Bugs!

Crouching spider,



Hidden grasshopper.



A female spider with her spiffy egg sac.

Sorry, don't have time to ID the bugs this morning! If anyone knows, please leave a comment or email and I'll add the info. I'm thinking that the last one may be a wolf spider.

Edited to add:
Thanks so much to Thingfish23 who has identified the first "spider" above as, well, not a spider but a Harvestman. (I really should have known that. His body didn't look quite right for a spider.)
Order Opiliones.

The second one's a Northern Green-Striped Grasshopper (Chortophaga viridifasciata), according to this site and this one. (Thanks again Thingfish23.)

Thingfish23 also says that the third image above is of a "nursery web spider" (Pisaurina mira).

Edited again:
Sisu says the third one is a wolf spider.

Get ready for the Battle of the arachnophiles!

If anyone else has an opinion on the identity of the spider in question, please email or leave a comment.

Trillium flexipes

Trillium flexipes blooms concurrent with the emergence of poison ivy in this area.



The flowers aren't always standing up proud like this one -- sometimes they're considerably more droopy.



But the more erect version is generally considered "standard". People generally like it better, at any rate, when they don't have to go poking under the leaves to find the flowers.



The flowers never point up though - always out or down.

I like to note botanical names of things here, but most of the time I have to look them up. I'd love to go around referring to everything in Latin, but honestly, I haven't committed many of those names to memory. Except with Trilliums.

This flower's most common everyday name is Bent Trillium, though I've often seen it referred to as Nodding Trillium, Drooping Trillium, or White Trillium. But there are two other similar Trilliums (rugelii and cernuum) that are also sometimes called by the very same common names. I do like the evocative terms Toadshade and Wakerobin, and if they were used consistently I'd be happy to employ them. But to avoid getting lost in the common name mire it's always best to use Latin for Trilliums.

Most of the maps don't show this Trillium here. Flowers don't read maps though, and I've found Trilliums to be poorly mapped in general. That USDA distribution site pretends to take reports, but in my experience they just ignore them.

-----

Nice Trillium reference page here.

Eddie Bauer Peak XV jacket?

I have a long history of using Eddie Bauer gear. Longer than I can remeber actually as one the firstdown bags was I used wasEddie Bauer that Iborrowed from my Mother on early over night trips to the back yard!



So the brand namewas a household word growing up inWashingtonand Idaho for me.









In 1977 there were better down garments available in Europe. Moncler and Egge were two that were easily available in the US at the time. I took my Monclear Teray jacket to Nepal thespring of '77. It was so obviously a better climbing jacket than the Eddie BauerKarakorum we were supplied with.








The Terray,after a open bivy, highon Mt. Deborah,Alaska, May of'76



Eddie Bauer sponsored and supported John Roskelley and I in the spring of 1977 fora two man attempt on Makalu's West Pillar. (the first two man 8KM permit given in Nepal) John got ill on the walk in thankfully, as the project even todaywould be serious challengefor the besttwo man team. Although it does perk one's imagination doesn't it!



My friends John, Chris Kopcynski, Jim States and Kim Momb went back to Makalu in 1980 and after a concerted effort with fixed camps were able to put John, alone, on the summit.



http://www.himalayanclub.org/journal/makalu-west-pillar/








JR (back), Kop (center), Kim(right) and myself on top of Takkakaw'82.

Lots of down in the picture, none of it fromEddie Bauer




So while we all knew about Eddie Bauer and they did supply a lot of expedition support back in the day by the time I was doing much all the EB gear was welldated.




In fact past the down sweaters I really wasn't interested in much of what Eddie Bauer was selling, until recently.




Funny story really. Someone started complaining on an Internet forun (imagine that!) about the newest First Ascent Peak XV jacket. And how they had washed it in a machine and the baffles had ripped apart. (imagine that!) Even though the jacket had been given to him, shall we say "verywell used" after an Everest trip and more.Eddie Bauer's retail store honored the lifetime warrenty and gave him instore credit or a new jacket. His choice.














Whittaker Mountaineering Gear Review: First Ascent Peak XV Down Parka from Whittaker Mountaineering on Vimeo.







I was impressed by the warrenty. So next time I was in town I made a point of stopping by the local Eddie Bauer store. And didn't expect much. What I found shocked me. The Peak VX was the best heavy weight, technical, down jacket I had ever seen. With a price point no one could match. I ended up buying 2 that season...one as a spare as I figured the price would never be equaled for what I was buying.




