Sad news. By way of homage to the great scientist, here is a very good Lorentz applet, demonstrating chaotic behavior (sensitivity to the initial conditions).
But the butterfly lives on.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Crepuscular Fox.
Yesterday morning waking up early really paid up :-). At 6-20am I saw a fox strolling onto a lawn of own apartment complex. It stopped to eat something crunchy (I could here it from my balcony). Fortunately, I had my camera handy:
Sorry for the poor quality, I took this photos with full zoom (and it was during twilight).
P.S. Crepuscular - becoming active at twilight or before sunrise.
Sorry for the poor quality, I took this photos with full zoom (and it was during twilight).P.S. Crepuscular - becoming active at twilight or before sunrise.
Jug Dome.
Another day sport climbing, this time at the Jug Dome. This place hosts several long sport climbs of good grades (5.7-5.11). People on mountainproject point to longish approach, but it takes only ~15 minutes. Pretty steep, though. First we did Law School in one pitch, which gave a great opportunity for some photos at the top. Here is a hero-shot of Shamil' at the beginning of the rappel. I love pine trees and snow on the background:
Such an alpine photo! And to give you a feel for the length of the route here is a view from the top:
and from the bottom:
In that photo I'm rappelling a line of Dick Van Dike, which we climbed next. Then we decided to climb another route. Somehow instead of doing the Black Tube, a 10b route which I really wanted to do, I got myself on Backpaddle, a 5.11a climb. Fortunately, the bolts were really tightly spaced in the crux section, so after much fighting and resting I got to the top. Shamil' did a great job catching me, since the route took some figuring out. It would be interesting to come back sometime and try to redpoint it. Moreover, we got to climb the Black Tube :-)!
Such an alpine photo! And to give you a feel for the length of the route here is a view from the top:
and from the bottom:
In that photo I'm rappelling a line of Dick Van Dike, which we climbed next. Then we decided to climb another route. Somehow instead of doing the Black Tube, a 10b route which I really wanted to do, I got myself on Backpaddle, a 5.11a climb. Fortunately, the bolts were really tightly spaced in the crux section, so after much fighting and resting I got to the top. Shamil' did a great job catching me, since the route took some figuring out. It would be interesting to come back sometime and try to redpoint it. Moreover, we got to climb the Black Tube :-)!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Climbing at the Palace, and the Route with a View.
This Saturday (05-Apr-2008), thanks to good weather, we (Morgan, Shamil', and I), were able to open the sport climbing season. Here is Shamil' on Rappunzel, Rappunzel (10a):
and Morgan on Let down your Hair (10b):
Then we jumped on the Route with a View (10b/c). Despite a considerable lure of shouting "take", I led it cleanly, which felt pretty awesome. The route is a real classic, pretty sustained, and more overhanging than it looks from the bottom. Upon making it to the anchors we decided to have a lunch at the top, so I brought guys up:
Here is another shot from a different angle:
Morgan did a great job of taking these photos, and then climbing with a camera and sandwiches. We spend quite a while at the top, chatting and enjoying the view. Here is a group photo:
and a view:
A great day in a great company!
and Morgan on Let down your Hair (10b):
Then we jumped on the Route with a View (10b/c). Despite a considerable lure of shouting "take", I led it cleanly, which felt pretty awesome. The route is a real classic, pretty sustained, and more overhanging than it looks from the bottom. Upon making it to the anchors we decided to have a lunch at the top, so I brought guys up:
Here is another shot from a different angle:
Morgan did a great job of taking these photos, and then climbing with a camera and sandwiches. We spend quite a while at the top, chatting and enjoying the view. Here is a group photo:
and a view:
A great day in a great company!
Friday, April 4, 2008
High conquest.
After reading a fourth part of Alpinist's Inspirations, I got the "High conquest" by J.R. Ullman from the library. The books doesn't disappoint. Here is an excerpt from chapter 2, about the beginning of mountaineering in Europe:
But, in its essence, it has been a struggle not of man against man, nor even of man against the obstacles of the physical world, but of man against his own ignorance and fear.It's an excellent book, with the right kind of spirit!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Opening the season (Chasm Junction hike).
As an opening hike for this season we (Shamil' and me) decided to go for Chasm Junction (elevation 9400 feet), having in mind Meeker as an ultimate goal if conditions allow. We left Longs Peak trailhead at 6-40 (03-29-2008), accompanied by continuous light snow. The trail was well-packed, and we were making good progress, coming to Goblins Forest (~10140 feet) at 7-25. At 7-56 we had a short break at the lightning hazard sing (~10594 feet) and moved above the treeline. The wind was getting stronger, with some pretty good gusts and blowing snow. Occasional postholing, scrambling and head wind slowed us down considerably, but as we got higher the snow was mostly blown off, which made our job much easier.
Blowing snow really made for a very fun hike. It definitely gave some extra appreciation of the place we were in:
At 9-36 we got to the Chasm Junction (~11480 feet) and immediately went further along the Chasm Lake trail to hide from the wind. Quickly we started sinking below knee in unconsolidated snow, and with some major effort reached a hiding place by a standing rock. Here we ate and "relaxed" a bit, although wind made it pretty challenging. Half of my face was frozen from the wind, so it felt I just got numbed up by a dentist. Wind was forcing us to keep moving, so after a brief rest and a couple photos we headed down.
Longs and Meeker were completely obscured by clouds and snow:
At 10-03 we headed back. Soon the wind started to calm down, and by the time we reached the treeline the weather was very good again. At 12-00 we came back to the trailhead after a great day out. It was a good way to start the season - nothing strenuous, but very fun. Thanks to the weather we got some pretty stern views.
Blowing snow really made for a very fun hike. It definitely gave some extra appreciation of the place we were in:
At 9-36 we got to the Chasm Junction (~11480 feet) and immediately went further along the Chasm Lake trail to hide from the wind. Quickly we started sinking below knee in unconsolidated snow, and with some major effort reached a hiding place by a standing rock. Here we ate and "relaxed" a bit, although wind made it pretty challenging. Half of my face was frozen from the wind, so it felt I just got numbed up by a dentist. Wind was forcing us to keep moving, so after a brief rest and a couple photos we headed down.
Longs and Meeker were completely obscured by clouds and snow:
At 10-03 we headed back. Soon the wind started to calm down, and by the time we reached the treeline the weather was very good again. At 12-00 we came back to the trailhead after a great day out. It was a good way to start the season - nothing strenuous, but very fun. Thanks to the weather we got some pretty stern views.
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