View allAll Photos Tagged thebug
Ah, let me tell you the tale of 'The Bug'! Back in the 1950s and 60s, this little automobile took the US by storm, buzzing around the streets like a colorful beetle in a field of wildflowers. With its quirky charm and unmistakable design, it captured the hearts of adventurers and free spirits alike.
From hippies grooving to the rhythm of its engine as they embarked on cross-country road trips, to families packing themselves like sardines for a weekend getaway, 'The Bug' became more than just a car – it was a symbol of freedom, individuality, and a touch of rebellious spirit. Its round headlights and curvy frame seemed to wink at every passerby, spreading joy and laughter wherever it went.
And oh, the stories it could tell, from cruising along Route 66 to sneaking into drive-in theaters under the cover of dusk. 'The Bug' wasn't just a vehicle; it was a companion on life's grand adventure, a trusty steed for those who dared to dream a little bigger and drive a little farther.
Last night I went to a very nice concert where, among others, The Swing Beans were performing. A great Brisbane group playing Jazz, Swing and anything else. Here they are playing the old 1924 tune written by Isham Jones.
Not a great luck with my precedent Big Bug… he died frozen after only five minutes in the snow…!!! … I’d to find another one more frost resistant…!!! Just look what I found… a Big Bug with a panache looking like my reindeer in the North Pole…!!! LOL
Dire Straits… The Bug…!!!
Lovely night of folk music at The Bug. The band "Maud Linn and the Tearjerkers" were playing as main act.
Such a pity I cannot upload music clips anymore but even a one minute clip seems "too large" for Flickr to cope with
The group 'East of West' with a great Middle Eastern fusion sound. Also performing at 'The Bug' last night.
Another snowstorm here…!!! My big sell of snow… not a great success…!!! …Now I’m dreaming of bugs… a lot of big bugs eater of snow…!!! LOL
Not a great luck with this one too cause my sweet friend Janoid said to me that she made a lot of nightmares at each nights… I didn’t want to be responsable that Janoid lost her wonderful smile… I can’t imagine it… it would be a terrific desaster for Flickr… worst than the wild Microsoft OPA on Yahoo…!!! LOL
That’s why for the last one of this serie I’d posted this non-agressive Big Bug with a little heart… !!!
Do you think she’ll make a lot of sweet dreams tonight… ??? :)))
camera: panasonic fz50 + raynox dcr250
diaphragme: f6.3
vitesse: 1/25s
foacle: 242mm
iso: 100
programme: manuel
Last night I went to a concert where Innessa performed. What a talent! She writes her own songs but also sings folk songs from her native Ukraine.
While at the southern end of Vancouver Island we ferried over to Saltspring Island to visit John (cc49) and Cheryl. After a great lunch we decided to explore the island, beginning with Mt. Maxwell. The getting there though took longer than we thought it might and the view from the top was not to be rushed so Mt. Maxwell was as far as we got.
Another year, perhaps, John?
Seen in action on demonstration sections of track at the science Museum’s outstation at Wroughton are two unique and contrasting locomotives. The larger of the two is a replica of Richard Trevithick’s high-pressure steam locomotive of 1804. The original worked at the Pen-y-Darren Ironworks in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The replica locomotive was built in 1981 and currently resides at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
Alongside is No.4 ‘The Bug’, a narrow-gauge 0-4-0T+Tender locomotive built for the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway in 1926. After being sold by the RHDR in 1934, it had a later career with other leisure railways before being found derelict in a Belfast scrapyard in 1972. The locomotive was reacquired by the RHDR and restored to steam.
September 1987
Rollei 35 camera
Kodachrome ASA64 film.
Roadburn Festival 2018, 013 Main Stage
Sunday, April 22nd, Tilburg
Digital Harinezumi 3.0
derohlsen.blogspot.de/2018/05/roadburn-festival-2018-day-...
Brisbane based folk music band The Jar performing last night. Great sound!
