The Straw Brothers

Alex:









Just say for example you were from Colorado and youhad dual U.S. - Australian Citizenship.

Then imagine you were fanatical about snow boarding and climbing.

And your older brother was too.

Take into account that Colorado has aguably some of the best powder in the world and is not such a shabby place for climbing either.



Then lets just say you chose to live most of your life in Brisbane.

Either there's a girl I don't know about, or he's running from the law.

Eric: As above, but 3 years older.


Good choice boys?


Eric:













..The Straw Brothers taketo "Black Leather Dungarees" at Coolumand find out all about the hype, the pump, and the pure excitment of one of the Cave's best and highest.


















..










Alex on "the slab" section of the route. Not a slab. Just not as crazy steep.







Whether youclaim to be a boulderer or a boarder, you are going to need a beanie.

Otherwise who's going to believe you?






Climbers, don't just dream about being as cool as these guys, do what I do- copy their look.

Get the "Climber Beanie", hand made from un-dyedAlpaca and Merino wool, atRed Phoenix Emporium




Or at least click on the link to seethe boys represent Red Phoenix,the uber cool, cult style outfitters to the very chic.










Good choice boys.

jj






Immersion foot?

Frostbitten toes are easy to identify. Immersion foot is not.

(this is another retread piece from June of '10. It is worth a few minutes of your time if my personal experience is any example.)



In the last couple of weeks I have been asking my buddies what they have been up to. With all the nasty weather over most of the Western states and into Canada no surprise many of us are still trying to ice/alpine or even "winter" climb of sorts.

Frost-bite is less of an issue outside of Alaska in spring. Immersion foot is not. And that injury is more serious than you might first think.

"Immersion foot occurs when feet are cold and damp while wearing constricting footwear. Unlike frostbite, immersion foot does not require freezing temperatures and can occur in temperatures up to 60° Fahrenheit (about 16° Celsius). The condition can occur with as little as twelve hours' exposure."

FWIW I suspect mild immersion foot injuries (the ones with no visual injury) are very common in the summer and winter alpine climbing communities but unreported and generally unrecognised for what they really are.

How easy is the injury to sustain? I came off a 24hr c2c winter climb and on the walk out decided I was tired enough a nap on the trail was in order. Something I had done before many times in the past winter or summer. I wasn't particularly dehydrated (but likely more than I realised), hungry or cold but with the early start from home, the drive, the approach, the climb, the decent and then the walk out I was pretty worn out and had by then been up for 30+ hrs. So a quick nap seemed a luxury. I laid down on my pack to keep me off the ground and figured as usual when the cold woke me up I'd finish the walk out with a bit more energy. The cold did wake me up as expected. So I got a 20 or 30 minute nap. And with in a few minutes of walking I was warm again and life seemed better. But what I hadn't noticed till then was I still had damp feet from breaking through some water ice earlier in the day. Took longer than expected while walking to the car for my feet to warm up, but they did eventually warm up. When I got home I took a hot shower and hit the sheets for a few hrs before I went back to work. When I finally stepped back into my shop I noticed the front half of both feet were numb. Because I kept climbing all winter it took a full 18 months for that to totally disappear and my feet are very susceptible to re injury. (front of my feet go numb) Now re injury can happen by just a few hrs of cold feet sitting at the computer early in the morning barefoot. Or wearing tight rock shoes in cool conditions and not moving, like a hanging belay for example, can do it as well.

Another example? I spent most of my first Alaskan expedition wiggling my toes every night for a hr or so before I fell asleep in my lwt bag if we weren't actually out climbing. I'd count the toe curls until I fell asleep. By the end of that trip I had numb toes but no frost bite injuries. I'd bet now I had a classic case of Immersion foot.

Not a lot is out there for the care of Immersion foot incurred in a climbing situation. Two friends I talked to about the injury said they had "frost nip", a third thought he had "nerve damage". But the symptoms are nearly the same. And almost everyone I know who has spent time out winter climbing has had either Immersion foot or Frost Bite. I suspect the basic treatment to heal the injury (nerve damage, Immersion foot, or moderate Frostbite-blisters) is also the same, keep your feet warm, clean and give yourself time to heal the injury completely without re injury.

