated them in a bowl on the table.
Northern gardeners have been asking for flower photos – before their gardens thaw out and we are taunted with a zillion pictures of lovely, unattainable tulips -my small bunch of Ice Follies daffodils are now open!
Amy Stewart managed to avoid the ice and arrive with the daffodils… I’m planning on going down to Book People this Friday night and hope to meet her. Flower Confidential has been getting great reviews everywhere. More information can be found on Amy's Garden Blog. Of course I have nothing to wear.

Mount Catherine ..

Scott had the day off and wanted to ski before Thanksgiving. I wanted to burn the calories that I was about to consume, so I happily obliged. The plan if there was good snow was to go yo-yo somewhere and have fun in the powder. However, it looks like we have hit the El Nino segment of our dark months with higher temps. This meant rain at the passes the day previous and a 10000' freezing level on the day of our trip.
Skinning up the slopes of Hyak
So we headed for Mount Catherine with the hopes of a summit. Chad joined us at the Mercer Island Park and Ride and we were on our way. The weather was clear and we saw a beautiful sunrise before arriving at Snoqualmie Pass to low clouds and fog. Instead of taking the Sno Park and forest road in as it seemed tedious. We opted for the skin up Hyak and over the other side. We followed forest roads (Nordic ski trails) down the other side a bit before leaving on a bearing across the North Face. After endless traversing through trees, we got to an open area which we confirmed with the map was the east end of the summit ridge. There were cliffs and no obvious way up, so we traversed more and more which reminded Scott and I about the Ski Patrol Race we had done back in February.
Heading into the trees
We occasionally crossed open slopes and contemplated trying to gain the ridge to the summit but we were having little luck. Our difficulties were exacerbated by the constant fog which made seeing ahead not easy and gave us little incentive to try and head up only to be confronted by cliffs. So we maintained a fairly level traverse and then we started seeing flatter terrain. We finally made it near Windy Pass and eventually saw a sign with an arrow pointing in that direction. There was a weather monitoring station there too, and some blue diamond trail markers. We stopped for lunch. (It was around 1pm.) The sun just barely came out briefly enough for us to see our shadows. Then we deskinned for a short ski down to another road. At this point we had forsaken our summit attempt and were content with a circumnavigation.
A more open area
Unfortunately due to the poor sloppy snow conditions and the ungroomed state of the road, going downhill on the road took almost as much effort as going uphill. We worked hard to make our way out and after it seemed like there would be no more downhill, I gave up on the skinless skis and stopped to put my skins back on as it seemed they would offer me better propulsion. They did, but Scott and Chad were out of site, and I did not catch up with them until the final downhill to the parking lot in the Hyak ski area. (Which was in more disappointing slop.)
Boulder field
Overall, I was happy to get out. The weather wasn't great, but that wasn't really a big deal. We knew going into it that the snow wasn't going to be so good for skiing, but it was more about the journey. Even though the road out was tiring and tedious, it was still better than being on snowshoes. Plus I think this is the first time I have circumnavigated a peak. Cool.
The road out

Spring Lightning

Last night saw the first lightning storm of the year come over Grand Portage Bay... at least, the first one that produced lightning strong enough to photograph. These images were captured from the beach in front of my house on Grand Portage Bay at about 1:30 a.m.

Rewards of the Simple Life

"To find the universal elements enough;
to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be
refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter;
to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated
over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring...
these are some of the rewards
of the simple life."
John Burroughs

X-Stitch: Pull Up a Chair and Relax

It’s cold here in Virginia today.  In fact, at 32F, it’s downright freezing.  But it is winter, and we’ve been lucky thus far with our temperatures, so we can’t really complain much.  That’s not to say that we can’t dream of a warm seaside location where a couple of Adirondack chairs invite us to sit down and relax.

Aaaah, yes … those chairs sure do look inviting.

Maybe I should go see if I can find an Internet special for a flight to somewhere warm :-)

(P.S.  For those who might have missed the earlier posts, this is a continuation of the series featuring my counted cross stitch art … most of which is now packed away in preparation for full-timing.)

They are Off!

Yesterday, I took photos of the Greenstreet Cyclocross race at Fontenelle Park. Day one of the race was a warm, windy day. I think the temperature hit 80 during the afternoon.

Its going to be a different situation today for the second day of the race. Its still windy, but temperatures are forecast to be in the 30s and some light drizzle (cyclocross weather).

As usual. my photos are available for viewing and purchase on my race and events web site http://win-photo.photoreflect.com. The photos on the web site are jpg proofs. When a photo file is ordered, I will start from the camera RAW file do some touch-up before converting to jpg and e-mailing the file to the customer.