It's still ice season here! but for how long?

Went out at the crack of dawn to check conditions. We still have plenty of ice (currently). The next 5 days forcast to be really warm. Not sure if it'll hold to the weekend, but we'll see. If there's ice we'll be climbing. Here's a few photos of our outing this morning.





Sunrise through the forest



Laura ready to hike in, 22° and crust packed snow



Snowshoeing in. Still 3'+ of snow under the packed surface



Walking down into the left wall. Best overall shot we got this am.



Still lots of snow under there as I quickly learned



Please stay in, just a few more days.



Enjoying some "bouldering", couldn't resist!

That's the report on what it looked like today. The past several weeks we've hardly seen any other climbers out despite the great late season conditions. We (L and I) know the end is near, but we'renot ready to give up just yet!

Toour fellowice climbers: we hopeyou got out and enjoyed the great seasonwe've had here this year in SWPA.Laura and Ihad a great timeclimbingwith friends old and new.Thanks everyone for the great sesason and memories! To our ice friends... see you nextwinter! To our rock friends...see you in a few days after we put the ice season to bed!

Grassy Yard

Jim complained he hadn't had a chance to mow the several acreas of lawn they have, but I thought it looked so great with the tall grass and dandelions in bloom. After looking at nutural brown desert dirt for as long as I have any green looks good.

A Little Bit of Sunshine

From snow on Monday and temperatures in the 30s, to glorious sunshine and 60s today! Wow, I am soooo ready for warmer weather.

Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch

We arrived at the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch trailhead mid-morning, which is an ideal time to start out for a slot canyon hike. Many (but not all) slot canyons are ideal to hike mid-day. Since very little light penetrates down into the canyons, mid-day when the sun is high can often be a good time to visit them. When we arrived at the trailhead we were a little disappointed to already see about a dozen vehicles parked there. Thankfully, though, this hike has 3 different canyons so people really get spread out and we only saw a few people along the hike.







































The 3 canyons along this hike are Spooky, Peekaboo and Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch. We hiked Spooky and Dry Fork, but opted out of Peekaboo because you literally had to climb a small cliff to get into Peekaboo and neither one of us wanted to do that. We had a blast in the other two canyons and felt like we didn't miss out on anything by not doing Peekaboo. The photo you see here was taken in Dry Fork, which was a super easy walk once we were in the canyon. The canyon bottom started out very wide and totally flat, and was sort of a gravel surface rather than sand so it was more of a stroll than a hike. After a while, though, the canyon did start to narrow and the bottom did get rougher with some rocks and small boulders that we had to step over. It was never very difficult, though. You can walk a long ways up Dry Fork, at least a mile (and probably more) but we decided to turn around after a while. We also hiked up Spooky Canyon, which was a fascinating canyon but got VERY narrow. So narrow, in fact, that I could only hike up about half of it because I couldn't fit through once it narrowed! Jessica was able to go further, so she checked out more of it.






















































Jessica and I posing for a shot in Spooky Canyon :-)

Roses are Red ...and Welded in Steel

While I enjoy receiving flowers on special occasions, it's always a little sad when they wilt. So for our anniversary a couple of weeks ago, I asked my husband for a steel rose from Spooky Bikes. With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought I'd mention it and post some pictures. These beautiful roses will last, and they make for a lovely way to mark an occasion while supporting a local artisan.I love mine; it is even nicer in person than in pictures.







Spooky Bikesare somewhat of a cult manufacturer, making road, cyclocross and mountain bikes in Bellows Falls, Vermont. I met them at theNew England Builders Balla few months ago and had a chance to see a few of their bikes. The steel roses are a side project, welded by Chris Traverse ("...alone with my cat and my coffee making roses that will make other people smile...").The majority of proceeds will benefit theSunset Ranch BMX Parkin Western Massachusetts, which Chris established and continues to grow.






The roses are made of a mild steel, one petal at a time. The petals, hand-tooled leaves and braided weld-wire stem are then TIG-welded. They are available in a raw finish, or dipped in bright red acrylic paint.My rose is the red-dipped version. Only the tips of the petals are dipped in paint, still leaving sections closer to the base raw. The bare steel and the rainbow rings around the welds contrast nicely with the liquid look of the red. It is a dramatic, visually textured combination. The appearance of the flower is natural and organic, not cartoony.






There is variation in the shape of each petal, each stem, each flower.As it ages, there will be increasing natural colour variation.The steel looks delicate, but feels rather strong.






The roses are available as single flowers ($33), vines ($85), and dozen roses bouquets($250), in both the raw and the red-dipped finish. Order soon in you want yours to be made in time for Valentines Day. Delight your darling and support our local bicycling craftsmen. A beautiful combination.




Says welder Chris Traverse: "The look on my friends faces when they pull into the trails to see what's new to ride is the same look on people's faces when they open up one of my roses." Chris has had an interesting history. Read his full statementhere.

