Greetings from... Iowa

Tuesday, May 3rd - - Continuing west after my brief stop at the Round Barn near Colchester, Illinois I crossed the mighty Mississippi River into Keokuk, Iowa. It's a pretty little city with some beautiful houses on the bluff overlooking the river. My route briefly took me on into Missouri then north to Fairfield, the county seat of Jefferson County, Iowa.



Shortly after her marriage to William Klingaman in Whitley County, Indiana on October 12, 1865 Anna Eliza Joslin moved to Jefferson County, Iowa where they settled north of Fairfield in Black Hawk Township. Anna Eliza was the daughter of my 3rd great-grandparents, Lysander and Lydia (Robison) Joslin. In October 1866, Lysander sold his land in Whitley County, Indiana and removed to Black Hawk Township settling near his daughter Anna Eliza. Another daughter, Mandella, was born in December 1866 in Indiana so the family probably didn't go to Iowa until the spring of 1867.



On June 4, 1868 Lydia Joslin gave birth to the last of her 15 children. They were twins named Elmer and Elmus. Elmer died on June 30th and is presumably buried somewhere in Black Hawk Township although he is not listed on the cemetery transcriptions. In August of that same year, Lysander reclaimed his land in Whitley County, Indiana due to mortgage foreclosure on the man who had purchased it in 1866. Lysander moved his family back to Indiana – except for Anna Eliza who remained in Iowa with her husband. There they lived for the remainder of their lives, raising their family of three sons (Charles Sherman, Olen Valerus, and Frank Ellsworth) on their farm in Black Hawk Township.



At the Public Library I obtained obituary notices for some of their children and grandchildren but none for Anna Eliza or her husband William Klingaman. Oddly enough, an obituary for Anna Eliza was published in the Columbia City Commercial in Whitley County, Indiana announcing her death on July 28, 1885 at the age of 40 years, 9 months and 20 days after a long and painful illness with Brights disease.



If you have people in Jefferson County, Iowa your first stop should be the library in Fairfield. It is a wonderful resource with a tremendous amount of information gathered over the years by several volunteers. Their cemetery books include maps and directions to each of the cemeteries so I was easily able to locate McDowell Cemetery where Anna Eliza, her husband, and several children are buried.





McDowell Cemetery sits atop a hill on Mahogony Road at the junction of 115th street.





A small cemetery, it was easy to spot the large brown marker designating the Klingaman family plot. I'll have more on this family in later posts – someday!



On my way to the cemetery, I spotted this old barn and couldn't resist the impulse to take pictures. The photos have been manipulated a little to warm up the hues of the barn. Reality was actually a little garish what with the bright green grass, blue sky, and white clouds. The colors didn't look real, so now they have a bit of that “old-timey” feel to them!









The night was spent at a pretty little campground in Jefferson County Park just south of Fairfield. There were several trails meandering through the forest and meadows of the area. I got brave and ventured down one. It was a good walk on a fairly smooth path part of which was gravel and other parts were grass. It did have a few large hills with steep ups and downs but the legs held up just fine. I'm soooo glad they are feeling better!

Impossible Drop; Surviving a 3,000 foot fall after an avalanche, Gabe Coler

I met Gabe's parent's last weekend in Minneapolis. At the time of the climbing accident on Mount Deltaform, they were in Poland. Through a number of bureaucratic nightmares, Gabe’s parents did not get a chance to see their son for 10 days!

The information about Gabe was positive considering the fact that he was carried over 3,000 feet in an avalanche down the side of a major Canadian mountain! After the slide, Gabe fortuitously was not buried, but did end up spending three days and nights alone (at times in sub-freezing weather) on top of the debris.

Gabe is on the recovery schedule, but it’s going to be tough. He lost a fair amount of weight and was severely injured. Gabe fractured his right femur and tore numerous ligaments and tendons in his left knee. The femur fracture will mend, but the torn muscles, ligaments, tendons AND bone will be much more problematic. Included in the injury was a partially collapsed lung. As his father best said,

“All of this [however] seems so trivial compared to the wound he sustained from
losing his best friend, Charlie. I am far less certain of that injury ever
healing.”

