Monkey cigars

Several Catalpas grow here. They're a native tree, but these were planted by previous owners, to attract the catalpa worms that are such good fish bait.

One of its country names is Monkey Cigar Tree. Ever since I learned that, the long pods always bring to mind those old smoking monkey toys.

Inside the pods are several seeds, all fringed on the ends.

Looks like twins. (They all do.)
I posted about Catalpas, aka Catabas or Catawbas, and their worms before. They grow naturally by streams, so they don't mind getting their feet wet - the trees in the flood photo last week (on the right) were catalpas.
I thought I'd read that repeated defoliation by the worms didn't harm the trees. Usually, not every tree is defoliated every year. But one that seemed the worms' favorite is now dead. Could just be coincidence though; I don't know how to perform tree autopsies.

The spring we first moved here, I found a hornworm on the porch, and mistook it for a catalpa worm. Oh, so gently did I carry him over to a branch, thinking I was helping him find his true home. I want to slap my head now, remembering that piece of idiocy! It's ok though — confusion to our enemies, and all that.
I wondered if people actually ever lit up the pods, which don't seem very smokable to me. No firm evidence, but I thought it was hilarious that the search turned up an article by my blog friend Ron as the top item. Small world!

Travels in a Donkey Trap

I'm reading the sweetest little book called Travels in a Donkey Trap by Daisy Baker. At seventy-something years of age, she gets a donkey and cart to travel down to the sea and the nearby village. She lived in England at the early part of the twentieth century.
She would usually find herself daydreaming as 'Darkie' clopped along the path. Here's a small nugget where she talks about one of their outings: "When I am thinking over all this in the donkey cart along a quiet lane I may suddenly "wake up" and find that Darkie has stopped. Not to eat, not even to rest, for there is no reason to do so when we are not on a hill."
"Like me she seems to be just dreaming, her tall ears at slightly different angles, her large eyes looking at nothing, her body in repose between the shafts. A daydreaming donkey, and in the middle of a journey, too. But who am I to chide her? There are indeed a pair of us, drowsing in warm air, motionless, enclosed for the time being within ourselves, looking, no doubt, like last-century travellers carved on the road."
"I flick the reins with a gentle word for her, and as we move on again, I think what a pity it is that I cannot impart my thoughts to her, nor she to me. For I would love to know what she dreams about."
Isn't that sweet? I'd love to ride with her in the donkey cart down an English country lane with hedgerows on either side. I bet there'd be a hedgehog or two to see!
Note: I know this photo isn't a donkey, but it's the closest thing I could find. I don't know any donkeys!

First Backcountry Ski

On Sunday, Dan and I headed down to Mount Rainier with the goal of skiing the Pinnacle/Castle saddle area. I took a look at the initial slope and didn't like the thought of coming down it. So we drove up to Paradise and started skinning up to the Muir Snowfield. The snow was pretty scoured above Panorama Point, so we stopped there to go downhill. The snow was thick sticky mush. We decided to not do laps and to hit the Copper Creek for some burgers and shakes. At least the weather was nice.
Dan taking a rest from skinning. Note all the tracks.
The Tatoosh and Adams.
Dan boarding in the crud.
Me, pretending to ski. (photo by Dan Engel)

Pancake Bay Dreamscape

This was taken shortly after sunset today, just after the vibrant colors of sunset began to fade. This sunset easily ranks (in my book) as the most spectacular sunset so far this winter. The colors and clouds were incredible, a wonder to behold. As a photographer I am always desiring clouds like those in this image, that fan out from where the sun dipped below the horizon. Clouds like this don't seem to happen very often, but when they do it's a magical sight.

Spring has Sprung - I Think...

Woke up this morning for near record cold over night. Not surprised since it was Full Moon. Frost on the windshield and 28 degrees as I headed to town for coffee and computer work. When the sun came up, the temperature started rising. About 40 when I drove home 9am.

Forecast was for high in the mid 60s, so I rested and kitted up for a bike ride. The winds was starting to pick up and the temperature was a 62 sunny degrees when I got to the Wabash Trace Trailhead. Was thinking of riding the Trace down South (with the wind) but I had not yet purchased my annual pass for the Trace.

