Index ..

Adam and I had planned early in the week to head out to Index on Thursday. Initial weather reports were favorable for climbing, but not ideal. The forecast when we left Seattle in the morning was perhaps even less ideal, but still favored climbing with a predicted partly cloudy/partly sunny day.

Pulling into the parking lot there were low clouds and not much sign of the sun. We walked the thirty seconds to the lower town wall to see much of it wet, including potential starts to routes we were intending to do. I walked around for other objectives while Adam took a party separation. Godzilla was dripping and Princely Ambitions was plenty wet. I met Adam back at the base of Aries crack where I told him we might as well climb since we were already there. We geared up at the base of Aries crack hoping to continue onto Taurus after we gained the first ledge. Or at least we would see if things looked dry enough to continue.


I led off, finding the rock not thoroughly wet, but damp enough to cause a loss of friction. Upon reaching the crux I could not get enough traction on my left foot smear to make a move and slipped a few times. After repeated attempts with my arms tiring I gave up on finding enough friction to move upward. I lowered and we committed to setting up a top rope on the pitch by climbing the gully to the right.

I took the first shot on top rope and was now stymied by my inability to get a good fist jam higher up. After a few attempts I let Adam have a go at it. I told him his smaller hands might be the ticket as the crack was a bit too small for me to get a fist in, and it might be just right for him. Adam climbed on top rope and was surprised I made it as far as I did on lead. Then he worked the crux for a while before finally pulling the moves to gain the ledge. I came up and once again had to work on trying to make a jam work before I finally found the only thing that would work for me. A solid forearm jam/cam with my right arm gave me the needed hold to move up and complete the moves to the ledge. And some people think it is a good thing to be a tall, big handed climber?

Heading into the Aries crux

Once on the ledge I told Adam I'd like to have a go at the rest of Taurus. After getting a short distance up on the following crack, my foot slipped. I repositioned and tried again. I was able to make the next move, but the following moves had less positive options for feet and the crack looked a bit thinner and harder to protect, so I came down pulling my pieces and waiting for dryer conditions.

I told Adam I'd head up Great Northern Slab to reach the rap station. The climbing on GNS was fun and when Adam reached me I told him I'd like to lead the next pitch as well. After some slightly damp moves pulling around the roof, I was on the ledge at the base of the next crack. Somehow I did not see the easy way up and attempted to go up and gain the crack after a few moves by coming in from the left. This involved an awkward move where I was mantling from a horizontal crack while side pulling with my right hand. I couldn't manage the move and told Adam that "I am probably going to fall here." After a few tries I realized I could down climb a few moves and take the proper beginning to the crack and continue easily. That little episode left me a bit frazzled, and that remained with me the rest of the pitch. Although I did feel I climbed it fairly well. I brought Adam up and we rapped.

Adam on GNS

In typical fashion, I try to go to Index when it is a little too wet for Index. Hopefully I'll be able to get out there and climb when it is dry and then I will not feel too sketched by wet rocks and slippery feet.

Black & White Yellow Rose

My camera has a black & white setting as well as the color and even a sepia tone setting so I decided to try the roses in black and white and sepia. Here is one of the yellow roses.

Gold Creek Christmas ..

I took the skinny skis up to Gold Creek for a short Christmas tour. Conditions were pretty good for the Nordic skis with lots of compacted snow on the road from snowshoers.

The road

It was cloudy and warm, and outside the track, the snow was wet and sticky clogging up the scales on my skis. I wanted to be back before Jennifer woke up, so I only went a few miles in. Once the trail left the road it climbed slightly and got more twisty with little ups and downs. This wasn't the greatest terrain for the skinny skis. Just before a clearing I took my skis off and hiked up to the clearing to check it out. Visibility was poor with low cloud cover. I hiked back to my skis and proceeded to head out. I avoided a downhill section in the track by cutting through the woods and eventually regained the track.

Once back on the road I checked out a small pond and skied over to Gold Creek to check it out. Wild tear drop icicles on a log over the creek:



Then a deep snow trek back to the road where the skis were more like snowshoes. Once back on the road it was a quick ski out to the car.

Gold Creek

This was a pleasant jaunt for a Christmas tour. The weather was nice enough and I got some exercise. The only complaint I would make is that there were too many unleashed dogs about.

Misty Morning, Autumn Forest

This morning was amazing. I brought a couple of friends up into the woods to shoot the fall colors and we were treated to some pretty incredible conditions! Thanks to the cold overnight temperatures and lack of wind, the forest was filled with fog and frost. To top it off, the leaf colors were magnificent. It all made for a little slice of photographic heaven.