Gabe was medi-evacuated to Eugene Oregon for extended treatment. If you’d like to send Gabe your thoughts, his address is:

St. Charles Medical Center
2500 NE Neff Road
Bend, OR 97701
Room 333

I’d like to acknowledge and thank the Canadian Park Wardens, medics, doctors, nurses and other caregivers that have responded to this incident and cared for Gabe and Charlie. This image is courtesy Parks Canada, Brad White.

The Shadiest Time of the Year

This is our fifth autumn in this house and as each October ends we've noticed that the air-conditioner seldom kicks on no matter how warm the day. The sun is so low that it can't penetrate the still-full, green canopy of the two tall pecan trees to heat the rooms on that end of the house. The east end of the garden gets sun in the morning, but by the middle of the day the back garden is all shadows. As the sun swings around to the west around 3 PM, it illuminates the outside edge of the garden along the fence and then shines on the vegetable patch. After barely surviving the long hot summer, the pepper plants obey their biological imperative, using the sun at low power to reproduce and set a couple of dozen peppers. We'll let the peppers run their race to grow until the freeze warning comes - and will be glad to have even a small crop!

In late afternoon enough sun falls on the Secret Garden to trigger a few Confederate Rose blooms. Hibiscus mutabilis is a close relative of hardy Hibiscus like my 'Blue River II'. Confederate Rose can grow to tree size in Austin if sited well, but my small plant is new this year - a passalong from my friend Carole, it's still in a 10" container.


Enough sun fell through the pecan leaves to set buds on the Camellia sasanqua 'Shishi Gashira' a few months ago. The taller, older Camellia japonica did not enjoy this summer. It looks stressed and may have a handful of flowers this winter. In contrast this little sasanqua didn't seem to suffer one bit and is prepared to open dozens of blossoms.


When I wrote about berries in October I had to leave out the most spectacular berry in our yard - a tall Yaupon near the gate. The paperbark type of birch tree was always something I admired for decades but could never own. They didn't do well in Illinois and could not survive here. Now the sight of bright berries, beautiful trunks and white bark have vanquished any longing for birches... I love my yaupon!



The morning sun is enough to make these Brugmansia set buds but they develop more slowly than they did a month ago. If frost comes too soon these buds will never become yellow trumpets and the peppers and warm weather annuals will die and these passionvines will turn to threads, but the garden won't go to sleep.



Instead, as the pecans let loose their leaves, the winter sun will shine through the spaces between the bare branches. When the shadows turn again to sun it will be time to plant pansies and snapdragons, alyssum and dianthus. The loquat will keep opening fragrant flowers and when we take our coffee out to the patio, we'll be glad to have the patio umbrella over our heads.

Death Valley :: Desert Flowers #3

Friends now

I believe they've worked through their differences.

Chasing Elusive Ancestors :: The Hazlett-Dunfee Connection

Last month I posted photos of the gravestones for Jonathan and Elizabeth Hazlett in Ashland County, Ohio who may be my 5th great-grandparents. I say “may be” because all I have to go on is circumstantial evidence, and that is rather “iffy” to say the least.



According to her gravestone, Elizabeth was 86 years old when she died on March 3, 1848 which indicates that she was born about 1762. The date of birth of Jonathan, based on his age given on his gravestone, calculates to August 15, 1771. So, if this information is correct, then Elizabeth was about nine years older than Jonathan. Somewhat unusual, to be sure.



The gravestone of Sophia Elizabeth Hazlett Dunfee in Evergreen Cemetery, Whitley County, Indiana shows that she died March 13, 1864 aged 69y 10m 3d, which calculates to a date of birth of May 10, 1794. If Elizabeth, wife of Jonathan, is the mother of Sophia then Elizabeth would have been about 32 years old when Sophia was born, not unreasonable. Jonathan would have been not quite 23 years of age. Rather unusual to have that age difference. So, I have my doubts that Elizabeth is the natural/birth mother of Sophia. A more likely scenario is that Sophia's mother died and Jonathan later married Elizabeth.



