Mystery Photo #10

This is the ninth post (the 10th and final photo) in a series of unidentified photographs from the Charles Wiseman Family Bible. See this post for background information. Click on the "Mystery Photo" label at the bottom of the post to see all of the photographs in this series. As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.



Paper photograph on card stock. 2 3/8 x 4 1/16. Printed on the back: "H. C. Millice & Krieg, Photographic Studio, Warsaw, Ind., P.O. Box 246" and handwritten, upside down, at the top: "This One Henry Wiseman"
Based on other identified pictures I have, I'm fairly certain that this is Henry Weir Wiseman, son of Charles and Naomi Bray Wiseman, born March 13, 1859 in Switzerland County, Indiana. Henry and his older brother, Samuel Bray Wiseman, moved to Tippecanoe Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana prior to 1880.

Phu Nuru Sherpa volunteers with Climbing Rangers

The Mount Rainier climbing rangers at both Camp Schurman and Camp Muir were honored to have a special guest volunteer with us over the past two weeks in Phu Nuru Sherpa. Not only is Phu Nuru a strong, talented climber with an extensive climbing resume, he's also a fun, light-hearted man who everyone enjoyed working with. Before arriving at Mount Rainier, Phu Nuru also volunteered with the Denali climbing rangers, patrolling North America's highest peak with one of our own rangers, David Weber. Phu Nuru is visiting the United States for a variety of rescue trainings on scholarship from the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation (http://www.alexlowe.org/).

Phu Nuru, a resident of Phortse, Nepal, has an extensive climbing and guiding resume that includes four summits of Mt. Everest (29,028'), eleven summits of the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu (26,864'), and climbs of twelve different 6000 meter peaks in the Himalaya. He is also a senior instructor at the Khumbu Climbing School which is held every winter in Phortse to train local guides in technical mountaineering, rescue, wilderness medicine and English language skills.

While on patrol at Camp Muir with climbing ranger David Weber, Phu Nuru enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the summit of Mount Rainier via the Disappointment Cleaver route. A majority of his time on patrol was spent practicing technical rescue, avalanche rescue and wilderness medicine skills with Weber. During his stay at Camp Schurman, Phu Nuru not only climbed the Emmons-Winthrop route but he also participated in an impromptu day of mountaineering rescue training (see photo) taught by lead climbing ranger and veteran rope rescue instructor, David Gottlieb.

Phunuru will spend the month of August enrolled on a mountaineering course in the North Cascades of Washington State to compliment his mountain rescue apprenticeship. Upon his return to Nepal later this fall, Phunuru plans to continue collaborating with Weber, the ALCF and Dr. Luanne Freer (http://www.everester.org/) to develop a similar rescue program on Mount Everest to respond to accidents during the spring climbing season.

Mountaineering aside, the cultural and social exchange between the climbing rangers and Phu Nuru benefitted everyone involved and we hope to host many more Nepalese rescuers like him in the years to come!

Rail Fence

Speechless? Batman Cave!

Not often I am speechless.Nothing to do with climbing. But this is good.










"The narrow cave, no wider than Alexander is tall, is located in Roca Foradada Mountains in Montserrat, Spain—a location that has inspired this professional Italian Norwegian athlete’s flying dream his whole life. Alexander hopes his success will inspire others not only to ‘climb over their mountains,’ but to also fly right through them!"



http://alexanderpolli.com/

Velophilia and Its Symptoms (and Announcing Dress Guards Recipient!)

Several days ago I offered togive away a set of dress guards, and the rule was for bicycles (not their owners) to post comments about why they would like them. I expected a dozen or so comments from bicycles, but receivedclose to 40... which made me realise that I am by far not the only one to anthropomorphise my bicycles to a point that borders on delusion. And the good news, is that when 40 people share the same delusion, that's called sanity!



[image via Laura B.]

Without further ado, I now announce whom my bicycle Linda has chosen as the recipient of the dress guards: a 1950's step-through Dutch bike named Fanny (pictured above). Here is Fanny's comment:

I'm a Dutch lady, from the mysterious Fanal family, born in the 1950s. I have naked holes running along both sides of my back fender. After reading your post about dress guards, I realized how un-lady-like it has been to leave these dress guard anchors exposed.