Above image: Morning Fog, North Lake
Morning light, fog, trees, reflections... what more could I have possibly wanted? The only thing that would have made this scene better would be a moose standing out in the water :-)

Smooth Green

A new leaf on my 'Dwarf Namwah' banana plant.

Injured hikers airlifted from Camp Muir with help of Army Reserve team

Here is the NPS press release about the recent incident on the Muir Snowfield. We'll attempt to put more information online when we can.

Injured hikers airlifted from Camp Muir with help of Army Reserve team

Two hikers suffering from hypothermia and frostbite were airlifted from Camp Muir on Mount Rainier at 6:15 this morning, with the help of a Chinook helicopter operated by members of the Army Reserve’s 159th Aviation Regiment at Fort Lewis. They were taken to Madigan Hospital and from there by ground transportation to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The injured hikers were Mrs.Mariana Burceag and Mr. Daniel Vlad of Bellevue, Washington. A third hiker, Mr. Eduard Burceag, the husband of Mrs. Burceag, died of injuries sustained in the incident. His body is being removed off the mountain this afternoon.

The three individuals are experienced mountaineers who had visited Camp Muir in the past and have enjoyed hiking and climbing on Mount Rainier for many years. Two had previously reached the summit. On Monday afternoon, they became trapped on the Muir Snowfield by a sudden blizzard while descending from a day hike to Camp Muir. Early Tuesday morning a 911 emergency call came through to park rangers advising them of overdue hikers on the Muir snowfield. Due to heavy, drifting snow, seventy miles per hour winds, and near zero visibility, a rescue team was unable to safely initiate a search at that time. At about 7:15am, one member of the party found his way to Camp Muir and was able to direct a search team, made up of climbing guides and park rangers stationed at Camp Muir, to the party’s location near Anvil Rock. All three of the stranded hikers were under shelter by 8:30am. Three doctors, who were at Camp Muir as clients of one of the park’s guide services, provided immediate medical care. Mr. Burceag was unconscious and unresponsive upon arrival. Rescuers were unable to revive him.

The shelter at Camp Muir is warm, dry, and well-stocked with food and water. A carry-out rescue could have been initiated following the rescue, however, rangers and doctors determined it would be in the best interest of the patients to spend the night and wait for a break in the weather to safely fly the next day. This morning dawned clear above Camp Muir, with heavy clouds below. The Chinook helicopter arrived at 6am and, in approximately 15 minutes, lifted Mrs. Burceag and Mr. Vlad, along with one of the park’s climbing rangers, into the helicopter by hoist and cable. Those on scene report that the cloud ceiling had risen somewhat by the time the helicopter arrived, and that the rescue occurred amid swirling clouds that threatened to engulf the mountain in fog.

The Chinook helicopter was operated by members of the U.S. Army Reserve, “A” Company, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington. [Note: Yesterday’s press release attributing the helicopter to the 101st Airborne Division was incorrect.] This reserve unit has worked with park officials at Mount Rainier on numerous rescues over the years, and has been invaluable as a backup resource when private vendors are unavailable or lack the capabilities required by the mission. In this case, for instance, the Chinook was able to fly out of Fort Lewis by instruments, despite the low clouds and poor visibility that grounded commercial helicopters. Over the years, the Reserve unit’s helicopter has been modified in several ways to accommodate the needs of Mount Rainier’s climbers: with a fixed line inside the aircraft for climbers to clip into; with removable plywood flooring to accommodate climbers’ crampons; with a special hoist for lifting individuals into the helicopter; and with flight helmets for use by park rangers, outfitted with avionics for communicating with the helicopter team.

Every year, roughly 9,000 people climb Mount Rainier and only about half of them reach the summit. Thousands more take day hikes or overnight camping trips to Camp Muir (48 were registered there on Tuesday night). These individuals are attracted by the majesty of the mountain, the wilderness experience, and the breathtaking beauty of mornings like this one, high above the clouds on the side of the volcano. Like many things in life, there are inherent risks in the wilderness. Sudden storms like Monday’s blizzard can catch even the most experienced and prepared hikers off guard. Visitors should check in with park rangers for the latest information about conditions on the mountain, and should always be prepared for an emergency.
~ NPS

Learning and Loving My Smartphone Camera

With a little prompting, I decided to move into this century and get a smartphone. Keep in mind that I just upgraded from a Razr flipphone this past year. A phone that I had to purchase used off of Craigslist and Ebay in order to replace mine when it broke or somehow got lost at Busch Gardens.