And how do I know that Jonathan is her father? I don't know for sure that he is. But my “gut feeling” tells me it is so. This is what we do know:



Sophia Elizabeth Hazlett was the wife of James Dunfee, born about 1788. The 1850 and 1860 census records show that they were both born in Pennsylvania. The 1880 census records for five of their children living at the time also show that their parents were born in Pennsylvania. The one exception is the youngest daughter – the 1880 and 1900 census records for her both show that her father was born in Pennsylvania and her mother was born in Maryland.



Biographies of three children and two grandchildren were published in local county history books. These provided clues as to where James and Sophia were born, in most cases corroborating the information from the census records.

• A biography of William H. Dunfee states that he was born in Adams County, Penn., April 10, 1822, and came with his parents to Ohio in 1831. (Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana Historical and Biographical; Goodspeed, 1882 p280) His date and place of birth is the same in his obituary.

• In a biography of Jonathan S. Dunfee it states that he is a son of James and Sophie (Hazlett) Dunfee, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Kentucky. Jonathan was born in Adams County, Pennsylvania on June 9, 1826... being one of thirteen children... he was taken to Wayne County, Ohio when but five years of age. (Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana Historical and Biographical; Goodspeed, 1882 p394)

• A biography of Frank E. Lovett states that his father, James Hanson “married Mary, daughter of James and Sophia (Hazelete) Dunnfee, who were of Scotch descent, and came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1830. Mary (Dunnfee) Lovett was born March 19, 1816 in Adams County, Penn., and came to Ohio with her parents. James Dunnfee was born in North Carolina in 1786, and died at the age of seventy-six years; his parents came from Ireland. Sophia (Hazelett) Dunnfee was born in Pennsylvania, her parents having been driven from Scotland during the religious persecutions.” (Commemorative Biographical Record of Wayne and Holmes Counties, Ohio; Beers, 1889, p641)

• The biography of David McNabb states that he “was married Oct. 18, 1842 to Sophie Dunfee, a daughter of James and Sophie (Hazlett) Dunfee, who moved from Adams County, Pa., to Ohio in 1833.” (History of Dekalb County, Indiana Vol 2, Interstate, 1885, p577-578)

• A biography of Warren McNabb, son of David and Sophia (Dunfee) McNabb, states that Sophia was “the daughter of James and Sophia (Hazlett) Dunfee, who removed from Adams county, Pennsylvania, to Ohio in 1833.” (History of Dekalb County, Indiana; Bowen, 1914, p422)

The biographies for the three children state that they were all born in Adams County, Pennsylvania and all of the biographies show that James and Sophia came from Adams County, Pennsylvania to Ohio, sometime between 1830 and 1833, with one providing the name of the county in Ohio – Wayne – and telling us that James and Sophia had 13 children.



Another clue resided in the family coffers – the files of my grandmother Hazlette Brubaker Phend (named after her Aunt Hazlette who was named after her great-grandmother, Sophia Hazlett Dunfee) – in the form of a letter written on March 16th 1849. Although signed “James and Sophia E. Dunfee” it was clearly written by Sophia (in Lakeville, Holmes County, Ohio) to their son William H. Dunfee and his wife Catharine in Columbia City, Indiana. The letter gives a brief statement regarding the health and well-being of various members of the family. From that letter we learn that William's baby is the 21st grandchild of James and Sophia. Family members mentioned were Lucy, Sarah, father, George, Henry, Mary, Aunt, your father, Jonathan and Marye An, and Oliver Quick.



I think that “father” is Sophia's father (thus still living in 1849) and that “your father” is William's father James, thus Sophia's husband. Oliver Quick was a brother of Marye An who was the wife of Jonathan.



No where in all of this do we derive a clue as to the name of the parents of Sophia Hazlett or James Dunfee.