I have recently been working on my appearance--rust removal, new pedals, touch-up painting, pin-striping with a gold paint pen, re-shellacking my grips, etc. It would be so nice to show up at the farmer's market this weekend with a lovely dress guard. The lilac branches in my photo (link below) might have appreciated the guard, too.

Love,

Fanny, the Fanal

A vintage Dutch bicycle who lives in exile in the US, loves lilacs and has gaping holes in her fender? Linda dabbed at her eyes with an embroidered hanky as she read Fanny's story, and would like her to have the dress guards. If Fanny's human companion Laura B. could please send me her mailing address, the dress guards shall be on their way to her shortly! And thank you everybody for all the bicycle comments on that post; they were hilarious and a lot of fun to read!



Speaking of acute symptoms of Velophilia, I knitted this skirt while convalescing from my hopefully-not-pneumonia. The design is bicycle friendly:It looks like a narrow pencil skirt from the front, but the pointed end in the back allows it to open up while pedaling. I think cycling exclusively on a road bike for the past several weeks has made me crazed with desire to ride an upright bicycle in a skirt again.



And once the skirt was completed, I also realised that my choice of yarn looked a little familiar...



Ah yes, my mixte!My Velophilia is at its most acute when something prevents me from cycling as much as I'd like. Everything I do ends up being about bicycles.I look forward to returning to Boston later this weekend, hopefully entirely recovered.

Trave and Stormy

After Bonita had her fill of running for fun (see previous blog) I let the ponies out into the big pen to play. They ran and ran and then took a good roll. some of the photos are blurry as the camera couldn't focus on them fast enough.

Badlands :: Rolling in the Dust

Wednesday, August 24th - - The gravel road continued on for a few miles but I turned around and headed back to the main road. As I passed Sage Creek Basin Overlook the bison that had surrounded me a few minutes earlier had made their way off into the prairie. To my right another small band of buffalo were coming across the road. Traffic was stopped until long after they had passed.



Prairie Dogs provide a service to the buffalo by giving them a place to roll in the dirt! At the entrance to the burrows there is always a large pile of dirt that has been thrown up by the Prairie Dogs digging the tunnels. Hopefully, when a bison decides to roll in that dirt, the little fellows have made it safely underground!





Going down....



Really getting into it!



Ah, that felt good.



Giving it another go.



Shaking off the dust.



Feeling better, I'm sure!

A month of records: Liam O'Sullivan claims new speed record

Less than a month after Justin Merle broke the speed summit record of Mount Rainier from Paradise to Columbia Crest and back, Liam O'Sullivan, a mountain guide employed by International Mountain Guides (IMG), raised the bar once again, beating Merle's time by 3 minutes with a new record of 4 hours, 46 minutes and 29 seconds (FYI: Both Merle and O'Sullivan had small amounts of supplies cached at Camp Muir and dropped crampons on the descent). O'Sullivan left the upper Paradise parking lot at 4:20:08 a.m. and arrived at Camp Muir 1 hr 24 minutes later, putting him well on the way to a new record. O'Sullivan then beat his own personal time to Columbia Crest by 5 minutes, with a one way time of 3:11:22. On a previous attempt this month, O'Sullivan had been on pace to beat the record, but then faced fierce cramps on the descent which prevented him from setting a new record. This was almost the case again, but he was able to pull through this time.

"Any long or awkward step (which the Cleaver has plenty of by now) would cause me to cramp, so I descended cautiously to Muir, by which time I had lost all but 1 minute of the lead I had gained on Justin Merle's pace. I descended the (unfortunately) still firm Muir Snowfield, reaching Pebble neck-and-neck with Justin's time. Then battling the rocky, stepped trail, I commenced. Below Glacier Vista I kicked, breaking away from the pace, opted for the more direct east side of Alta Vista (complete with skin-shredding steep asphalt descent), and reached the trailhead in 4:46:29!"

