Alta Vista Snow Pit

Howdy Everyone!

This week's snow pit is from the east side of Alta Vista and features the massive amount of new snow that we received during last week's storm cycle.

As you can see from the pit graph, there is small sun crust at the surface (that made for bad skiing) and below that is a 105 cm layer of cold, new snow. This layer has settled about 5" and continues to stabilize. Below this layer there are a number of complex ice crust layers that were observed just below the surface in the Feb. 9th snow pit near The Castle in the Tatoosh Range. These layers remain a source of instability and are acting as release surfaces for the deep slab avalanches that have been occurring in Washington.




Stability tests from the Alta Vista snow pit did not indicate deep instability. The compression, extended column, and the Rutschblock tests had failures either near the surface or did not fail. However, as noted by NWAC, even as the snowpack stabilizes there are still persistent weak layers, and localized areas throughout the region are experiencing large, slab releases.

The forecast is showing another series of fronts that are expected to cross the Northwest through the end of the weekend, bringing significant new snow accumulation. Cautious route finding is encouraged if traveling in the backcountry.

Milan Bars (Alcohol-Free)

When most people think of Milan bars, they probably picture something like this:

[image: venere.com]

But these are the ones I had in mind:

The Velo Orange Milan Handlebars have now replaced the drop bars on my mixte. I picked her up from Open Bicycle today after the surgery. The bars are missing grips, but already looking beautiful. They are not nearly as wide as the distorted perspective of the shots makes them seem, but I can't get a better photo right now.

I replaced the drop bars and brake levers on Marianne after injuring my hands using the original set-up. Let's just say I am talented when it comes to injury. With the new set-up, the braking power is superb and the hand position is sporty (similar to holding the top of the drop bars) yet comfortable. The stem has been replaced with a taller and longer Nitto Technomic. The brake levers are Shimano mountain bike levers. I have some nice dark green cork tape for the wraps, which will be shellacked and twined. Will post updates once the makeover is complete.

Oh and they also removed the "pie plate" from the back wheel. It couldn't be snapped or cut off, because there was a stiff metal ring holding it together that needed to be removed as well. Marianne was very happy to get this procedure done, because all the hipster bikes in Boston were making fun of her. Now she is looking nicer than ever!

Thoughts on RootsTech

Much has already been written about the RootsTech Conference, which was held last week in Salt Lake City. Randy Seaver has compiled a list of Geneablogger posts in his post RootsTech .. Geneabloggers Review. But I thought I'd add my two cents worth...



I managed to arrive on time for the keynote speakers on Thursday morning in spite of having to remove two inches of heavy, wet snow off of Van Dora and then driving in "rush hour" traffic through the valley. That drive stressed me out so much that I decided to forgo the keynote addresses on Friday and Saturday - knowing too that they were being recorded and would be available for viewing later.



I'm not going to give a run-down of the sessions that I attended but will just say that with 6700+ people in attendance, most rooms were crowded. There were several sessions I wanted to attend but couldn't because the room was already at capacity when I arrived 5-10 minutes before they were due to start!



This year I decided to attend sessions on topics that I knew very little about. For the most part, that strategy worked out well. However, I had a big issue with the descriptions of some of the sessions and the fact that very few were identified as Intermediate level. The bigger issue, however, is that several sessions identified as Intermediate were definitely not. And, the titles of some sessions were misleading.



One session, billed as "using technology to solve research problems," was very disappointing. In my opinion, it was a basic beginners level overview of how to do your genealogy - the only "technology" mentioned was the use of the internet and genealogy software. In fact, the speaker, after polling the audience to determine our research level, stated that she expected more beginners to attend.







Some of the highlights... learning about the Genographic Project, picking up some ideas from Denise Olson on using Powerpoint (or other presentation software) to tell short family stories with pictures (photo above), and learning that Thomas W. Jones utilizes online family trees in his research process.







On that latter point, the Thomas Jones session "Can a Complex Research Problem Be Solved Solely Online?" was worth being stuffed into the smallest room available. The session was unlike any other I attended - an interactive experience with the audience responding to questions regarding resources that might be used and then learning from 'the master' what was actually used. Can you imagine getting an email from Tom Jones inquiring about the sources for your online tree?



Will I attend RootsTech next year? Doubtful. But then, that's what I said last year! I think a better option for me is to watch the sessions that are live-streamed and archived for later viewing. Also, if they follow through on their plans to have 600+ locations holding sessions locally at the same time in conjunction with live-streaming - well, that would be awesome.