However, a tantalizing clue for James' parents comes from the gravestone of “Catherine Dau. of G. & M. Dunfee” found in a heap with other gravestones in Evergreen Cemetery – the same cemetery in which James and Sophia are buried in Whitley County, Indiana. Thankfully, a local researcher had transcribed the stones in the cemetery many years ago and from that publication we learn that Catherine Dunfee died July 27, 1851 aged 57y 9m and that she was buried in the same row, next to James and Sophia. Catherine's date of birth calculates to October 27, 1793. James Dunfee was born about 1788. Is Catherine a sister of James? And who are G. & M. Dunfee?





A pile of gravestones in Evergreen Cemetery, Whitley County, Indiana. The marker for Sophia Dunfee was intact and can be seen behind that of Catharine Dau. of G. & M. Dunfee. Photo taken in November 1985.



To be continued....

Early morning Aurora over Deronda Bay

My new habit of checking the spaceweather.com website every day seems to be paying off! Lately I have been getting quite a few nice shots of the Aurora Borealis, thanks in no small part to the information gathered from the spaceweather.com site. On Thursday, September 8th I checked the website just like I do any other day. Thursday's visit to the site revealed that a series of CME's (Coronal Mass Ejections) had occurred on the sun, and that those CME's had occurred on the side of the sun that was facing Earth. When this happens, generally it takes about 48 hours for them to reach our atmosphere... and when they do, beautiful Auroras are the result.


With the knowledge of the incoming CME's, and their expected time of arrival the night of September 10th, I started making my plans. I had to work on the 10th, so I knew that without some solid sack time I would be a zombie before the lights started to flare up. So, as is my normal plan of attack when shooting the Northern lights, I got done with work on the 10th, went home and went straight to bed. I slept from 5:00 PM until 10:00 PM, and was then refreshed enough (I hoped) for a full night of shooting.


As it turns out it was a good thing I got that sleep time in, because the lights didn't really start with any significance until just after midnight, and they continued all night until daylight started to creep into the sky, just before 6:00 AM. This particular photo was made at 4:42 AM along the shores of Lake Superior. Before moving to the shoreline, I had spent most of the night up on Mt. Maude, where the higher elevation provides almost a 360 degree view of the night sky. While on Mt. Maude I took a series of almost 400 photos of the dancing Northern lights and condensed them into a timelapse video, my first ever attempt at such a thing. All in all, it was a tiring, yet very rewarding, night of photography!

Faster yet on Rainier...

Utah is 2 for two @ 3:57:55.



Brothers Andy and Jason Dorais is the word.



Smokin :)



More here on previous times:



http://www.getstrongergolonger.com/journal//6/4/rainier-speed-updated-6-5-13.html#comments



and here:



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//05/new-speed-ski-record-on-rainier.html

Jonas Joslin Sr. :: 1822 Land Sale to James and Jonas Jr.

On January 10, 1822 Jonas Joslin Sr. and his wife Ruth sold 100 acres of land for $800.50 to James Joslin and Jonas Joslin Jr. with an important clause that gave them (Jonas Sr. and Ruth) use of the land during their lives. This would seem to indicate some degree of relationship between Jonas Sr. and Ruth with James and Jonas Jr. This was the same land that Jonas and Ruth had purchased for $1,050 on October 20, 1818. The record can be found in Delaware County, Ohio Deed Book 5, pages 526-528.



[page 526]
Jonas Joslin
To } Deed
James Joslin & Jonas Joslin Jr

This Indenture made and concluded this 10th day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty two by and between Jonas Joslin & Ruth his wife of Delaware County in the State of Ohio of the first part and James Joslin & Jonas Joslin Junior Witnesseth that the said Jonas Joslin & Ruth his wife for and in consideration of eight hundred Dollars fifty cents to them in had paid or secured to be paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged

[top half of page 527]
527 } given granted bargained sold released conveyed confirmed and by these presents give grant bargain sell release convey and confirm unto the said James and Jons Joslin Junior and unto their heirs and assigns forever a lot of land viz; lot number sixteen in the west tier of lots in the fourth section of the third township in the nineteenth range of the United States Military lands and within the said county of Delaware and supposed to contain one hundred acres more or less To have and to hold the above described premises with all the privileges and appurtenances thereunto belonging or in any wise appertaining unto him the said Jonas Joslin Jr and James Joslin and unto their heirs and assigns forever and the said Jonas Joslin & Ruth his wife for their heirs executors and administrators covenant and promise to and with the said James and Jonas Joslin Jr their heirs and assigns that they are lawfully seized of the Premises aforesaid that they have good right and full authority to sell and convey the same in manner aforesaid and that the said Premises are free and clear from

[bottom half of page 527]
all encumbrances. And Further that they the said Jonas Joslin and Ruth his wife their heirs executors and administrators will well warrant and truly defend the premises aforesaid unto the said James and Jonas Joslin Jr. and unto their heirs and assigns forever against the lawful claims of any persons or person whomsoever except a reservation of the use of the above described premises during our lives. In testimony whereof the part - to the first part here hereunto set our hands and seals the day and year above written.
Jonas Joslin {Seal}
Ruth Joslin {Seal}
Signed Sealed and Delivered in presence of}
Nathan Carpenter}
Sophia Weaver}

The State of Ohio Delaware County}
Personally appeared before me Nathan Carpenter one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County the within names Jonas Joslin and Ruth his wife Who she being first examined separate and apart from her husband both acknowledged

[page 528]
the foregoing instrument to be their free act and deed for purposes therein mentioned Given under my hand and seal this
Nathan Carpenter JP {seal}
Reced & recorded this deed Feby 14th 1822
J A Hughs Recorder Del Cty

Nisqually Icecliff

The weather was pretty much perfect on the upper mountain last Thrusday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Clear, cold, and calm. As the attached images will show, the Nisqually Basin routes (Icefall, Cleaver, Icecliff and Chute) all looked pretty good.

Nisqually Icecliff, on Saturday a solo climber successfully climbed the route. This marked the first summit for Mount Rainier in 2006, and a rather significant achievement for the climber, Hannah Carrigan.

Carrigan, headed out towards the Nisqually Basin around dawn, considering both the Icecliff or the Cleaver route. The Cleaver was tempting, but looked thin and icy (particularly near the high traverse up on the Cleaver itself.) The Icecliff also looked hard and thin in places, but doable considering the winter snowload. In the end, she opted for the Icecliff.

Carrigan reported firm snow and ice for much of the route. There were a number of difficult problems to negotiate. One section of the icecliff required commitment to both ice tools while traversing and climbing. Getting across the Bergshrund at the base of the cliff also required technical climbing. One notable comment was that slots, crevasses, and steep sections viewed from below, grew substantially in size once on scene.

After passing the technical secions in the Icecliff, Carrigan then ascended the upper Nisqually Glaciers to the crater rim and Columbia Crest. She reported a number of open crevasses on the upper Nisqually and Ingraham glaciers. Despite the deep snowpack below 10K, there still seems to be some gapping crevasses up high.

Carrigan descended the Gibraltar Ledges back to Camp Muir. An excellent solo journey on a big mountain in the winter, Good Job Hannah!

Gibraltar Ledges, a few climbers have reported STELLAR conditions on this classic Rainier winter route. They stated that the route has more snow and ice than normal. The traverse along the ledge, and chute were particular hard and icy. This makes for excellent climbing, but also increases the difficulty. Climbers should bring pickets AND a few ice screws.

Ingraham Direct, there is some ice going through Cathedral Gap, but nothing too daunting. Once past the Flats, climbers have been ascending the right side of the glacier up to the top the Disappointment Cleaver. Though no teams have summited this route, it looks as though the route does go.

Where I walk

One of the farm roads.

The perfect combination of rain, early warm weather, and no late frosts has made for a wonderful wildflowery spring.

I've never seen crossvine in such profusion.




An explosion of ginger.




An embarrassment of foamflower.




Unfortunately the poison ivy is doing very well also.