What we miss is Immersion foot can easily lead to very serious re injury and less resistance to cold injuries in general.

So how do you know you have it? Many of us have always thought of it as "frost nip" but it generally is not. Immersion foot is serious damage to your nerves and circulation in the foot. And frost bite will be the freezing of tissue. But Immersion foot may have almost no outward sign of injury. Frost Bite most defiantly will. A good thing many of us are beginning to recognise there is an injury with Immersion foot by incorrectly naming it "frost nip". Your feet or at least the toes and forefoot become numb with Immersion foot. Get a good enough case of Immersion foot and even your once comfortable but tight rock shoes will now not fit and worse yet re injure you feet on a typical spring day and you don't have to have cold feet while it happens .

The other culprit that leads to Immersion foot is abuse, same reason the rock shoe scenario is so hard on their past winter's injury. Get on some hard and continuous alpine ice with a tight fitting boot and it is very easy to pound you feet and toes into submission with nerve damage. But sometimes it is hard to tell nerve damage from Immersion foot. Keeping your feet warm and dry once out of the mountains is your best chance of healing your feet quickly and getting back outside in comfort.

Besides making an effort to treat your feet better and wearing a warmer climbing boot this time of year with all the bad weather, what can you do once you have a good case of Immersion foot?

My answers to date: wear very warm shoes in the house or office so your feet sweat. Keep your feet dry even if you have to change socs several times a day while doing little or nothing. It will heal the nerve endings faster if your feet are warm. But avoid doing nothing once you are out of your boots. Walking seems to speed healing. Pounding out mileage I am not so sure about once you get into the "abuse of feet" distances. Watch how warm/dry your feet stay if you are riding a bicycle for training. Remember you only have to get to 60° Fahrenheit (about 16° Celsius) before damage can re occur. After the first incident with Immersion foot your feet will be damaged easier the next time. The amount of time between the first injury and the next exposure can make a difference as well on how you heal and your next case of Immersion foot. While your feet are still numb stay out of tight rock shoes. And most importantly avoid getting your feet cold again for any reason while they are still numb. The more time between exposures to cold the better.

As a side note to make the point. Have you ever heard of older people having "poor circulation" in their feet and them always being cold? Remember that Immersion foot can be experienced at 60° Fahrenheit. Many, many cases of "poor circulation" as we age are simply reoccurring Immersion foot events until the person has suffered permeate cold damage to their feet.

Make some one you know happy this winter (or all year long) by buying them chemical heat packs and show them how to put them in their slippers or sox :)

James and Tobitha Scott Robison

About a month ago I was contacted by a descendant of James and Tobitha Scott Robison. We *think* that James *could be* a son of Henry and Ann Robison.

That inquiry set me off to "assemble" the information I had on the Robison/Robinson Families of Whitley County, Indiana and to see if I could fill in some of the blank spots. Through evaluation of the census records it was determined that Henry and Ann Robison *may* have had eight children.

In the household of Henry and Ann in 1830 there is one male 10-14 years old (year of birth would be between 1816 and 1820). In 1840 there is one male aged 20-29 years (born 1811-1820). James Robison "fits" into this time frame. Unless there is a bible record out there "somewhere" that provides the names of the children of Henry and Ann Robison, I don't know that we'll ever be able to "prove" that James is their son.

Whitley County marriage records show that James Robinson and Tobitha Jane Scott were married on January 1, 1846. (pdf documents online: Marriage Affidavit and the Marriage Return)

The only James Robison listed in the 1850 census for Whitley county was 32 years old and enumerated in the household of Thomas Cleveland. His place of birth was left blank. At 32 years of age, his year of birth would be about 1818 give or take a year (or two). So where is his wife Tobitha?

