North Face of North Twin

North Twin Photo Copyright, John Scurlock, Photographer









One of my favorite stories of all time about Canadian alpinism.



Barry Blanchard and Dave Cheesmond on N Twin in 1985.



http://www.barryblanchard.ca/northtwin





Photo copy right to Barry Blanchard.

Alpental Ice ..

So the quest for ice begins. (Earlier this year due to La Nina.) Adam and I were thinking of getting out earlier in the week to check conditions at Alpental. Early reports were not positive, so we delayed. I was hoping to head to Leavenworth this weekend, but that plan fell through, and so a quest for ice at Alpental was planned. I was going with Rod, while Adam, Zach, Steen and Kristy were also coming separately from us.

Rod and I were one of the first cars in the lot and we geared up in what felt like weather that was too warm. We commented that we might be "taking the tools for a hike" as Washington State ice climbers will often say. We donned snowshoes, and hiked into Alpental Falls where we hiked up to the falls.

Hiking up to the falls

Alpental I looked in from the base. There was a bit of a boot track to it, so perhaps it was climbed in previous days. I didn't like the drum like nature of the right side as it seemed not to be bonded to the rock underneath. Right in front of me was a snow gully like feature which I told Rod I'd give a try at. So we geared up and I started climbing. When I got to the first step, I didn't feel comfortable with the thin ice, and down climbed off the route collecting my screw on the way. We decided to head up valley to see if anything else was in to climb.

Around this time our friends showed up and went past us before we regained the trail. Zach and Adam headed back to the car to get their snowshoes for the off trail travel. We joined the women near the base of Alpental IV. Rod and I inspected the possibility of climbing Alpental IV while the other group set up some top ropes in the woods. We eventually joined them as neither of us wanted to lead any of the falls. Way too much running water.

So we all got to top rope three short lines in the woods. A fairly thick line on the right, a mixed (mostly rock) line in the middle, and a mixed (mostly ice/snow) line on the left. After we all tired out and started to get cold we took the top ropes down.

Kristy on the fatter ice

This outing went about how I would have expected it to go. I was happy to use my (new to me) tools and go leashless for the first time. Surprisingly, I did not over grip. But I was very concerned about dropping them as I have yet to build my umbilical. The freedom of going leashless was wonderful, and I was surprised that it did not take much for me. Perhaps because I haven't climbed ice in a while, I forgot about relying on the leashes. I look forward to more leashless climbing.

0% Alcohol Beer and Garlic

Last Friday I was in Eindhoven (south of the Netherlands about 120KM fromAmsterdam) having a little kick-off with my partner. I managed to get my messageacross during my presentation and the food was a success. We had Spanish tapas and booze.

Since I am in the Noord Brabant region which is where Eindhoven is and where Bavaria beer comes from, I had to say no to wine and drank the local beer. Firstly, I had the normal Bavaria beer, then for my second bottle I tried the 0%alcohol Bavaria wit beer. I was curious of course.
One thing I know: It may be the beer for Hugh Hefner and his old comrades (the TV advert of this beer) but IT’S NOT FOR ME. It tastes funny.
After the kick-off party, I didn’t realized that I was carrying with me a very strong garlic accent. Blame the gambas al ajillo, cooked in oil and garlic! The gambas were literally swimming in ground garlic but it was sooooo yummy, I came back for a 2nd serving.
Thus the consequence: When I got home in the evening Dutchman was complaining that I completely stunk.
Oooops, sorry. LOL

Springtime Transformations

Can you spot the differences between this picture and the Mercier in its initial state?

If you are thinking that the colour scheme looks a bit different, you are right. Originally, the Mercier had black lugwork and paneling - but to my eye, this created too harsh of a contrast with the cream frame. It also had the effect of stopping the eye at the frame's joints and making the bicycle look "choppy", whereas I like mixtes to have an elongated, fluid look to them. So after considering my options, I bought some enamel paint and hand-painted over the black lugwork and panels. The new colour is a light green-gray; very French and Spring-like. I have yet to redo the gold pinstriping around the edges, but from a distance it looks passable as is.

Another visible update to the Mercier is this fantastic Ideale saddle - acquired in a trade with a Lovely Bicycle reader (thank you!).

Ideale saddles are French, and described in this interesting article as "celebrated and enigmatic". This one is a Model 6, which is a short-nosed women's model from the 1970's.

It is comparable to a Brook's B72S and has two rear loop springs.

An extremely comfortable, elegant saddle. And the engraving is gorgeous. I have cycled a total of maybe 50 miles on it so far and it feels just perfect.

