Author Archives: Peter & Katherine

Thank you for the dances

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I asked my skis to the prom, and she showed up in an irresistible powdery gown.  We’ve shared dances at Lake Louise (1 day, cross-country), Crystal Mountain (2 days), Mount Hood (2 days), Hoodoo (1 day), Mount Bachelor (2 days), Telluride (10 days), and Crested Butte (2 days).  The bumps, curves, slopes, face-plants, and turns are exhilarating.  Our relationship is getting serious.

But, our relationship is an unusual, open one.  My skis must soon rest and yield to my fling with canyoneering ropes and kayaks.  I promise to return for another winter dance.

Save Me From Myself

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Our adventures often take us to remote areas without cell phone service many miles away.  So, I’ve been looking at methods for emergency communication.  Of course, the best plan is to avoid emergencies in the first place with training, research, and preparedness.  If an emergency does occur, self-rescue is the first line of defense.  But, sometimes, outside assistance is necessary.

My solutions for emergency communication are layered:

  1. Cell phone – I carry a cell phone amplifier.  In my experience, the amplifier substantially improves cell phone coverage.  Also, the “Coverage” app estimates cell phone coverage and is great for answering the “where do I go for cell phone reception” question.
  2. Two-way radio – I carry a two-way radio operating on the 2m and 70cm bands.  Depending on terrain and location, this radio will usually reach the nearest town.  The trick, especially in small towns and rural areas, is finding somebody else monitoring the radio frequencies.  The “wilderness protocol” provides a starting place for contacting somebody in an emergency.  Also, the excellent “RFinder” directory lists local repeaters, which are ideal places to find somebody monitoring.
  3. Satellite Internet – I carry a two-way satellite dish for Internet access.  The dish takes 20-30 minutes to setup and point.  The dish requires line-of-site to the geostationary satellite (121W), so it may not work under trees or in a valley.  But, once setup, the dish works well.  Still, the Internet is not the best way of seeking emergency assistance.

I’m looking to add more layers and options to my preparation.  For example, none of these methods work if I’m stranded away from my vehicle.  There are presently three types of devices on the consumer market that utilize satellites for back-country emergency altering:

  1. Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) – A PLB is the “gold standard” for emergency signalling.  When activated, a PLB sends a signal to government-maintained satellites.  Search and rescue can locate you with three methods – triangulation from the satellite network, GPS position transmitted to the satellite, and a 121.5 MHz homing beacon.  PLBs only support one-way emergency communication, but they do this very well.  One of the PLB manufacturers (there are several) offers a service called 406Link that sends e-mails or SMS whenever you conduct a PLB self-test, which is a useful albeit limited form of non-emergency “I’m okay” messaging.
  2. SPOT - SPOT is a one-way commercial “satellite messenger.”  The SPOT device coupled with a mandatory annual subscription provide position tracking (accessible via a website), non-emergency communication (e.g., an “I’m okay” message to family), and emergency alerting.  A commercial company dispatches the emergency alerts, and there’s some concern among the Internet-masses that the company may not relay emergency messages reliably, especially if your subscription lapses.  Some of these masses raise complaints about customer service and device reliability.  Overall, the SPOT offers some useful functions and seems to work well for most people.
  3. Delorme inReach -  The inReach is the latest generation of satellite messaging, called SEND, and provides two-way communication.  You may pair the device with a smartphone and get text-message-like functions with integrating mapping.  Like SPOT, a private company handles emergency messaging.  The inReach is the first of the SEND-class devices, and reviews are generally positive.  But, you will pay a pretty penny for the required subscription. The service is relatively new, so it has not been user-tested as extensively as the alternatives.

In an ideal world with unlimited budget and space, I’d carry both a PLB and an inReach.  I intend to start with a PLB, likely the popular, well-reviewed, and small ACR ResQLink, since a PLB is a proven, world-wide technology designed for emergency signalling.  And, there’s no subscription.

There are still other communication technologies on my radar:

  1. APRS - The Automatic Packet Reporting System is a two-way digital communication network for telemetry and situational awareness.  Among other things, APRS allows status updates and position reports with Internet gateways for e-mails and maps.  APRS typically operates on the 2m VHF band, and remote areas may not have connectivity.  Still, APRS could be useful for “I’m okay and here I am” non-emergency updates.
  2. WinLink 2000 – WinLink is a global network for sending and receiving e-mail over radio.  The system operates over VHF and HF, so, armed with a suitable HF antenna and radio, there’s connectivity from the remotest parts of the world.
  3. PSKmail - PSKmail is an emerging global radio network for e-mail and low-speed Internet connectivity.  This system operates on the 30m HF band.  Compared to WinLink, PSKmail is simpler, narrow-band, slower, and more open.  WinLink is primarily a Microsoft Windows only service and partly relies on the proprietary Pactor mode.  Like WinLink, PSKmail promises connectivity from the remotest parts of the world.
  4. HF voice, CW, RTTY, PSK31 – All of these provide world-wide communication.  But, for my purposes, I need to reach specific, not-radio-connected people with my “I’m okay” messages.  So, services with e-mail or SMS gateways are more interesting right now.

