Another View

This is a view of the Indian Market Place from the other end.

Enchantments Traverse

After a weather delay, we were finally able to do the Enchantments Traverse. We spent the day up in mountain goat country. That area is full of snowfields, steams, awesome lakes, granite boulders, slabs and peaks. With our side trip to Little Annapurna, it ended up being an 18 mile hike. The blisters should heal up in about a week :)



At about 2 hours into the hike, we arrived at Colchuck Lake.



A couple of hours later, we made it to the upper basin and started seeing mountain goats.



Then we ran into a few well-camouflaged Rock Ptarmigans.





We couldn't resist standing on the collapsed snow cave.



Ron and Doug ontop of 8,440' Little Annapurna. Mt. Stuart and Dragontail Peak in the background.



Prusik Peak, Mount Temple and several of the alpine lakes.



Little Annapurna as seen from Perfection Lake.




Some people say that this is the most beautiful place in Washington State. We've been to some amazing places. I can think of several that are close, but none better!

Brooks-Range Cirro Hoody

This is a jacket I should have written up a long time ago.



It can be found here:

http://brooks-range.com/cirro-hoody.html



Last winter when us rookie Americans kept missing the last Midi tram off the mountain at the end of the day we had few options. The Loo or the walk over to the Cosmic hut. Being on a budget we would stay in the Loo unless the tram crew kicked us out because of the bad weather and over crowding.



Even in the Loo it was a miserable night for the most part. Not very comfortable with no gear and colder than I would have liked but not the typical -30C it was hitting outside either.



I think it was the second night up there that I started dropping theCirrus in my ruckas my "last" layer. And it did make a big difference in the grand scheme of things. I was comfortable with that last layer when I hadn't been previous.Less than a pound and worth every penny. I would have used it a lot more this summer and fall if my plans had worked out. My only complaint was this particular one was in black. Hard to get good pictures with a black jacket:) More so if you only use it climbing at night or on an uncomfortable bivy. When and where the jacket did get usedis high praise though for a garment designed just for those exact kind of instances.



Here is why it is so good:



It has a great hood, that does fit over a helmet, and a stand up collar in addition to that hood. The fitis relaxed so I could easily layer under it. Slick as well so nothing to hang up when layered. And it all stuffs into one of the side pockets easily for packing. As good as it gets for materials and insulation when a lot of the 60g jackets have gone to Primaloft Eco, Brooks didn't dummie down this jacket.



•Insulation: Primaloft One®, 60g/m2

•Shell Fabric: 15 denier Pertex™

14.7 oz on my scale for a XL







No joke, layersix is a Brooks-Range Cirro.The Midi upper station Loo, 2am, Feb .60g of Primaloft One and 2 layers of Pertex areenough to make a stark difference when it is cold.

Jacob Wise - Nashville Cemetery

Jacob Wise, one of my civil war ancestors, is buried in Section "J" at the National Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee. I had planned on posting these pictures with my previous post on him and his family, but sometimes life gets in the way of good intentions!

The first two photos were taken in the summer of 1928 and are from my grandmother's files. Shown in the photo on the left are Grace Zinsmeister, Maude Wise Brubaker Yontz, Rose Wise Zinsmeister, and (a very faded) Hazlette Wise Burns. Rose, the youngest daughter of Jacob, whom he never saw, was born two weeks after he was drafted in October 1864. Grace, Maude and Hazlette are Jacob's granddaughters.

The photo on the left, below, is one that I took several years ago. On the right is the gravemarker that was put up at the time of the death of his wife in 1901. The stone is in Hively's Corner, now St. Matthew's Church, cemetery in Thorncreek Township, Whitley County, Indiana. The date of Jacob's death on the stone in not correct. The widow's pension records show that he died on May 17, 1865 not on May 7th.

A Look at Kinn: the US-Made Midtail

Before setting off abroad earlier this summer, I had a chance to glimpse the much talked about Kinn - a new midtail utility bike manufactured in Portland, Oregon. Today being the 4th of July, it seemed like a good time to share my initial impressions of this US-made machine.




Relatively new to the scene, "midtail" bikes are characterised by an extended rear end that is longer than that of a conventional city bike but shorter than that of a full-on longtail cargo bike. In , Yuba released the Boda Boda midtail (featured here) andKona introduced its MinUte midtail. At around the same time, following two years of prototyping, Kinn unveiled the Cascade Flyer.






Kinn describes its mission as to be "big enough for family and small enough for you."The company's name is a double reference: to kin, as in family, and to kinetic, as in motion. Designed by founder Alistair Williamson, the frames are manufactured in small batches (around 100 per year) by the Zen Bike Fab. The racks are fabricated at ADX. And the wheels are handbuilt at Sugar Wheelworks. All of these are Portland, OR establishments, so the company keeps it very local indeed. An interesting article on the development and prototyping of Kinn Bikes is worth having a look at here.






The Kinn's frame and fork are welded chromoly steel, designed around 700C wheels and up to 50mm tires with fenders. The geometry is characterised by 72° head and set tube angles, a low bottom bracket and a high trail front end. The frameset is available in the "robin's egg blue" colour shown and two sizes: The Small/Medium fits riders 5'3" - 5'9" and the Medium/Large fits riders 5'8" - 6'2". The standard component build includes Avid disc brakes, a choice of a 9-speed derailleur (Shimano Alivio) or 8-speed internal hub (Shimano Alfine) gearing, fenders, chainguard, city pedals, kickstand, and Velo Orange Milano handlebars with cork grips. Complete bikes are estimated to weigh 34lbs-38lbs, depending on size and build. Prices start at $1,950 for complete bike with derailleur gearing, and $2,200 with internally geared hub. Detailed specifications can be found here.