The downside of attending virtually, of
course, is that you miss out on the interaction with other attendees
and spending time with friends. But if RootsTech grows in attendance
next year like it did this year, the current venue would be
impossibly crowded...

Autumn

When I wasn't looking,



fall crept in.



Days grew short.



Leaves blazed,



and made a quilt.



While my back was turned,



the last goldenrod bloomed,



and summer flew away.

Pickleball Clinic

When we learned how to play pickleball, we just jumped into the game. We had no idea how to really play beyond the basic rules. Today Rich did a clinic and I realized just how much we didn't know. There was a really good turnout as far as number of people there and the weather was nice enough to be outside which helped. We learned so much! Now we just need to practice it.





You can go here: Florida Picklers to read more and see pictures.

An Iris from the Pioneer Garden

These were in the “Pioneer Garden” near the Library.Photos taken Saturday, June 4th

Georgia On My Mind...

Among the gems found last week while going through this box was a birthday card that was made by my niece Carrie when she was 9 or 10 years old (about 25 years ago).

Notice that she wouldn't give me all of her gold, just 3/4 of it. LOL.
No, it's not my birthday. So why am I posting this now and what does it have to do with Georgia, you ask?

Well, it just so happens that Carrie has lived in Georgia for nearly 21 years now. And in a few hours I'll be heading south along with my mother, Carrie's sister Tami, and Tami's son Zach for a few days. It's been a little more than five years since we last saw Carrie and her three daughters. The youngest was 2 ½ years old at the time and wouldn't have anything to do with me. The only time I got a decent picture of her smiling was when she was sitting on Mom's lap! Well, it should be a fun and interesting trip, if we survive the traffic, and each other ;-)

The classic Georgia On My Mind as performed by Willie Nelson and Ray Charles. The song was written in 1930 (or 1931) by Native Hoosiers Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics).

Old Town Church

This is the front of the Catholic church that is in the middle of Old Town Albuquerque, NM and is still in use.

The Keweenaw Peninsula :: Fort Wilkins

Sunday, August 7th - - It was an extremely cloudy and overcast day on Saturday with a forecast of rain in the afternoon. The rain didn't materialize until Sunday morning but I spent a leisurely day Saturday getting caught up with everyday tasks – grocery shopping, laundry, etc. And, of course, working on the computer and writing blog posts. You not only learn to take advantage of the “good” days (the pretty ones with blue skies and sunshine) but also the “bad” days that are somewhat dreary and sometimes a little depressing.



Sunday morning I headed northwest, catching US 41 and following it all the way to the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula and stopped at Fort Wilkins Historic State Park for the night. The further north I drove, the nicer the weather got. The rain stopped and the sun came out. Blue skies returned.



In the 1840s when the copper rush took place the US Government built Fort Wilkins due to a concern with possible disorder and violence amongst the miners and local natives. The Army built 27 structures, including a guardhouse, powder magazine, seven officer's quarters, two barracks, two mess halls, a hospital, storehouse, sutler's store, quartermaster's store, bakery, blacksmith's shop, carpenter's shop, icehouse, four quarters for married enlisted men, stables, and a slaughter house – all to house the operations of two full-strength infantry companies. Several of the original structures still survive while others have been reconstructed following archaeological excavations.



It was an interesting self-guided tour. Apparently they have costumed interpreters on-site during some periods of the summer, but not while I was there! However, there are plenty of informative displays all around that provide a good deal of information.





The Officer's Quarters and another building reflected in the old glass windows of another building.





I thought it was interesting that the four buildings housing the married enlisted men and their families were outside the gates of the fort!





One of the other things that I thought was really interesting is that they displayed copies of original documents – some census records, muster rolls, etc. and they have documented the lives of most of the men who served at Fort Wilkins!



This graphic, with reflections abounding, tells the tale of the soldiers stationed at Fort Wilkins. Wouldn't it be neat if one of your ancestors had served there?



In total, two hundred seventy-one enlisted men served at Fort Wilkins between 1844 and 1870. Records for all but ten have been found. What became of these soldiers after they left here?

• One of every twelve died in the army – half of them from natural causes.


• One of every ten serving here in the 1840s was a battlefield casualty in the Mexican War.


• One of every nine enlisted men to serve here left the army by desertion.


• Less than 4% (one of every twenty-six) re-enlisted.

More photos of Fort Wilkins via Google Images.

Wordless Wednesday :: Yum

Fresh. Purchased at the field. Scrumptious.

With a penny, just so you can compare the size!