The BUg- Brisbane Unplugged Folk/Acoustic Music
"The Bug" was built by Krauss of Munich n 1926 for construction of the line, but after the Dungeness extension was completed there was little for it to do and it was sold in 1933. In 1972 it was found in a scrap yard and rescued by Sir William McAlipne, and was restored in 1974. In this view it is seen at New Romey yard on 17 April 1988.
From my Fisherprice First Camera this shot of The Bug and Hurcules at New Romney during a santa special in December 1991, my only other visit to the RH&DR to date!
Taken in about 1996
Bristol Docks, on a bright sunny day in around 1996.
This unusual dockside crane at Wapping Wharf is the last remaining exmple of a steam-powered 'Fairbairn Crane', and was constructed in 1878. To the left of the crane is Ruston & Hornsby 0-4-0DM 418792 - known as 'The Bug' - which was built in 1959, and donated to the Bristol Harbour Railway in 1995.
Today (2023) the crane is in steam on special occasions, and the railway has two steam locos for passenger trips.
Restored from a faded dust-speckled original large-format negative..
Original negative - property of Robert Gadsdon
Neighbors across the street had a visitor and she came in this brand new Bug... I saw her park in front of my house and they met her and told her to park across the street.. I'm glad because I get tired of people parking in front of the house and then I don't have any space... This effect was done with a little stand alone called SuperPhoto...
Our second day at Applebee called for the only rain forecasted the entire trip, and as a result most people chose this as a rest day. Not wanting to take a rest day, or be trapped in a storm we chose an objective that was not only close to camp, but also didn't involve any commitment (so as to facilitate an easy retreat), the west ridge of Crescent spire. Eventually in the mountains weather will occur, and you will have to face it. I'm not one to shy from unfavorable conditions; so we headed out prepared to get wet and turn back. In the least would be a good scouting day, and for me a good cloudage day for photos.
After crossing the moraines, past the two tarns, up the rock step and past the base of the Crescent towers we found ourselves on top of Crescent glacier. We've been carefully monitoring the sky, and without a doubt in my mind rain is coming. Everything had been smooth sailing up till this point, but up ahead we still have to reach the top of the glacier, and navigate a tricky snow/rock interface before we can begin the pitched climbing. The route up the col is often scrambled by people on their way up Bugaboo spire, but we planned to rope up. The route is also a bolted rappel route making it easy to back off when the rain arrives. It's mostly 4th and low 5th scrambling, with lots of loose rock at the top, but with the condition of the glacier this year getting onto the route is the crux. Here is Alana having a snack on the glacier before we continue ahead into harder terrain, and stormier skies.
The Bugaboos - August 12-18, 2012
Living in Squamish I am very lucky to be surrounded by excellent rock to train my technical climbing skills as well as many great peaks for scrambling. But, until last week I had never had the opportunity to combine the two skills I've been developing for years. That all changed when a friend invited me to be her partner on the yearly trip my friend group takes. Two months after the invitiation, a partner swap, and a week of careful packing and preparation I actually found myself driving east about to embark on what would be the greatest adventure of my life to date.
The moment I arrived at basecamp my lofty climbing aspiration were downgraded to starting with a 4th class route and going from there. I received tons of advice from friends that had been going for several years, but still nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there. The ascent to Applebee basecamp, the scale of the spires, the difficulty of the glaciers, and the exposure did not translate well to maps and photos I found myself in awe and terror. Every single obstacle I encountered was more physically and mentally demanding that I could have expected.
Even though we were with a large group of friends, we were on our own when we headed out for the day and often learning as we went. As a result we learned many lessons the hard way, including when to put crampons on, when to switch into rock shoes, how hard preventing rockfall can be, and all the ways rappelling can go wrong.
It was both the single most terrifying and rewarding experience of my life. Never did I expect to learn so much in a week, or do so little actual climbing. Instead it was a wild ride of alpine obstacles, and a truly life changing experience shared with great friends old and new.