In the 1860 census for Cleveland Township, Whitley County (page 212/895) we find James and Tobitha Robinson with three children: 11 year old Samuel, two year old "E" and a 10 year old female. At first glance the name of the 10 year old looks like Martha, but upon closer examination I think it is Marietta. James is a 43 year old laborer, he owns real estate valued at $200 and has a personal estate of $112. He was born in Pennsylvania. Tobitha is 33 years old and was born in Ohio.

In 1870, Tobitha J. Robison is listed in Cleveland Township, Whitley County as head of household. She is 30 [sic] years old, has real estate valued at $150 and a personal estate of $100. She was born in Pennsylvania. Listed in her household is 12 year old Emily Jane, 10 year old Marietta, and 5 year old Arena Ann. All of the children were born in Indiana. If Marietta is 10 years old in 1860, she would be 20 in 1870. Unless, perhaps, the first Marietta died and a daughter born afterwards was given the same name? Was Emily Jane named after James' possible sister Emily?

Online Cemetery Transcriptions for South Whitley Cemetery show the following burials in section U row 16 stones 6, 7 & 8:
Emily Jane Robinson died January 3, 1875 aged 17 years 1 month 7 days
James Robinson died April 2 1860 aged 33 years 6 months 3 days
Samuel M Robinson died October 1855

There is an issue with two of the entries. James is listed in the 1860 census which was enumerated on July 27th. And 11 year old Samuel is listed in the household in 1860 also. Thus, a trip to the South Whitley Cemetery was in order!

Using the two images of the grave marker for James, shown below, I believe his inscription reads "James / Robenson / husband of / T. J. Robenson / died / Apr 12, 1870 / aged / 53 ys 6 m 3 d"



The inscription for James is on the south face of the stone. There is another inscription on the west face that is pretty much illegible, even with using the foil technique. However, it appears to be for the son, Samuel. The date can't be deciphered but since he is listed in the 1860 census I'd be inclined to think that he died in 1865 rather than 1855 as the above mentioned transcription indicates.

A marker to the south of James is also unreadable but it looks like it could be for Emily Jane. To the north of James there is another marker, not included in the online cemetery transcriptions, that reads "Infant / son of / J. and T. J. / Robison"



A little over a year after James' death, his widow remarried. Whitley County Marriages (book 2 page 120) show that Tobitha Robinson was married on June 26, 1871 to Joseph Mintz [sic]. I have not looked at the actual record yet so I don't know if Mintz is a transcription error or if that is what the record says.

My correspondent said that Joseph and Tabitha Montz lived in Chester Township, Wabash County, Indiana and that is where they were found in 1880. Joseph Montz was the head of the household, he was a 57 year old farmer and had been born in Pennsylvania.

His wife, Tabitha J., was 54 years old and had been born in Ohio. Living with them was 15 year old Anna Robison, born in Indiana, identified as a step daughter of Joseph.

If we go back to the cemetery, we'll see a marker to the north of Infant Robison that is now illegible. In the cemetery transcriptions it is identified as J. M. Alburn Carper, son of J & C, who died October 11, 1882 aged 11 years 11 months.

To the north of the Carper stone is that of Tobitha Montz:
Tobitha J / Wife of / Joseph / Montz / died / NOV. 1, 1882 / AGED / 56 Y's 1 Mo. / 27 D's


The James Robison family at South Whitley Cemetery, Cleveland Township, Whitley County, Indiana. Eliza Jane McMannen could be a sister of James.

Joseph Montz is not listed in the Whitley County cemetery transcriptions.

My correspondent is a great-granddaughter of James and Tobitha's daughter, Arena Ann Robison (also known as Irene Ann and Irena). Irene was born January 3, 1865. On June 3, 1883 she was married to Jacob E. Cripe. Sometime in the late 1890s Jacob and Irene traveled west via covered wagon, first living in Missouri for a while and then moving to Kansas. I found them in Montier Township, Shannon County, Missouri in 1900. I haven't found them in the 1910 census index at ancestry. In 1920 Jacob and Irene are living on Fifth Street in Pomona, Franklin County, Kansas. In 1930, Irena is widowed and living by herself on East 5th Street in Pomona.