Befriending Search and Rescue

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It’s canyoneering season. Waterfalls, slot canyons, rock and ropes… As my mom would say, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.” Which is why we have back up plans.

Canyoneering requires more safety planning than hiking. Once you pull the first rope, there’s no backtracking. Canyons block telecommunication signals. So, while we carry a cell phone and a PLB, there’s no guarantee that the signal will work. Canyons also block access for rescue planes or helicopters.

So, we double check our gear and travel plans, get good training, and get good beta. First, the goal is to not get in trouble. We travel cautiously and within our skill. We read maps and the GPS carefully, as many canyon emergencies happen with hiking into the wrong canyon. Second, we aim to self-rescue if we do get in trouble. We use ”releasable rigging” so that one of us can rescue the other. We pack a first aid and bivy kit. As a final back-up, we have a search and rescue activation plan.

I’m sharing this in case it helps someone else to develop a safe rescue plan.

A big thank you to the officers at Utah’s San Juan County Sherriff’s office for helping us to edit this plan.

So, here’s the bones of the plan. Please comment if there’s anything that would make this plan smarter or safer.

Emergency Contacts

Pick two reliable people to be emergency contacts. They need to be able to check for messages twice daily and reliably answer the phone on trip days. Advise them that you will contact them, but that the contact method may vary. We can usually text or email, but never know the bandwidth until we’re there. The Coverage app is helpful, but not fully reliable.

For each trip provide your contacts with:

  • Name and number of local sherriff’s dept.
  • Names of travelers and number in group. Description of travelers, including clothing.
  • Personal locator beacon (PLB) or Spot identification number
  • Any serious pre-existing medical conditions that could complicate a rescue. E.g. diabetes, seizure disorder, clotting disorder, or mobility limitations.
  • Expected time in and time out of canyon.
  • Timing of the check-in message. Pick a outside deadline for safe return. Your emergency contact should be able to call for help confidently, rather than wondering if they should wait another hour.
  • GPS coordinates and names of planned canyon entry and exit. If canyon has a flash flood risk, note that you may move out of the canyon to high ground if able to do so.
  • Vehicle location(s) and description(s). GPS coordinates are preferable for vehicle location. The scout plane will look for vehicles to confirm that there is actually need for a rescue.
  • If carrying walkie talkies, the channel that will be used for emergencies.
  • Description of any highly visible gear that a rescue plane could spot — eg color of backpack or tent.

Instruct the emergency contacts to do the following if you miss a check in:

  • Call each other to ensure that neither emergency contact has gotten a check-in message.
  • Then, call the local sheriff with an emergency search and rescue request.
  • Provide the relevant information from the above checklist.
  • Take action but don’t worry. Search and Rescue (SAR) will act as soon as they can do so safely. If there are storms or it is after dark, rescue may have to wait until the morning. We pack prepared to spend the night.

Communicating Check In Calls

We don’t want to worry our families or activate a false alarm. We’d be real jerks if we bothered Search and Rescue just because we couldn’t get cell phone reception. So, we cultivate multiple methods of communication. A cell phone booster enhances voice and text reception. With the right know-how, you can send an email through HAM radio. And an internet satellite works wherever we can get a view of the Southern sky.

Between these options, we expect to have reliable back country communication. And if we don’t, then we’ll drive until we do. Because there is no way that I’m going to worry my family unnecessarily.

Activating a PLB

The sheriff’s office had helpful advice on using a PLB or Spot device.

  • If self-rescue fails, activate the PLB immediately. Rescuers need time to arrive, and often can’t travel at night.
  • Once the PLB is activated, set out a reflector or flare. When a PLB is activated, the sheriff responds by sending a plane to look for proof of victims. They don’t want to send out a team for a false alarm. The pilot looks for a flare to confirm that there are people who need help. They recommended a space blanket as a reflector.
  • If night is falling, still set off the PLB. While rescuers probably can’t arrive until daylight, a night’s notice will give them time to gather a crew and equipment. Since most SAR crews are volunteers, they need time to respond.

