A little Cincy Zoo love!

Man, what a beautiful day today was and incredibly enough still is! The temps peaked at about 77 degrees and the sun was out and shining.

Nick and I spend the majority of the day at the Cincy Zoo. We had gotten there when the zoo opened and enjoyed ourselves imensly as there wasn't much of a crowd there yet.

We were fortunate to see the baby giraffe and the baby okapi. Nick got to hear on of the male white lions roar, which was very cool. The bird of prey nerd inside me was ecstatic because I got to see a pair of Stellar sea eagles. :)

Here are a few more pics from today. If you want to see the rest of my zoo pics, check out the set on my Flickr page!

Enjoy!

Asian elephant
A beautiful bloom that caught my eye while we were going through the Discovery Forest in the education building. I love the vibrant color!
Giraffe
A pair of Mexican wolves
Momma okpai. Her calf was also out in the yard with a keeper observing how the little one was doing.
Continue reading >>

Weekend in New Hampshire!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Mine was filled with lots of driving, snow, wind, sun, sweat, tears & a large rock pile by the name of Mount Washington.

So we planned this trip out to Mount Washington out in New Hampshire. We drove out there Friday right after work but first we had to drop off the little one at my parents house up in Columbus. By the time we really got started driving, it was already around 9:30 at night. Driving in shifts, we drove straight through and got to the Joe Dodge Lodge at Pinkham Notch at about noonish Eastern Standard Time as the Lionshead trailhead starts behind the lodge. We did get to see an awesome sunrise in New York though! The weather on the drive out there wasn't too bad at all.

I think Eric totally miscalculated the miles we drove because we definitely did not expect to get there that late at all. We were counting on getting there much earlier, say around 8am. Oh well, right? We quickly got geared up in the basement prep room at the lodge and signed in at the register.

As you can see from the trail/topo map on the right, the first half of the hike takes you uphill on the Tuckerman Ravine trail through the beautiful forest that surrounds the mountain. It was quite the slog, but the weather was fantastic! The sun was shining, but you could tell it was going to be windy up past the treeline because you could hear it blowing and gusting in the treetops. Then you come to a T-junction where the Tucks trail goes off to the left and the Lionshead trail starts on the right. That's where the fun steep bits begin. Pinkham is at about 2100 ft above sea level and the Lionshead is at 5083 ft above sea level.

Because I'm not a fast hiker to begin with, it took us about 2.5 hours to get to where the Lionshead trail splits off of the Tuckerman Ravine trail. Because of the late, late start (as Eric had said when we first pulled into the parking lot, 'The latest alpine start evar.') Eric said that our turn around time would be a 5pm.

I actually felt much better on this trip, as opposed to the last time I was there, on the first stretch of the hike since I had been running at home. Big thanks go to my hairy mountainman as he was the one who keep hounding me to go running. Thanks love!:)

I do have to say that when we got to the steep bits of the Lionshead trail, I was intimidated as all get out! You know, the 'Oh shit' factor ;) We got out our crampons and put them on, lashed my trekking poles to my pack and got out our mountaineering axes. And up we went!

There was alot of sidestepping using our axes as canes, hooking trees and roots, a little front pointing and some doing what it took to get ourselves up that steep section.

As we were getting higher and higher, the trees were getting shorter and shorter. The wind was definately picking up. Good thing we were layered up and warm & toasty with our hardshell coats on. We would occasionally stop and admire the views which were beautiful and breathtaking. You could see everything below. We definately lucked out a little on the weather out there. There was a storm a couple days before we got there and another was supposed to move in on Sunday when we would already be on the road back home. Towards the end of the treeline, we had stop and put on our windproof balaclavas as our skin would freeze in the cold wind.

By the time we got out of the treeline, it was close to 5pm and quite frankly I was more than a little scared. I think a lot of that had to do with the wind, being exposed, not wanting to descend in the dark, etc. You know all that mental stuff, but I was feeling good physically.

Looking back at it now, I should have just pushed through that fear and kept on going. Eric wanted to push on up and tag the rocks at Lionshead before turning around to descend, but he was not willing to leave me behind to do it. It was either we both do it or we both turn around right there.