Climbing conditions on Disappoinment Cleaver (DC) are some of the best conditions seen in years, which could account for the recent trend of speed ascents this month, including record attempts by O'Sullivan and Alpine Ascents International (AAI) Guide Michael Horst, and an amazing combination bicycle ride and speed ascent by Randall Nordfors. Despite the phenomenal conditions on the DC all summer, the season is moving along and things are beginning to break up, so future speed ascent attempts may be more difficult due to less direct route and slower climbing conditions. However, this may not stop would-be record breakers like Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, a guide with Alpine Ascents International (AAI) and previous Everest record holder. Check out a recent article by The Seattle Times, covering this new competition for the "Rainier Speed Summit".

In addition to his record breaking climb, O'Sullivan has had a pretty good month - he made his 100th summit of Rainier on a tough Kautz route in less than ideal conditions, he guided Nordfors' Puget Sound to Summit trip and now begins a new path: medical school. After 10 years of mountain guiding on Mount Rainier and around the globe, we wish Liam the best and look forward to hearing more great things from him in the future.

Tree Lighted at Night

The 2 Hour Commute

For the past week I have been spending every day at Mike Flanigan's workshop in semi-rural Holliston, MA. The place is 25 miles from my house and I decided to experiment with getting there by bike. This took about 2 hours, which is a pretty long commute. I then tried using other modes of transportation. To my surprise, the trip ended up being the same in duration. Here is a comparison:




Somerville-Holliston, via Roadbike (a loaded Rawland):

I left the house at 6:30am. The route I planned was a direct one, which I figured would be low traffic this early in the morning. And it was, for the first, suburban leg of the trip. After that I expected the road to get even nicer, as it grew more rural. What I did not count on, was that it would also become narrower and busier. Riding through Wellesley, Natick and Sherborn via Rt 16 in the morning was terrifying; I would not recommend it. The winding road is one lane in each direction with no shoulder. Lots of trucks drive at high speeds. I tried to stay calm, kept my line, and hoped for the best - but I would not repeat this trip intentionally. There are alternative routes that are longer and hillier, but safer. Once I entered Holliston, things improved and the last mile of the trip was pretty nice. I arrived 2 hours after I left the house, including a coffee stop along the way.






Somerville-Holliston, via Brompton + Train:

I left the house at 6:30am and cycled to the closest T-Station. From there I took the subway to South Station in Boston and the commuter rail to Framingham. The commuter train takes about 40 minutes. There is WiFi, and I used it to check my email. I disembarked in Framingham, and from there it was another 6 miles to my destination. I cycled on the main road again, simply because I had no time for a more circuitous route. This road actually wasn't too bad, save for one chaotic stripmall-esque intersection, which I walked across. There are a couple of climbs on the way, but they felt fine in my bike's lowest gear. I arrived at Mike's shop 2 hours after I left the house.






Somerville-Holliston, via Train + Car:

When a snowstorm descended upon us, Mike suggested I take the train without my bike, and he would pick me up at the station in his van. Weakened from all the sawing and filing I'd been doing, I wimped out and did just that. I left the house at 6:30am and walked to the T station, then took the subway and commuter rail to Framingham. The train was late and slower than usual, as tends to happen in bad weather. When I arrived, Mike picked me up in his warm and cozy van. There was some commuter traffic on the drive from the station to his workshop. We arrived over 2 hours after I left the house.Later, I spoke to an acquaintance who commutes from Holliston to Somerville by car. In theory, the drive should take about an hour. But in practice, the traffic in the morning and evening is so bad that it takes at least an hour and a half each way, sometimes longer.






If I had to deal with this commute on a regular basis, I think my preferred mode of transport would be train + Brompton. This would allow me to remain self-reliant, to carry a huge amount of stuff in my front bag, and to get some work done on the train while still squeezing in 12 miles of riding in the course of the day. Every so often it would also be nice to do the roadbike trip, but it would mean setting off even earlier in order to do the longer, safer route. Driving for 1.5+ hours in a car each way would be my least preferred method, but might nonetheless be necessary in winter: I am not tough enough to cycle on those hilly, narrow rural roads in snow and ice, especially in the dark.




A 25 mile commute is not abnormal in North America; in fact it is probably fairly typical. It's hard to believe that 7 years ago I was doing it myself, spending hours a day in my car.Doing it by bike would have been unimaginable back then, an absurdity. Now? Well, to tell the truth, it did not feel normal commuting for that long on a bike. But neither did it feel normal any other way. It's just too long of a ride/drive to be doing twice a day, every day, out of necessity, in all weather conditions. That's my take on the 2 hour commute. I am grateful to not have one these days.