A brief summary of my adventure:
Aug 12 - Hike into Applebee base camp with 80+lbs pack full of climbing, camping, and glacier gear as well as 7 days of food, and clothes for everything from -10 to +30 degrees celcius rain and shine.
Aug 13 - Eastpost spire, combination of Northeast and Northwest ridges.
Aug 14 - Crescent Spire, W ridge. - Rained off first attempt, after self arresting and improv. anchor construction.
Aug 15 - Crescent Spire, W ridge - Successful ascent followed by rappelling disaster involving ditching a rope that was later recovered
Aug 16 - Pigeon Spire, W ridge - Got 30m up route then turned back to save terror management skills for descent back down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col
Aug 17 - Eastpost spire again and bathing in the tarn
Aug 18 - Hike out and long drive home
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding my experience.
Photos from this trip were taken with a combination of my Nikon D7000, Olympus uT8000 & GoPro HD2
Note the miniature railway in the foreground. A 15" gauge railway opened here in the early 1930s using 'The Bug', a steam loco acquired from the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. The railway closed in 1950 and the loco spent several years in a scrapyard before being rescued in 1972. It's now back at Romney again.
Check out my other miniature railway pics on Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/trainsandstuff/collections/72157625...
Showing the old reservoir catchment wall around the top.
See more info down in the comments!
The slide is better than this old copy... (Now replaced with new scan 17/10/23)
in the VW log book, no date speedo 99021mi. at Hyden, a 677mi round trip.
On a later on the return trip from Mt Barker and Williams, the Beetle #UPR236 speedo clicked over 100,000 miles at 139 1/2 mile peg on the Albany Highway at 6:50pm 10/9/67
It ended at Western Motors with 107,656 on the clock as a trade in on the new white Kombi... 17-18th Feb 1968
We then took the Kombi up to the Nambung R. caves for its first caving trip. getting 22.2mpg after many years of 33-36mpg in the Beetle.
Our first 370mi in the Kombi gave us 23.2mpg!
We bailed on our first attempt of Crescent spire due to rain, but we had a great learning experience and it was a very photogenic day in the mountains. We had planned our outing in accordance with the weather; at no point were we in any danger. I never expected I would learn that much through trial and error in a single day without facing an actual disaster. Taking our lessons from the previous days mistakes we were off again for a second more efficient attempt of Crescent spire. This time we crossed the moraines and glacier quicker, put on our harnesses and crampons before the snow got steep, and our rock shoes before we got on the rock.
After successfully making it up the col Alana takes a moment to enjoy the view. The GIANT axe on her pack was borrow from a friend, and is called The Mountain Slayer. It was a little big for her but did the trick.
The Bugaboos - August 12-18, 2012
Living in Squamish I am very lucky to be surrounded by excellent rock to train my technical climbing skills as well as many great peaks for scrambling. But, until last week I had never had the opportunity to combine the two skills I've been developing for years. That all changed when a friend invited me to be her partner on the yearly trip my friend group takes. Two months after the invitiation, a partner swap, and a week of careful packing and preparation I actually found myself driving east about to embark on what would be the greatest adventure of my life to date.
The moment I arrived at basecamp my lofty climbing aspiration were downgraded to starting with a 4th class route and going from there. I received tons of advice from friends that had been going for several years, but still nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there. The ascent to Applebee basecamp, the scale of the spires, the difficulty of the glaciers, and the exposure did not translate well to maps and photos I found myself in awe and terror. Every single obstacle I encountered was more physically and mentally demanding that I could have expected.
Even though we were with a large group of friends, we were on our own when we headed out for the day and often learning as we went. As a result we learned many lessons the hard way, including when to put crampons on, when to switch into rock shoes, how hard preventing rockfall can be, and all the ways rappelling can go wrong.
It was both the single most terrifying and rewarding experience of my life. Never did I expect to learn so much in a week, or do so little actual climbing. Instead it was a wild ride of alpine obstacles, and a truly life changing experience shared with great friends old and new.