Rescue Preparedness

  • Check weather and flash flood risk before entering a canyon.
  • Be prepared to spend the night before rescue arrives. Pack a space blanket, warm and weather protective layers, and extra food and water. If in a flash flood prone area, move to high ground. 
  • Have reflectors or flares.  See above.
  • Survival data indicates that people survive when they plan to do so. Plan that it may be days until your rescue. Seek shelter and budget food and water accordingly. Women usually need less food than men due to a lower metabolism and more body fat. Drink urine if you have to. Aron Ralston would advise doing this while urine is dilute, instead of waiting for dehydration to set in. (As for the “ick” factor, I’ve already swum through a canyon that had a dead goat floating in it. By choice. I’ll drink pee if it keeps me alive.)
  • Bring a basic first aid kit and know how to use it. Backcountry guides provide helpful lists of recommended items. Some double-duty items: a shoelace can work as a tourniquet.  A coffee filter can be used to light a fire for warmth or to filter urine for drinking.  We keep duct tape wrapped around our water bottles. Duct tape can repair gear or patch a wound. A space blanket prevents hypothermia, shields from rain, and signals for rescue.
  • Sign in and out of trail logs so that rescue personnel can verify a last known location.
  • Have a group emergency plan. Have a list of the emergency gear. Don’t keep all the emergency gear in 1 pack.
  • If an emergency occurs, assign roles for group members. Eg. signalling the rescue plane, making a shelter, acquiring water, etc.

Anything else that’s key to a good rescue plan?

As for why we go to all this trouble, stay tuned for the canyon pictures. Some of the most beautiful places on Earth are in the slots of the Colorado Plateau.

 

Crested Butte, Colorado

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An easy town to live in, and a beautiful place to be. Not as glamorous as Telluride, but so much more relaxed.

Skiing: Crested Butte is a medium-sized mountain: smaller than destination resorts like Telluride, and larger than locals’ mountains like Hoodoo. The runs are short but there are many of them. There’s plenty of parking for easy access. The weather feels wetter than it was in the San Juans.

Camping: Multiple forest service roads welcome (or at least, don’t prohibit) ski RVing. The Forest Service brochure on winter recreation has a helpful map that summarizes winter access.

Work: The Old Rock Library has charming vintage architecture, friendly librarians, and cozy chairs upstairs. Since it’s a small building, there are no group study rooms for teleconferences. Rumors coffee house has plenty of plugs, organic coffee and tea, and friendly staff.

Dining: The Dogwood Cocktail Cabin has creative cocktails, appetizers, and desserts. The “absinthe minded” cocktail blends fennel, absinthe, and pomegranate to delicious effect. The Thai mussels are savory with just the right amount of spice. The Sherpa cafe feels homey and authentic. The Momo appetizers are tender and the Tibetan soup is rich and satisfying.  Izzy’s offers great breakfasts and latkes.  One morning while Izzy’s was packed, we wandering into Bacchanale and found the breakfast excellent.  The eggs baked with parmesan, butter, and cream were delicious, as was the vegetable turnover.  Prices were reasonable, and the line was short.

I already miss Crested Butte.  There’s so much more downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and snow shoeing to be had in the shadows of the spectacular mountains.  And that’s just during the winter …

Came to Ski, Stayed for the Library

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… is the slogan of the Telluride Library. And the library much deserves the praise. The library is well equipped, beautiful, and hosts events far beyond the scope of a town of 5,000.

The entryway is dappled with rainbows from a series of prisms placed in clerestory windows. These are in memory of a past library director, keeping her presence and memory in the building that she developed. The rainbows bring happy memories of the film Polyanna, and bring smiles to library visitors.

The library benefits from Telluride’s active cultural festival programs. In a slow week in March, we benefitted from lectures from the hosts of the Mushroom Festival and Mountain Film festival. The director of Academy Award winning “The Cove” shared stories from the making of the film, along with advance clips of the forthcoming film “The Heist”. The leader of the Telluride Mushroom Festival spoke on using mushrooms as medicine and to bioremediate contaminated soil. All of this was free at the library.

The library also has an extensive collection of ski instructional videos, which helped us gain a PSIA level of skill over the week. The Clendenin ski method video offered helpful treatments for the “skier’s flu” (stemming the skis at turn initiation) and moguls videos taught us how to pole plant and pivot with the bumps.

Three group meeting rooms upstairs offer a warm, dry space for teleconferences. Residents can reserve a room, and visitors can “squat” an unreserved room. Since rooms must be reserved at least 24 hours in advance, we could usually “squat” a room by arriving first thing in the morning.

