Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you're wearin' something green!

Thoughts of Summer

Thoughts of Summer, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

I know California is not cold, especially compared to the rest of the country (and much of the world). But I think it's safe to say that many of us are longing for warm spring and summer days.
Thankfully, those days will soon be here: spring is only 2 weeks away!

Fossil week

Updated: see below.
While posting recently about the rocks here, I mentioned that the red ones often contained plant fossils. By request, here they are.



I'll post more fossil pics later this week and try to come up with some IDs.
These are possibly leaves of Lycopods - Lepidophylloides maybe. Like this and this. The ancient lycopod tree had different types of leaves, and the grass-like ones were called Lepidophyllum. I believe that would put them in the Pennsylvanian period, about 300 million years ago.
But I'm not sure about that. I've never found any more entire leaf impressions than these. So if you know differently please tell me.
They could possibly be from the other clubmoss tree, the Sigillaria, or the horsetail tree, the Calamites. (They are all from roughly the same time period.)
Updated: I found this at the Virtual Paleontology Lab, which explains why the leaves can have a different scientific name than the rest of the plant:

Because we don't always know which leaves belong to which seeds when they are first discovered, we use the convention of form taxa. When organs are found isolated (not in organic connection), each type of leaf and seed is given its own binomial name (genus and species name according to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature), without making any assumption about what belongs to what. To use the example discussed by Oliver and Scott (1904), leaves were described as Lyginopteris (genus only for brevity), seeds as Lagenostoma, and stems as Lyginodendron. The similarity of the first syllable gives a hint that the describing paleobotanists (others besides Oliver and Scott) suspected some relationship, but were unable to make a strong inference link. The last syllable of each name gives a hint to the organ type: "dendron" = stem, "pteris" is often used for frond-like foliage, "stoma" = seed. However, after Oliver and Scott's recognition of the unique glands on Lagenostoma lomaxi and species in the other organ form genera, they were able to make the whole-plant link with greater confidence. The whole plant then takes the name of the organ first described, in this case Lyginopteris. When you are writing, take care to make clear whether you are talking about form taxa (organs) or whole-plants.

Also, this is what the globe looked like 300 million years ago. Plate tectonics! Continental drift! Gotta love it.
If I'm right about what these are, the fossils pre-date dinosaurs. Pretty cool.
Here's what it's thought to have looked like around here at that time, more or less. There are modern relatives of some of these ancient plants, such as the plant-rescue ground cedar I tried (unsuccessfully, as it turns out) to transplant here last year.
Sue the T-rex? Sniff. Ho hum. My fossils are older than that. Almost five times older! Now if I could only find somebody to pay me $8 million for them...
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P.S. I have learned so much since I started writing this blog - looking all this stuff up so I can pretend like I know what I'm talking about.

Canoecopia : It's not a small world after all

We often talk about paddlesports being a small world. But when most of the major manufacturers of boats, paddles, clothing and gear, along with clubs and organizations, outfitters and publications, come together under one roof in March, it feels pretty big. Add more than a hundred presentations in meeting rooms and a swimming pool, and more than 20,000 visitors, and Canoecopia earns its claim of bring the largest paddlesportsconsumerevent in the world.

Dusting off a canoe before the crowd comes in.

We arrived early this year to help set up a table for The Gales Storm Gathering, the intermediate/advanced, bumpy water sea kayaking instructional event that will be held October 11 to 13 in the Apostle Islands.

Keith Wikle taping the new banners behind the booth.

We also got the update on the current line of spray skirts and pogies from Scott Lynch, who representsSnap Dragon Designat Canoecopia and spent more than a decade working in the paddlesports industry before launching his dream business: La Fortuna, a mobile wood-fired pizza business. (Like so many people in this business, he wears several hats.)

Scott Lynch explains the construction and features of the Glacier Trek spray skirt. Durable Snap Dragon skirts feature a one-piece spray deck and graduated levels of bungee tension depending on the model you buy.