A brief summary of my adventure:
Aug 12 - Hike into Applebee base camp with 80+lbs pack full of climbing, camping, and glacier gear as well as 7 days of food, and clothes for everything from -10 to +30 degrees celcius rain and shine.
Aug 13 - Eastpost spire, combination of Northeast and Northwest ridges.
Aug 14 - Crescent Spire, W ridge. - Rained off first attempt, after self arresting and improv. anchor construction.
Aug 15 - Crescent Spire, W ridge - Successful ascent followed by rappelling disaster involving ditching a rope that was later recovered
Aug 16 - Pigeon Spire, W ridge - Got 30m up route then turned back to save terror management skills for descent back down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col
Aug 17 - Eastpost spire again and bathing in the tarn
Aug 18 - Hike out and long drive home
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding my experience.
Photos from this trip were taken with a combination of my Nikon D7000, Olympus uT8000 & GoPro HD2
Our second day at Applebee called for the only rain forecasted the entire trip, and as a result most people chose this as a rest day. Not wanting to take a rest day, or be trapped in a storm we chose an objective that was not only close to camp, but also didn't involve any commitment (so as to facilitate an easy retreat), the west ridge of Crescent spire. Eventually in the mountains weather will occur, and you will have to face it. I'm not one to shy from unfavorable conditions; so we headed out prepared to get wet and turn back. In the least would be a good scouting day, and for me a good cloudage day for photos.
This is a view looking back towards camp and the mountains beyond from above the first tarn. We paused frequently on our approach to monitor the clouds changes, and remain aware of the incoming threat. To the right of the tarn you can see the footpath through the snow. It would really suck to slip and fall in the icy water, luckily the path was well travelled with a high and low route option. We took the high route, not that slipping was a concern.
The Bugaboos - August 12-18, 2012
Living in Squamish I am very lucky to be surrounded by excellent rock to train my technical climbing skills as well as many great peaks for scrambling. But, until last week I had never had the opportunity to combine the two skills I've been developing for years. That all changed when a friend invited me to be her partner on the yearly trip my friend group takes. Two months after the invitiation, a partner swap, and a week of careful packing and preparation I actually found myself driving east about to embark on what would be the greatest adventure of my life to date.
The moment I arrived at basecamp my lofty climbing aspiration were downgraded to starting with a 4th class route and going from there. I received tons of advice from friends that had been going for several years, but still nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there. The ascent to Applebee basecamp, the scale of the spires, the difficulty of the glaciers, and the exposure did not translate well to maps and photos I found myself in awe and terror. Every single obstacle I encountered was more physically and mentally demanding that I could have expected.
Even though we were with a large group of friends, we were on our own when we headed out for the day and often learning as we went. As a result we learned many lessons the hard way, including when to put crampons on, when to switch into rock shoes, how hard preventing rockfall can be, and all the ways rappelling can go wrong.
It was both the single most terrifying and rewarding experience of my life. Never did I expect to learn so much in a week, or do so little actual climbing. Instead it was a wild ride of alpine obstacles, and a truly life changing experience shared with great friends old and new.
A brief summary of my adventure:
Aug 12 - Hike into Applebee base camp with 80+lbs pack full of climbing, camping, and glacier gear as well as 7 days of food, and clothes for everything from -10 to +30 degrees celcius rain and shine.
Aug 13 - Eastpost spire, combination of Northeast and Northwest ridges.
Aug 14 - Crescent Spire, W ridge. - Rained off first attempt, after self arresting and improv. anchor construction.
Aug 15 - Crescent Spire, W ridge - Successful ascent followed by rappelling disaster involving ditching a rope that was later recovered
Aug 16 - Pigeon Spire, W ridge - Got 30m up route then turned back to save terror management skills for descent back down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col
Aug 17 - Eastpost spire again and bathing in the tarn
Aug 18 - Hike out and long drive home
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding my experience.