Wordless Wednesday :: Once Upon a Time

a few years ago...

Bryant Peak ..

This is more a document of my failure than a trip report. I had the goal of heading up Bryant Peak from what I believe to be the standard route today. (The gully to the east and take SE Ridge to the top.) I should have known things would not go well when I viewed Mount Rainier from the I90 bridge and realized I had left the camera at home. Oh well. I continued to Alpental.

I arrived to find only one other vehicle in the parking lot. My guess is they were headed to Chair. I loaded up and headed up the trail and noticed there was what appeared to be two sets of bare boot prints heading up the trail. The groomed section was less icy than last week, and when I left the groomed area, that was less icy as well. I was making good time. In thirty minutes I had arrived at the turn to head up to the hanging valley. This is where I started to realize the foolishness of my decision not to bring floatation.

Last week the snowshoes were great. But I incorrectly assumed that with more traffic up there and subsequent freeze/thaw cycles that I would be fine without any floatation. I was very sadly wrong. When I first left the trail it was not so bad and I was sinking in ankle depth. As I headed up I tried to stay on downhill ski tracks or faint boot tracks. It didn't make much difference. Soon every step was calf deep. By the time I was near the top I got some breaks by following a previous boot track. This track ran out and I was now going knee deep on most steps, with occasional steps going thigh deep. I persevered. I told myself it would get better once the angle eased in the bowl. This may have been the only thing I was right about. It did ease, and I picked up another boot path where I enjoyed respite from the post hole nightmare. Of course this had to end as the path went to the head of the bowl and I needed to head toward the gully that would start my climb.

The snow was deep mash potatoes. I picked a line and headed up. Being a lower angle, it was nicer than coming up from Source Lake, but I was expending energy at high rate just to move ahead. I finally came to a stop to put my pack down and investigate the slopes. There were plenty of wet slides that look like they probably happened the day before. I also saw some sloughing and heard rockfall periodically. I put my pack down and attempted to hike up into the shaded slope to dig a pit. I moved about 40m uphill (about halfway to the shadow) and it took me more than five minutes! I stood there with the gully in front of me and realized it would have to wait for another day. I figure in the conditions the snow was in, it would have taken me about two more hours to summit, and I just wasn't interested in that wallow. As it was, it took me an hour and a half from leaving the trail to reach my high point.

So I turned around and gathered my pack and plunge stepped down to the trail. While significantly easier (it took me less than 25 minutes to descend what took me 1.5 hours to ascend.) The plunge stepping was still somewhat difficult even if it did take less energy. I was sinking knee or thigh deep on every step. When I got home I read this trip report where they had snow shoes and still were sinking calf deep. The snow was actually skiable and if I had brought floatation I think things may have turned out different. Although I could not have used it during the technical portion of the climb and that would have still been a wallow.

Blue dot marks my high point.

A Moveable View

Staying by the sea, I notice how unaccustomed I've become to a stationary view of any kind. Back in the city, the windows of my apartment offer vistas of a brick wall, a narrow alley, a tangle of branches and telephone wires. And I usually keep the blinds closed when I work anyhow; there is too much commotion outside.



But now I sit on this porch, just yards from the water's edge. A vast harbor is stretched out in front of me. The surface ripples of the cerulean water are like a silk scarf fluttering in the wind. Lobster buoys bob up and down. Now and then a fishing boat goes by. A family of swans travels back and forth along the shore in perfect peloton formation.



It is peaceful and almost improbably beautiful. And as I try to work, I find that it drives me nuts - the unchangeability of it. I am not used to looking at scenery so... passively. My eyes focus on the right outeredge of the harbor, where the rocky shore curves and disappears from view. As I study it, the curve begins to look hard-etched and forbidding, willfully preventing me from seeing beyond the bend.



In fact, I know - roughly at least - what lies around the bend; I have been there many times. A hilly back road winds along the shore's edge sleepily. There is a small patch of dense woods along the cliffs, then a gravel garden path, a wild rocky beach, an abandoned coast guard's tower... Soon I am visualising each of these landmarks in great detail, picturing them as they look when I cycle past them. I laugh at myself, realising that I am enjoying this mental game more than looking at the view in front of me.



