Researching Mount Rainier's Glaciers

Everyday, climbers inquire about thinly covered crevasses, glacier conditions, or that “bergschrund” on top of the Emmons. And we’re here to share what we know about the Emmons, Kautz, Tahoma and other major glaciers on Mount Rainier. But we also wanted to let you know that the NPS is actively monitoring these glaciers in an effort to better understand how the climate is affecting them and how these glaciers are affecting the mountain and the surrounding areas. This is important stuff when you consider that Mount Rainier’s glaciers are a primary water source for many Washingtonians, while at the same time a potential geological threat to communities in the floodplains downstream.

Basic Science Recap: Glaciers are permanent sheets of flowing ice that erode mountain slopes, carve valleys, and affect the geography of the park. Rainier’s glaciers have an “accumulation zone” (where more snow gathers than melts) and an “ablation zone” (where more snow melts than accumulates). The most recent detailed measurements (1913 to 1994) on Mount Rainier indicate that the combined glacial area has receded by a 1/5th, and that the total volume of glacier mass has decreased by 25%.

The Nisqually and Emmons are part of a long-term monitoring program making them the most scientifically prodded glaciers in the park. The current study is a cooperative venture between Mount Rainier and North Cascades National Parks and includes field measurements of snow depth, snow density, and snow/ice melt. It includes an annual series of terrestrial, aerial and satellite images. To better understand what's going on, researchers place “ablation sticks” (PVC poles) at various elevations and locations on the Emmons, Ingraham and Nisqually Glaciers. In the spring, researchers us a steam drill to sink these stakes into the winter snowpack until they reach the glacier ice. Then throughout the season, researchers measure the snow accumulation and more importantly, the rate of snow melt. This allows them to calculate the net balance of the overall snow and icepack. The graph below shows the results gathered since 2003. As you can see, the overall mass balance of the ice is decreasing.

So why are we sharing this geeky science information? Well, we like it, but also because climbers have been noting the PVC poles buried on the glacier and have asked, “What’s the plastic pipe all about?” Those PVC poles are the measuring sticks. If you keep your eyes peeled on your next summit attempt, you may note one or two of them on the Muir Snowfield, Nisqually, Emmons, or Ingraham Glaciers. If you do see them, please do not disturb or remove them.

For more information on the glacier monitoring being conducted by North Cascades National Park, check their website. And if you’re interested in the historical Mount Rainier glacier studies referenced above, check out the “Glacier and Glacier Changes” homepage on the Mount Rainier website.

Photo contributed and graph by North Cascades researcher Jeanne Wenger.

Driving As a Cyclist

Until last week I had not been behind the wheel of a car since 2007. ButI knew this day would come - the day I would want to drive again.




Over my years as a driver, the cars I've owned have always had automatic transmission - I never learned how to drive manual. When I mention this to an Irish friend, he shakes his head and roars with laughter. "Automatic!"He says it as if the word itself, used in relation to cars, is amusing in its absurdity."Automatic?! Okay, so you never learned to drive properly in the first place. Well come on - I'll learn ya!"




And just like that, I am in the driver's seat. I feel ready for this, looking forward not only to being behind the wheel after such a long time, but specifically to trying the manual gear-shifting. And the funny thing is - this enthusiasm comesfrombeing a cyclist, not in spite of it.





The 8 mile stretch of Benone Beach is like an unpaved extension of the road. Cautiously I maneuver the rickety Saab along the sand, my left hand on the gear shift knob, my senses heightened, trying to listen to the engine's sounds and feel the give in the clutch.



Things do not go as badly as I thought they might. I am not stalling out. I press the correct pedals. My hand is getting used to the positions of the gears, so that I can shift without looking. Operating the gear box makes sense, having gotten used to the concept and feel of gears on the bike. When the gear is too high, the car makes a straining noise - not unlike a cyclist grinding along at a painfully low cadence. When the gear is too low, the car feels as if it is spinning out, unable to pick up speed efficiently. It is not a perfect analogy by any means, but it is just enough to make sense. And I can feel that with some practice this will become intuitive.