Photos from this trip were taken with a combination of my Nikon D7000, Olympus uT8000 & GoPro HD2
We bailed on our first attempt of Crescent spire due to rain, but we had a great learning experience and it was a very photogenic day in the mountains. We had planned our outing in accordance with the weather; at no point were we in any danger. I never expected I would learn that much through trial and error in a single day without facing an actual disaster. Taking our lessons from the previous days mistakes we were off again for a second more efficient attempt of Crescent spire. This time we crossed the moraines and glacier quicker, put on our harnesses and crampons before the snow got steep, and our rock shoes before we got on the rock.
Here is Alana happily on top of the col after efficiently making it to the top. We decided to rappel the McTech line instead of reversing the route, or continuing along the ridge to the Crescent spire summit and taking the Crescent-Towers col back to the glacier. I really, really wanted to summit so Alana chilled out for a bit while I quickly scampered along the ridge and up to the Crescent Spire summit. The ridge was solid and it was really easy and enjoyable to move so quickly. When it was time to descend I nervously leaned around to the bolts in the face to set up a rappel. It was more exposed than anything we had faced so far, but conquering that was only the beginning of the long trip down. Rappelling went about as horribly as it possibly can without injuries. In short there was stuck ropes follow by being helped my some Romanians only to have the rope get stuck again and left behind. We went down as a party of four on two ropes, encountered more stuck ropes, up climbing and scary traverses. It took what felt like hours to rappel four 60m pitches to reach the glacier again. It was smooth sailing back to camp once on the glacier, and I was extremely lucky to have some nice gentlemen Simon and Tim rescue my rope on their descent.
The Bugaboos - August 12-18, 2012
Living in Squamish I am very lucky to be surrounded by excellent rock to train my technical climbing skills as well as many great peaks for scrambling. But, until last week I had never had the opportunity to combine the two skills I've been developing for years. That all changed when a friend invited me to be her partner on the yearly trip my friend group takes. Two months after the invitiation, a partner swap, and a week of careful packing and preparation I actually found myself driving east about to embark on what would be the greatest adventure of my life to date.
The moment I arrived at basecamp my lofty climbing aspiration were downgraded to starting with a 4th class route and going from there. I received tons of advice from friends that had been going for several years, but still nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there. The ascent to Applebee basecamp, the scale of the spires, the difficulty of the glaciers, and the exposure did not translate well to maps and photos I found myself in awe and terror. Every single obstacle I encountered was more physically and mentally demanding that I could have expected.
Even though we were with a large group of friends, we were on our own when we headed out for the day and often learning as we went. As a result we learned many lessons the hard way, including when to put crampons on, when to switch into rock shoes, how hard preventing rockfall can be, and all the ways rappelling can go wrong.
It was both the single most terrifying and rewarding experience of my life. Never did I expect to learn so much in a week, or do so little actual climbing. Instead it was a wild ride of alpine obstacles, and a truly life changing experience shared with great friends old and new.
A brief summary of my adventure:
Aug 12 - Hike into Applebee base camp with 80+lbs pack full of climbing, camping, and glacier gear as well as 7 days of food, and clothes for everything from -10 to +30 degrees celcius rain and shine.
Aug 13 - Eastpost spire, combination of Northeast and Northwest ridges.
Aug 14 - Crescent Spire, W ridge. - Rained off first attempt, after self arresting and improv. anchor construction.
Aug 15 - Crescent Spire, W ridge - Successful ascent followed by rappelling disaster involving ditching a rope that was later recovered
Aug 16 - Pigeon Spire, W ridge - Got 30m up route then turned back to save terror management skills for descent back down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col
Aug 17 - Eastpost spire again and bathing in the tarn
Aug 18 - Hike out and long drive home
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding my experience.