The following information on Irene's family was transcribed by my correspondent from the Cripe family bible.

• Jacob E. Cripe and Irena A. Robison wed on Sunday June 3, 1883 at the residence of J. Montz. Witnesses were Jacob Grow and wife, Joseph Lands and wife, Bob Cripe and wife and Lizzie Frantz (or Frentz)
• Jacob E. Cripe born July 20, 1852, died October 30, 1928
• Irena A. Cripe born January 3, 1865
• Martha E. Cripe born July 6, 1884
• Mary A. Cripe born January 26, 1888, died January 14, 1908
• Infant son [of Mary's] died January 14, 1908
• Alice Cripe born Nov. 2, 1889
• Ira D. Cripe born June 5, 1894 d. April 27, 1975

The horses at Grand Oaks

While we loved seeing the museum, I think the highlight of our visit to Grand Oaks Resort and Carriage Museum was our time with the horses after we saw the museum. First we visited one of the many barns, to see if there were any horses in their stalls.



We did not find any horses there so we headed to the pastures. There are 400 gorgeous acres at Grand Oaks and everywhere we looked, we were surrounded by beauty and horses.



Here are were some of the sweethearts we got to spend time loving on.





And I just have to share two shots of this beauty. Can you believe those eyes?!?




She was a sweetie too!




Living the life in The Villages, FL.

The 'Lady's Bicycle': Descriptive, Offensive, or Merely Obsolete?

[an unsuccessful attempt at parody]

There has been some discussion lately about how appropriate it is to refer to diamond and step-through frame bicycles as men's and ladies' bikes. After all - gender roles are flexible these days, women are no longer expected to wear elaborate skirts, and a low standover height can be convenient for everyone. So why use gender specific terminology? Am I just intentionally being quaint?



Well, not exactly. You see, when a bicycle model exists in both diamond frame and step-through designs, the latter is usually not just about lowering the standover height. It is also about taking the female anatomy into account. For example, have a look at the pictures below and see whether you notice anything interesting.



[image via Gazelle USA]

These are the Oma and Opa versions of the current production Gazelle Toer Populair bicycles. If you look closely, you will notice that the Oma on the left has a considerably higher headtube than the Opa on the right. This is done in order to set the Oma's handlebars higher, so as to accommodate the typically shorter torsos and arms of female cyclists. The bikes are named "Grandma and Grandpa," because they are, in fact, gender-specific. The expanded headtube tactic is used by many manufacturers on their step-through models, while others use the alternative tactic of shortening the virtual top tube. Either way, more often than not the step-through version of a given bicycle model is designed for the female body. This is not to say that men cannot or should not ride step through frames, but only that step-through frames are typically optimised for female proportions.



Of course, one could ask: Why confound gender-based anatomical differences with preferences for standover height? After all, some women may prefer diamond frames, while some men may prefer step-throughs. That is where statistics and market research come in. Most manufacturers cannot afford to make two versions of diamond frames and two versions of step-through frames within the same model. And statistically, women are considerably more likely to wear skirts and are thus more likely to prefer a step-through transportation bike. Therefore, it makes more sense to optimise the step-through design for the female anatomy, while optimising the diamond frame design for the male anatomy. Naturally, there will be some females who prefer the diamond frame and some males who prefer the step-through. Furthermore, not every woman has a short torso and not every man has a long torso. But when it comes to manufacturing decisions, it's all about tendencies and probabilities - not about individuals.



And speaking of statistics, perhaps we could indulge in another poll (a weekly tradition?). No purpose for this other than my own curiosity, and possibly yours:









In my own vocabulary, I use terms like "lady's bike" or "woman's frame" when I am referring specifically to the bicycle's suitability for females - be it anatomically, or in terms of their ability to accommodate skirts. On the other hand, I use terms such as "step through," "loop frame," and "mixte," when I am describing frame geometry. And while some worry that referring to bicycles as "women's bikes" makes them seem inferior or less valuable, I am not on board with that line of thinking. After all, what is considered "standard" frame geometry in the industry, is in fact optimised for the male anatomy. We are female, we are wonderful, and we need bicycles designed for us. To me, that is neither offensive nor obsolete - it's just common sense.