I think of driving now differently than I did 5 years ago. Cycling is a very physical activity, and it has made me more viscerally aware of the mechanics involved in operating a vehicle. I think of driving as a serious skill, rather than a perfunctory action. When in the passenger's seatI now find myself more aware of the driver's technique and degree of control under different road surface conditions and speeds.Having worked so hard to learn how to handle my bike on winding mountain roads, I appreciate the handling skills involved in operating all vehicles - be they motorcycles, tractors or cars.Some of the people I know here are extremely skilled drivers, and I must admit that riding with them is exciting. I am impressed with the smoothness and precision with which they operate their complicated, heavy 4-wheel motorised vehicles. And if I do drive myself, I aspire to aim for the same degree of proficiency.

Birthday Presents

The kittens decided to check out my birthday presents.

A Trip Full to See Friends

This week was supposed to be our vacation week. We were going to go down to Ft Myers beach to meet up with some friends and to spend some beach time there as a family. Then I got a job offer to spend the summer at the beach, and I needed our vacation week to work out some of my two week notice. So we took my two days off to go down instead. We landed at Peace River and drove down to Sanibel Island for the day.



At Sanibel, I was able to see my dear friend Barb and her husband John. I haven't been able to visit with Barb in person for a few years now and it was so wonderful to catch up in a face to face way. She is one of the neatest people I know and someone who has had profound impact on my life, so the visit was uplifting and nourishing to my soul. We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant there and the food was very good, so my body was nourished well too. I would have liked more time together, but the time we did have was very precious to me.

Since we were at Peace River, we also had a too short visit with some very special friends. As soon as we returned from Sanibel Island, Rich and Donna had a cookout for us. I've shared here before how Donna is one of the main reasons I stuck with pickleball. Beyond pickleball, I just enjoy her as a person. She is one of those rare people that is sweet and interesting all rolled up in one.



We had the treat of sharing the cookout with some newer pickleball friends, Russ and Jody. They went to Capone's with us the night we visited there, so we had already shared that fun night together. We enjoyed getting to know them better tonight too. We decided to head out tonight instead of waiting until the morning, so we didn't get to play pickleball together. We loved what time we did have together though.

Living the life in Florida!

Mind the Moderating Rules

I have a fairly hands-off moderating policy on this blog. At the same time, it is important to me that readers are comfortable participating in discussions without feeling intimidated by others. The policy so far has been to "approve all comments other than spam, unsubstantiated slander, inflammatory remarks, or blatant rudeness," and this will not change. However, I would like to elaborate on some of these terms.



Spam has become harder to deal with, as increasingly I find businesses using the comments inappropriately. Industry members are always welcome to participate in discussions. What is not welcome, is for a business to comment incognito in order to endorse themselves or criticise a competitor. I will remove those comments and will not deal with any company that uses such tactics.Comments promoting your business in response toa thematically unrelatedpost are likewise inappropriate.



Slander refers to posting malicious allegations against industry members and other individuals. (Example: "I heard Company X uses child labor to make their products." Another example:"Hey, I saw that guy beating his wifeafter the Podunk Brevet.") I cannothost random slander aimed at companies or persons; please take it elsewhere.



Rudeness seems like an obvious enough concept, but it can be a slippery slope. Criticism in itself is not rude. There are also comments meant to be humourous or tongue-in-cheek that can get misread by those who don't get the joke. I consider comments rude when they outright insult others or address them in a bullying tone.



Inflammatory comments are those designed to taunt a specific individual or to provoke a so-called "flame war." I do not always read comments thoroughly, and may not notice these until a full-blown hostile exchange is in progress. In cases like these, I may go back and remove the entire thread, no matter whose started it.



The way I see it, the less moderating I do the better. I hate being in a position of "allowing" versus "not allowing" stuff. Plus I simply have no time to carefully consider the wording of every comment. Long time readers get the benefit of the doubt more so than unknown ones.I use my judgment. Please use yours and mind the moderating rules.

Alpinism?

If you aren't aware of the fact, the blog format details very accurate data on use and visitors. So I see where the traffic comes from by country and URL both.