Photos from this trip were taken with a combination of my Nikon D7000, Olympus uT8000 & GoPro HD2
After 4 days on the trip, and all the obstacles I had encountered I had planned to have an emotional rest day. That didn't end up happening when the option to go up Pigeon Spire's west ridge as a group came up. Before I knew it five of us were setting off from camp towards the Snowpatch-Bugaboo Col. We travelled un-roped up the steep col; the path was well trodden, but it still made me nervous. There was no room for error as we navigated the bergshrunds, and my nerves only got worse as we moved above them. The scramble off the col in crampons over loose, sandy, rock terrain was extremely scary, and a first for me. At that point the thought of descending down the col was so terrifying it made crossing the next glacier towards the Pigeon-Howers col seems like a cake walk (really it was either way). I was feeling rather proud of myself by the time we got to the base of Pigeon's west ridge, but it didn't take long for that to change. I made it less than 50m up the route before I decided it would be best for me to turn around and wait at the base to travel back to camp with the team. I had experienced a lot of new and scary experiences on the trip so far, and had almost reached my fear processing limit. I still had to descend the col and knew that it would take a lot out of me.
I was given the options to be lowered off the top of the col, into the bergschrund, and down the other side, or to walk down the way I came up. I had gotten myself up there, and was going to get myself down on my own. I experienced one of greatest moments of concentration in my life while climbing down loose rocks in crampons onto the icy snow below, and descending through the bergschrunds. A great wave of relief came over as I passed below the bergschrunds, but it wasn't over yet; rockfall is a constant threat on the col. I made it down safely, learned a lot about myself, and made the right decision to turn around when I did. Pigeon spire isn't going anywhere, and now it will feel fun when I climb it next season.
Here is some of the crew heading up the first section of the west ridge. I turned back near the top of this slab and hung out at the col taking photos.
The Bugaboos - August 12-18, 2012
Living in Squamish I am very lucky to be surrounded by excellent rock to train my technical climbing skills as well as many great peaks for scrambling. But, until last week I had never had the opportunity to combine the two skills I've been developing for years. That all changed when a friend invited me to be her partner on the yearly trip my friend group takes. Two months after the invitiation, a partner swap, and a week of careful packing and preparation I actually found myself driving east about to embark on what would be the greatest adventure of my life to date.
The moment I arrived at basecamp my lofty climbing aspiration were downgraded to starting with a 4th class route and going from there. I received tons of advice from friends that had been going for several years, but still nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there. The ascent to Applebee basecamp, the scale of the spires, the difficulty of the glaciers, and the exposure did not translate well to maps and photos I found myself in awe and terror. Every single obstacle I encountered was more physically and mentally demanding that I could have expected.
Even though we were with a large group of friends, we were on our own when we headed out for the day and often learning as we went. As a result we learned many lessons the hard way, including when to put crampons on, when to switch into rock shoes, how hard preventing rockfall can be, and all the ways rappelling can go wrong.
It was both the single most terrifying and rewarding experience of my life. Never did I expect to learn so much in a week, or do so little actual climbing. Instead it was a wild ride of alpine obstacles, and a truly life changing experience shared with great friends old and new.
A brief summary of my adventure:
Aug 12 - Hike into Applebee base camp with 80+lbs pack full of climbing, camping, and glacier gear as well as 7 days of food, and clothes for everything from -10 to +30 degrees celcius rain and shine.
Aug 13 - Eastpost spire, combination of Northeast and Northwest ridges.
Aug 14 - Crescent Spire, W ridge. - Rained off first attempt, after self arresting and improv. anchor construction.
Aug 15 - Crescent Spire, W ridge - Successful ascent followed by rappelling disaster involving ditching a rope that was later recovered
Aug 16 - Pigeon Spire, W ridge - Got 30m up route then turned back to save terror management skills for descent back down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col
Aug 17 - Eastpost spire again and bathing in the tarn
Aug 18 - Hike out and long drive home
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding my experience.
Photos from this trip were taken with a combination of my Nikon D7000, Olympus uT8000 & GoPro HD2
After deciding to turn back on Pigeon Spire's west ridge in order to manager rising stress levels I had a couple hours to kill while waiting on the Pigeon-Howser Col, so I snapped a bunch of photos.
