The View from Bishop Pass

The View from Bishop Pass, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Back in July, we decided to head down to the Eastern Sierras for some hiking. Our first time in the area was rewarding and spectacular. I highly recommend visiting.

On day 2 of our trip, we drove up to South Lake (elevation 9768') to start a hike. After trekking 6 miles one way, we finally reached our destination: Bishop Pass. At 11,972 feet above sea level, it was the highest I've ever been on land. The view from the pass was incredible - the expansive lakes we'd been hiking along earlier looked like puddles you could splash in.

Then it was only 6 miles back on tired-out legs...

Harringworth circular, via Seaton, Morcott and Barrowden.

Led by Mel, with Norma, Brenda, Kate, Shirley, Maureen, Marion, Chris, Barry, Gordon, Terry, Jill and me. Weather fine and warm. Looked as though it would rain as we reached the cars. 8.5 miles approx. 488 ft of climbing.




Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we set off from the middle of Harringworth - the steps of the cross make a comfortable seat for girding ones feet. Our first choice of route is rapidly aborted since nettles and shorts make a poor combination.

We take the second path on the Gretton Road out of Harringworth, turning right across the Welland valley, heading northwest over fields, with the viaduct to our right. We cross the river the river - higher than it has been after recent rain. We make for the big farmhouse, take the path round this and to the road. Over the roadwe go up the steps to the dismantled railwayand head uphill to Seaton.



Here we turn right and walk to the crossroads, heading east. We take the road ahead, which follows the ridge, and gives great views over the valley and viaduct.






Just after the road starts to go downhill, and at a right hand bend we take the path to the left, - marked Rutland Round. It takes us downhill and under the dismantled railway.

The merry throng - about to turn on to the path

under the old railway

Coming up towards the A47

After a few more fields we climb up to the A47 and cross over before taking a footpath which crosses a field diagonally (northeast). When we reach Morcott High Street we turn right. We cross the Stamford Road near the White Horse, and head southeast towards Barrowden.





Beware though. in the wooded section there be wasps, and two were stung. I think they had the bad luck to be at the back after the rest of us had disturbed the insects.

We have to cross the A47 again here, and it's an awkward spot. Once over we walk along the road due east into Barrowden.



This plaque catches our eyes. Mr Google helps answer our questions with info from Maurice Kellner's Genuki page about Barrowden:

In 1829, a Thomas Cook met Marianne Mason, a farmer's daughter living at West Farm, Barrowden. He was an itinerant Baptist missionary, but due to a lack of funds, he became a wood turner and cabinet-maker. They married in 1833 and moved to Market Harborough. On 5th July 1841, they hired a special train to take some Leicester Temperance supporters to a rally at Loughborough. This was the foundation of the Thomas Cook travel agency.

The community shop makes an excellent coffee stop, with outdoor tables.

First aid for wasp stings

Time to relax

From here it's a gentle downhill walk, once we've retraced our path back out of Barrowden. At the junction we take the (left-hand) Seaton road not the one to Morcott, and at the next farm road turn left and then right along the Jurassic Way - over a stile and across fields - all pretty dry with clear paths. We go diagonally over the fields, then follow the hedge south west. We reach a track and cross over so that the hedge is now on our right. After another four fields or so we meet another track and turn left, downhill to the Welland and Turtle Bridge.

What the stylish walker is wearing this year

and more stylish walkers

leaving Rutland for Northamptonshire




We turn right alongside the river and follow its course for a while

The other side of the viaduct

We cross the fields belonging to the riding school, and reach the road into Harringworth. A change of footwear, and into the recently re-opened White Swan for a very good sandwich lunch. A few drops of rain threaten, but we've had a fine dry walk.

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Today was the last day of the balloon fiesta this year. I didn't get to see any balloons up close except for the one in the following post. These photos were taken about 8am.























































Darth Vader in the center















Wells Fargo Stagecoach

















And they were gone.

Blewett Pass ..

Technically it is Swauk Pass. The old highway went over Blewett, and the name was kept when they rerouted over Swauk Pass. I headed out with the intention of seeing if there was any climbable ice in the area, but as best I could tell there wasn't any. It appears to me that the terrain is not steep enough, but there could be other issues as well.

I took the skinny skis out on the ungroomed forest service road 800. I have always stayed away from the Blewett Pass area because it is an area where snowmobiles coexist with skiers. This is usually not that pleasant, but I wanted to give it a try. After a few hundred feet into the woods, I could almost no longer hear them and I had stopped coughing on the two stroke fumes. Then it was a peaceful ski in. If I stopped, all I could hear was the snow hitting my body.

