Yosemite Falls

Monday, April 30th - -







The morning light contrasts sharply with that of late afternoon. The row of trees on the far bank of the river are the same trees that were in yesterday's photo.






Upper Yosemite Falls.





Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls.


Even though the campgrounds were full, there didn't seem to be many people out and about. Traffic was light and it was easy finding a place to park so that I could simply walk around the meadows in the valley and soak up the views.



On a previous visit in July .. I was able to visit Glacier Point (the road was still closed this time) and got soaked at Bridalveil Falls. This time I decided to walk to the base of Lower Yosemite Falls. The trail was nearly deserted, it was very quiet and peaceful - except for the roar of the water which got louder with every step along the path.






There was a hint of a rainbow at the bottom of the falls.




Out on the middle of the footbridge, the mist from the falls was the strongest as was the blowing wind. I got wet, but nothing like at Bridalveil Falls.







A dramatic view of both falls, which is somewhat deceiving as it looks as though the Upper fall is immediately above the Lower fall. But looking at the third photo above, you can see that there is a considerable offset between the two waterfalls. As always, double-click on the photos to view a larger version, then click again to get the full size.



In addition to the road to Glacier Point being closed, Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the park) was also closed so a visit to Tuolumne Meadows was out of the question. As much as I would have liked to do the hike that takes you to the top of Yosemite Falls, I didn't think my legs could handle the rugged, wet trail. Instead, I simply walked around the valley, had a picnic lunch next to the river, and enjoyed a wonderful, leisurely day.

In The Rain

This is how it looked when we parked to let the rain let up as it was raining extreamly hard. This is the Jemez Pueblo Visitors Center where we buy fry bread to eat. You can just barely see one of the remadas on the right edge of the photo where they put out their food items and cook the fry bread in big pans of hot greese over wood fires.

Black Diamond's Fusion 2

I intentionally stay away from writing too much on ice tools. I am very specific in my likes and dislikes and obviously swayed by them. It isn't fair to to allow my prejudice to blanketly sway people too far on ice tool choices.



I have been doing this stuff long enough to realise if you know what you are doing that almost anygood club with a big nail through it will get you up most anyice.



Youdon't have to climb hardby today's standards to know the difference. (and I don't climb that hard) But I know what I like and why and why I don't like other tools. I continually get surprised by my judgement of the cosmetics.



Case in point. The Petzl Nomic (old or new) looks to have been almost perfectly cloned by the now last year's version of the Green Machine, Black Diamond's Fusion.



Pictured are a Fusion (the Green Machine) and a last year's Nomic over layed.



While they are close there are subtle and meaningful differences. Which most will readily recognise climbing on either tool and making a comparison.



To no one's surprisewho worked on the Black Diamond design effort, the new Fusion was not, even given the hammer and removable spike,an all around tool. Its performance on pure ice could be better. The Nomic, as much as it might appear not to be (with no spike and no hammer), works well on ice and on hard mixed.



Black Diamond, to their credit, has from the beginningmarketed the Fusion as an expert's tool for modern mixed. Petzl did the same thing on the Nomic as well, and missed a wide audience at first. Black Diamond in this case was well advised to "stick" withtheir plan. I get asked more often about the Fusion than any other tool..."how do I makeit climb ice better."



Obviously the Fusion will climb ice, as hard of ice as it comes these days. But if you are capable of climbing that kind of ice you aren't asking me how to "fix" a Fusion.



Where the Fusion really shines is on hard mixed. No surprise as two of the guys intimatly involed in the design work were Roger Strong and Raphael Slawinski. Bothare known internationally for their abilities on hard mixed.





Raphael Slawinski









Roj.....Roger Strong.





So when some one asks me what I think of a Fusion as a intermediate's ice tool I suggest they look else where. But if you want to really push your mixed climbing the Fusion is a shoo in. One of the best no question.



I can argue the pick angle and pick design with the best of them. But when it comes to hooking hard thin moves (which I can't do btw) I know what worksand why. One of the major advantages of the new Fusion over most anything else currently, is the rigid,hydroformed shaft. No or less flex in the shaft means less pick shift, ie,movement and angle change.



Again to no one's surprise, I literally can feel the flex and bending of the shaft with every pick set on some of my favorite tools. I know the limitations of that flexand address it accordingly by using it on terrain where it isn't going to matter. Great idea but poorly done in over all design for the intended audience.



The hydro forming is great technology and way ahead of everyone else in the game but if I was a BD athelete I'd be asking for the next generation of Fusion with a *carbon fiber* shaft :)



No question here it is the INDIAN not the arrow....but a bad arrow will miss the mark no matter how good the Indian.





Markus Bendler won the first two Ice Climbing World Cups this winter - with the new Fusions!

Josh Warton has won three consecutive Ouray Comps on Fusions....2 on the Original orange Fusion and the last and I think the most imopressive win on the Green Machine..the newest Fusion.









If you are capable, the Fusionis a scalpel. Just thought a great design, done specifically for one reason in the climbing community,when so few things are, should get the credit it isdue.

A Visitor to My Campsite

Wednesday July 20, .. - - After leaving Guilford Lake and Columbiana County I leisurely drove north and west through Ohio, stopping for the night at Maumee Bay State Park a few miles east of Toledo. The temperature started out in the mid 70s and continued to climb all day long. I thought of just continuing with driving but I had already been on the road for eight hours. I was able to select my campsite at Maumee Bay State Park and found one that had a little bit of shade. It helped. A little. But the 100 degree temperature and high humidity made it very uncomfortable.



