Banff Mountain Film Festival

Hi and welcome back!

Last Sunday my dad and I went to the local screening of the Banff Mountain Film Festival. All of the films were great.

I especially liked The Questions We Ask, which was about Bruce Kirkby crossing the Pacific Ocean on a stand-up paddle board. During the film he was posing questions through his narrations about why we do things in life. This film put the thought of "Why sleep in a tent for a year?" in my head, and to be honest I don't know why. Thank you, Mrs. Decker, for telling us about the film festival!

Yesterday for our hike, my dad and I went fly fishing. This was my first time trying it, and I was really excited.  The spot where we were going to fish had about a 30 minute hike in, but when we got about 20 minutes in we hit really thick thorn bushes, and we didn't want to go through. That meant that we forced to fish there.

We had a lot of rain last week, so the creek was really high, really fast, and really muddy, which made fishing too hard. Plus, there were a lot of trees around us, so I took about ten casts, lost five flies, and caught zero fish.

"In the Wilderness?"

When we were hiking out my dad asked if I had fun, and I said yes. He said he was afraid I would never want to go again, but if I had fun yesterday, I would love it when conditions are better!

Today my dad, little brother, and I went for a hike. My little brother told me to say that he had fun and that he likes hiking.

When my dad took this picture, Jed (my brother) asked if it looked like he was in the wilderness.


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Epic Hike - for School!

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Mr. Rabenold

On Easter weekend we had an extra credit hike for school.  We hiked up Mount Pisgah near Jim Thorpe, which is pretty much the biggest hill in the area.  

About 50 people showed up, which I thought was a lot for a Saturday on a holiday weekend. 

My social studies teacher, Mr. Rabenold, started out by telling everyone about the history of Jim Thorpe and the Switchback Railroad, which we would be hiking along.

We started on a fairly short, yet steep switchback trail that ended at the top of Mt. Pisgah with an awesome view.  We could even see a few miles out to a waterfall in the distance.

At the top of Mount Pisgah with C.S. and C.S.

After that, we went on a long, slightly downhill trail. While on that trail, we saw the first known coal mine in North America. It wasn't much to see, though, because it was small and overgrown.

The Mine Entrance

The coolest part was when we had to walk across a 100 foot section that was only about a foot wide, and if you fell, you would fall/slide for 25 feet.  Luckily, no one fell.  The rock face was about 75 feet high, and it was a steep slab above the trail and to the right.  Dad, C.S. and I decided we're going to come back with our rope and try to climb it.

Inside the Mine

At the bottom of that last section was another abandoned coal mine that we all went into. Mr. Rabenold,  wasn't sure if there were any vertical shafts, so we weren't supposed to go too far into it. But my dad and I are going to come back and go deeper with headlamps to see what we can find.

Thanks for reading!

Great Hikes!

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The answer to last week's trivia question is Dick Bass.  He was the first person to climb the seven summits.

Yesterday (Saturday) my dad and I hiked to the Mahoning Creek. The creek is in the opposite direction of the pond, and my dad used to fly fish there. Lately, I've been getting into fly fishing, so we decided to go and check it out. While we were there Maisy decided to go swimming. She swam about 1/3 of the way across the creek and then decided to turn around and come back.  I could tell she had a lot fun.

Panoramic Shot of the Creek

Today I had a soccer tournament, and afterward dad and I hiked a spot where he climbed about 15 years ago.  The hike in was...interesting.  We had to do a bit of trespassing, we bushwhacked through some really thick thorns (my legs still hurt), and then we found it.

Wishing I had my Rope!

The wall was about 40 feet high, and the few minutes of bouldering that I did made it seem like the climbs ranged from 5.6 to about 5.10.  The rock was very strange.  It was broken up into squares and sections on the wall, but it wasn't loose.  You could definitely climb safely on it.  I know this, because we found almost brand-new bolts on at least a half dozen routes.  This means that in a few years when I start lead climbing, I can go out there and sport climb.

Taken by Mom

My dad is a business writer, and he has an office in an outbuilding out in a corner of our yard.  A  few days ago, I came home from school, and I was climbing on the tree right next to it.  Then I decided to go up on his roof.  Mom took a picture of me, and I thought it turned out well!



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Hi and welcome back!

Last night I bivied in the back yard.  I expected it to be in the low 40s, so I was going to sleep in the 40-degree bag, but at the last minute I decided to sleep in a 20-degree bag.  I'm glad I picked that bag, because at one point during the night I woke up, and it was 27 degrees!

The Seven Summits

Dad and I just went for a hike around the field, and the tree frogs were ("peepers") were really loud.  It's strange, because I heard them for the first time last night when I went out to bivy.  We haven't heard them in months (they're quiet through the winter), and it was like someone flipped a switch.

How about a trivia question?  Do you know the name of the first person to climb the Seven Summits (the high points on each of the seven continents)?

Thanks for reading!

Climbing Wall Prototypes

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Our friend who is going to build me a rock wall made a prototype and sent us some pictures.

I think he did a really great job, and I can't wait to get started with building it.  It looks like it could have anything from a slightly overhanging wall to a roof to a dihedral.  I'm so excited to give it a try!

He said that if we have any other ideas about the wall, we can make changes.  If anyone who has a wall has any tips or suggestions, we'd love to hear them.  We were talking about making it 10~15' tall, too.  Although we need to figure out if we're going to use crash pads, a toprope, or something else to protect against falls.  We'll have to see.  Anyway, it looks like we should have this ready to go this summer!

I realized a little while ago that I never answered the trivia question I posted about the first American to climb all the 8,000 meter peaks.  It was Ed Viesturs!

Thanks for reading!

Spring!

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For Christmas I got a pack of 35 rock climbing holds to start a bouldering wall my dad was going to build me. Unfortunately, he isn't very handy so we made a deal with one of our friends that if I pick up their dogs' poop for a while he will build me one. I start my work tomorrow.  I'm not looking forward to it, but it will be worth it.

This morning, Maisy ran away, and my dad, my brother Jed and I went out looking for her.  For part of the time we were looking for her in the woods down by the pond, and Jed kept complaining about getting stuck in the "snicker bushes."  We tried to tell him they were "sticker bushes," but he wasn't listening.

We didn't find her, but this afternoon after we got home from climbing at the gym, we found her laying in the sun out in the backyard.  She smelled a little like skunk, so dad had to give her a bath.

Thanks for reading!

Almost Spring!

Hi and welcome back!

Lately it's been well above freezing, and almost all of the snow is gone.  

The raccoon that dad and I found dead and frozen by the pond at the beginning of February is now out from under the snow.  Most of the skin is gone, and it's ribs are exposed.  It's pretty gross, but interesting.  We'll have to be sure to keep Maisy away from it.

On Friday I found this video of Mark Hudon from Right This Minute, the same show I was on just after Christmas.  He's on a ledge climbing Leaning Tower in Yosemite, when a peregrine falcon comes up onto the ledge and lands about five feet away from him and his climbing partner, Scott!  You have to watch it.

Thanks for reading!