Every Month Is 'Bike Month'

With so many press releases for "Bike Month" events circulating as May approaches, I am starting to feel like a real grouch deleting them or replying "No thank you." But I have to stand by what I believe, or else where would I be? And I believe the idea of "bike month" to be damaging to the very thing it aims to achieve - which is making cycling accessible to the non-cycling population. It seems to me, that the nature of the event, as well as the tone of the promotional materials that accompany it [note: link added 4.23.], reinforce, rather than dispel the notion of cycling as something out of the ordinary - an activity reserved for special occasions and organised events.



Granted, "Bike Month"has a festive ring to it thatmay increase the immediate visibility of cycling. But, as someone with professional experience in the psychology of marketing, I question whether the results are ultimately positive. After all, how useful is this increase in visibility if all it does is reinforce the "cycling = a once-in-a-while activity" or"cycling = weird fringe subculture"associations that the non-cycling public already holds?



It is my view, that in order for cycling to be accessible to the general population, it needs to be normalised and depoliticised. "Anybody who wants to ride a bike can do so any time they like," is the only message I see as being productive. You do not need to wear special clothing. You do not need to wait for a special month. You do not need to be "community oriented," athletic, health-minded, or an environmentalist. And you do not need official propaganda to tell you it's "good for you," accompanied by paradoxical instructions that make the whole thing sound complicated and dangerous.



Cycling is not a cult, political group, or evangelical religion that requires recruitment events with free food and trinkets.Every month is 'bike month.'

Speed climbing and the Super Sherpa

This summer has seen a flurry of interest in climbing Mount Rainier FAST... Justin Merle set the pace by breaking Chad Kellogg's record (4 hours 59 minutes) by 10 minutes on July 11th. His friend and colleague, Liam O'Sullivan, raised the bar a few weeks later by sprinting up and down the mountain (Paradise to summit and back) in 4 hours 46 minutes, besting Merle by 3 minutes... Last week, Lhaka Gelu Sherpa threw the gauntlet down in hopes of smashing that record. With 13 Everest summits under his belt and a previous Everest speed record (the current record is held by Pemba Dorje Sherpa), Lhakpa certainly had the credentials to do it. But his well-publicized attempt was thwarted by nasty leg cramps on the descent (something that Liam also met with on a prior and unsuccessful ascent) and so our "Super Sherpa" will have to try again another day. I suppose that we'll see him again, and other speed climbers too... But any takers better move fast, as the route is beginning to change in ways that make rapid movement harder and more challenging (but it's still great for the masses that take 2-5 days, so don't worry).

We've also been getting questions about timed ascents to Camp Muir. So for your information, here are a few facts. In 1994, Climbing Ranger Scott Wanek ran from Paradise to the high camp in 51 minutes! Not bad, eh? Most people can't even ski DOWN that fast. But don't feel bad if your normal one way time is something like 4-6 hours, because Scott also had run a personal best 4:11 mile. Of course, Wanek's record had to be broken too, and it was done last year by Climbing Ranger Andy Anderson. Andy quietly posted a 46 minute one way ascent to Camp Muir! Yup, 4,500 feet of gain in 4.5 miles. So what did you do in the last 46 minutes? Michael Phelps might be smashing Olympic records, but it seems the Rainier records are meeting a similar fate this summer too.

Post by Monica and Mike

Woven Dress Guards for Drilled Fenders

I love the look and feel of woven dress guards. To me they seem more graceful than the solid vinyl type - allowing for the wheel's spokes to remain visible, while still protecting clothing from flying into them. They can also give a bicycle more "personality," as there are many patterns and different installation methods to choose from. A year ago, it was almost impossible to obtain dress guards like these without making them yourself. However, now there are several options available and I have done my best to get my hands on them.



Some of the most beautiful woven dress guards available today are these handmade ones by Bobbin & Sprocket. They can be crocheted in different patterns, according to your specifications (you can see them here on Bobbin & Sprocket's own bike and here on an ANT bike). I ordered a set for my mixte a couple of months ago, but have yet to attach them - because I've decided to do a drilled-fender installation, rather than use the clips provided. The clips don't attach securely enough for my fenders - and I am weary of having the guards fall off and get tangled in my wheel spokes. Earlier, I reviewed the DutchSimeli dress guards, and clip and fender compatibility was also a problem (they only work on bikes where there is a lot of room between the fender and the tire).



For these reasons, I don't think clipping woven dress guards to fenders is the ideal solution, and suggest the traditional drilled-fender installation instead. I had this done to my vintage Raleigh DL-1 last year, using a simple set of dress guards that a reader had sent me from Portugal. The fancy ones in the picture above were a gift from a friend in Autsria, and are waiting for the right bicycle.