Peaceful skiing up the road

There are a few turns in getting to the correct road on the ridge, but it was fairly easy navigating. A group of three women started off long before me, so I had a decent track to follow, although with how heavy it was snowing, it wasn't obvious to me if they had been there the day before or not. (It wasn't until I caught them at my turnaround point that I could confirm they were there the same day.) I think they were following a track put in earlier in the week. Unfortunately I brought my track poles which were way too long to use efficiently when my skis were 4-8" in a trench. It really turned out to work my shoulders due to that fact. For future reference, I'll bring shorter poles in this type of scenario.

Snowing hard

This route would be fairly scenic if it wasn't snowing so much. But I did get some nice glimpses at the surrounding area. There isn't a whole lot of hills, and it made for a nice workout plugging along the road. Some of the downhills I could coast a bit, but mostly I had to keep kicking or double poling on the downhills as the snow was offering a little too much resistance to just coast every hill. At about the three mile mark or so I stopped to have a bite to eat and turned around. I wanted to get home to see Jennifer off to work, and hopefully eat dinner with her.

By the time I got back to the car it was covered in two inches of fresh snow. It was coming down fast enough that I had to scrape the windows three times before I eventually left the Sno Park. Then it was a slow ride down from the pass and out to I90. There were a few cars in the ditch on 97. From I90 things didn't get much better and I maintained a ~35mph pace from Cle Elum to Snoqualmie Pass. The area between Cabin Creek and Hyak was the worst. A plow hadn't been by in a while and there were stiff peaks of snow between the wheel ruts that made driving difficult. Heading up the hill from Hyak plows had recently cleaned the road, so it was much easier. Then everyone got stuck behind the plows on the downhill side and there were a few cars in the ditch near the big right hand turn before the Denny Creek exit. Soon after that we were low enough for the change over to rain and the speed picked up to near the limit. The forecast hard rain was being delivered, and I had to turn the wipers on high.

Being from the Northeast US, I had never associated insects with snow. Having lived in Seattle for a while now, I have learned to see spiders and insects on melting snow in the Spring and Summer. But now twice this Autumn I have seen this one type of insect on the snow. A quick search on the internet makes me believe it is a snow fly or winter crane fly. I have seen a bunch of these walking around today, and a few weeks ago with Steve at Hyak.

Snow fly?

The Geldings

Tucker and Caesar are Desi's geldings. Tucker is a big boy. The tallest and heaviest of the horses.

Small Wheel Shoppers: Wren and Bobbin

In my recent post about choosing a transportation bicycle one topic discussed in the comments was the available options for those who live in walkup apartments yet want a fully equipped upright step-through transportation bicycle. The thing about transportation bikes is that they tend to be on the large and heavy side, thus inconvenient for hauling up and down several flights of stairs on a daily basis - especially for those without a lot of upper body strength. The solution some might consider is a small wheeled bike. Not necessarily a folding bike, but what in England was at one time called a "shopper" - a bicycle with small wheels and a sturdy frame designed to withstand weight, equipped with fenders, racks and baskets. The Raleigh Twenty was probably the most popular of these and now there are two new bikes from England that channel its features. I rode them briefly at Adeline Adelinewhen I visited New York.






One of these is theWren bicycle shown here. Stiff cromoly frame, 20" wheels with wide city tires, 3-speed hub, swept back handlebars, adjustable saddle height, fenders and front and rear racks with optional enormous wicker basket.






The front rack is attached to the frame at three separate points. It does not move when the wheel moves and it sits low to the ground, which stabilises the weight and does not noticeably impact handling.





With the combination of front and rear rack, this bicycle can carry as much weight as a full sized transportation bike, and the frame is built to withstand that. But the bike itself is not heavy when compared to a full sized upright step-through, and being small it is quite maneuverable through tight spaces. Carrying it up and down the stairs is no problem. The low standover provides the same benefits as a full sized step-through frame. And the short horizontal bar above the bottom bracket functions as a convenient handle for picking up the bike.






While I was not able to get outdoor shots of the Bobbin Shopper, I did ride it briefly. The frame bears a strong resemblance the original Raleigh Twenty, but is lighter with tubing that is not as heavy-duty. Like the Wren, the Bobbin Shopper is equipped with 20" wheels, a 3-speed hub, fenders, a rear rack and an optional front basket. Unlike the Wren, the front brake is a caliper rather than a hub brake, there is a plastic saddle in place of the Brooks, and the handlebars are not swept back. The unicrown fork differs from the lugged crown fork on the Wren.