The last significant update has been replacing the tires. The shop where I found the bike fitted it with 20mm racing tires. To give you a point of reference, 20mm is narrower than the wheel rims. I think the fact that I was even able to ride on these tires at all - let alone 10 miles to Harris Cyclery to get new tires - is a testament to how stable and comfortable the Mercier is. The only problem I had, was with cracks in the road: 20mm tires are narrow enough to get stuck in the most innocent-looking cracks! After this happened to me once and I almost got knocked off the bike, I became hyper-vigilant.

Thankfully, now the bicycle is fitted with 32mm Panaracer Pasela Tourguards - a beautiful vintage-looking tire with tan walls and superb puncture protection (These are the same tires I have on Marianne, and I have been very happy with them over the past year).

In addition to these updates, there are other little things we've done, like remove the spoke protector and the reflectors from the wheels, remove the Pletscher rack (which did not look right on this bike), clean the handlebar grips, and replace the black tape used to patch up a crack in the white cable housing with white tape, making it less visible. Future updates will include a set of inexpensive fenders from Velo Orange, a vintage front rack, and switching the downtube shifters to a set of old stem-mounted ones. So far, the only new components or accessories I have bought for this bike have been the tires. Everything else has been vintage, and for the most part acquired in a trade. I think I will try to do the same with future updates. Will see where this goes!

Wild Rose and Pine Forest

The skies were gray today and there was a light rain coming down throughout the day. Perfect for getting under the forest canopy and making some images of wildflowers!



Above image: Water droplets on a blade of grass after a rainy night. Shot with a Canon EF 100mm macro lens.

Exploring the Science of.....Freebie Books

I'm still wading through our storage shed and sorting through the hundreds of books we have left. I have a few sets of books that I'd love to pass along to someone that could use them. The first set is a Science series that says it is for ages 9-12. They are hardcover books, with a library binding on them and they are in great shape. The set is of the four seasons and fire and sunlight.



Just leave me a comment if you would like them, and I'll email you for your address. If there is more than one person that would like them, I'll do some sort of drawing for them. I am guessing we will have a few more sets to give away so keep your eyes open for more.

Toddler Camping ..

Or should I call this Solstice camping? In years previous I would be looking for long one day trips to attempt on the longest day of the year. I mean just under 16 hours of daylight for Seattle. A trip up to BC should clock in with 15 more minutes if you needed it, but headlamps optional for a day with that much light.



Anyway, the three of us had no obligations for two days and opted to go camping. This should have happened earlier this year, but we couldn't get our act together. We made one camping attempt back in May in the backyard, but it was so bright out, and in the tent, that Mirabelle couldn't get with the concept of sleep. We took the van this time as it provides a darker sleeping space than any of our tents.



We opted for Snoqualmie Pass on the drive out as we were hoping to get a small hike in and a longer portion for her to sleep during. Mirabelle wasn't too much into a hike under the lifts at Summit West. She wasn't into the snow too much either. So after 10-15 minutes out of the car, we had a small snack and started driving. She slept almost all the way to Leavenworth.



We were in town and it was hot. Not scorching, but hot enough that we went to Riverside Park and let Mirabelle go in the Wenatchee River. She dropped/threw rocks in and then fetched them out for a while. The water was cold but she didn't seem to mind. Eventually she went all in and we took her shirt off. After a while we hiked around the park before returning to town to wander the streets and shops. After dinner we drove up the Icicle to 8 mile to camp.







At camp we settled in and had a walk over to Icicle River where Mirabelle threw Ponderosa cones in a bit before we headed back to retire for the evening.







Even with the ridiculous amount of light, we were under some big trees and able to get Mirabelle to sleep before the sun went down. (At least that is what I think.) I was asleep shortly afterward. Unfortunately, she arose shortly after the sun around 6:30am or so and wanted out. We got ready fairly quickly and had breakfast at the picnic table in our campsite before getting on the road to a hike.



Since we didn't wish to drive far, we tried the interpretive trails at the national fish hatchery. There was some interesting things to see in the hatchery itself including a stuffed black bear and bald eagle. Outside saw raising tanks and then watched some Yakima tribe members fishing for Chinook in the Icicle before heading out on the interpretive trail. We didn't get too far before we opted to turn around as Mirabelle was already showing signs of needing a nap. That was right after we saw a small animal that may have been just a mouse, but almost looked too small and a bit yellow. But I cannot imagine what else it could have been. Perhaps the yellowish coat is more of a localized variation with all the ponderosa needles lying on the forest floor?



We hurried back to the car and Mirabelle fell asleep on the way home. She woke up in the burbs, so there was no second hike of the day.