Saturday August 14, 2010 Dancing Clouds

SATURDAY AUGUST 14, 2010
Dancing Clouds Moist Air

The day was very cloudy and relatively cool. While it sprinkled a couple of times there was generally very little percipitation. The low level clouds were slipping past the Skyland/PATC Wall and the summit in this picture. It was a fee free weekend and the parking lot was 9 tenths full.

Lots of information and guidance provided but no SAR responses required.




Woodland Sunflower Helianthus divaricatus

Chestnut Oak Quercus prinus

Wild Foxglove Aureolaria flava Gerardia
With a bumblebee inside one of the flowers.

This plant gets some of its nutrients from Oak Roots which it parasitizes. Like the Lady Sipper which relies on a symbiotic relationship with a delicate soil fungus neither survives transplantation. Even if it could survive transplantation taking wildflowers from the park in any form is illegal, terrible woodland ethics, and very destructive.

The cloud cover was low. There was warm moist air rising from Weakley Hollow. The moisture laden air was turning into wispy dancing clouds. The swirling intermixing cloud tendrils put on quite a fascinating and pleasing display for summit observers.

RATTLESNAKE MATING OR COMBAT DANCE

Sharon a friend of mine at work loves to visit Skyline drive and shared this photo her partner took of two Timber Rattlesnakes (one dark phase and one yellow phase) engaged in either mating or a combat dance right next to Skyline Drive. Sharon is pretty sure it did not appear to be a combat dance so she is voting for mating.
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Male rattlesnakes engage in an almost ritualized combat dance in which they do not hurt each other but rear up off the ground and then try to push each other down to the ground. Almost like a game of thumb wrestling. The winner gets to mate with the nearby female. Here are two links to a video but if you google there are others:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5fsLBRO_Cg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwoFPiYRm-g

Sunday August 8, 2010
Lots of Friends Great Weather

Normally air temps in the 80's would seem hot but following on the heels of the recent record breaking heat it almost seemed cool. I hiked with two friends from PATC Trail Patrol and two of their friends from PATC as far as the top of the chute. At this point I decided I would hang out and watch over the rock scramble from the chute for a few hours. After that I proceeded slowly up the Ridge Trail. I took numerous long stops at various view points along the way and had a long conversation with Michael Doyle and his climbing partner. Once I got to the summit I waited a couple hours for sunset and then headed out on the Saddle Trail and fire roads.

ROCK ADVENTURE MOVIE

I blogged about this about a year ago but thought I would write a fresh post.
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Speaking of rock climbing if you are a fan of rock climbing history than check out the blog about an upcoming Rock Adventure Film Diary being created by a young film maker story teller Director Oakley Anderson-Moore and Producer Paul Blair with lots of help from others.

http://rockadventuremovie.com/film.html

They are operating on a shoe string budget so I sent a little money to help their cause and would encourage you to do the same. I have no idea how they are doing with their budget or how close to finishing the project they are but I imagine that even ten dollars would help with their goal of finishing the movie. My sense is that they are going to do a great job at capturing the essence of a passionate way of life for hundreds of climbers during the 60's and 70's. I am sure their film will record a lot of great stories and pieces of verbal history that otherwise would have been lost with the passage of time.

My 16 years of personal climbing adventures were on grades below 5.10 but I spent more than half my weekends rockclimbing and understand what it means to be passionate about the sport.

Raising my two daughters, advancing the application of computer technology, nature, climbing, and mountains have been my life's big passions so I am really excited about seeing the final movie.




Catherine taking a picture of Ellen and John with John in the foreground.
John, John, Ellen and Catherine on the first false summit.



ORMSer Liz on her third circuit just below the PATC/Skyline Wall area. She is preparing for an ultra-marathon The Mountain Masochist. Knowing I would post this on my blog she told me to give a shout out to all the ORMS crew whom she is looking forward to volunteering with in the Fall.

Liz's sharp eyes spotted these galls. I have not been able to get a definite identification of the insect that makes these but there were about 30 or 40 of them on this one plant.

A Red Admiral on granite.

I spotted this interesting collection of cairns on the way down the Saddle Trail.

A different angle on the same cairns.

Another great Old Rag sunset.

Twilight over Mt Robertson from just above the CCC stairs.

This Copperhead was crossing the fire road about two tenths a mile below Old Rag shelter.

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Besides the friends pictured above it was good to catch up with the Contact station staff, my Old Rag friend April and Michael Doyle as he was finishing off a climb at the top of Skyline/PATC wall. It is always fun swapping stories with the folks I meet on the mountain and of course good old Toes (one of the Old Rag Dogs) greeted me at my car when I finished my hike.

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For some reason this was a day for huge heel blisters and I got to help two hikers with mole skin and duct tape . Plan on being self sufficient on Old Rag but if you happen across a volunteer do not hesitate to ask us for help.

PATC TP ONE-ON-ONE TRAINGING

ONE-ON-ONE PATC TRAIL PATROL TRAINING

PATC Trail Patrol provides a regular training day a couple of times a year but since dual income professional families in Washington DC have very hectic schedules PATC Trail Patrol members who are willing can provide one-on-one training to outdoor enthusiasts who are interested in becoming new PATC Trail Patrol members.