A couple of years later and my mind hasn't changed. The original Peak XV is still the best, heavy weight,technical down jacket I have seen or used. The second version isn't bad either. Lucky for us both versions are available. The Peak XVis a good start. Eddie Bauer now has all sorts of different clothing pieces that are exceptional values. Mind you not all of the First Ascent gear is...but some are simply amazing,no matter the price point compared to value and design. As I get the time I'll write up the gear from Eddie Bauer that has truly become "go to" climbing and skiing garmentsfor me and my extended family.




If I were to go back to Makalu tomorrow this is the jacket I would take. But it is not a jacket most will have a use for. It is simply too warm.



But it would work just fine in fall/winter on the north side of Rainer as well. Ptarmigan in Oct. '75.




More here on my thoughts about some of the most popular belay jackets:




http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//02/belay-jacketsthe-heavy-weights.html

Muddy Creek

Jemez Creek looked very muddy yesterday when we took a drive up to the Jemez Mountains. There have been several good rains there and the dry conditions have probably caused a lot of very dry dirt to run into the creek.

A review of the movie, "The Pinnacle"

"In one legendary week on Ben Nevis in 1960 Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith climbed six first winter ascents on consecutive days, including the mini Alpine-route, Orion Face Direct. They also made the first one-day winter ascent of Point Five Gully, went for a long walk and got arrested over an incident with some dominoes! Exactly 50 years later Dave MacLeod and Andy Turner pay tribute to Smith and Marshall by setting out to repeat all the routes that were climbed in that famous week. This film tells the story of the original events and follows MacLeod and Turner as they discover exactly what an achievement it was."



I have mentioned this film several times on the blog. Last year I really wanted to be in Scotland for the Premier. Formost of us Yanks that was a pipe dream even without a volcano in Iceland.



My copy showed up on Christmas Eve! I was stoked!! In the lastweek I have had a chance to view "Pinnacle" and all the extra footage on the DVD twice.



It should beobvious thatI am a student ofour sport'shistory. That interestis one of the reasons I started the blog. Waterfall climbing started in the late 60s and early 70s in my part of NA and Canada. I was lucky enough to latchon to the last bit of it and even luckier to see the sport transformed in the years that came after. The grand scale of it, now 40 years later, for me is some what akin to having done the West Buttress on Denali in a 3 week slog and then go back years later to do it again in a day.



Your perspective is forever changed by the events you witness.



I have no history of ice climbing in the 60s. But I knew "my sport" was born there and we all learned how to walk from that beginning. Sure there were great things done in the Alps the previous 40 years to 1960 but none fired the imagination that Scotland did if for no other reason we were made more aware of it by the British climbing publications, both magazines and books.



I grew up with the stories of Point Five Gully and the Orion Face as much as I did with Annapurna, the Eiger and Everest.



The film maker, Paul Diffley has taken a truly amazing story of one week's climbing in 1960 and one of the originalclimbers involved and woven a intricate, humorous and touching adventure story from the facts of 50 years ago.



The extras on the interview and other bits of climbing footage just enrich the experience. This is a film that had me smiling, laughing, enthralled and at one point brought a tear to my eye. It is a film I will ponder and reflect on for a long time to come. And one I will pull off the shelf on occasion and sit with a glass of Scotch and watch again, when I need to remember it all myself.



Likely part of that reverence I attach to this film is the fact that I saw much of the climbing pass in front of me over the last 40 years. And I know that I won't always be pulling down on cold hard ice myself. But for the moment I am. And I can still respect the climbersthat came before me. It is obvious they earned it.



Diffley's editing is nothing short of superb. The camera footage is some of the best winter climbingI have seen on film . And it is not hard to image Smith and Marshal being just as comfortable and complimentary as MacLeod and Turner are in their partnership. Both were easy to relate to and enjoyable to watch on film. Not always easily donefor climbers.



Marshal and Smith is the true stars of the movie. And Smith never utters a word in the entire program.



I suspect if you are on this blog for any of its content,you'll want to see this DVD......more than once and on the biggest screen you can find.



You can order it here:



http://www.hotaches.com/films.htm#Pinnacle







5 Star Review - Climb Magazine -

"A beautifully crafted film"







"The Nevis scenery and the climbs are completely exquisite; rarely has the Ben looked so ethereally beautiful or sugar icingly-enticing."