Here is Pigeon Spire, and the start of the West ridge route as seem from the south side of the Pigeon-Howser Col
The Bugaboos - August 12-18, 2012
Living in Squamish I am very lucky to be surrounded by excellent rock to train my technical climbing skills as well as many great peaks for scrambling. But, until last week I had never had the opportunity to combine the two skills I've been developing for years. That all changed when a friend invited me to be her partner on the yearly trip my friend group takes. Two months after the invitiation, a partner swap, and a week of careful packing and preparation I actually found myself driving east about to embark on what would be the greatest adventure of my life to date.
The moment I arrived at basecamp my lofty climbing aspiration were downgraded to starting with a 4th class route and going from there. I received tons of advice from friends that had been going for several years, but still nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there. The ascent to Applebee basecamp, the scale of the spires, the difficulty of the glaciers, and the exposure did not translate well to maps and photos I found myself in awe and terror. Every single obstacle I encountered was more physically and mentally demanding that I could have expected.
Even though we were with a large group of friends, we were on our own when we headed out for the day and often learning as we went. As a result we learned many lessons the hard way, including when to put crampons on, when to switch into rock shoes, how hard preventing rockfall can be, and all the ways rappelling can go wrong.
It was both the single most terrifying and rewarding experience of my life. Never did I expect to learn so much in a week, or do so little actual climbing. Instead it was a wild ride of alpine obstacles, and a truly life changing experience shared with great friends old and new.
A brief summary of my adventure:
Aug 12 - Hike into Applebee base camp with 80+lbs pack full of climbing, camping, and glacier gear as well as 7 days of food, and clothes for everything from -10 to +30 degrees celcius rain and shine.
Aug 13 - Eastpost spire, combination of Northeast and Northwest ridges.
Aug 14 - Crescent Spire, W ridge. - Rained off first attempt, after self arresting and improv. anchor construction.
Aug 15 - Crescent Spire, W ridge - Successful ascent followed by rappelling disaster involving ditching a rope that was later recovered
Aug 16 - Pigeon Spire, W ridge - Got 30m up route then turned back to save terror management skills for descent back down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col
Aug 17 - Eastpost spire again and bathing in the tarn
Aug 18 - Hike out and long drive home
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding my experience.
Photos from this trip were taken with a combination of my Nikon D7000, Olympus uT8000 & GoPro HD2
Our second day at Applebee called for the only rain forecasted the entire trip, and as a result most people chose this as a rest day. Not wanting to take a rest day, or be trapped in a storm we chose an objective that was not only close to camp, but also didn't involve any commitment (so as to facilitate an easy retreat), the west ridge of Crescent spire. Eventually in the mountains weather will occur, and you will have to face it. I'm not one to shy from unfavorable conditions; so we headed out prepared to get wet and turn back. In the least would be a good scouting day, and for me a good cloudage day for photos.
Up until we reached the top of Crescent glacier everything had gone smoothly. We hadn't needed our crampons so far, and therefore didn't think to put them on for the last section of the glacier leading up to the start of the rock route. As we approached the upper reaches of the glacier I slipped and started sliding. I had practiced self-arrest in the past, but had never actually needed to use the skill. As it turned out my practice and study paid off because as quickly as I had gone down the do's and don't diagram flashed before my eyes and I had executed a perfect self-arrest. It certainly got my heart pumping, but now I have greater confidence in my ability to behave instinctually in such situations. Back on my feet again we continued along to the upper edge of the glacier where the route up the col begins. We carefully put on our harnesses while balancing on the steep snow slope; we should have done this before moving onto the steep terrain, but didn't know better. This was a mistake I will never make again. A low snow year made getting onto the rock a little tricky as the glacier had pulled away from the rock. We carefully got ourselves into a safe stance between the snow and rock, and I started leading the first pitch. Being that getting off the snow was tricky I thought it would be smarter to do it in my boots, but then very quickly found I wanted to be wearing rock shoes. A second mistake that ate up time and made for stressful, and precarious stances. Now I know, put shoes on before getting on the rock. In the mess of getting on the rock, changing shoes, being new to twin-ropes and having no line of sight to the first belay I was off to a horrible start. I botched the gear placements, and ropes management so badly that by the time I reached the base of the slab only half way up the first pitch I decided to build a impromptu gear belay to avoid rope drag pulling me off the slab. The ledge I stopped at was horribly sandy, and all the gear placements were mediocre at best. It took constant diligence to avoid knocking any more rocks than necessary onto Alana. Still rocks fell, it was unavoidable as we learned. As quickly as I could I brought up Alana, and continued up looking for the actual end to the first pitch. I had climbed past it by keeping too far into the corner, and had to downclimb to the anchors. This is Alana coming across a small traverse to join me at the anchors at the top of the first pitch.
