I will not be eating pecan pie anytime soon.  I spent Christmas with what I can only think was food poisoning, and am home sick from work today.  Ick.  

I hope you're excited for Christmas.  Mullet is.

snow and snow

We did get the deep freeze after last weekend, and it wasn't that bad.  Something like -24 degree wind chills.  Easy.  It's been much worse in my years living in ND.  The Twin Cities really doesn't get that bad, although everyone would have you think it.  Don't get me wrong, the weather does get lethal, but the deep bitter cold of the ND prairies will take you out and then do it again.  The snow came after the cold, and it actually got to the point of hampering my bike commuting.  It wasn't that I couldn't ride in it, it was the motor vehicle missiles (people loosing control of their SUVs they feel so warm and cuddly and overconfident in.)  I just don't have a safe route to work after I get out of STP and into the suburbs, which are less bike friendly and built with only cars in mind.  So on the super slippery days, I may have to suck it up and start my pickup to get to work.  Sad.  I'm writing to the city and seeing if there is any way to lobby for safer bikeways over I-494, my trouble spot.  Right now the only way is a busy road, albeit with big shoulder, but still a shoulder that sees wiping out automobiles when it's slick.  

The good news with all the snow is that there is all the snow!  Skiing and snowshoeing and winter camping can start!  And of course indoor climbing will continue.  I will not be bored.

WX

So right now I'm sitting in my apartment, reading Ghost Trails, by Jill Homer, relaxing on a messy Sunday, and I checked the weather split between here in STP, and the old stomping grounds- Grand Forks, ND.  It's currently raining and starting to get colder.  30 degrees now, and we were almost at 40 today.  In Grand Forks, it's -12 degrees (F), with a wind chill of -45.  Gross.  Our turn for the deep cold will happen tomorrow morning, but I doubt it will be that bad.  Winter in the North.  

MSH 08 summer climb

I never did blog about a great trip that happened earlier this year, so I thought since I'm inside recuperating from a big class I taught for the last two weeks I'd take a moment to write about it.  It's been somewhere around a decade since I first had the chance to climb Mount Saint Helens.  I thought I'd return, this time with Alison and our friend Ty.  Mid-summer we headed out to Portland and drove up to the mountain.  When we arrived, it was typical summer weather for MSH- hot, sunny, and dry.  Wear your sun-screen.  We enjoyed a good free campsite, ate a good meal over a fire, filtered all the water we needed, and even had a couple beers chilled in a nearby snowbank.  We talked to a couple other climbers, who had also heard the news we had on the way out to the mountain- tomorrow would bring rain.  Bummer, but not a no-go yet.  In the morning, we awoke early as planned to head out on the climb as planned.  But getting out of the tent we saw what we had already heard as soon as we woke up- lots of rain, and very low visibility.  We were sill below treeline at our camp, but cloud line was much lower on the mountain and we were well inside the storm that had enveloped the mountain.  Many climbers we turning down the mountain before starting.  But still many were going.  I should also mentioned that over 5 times as many climbers as normally allowed on the route we were taking were given permits that day due to a reservation computer glitch.  So even with the terrible weather, more climbers were on Monitor Ridge (our route) that most days in the peak season.  We decided that since we could continually see that posts marking the ridge route, and since we were GPS-equipped, we'd give it a try.  Although it is normally referred to as a "climb", Monitor Ridge is truly just a "strenuous hike and scramble", so we didn't have to worry about carrying technical gear.  We followed the route past the treeline, through most of the boulder fields that mark the second third of the route, and stopped just prior to the last third, which is a pumice slope that leads to the crater rim.  With sideways winds, constant soaking rains,  and no view to enjoy, there really wasn't any point to push to the summit other than to extend the wait until dinner (seafood back in Portland).  Even though we didn't top out, I enjoyed the challenge.  If you know me, you realize that I don't like to sit idle, and things that push me outside and even cause discomfort seem to be my relaxation.  A tough soggy day on the mountain is better than a comfortable day spent in a cubicle.   Highlights:

Camp at the base of MSH:

About to enter the gross weather and start slogging upwards...

Monitor Ridge under rainfall (some climbers can be made out):

Who ordered this storm??

5.10a for Alison!

Alison climbed her first 5.10a at the gym this week!  Like I said earlier, VE has been good for our climbing, seeing as we live in a very cold northern locale now and the outdoor climbing is not accessible many months of the year, nor is it close to home.  It's been great to see her get stronger, and she's now climbing routes that give me a run from time to time.  Sweet.  Great job, babe!  