A few doors down from the library, the remodeled Baked in Telluride covers 3 meals a day. The library group study rooms allow covered drinks, so you can even take the coffee back to “the office”.

M4C: Man Seeking Coffee

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A good cup of coffee is surprisingly difficult to find.  The popular chain “coffee” houses usually serve some sort of foul brownish liquid made palatable with milk, sugar, cinnamon, caramel, and other such travesties.  These shops are in the business of serving “coffee-based beverages,” but I just want coffee.  DoubleShot Coffee in Tulsa, OK introduced me to coffee as a complex, flavorful beverage that stands on its own.  As I travel, I struggle to find decent coffee.  I’ve had many cups that barely deserve the adjectives “brown” and “warm”.  I’ve had a few good cups.

I recently visited Seattle, the supposed homeland of awesome coffee.  Here’s my opinion of a few shops:

  • Victrola Coffee Roasters – I visited the Beacon Hill shop.  At first, I didn’t see the shop and figured my smartphone had lied to me about location.  But, the shop is there nestled between several larger storefronts.  The espresso is fantastically creamy, thick, oily, and rich.  And, the barista was making fun of caramel machiattos.  Victrola is my current favorite espresso in Seattle.
  • Espresso Vivace – Parking anywhere near here was an hour long driving-in-circles hell.  But, the espresso is memorable and tasty.  Unlike other shops that pull doppios, Vivace pulls ristrettos only, espresso made with less water than usual.  Vivace lives up to its reputation for fantastic coffee, and I only wish I had more of it.
  • Caffe Vita – After finishing at Vivace, I noticed that Vita was just down the street.  With more than a hour left on my parking meter, I set out on foot.  The espresso is certainly excellent, though my ability to really evaluate and appreciate espresso diminishes after three in one day.  Vita was using bottomless portafilters, something I’d never seen before.
  • Stumptown Coffee – Stumptown was my final stop of the day and did not disappoint.  The espresso is definitely top tier, but my ability to say anything more intelligent diminished even more by the fourth in one day.  Stumptown coffee is available in branded shops and independent shops throughout the region.  The independent shops vary from pretty good to boring.
  • Mondo’s – This coffee stand is in a grocery store parking lot just off the freeway.  Judging by the morning traffic, it’s a popular stop for folks heading to work.  The espresso is decent.  The Americano is weak, watered-down, and nearly flavorless.  But the stand is convenient.
  • Vince’s Coffee - This shop is in Renton, a suburb southeast of Seattle.  I had business nearby and stopped here for breakfast.  The shop is pleasant with nice hardwood floors and plenty of seating.  The espresso is decent, although the burrito I had was uninspired.  If I lived nearby, I’d visit again.
  • The French Bakery – Good coffee seems frustratingly difficult to find outside of downtown Seattle.  This shop, besides offering very good baked good, sports a $22000 Mistral machine and the best espresso I’ve found in the ‘burbs.  Downtown shops are still much better in my opinion.
  • 148th Ave Coffee – This shop gets good reviews online.  It was conveniently located near a nice park, so I dropped in.  The staff is friendly, the WiFi is fast, and the environment is quiet.  However, I feel bad for the fine coffee plants that died to make this place’s espresso, marked with overpowering notes of thin, sour, and foul.
  • Starbucks – This chain offers the same mediocrity everywhere.  Don’t bother unless you need free (albeit usually slow) WiFi.

I’ve also briefly explored coffee options in Bend, OR:

  • Backporch Coffee Roasters - Backporch appears to be the single largest roaster in town with two shops.  Both locations are nicely done, but I prefer the southern location over the northern because their roaster is here and the environment is a bit more relaxed.  The coffee they were serving was very good but a bit too bright and acidic for my tastes.  The cappuccino was exceptional in the traditional 5 ounce size.
  • Lone Pine Coffee Roasters – Lone Pine is, literally, in a downtown alley and is a favorite.  The staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and they roast in shop.  The coffee is fantastic, and the shop is relaxed and pleasant.  If I lived nearby, I’d be a regular.

I look forward to finding more coffee on my travels!

 

Hoodoo Ski Resort, Sisters, Oregon

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On a clear day, you really can see forever. Miles of views at Hoodoo. We recommend the $19 lift tickets on “Tightwad Tuesdays”, the curving gullies of the Three Creeks ski run, and  the view from the Over Easy run. A beer at Three Creeks Brewing is a delicious way to finish off the evening. At the Best Western in Sisters, enjoy the view of the neighbors — Alpaca sheep.

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