Maybe it's time to mow.




Summer is hard on the heels of spring. Wood Thrushes are playing their flutes. We've seen lightning bugs!

All in all it was a good day

Went to Peru. . .

The Marriage Record for May Hale and George Armstrong did not include parental information.

The Death Record for May L. Armstrong (Miami County Health Dept. Book C-5 page 5, December 18, 1899) gives her parents as Albert Hale and Elizabeth Foutz. So she is NOT the daughter of Jacob and Rosanna (Wise) Hale. I didn't get a death certificate as it would have cost $10. I was fortunate that the clerk allowed me to look at the record. Afterwards, she said "for future reference" in case I needed additional searches, they are supposed to charge $35 per half hour for lookups, plus the charge for the certificate!

The Estate Packet for Christina Wise was found in the archives building! Got my hands dirty ;-) I "made copies" of all the documents in the file using my camera since photocopies were $1 apiece! Most came out quite well, with a few being a little soft in focus, but they can be read.

In addition to the people already named in a previous post, there are documents that mention William Wise and John Wise, though no relationships are given.

There was a statement (see image below) signed by Rosanna Hale (her mark) and witnessed by M. H. Grunden which fits in quite nicely with the census information found by Pseudo-Anonymous Gary earlier this week (which also prompted this overdue visit to Peru). In the 1900 census for Steelton Borough, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (page 55B), Rosana Hale is listed in the household of Martin H. Grunden as widowed, mother-in-law.

There is no date on this document, but similar ones for William Kircher and Luella Culbertson were dated October 4, 1887. It reads: "Whereas, the assets in the hands of William Kircher, Administrator of the Estate of Christina Wise, deceased are insufficient to pay the claims allowed against the same in full - to avoid the additional expense of settling said estate as insolvent, I, Rosanna Hale, consent to accept, and hereby acknowledge the receipt of about eighty-three per cent of my claim against said estate, to-wit: Seventy-seven & 27/100 Dollars, in full payment and satisfaction of said claim. Witness M. H. Grunden. Rosanna x Hale, her mark."

Found the deed book entry where Peter Wise and his wife, Christina, sold their 180 acres of land on April 5, 1866 for $8,000.

On May 14, 1866 Peter purchased town lots 5, 6, & 7 in Gilead. On October 26, 1868 he purchased 5 acres of land that was bordered on the east by the town of Gilead.

Those two entries in 1866 were in one of the books I had skipped on my previous visit to the courthouse a month ago. The reason I had skipped over them was because in the 1870 census it still showed that Peter owned land. What didn't "click" though was the fact that in 1850 his real estate was valued at $4,000 while in 1870 it was only $1,000. Lesson learned: Check all records for the time period of your ancestor, not just the years you think there "might" be transactions.

However, I didn't find the records for the sale of the lots and 5 acres under the Wise surname. So I checked for transactions by William Kircher, the administrator of Christina's estate, and found the record of the sale of the five acres on April 15, 1887 and the sale of the town lots on September 10, 1887.

As a point of reference, this is a portion of the 1860 census for Seward Township, Kosciusko County, Indiana page 60. After looking at it for a while I can now see that it could be Mary A. rather than May A., but then again, maybe not.

Two Bridges

It is exciting to see new things happening in an old city, especially when these developments change the dynamic of the landscape completely. The Peace BridgeinDerry/Londonderryis so named for connecting different parts of the city that have historically been divided due to the religious and political conflicts that have plagued Northern Ireland in years past. And the fact that it is a car-free bridge for walking and cycling adds an additional layer of symbolism: Unlike motorists, the pedestrians and cyclists crossing are unshielded by anonymity. It is the ultimate gesture of mutual trust and connectedness.Along the river bank, a new bicycle path is being built that will link this bridge to another further down the river for an even greater sense of unity.






I have never been to Derry prior to the construction of the new bridge. But as a first time visitor I cannot imagine it not being there.Not only do the modern shapes of the contemporary structure harmonise with the historical buildings in the background (from some vantage points, the bridge even appears to "hug" the old city center), but its usefulness and influence on local culture were apparent.