- Colin Wells - Climb Magazine



"The film is a rare jewel of climbing history and a visual treat for the guilty armchair mountaineer! ... it leaves me with a feeling of profound longing for those special mountaineering moments that become ever more rare and inaccessible."

- Stone Country



•People's Choice Award:

Kendal Mountain Film Festival



•People's Choice Award:

Dundee Mountain Film Festival



•People's Choice Award:

Edinburgh Mountain Film Festival



And a review much better than mine I just had a chance to read plus two links on Robbin Smith:



http://tohatchacrow.blogspot.com//11/iron-in-soulthe-pinnacle-review.html





Most of the trailers and much of the modern climbing is linked here on the blog as well. Easy enough to find by checking the "climber, video" in the labels at the bottom right hand corner of each post.

Grandma's Story

After spending a great deal of time the past few days trying to decide who to write about for the "International Women's Day Challenge" I've selected my grandmother, Hazlette Aileen Brubaker Phend Dunn Ferguson (1902-1984).

Stages of life: 1902, 1910, about 1948, 1980.

In many ways Grandma was an "ordinary" person, but at the same time, she was really quite extraordinary. There were many sides to her personality. There were times, as a teenager and young adult, that I didn't "like" my grandmother. Some things were done and said that haven't been forgotten, though they have been forgiven. But even though I didn't always like her, I did love her and, I think more importantly, respected her very much.

Grandma's parents, Charles R. and Maud Wise Brubaker, moved from Whitley County, Indiana to Lorain, Ohio shortly after the death of their first child, John Wise Brubaker, on February 24, 1901. He was born prematurely and died 8 days after his birth. Maud's brother Harry and other relatives lived at Lorain. Grandma was born there on January 16, 1902. She was also born premature, weighing only 2 1/2 pounds. When she was 6 months old, the family moved back to Whitley County.

Her parents had a somewhat tumultuous relationship, which I am sure affected her in many ways. Grandma did not graduate from high school as she had a "nervous spell" when about 12 years old and never returned to school. When she was 15 years old, after recuperating from appendicitis and an operation, she began working as a telephone operator. She worked at several telephone companies in the area through World War I then got a job as an office clerk and "girl Friday" and learned bookkeeping.

On October 15, 1921 grandma married Rolland Victor Phend. They had five children between 1922 and 1934. They divorced in 1937 and grandma and the children moved to Elkhart. There she baked pies for her brothers restaurant, cleaned houses, took in a boarder with two little girls, and eked out a living. Then her grandmother, Malissa Joslin Brubaker Bower died and left her an inheritance of $500.00 which was enough to purchase a small house in Larwill.

Grandpa and Grandma remarried in 1939 and purchased a larger home in Larwill. She worked for a trucking company in Fort Wayne for a while, and then went to work for Jewell Tea Company. She drove a truck for them for two years during World War II then went to work for an insurance company. A few years later, they divorced again and Grandma moved to Auburn in DeKalb county. The three youngest children remained in Larwill with Grandpa.

In 1945 Grandma was married to Harold Dunn, but that didn't work out either. She worked for a dry cleaning business, then a milling company. During this time she took a high school course and learned the double entry system of bookkeeping. Changing jobs once again, she went to work for a Chevrolet & Buick dealership in Auburn as head bookkeeper. She belonged to and was an officer in BPW (Business & Professional Women) and worked in the Methodist Church.

About 1958 she moved to Fort Wayne and became manager of Miller's Ice Cream store and restaurant, at Five Points on Goshen Road. A few years later she moved to North Webster and opened her own restaurant which provided jobs for many family members, including myself.

In 1964, Grandma was married to Ray Ferguson. He died in 1967. I graduated from High School in 1966 and 3 years later joined the Navy, so I was pretty much gone from the area until 1979.

In 1972, after a visit from a distant cousin, Grandma began writing her life story and family history. She wrote: "When we were going thru Grandma Brubaker's letters from her parents and her sisters, I began to realize how important they were to Helen and me even though they were very poorly written and not always well done as to spelling and punctuation. So I have decided to write as I feel the urge and as I remember things and have a lot of enjoyment in doing it this way. Working with Helen I became enthused again with the genealogy and have worked all day on the records. I had planned on writing a book so that my children might know more about their ancestry. I am afraid I am too lazy and I know that I have no talent for writing. My typing is almost as bad as my handwriting and my spelling is outrageous."