The Castle Snow Pit and a big temperature gradient!

Howdy Everyone!
This week's snow pit was dug in the Tatoosh Range on the east side of The Castle. General observations: 10 cm of great powder on top of a hard, multi-layered, 10 cm crust. As you can see from the graph there are two thin ice layers with softer snow beneath both. The layer of most concern is between 17 and 20 cm deep. Small faceted crystals (i.e., angular crystals) were observed in this layer, which can be expected due to the large temperature gradient in the top part of the snow pack. (Any time the temperature gradient exceeds 1oC over 10cm, the potential exists for faceting.)
Stability tests did not show any propagation, but failures were consistent at 18 cm. The Rutschblock Test showed a failure at 10 cm (the interface between the powder and the icy crust). But I have to admit, the crust was so icy that I slipped before I could get in a good jump on the block.
In summary, the strong temperature gradient and faceted crystals are signs of instability in the snow pack. However, the near- surface crusts are very strong, and seem to be adequately supporting sun-seeking recreationists.Great skiing conditions can be found where the wind hasn't scoured off the powder. Terrain and conditions will vary, so stay alert out there! More precip is headed our way for the weekend. Get out while you can.

Why Not Here? Pondering the Ingredients of a Cycling Town

Having just returned from Central Pennsylvania, I am still trying to makes sense of my impressions. I was familiar with Lancaster County and the Poconos, but had never ventured west of these areas until now. While I'd imagined a wholesome and fertile land with dramatic mountain views, the landscape we encountered looked bare and depleted.We saw fairly few farm animals, and minimal vegetation. Many of the farms we passed seemed outright abandoned.Later we were told about the extraction of natural gasses that has become popular in the region, so perhaps this could account for it. It would also explain the enormous, brand-new-looking hotels that stood in sparsely populated areas, towering above the Methodist churches and the dilapidated barns.



In the midst of all of this, we came upon a lively small town - a town with historical buildings, tree-lined streets, an active downtown area, and a picturesque Liberal Arts college with manicured grounds. Surrounded by mountains and farmlands, the town forms a microcosm of "culture" - offering the only sidewalks, storefronts, restaurants and cinemas for miles around.Exploring it with curiosity, it occurred to me that this was the sort of place a friend of mine refers to as "cycling-prone" - his theory being that "cycling culture" tends to develop in places that are structurally prepared for it, and where the population could benefit from it.



Among examples of structural preparedness he includes things like one-way streets with low speed limits. Check: This town is big on one-way streets, with speed limits under 30mph. Frequent street lights and well-designed intersections are also crucial, and this town has them. Large intersections involve dedicated left turn lights, which is helpful for cyclists as well.



There is also the concept of "manageable scale:" The argument is that cycling tends to be popular in small cities or towns with self-contained economies, because most commutes will be fairly short - yet still not quite convenient to make on foot. This town fits the bill perfectly: The population is around 30,000 and a great portion of the residents seem to live, work, and seek entertainment within the town's confines, simply because there is not much beyond it. And being in a valley, the terrain is mostly flat - making even the simplest single speed bicycle sufficient for commuting.



And then, there is the college - a small undergraduate institution with 2,000 full-time students who live on or close to campus year-round. College towns are supposed to be especially prone to embracing cycling, because it makes for a quick and inexpensive means of local transportation. College students also tend to be concerned about the environment, and some are drawn to cycling for those reasons. A quick glance at the college website shows that environmental issues are indeed prominent: Projects to reduce carbon footprints are announced, the benefits of a new recycling program are touted.



In short, all the ingredients are there for this to be a cycling town... and yet, it is not. I saw not a single transportation cyclist on the streets, and not a single bicycle locked up near the college campus or elsewhere in town. To me, this is interesting. Why no cycling here, but yes cycling in places like Hanover, NH and Ithaca, NY - where the towns and the surrounding landscapes are demographically and geographically similar? Sure, Central Pennsylvania can be called "old fashioned," and one could argue that cycling is a contemporary trend that will take a long time to reach here. But the same can be said of Northern NH: You won't see any locals outside of Hanover cycling, but within the town itself it is popular. Also, while I have not been to State College, PA - which is not far away - my understanding is that some students do cycle there for transportation as well.



I suppose my point is not so much to analyse this particular town, as to point out that the popularity of cycling cannot be explained with geography and demographics alone. Even with all the ingredients present, there is no guarantee that they will be utilised and combined into a cycling cocktail, if you will. I can only conclude that, in addition to the ingredients, there needs to be a catalyst to make it happen. To shake things up and get things started. And that catalyst could be anything - from an incoming class of trendy freshmen bringing their fixies to campus, to the college instituting a semester-based bicycle rental program, to the town suddenly deciding to paint bike lanes. I wonder whether that could happen in the coming years in this central Pennsylvania town and others like it.