I close my laptop, get on my bike and take off just as the sun begins to set, heading for the hilly back road that will take me around the bend. No one else is here. The road narrows and steepens dramatically and I get into my lowest gear. With each pedal stroke I see more and more of the landscape that was hidden from view as I sat on the porch just minutes earlier, and this fills me with an absurd sense of fulfillment. I reach the top easily, unhurriedly, and there sits the patch of woods with its narrow mossy path to the edge of the cliff. I keep going, coasting down the steep hill now at what feels like flying speed, passing all the landmarks I'd recalled. The mysterious garden path, the wild beach. And I remember now also the old sprawling house with a beautiful garden and the "bunnies for sale" sign taped to the green fence. After the coastguard's house I stop and turn around, my urge to experience a movable view satisfied. It seems silly now to have taken this short ride for no reason at all, but I am pleased.



I roll up to the porch as the last of daylight disappears. The vast harbor is still there, its fluttering silk surface now a deep indigo. A green light flickers in the distance. A stray boat is being rowed ashore. The swan peloton is making its last round. I get my coffee cup and turn on the porch light, ready to settle down in the stillness. But I know the moveable view will call out to me again tomorrow, even though I know what's around the bend.

From a different perspective

This afternoon I noticed a hummingbird flitting through the lilies. I grabbed my camera in the hopes of capturing it enjoying the nectar but by the time I got to the window it was gone. Perhaps it will come back tomorrow and I'll be a little quicker. Since I had the camera at the window, I played around a bit with the zoom capabilities and got these shots. I like how the out-of-focus grass enhances the color of the lilies. I'm still amazed by how many blooms are on each plant and am really enjoying them. When we lived at our previous home, the flowers were in beds on the side and at the back of the house and we had to actually go outside to look at them. It's much nicer with them right outside the front window, especially with the high temperatures and high humidity we've been having lately.

So what does this have to do with family history research? Not anything, really, but seen from a different perspective, these views of the lilies are quite different from those taken two days ago. Sometimes (quite often), when I'm stuck with a research problem, it helps if I look at the problem from a different angle. Reviewing the information already found could help in rediscovering information previously overlooked. Talking with someone else and getting their input can also be helpful. Since they aren't emotionally attached to the problem they can take a step back and possibly offer new insight or recommend other areas of research. Regardless whether the problem is resolved or not, it almost always helps to take another look, from a different perspective.

Pink Geranium

It is so hard to get any decent photos of the Sandia Mountains and my flowers without getting the power lines in them.

Man Your Eggs

D2R Boogie: a Miniature Non-Folder

When I saw this bicycle at Harris Cyclery, it immediately caught my eye - in a "what onearth is that?..." kind of way. It appeared to be a miniature "swan frame" bike with extremely modern components, small wheels and fat tires. And for some reason, it was calling out for me to ride it. The bicycle is not yet for sale, but was apparently a sample the dealer left behind. I believe it will be available in April . This creation is called "Boogie" and it is made by the company Decide 2 Ride (D2R), which has hitherto been specialising in panniers and other bicycle accessories.



What I initially found appealing about the Boogie, was the overall elegance of its design. Despite the eye-catching swan-frame, it is an un-appologetically modern bike - with techie components, industrial-style accessories, a unicrown fork, and visible welding marks on the frame's joints. But?.. I have to say, they did a good job incorporating it all into the overall design, so that these elements actually look like they "belong" on this particular bike.Everything is in harmony; everything fits together just right. The bike does not try to look "faux vintage" - and that works in its favour. It comes across as being unique and intentional. The only other modern bicycle design I have seen thus far that achieves the same equilibrium is the KHS Green, which I also like very much. And to me, this just confirms that even if you give a good designer a small budget, and limit them to modern production techniques and components, they can still come up with something that looks visually pleasing - not only in carefully lit catalog photos, but in person, up close.



The Boogie is a miniature, small wheeled non-folder. The reasoning behind creating it, was the premise that the majority of those who buy folding bikes don't actually fold and unfold them. Rather, they choose the bikes for their small unfolded size and light weight - factors especially relevant for city dwellers who must maneuver their bike through cramped spaces and drag it up staircases. In my experience, this is true of most women(but not men) I know who own folding bikes, and I suspect the Boogie will be more appealing to women than to men.



