Banana Background

An Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum) leaf.

Ice Cave at Hollow Rock

This "window" of ice is looking out on the little island known as "Hollow Rock", which has been the subject of more than a few of my previous blog entries. I feel very fortunate that I now have this image in my portfolio, since the decision to head out and shoot that morning could have easily gone the other way. We had spent 5 hours snowshoeing the previous day over some very rugged terrain, and our bodies really didn't feel like going out early in the morning and shooting again so soon after the snowshoe workout. The decision was made to head out, however, and boy am I glad that we did as several good images were made on this morning.
The sunrise over Hollow Rock was very nice, with some interesting clouds to spice things up. The real treat, though, was finding two small ice caves to photograph. This particular image is of the second ice cave that I found, and when I stuck my head into this little cave I couldn't believe the view I found with Hollow Rock visible through the hole. It was as though mother nature had tailor-made this ice formation for a curious photographer to stumble upon. There wasn't much room to work inside the cave to get this image. It required crawling into the cave head-first on my stomach then propping my elbows on the rocky ground to brace the camera for this shot. There was no room at this angle to use my tripod. I shot this hand-held with my Canon EF 17-40mm lens, shutter speed 1/60, aperture f16, ISO 200.

Wollaston - Strixton - (Grendon)Lower End - Gt Doddington - Wollaston

About 8.5 miles. With Barry and Gordon . Weather misty, but some sun, and a few drops of rain. Fields muddy, but not too muddy.

Garmin ran out of juice, so link shows general area and start of walk. By zooming out, you may be able to work it out! (WHEN I've described it a bit, that is!)







In need of David Hockney's step-ladder to snap the blue plaque! This is on the house next to the start of the footpath in Wollaston. The path leads between fences, past fields of llamas (alpacas?) and a pony or two, before arriving at open fields. Before long the path reaches the A509, which we crossed, then walked along a short distance to the right, to take the footpath, rather than the one marked opposite the crossing.




















This tree is dead apart from the ivy. It is a marker of the direction of the path after we crossed the A509, heading towards Strixton.

Too cute to be real?

Too real to be cute?

At Strixton we turned left and walked along the road, for a few hundred yards. Then we turned off to the left, making our way south-east, slightly uphill then down into Lower End.



We turned right and walked along Blackmile Lane to Main Road. On the other side of this we turned north-east, then north-west, making towards a double row of electricity pylons. The path continued in the same direction, leaving the pylons behind until we reached a small road, crossing a field with a few horses, some of which thought we might be a good bet for a snack when we paused to shelter under a tree from the few drops of rain.





We followed a path near one of the old gravel pits, crossing the Nene just before the sewage works.











The path to Great Doddington isn't clearly marked, and we came up to the left of a farm building instead of to the right.





Turn right along the main village street, ignore the first Nene Way signpost, and carry on until you are almost out of the village. The path leads down hill, through a gap in the hedge and down to Doddington Mill.

















We crossed the Nene again - lots of fish in the part near the mill. Then we followed the route we took last week, in reverse as far as the Road between Wollaston and Doddington. Instead of turning left along this road, we turned right and then left on to the road to Grendon. After a few hundred yards we took a footpath to the left, across a couple of fields, and the A509, and another short section of footpath before reaching the road leading up into the village.

Pigs on the roof?

A short detour to see the llamas, which were now outside, then we returned to the car.

What one learns and Second Chances...

In the past few weeks I have learned a good bit about myself.



With some after thought I guess I have learned more about myself, people in generaland our relationships when I have been injured.



In early September I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Tonsillar Cancer which is HPV P16 driven. If you are going to get Tonsillar cancer, pray it is HPV P16 driven. (more on second chances in a minute)



http://www.komonews.com/news/health/132764463.html?tab=video



Up first was a "radical neck dissection" to remove the tumors. I was pulling 5.10 a week after surgery so how "radical"can it be? Now Radiation and Chemo follow. I'll be fine in the end. A little worse for the wear and tear may be but pounds lighter and seconds faster. It won't hurt my climbing in the long run is my guess at this point.I will come out of this even healthier and more fit than I have been in a long time. But not a fitness and weight loss program I would recommend either.



So I get a second chance. A cancer they can cure. And a new lease on life witha rebuilt body after loosing 25% of my body mass from chemo and rad.



We all make promises. Some you intend to keep and others you know you will unlikely be able to keep. Most of us do what we can and with some effort more than we might have thought possible until pushed.