Very briefly, I thought about joining the crowds at the beach but it would have meant having to leave the van closed up in the open sun. I just didn't think it was worth it. A nice breeze would make its appearance every now and then and as the sun made its way across the sky, the shade lengthened in the campsite cooling the area off just a little.



At one point I noticed something on the picnic table nearby. I couldn't quite make out what it was and it stayed there for quite some time. Eventually, I got up and took a look and saw what it was and grabbed the camera.







Go ahead, double-click on the image to view a larger version. You know you want to. The wings are pretty amazing, so thin and delicate.



The dragonfly patiently waited while I moved in closer and closer with the camera. Finally, after half a dozen shots it jumped up, landed on my hand for an instant and was off to explore its own little universe. It was doing its job well – that of eating mosquitoes and other small bugs – so I wasn't bothered too much by them.



In between wiping the sweat (and it was sweat, not simply perspiration) off my brow (and elsewhere) I sipped a tall glass of a cool beverage and waited out the sweltering night, hoping that the next night would be just a little cooler! The temp when I crawled into the van for the night at 10:30 pm was 96 degrees. When I got up the next morning at 6:30 am it was 84 degrees. It was a rather uncomfortable night, to say the least. Not complaining. Just saying ;-)

Joslin Family :: 1860 Federal Census

The 1860 Federal Census for Whitley County shows Abigal [sic] Joslin and Lysander Joslin, both on page 80, residing in Troy Township.

Abigal [sic], in dwelling 576, is listed as age 50 and born in Ohio. In her household are Joseph Joslin, age 25, born in Ohio and Lucicia Joslin, age 17, born in Indiana.

Joseph Joslin is also enumerated in the household of Price Goodrich (dwelling 577, page 80). In this census entry Joseph is 26 years old, born in Ohio.


In Dwelling 580 we find the household of Lysander P. Joslin. He is a 35 year old farmer with a personal estate valued at $475 and born in Ohio. Unless I missed some records, Lysander still owned the land he purchased from his father in 1841 and from Edwin in 1851 and Joseph in 1853. I have the record from when he sold the land to Nicodemas Coleman in October 1866. So why didn't Lysander have a valuation listed for his real estate? Note that Knickademus Coleman, a 22 year old Master Wagon Maker resides in the household listed before Abigail. Not that it makes any difference but I thought it was interesting ;-)

Listed in the household with Lysander were his wife, 34 year old Lydia, who was born in Ohio; John G. Conner, a 21 year old laborer who was born in Germany; and seven children, all born in Indiana: Analiza, 15; Melissa M., 11; Luther, 8; Roxey, 6; John, 4; Minerva, 1; and a male Infant, 2 months old [this would be Andrew who was born on May 30th].


Notably absent in 1860 is Abigail's husband, James Joslin. We do not know if he died between 1850-1860 or if he simply went somewhere else. The cemeteries were read by members of the Genealogical Society of Whitley County between 1996 and .. and there is no marker for James. There were several earlier cemetery publications and no entry was found for James in those books either. A check of the estate and probate packets turned up nothing for James. Mary Lucicia was only 17 in 1860 but there is no guardianship record for her. There would be no death record for James since the county did not begin recording deaths until about 1882. Various and numerous searches for James (he was born about 1796 in Canada or Vermont) have been done in the 1860 census index for 'all' states and have been for naught. James is not residing with any of his other (presumed) children.

• Fanny, with her husband, Joseph Shoemaker and seven children, are living in Fremont Township, Page County, Iowa (page 968).
• Edwin (found as Edwn Josslyn) is living in the Town of Hanna , Henry County, Illinois (page 952) with his wife Sarah and three children.
• Emily and her husband, John Long, and son Edwin, are living a few miles north of Abigail and Lysander in Washington Township , Noble County, Indiana (page 9).

Love Bike!

We stopped by DBC City Bikes (formerly the Dutch Bicycle Company) in Somerville, Mass. to see if they had some bike parts we were after. In the showroom, among many other things we saw this:

Yes, you guessed it: "Love Bike"! Clearly I had to photograph and share such a masterpiece on this magical day created for us by the greeting card industry.

This is the entire bike in its glory.

I imagine the handles next to the seats (love seats?) are for steering. The lovers are meant to share a bell. Magnificent! The Love Bike is for sale, but Dan (owner of DBC City Bikes) cautions that one should view it "as a sculpture," because as a bicycle it is not very efficient. Efficiet schmefficient! Just imagining this beauty rolling along Mass. Ave., taking the lane and being honked at by bewildered drivers, brings a smile to my face.

We saw more fun things at DBC City Bikes, but they can't possibly follow in the footsteps of the Love Bike, so I will report on them later.

Happy Hour at Karen and Tom's

As we were discussing when people are heading out tonight, I had a talk with some people about how sad they were at the thought of leaving. We had a nice talk about how our pickleball family really does make this place "home" for us.



I know I've said it time and time again here, but I love our pickleball friends. They are some of the most special and rare friends we have ever had. They just tend to be the neatest, most kind-hearted and interesting people as a whole.



As always, we had tons of fun with them tonight.



The food was fabulous! Tom made pulled pork and it was incredible.





We were even honored with music by Garth and Rosemary. Rosemary has written two songs, the RV song and the Pickleball song. Both were awesome!



It was a wonderful time with some of our "chosen" family.



Living the life in sunny Florida!