Brought the hybrid for a pavement ride. Wanted to check out the GoPro camera, but had a problem. The mount was ending up aiming the camera side-wise. Left a piece at hope that changes the orientation.

Rode over to the Indian Creek Bridge and back. Had not been on the bike for almost 4 weeks, so the 9 mile ride was enough. Winds was blowing 12-15 from the South, so enjoyed the ride with the wind back to the car. At the car, there was a couple just loading their bikes. I inquired on where they rode and the trail condition. Seems that the trail surface is pretty solid except for mud in the tunnel.

Finally hit the 100 mile mark for the year. Way too late start of the riding season!

While in town, ran some errands. Late lunch at Freddie's. Sam's Club, Best Buy (verify I had parts needed for mounting my GoPro), and Xtreme Wheels.By the time I was driving home (had to stop in Treynir at Pickle Barrel for bags of popcorn) the thermometer in the car was ready 67!

Weather forecast is for bike riding weather. Lows in the 40s and highs up to 70s and near 80. Sunday is Lake Manawa Clean-up Day. See if I will attend that or ride my bike. The walking the trails could be rough in my knee.

Driving my bike

"Mastering Mountain Bike Skills" talks about becoming one with your bike. Now I have not "mastered" mountain bike skills, but I can feel that I am beginning to "driving" my bike rather than being a passenger.
Let me say it this way -- I was feeling that a ride was my bike and the trail, me taking a ride. Now I am feeling more that it is me and the trail - the bike is just a conveyance. I hope this makes sense!
I feel that riding/driving is becoming easier - in that not taking so much concentration - more intuitive. Now I navigate the trail without looking at each and every root, stone, turn. I look up the trail and drive the bike.
As I am getting better at riding the trails, maybe I can concentrate learning how to negotiate logs, rocks, bridges, etc.
OK, enough philosophy.
The photo is on Fast Track - my favorite trail at Manawa. I like the way the vines hang over the trail -- looks what I would imagine as Fodor's Middle Earth forest.
Made a 23+ mile ride Wednesday. With being off the bike so much the last 2 weeks, I was starting to hurt at about 18 miles. Slowed down the pace and finished the ride as a recovery ride.
Thursday I was debating Taco Ride or TNR. Once I heard that Rusty wanted to ride at Swanson before he moves, I decided to do the THR and take some photos for the T.H.O.R. web site. Legs were a little sore/tired so only ride about 4 miles.
Friday Evening Xtreme Wheel ride - short ride as it was getting dark while finishing 1 lap.
Beautiful weather today. Had a great ride at Manawa. This ride caused me to talk about driving my bike.

Goodbye Fat Jeans. Hello Skinny!

This post isn't exactly about cycling, but cycling plays such an important role in the subject.

Two and one-half years ago I started commuting to work by bicycle to save money and to attempt to get into shape. I enjoyed bike commuting, but also began incorporating cycling into my daily life. I learned to ride my bike, not only to work, but for grocery shopping, errands, and for fun. I made many cycling friends and have since been on many long rides, as many as 120 miles in a day. I've since moved closer to town and in addition to cycling to work, I can easily walk to work, the grocery store, movies, bars, restaurants, etc. Basically, I've tried to simplify and orient my lifestyle around active transportation.

When I started cycling to work, I weighed about 213 pounds. I was able to get down to 188 within a year by cycling alone. Then this summer, I decided to shift fitness into high gear by joining Weight Watchers.

After five months, I am now down to 165 pounds. As an aside, I weighed 250 pounds about 10 years ago, and lost a lot of that by switching to a vegan diet.

Between cycling and sensible eating using the Weight Watcher system, I have lost almost 50 pounds.

If I count back to 2001, when I was at my heaviest, I have lost a total of 85 pounds, most of it lost by diet.

So now that I'm at a weight I like (perhaps even lighter than I was when I graduated high school), my plan now is to perform regular workouts to get into a better form and shape, both for cycling and general fitness. So far, my sessions with a personal trainer are proving to be both fun, and productive. I've lost another inch around my waist, and gained a little around my chest and arms.