Photo courtesy of Ally Swinton, his Nomic with a C/T hammer, solo on the North Face of the Midi

The majority of the use is from the US and Canada followed closely by the UK and then virtually every alpine country in the world follows.



The US numbers would seem to be a given. I post enough on Canadian and the UK climbing web sites that it isn't a surprise there. The rest of the traffic is.



I hope those that already know this will pardon me restating the obvious for us in NA.



Last year a couple of friends asked me how to better learn "alpinism". What ever that means to you. For many here in the NW that might mean climbing Ptarmiganm ridge as the ultimate goal or the North face on Mt Temple in the Rockies. For others the Cassin on Denali. Big jump between the three.



And any one of them worthy goals.



When I look back at 40 years of alpine climbing the one place that defines the sport and generally the climbers I admire it is Chamonix. Climbs like the MacIntyre-Colton on the Grand Jorasses definealpinism to me.



There are a couple dozen climbers I suspect in Chamonix-Courmayeur area (or who climb there on a regular basis) that we have never heard of, that have done more hard alpine climbing thananyonefrom the US, past or present.



Bold statement, I know.



But then, do you know the guy who not only broke Ueli Steck's speed record on the Ginat this winter and carried skis up and over while doing it? Yes. alpine climbing is all about conditions. And the Ginat had steps up it earlier in the in the winter. But still...anyone know this guy or his time?



Chamonix is a big and complexarea, has an amazing amount of climbing, (more than any one person will ever do in a life time) and super easy access (but not as easy as it first appears). Generally you will be climbing above 11,000 feet if you want to climb on the bigger faces. And best of all the rock is stellar in comparison to Canadian limestone and the weather stunning in clarity if rather harsh (Alaska harsh) in the storm cycles when they do arrive. Nothing like it for terrainin North America outside Alaska.





Bottom line here? If you want to learn what thestate of alpine climbing is in the world today...or get better at your own alpine climbing in the shortest amount of time involved, you simply must climb (and you mustski) in Chamonix.



Lots of places to rock climb in the world. Yosemite one of the best. Just as many of us have learned a lot in Yosemite it isn't the end all to rock climbing. Close may :) It might well be the one destination you must make it to if you rock climb. Chamonix is the one place you must visit if you alpine climb.



Take a look at Colin Haley's blog during March and April over the last few years to put the climbing access and skiing into perspective.



http://colinhaley.blogspot.com//04/back-in-chamonix.html



I have a few months worth of writing and opinions to catch up on. Most of thatis based on this year's Cham experience. Some of it a surprise even to me.

Big and Little

Our smallest horse, Stormy, who is a bit to big to be a true Miniture Horse, and our biggest horse, Sunny, is isn't really all that big compared to BIG horses. And our Border Collie, Tuffee

A royal dining experience at Restaurante Museo 1514 in Trinidad

Blondine and I accidentally discovered this wonderful place while walking around in Trinidad. We were looking for a place to dine in the evening anyway so when we stumbled upon ‘Restaurante Museo 1514’ we thought—wow, this is it!

When you walk in, you right away feel the aristocratic ambiance of the restaurant. The tables are dressed regally with antique-looking china (I checked; they were from the USA, perhaps early 1900’s), crystal and silverware.

The setting is in an open garden courtyard that is elaborately designed in aristocratic style, channelling a retail atmosphere of an antique interior design shop specialising in kitchen and diningware. There is also a rooftop terrace that offers nice views of Trinidad. And food is cooked traditionally in the kitchen using wood and coal.

So after a quick tour, we told the waiter that we will be back later for dinner =)

Let me rewind that a bit so I can give you a quick tour as well through my pictures. Here they are!

And of course we came back for dinner! The waiter was very happy to see us.

We eyed the elevated private patio beside the stairs that goes up to the open terrace on the roof. It’s a very beautiful and romantic area of the restaurant and it would have been perfect if we were with our other halves but unfortunately Blondine and I are stuck with each other for this Cuba trip.

The decision was made and we will have fish for the evening. I ordered a fried one and Blondine with white sauce. The food verdict? 4.3 stars out of 5. We enjoyed it very much. It’s really good, above average compared to other Cuban restaurants.

Our little private patio corner.

