Solo Ladies

“name of book?”

“It wasn;t a book but an article, I think in Outside.”

“he mentioned a guy in his book, caught by his legs under a boulder in a river, but his buddies were in yelling distance and they got the help to get him out. i only soloed the one time so far, i did not take any risks. i was very careful with my maps and compass. i did some mild scrambling, NOTHING like him at all. i just can't see myself ever doing what he did. i wonder what he does now, he mentions at the end of his book that he solos still.”

“Ooo, that one sounds a little too much for me. Can't imagine what he wrote, don't want to find out. Kind of like the movie "Grizzly Man" where the guy listened to the recording of the two people are being killed by a grizzly bear.”

“Yeah, it's pretty depressing.

Ralston is still a climber. He just has a climbing ax that attaches to his stump. He does ads for personal locator beacons.”

“i think the book is MUCH less depressing than the special that NBC and Tom Brokaw did! please read the book, i think that if you saw the news first you'll be surprisded”

“Aaron still goes out solo - he still goes into the canyons and he rock climbs - he's a pretty amazing guy - doesn't let anything slow him down.”

“i wish i were soloing RIGHT NOW!”

“run out of D batteries Pammie?”

“?

i'm a A cup! ha ha ha hahahah

no actually, what do yo mean?”

“I don;t think the Ralston story is depressing at all. I'm talking about the guy who withered away alone.”

“i want to read that rosey, i'm gonna look for it. got a name for the guy or the article?

fight figt fight!
last edited: 5/09/07 3:35:45 PM”

“Is this the guy?
www.pinedaleonline.com/miketurner.htm”

“ok, so that is sad. i will remember to stay away from boulders from now on.

oh G** i cannot take another sad thing right now”

“Yup. That's it.”

“ummmm Pammie - you do know what a BOB is - right? Do you see any possible application of batteries (for BOB) and the idea of "soloing"”

“Sombody give Pamela something happy to think about, lord knows I got nothin.”

“ok, i get that! don't understan=d bob though? is this something new? ;O)”

“BOB = Battery Operated Boyfriend

and no they are nothing "new"
last edited: 5/09/07 4:10:54 PM”

“thats the thing you know, batteries are LIKE boyfriens, they quit before you are done. you gotta have a cordded one, they are like husbands, they dont stope until you turn them off! LOLOLOLO!!!!”

“Hi Pamela. sorry I couldn't reply yesterday. My computer crashed and it's still crap.

You know what, when I am in the office I am dreaming about an out-time from work. I am day dreaming about traveling the US for three month, solo lady, and spending all my time to backpack, kayak and go camping with as many TT folks as possible.
Oh, what a dream! Just imagine that. Wouldn't that be cool?”

“Roseymonster, was that the preacher guy? That was a great read.”

“Pammy, you said Ralston was a huge risk taker. After I read that book, which has been maybe 3 years ago, I felt he was at times a huge foolish risk taker. He put others in danger.

As far as soloing, ya gotta be smart. Maybe don't take those small risks you might take with others. Or, take them, but know there can be dire consequences.

Last summer I did a 9-mile or so round tri day hike in the Bighorns to get to this big Porcupine Creek waterfall. It was offtrail, which was no big deal for awhile. Probably under a quarter mile total in distance from the trail proper.

But as I got close, I had to navigate over all kinds of fallen rocks, likely granite. Some were loose. I wanted to get to the other side of the stream for the best angle on a photograph. Fearful of the rocks, I tried to shimmy across the stream on a downed tree. It started to rotate. I got off that fast!!!!

So I went ahead and through the rocks, as carefully as I could. They were piled up on a very steep slope. I made it as close as I could on that side to where the falls dropped 200 ft. through rock pillars, or "jaws," for which the trail is named.

That whole thing was probably not really a good idea solo. But I really wanted to see it, so was as careful as I could be. I tested each rock before I stepped on it.

So do what you're comfortable with... but know the consequences if alone in a precarious situation in the boonies.

Of course, living alone you can fall it the bathtub or shower and drown. So maybe you do want to get out there and live a little. LOL! :-)”

“Of course, living alone you can fall it the bathtub or shower and drown. So maybe you do want to get out there and live a little. LOL! :-)”
lizs
10:15:31 AM
5/10/07

Yeah, so true. But for the peace of living alone, so worth it! Dang, everything has it's trade offs.

Anyways, curious as to what he is up to, I googled him yesterday, I didn't find out anything, but I found this website and added a comment of my own.

http://www.allclimbing.com/archive/2006/07/aron-ralston-update/”

“Well I can for sure verify that LucyJones is not a troll. I have pictures which I will post on webshots later this evening. We hiked together this weekend. I can not verify though whether she had a good time as she finished the trail much faster then we did and although I did receive a picture from her did not get her 2nd day trip report. Hopefully nothing happened which made her hurry away. We were also with some newbies who I am very please to say finished the whole trail even though they set up a vehicle in case they decided to abort the mission. Everybody needs to hike their own hike. My hike was about encouraging my friend who had been in a car accident a couple years ago and is trying to regain some of the physical ability she lost. Hope everybody had a great weekend.”

