Work has been done

Work has been done. Everything looks better, apart from my work gloves.
About 4 years ago I had a similar break in blogging for two or three months. The common reason was primarily moving house. I am moving house shortly, and with it comes the need to do shed loads of work. After work, climbing and family time, there is little time left over. However, the physical work tasks that need done are only half the story.
Usually, it coincides with a larger transition in life, moving on to a new chapter. So in all aspects of life, there are old things and ideas to let go of and new things to grapple with. Such has been the last three months for me.
I’ve done this a few times now. So although it’s a scary process, I tend to grab it with both hands since it’s important. Since completing a lot of huge climbing goals over the past few years, I enjoyed a good bit of just going with the flow, choosing what to climb based purely on what the weather is doing or what friends suggest.
I visited some new climbing areas. After spending last spring in Switzerland I chose to stay at home this year which was a good choice since it didn’t rain for two months! I put good few days into preparing for a cool climbing enchainment idea I’ve had. I was in good shape for it and really psyched, but sadly the weather just didn’t play the game. Either the winter routes were white but the rock routes wet or vice versa. Such is the gamble. It was worthwhile to do the prep since I now know that I can do it. I might try another enchainment with only rock routes which will be a bit less weather dependent in the short term.
I went to some new boulders, climbed new problems and went on some sick hard projects I knew about. 2 of them I have sacked off because they are nasty with horrible moves on sharp holds. One of them is getting me more psyched. It’s a bit weird as it’s a horizontal roof which is low to the ground. But it’s really hard and all the moves go. I’ll keep trying that until the midge arrives. There’s another few really good boulder projects I know about but have yet to visit. It's been a lot of pure climbing, just going out on my own, in nice places
I tried to go trad climbing, but it was freezing. Every time I take a rope to go climbing lately it seems to start snowing. Winter is taking a long time to give in in Scotland. Yesterday (May 2^nd) it was still snowing on Rannoch Moor and I see yet more fresh snow on the hills this morning.The other day I sat for the whole evening making a new list of mountain crag projects to try when the May sunshine finally arrives. I can’t wait until I get the chance to start afresh on some mountains and islands I’ve never been to. But for now, the trad season is still a list on my notepad.

Sport climbing has also commenced, with a lot of hanging on the rope warming numb hands. I went back to Malc's 9a at the Anvil and seem to have finally figured out some beta that works for me after Malc turned the crux hold I used to dust, breaking it off when we were trying it 6 years ago now.
I also did some running. Not a lot really, but some. And I was enjoying it a lot. My troublesome ankle hurt, as expected. So I might have to take a break from that again. This made me somewhat depressed for a while. Speaking of injuries, A little setback came when I was doing a deep drop knee on my board at home. I’d just had a brilliant session and felt strong for the first time in months and ‘crack’ went my MCL and hamstrings tendon in my knee. Partial tears. It could have been a lot worse. For ten minutes I thought I was in ACL and meniscus hell. 10 days off running and 14 off climbing were all that was necessary, although I still can’t quite burl down on a heelhook just yet. The lesson? Dropknees are still my favourite move, but they are dangerous. Be careful.
I spent the time off building steps, walls, paths, sheds, floors etc at my house to get it ready to sell. Mixing cement gives you big shoulders and helps you sleep at night. Well, unless you are still mixing another mix at 3am.
During all these adventures, I went through a bit of a low. I realised that some things in my routine have to change. It’s not to say that what I was doing was bad - I’ve just completed that stage. I badly need some new badass projects to work on. My friend Nick Dixon used to say he needed a big project every 5 years. I don’t last so long! I have some good trips planned for later this year, but I’m rubbish at training for distant trips. So now that I have sorted out some goal routes, I can prepare for them much better.

Something New

This evening I tried out a "new" (to me) location along the Lake Superior shoreline North of Grand Marais, MN. It turned out to be a wonderful spot and I had great fun spending the evening shooting here. I still can't believe I've never been down to this spot before! It is just a short walk from Highway 61, and is actually part of the Superior Hiking Trail. Many thanks to my friend Bryan Hansel (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryanhansel/) for letting me know about this amazing little slice of Lake Superior's shore.