I had first intendedto keep my health issues quiet. But as I realised there wasn't an easily accessed body of knowledge on how to get through this I started asking for beta from any of myfriends (and their friends) that might have some insight into a this particular cancer and treatment that would eventually strip me of 25% of my body mass. It all seemed pretty damn scary at the beginning. A little less so now even after dropping 20# in the first six days of treatment. And my friends pulled through for me. Thank you, THANK YOU!



To pay back that debt I will eventually start a new blog documenting this entire experience in detail so it will hopefully bea little less scary for the next guy.



Ten days ago I was unsure if I would ever be able to walk again let alone climb. The initial chemo shattered me physically and mentally in a short 6 days. Not something I easily admit to, but there it is.

Water boarding? Shit, try Cysplatinum.



I, like many who ride a bike, often wonder if Lance did drugs to win those Tours. I don'tneed to wonderany more. Lance did weeksof Csyplantium. I'm only required to do a fewdays. Lance has been requiredto suffer more than most can ask to endure. I suspect that is how he won Tours. Chemo drugs may have taughthim the secrets of sufferingbut no one in their right mind wants the education.







My friends, familyand and our extended climbing family have been the BEST. People have reached out to help and support me, someI hardly know. But I "know" them now. It means a lot to me and I am more than grateful. When you can't move and someone offers a helping hand they are a more than human...more than a kind soul. How anyone does this by themselves hopefully I'll never have to know, thankfully.



Like climbing we seldom do anything alone. And there is a time when we are all alone and a required to dig deep and run it out. That comes as well. But we never get their by ourselves. Some one helped us get to that.



I rushed to get the shell review done before all this started. I was happy with the end result. It was one more off the tick list of "to dos". I have a huge assortment of gear review projects currently in the works. But they are going to have to wait tillI can write (without chemo brain) and get outside again. Those sorts of thingswill be on hold for a bit as I get through this. Future plans?Cham and maybe the Kahiltna again this spring.I am antzy to this over and get to THAT future. But for now I am living cancer. It will bemy way of life for a short time. The experience willenhance me, not define me.



I learned (again) to never take a day for granted. Never forget you have friends. Take care of them, even when you don't have the time. And be thankful every day above ground. Use those dayswisely! 2nd chances are a wonderful thing :)

Charleston SC From My Window

Although we already left here, I wanted to share a few shots from this fabulous city that I took on Sunday. I loved this city. We have already put this on our list of places to come and stay in!

The Power Nap..a cautionary tale

A couple of years ago in early winter we walked into a local peak, climbed it and walked back out. With the nap I took walking out Iwas just over 24 hrs c2c. My partner a few hrs less.







Nothing exceptional for time. A bit of the climbing was spectacular. The walk? It was long enough. Longer than I wanted it to be. Shorter than it can be.



But this story has nothing to do with climbing or walks. It is all about the Power Nap.



I love a good nap when I amtired or better yet when I am tired and warm. Preferably with the sun shining on me in a protected, comfortable and safe place.



The power nap I spoke about above has a few of the elements. I was tired. Protected? Not so much I just laid down on my pack off to the side of the trail and let the cold wake me up.



Here is the rest of that story and the end result.



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//11/immersion-foot.html



Seems reasonable. Wet and cold feet pounded in a few hrs of hard walking in, on and out.



So then I decided to take another power nap. This time at 12K feet in the sun and it was AWESOME! It felt amazingly great. I was warm and cozy and comfortable out of the wind and soaking in the last bit of sunshine I knew would be the last I would see for awhile. My feet weren't wet or cold this time. Dry and warm as matter of fact. The one thing that both naps did have in common was tightly laced single boots that I couldn't be bothered to unlace for a nap. Dumb! Really dumb in retrospect.







A great place for a power nap!





So?? The result of my second power nap? Pretty much the same result as from my 1st power nap with wet and cold feet a couple of years previous...fooked up feet.









After both of these "power naps" I ended up walking for another hr or so each time after I woke up. My feet felt a little weird but never thought they had been damaged. More like they had fallen asleep a bit, not fully numb,but woke up with the additional milage. Both times the resulting nerve damage came as a surprise a few days later.



Now before you pass me off as a nut case...,OK, may be that already has happened. But in my defense I have spent a few nights out up high in the middleof the Canadian/Cascade winter and early spring in Alaska at much colder tempswith little or no gear and not fooked up my feet. The difference you ask? Well I generally spent the majority of time on those trips bouncing around trying to keep warm. I didn't lay down and take a power nap. I was more worried about getting back to some place warm enough so I could take good nap and be sure to wake up again.



The lesson? It might be obvious by nowfor any rational person ;-). If you are prone to taking power naps, mid trip, take the time to unlace your boots early on. You'll likely be happy you did.

Anastasia Island :: Sunset (of course!)

Tuesday March 15, .....