Exploration Day ..

This was a day I was looking forward to since Thursday. Jennifer was sick all week and I was trying not to catch it while saving energy for Monday. The plan was to go climb ice. Steve and I had loosely coordinated on Friday and the initial goal was the North Face of Chair Peak. Temps have been silly cold. (With overnight lows in Seattle in the 20°s.) During the weekend I saw that someone had climbed it on Saturday. We were on. Until it snowed Sunday. Well that wouldn't totally deflate our plans, but being on the dark side of a mountain with the high temp at sea level around freezing sounded really cold to us. That added to the high winds and possible cornices and bombs that would await us at the top of the face. (The wind chill for Monday at Snoqualmie Pass was predicted to be -11°F.) Rather than hike out there and turn around, we decided on Sunday evening to give the South Gully of Guye Peak a try. There was less of a hiking commitment and the route is wind protected.

Heading up on the road

We had a bit of a late start, and arrived in a parking area on the Oberstrasse. The outside temp was 7°. It took a bit of effort to remove our heavy coats and start moving. At least the sun was out although we were in the woods immediately off the road. Soon we got on a forest road and heading in the general direction of the Southwest Rib. We left the road near the end and headed generally east under the rib. Going was not too difficult with bare boots as the snow pack was firm except for the fresh 5" from the previous day. (Steve and I were regretting not going out to ski instead as conditions were nice for that activity.) We finally arrived at what we believed to be the gully and did some checking to confirm this. However, the gully did not have much snow above our location and we started rethinking our plan. We hiked up to the area where there was less snow (which was in the sun.) The going was not as easy as previous with the increased slope angle we eventually donned crampons. We debated a bit, and then made the decision that climbing snowy rock and a possible loose 3rd class gully didn't sound appealing to us on this day. So we turned around.

Our high point in the gully

The hike out was uneventful, but we got a good look at Chair Peak and could see cornices and thanked ourselves for the decision not to head there. We made a plan that once we got to the car we would go take a look for ice at Alpental Falls. We made the short drive and hiked up the Snow Lake Trail to the falls. Most of the ice was there, but looked a bit fragile, or had running water behind it. While there, we heard a few icicles falling. It was midday and they were in the heat of the sun. We assumed they would look better in the morning.

Checking out the ice

We hiked northwest from that location and found a few short solid patches of ice that we would be willing to top rope from trees. (We had only brought three screws for Guye, so we didn't have the capacity to lead.) Steve then searched a gully while I hacked at the ice a bit to see how durable it was. Due to the deep cold, it wasn't as plastic as I would prefer for ice climbing, but it was solid and climbable. We poked around a little more without actually climbing anything and then headed to the parking lot. I took my watch off below the falls (which were no longer in direct sunlight) to gauge the temperature. By the time we reached the parking lot it was a mere 15°. Steve and I got in the car and headed out.

On the way home we checked out some other areas that we knew ice up and investigated their feasibility for later in the week. We will see.

While not the grand goal I had originally planned, it was a fun outing. We now know where to find the gully on Guye Peak and may return when there is better snow cover. For now, I am excited to get out and climb ice while the temps are low and there is no precip in the forecast.

Lake Superior Ice Field

Okay, imagine what it's like to try and walk across this... that's exactly what I had to do in order to get my photo titled "Balanced Ice" that I posted the other day. Well, I didn't walk across this particular area (it was too beautiful!) but I did have to navigate across a similar patch of ice in order to get close to the "Balanced Ice". Needless to say, it is not a situation in which you move in a hurry! Every move has to be carefully thought out and slowly executed. At any rate, this is a field of plate ice that I photographed in the late afternoon sun. The colors and shapes are incredible, don't you think? It just boggles my mind to think that plates of ice can be pushed up like this and hold this shape for days on end. This scene was photographed 4 days ago and this ice is still there!