The lightweight frame of the Boogie is aluminum (I had previously received conflicting information about the frame material, but this has now been confirmed by the manufacturer). The fork is cro-moly steel either way. The bicycle is adjustable for a wide range of heights, and it comes in two sizes: for those 6 ft and below, and for those over 6 ft. The bike pictured here is the smaller size. Both saddle and handlebar height can be adjusted to fit riders of different proportions.



The wheels on the Boogie are 20", fitted with 2.125" wide tires. The model I tried comes with full fenders and a large rear rack as standard features, as well as with derailleur gearing - though single-speed and 8-speed hub versions are also available.



Kickstand is also standard - and it was a very sturdy one as far as kickstands go.



Of all the features on the Boogie, there are only two I don't like and would change if it were my bike: The padded synthetic saddle would have to go, and I would replace the handlebars with an inexpensive swept-back "North Roads" style version - simply because I can't comfortably use straight handlebars. Those who are more tolerant of stright bars may not care. Either way, the handlebar change can probably be made for $20 or so, so not a big deal. I would definitely keep all the components black, as to me that is part of the bike's charm.



This is what the bicycle looks like next to my 5'7" frame. As you can see, the step-over area is very low - just above ankle-height, which make it easy to mount and dismount even if wearing a long skirt.



I was not sure how a bicycle like this would handle, but it felt comfortable from the get-go: Easy to get started, stable, intuitive, maneuverable.



I test rode the Boogie briefly on the roads in traffic (actual test ride not pictured), trying to determine how the small wheels and fat tires would feel over pot-holes, and also whether the bicycle would accelerate well. All was good in these respects. This is not an aggressive bicycle; it is a comfortable one. But it certainly provides enough power to be used as urban transportation. Switching gears was easy using the thumb-shifters mounted onto the handlebars. The brakes were powerful. One confession I have to make, is that I felt more comfortable with this bicycle than I did with the Brompton I test-rode earlier. I am not sure why, so cannot really elaborate. Perhaps I need to ride the Bromptonagain to get a better idea. And of course, the quality and the functionality of the bicycles are different: The Brompton is undoubtedly better made and it is a folder, while the Boogie is in a lower budget category and does not have the folding capacity - so in comparing how I felt on them, I am speaking solely of the test-ride experience.



The Co-Habitant tried the Boogie as well, and found it to be "fun" - though he is baffled as to why I like it so much. He thought it was a cool bike, but not that big of a deal. So - to each their own.



The version of the Boogie I tried (derailleur, fenders, rack) is supposed to retail at around $750. I believe that the single speed version will be in the $400s and the 8-speed hub version in the $900s. Given those price points, I would probably go for either the single speed or the derailleur version - though ideally I would have liked a simple 3-speed hub. Lighting is not included, so that would be an additional expense. Although the Boogie will be available in other colours (white and sage), I think that black is the only colour that really works on this bicycle: Judging by the online pictures, the welding marks look much more prominent on the lighter-coloured bikes, detracting considerably from the elegance of the design I praised here. The striking harmony between the frame colour, component colour and accessory colour is also possible only with the black version.



If you are looking for a simple city bicycle on a budget, this is one of the few in the lower-priced category I actually like. The proportions and small wheels are not for everyone, but I find the overall design and ride quality appealing.

Hermmann's Royal Lipizzan Stallions

This morning I made another trip over to see the incredible Lipizzaner stallions. I arrived early enough to visit the stable first and got to spend a good half an hour there. It is so neat to visit the stable and see the horses up close.



I found my personal favorite for today when I saw how much he seemed to enjoy interacting with people.



Then I noticed his name and realized he would fit in with our family really well because his name starts with an A. I told him that he could be one of my kids with a name like his.



He seemed really intrigued by that. I told him we could use another boy to even out the boy girl ratio.



I asked, would you like to go home with me big guy? At which point he nodded his head.



So it's all set. I just have to figure out how to fit him in the RV and then he's coming home with us.



Ahhh, a girl can dream at least, right? Isn't he something though? More pictures later of the show.



Living the life in sunny Florida!