We ended up turning around. If you're looking at the map, the red dot indicates where we turned around at, a little above the green shading where the trail kinks to the left. I do have to say that there was one point where I was totally and utterly scared out of my mind. But to get back to our car, I had to sack up and do it. I did it, but not without some tears. Gah. Glissading partway down the Lionshead trail shaved off some descent time. There was already a bobsled like channel down where others had slid down on their butts. We got back to the lodge at around 7pm.

All in all, it was an ok trip. Lots of mixed feelings and all. It was definately a soul searching trip. I honestly don't know if I'd do it again. I don't know if this mountaineering thing is for me. This whole suffering for pleasure thing is...well crazy. Although, when I was in the groove slogging away I was actually enjoying myself, the scenery, etc. It really was beautiful. You really do have to have the gumption, that desire, the willingness to dig deep. All the prep in the world isn't going to get you up a mountain if you can't handle it mentally or you flake out, like I did.

Eric says that he felt that I could have gone all the way up to the summit. Physically, yeah I could have done it as I was feeling really good. Mentally, the trip was done as the mountain had already effed with my mind and that was really bad, disappointing. Really, really disappointing actually. Maybe I just needed to kick my fear in the balls and push through it.

He says that we're not going back until I'm ready again and we will go back and summit.

She'll be there. Waiting...
Continue reading >>

Nervous & excited!

Sorry, I've been MIA the past few days...it's been a bit hectic around here with Mt. Washington prep/packing/bitching/etc going full steam ahead. Even my Etsy shop has been neglected!

I'm an equal opportunity neglector! :p

We leave for New Hampshire tonight after we get home from work. Gotta pack up Nick's stuff and drop him off at my mom's then we'll be on our way.

I'm slated to take the first driving shift as it's easier. Yay!

Totally a wee bit nervous but am excited too.

All this week, I've been keeping tabs on the weather out there by checking the Mt. Washington Observatory website and the Weather Channel website. They got hit with a storm last night & it'll continue today then taper off a bit tomorrow. Then supposedly, another round will hit them on Sunday.

Temps are slated to be around 5 degrees Fahrenheit on the summit Saturday with a 35 mph wind, so in reality, it'll be about 25-30 below zero up there! Woo! In North Conway, it'll be around 26 degrees.

I'll post a trip report with pics when I get back!
Continue reading >>

12 days and counting...

...until we leave for New Hampshire to slog up Mt. Washington. I hesitate to say climb any more with regards to this little mountain folks call The Rock. In reality it is more of a strenuous hike/slog, more so when done during the middle of winter. :)

I've been doing pretty good with the running and working out with free weights. I feel so much better since I've gotten back into doing something resembling exercise and physical exertion.

And with the trip coming up fast, I've begun running a mental tally of things that need to be packed and what technical clothing that need to be worn.

It's such a long drawn out process, I think about all of this during work as well as on my commute to and from. Eric will want all of it packed and ready to go by this weekend. That way if we need anything, we still have time to get it. We will go over all of it again next week to make sure we have absolutely everything we need for the slog.

A little sampling from this morning.

Things to pack in my pack
compass
Leatherman
emergency space blanket
hardshell pants
down jacket
crampons
trekking poles
extra socks
extra glove liners
extra wool hat
ski goggles
balaclava
water
snacks/food Continue reading >>

Snowpocalypse Part II

Ugh...I just spent 2 1/2 hours on the bus ride home.

It had started to spit snow around lunch and by the time I got off of work, it was coming down at a pretty good clip. Needless to say, the bus got to the bus stop about an hour late. Traffic had slowed down to a crawl and by the time we were close, everyone was tired of being on the bus.

Oy. And I think we're supposed to get another couple of inches tonight.

I wonder if Nick's daycare will be open tomorrow. Wonder if work will be closed.

And they say that we're gonna hit 50 this weekend?



By the way, here are the pics I had promised yesterday from our little Hocking Hills excursion.