I had the pleasure of providing a day of One-On-One PATC Trail Patrol training to one of our new probationary members this last weekend. All her family members are outdoor enthusiasts so I was glad they could join us for the day.

The next two pictures are of the Cuneo family and then one of me and my student for the day.

Even though I had the role of being an instructor I had the distinct pleasure of learning from the Cuneo's who are active hikers, climbers, outdoor persons with lots of knowledge, stories and experiences of their own. If you join any of the volunteer organizations I participate with do not be surprised that shortly after joining us you find yourself a mentor and source of new information and knowledge in regards to your own unique experiences, knowledge, skills, aptitudes or areas of specialization.

Saturday July 24, 2010 A YEAR OF EXTREMES

Saturday July 24, 2010 A YEAR OF EXTREMES

In the following picture the Old Rag Boundry Station's thermometer was in the shade but it was still showing 103 degrees Fahrenheit. Just five-six months ago we were snowshoeing and skiing and now we are seeing record breaking highs.

PSAR "HIKE SMART"

Thank goodness for the Park's new PSAR (Preventative Search and Rescue) program. It would be extremely valuable in any conditions but especially so in the extreme heat we have been experiencing lately. This year's "HIKE SMART" PSAR team comprised of Rangers Todd Sager, Derrick Austin and Casey Mikus are pictured below. When not responding to actual emergencies they offer helpful advice to park visitors in the hopes that emergencies can be prevented.

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The rangers in the boundary contact stations also perform PSAR duties. The map, slide show, thermometer, and weather report on the contact station door along with all their helpful advice keep folks safe. When they are on duty it is absolutely worth it to check in with these rangers. They can go over your route, provide maps and offer all kinds of safety and interpretive information.

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A TINY WATER HOLE
With the weather being so hot I thought I would provide a little guidance about a tiny but deep-enough-to-cool-off-in wading hole near the end of your hike. It is in Brokenback Run just below the old upper lot. Look for an informal trail between the big boulder and the PATC Trail Overseer sign. Since this can be a popular place please try and be careful about limiting your impact.

FUNGI AND INSECTSOld Rag has a wealth of fungi species and some can be very colorful. If you look closely at the mushroom pictured below you will see a beetle (I believe it is a firefly) on this one. I have recently started to become more aware of the insect life on Old Rag. At one point on this trip I saw four beetles rumbling in the middle of the trail. I did not see any obvious thing nearby to fight over but it was clear they were fighting over something. One beetle finally prevailed and the other three took off into the leaf litter. Ten minutes later and further down the trail I heard a fairly loud noise in the leaf litter. Thinking it must be a small rodent of some kind I waited to see what was making the noise and a GIANT! black beetle about the size of a small vole emerged. When I put my headlamp on high I can see all kinds of pin point but bright insect eyes glowing back at me. Upon close inspection they are usually revealed to belong to a spider. Fireflies Photuris pyralis are still around but their numbers are greatly dwindling. Of course then there are the countless species of ants, termites, ticks, gnats, flies, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths ........

OLD RAG DOGSThe Old Rag Dogs who live at the base of the mountain love to go walk-about up on Old Rag. Their owners have been really good about keeping them at home this year but the Old Rag Dogs are passionate about their mountain and very wily so every once in a while they still manage to sneak in a hike up into the rocks. Below you can see one of the Old Rag Dogs Canis lupis familiaris catching a nap in the shade of the rocks just before the start of the rock scramble.

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The blue blaze you see in the background is R22.

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The Old Rag dogs have been up and down the mountain hundreds of times and know their way home. They are country outdoor dogs so they may be a little dirty from running around outdoors. They have owners that care a lot about them. Please do not mistake them for being abandoned. It is a terrible shame they can not talk because if they could I am sure they could spin some good yarns over a campfire and a few beers.

Looking back at the first false summit from just below the cave.

Looking down on the farms near Etlan from the slab just above the Chute. I am always amazed at how small everything looks even though it is only a two to three thousand feet and a mile or two below.

SLOW DOWN

Slow down you move too fast you got to make the evening(morning) last.

Got no deeds to do,No promises to keep.I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.Let the morning time drop all its petals on me. Life, I love you, All is groovy.

-The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" a song by Simon and Garfunkle

With slight poetic liberties on my part.

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SUNSET AND MOONRISE TWILIGHT AND MOONSHADOWS

On one side of the summit the sun was going down and on the other side the moon was coming up. It is a special treat to hang out on the rocks on a quiet balmy summer evening with a gentle breeze. A time to just absorb the evening's smells, sounds, and soothing restorative energies.

