New York and Pennsylvania From My Window

International: Round 2

Climbing rangers have second round of joint international training operations!

Last week we had the privilege of hosting a group of climbers from the Korean Mountain Rescue Association here at Rainier. A group of four climbers came over from Seoul, and spent a week with us on the mountain learning about how our climbing program operates within the national park. Their association has over 600 members who climb all over the world and promote climbing throughout Korea. Most of their time here was spent training in advanced rescue techniques with climbing rangers and climbing Mount Rainier. Word on the street is they can cook up some good food, and we think some stories might have even been exchanged, thus leading to a fully successful week.

Thomas Payne, our official liaison with S. Korea, shown here with three of our guests after coming down from the summit on a beautiful sunny day.

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens

We have been in The Villages for two weeks now and it feels like we've been here much longer because of all we have squeezed in during that time. We have so much here that it is easy to see how some people never leave The Villages! We did decide to leave and venture out this weekend though. We headed to Gainesville and visited Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.



We were really impressed with this botanical garden and liked some of the unique features it offered, like its vinery.





I loved the Herb Garden!





The Children's Garden was so whimsical and pretty.





A few signs of human life could be found.



I'm happy to say, much more signs of animal life were present than human.







Most of all, I noticed how very relaxing it was here, even with the sweltering heat! We had a great (Father's) day here.

Wild Locast Tree

It was very dry in the mountains so I was surprised to see so many wild flowers blooming. The wild locast trees were beautiful with pale pink to a light purple in color blossoms. There were wild roses, iris, and lupines as well as many others that I couldn't name and were so tiny I couldn't get a decent photo of.

La Sportiva Nepal Cube?

Nepal is one of the very best all around boots from La Spotiva. And it just keeps getting better.



This is a quick look the newest CUBE version. Carbon honey comb mid sole like the Batura 2.0 and a new toe cap as well. The Batura 2.0 was a total revamp of the Batura. I'd expect the same make over with the Nepal. More than first meets the eye generally from La Sportiva. Available Fall of .








More here: http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//06/la-sportiva-back-at-ya.html

Silver Sugar Bowl

All of the silver dishes belonged to my mom before she married my dad. She said they were given to her my a friend of her dads when she was a teenager.

Cuddle Time

I paid a visit this morning to Loon nest #2 and was delighted to see that one of the chicks had been born! Loon chick #1 was born either last night or early this morning, but the adult continued throughout the afternoon to sit on the second egg, which had not hatched yet as of 6:00 PM this evening when I left the nest. This photo was taken right after the adult called the baby back to the nest. The baby apparently did not want to wait for its sibling and decided to take its first swim on its own!