Our lovely royal dinner experience, except that the food does not really fit the term royal... but the ambiance? YES.

The gay dancer came up to me and said that he likes my attire. Hmmm.

And during dinner we were entertained by a group of musicians and a couple dancing salsa. Then it rained a bit so we moved down to the main house to finish our dinner.

This is probably one of my impressive and unique dinners. I’m the type who is more drawn to the ambiance, the decor and theme, and the views of a restaurant than the food itself. So this one is indeed a success in my book. Dining traditionally the royalty way.

When in Trinidad, check this restaurant out. It is not just about dining, it is about the experience.

Caldera Wildlife

It is the wild animals that everyone always wants to see and photograph or at least I do. On this trip I got some good photos of a chipmunk that was eating grass at one of the places we pulled over to take some scenic photos.



At another place a pair of these birds were catching bugs on the ground. So far I haven't been able to identify them yet. They had a lot of yellow/green on them and were just larger than a sparrow.







These prairie dogs were in a large village of them on the drive from the paved road to the Visitors Center at the Caldera. We did see a badger run across the road in front of us but I couldn't get the camera up in time. The Center people said there were lots of badgers in the prairie dog villagetrying to catch them. The badgers help keep therodents down. The 'dogs' are cute but leave lots of deep holes in the ground for deer, elk, horses, cows, and even people to step in and get hurt.




From the paved road we saw a herd of about 30 elk but they didn't want to come close to us. We could barely see some smaller ones, probably this years calves running and playing.







There were elk in the trees here.



We also saw some deer but again couldn't get a photo before they were gone.

Badlands :: The National Park

Tuesday, August 23rd - - After taking Babs to the airport in Sioux Falls (at 5 o'clock in the morning!) I returned to the motel thinking perhaps I could get in a few more hours of sleep. I rested for a while but sleep wouldn't come so I got up and back on the road, westward bound. Taking the Interstate, I made good time and arrived in Wall, South Dakota in mid-afternoon.



My “plan” was to visit Badlands National Park but the temperature had reached triple digits. Remembering what it had been like the last time, I got a motel room and hoped that it would be cooler in the morning! And, yes, I did pay a visit to Wall Drug, strolling through the various sections. It's an interesting place, to say the least.



Wednesday, August 24th - - As it turned out, it really wouldn't have been bad for camping last night after the sun went down. Overnight temperatures were in the upper 60s. Anyway, I got a relatively early start and was in the Badlands National Park by nine o'clock. Entering from the northwest, the route would take me south and east through the park.



Almost immediately upon entering the park I turned on the first drive off the main road, which was a gravel road but well maintained and in good condition with several overlook areas. The first one was Hay Butte Overlook.





An informative sign explained why it was called Hay Butte:

Erosion left a few high islands topped with virgin sod, the slopes so steep that homesteaders could not get their stock up to graze. Instead, the homesteaders waited until the grass was ready to cut.



Then several got together, took apart a mower, and reassembled it on the top of the table. Once the grass was cut and baled, homesteaders hitched it to a cable stretched from the rim to the lower prairie – and whoosh, the bales slid down. Hence the name Hay Butte for the long table on the horizon.



Today the high grassy tables are harvested only by bighorns and deer. The bison which roam the Sage Creek Wilderness are excluded as effectively as were the stock of the homesteaders.

One of the flat-top buttes. I was amazed at how much “green” there was. Apparently there has been plenty of rain in western South Dakota this year!





Looking at the sides of the butte, it's no wonder that cattle and buffalo can't get to the top.





A little further down the road was the Badlands Wilderness area. It was rugged looking but seemed to have some areas that were more “rounded” and also had more grassland. There are even trees out there! I certainly wasn't expecting that.





My recollections of the Badlands from a visit in 1976 with my mother are far different than this. I recall a very dry, brown landscape. Rather forbidding and desolate. Yes, this is desolate looking, but it also has a strange beauty to it.

Snoqualmie Mountain ..

Sammy and I planned a day of climbing something for Sunday and we didn't want it to be too intense. After throwing around a few ideas we settled on Snoqualmie Mountain. I have never been up it, and Sammy had when there was no snow, so it would be a new experience for both of us.