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BOYHOOD SUMMER SLEEPOUTS

Balmy summer evenings bring back memories of my youth when as young boys of nine to thirteen a group of neigborhood boys would take Gilmore's (a family with nine brothers) tractor with a huge flatbed wagon way up into the highest point of their hundred acre apple orchard to sleep on the flatbed under the summer stars. This spot was on the top of a hill in the Cherry Valley country of Central New York. At about 2,200 ft. it provided a fifteen mile view of rolling ridgelines. The sky was dark and the air clear with thousands of twinkling stars, a very distinctive Milky Way, shooting stars and on rare occasions displays of shimmering green Northern Lights.

Sunday July 18, 2010 A Full Day

Thoughts About Hikers With Special Concerns
After reminiscing about some behaviors I witnessed on the mountain this weekend I thought it appropriate to once again remind folks with special fitness circumstances to make sure they think through their decision to do this hike.

I have seen folks of all different ages, sizes and shape make this hike. That said, it is a strenuous physical activity and if you go up the rock scramble it will require the use of some upper body strength. There will be a couple of spots in the rock scramble where the trail takes the easiest and or safest route but where you will have the potential for a four to eight foot vertical fall if you slip from your holds. (see the picture of the chute below) When you are in the rock scramble keep in mind that even in the best case when you have immediate communications with the SNP's emergency services that medical first response is going to take hours.

Plan ahead, take your time, be extra cautious, do not go at all or turn around if good judgement dictates it. A few examples of times you need to use extra care and or take above normal precautions:

• You know you are at risk because of high blood pressure or a cardiac condition.
• You have a very bad shoulder that easily dislocates.
• You are badly allergic to bee stings and you forgot your Epipen or noticed that it expired.
• You are very old and your bones are frail.
• You are way out of shape or way overweight.
• You badly twisted your ankle the day before but can painfully walk on it.
• You are in the middle of an intense cold or flu.
• You are carrying a very young infant on a very hot day.
• You are six months pregnant.
• You are missing a limb or a sense.
• You are tremendously hung over.
• You arrived at the hike and realized you forgot to plan for water or you left your meds at home.
• You are a super jock hiker who has decided to explore a harder more exposed way on the rocks than the trail.
• There are an infinite range of special situations each requiring extra thoughtfulness.

I can not say if you should or should not go. You are responsible for making that judgement. I am just reminding you to use good judgement and realize that you are not going to have access to quick medical response. A heart attack which could be survived in the front country with AED or quick ambulance responses has a high probability of being fatal on a remote trail. If you are alone on a weekday or out very late on a Sunday and you have both no means of communicating and you become non-ambulatory than it may be the next day before any help comes within earshot. Cell phones only have sporadic reception at rare locations on Old Rag and the nearest emergency land line is on the outside of the Old Rag Boundary station. Helicopters are sometimes used but they are often unavailable or can not respond because of weather conditions. Even with a helicopter the response times will be an hour or two from time of notification. Without the aid of the helicopter human carry outs of non-ambulatory patients from the most remote parts of the rock scramble are going to require up to twenty responders and 10 to 20 hours from time of your injury until you are loaded on an ambulance.

Two friends joined me for the hike up to the chute. They wanted to beat the heat so we started up around 8AM.
I hung out at the Chute for a very long time. Above is a picture of a large group in the Chute. There were no lines on this day.

I have taken and saved a lot of pictures of the restoration/re-vegetation areas in hopes of posting some before and after pictures in the future.

If you look very very closely you can see a full rainbow against the blue sky. The sun was low in the sky and we had very patchy thunderstorms happening and one of them was dropping light rain drops just in the right spot for them to form a very faint full rainbow.

Another Old Rag Sunset

A juvenile Copperhead that was crossing the trail along the side of a log riser. This was about 600 hundred feet up the trail from Old Rag Shelter. Folks make sure you have some lights so you can see what your stepping on at night.

SUN JULY 11, 2010 After The Rain

SUNDAY JULY 11, 2010 AFTER THE RAIN

After a couple of weeks of very hot weather with no rain a cold front came through on Friday evening and Saturday morning and provided some much needed rain. Sunday was a very comfortable high seventies low eightees on the mountain. There was no water running in the ditch through the lower parking lot but there was water in the Opferkessels on the summit

The next picture is a composite of three shots from the first false summit looking up the Ridge Trail and demonstrates I still have a lot to learn about photography.

Pipilo erythrophthalmus Eastern Towhee

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Towhee/id

The Eastern Towhee is very common on Old Rag but they are hard to get a good glimpse of because they like to hang out in dense brush and are a little bit shy. They like to turn over the leaf litter looking for bugs. It is not unusual for them to make a lot of noise while doing this and many a time I have thought there must be a large animal over in some brush only to sneak up and see a Towhee busy at work earning a living. Unusually, the Towhee in the picture above was perched high out in the open and singing its lungs out.

With the sun going down so late in the day I have usually headed for home long before I can can enjoy a sunset this time of year. I decided it would be worth it to go ahead and stay to enjoy the sunset even though it would mean getting home after mdinight. Of course this also means that at least a part of the trip out on the fireroad will be in the deep dark. Fireflies, the eyeglow of spiders and the close acrobatic flybys of bats catching bugs attracted to my headlamp are just a few of the simple pleasures of a night time walk out on the fire roads in July.