At that time she only wrote a few pages but picked it up again in 1976 after being diagnosed with cancer. On August 4, 1976 she wrote: "Well, I did get a little writing done. I do hope some one of you kids enjoy it. Maybe one of the grandchildren or great grandchildren will really get some good out of it." Little did she know what she had started! She was right, her spelling was bad and her handwriting was terrible! But it was legible and we (her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren) have all enjoyed it. Her writings "Tales From the Life of Hazlette Brubaker" have been transcribed and posted online at my Kinexxions website. I can only hope that others enjoy her story as much as we have and I am ever so thankful that she took the time to write them down for us!

Grandma passed away at the age of 82, on May 3, 1984 after having suffered the indignities of losing a leg and having a colostomy. I think she hated that colostomy bag even more than losing her leg! But she dealt with it. She was a stubborn lady who just didn't ever give up, a trait that has been passed down to more than one of her children and grandchildren.

Updated January 3, .. Changed link to "Tales From the Life of Hazlette Brubaker" to a blog post. Kinexxions website will be taken offline the first of March and the articles on the website are moving to the blog.

Anastasia Island :: Sunset (of course!)

Tuesday March 15, .....

Hoffman Family in Roann Cemetery

Located in Wabash County, Indiana one mile north of Roann on the east side of County Road 700W near CR 700N, the Roann Community Cemetery was formerly known as the I. O. O. F. Cemetery and even earlier as the Paw Paw Cemetery. There are four sections separated by roads that lead to a circle in the center of the cemetery. The markers for the family of Eliza Jane Wise and Anthony Hoffman are in Rows 13 and 14, in the north west section. As discovered in her obituary, Eliza was the daughter of Peter and Christina Wise, whom I believe are also the parents of Jacob Wise, my 3rd Great Grandfather.



The Hoffman marker in the foreground is that of Dayton Hoffman, to the right is the one for his daughter Helen. And to the right of hers is the one for Eliza and Anthony Hoffman. Behind and to the left of Eliza's marker is her daughter Ella Hoffman. And to the left of Helen is the marker for Effie and John Wertenberger. The large stone facing the road is the Gidley family monument. This picture was taken towards the end of my time in the cemetery and the rain was coming down in a steady stream instead of just drizzling, as it had been earlier in the day. Photographs taken on February 5, .. by Becky Wiseman.



The east face of the marker for Eliza Jane Wise and Anthony Hoffman.
A. W. HOFFMAN / DIED JULY 5, 1902 / AGED 64 YEARS
E. J. HOFFMAN / DIED NOV. 2, 1920 / AGED 78 YEARS



ELLA HOFFMAN / 1870 - 1918
Note: Ella was the daughter of Eliza and Anthony Hoffman. This stone is north of the Gidley marker and between the Hoffman and Wertenberger markers.



This is a huge monument, one of the biggest I've ever seen. Placed so that it faces the roadway that leads into the cemetery, it can't be missed. Which was a plus for me since it was one of the grave markers for which I was looking. The Gidley monument stands about seven feet in height, about five feet wide, and the base is more than 2 feet deep. Jennie Gidley was the daughter of Eliza Jane Wise and Anthony Hoffman. In the plots behind this stone are the markers for Eliza Wise Hoffman and her children.



The inscription on the south face of the Gidley monument:
ARAM GIDLEY / DIED / MAR. 5, 1923 / AGED / 79 Y. 8 M. 24 D.
JENNIE M. / WIFE OF / A. T. GIDLEY / DIED / AUG. 5, 1914 / AGED / 41 Y. 2 M. 7 D.



The inscription on the North face: W. W. GIDLEY / 1898 - 1974
EMMA / WIFE OF / A. T. GIDLEY / DIED / JUNE 1, 1892 / AGED 40 Y. 8 M. 18 D.
Note: Emma was Aram Gidley's first wife. Jennie Hoffman was his second wife.



at left: On the west side of the marker is the name WERTENBERGER.
On the east side: JOHN / 1853 - 1920 / EFFIE / 1866 - 1944

at right: On the west side of the marker is the name HOFFMAN.
On the east side: DAYTON / 1884 - 1940 / MARY / 1858 - 1905
Note: The year of birth for Dayton is not correct. He was born in 1864, not 1884.