The drive out to Hocking Hills. It was gonna be a beautiful day!

The ice cone at Ash Cave. Notice the people in the pic...

Eric & Nick at Ash Cave

Frozen waterfall at the climbing area by Conkles Hollow.

Nick & I trekking back to our car...

Continue reading >>

Crazy weekend - Hocking Hills, Jackets hockey and parenting woes...

Hope everyone's weekend was delightful!

Ours started out great! Saturday morning, we went a little northeast to do a little winter hiking in the Hocking Hills region. We checked out Ash Cave and the climbing area up by Conkles Hollow. If it's been cold enough during the winter, a huge cone of ice forms at the bottom of the water fall at Ash Cave. It spits down from the top of the cave and ends in a small pool below. It'll freeze up like a faucet at top with the water dripping out over the ice cone below. It's pretty cool looking and very tempting to climb.

We haven't grabbed the pics off of our digital camera yet, so the pictures will be forthcoming this evening. ;)

There's a designated rock climbing/rappelling area in the park and we checked that out too. It's over by Conkles Hollow. There's a few waterfalls in that area too and they were nicely frozen. Although the big one was not quite ready...the top portion wasn't connected to the bottom part. It'll be another few weeks before it's climbable. With the unpredictable winters in Ohio, I wouldn't count on it coming in...

Later that night, I took Nick with me to the Blue Jackets game. The boys played hard but looked really discombobulated out there on the ice. Our goalie, Mase was pulled halfway through the first period. We ended up getting embarrassed, 7-3 by the Dallas Stars. Ugh.

It didn't help that Nick was not listening to me at all that night. He minds when Eric is around but when he's just with me...man, it's so frustrating. Needless to say we left early as Nick was getting cranky and mommy was getting super cranky. I don't know what it is but I've got to figure out my own way making him mind. Erg.

Like I said picture from our Hocking Hills excursion will be forthcoming so check back in later tonight! Continue reading >>

Look Ma, I'm ice climbing...

...at night! :p There is a first time for everything!

With this extended cold snap here in Ohio, many of the waterfalls in central Ohio have frozen. Yay! :) We had gone up to Columbus over the weekend and scoped this sucker out during the day and seen that it was fat with ice.

So we planned to do some climbing later that night...

Why the black-ops night climbing? Because 'they' would probably frown upon it and we'd probably get fined or worse.

This baby was only about 20-30 feet but when you're jonesing for some ice love, it'll do. :) Continue reading >>

Sore...

So last night our plans for the Mt. Washington trip were finalized...

We head out from the Cincy area after work on Friday, 2/20 and head out towards New Hampshire. We'll be picking up our friends along the way. Get into North Conway Saturday (2/21) morning, grab some breakfast, maybe grab a nap, gear up and start our summit attempt. Then drive home Sunday, the 22nd.

The mission of this crazy trip is 'Get some winter mountaineering done safely without missing a day's work." :p

I'm sore from my workout last night. It's a good sore though. I need to get in shape. To get my endurance level up. It's what killed me the last time I attempted to summit Mt. Washington.

Since it was butt cold outside, I didn't go running. Instead I did 2 sets of 40 jumping jacks with 2 sets of 10 lunge jumps. I also worked in bicep curls, dumbbell rows, the plank and a couple other free weight exercises.

I've got a little over a month to get into some sort of decent shape! Continue reading >>

An assult on Mt. Washington...

So I was thinking about Mt. Washington the other day. You may wonder why...

A few years back, Eric and I went on a guided trip with Appalachian Outfitters out there in New Hampshire for some ice climbing & a summit attempt. It's were I got bit by the ice climbing bug. :)

I decided to turn around at the bottom of Lions Head because I didn't feel like getting blown off of the mountain and Eric made it to about 700 feet of the summit. He's gone back every year since to climb her.

Here's Eric (on the right) on the decent on that first trip out there.
Arrr...got a little Captain in ya? ;)

The weather on Mt. Washington is notoriously bad. Winds have howled up to 200+ mph! There's an observatory at the summit where weather studies are conducted. If you feel adventurous, you can volunteer for a week! Lots of climbers climb her to prep for adverse weather found on Denali in Alaska.

