One More Post on Climbing

Yes I had to go back to VE today. I bought that cute little harness so I think I'm set for gear for awhile. Today I fell off the wall repeatedly. This was a good thing as I was trying routes that took me several tries to get. I can do 5.8 pretty well and some of the 5.9's. I tried a few 5.10 but I'll need ALOT more arm and hand strength to do those. I did incorporate some of the tiny holds on my routes up just to get the practice. I can tell this is something that is going to become a regular thing for me. I'm planning on taking a few of the classes up there this winter to learn more. My first class will be to learn to belay at the Y. Fun! One more note...there is a 20% discount on a ten punch card for VE in The Rake magazine. You can find them at coffee shops. It's a good deal!

Vertical Endeavors

Well I picked up some shoes...now I need a cute little harness to go with...gear...gotta love it! Then I headed over to VE. Russell gave me the orientation and tour and I started climbing. So many routes and it wasn't too crowded at all. It took me a bit to trust the auto belay system but it does work very well! I spent an hour and a half there today and I am seriously thinking about a return trip tomorrow. Oh yeah I can tell I'll be there when it opens tomorrow. Just another addiction, what can I say? Today went well. I climbed the routes marked 5.7 to 5.9 using a combination of the routes. Not once did I fall off the wall but there was one time I quit close to the top. I met two super ladies close to my age and plan on hooking up with them in the future for climbing. I am really impressed with the amount of women that climb! In Red Wing Tuesday night it was just four of us ladies and Nicholle's son climbing. I must say the ladies do very well! BTW shoes made a huge difference!!!!

Awwww Nutz!

I wonder just how much this is going to cost me???? I went to my second wall climbing session and stayed the full 2 hours and loved it! Now I'm looking for more. Tonight I was really concentrating on using my legs to push up. Well I'll be in the cities tomorrow so I am thinking a trip to Vertical Endeavors is in line. I'll see how sore I am after tonight. Vitamin I tonight fer sure! Life is fun!!

King Lines

Or maybe I'm amazed would be a good title for this post. Since I am banned from water sports until my eye heals and the woods are full of hunters I decided to try the climbing wall at the Y. I did this once about three years ago and liked it but never pursued it further. Today I amazed myself to find that I did have the upper body strength to climb. I have to attribute that to all the kayaking I do. It felt great to do the corner and the overhangs. The hardest overhang I couldn't grab the last hand hold though. I will need to pick up some climbing shoes and being female maybe a cute little climbing outfit to go with...just kidding. The Sandstone Ice Fest is coming up and I have been intriuged by ice climbing ever since I saw the clip of Dan ice climbing. I've signed up for the Intro to Ice Climbing on the 7th so I want to have my climbing muscles in shape by then. I'll be back on Tuesday at the Y for another round. I've never saw myself as a climber but this could turn into something very interesting. It will mesh well with my other sports. BTW...Midwest is showing King Lines Monday night. I already saw it at Banff and it's a good flick.

Zap!

Today I finally did something I have wanted to do for quite awhile. I would say the biggest thing holding me back in kayaking is my sight. The contacts I wear have been terrible and many times I have paddled thru rapids nearly blind trying to see what was coming up next. It's no wonder I feel more comfortable on rivers I really know and nervous as ever on those I don't. I try to memorise rapids and I tend to run the same lines each time and not take too many chances. Having read posts about others with this problem I know that the brand of contacts, Accuvue, I wore are by far the worst for this problem. I have tried goggles...I looked like a real geek and they didn't work, sunglasses..don't much work for me, SeaSpecs...still fog like everything else even with antifog on the lens. NOTHING I've tried has worked. Today I had my first eye done with the laser. It's a bit sore but not too bad. The wonderful thing is I can see!!! Truly an amazing thing!! My eye will heal up and I get my next eye done just before Christmas. This coming year is going to be great for kayaking!!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

It's wonderful to have snow falling on Thanksgiving morning! Have a good one!