If you've made it this far into my seemingly self-gratifying post, please note that this isn't about bragging. Simply, I want to pass along to anyone reading this that weight loss is, indeed, possible, and within reach. As a lifelong pudgy guy, I always thought the natural order of things was to get fatter and fatter as I aged. Between my diet and exercise, I'm finding that it's not only possible to lose and keep off weight, but once the proper mind frame and motivation is found, it's not as hard and I imagined.



Many pairs of fat jeans are going to Goodwill.I much prefer the new skinny ones.

Weight Watchers tool help me track my progress.

I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out to my brother, Jason, who, over the past year, has lost 118 pounds through cycling. He really put the fire under me and inspired me to get more serious with my weight loss plans. Thanks, bro.

Illston circular - Kings Norton, Little Stretton, Burton Overy, Carlton Curlieu

Led by me, with Gordon, Barry and Maureen, Cloudy at start, then v hot. Dry underfoot. Eight and three quarter miles.


Mostly the same as two recent walks done on Thursday 18 July, and Thursday 11 July, but this time anticlockwise, and with a short extra loop.

We take the right hand path after the small field in Illston, hugging the hedge, then through the wheat and behind Illston Grange, over the pasture, with a small stand of trees on our right and the house on our left. When we leave the field at the crossroads, we turn right and walk a short distance along the road before taking the byway to Kings Norton.



The views of the church from this path are magnificent, and Gaulby Church is visible as well. The byway goes in a straight line to the road, and then uphill to the church and the village.



At the road junction we ignore the road to the right and carry straight on. The footpath goes to the left past a farm, and through the farmyard. We follow the way marks over a couple of fields and across a bridge through the hedge to a road, where we turn left, and just after the junction to Little Stretton, we pick up the path at a farm gate, near some large agricultural buildings.



There are a fair number of butterflies on the wing, and around the thistles.

Hmm - just closed its wings!

Over a few more fields, and the odd stile, and we arrive at Little Stretton. As last Thursday, the church porch is a pleasantly cool place to sit for a while.



We follow the path, past the old Manor House and the pond, along the avenue of trees to the road. We turn right and find our path just after the junction towards Stoughton. We turn left and walk along the edge of a field of wheat. At the far end a quick read of the map sets us on the right route and we follow the path past The Cottage, across the road and over pastures towards Burton Overy. The pub appears to be closed today.



I offer two alternative routes - one of about 2 miles, one of 3. Barry says decisively, "Oh, I think the longer one!" Suits the rest of us, so we walk uphill from the village on the Carlton Curlieu road. When the road turns to the left we continue through a farmyard and fields directly to Carlton Curlieu - we can see the church on the hill ahead.



This village has a tempting bench so we take another rest - Maureen and I almost have a nap. But we must onwards. From the Illston Road theres a bridleway to the left, which swings right between two hedges as far as Carlton Curlieu Manor.

Gordon strides ahead

Here's Maureen, with Barry as lanterne rouge.

Ha! caught this one just before it closed its wings!

Across the road the path takes us below the Manor, beside the hedge, then uphill and through a large wheat field. We reach Illston before too long - quite pleased to get away from the heat.

Down The Rabbit Hole

Our house looks like Morgan's team tent.

Last night, after we got home from Santa Cruz, we were trying to get the kids to help unpack the car and bring all the stuff up the stairs to the house. But the 10 year old disappeared into the bathroom for 15 minutes and the other one followed me up and down the stairs empty handed while stating her reasons for not helping.
I'm on strike she said.
I want to be like a normal kid who goes to birthday parties and watches cartoons and plays in the yard and sleeps in and eats lunch at her friend's house or does nothing and blah, blah, blah.
I'm sick and tired of this cyclocross stuff getting in the way. It's never ending. I'm not helping you.
I'm not helping you because this is my way of protesting she kept saying.
And then she told me how at one point during the day she'd fallen asleep in one of the camp chairs under the team tent and woke up to see people wandering around her, dressed up as crazy things and how she couldn't remember where or who she was.