Most of the beach in this area consists of small pebbles, but there is also a small rocky outcrop that juts out into the lake. On the tip of this rocky outcrop is a small island that is only a few feet from shore. It just so happens that the moon was rising over this small island during my visit. Also along the rocky outcrop were several types of plants that were coated in ice from recent waves and spray coming off the lake. As many of you know, winter is a favorite time of mine for photography mostly because I loooooove photographing ice!

After shooting for about an hour and a half along the Lake Superior shore, I headed home for a bite to eat. As soon as my stomach was full I headed back out to do some more shooting. It was a beautiful moonlit night and I wasn't about to let that go to waste! So, I headed up along the Pigeon River and made some photos of Partridge Falls bathed in moonlight. What a great day for some early winter photography!

Rush hour in Blount county

Cute little guy, but he wouldn't let us anywhere near him. A little girl was making friends by throwing something edible at him, so we left them to it.
That is a belt around his neck, which I did think was a little strange.
-----
Updated: After a few emails, I can see that it is not obvious for people with those nifty little lightweight, but tiny-screened, laptops. That is a GOAT in the road!
By the way, you can always click on any of the pictures to make them larger.

Packing, Bike Ride, & Eclipse

Got a good night's sleep last night. Yeah think the bike ride might have something to do with it? Did most of my packing of my clothes.

Set up for a bike ride with my cousin Don. We met at the Central Ave. trailhead on Paseo del Bosque. Rode South to Rio Brave. Stopping on the way back, asked some of the folks along the trail to take a photo of us. They were support vehicle for a Boy Scout 50 mile badge ride. Anyway, today's photo is of Don and me on the "Bosque".

Lunch was my treat. Don sprinted to the vehicles after our photo was taken. Pigged out on Village Inn breakfast, coffee and pie/cake.

Finished the day with visiting a friend I met on-line. We went West of town to watch the solar eclipse. LOTS of other foks had the same idea I did. Parked along the road West of Volcanoes Day Use area (Paseo del Volcan). It was a "happening"!

Back on the road in the morning. Tomorrow evening in Taos.

Envirionmental adverstising

On a wall at Edinburgh University - a charity event, environmentally advertised. Who says students these days only think about themselves?

The Toad, the Damselfly and the Owl

We were out walking with Harry when he gave a yell and crouched down, telling me excitedly about a baby toad he had spotted.. I could see nothing, but took his word (and better eyesight) for it. I pointed the camera and took half a dozen photos of what looked like grass and ivy...but he was right, there was a beautiful little toad hidden deep in the grass.

A Tiny Toad

Well done Harry!

Damselfly

I spotted the blue flash of a damselfly and ...

was delighted to find I had captured this photograph of a little beauty.

We were just turning for home when we spotted a large bird flying around the meadow...I couldn't make out what it was, but I could guess... point, click, hope for the best...

Barn Owl

Apologies for the poor quality, but there it is, a barn owl. Daylight hunting to feed her young. She was a very long way off, so I was thrilled to get this photo of her.
Now that is what I call a wonderful country walk.

Ponca's Revenge

After an all to short night's sleep, Saturday morning I headed to Ponca State Park to shoot the mountain bike race. The weather was clear and pleasant - 70s in race time.
The field for the Beginner and Junior races was pretty small. There was only one wave to start. With that and the short (1-2 laps) races, I did nor get very many photos of that race.
Since the Revenge this year was not a marathon, the Kid's Race was run.
Pretty good turn-out for the Sport and Expert/Semi-Pro category. I found a couple spots to shoot the race. I am not pleased with the overall quality of the race photos. Some is the unfamiliarity of the race course. Other is I was just not on top form.
I am still working on the photos - when done they will be posted on my web site. (I also have the photos from my Army Reunion that need to be processed and posted).