HELEN O. HOFFMAN / 1892 - 1965
Note: Helen is the daughter of Dayton Hoffman.

Happy Hour at Our Place

We keep thinking that each Happy Hour we have attended lately is probably the last one for this season. Luckily, that has not been the case. Donna decided to throw another one with those of us who are still here. And there ended up being plenty of us to have a really nice Happy Hour. We held the party at our place and we had tons of great food again. Donna made sloppy joes and there was lots of great side dishes and desserts.



We spent most of the night talking with each other, which is what Happy Hours are mainly for.





We also like to have fun, and this time our cornhole game provided the entertainment. We managed to get almost every single one of us out there to play this fun game.



This game might look easy but it is not as easy as it appears to be. It requires lots of concentration.



Buddy and Tonya were naturals. Right away they looked like they'd played the game forever. Travis played a pretty mean game too. The rest of us are still learning but we had tons of fun too. The best round of the evening was one where Travis and Art put five in a row through the hole. I managed to snap the fifth one as it is heading through the hole.



We played most of the night and then sat and chatted some before the mosquitoes drove us all back into our rigs. The weather was perfect and I'm so glad we did have yet another great Happy Hour.

Over the River and Through the Wood: the Season of Lone Travelers

Yesterday I cycled to a wooded area 15 miles away to take pictures for a backdrop for a painting I am working on. I needed some detailed shots of birch trees, and November is the perfect time to get them - With most of the foliage gone, the birches stand out tall and lean, every detail of their beautiful bark crisply outlined against the bare landscape.



All in all, this is such a quiet time. A deep hush has fallen over the forest as it braces for the fury of winter storms. There is even a particular sound that goes along with this state of things - like a very quiet ringing.



Now that we are getting into late November, the number of cyclists out there - especially outside of the city, on the hilly roads and on the trails - has dwindled down remarkably. And those who remain apparently feel a sense of comradery with their fellow lone travelers, as I have never gotten so many comments from passing roadies before.



First I was asked by a cyclist where I got myMoserand how I like the bike. We discussed that for a bit, with him concluding that he must find a vintage Moser frame for himself (he-he, I am such an enabler!). Later, another cyclist (of the "pedantic retrogrouch" variety) was indignant that I was not only riding an Italian racing bike as a fixed gear, but that I fitted it with "rando-bars" (a French style of drop handlebars with a curvature better suited for long distance touring). I did not really know what to reply to that accusation except "yes".



And later still, I was complimented on my "trackstand" at a traffic light, which made me question whether I understand what trackstands are. I was pretty sure that a trackstand is when you are actually able to stand still, as a sort of balancing trick. I cannot do that at all. But I play games at intersections, where I cycle so slowly that I am basically moving forward mere millimeters at a time until the light turns green. It may look like a trackstand to an unscrutinous eye, but I am definitely cheating.But anyhow, my point really is that I haven't had verbal exchanges like these with other cyclists until now - whereas yesterday alone I had nearly half a dozen. The few cyclists who are out there this time of year must be feeling especially lonely.



On the way back from my photo trip, I stopped by the Ride Studio Cafethat I wrote about earlier, when I saw through the window that their coffee bar was open. I just want to say one thing: If I could count on their in-house coffee shop consistently being open, I would go out of my way just to go there. They serve good coffee and hot chocolate -and they have back issues of Bicycle Quarterly!Once settled in,I had to almost forcibly pry myself away. Funny, because I remember readingBicycle Quarterly last year and finding the articles difficult to understand, whereas now everything makes sense and seems terribly interesting.I should probably start subsrcibing to it. And for those who have been reading BQ all along: Could you tell me in what issue I can find Jan Heine's review of a Rivendell? I am pretty sure he wrote one, but haven't been able to locate it.



As I needed to run some additional errands in different parts of town, I ended up spending the entire day on my bike - which made me realise just how quickly both the temperature and the light conditions can change this time of the year. I am paranoid about getting stranded in the dark, so even for my sporty bicycles I carry at least some battery-operated lights that I can quickly attach to the handlebars and to my saddlebag. As winter approaches, I somehow find myself riding this particular bike more and more - so maybe it is time to find a more permanent and attractive lighting solution for him (bottle dynamo on a fixed gear, anyone?).



And it is surprising how much stuff my tiny saddlebagcan fit, as long as I don't need to carry my laptop around. Perfect for a short trip by a lone traveler on a late November day.