I liked my old phone. It was simple and easy and I could use it without thinking too hard.



And although I still can't figure out how to answer the actual phone part, or even hear it when it rings-there are other things I am loving about having a smartphone. Like the fact that the pictures it takes are surprisingly decent.



With some apps, you can grab some really fun shots. Still not sure I'm glad I upgraded the phone but I love not having to lug my huge camera onto the beach each time we visit there.

New Year, New Rope.

So I rang up Danny at K2and said send me a rope. He says what kind of rope do you want?I said a pretty one, beyond that you can decide, you know what I do. So, a purple Rocca 10mm. Perfect. I want it to look good as I repeatly fly off the top of my project.

Cancun El Centro

Last year I was in Mexico for work and had the chance to spend extra days traveling in the region for pleasure and leisure. I went to visit Chichen Itza, the Tulum ruins, spent a day in Playa del Carmen, and stayed in Cancun as well. Since my previous employer sponsored us a luxurious stay at an exclusive resort near Puerto Morelos which means I had enough of the sun and sand and the all-inclusive hotel resort food (this is worrying my eating habits), I decided to stay at a hotel in Cancun El Centro and not in Cancun Hotel Zone for the rest of the days that I was not working.

Except for the food, architectural ruins and the language, Mexico reminds me a lot of the Philippines.

I find the old centre of Cancun a bit raw and less touristy compared to the Hotel Zone where its a chockfull of (north) American holidaymakers and partygoers. I did wander around the old centre and even went to the mercados to look for something to bring home but I did not find anything I like.

My only souvenir in Cancun was a Maya tile calendar given to me by the hotel personnel who were wearing, interestingly, thick winter coats because it’s -+18C outside while I am wearing a short sleeve blouse, thin leggings and slippers. They were very nice people, they helped me book my last minute trip to Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Check out my collage fotos of Cancun El Centro below:

Cancun El Centro scenes. I ordered Nachos at the hotel and look what I got, some rolled tortillas with frijoles refritos - not really a Mexican food fan anyway. Nachos I learned is a Texan thing and not really Mexican. Upper right foto you can see a street food vendor selling tortillas. Below foto with the tall buildings is my hotel room view.

Rotunda monument in Cancun. The Mexican Peso. I did a little walk into this park and saw this colourful row of houses. Bought myself some nachos to munch in my hotel room.

And I sauntered into this concrete park as well with a covered podium. There were a number of stalls selling native Mexican items.

Daily life on the streets of Cancun El Centro. The buses, the traffic (scary to cross the streets there!), the roads, as well as the people there remind me of the Philippines.

All fotos are uploaded to my online Multiply album, and to see them one by one, please go here: Cancun El Centro - Mexico

Veterans in the Family

Grandpa - Rolland Victor Phend - WWI

1917-1919

saw duty in France, was gassed

photo taken in June 1983





Dad - Jack William Wiseman - WWII

1943 - 1946

saw duty in the Pacific arena with the 511th





Brother - Charles Douglas Wiseman

1964-1968

Hospital Corpsman, served with the Marines at Camp Lejeune







Brother - Jack Lynn Wiseman

1969-1973

Hospital Corpsman, served with the Marines in San Diego







me - Becky Wiseman

1969-1979

Photographers Mate, numerous duty stations




You can read more about the military service of ancestors and others in my family in this post from ...

Strange Onions

I think these are called Egyptian Onions. They grow in strange ways.

Street food in Berlin: ‘Frische Brezel’ on a bike

Frische brezels (translation: fresh pretzels) are typical street marvels in the city centres of Germany. It is very popular in the country, in German-speaking countries, as well as in the USA (brought by German speaking immigrants).

America, standing true to its capitalistic nature, found a way to mass produced the pretzels. My first encounter of a pretzel was of course back in the Philippines. We have those American-style mass produced, thin, hard and tiny pretzels coated in dark chocolate—the Jack n’Jill chocolate pretzel.

As seen in my pictures below, the real pretzel is actually a bread. I call it a designer bread with the pretzel loop design and it is soft and big. It’s so big that one piece could be my whole lunch already. It also has many varieties.

What’s nice with this street brezel vendor is that he carries a kerosene stove with him to heat up the pretzels. Yum!

Brezel vendor on a bike spotted near the Reichstag.

EUR 2,50 each and you can have them warm.

Natural and with grated cheese. I would go for natural...