I was confused she said.
Maybe you had too much candy and soda today, I said.
Yeah, maybe so, she said.

My race was confusing. I'd only done a one lap pre-ride/warm-up. And it had been as princess Leia, in a giant polyester robe with go-go boots that weren't clipless. I slid around a lot.

So I was a bit too careful on all the technical stuff for the first lap and a half. And then on the back part of the route on the pavement, on the 3rd lap, my back wheel flatted. I initially tried to keep riding on it, but it was too hard and slippery and slow so I got off and shouldered the bike and ran and ran and ran.

And racers said hi as they were passing me by. And some crazy pirate in red hot pants yelled at me to get back on my bike.
People were cheering at me to run faster all along the route and finally I got to a place where I could see my mechanic off in the distance and I began yelling his name. And then everyone was yelling his name. I saw him spin around and around in circles, confused for a little while until he realized why everyone was chanting his name.

He ran over, we switched wheels and he gave me a kiss and I was off. And then I just raced myself silly and alone for 3 more laps in order to get my $30 worth.
After my race someone handed me a beer in a Peets coffee cup and told me to drink it. I drank it so fast that I got a little buz. And then I had another.

I played mechanic when Morgan rolled his tire during his first race. He swapped out a lap on his single speed and then I swapped out my front wheel to replace his rolled front and then we did a pretty smooth bike swap back to the geared lobster and off he went.

And then Jon flatted during his race, so we swapped my front wheel onto Jon's bike and off he went.

And then George flatted during his race, so we swapped my front wheel onto George's bike and off he went.

We were swappers.
I have no idea what happened during Morgan's second race. I was drinking more beer and dozing on the grass in the sun. Good thing the 10 year old is getting pretty good at handing out water to his dad.
I don't think anyone flatted during the costume race.

And now here I am back at work, out from the rabbit hole, trying to act all normal and stuff.

Culverts, Press, and Poetry

Isn't this cool? Check out these very, very, large metal culverts right next to the road at Kautz Creek. Now try to imagine the road going OVER these culverts (they're supposed to handle future Kautz floods). BTW, this photo partially explains why the official word on the road to Longmire states, "probably [open] in early May." If you are wondering, there are less specific dates for Paradise. Also, news about the park reopening is gaining attention from the New York Times; they discussed strategies to fix the mess (but the story hasn't changed).

Recently, the Seattle Times waxed eloquently about the exclusivity of sleeping in the National Park Inn (NPI) at Longmire this winter. According to the author, visitors with highly coveted reservations at the lodge will be staying at

"one of the most exclusive hotels in the world, the 25-room National Park Inn... this is the only place for a traveler to sleep and enjoy indoor plumbing in the park's largely unpeopled wilderness."

The article goes on to slightly glorify the privilege, but this is not quite as exclusive as the paper might have you believe. As it turns out, climbers have been on the mountain too, a subtle revelation that is slowly spreading across the Puget Sound area. It all started when a few local pilots noted larger teams on the Muir Snowfield and at Camp Muir while zooming by the peak! Then there were rumors of guided clients who made it to Ingraham Flats... (Seattle IS a small town you know). So the word is out: those who booked trips with a concessioned guide service for this spring will be shuttled into the park like the visitors to the NPI at Longmire.
Post climbing ranger "employment:" On the creative writing front, our very good friend and poet, Mimi Allin, was buzzed by the Seattle Times and KIRO Radio. Mimi (former Camp Schurman climbing ranger) has been implicated as the Poetess at Green Lake! Those who walk, run, skip and/or bike around Green Lake may have laid eyes upon her little desk labeled P O E T (look for the red umbrella when it's raining). The desk (and Mimi) can be found every Sunday (since last July) on the NW corner of the lake from 9 to 5. At this very desk, Mimi channels artistic discussion around creative poet vortices (or something like that). Unlicensed and unpermitted, the Poetess at Green Lake has a poem for you..Techncial Sidebar: Mimi walks 4 miles each way to her post. She has only left early once, due to a snowstorm. If you're in Seattle, achieve a creative boost to your life by visiting with Ms. Mimi Allin.