Backyard Hawk

Where's winter?? I've put my paddle up (kind of) for the winter and I'm ready for the snow. My backyard collects alot of wildlife for being in the city. With my pond I always have open water thru the winter that attracts birds. Today looking out my back window I saw a hawk! I snuck outside to photograph him but he flew off. While trying to get a inflight photo he was pounced on by a crow. I was able to get both in the view finder. The hawk wasn't the only discovery in my backyard. My pond pump is located in a cage under a rock formation. I had to switch out the pump with the tank heater today. When I got to the last rock before the pump cage there was a hybernating frog! He was pretty groggy but he'll winter over somewhere else in my pond with my Koi. I love my pond in the winter as it's an oasis of open water in the middle of the snow. Every morning I have all kinds of birds visiting. Now I'm just waiting for my deer herd to return...I guess they're a bit "busy" this time of year.

Last Chance Louis Paddle 07

Before I hang up the paddle I wanted one more chance at a much bigger river than the Verm. The Duluth crew, Anthony, Burgess, Dave C, Dave S, Roger, and Scott, came thru and braved the cold. It was a really fun paddle!! Not too many photos as taking my glove off was not the thing to do today! Once was enough. The level was 1900cfs. Everything was fun until we got below Rescue Rapids. Then we encountered another??? horizon line??? Even I could hear what sounded like a good drop thru my hoodie and all. As we got closer I heard some of the guys wondering what it was??? Roger went first and I could tell by his body language that it wasn't a bunny drop. I went third and when I was able to see what was there a bad word went thru my mind. Oh yeah I was looking at some low head dam action. Kind of like a mini Terminal Surfer on the Menomonie. I tried to get some good speed and boof a little but as soon as I landed I felt myself getting sucked back in. I threw up my edge and side surfed cause there was NO WAY I wanted to flip in there. I heard Roger yelling "Surf it out Nora! Surf it out!" I carved towards river right and was able to get enough speed to carve out down stream. Whew..OK...what happened there was the reservoir was way down...near empty. This drop appears only when the resevoir is low. Looking back at the drop...it's a river wide ledge. We took it center and a bit to the right. I won't say that this is the last paddle of the year for me because I may stop at the Verm on my way to work this week. The ride home was icy and pouring down rain so the Verm may have a bit more fun on it yet this year.

Saturday Vermillion

I paddled the Verm with Dennis today. The level was low but the speed was there so there was a little play. Triple was best today. I headed up to the Expo after that. Now that was a good time. I ran into several people I knew and also checked out some other sports I'm wanting to try. A kind person who shall remain nameless gave me a Banff ticket! So I killed a couple of hours till the show by stopping at the Chinese Bakery across the street from Midwest. It was an interesting dinner as the workers and customers were incredibly friendly...made for a fun dinner! The movies were great! I am definitely buying tickets next year! Thanks again mysterious person for the ticket!!

Something You'll Never See a Labrador Do.

Why a pug? Well a long time ago I gave my young son a choice of any dog he wanted.

He had recently seen the movie, Milo and Otis...note...always monitor what movies your kids watch...there are consequences. He chose a Pug. I had been a life long Doberman owner so I didn't know what I was in for. Needless to say Pugs brought alot of love and entertainment to our lives. Check out this video...it's Pug typical! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLtq7Bz9wH4

Got Some Good Air and Hang Time!

Unfortunately it was on my rollerblades...oops! Tucked and rolled but the knee is missing some skin and a few other bruises to boot. I really love rollerblading and listening to music. I can just cruise and let my mind wander reliving past enjoyment and projecting future fun to be had. I believe the techincal term for this is "daydreaming". The path had just been trimmed of all the brush along the sides and no matter how good they cleaned up there were twiggs here and there on the trail. The combination of twilight and debris took me down. Right now I am finding myself extremely restless. Kayaking is pretty slow and snow kiting isn't here yet. I am relying on the YMCA and rollerblading for my exercise but it's just not the same. Maybe it's the people I'm missing! That said the last weekend of kayaking for me for quite awhile will be the weekend of the 17th. Lets hope for some good rain to bring up the levels or just head to the Louis.

Thursday Paddle

The Verm is getting lower. Donut still has play on it. Styling my new PFD. I wanted something with more freedom of movement.