It's on.

Cycle-commute into work this morning:  8 degrees.  Headwind bringing a -5 degree windchill.  Dark of course.  Now the snow is falling.  Winter.  Bring it.

Regular Climbing

For some reason I haven't mentioned on my blog that Alison and I joined the indoor rock climbing gym here in STP: Vertical Endeavors.  It's been great to have regular easy access to climbing.  We can even go after work, which is pretty hard to do outside in MN considering the drive required.  It's given me the chance to actually improve, rather than remain at the same climbing ability for the reason that it was so infrequent for me to get the chance to go.  I'd say I was comfortable climbing up to 5.9, with the ability to pull out a 5.10a once and a while when I got ambitious.  Not particularly impressive considering I've climbed over a decade now.  I'm now occasionally onsighting a 5.10d, and working on breaking the 5.11a barrier.  If you're not familiar with climbing grades, here is a descent description if you're bored sometime.  5.11a is certainly not among the grades being considered "hard" by good climbers these days, but for a guy with a job and a wife and bills and a biking habit who doesn't climb that much, 5.11a is pretty hard.  I'll be quite please to accomplish that grade, and I think I will pretty soon if I keep at it.  Plus, it should be noted that grades are completely subjective to who set the route, local opinion, type of rock (or gym), type of climb (steep face, crack, dihedral, roof, chimney, etc., blah blah blah), so yeah, it depends.  But 5.11a is still hard for me.  :)  Sweet.

A goal...

For several years, I've been tossing around an idea in the back of my mind.  One of those "dude, it would be sweet to actually do that" things that an outdoorsy guy thinks about when it's dark and cold outside and he's dreaming of the next few trips to put together.  It may not be the same type of trip that many dream up, but it's something I've wanted to do based on my background.  I'm from North Dakota, and I'm a slightly obsessive cyclist.  I have a touring bike.  I love to camp.  I love covering a lot of ground on two wheels.  One only has to connect the dots to see that I need to cross my home state on my Long Haul Trucker.  I think 2009 will be the season.  It's an odd time for me to decide to tour across a state, seeing as it just started snowing to commence the long nasty St Paul, MN winter, but it's never bad to set a goal, even if it's a ways out.  I think as far as touring goes it will be a fairly easy one to put together.  I'd really prefer to cross epic miles going coast to coast, or UT to AK, or something of the sort, but work is just always there ruining those types of semi-rational thoughts.  So, something simpler, yet still noteworthy, such as crossing a state is a start.  I haven't begun to plan any routes or made any official plans, but I've decided to give it a real go this next year.  Hopefully whatever life has coming will allow the goal to materialize and be met.  That's all for now, just needed to write it down.  Goals work better if you write them down and people can harass you about them.  :)  

Afternoon of one-speed wanderings...

The past couple days I've spent indoors, working, relaxing, and taking in the Banff Film Fest.  It was time to get outside before the work week interrupts again.  I called up Nate and we headed out for an urban singlespeed ride, as the local MORC-maintained mtb singletrack is going through a lot of freeze/thaw cycles and is too delicate to ride without tearing it up.  We started by rolling down the center boulevard of historic Summit Ave here in STP, which actually does have dirt singletrack, and it wasn't muddy at all.  From there we turned south, dropped down to the Mississippi River bottoms and rode the rocky shoreline, taking a breif stop to check out Hidden Falls, which wasn't falling enough for a picture, then ended up cruising the gravel roads of Fort Snelling State Park.  We ate, then took off for Minnehaha Falls on the way up the Minneapolis side of the river.  It was running slowly, and has started it's process of icing over for the long winter.  Paved bike path, (and some secret singletrack that was also dry enough) brought us back to Summit and then home.  Seeing as we made an awful lot of stops to try riding over obstacles we found with our 29 inch wheels, and took a lot of round about explorations of paths/singletrack/backroads along the way, and just generally gawked at the beautiful early winter day, we managed to spend four hours out.  So in other words, a good singlespeed ride with no where in particular to go and no real time constraints.  Yup.  

The KM and Minnehaha Falls...

Mississippi River...

Secret Singletrack...don't bother looking for it, it's probably a whole .2 miles long.  :)

Surly and River.  Good afternoon.