Carlsbad Caverns

Well, my 6 week journey through the West is almost over... today was the last destination in my plans before heading home. That destination was Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico. After an awesome week spent in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and White Sands National Monument with my friend Roger, we each went our separate ways... Roger headed for home and I headed for Carlsbad.

To be honest, Carlsbad was a spur of the moment decision for me. Since I still had some flexibility before heading home and Carlsbad was not that far away, I decided to head down and check it out. Boy, am I glad that I did! Hiking through Carlsbad Caverns was REALLY cool! I was a little disappointed when I arrived at the park, as the HUGE parking lot was almost filled to capacity. But, I drove all that way to see the cavern so I wasn't going to let the crowd deter me. I arrived at the park in the early afternoon and as it turns out its a good thing I didn't arrive any later than I did. While inquiring about the cave at the information desk the ranger told me they were closing the natural entrance in 5 minutes. So, I had to hustle to get to the entrance in time! I was part of the last group allowed to enter the cave and after our brief 3-minute orientation talk we were sent on our way.

The first section of the hike is VERY steep... the trail switchbacks down through the entrance of the cavern and from the top to the bottom there is an 850 foot elevation loss. "Weak knees are common" the ranger had told us, and he wasn't kidding! By the time I was halfway down my knees were already getting tired. After the first dozen or so switchbacks you are already deep enough down into the cavern that there is very little natural light, and you start to see the first of the artificial light sources that park service staff have installed along the trail. The trail, by the way, is superb. Park service staff have really done an incredible job of constructing the trail through this most forbidding of environments. The trail surface is very smooth and there are nice, sturdy railings lining both sides of the path.

After passing the first few artificial light sources a sign informed visitors that beyond this point, without artificial light, it would be totally dark in the cave and you'd be unable to see. The trail then continued down, down and further down. Switchback after switchback passed, and I soon began to question whether or not the 850 foot elevation number was accurate. It felt like I had descended 1,000 feet or more. Soon, though, the trail leveled out and I was at the "bottom". The hiking became much easier... with some gentle "rolling" terrain and a few short sets of stairs here and there.

Not long after reaching the bottom, the natural formations along the trail began to get a lot more interesting. During the descent into the cavern, the trail passed through some pretty cool and sometimes quite large "rooms", but the walls and ceilings were rather smooth and devoid of any interesting geologic formations. That all changed the closer I got to the bottom, however. Now there were stalagmites and stalactites interspersed along the trail. Walking along this path nearly 1,000 feet below the surface, I felt like I was in my own version of "Journey to the Center of the Earth"!

After walking for about a mile and a half, I arrived in the "Big Room", which is the showcase of Carlsbad Caverns. The "Big Room" is loaded with out-of-this-world geologic formations, and the trail does a large loop throughout the Big Room, passing within a few feet of many of these formations.

Above: Look closely at this image and you can see some people standing near the lower right corner of the image... this gives you an idea as to how big the cavern is!
The "Big Room" is the 3rd largest cave chamber in the Americas, and the 7th largest in the world. It is a natural limestone chamber which is almost 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 350 feet high at the highest point. When you are in one of these larger areas of the room and you see the tiny silhouettes of other hikers in the distance, you really get a sense of how immense this cavern is.

After walking the loop around the Big Room and taking several pictures, it was time to head to the surface. Thankfully, there is an elevator that provides quick and convenient access back to the surface. After all the hiking I did around White Sands, and the hike down into and throughout the cavern, I'm not sure I could have climbed 850 feet back to the surface :-) Hiking Carlsbad Caverns was an awesome experience, one that I would highly recommend!

And so comes the end of my journey throughout the West. This is my last entry from the trip... all I have left to do is make the drive from southern New Mexico back to northeast Minnesota. My plan is to stay in Roswell, New Mexico tonight then tomorrow hit the road for home. I don't have any photo stops planned along the route home, so my next blog entry will probably be from the shores of Lake Superior once again. If you've been following along on my journey these past 6 weeks, I hope you've enjoyed the journey (and the images!) and I thank you for following along. Bye for now!
-Travis