We were double agents (at least--perhaps quadruple agents) at Canoecopia this year. We were vendors in the Snap Dragon booth, exhibitors at the Gales and CASKA tables, speakers at the swimming pool, and customers eager to soak it all in. And there was a lot to absorb. As usual, we prowled the aisles looking for new products and innovations.

Sharon tries on the new Kokatat Maximus Prime PFD, a whitewater rescue vest that really fits smaller paddlers (and larger ones, too). This vest has especially wide shoulder straps and webbing adjustments in the front, making it easier to get a snug fit, even on a short torso.

Level 6 offers a Creek Boot with a wide toe bed and a grippy, flexible and sturdy sole. Designed by Level 6 co-founder and Canadian Slalom Team racer Stig Larsson, it's slim enough to to bend and fit in a boat but sturdy enough to protect your soles during a portage.

North Water offers the tow systems preferred by most of the top paddlers and coaches in North America.

Alec checks out the P&H Delphin 150, which launched a new category of sea kayaks designed to excel in surf and play spots.

Canoecopia also offers a rare opportunity to talk with the designers, sales managers and often the founders of the companies that make the boats and gear we use. It's a chance to hear talks by and engage in conversation with all kinds of paddlers on all kinds of topics. And even though we always say there's nothing more we need, we end up buying something new and exciting. This year it was kneeling pads and painter rope for our canoe, and one new shirt apiece. We'll be back next year.

Superior Ice Arch

I found this cool arch today just as the day was ending. The cloud cover was pretty thick so there wasn't much "good" light for sunset, but I still found the scene interesting enough to photograph. A few days ago we had a lot of wind which pushed some ice in close to the shoreline, and the resulting wave action as it buffeted the ice along the shore made some neat arches, caves and other formations.

Sunset Amphitheater

The Headwall Couloir...

A team of five climbers made a strong attempt on this remote and difficult route a few weeks ago. Here are a few images from one member's website; I'll attempt to sumarize the trip. They decided not to post a report, but did share a few details with me.

The team first noticed that a major section of the Tahoma Creek Trail was destroyed below the suspension bridge/Wonderland Trail. Last fall, glacier outbursts from a heavy rain storm took out some of the westside road and Tahoma Creek Trail. The trail washout, in particular, was rather amazing. The original trail abruptly disappears into a creek bed of gravel, rock and boulders. What was once an old growth forest, moss, downed trees, dense vegatation, is now a creek bed with gigantic trees. The forest floor is buried. In all, about 1/2 mile of the trail is wiped out.
As for the climbing route... The team reported a few problem, the first significant one being a dropped set of tent poles. This would make things difficult later on. Also, and maybe more importantly, they selected a route up St. Andrews Rock that cost them a day of travel... This exposure left them more vulnerable to the changing weather. And that's what happened, wind, snow, /12 a tent, and a snow shelter... It made for an interesting night.

After losing the effectiveness of one tent, and a day of travel, the team reluctantly retreated with plans of returning. Despite not summiting, they felt the route was a go! Here is a closer picture of the Amphitheater and upper Puyallup Glacier.

For more information, see: a listing of climbs here. These photos are courtesy of Alexandre Mineev

Wildlife and the Cosmos

Monday was cold, Tuesday was windy. Took the opportunity to get some rest and recover. Yesterday, I was ready to get out and do something. Once it warmed up enough, I headed south to revisit Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Figured that if I had time, I might check out Very Large Array while in te area.

I was disappointed with the wildlife out yesterday. No snow geese - guess they had headed North already. Did not see any deer. Lots of cranes and ducks. Took a couple photos and headed to VLA.

Very Large Array is a collection of 27 antennas configured in a "Y", comprising a radio telescope. Each dish (antenna) measures 82 feet across. When set in the widest configuration, the array acts as one dish 22 miles in diameter!

You will find the Very Large Array in the Plains of San Agustin 50 miles West if Socorro, New Mexico. Interesting day.