The ones I decided to install on my Gazelle were this set I bought fromMike Flanigan ofANT, who has recently begun to order them from Europe. They are simple, stretchy and durable, and I thought the colour scheme suited my Gazelle nicely. Drilling fenders for dress guards may seem like a daunting task, but the actual act of installing them is not difficult, if you have a good drill. What's difficult is making the commitment: You can't "undo" the holes in your fender once they are there, and nearly every set of dress guards requires a different number of holes.



The first step is to consider what part of the wheel you want the dress guards to cover. There is no right or wrong in this regard: If you look at vintage dress guard installations, they are all over the place. Some prefer to cover 1/4 of the wheel, others prefer to cover the entire top half, and others still prefer something in between. Once you choose the coverage area, mark its beginning and end with masking tape. Then, evenly attach a tape measurer along this area. This will allow you to easily mark where the holes are supposed to be. The dress guards I used required 28 holes, which ended up being 1" apart.



Depending on what bike you have, you do not necessarily need to remove the rear wheel or even deflate the tire when drilling the holes. On Dutch bikes and English Roadsters, there tends to be so much room between the tire and fender, that if you insert the drill bit as far inside the drill as it will go, it will be too short to reach the tire after piercing the fender.



The hooks that come with dress guards are about as thick as medium-sized paperclips, so 1-1.5mm is a good size for the holes. We used a 1mm drill bit.



It is good to have a drill with a side handle attachment, as this allows you to keep your hands steady and to have more precise control over the drilling.



I would also suggest using a fresh drill bit and having a spare one before you start, in case it breaks.

And here we go!



If you measured correctly, the holes should look fairly even - but if not, don't panic. These things are meant to have a hand-made look to them and are forgiving of small mistakes.



Inserting the hooks into the holes is fairly straightforward. One additional step to consider, is leaving room for the "cafe lock" if your bicycle has one. This should be done at the time you are measuring for holes in the first place.



At the drop-outs, the dress guards are typically attached to a bolt using a hook that is provided with the guards. (You will have to remove the nut, then insert the hook, then retighten the nut.) You may have to play around with how you angle that ring to which the cords are attached: The rack stays, the shifter cable and the hub indicator chain may interfere with it, and then you sort of have to angle the ring and insert it over/under, as applicable. Every bicycle is different in this regard, so it is impossible to give precise instructions here.



The important thing, is that in the end nothing sticks out in a way that can catch on your clothing. For example, we crimped the hook on which the ring rests, downward.



And that is pretty much it. Describing the process step by step in itself makes it seem complicated, but it only took us an hour - which I think is good, considering that it was our first time and we were afraid of messing up. You can see the finished installation in an outdoor setting in this post.Looking at the final result, one could say that these guards could look better if they were fanned out over a wider area - but I wanted the coverage to be denser. It's really a personal choice, and I am pretty happy with how mine have turned out. If you own a drill, this method of dress guard installation is worth considering.

Long Lost Cousin Nat

(F. Bernard Schultz in Hawaii 1940s)

The wonders of the inter net can be a fairly amazing thing. A man in Tennessee becomes interested in his family background when his father passes on so instead of writing a relative or going to the library, he googles the name of his father's father-Frank Bernard Schultz- and in fairly short order arrives right here-writing me for any information I might have. Why? because his grandfather married my grandmother- and left his grandmother to do so.

Here's Nat's story:

"As you know, I didn't know much at all about my grandfather, barely his name. After my father's death, I decided to take a "shot in the dark" and Googled my grandfather's name. Surprisingly, the first link was to a memorial to him from the Mamiya Medical Heritage Center in Hawaii. The article itself talked extensively about his professional history but little about his personal history. At the bottom of that article, though, was a reference to his step-daughter, Mrs. George Cokinos.

After reading that article, I went back to the same Google link pages and came across your blog, giving a Pearl Harbor tribute to your grandmother. Wondering how the name Schultz related to her, I read the article and found that the two of them had been married. Seeing that your last name was the same as the one in the Mamiya article, I decided to take a chance and to introduce myself to you to see if you might know about our family history. I now probably know my grandfather more than my father ever did thanks to a lead that I found on the internet."

In turn I found out that my new (step) cousin, Nat who is about my age, has a son that he will pass this chapter of family history onto as well as some letters and souvenirs from his grandfather's life with our grandmother. And I got a new pen pal.