After this I was off to a smoother lead on the second pitch. While slightly run-out I feel a rain drop. I find a gear placement, and as I'm moving to the next I feel a couple more rain drops. Alana calls up 'I feel something' to which I reply with a 'I know' while placing the next piece. In the blink of an eye it was pouring and every inch or rock is soaking wet. I climb as fast as safely possible to reach the next belay. With very little deliberation needed I was setting up to rappel instead of building a anchor. By the time I cleaned the gear and got back down to Alana at the top of the first pitch our route was a river and we were quickly getting soaked. We quickly got our rain shells on and were rappelling back onto the snow. We chose to take a route back to camp that allowed us to get a closer look at the imposing Snowpatch-Bugaboo Col. Luckily the rain eased off for our hike back before attacking full force once we were safetly back at camp.
The Bugaboos - August 12-18, 2012
Living in Squamish I am very lucky to be surrounded by excellent rock to train my technical climbing skills as well as many great peaks for scrambling. But, until last week I had never had the opportunity to combine the two skills I've been developing for years. That all changed when a friend invited me to be her partner on the yearly trip my friend group takes. Two months after the invitiation, a partner swap, and a week of careful packing and preparation I actually found myself driving east about to embark on what would be the greatest adventure of my life to date.
The moment I arrived at basecamp my lofty climbing aspiration were downgraded to starting with a 4th class route and going from there. I received tons of advice from friends that had been going for several years, but still nothing could have prepared me for the reality of being there. The ascent to Applebee basecamp, the scale of the spires, the difficulty of the glaciers, and the exposure did not translate well to maps and photos I found myself in awe and terror. Every single obstacle I encountered was more physically and mentally demanding that I could have expected.
Even though we were with a large group of friends, we were on our own when we headed out for the day and often learning as we went. As a result we learned many lessons the hard way, including when to put crampons on, when to switch into rock shoes, how hard preventing rockfall can be, and all the ways rappelling can go wrong.
It was both the single most terrifying and rewarding experience of my life. Never did I expect to learn so much in a week, or do so little actual climbing. Instead it was a wild ride of alpine obstacles, and a truly life changing experience shared with great friends old and new.
A brief summary of my adventure:
Aug 12 - Hike into Applebee base camp with 80+lbs pack full of climbing, camping, and glacier gear as well as 7 days of food, and clothes for everything from -10 to +30 degrees celcius rain and shine.
Aug 13 - Eastpost spire, combination of Northeast and Northwest ridges.
Aug 14 - Crescent Spire, W ridge. - Rained off first attempt, after self arresting and improv. anchor construction.
Aug 15 - Crescent Spire, W ridge - Successful ascent followed by rappelling disaster involving ditching a rope that was later recovered
Aug 16 - Pigeon Spire, W ridge - Got 30m up route then turned back to save terror management skills for descent back down the Bugaboo-Snowpatch col
Aug 17 - Eastpost spire again and bathing in the tarn
Aug 18 - Hike out and long drive home
Please feel free to contact me with any questions regarding my experience.
Photos from this trip were taken with a combination of my Nikon D7000, Olympus uT8000 & GoPro HD2