The integrated rear "multi rack" is rated for 130lb carrying capacity. The pannier rails are designed to fit two panniers on each side (or one on each side if the rack is fitted with a child seat). The rack features a long bamboo deck (21” x 5.5”), hidden lockable toolbox, a platform that integrates with the Yepp child seat mount, built in footpeg mounts. The child seat and little passenger bars (shown) are available as extra accessories.






The bamboo platform is modular: The front part swivels out of the way for the child seat mount. The rear part opens to access the lock box.






I have only done an introductory test ride on the Kinn so far: Around 4 miles, with a single pannier in the rear. Now, I do realise that Kinn's literature focuses largely on child transport. In fact, when Kinn offered me a test ride, I wondered whether I was the right person for the task. I do not have kids and do not plan to cycle with other people's children on board for the sake of a review. They still wanted me to try the Kinn and see what I think of it as personal transport - so those will be the parameters of my impressions. The bike is also available for other locals to try with their own kids on board (at Bicycle Belle in Cambridge/Somerville, MA), and I will later collect their impressions.






As far as my own first impressions: What I liked most was how the Kinn rides. It is distinctly un-cruiserish and un-cargobikish; a fast, responsive, "sporty" bike. Part of that is the positioning: The handlebars are intentionally set lower than those on bikes like the Xtracycle and Yuba, the stem is long, and the front end geometry is pretty tight (notice the way the downtube curves around the front wheel). I like the low bottom bracket and the quick, yet stable feel of the steering. The Kinn is not meant to be a relaxed city bike, but something a bit more aggressive. The ride quality over bad roads was great as well, even with the 35mm tires the demo bike was fitted with. It was simply a fun bike to ride that did not feel like a cargo bike.






For a transportation bicycle, the Kinn's frame is a little tight for my taste. The sloped top tube is too high for me to step over (it is higher than the Xtracycle Radish, or a typical mixte frame), and my toe rubbed the fender a couple of times on slow tight turns. I would love it if the bike's ride characteristics could be retained while providing a little more toe clearance in the front and a lower standover height. An obvious solution would be to go with a smaller wheel size - though I understand that they went with 700C intentionally, aiming for a roadbike type feel.






As far as cargo capacity, the Kinn is visibly shorter in the rear than a typical longtail (shown here next to the Xtracycle Radish). It does not come with any sort of dedicated carry system: You strap things directly to the rack as you would with a regular bike. The rear rack is an intricate design, with lots of rails and support stays onto which cargo could theoretically be strapped. One thing I wonder, is how two full-sized panniers can fit on each side of the rack, as claimed, since the one I used took up most of the dedicated pannier railing. I will experiment with this some more.




Walking and parking the Kinn in the city felt entirely like dealing with a regular sized bike. When an extra degree of compactness is desired, the front wheel can be turned all the way around to fold into the frame (like so), making it compatible with bus and car racks.






The Kinn Cascade Flyer is an intriguing specimen that I look forward to examining further once I am back stateside. The compact design that still offers more carry capacity than a typical transport bike is of obvious benefit to city dwellers who do not want to lock up a cargo bike outside. The invertable front wheel is a useful feature for those who take their bikes on city buses. And for parents who like a sporty ride, the Kinn's rack is rated to carry a kid up to age 12.




Finally, it is impressive that Kinn has managed to produce this bicycle locally at the current price point. They are soon planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign for Kin 1.1 (the next batch will have a few minor modifications) to help fund the continued manufacturing of these bike in the US - I will keep you posted.




If you are in the Boston area, this bicycle (including child seat) is available to test ride at my neighbourhood's new bike shop, Bicycle Belle. I will post a detailed review in August.

Pink Elephant Balloon

Huntingtoin's Phantom Wall?

May 3, .



"I just climbed the southwest face of Mount Huntington in the Alaska Range with Clint Helander. Call it what you want: the third ascent of the Phantom Wall, a new variation, or a new bail, whatever--it was incredible!



Here's the skinny on our climb of the Southwest Face of Huntington. We repeated the crux pitches of the Phantom, but missed the summit due to very bad weather. So call it whatever--I'm calling it a fun adventure up an incredibly beautiful mountain.



Clint and I left our camp on the Tokositna Glacier at 4:30AM on May 2 under perfect weather and snow conditions. The "Death Valley" used by Jay Smith and Paul Teare looked, well, deadly and we agreed to not submit ourselves to this needless objective danger. So, the plan was to gain the technical climbing on the southwest face (the crux pitches of the Phantom Wall) via a snowfield that cuts across the face from the Upper Park on the Harvard Route. We simuled up the Harvard, arriving

below the Spiral in about four hours. A short downclimb and traverse led to the middle part of the face. From here, we climbed about six pitches of technical terrain (75 degrees, M6R, A2) along the right edge of a steep diamond shaped wall to gain the lower angle terrain above. We had some beta from Jared Vilhauer that was crucial to moving quickly over this ground. The weather started to break down (the first time the forecast was right in a week!) as we simuled up the middle of the face above. We soon lost visibility as winds picked up to 30mph and snow started to fall. We couldn't see the summit, so we kept going straight up. This landed us in the middle of the summit ridge, where we conceded to the weather and turned tail, deciding that our fingers were worth more than any summit. The descent down the West Face Couloir (Nettle-Quirk) was awash with spindrift, often reducing our visibility to less than a few feet in the darkness, but it went surprisingly quickly at right around five hours. For a final bit of excitement, I poked into the bergschrund and another crevasse in the course of ten minutes, eventually stumbling back into our camp at 3AM on May 3rd for a 22.5 hour roundtrip."



Kurt Hicks



Kurt's guiding web site:

http://kurthicks.com/












Mark Westman's photo from the facelast year





Congrads gentlemen and well done!