We arrived in the Alpental parking lot a little after 7am and were discussing our route options. Sammy was originally thinking to come up the Commonwealth Basin and then access Snoqualmie from Cave Ridge. We had both done that approach for winter ascents of Guye Peak. The guidebooks tell a tale of going up the trail to Cave Ridge from the Alpental Parking lot. I suggested we try something new and if it went, the distance was a whole lot shorter than circumnavigating Guye Peak.

From the parking lot we picked a high spot below a tree band that we would go up and assess the conditions to see if we could continue upward. We figured on twenty minutes to that point and potentially leaving us with enough time to come down and try the other route if this one did not go.

We entered the snow at the "Transceiver Training Area" and started to head up. Within five minutes it seemed like we were half way to the trees. Then the slope got steeper. Sammy and I stayed in some tree where we were following steps and we felt the snow was a little better. It was still before 8am and the sun was not hitting the slopes and the snow was hard and icy. We wondered why we brought snow shoes and contemplated stashing them. I said it would be a guarantee that we would be in waist deep snow later if we cached them now, so we kept them on our packs. This was Sammy's first time on steep snow this season and he was not feeling great about the snow climbing and lagged behind me a bit. I broke out of our stretch of trees and waited for him at a final tree in a more level area before we were to make the push to the trees above to see if the route went.

At this point, Sammy was having reservations about climbing the steep snow. But we agreed to go to the trees to see if the climbing became less difficult. Since we were on more level terrain, we donned crampons at this time. That decision gave both of us a little confidence boost to make the trees.

Nearing the trees, I went ahead of Sammy to check out the situation. I had to cross a moat with a small ice bridge with the help of an alder grab and then front point up steep solid snow into the woods. I stopped below a fallen log. While I thought the terrain looked easier above the log, I did not see any easy ways around it that did not involve minimal snow on rock or other loose terrain. I relayed the information to Sammy who made the decision to descend.

Sammy downclimbed facing in while I attempted to get out of the trees without having to downclimb over the small moat I came up over. It took me a while to reach Sammy after he returned to the more level area where we had put crampons on. At this point we had probably burned too much time to attempt via the Commonwealth Basin.

Fortunately due to our time wasting, the temps were a little warmer even if the sun was now obscured by clouds. Sammy got a new dose of confidence and started to traverse the slope to our left. Before we knew it, we were following another boot path up into the trees and feeling like we might still have a chance at the summit. At a minimum we were hoping to gain Cave Ridge and get a view.

Then we followed the the boot path to ice. There was about an eight foot stretch of maybe 40° ice. I started to chop steps into it. I made some moves with my left foot on rock and my right on ice. I had to swing my ax just to get the pick in and inch. A few moves up I questioned what I was doing, and Sammy and I set about to find another option up. Sammy set out on a traverse left while I tried a section directly above us. Neither was going to go without spicy moves on thin snow over moats and wet rock with significant shrub pulling only to get onto a similar steep hard snow slope. All the while considering how we would get back down once we got around the obstacle. After checking four options around the ice patch we finally decided to head back to the car. We down climbed through the woods back out to the open slope where the sun was shining and the snow already quite soft. We removed our crampons and plunge stepped our way back to the car.

Sammy nearing our high point

Before the plunge step down, I told Sammy it was our hubris that caused our failure. While perhaps an exaggeration, we both had underestimated this climb and had full expectation of reaching the summit. This expectation of easy climbing affected me (at least) in regards to my head space when the going got difficult. Climbing when not in an ideal head space is taxing, and not why I go out.

The plunge step out

I usually say that you learn more from a no summit climb than from a climb where the summit is achieved. On the way down and in the car we discussed things we took away from this. One was that we waited too long to put crampons on. I guess we succumbed to the boiling frog issue on that one. Because we underestimated the climb and snow conditions, we did not bring second tools or steel crampons, not to mention helmets or any type of rope.

Overall we had a fun time and joked about the situation throughout. It was great attempting a climb with Sammy and now I'll have a better idea for the next time I give Snoqualmie Mountain a go.