People walking and riding their bikes, some in a hurry and others strolling with newspaper in hand while enjoying the view - the city feels alive and my impression is that this liveliness is recent.Walking through the city center early on a Sunday morning, my impression was that the city was waking up in more ways than one.




Being in Derry, I truly felt it as a living organism in the process of transition. The city wants to be vibrant, it is on the verge of it. The air is electric with change and potential. It is an exciting place to be while this development is happening.





As a funny contrast to the Peace Bridge in Derry, I had earlier visited theCarrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge on the Antrim coast. In decades past a precarious bridge built forfor local fishermen to crossfrom a tiny rocky island to the mainland, it is now a tourist attraction.For a fee of£5.60 you can cross the bridge, circle the island and come back.






The tug of war between this being a tourist attraction for which an admission fee is charged, while still being part of nature and therefore inherently dangerous, is interesting to observe.






Not all who attempt to cross the bridge are able to, as it sways and feels rather unstable. And so in a sense it is also a test of courage - accentuating differences between those who attempt to cross it. Some grasp the rails in a panic, others dance across mockingly. I am told that once the coast guard had to be called because a tourist had a panic attack on the other side of the bridge and could not cross back.









Most visitors get to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge in a car. There is a huge car park by the road, next to it a tea house. From there a scenic path leads down to the bridge itself. The path is maybe a 15-20 minute walk, downhill, with beautiful views throughout. I had gone there in late afternoon and the last group of tourists was still about. Walking down the path, one woman said to her husband "My God, why couldn't they make this thing closer to the parking lot? This is ridiculous!"




That is my story of the two bridges.

Windswept Tree

Nomic, Quark and Ergo low profile Hammers?

"Colin Haley photo of Bjørn-Eivind Årtun on their new route, Dracula, Mt Foraker, June ."



Finally!



At Bjørn-Eivind Årtun's suggestion afterhissuccessful '10 Alaskan season, we have redesigned the C-T Nomic hammer to make it even lighter with a 4mm hammer face instead of the previous 7mm face. The new hammer will also fit the newest Petzl Nomic, Quark or Ero tool heads and the newest picks cut for a hammer or adze. The hammer face is thinner to shave some weight andbalance betterbut the hammer still gives complete coverage to the back of the Nomic.



We areFINALLY shipping them AGAIN!



























This hamemr will fit the previous and current production Nomic, the new Quark and the new Ergo.

With the 7mm hammer Ipreferred aone hammer set up. The newest 4mm hammers have changed that. The balance is betterwith the 4mm hammers.A technical tool like the Nomic will never be ideal for pounding pins (that won't change) because of their large clearance of the handle shape, but our smaller profile hammers certainly make it a lot easier and save the head of the tools from damage. They are easy to attach with perfect fit and finish.



The C-T makes the newstQuark an even better (sweet!) tool for all technical climbing.



For long committing alpine climbs they are a minimalistic option that works. On the scrappy mixed route where you need to pound the occasional pin or your own tool, they work.



Our current 4mm hammers *easily* fit the newest picks from Petzl. They are CNC machined from bar stock chromoly steel and then heat treated to hammer hardness and hand finished in our shop.



Not all Petzl heads are created equally. I have found a few that require very minor hand fitting the pick and hammer with a file. It won't take much and is easy to do. If you can sharpen a pick any fitting required will be easy. The new Petzl picks require cutting the back off the hammer interface from .15" to .04" on the bolt hole. Again easily done with a hand file. Just cut enough material to line up the bolt hole on hammer and pick. You want to be just shy of the bolt hole when done. Way easier than it looks or sounds.









Hammers are$60 ea. These willfit the current production picks and is now even lighter with a 4mm hammer face...@30g per hammer and much easier to fit than the Petzl offering



Buy them now while I have them in stock and ready to ship. We do fourproduction runs a year and generally sell every run out before the next.



More here:



http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com//08/ice-climbing-gear.html