The Bobbin Shopper's frame is not designed to carry quite as much weight as the Wren and the craftsmanship is not on the same level, but these things are reflected very fairly in the price difference: The Wren retails for $1,150, whereas the Bobbin Shopper is priced at $550.






At these different price points, the basic idea behind the bikes is the same: small wheels,simple frame design, low stand-over, easy to carry,rack in the rear, optional basket in the front, hub gears. Both bicycles are made in Taiwan. And both bicycles weigh around 30lb, depending on how you set them up. One thing I wish is that each manufacturer offered an optional dynamo lighting package and it's a pity they do not.






Having ridden each bicycle briefly, my impressions are not extensive, but I'll share them such as they are: The Wren is undoubtedly a smoother, more luxurious ride. It is simply a higher quality build. But it also felt a little peculiar in both fit and handling and took some getting used to. The frame is very long and I felt quite stretched out and leaned over even with the upright handlebars. The Wren's handling seems optimised for a front load and with the basket empty it took me a bit to get used to it. The Bobbin's fit is more standard and the handling was more intuitive for me on first try. I do not feel that the small wheels are a limitation on either bicycle for city riding. And both bikes felt delightfully maneuverable. For those choosing between the two bikes, I would say it comes down to price point and fit preferences.




Not being folding bikes obviously means that neither bicycle can be made more compact than it already is, save for lowering the saddle. But one advantage of the non-folder is that the bike can be locked up outdoors in the city just as easily as full-sized bikes, whereas folding bicycles can be tricky to leave outside securely. I am a fan of this breed of bicycles and am glad more of them are emerging. What are your thoughts regarding non-folding small wheeled "shoppers"?

Arches National Park :: Sharing a Site

After completing the Devil's Garden Trail and eating lunch, I headed back over to the campground. There was a site available and because there was space for two vehicles, I agreed to share the site with the older gentleman who had arrived that morning at the same time that I had. He seemed like a nice guy. It's not uncommon to share sites with people you don't know. I've done it several times before. However, there have been a few times that I have declined to share my site, usually because I just don't feel “comfortable” with that particular person.

Anyway, about half an hour later, the gentleman arrived at our site. His name was Hunter. He was 82 years old, from California, traveling by himself, hiking and getting around like he was 30 years younger! An amazing man. And very nice. He set up his tent over a ridge toward the rear of the site so he would have a good view of the sunrise the next morning. We sat at the picnic table and talked. We sat in silence and read our respective books. We talked when we had something to share. It was rather nice.

There was a trail off the south side of the campground and about 5:30 I decided to see where it went.

The La Sal Mountains in the distance.

They called this one Broken Arch because there is a crack running down the middle, just to the left and above where the man is standing.

This huge rock formation reminded me of the statues of lions guarding the gates, but these seem to have lost their heads! The trail was fun. Easy in some places and not quite so easy in others, with a bit of scrambling over rocks and squeezing through several tight spots.

These arches were on a short offshoot from the main trail. This was as close as I got, that trail went no further. It would have been interesting, I think, to walk through and in them.

It is difficult to imagine the scale and size of these formations even when there are people included in the pictures. They are huge and the variety of shapes and sizes and colors are amazing and fascinating. It is a weird and wonderful place.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mom and Me - Summer of '49
If you'd like, please revisit my post from last year on Mothers and Grandmothers.

Welford - Canal - Hemplow Hills - Welford

Led by Barry, with Maureen, Gordon and me. Fine - dry underfoot. Just over 6 miles.



Covered some of yesterday's route as well.






We parked in Welford opposite this cottage. We took a path to the west north west and walked along a path in a field behind houses. This soon turned south west towards Hall Lane, which we crossed and turned right, along a path which diverged from the lane, slightly more to the west.

The path crossed several fields before reaching the Grand Union Canal - a quiet stretch here. At first the canal was on our right, thenwe crossed to take the towpath with the canal on our left as we headed more or less south-west.








We followed the canal round a fairly large loop for a good two and half miles as far as Bridge 31.

The Old Union Canals Societyplants living milestones along the Leicester Line of the Grand Union. You know the ones, the trees with black painted steel plaques next to them. Thank you to jakepithf and his blog

The path goes uphill through a field of growing crops, then into the woods of Hemplow Hills.

A snack-stop with a great view - Wood Cottage in the background.

Another 'permissive path'

Through the woods, - after the steep climb!

The tower-adorned gatehouses of West Hill Farm.

From Hemplow Hills we walk past West Hill Farm, and along Hemplow Drive. At the crossroads, straight on into West End and back to Welford.




We saw terns diving into the canal, a heron, and a hare in the field going up to Hemplow Hills.