You can see that Mt. Washington is completely engulfed in a storm...

Fast forward to now, Eric and his best friend Jon are planning on going back out there towards the end of Feb and I'm seriously thinking about joining them.

If I go for it, I'm going to have to ramp up the free weight workouts and start running after work. He's planning on a weekend jaunt so we won't be hauling camping gear, just the essentials in our packs.

This morning on the bus, I started to mentally tally all the gear and clothing layers I'd need...

I think subconsciously, I've decided on going. :p

Do you have any crazy adventures planned for the new year? Continue reading >>

Prepping for Colorado

A little background for y'all...

My boyfriend Eric loves to climb and his favorite playground to date is Rocky Mountain National Park. We were last there in August of 2004.

Nearing the summit of Longs Peak!

He's been out there on his own or with his best friend for the past couple of winters. I, myself love to hike, camp & ice climb. :) Now that our little one, Nicklaus is 3.5 years old, he would love to take him out there.

Fast forward to 2 months ago...

We're planning a trip out there the second week of March 2009. There's bumming around town, hiking, a night or two of camping & climbing on the agenda. I've invited my parents and both of my younger brothers. Al is a definate in while Jeff says that it's too far out to decide. Go figure!

There's quite the elevation change and I'm not in shape anymore. Pre-bambino, I played hockey regularly and that kept me in tip-top shape. Now that I haven't played in 3.5 years, I can't go up a flight of stairs without getting slightly winded. That's pretty bad. :(

So I gotta start running again or skating or something. They are putting the ice rink up on Fountain Square right now...that's a possibility! There are a bunch of folks here at work doing the 100 push-ups thing. It looks easy enough and it'll whip my core, arms, pecs and back into shape. Famous last words, eh? :)

Don't look now! Gratuitous shot of Eric in RMNP...my fav actually. :)
Continue reading >>

Underground in a Cave & Cheering the Boys in Blue

Did a little caving for the first time this weekend!

Saturday, my boyfriend, Eric wanted to do a little mapping of a cave up in the Columbus area so we headed up there this weekend. He had invited his best friend Jon and our mutual friend Adam to come check it out with us.

Pretty cool and a little claustrophobic. I only went about halfway as I got a little freaked out partway in. Still very cool none the less.

Here's a pic that Eric snapped of me before the camera got FUBAR'd. My expression is priceless...lol!



The only thing that didn't go so well is that our digital camera didn't fare too well...the LCD screen was smashed in a bit. :(

We'll have to see how much it'll cost to replace it. Preliminary findings on eBay aren't too bad. About $90 for a replacement LCD screen...

Later that night, Eric's sister & I went to the Blue Jackets game. The boys in blue won! 3-1 against the Calgary Flames! Go Jackets! It's so exciting to see the team jelling as the season goes on. Continue reading >>

Gearing up for the climbing season!

You know everyone is gearing up for the upcoming ice climbing season when the clinic emails start showing up in your inbox...:) That ol' ice climbing itch is coming back! Time to break out the gear and get it ready.

Just got one this morning from Sarah Hueniken.

Hello Ladies!

Hope everyone had a fabulous summer and fall and is now ready for WINTER!!
I hope to see you all at Chicks with Picks this year, as I know Kim has exciting events planned. Should be a blast...as usual:)

In case some of you have more of an itch to scratch..or more tool swinging desires, I am offering 2 ice courses up here in the Canadian Rockies. They are both 4 days and include lodging and food plus at least one day of Multi-pitch climbing...and that is in Canadian dollars (aka a good deal for you Americans right now!)
The first one will be on the Icefields Parkway February 20-23 and the other out of the Canmore area, March 6-9.
Please see attached flyer for more details and pass this on to anyone you think might be interested. Space is limited, and the February dates are already near full, so sign up soon!

Once again- hope everyone is doing well and looking forward to a great winter!

There was a flier attached to the email too. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll forward it on to ya.

Peace out yo! Continue reading >>