“Mornin, Graska! Of course I had a good time. Once I got booking along yesterday, I couldn't stop. Especially since there was distant thunder and I wanted to get to the car before the rain hit. I reached the trailhead at 1:45 and the rain started at 2:04. Hope you guys didn't get wet. I liked pushing myself and keeping the heart-rate up. But, I did have a good time! Thanks!”

“

Fox River Valley Girls are the greatest. Some of them I definitely miss.
nowslimmer
4:10:01 AM
5/02/07

I can't wait to see her picture, although Fox River Valley Girls have a lot more than just looks.”

“I am really starting to like this nowslimmer guy!
Actually, nowslimmer, we talked about you on our hike. I mentioned that you were familiar with the area we were hiking in. Hidden Lakes trail, Eagle River.”

“Glad to hear that! We were just behind you then at 2:45. Margaret had some blister issues but besides that did great! The dogs were all exausted, Chocolate didn't move at all once we got home! Wasn't the end of the trail pretty? The Hemlocks along the lake with the rocks along the trail. Definatly a grand finale.”

“Yeah, the second half of the loop was my favorite from all of the wildflowers, to the little unnamed lake and swamp. Beautiful!”

“

Glad to hear it was a good trip. I'd sure like to see pictures of somw of the lakes that you folks passed.

On the above map I'm curious about the spur to the Anvil Trail. Does anyone know how long the spur trail is and where it connects?”

“That's my question too nowslimmer. I'd like to try and connect the two trails and post a trip on TT. It is such a beautiful area.”

“Man oh man. Last night at a Mother's Day cookout, my Mom and I were discussing Isle Royale. I told her about the tape worms and an older lady nearby was listening and freaked right out. She said "No! No, you are not going there. No way! Carolyn, can't you do something about this, she's your daughter." Then this morning at work I was talking about my weekend with Graska and one of the jerks that I work with butted in and asked if I went by myself. I said "No, I went with people that I met on the internet". (he he) He freaked out, "oh that's real smart". Don't these people realize that they are just encouraging me??”

“ROFLMAO!!!”

“Didja ask him if he found his balls yet?”

“I can't ask him that, the thought of his balls makes me want to puke. He is a literal troll. The kind that hide under bridges.”

“Originally I thought you were hiking north-east of Eagle River. But you were east of the Anvil Trail and south of 70. I would guess the Spur Trail to be about four miles.

On the map just below where it says "To Anvil Trail," there is a small, but interesting pond along 2460. I spent some time there and took some pictures. I, also, visited around Franklin Lake and Butternut Lake.

North of where you hiked and north of 70 is Kentuck Lake. Some one told me an interesting story at a boat launching pier there. Walleye fishing was banned there, more or less, for almost five years. They were trying to grow some large ones. Minimum size for a keeper was 30 inches! and only one was allowed per fisherman. Well, just before the Walleyes were that size, during the winter the Indians went there spear fishing out on the ice. They cleaned out just about all the large walleyes. So they were going to try again, letting the walleyes grow for about 5 years to a ripe, old size. It was 2004 when I was there. So will the Indians get them again, or will the enforcement improve.

In 2004 I met Pekka up there. He was very nice. We hiked a little of the Anvil Trail, but my knees were too bad and the mosquitos and ticks were too numerous. The next day I went in there alone and reached the ski hut, but it was not the same one I saw in 1951.

So I have made four visits to Anvil Lake, staying at the campground. The trips were twice in 1951, 1978 and 2004. I sure have enjoyed it there.
last edited: 5/14/07 3:16:33 PM”

“OHHHHH, I am sooooo wishing I had been there! ;O) I am glad that you guys had fun though, I can't wait to see the pictures.

Lucy, guys like him just don't have a life to speak of, so they've got to try and make us crazy, they are actually secretly jealous.”

“Hey Pamela. You're so right. Guess what? My knee totally acted up on me. It started to hurt on the sedond (last) day. I had a 3 hour drive home and by the time I got there I couldn't bend it. After some ibuprofen and my knee brace it is a little better. I think I strained it just like I did in 1992. It is just so flat here that my legs and knees don't know what is going on when I get on hills. So, I think I am going to see my doctor to find out exactly what is going on before I hit Isle Royale.”

“All over the lakes we passed we saw Bass beds! I was able to get some pretty clear pictures of some really nice bass. On the lake we camped at there was "Mr. Bass" just to the right of where we were getting our water. He kept a close eye on us and it was quite funny when the dogs would drink out of the lake above the bed and the fish would glide up towards the dogs. Of course the dogs were oblivious. Most of those lakes only see fishing pressure during the winter as there is no motorboat access. I know Kentuck is known for it's perch and crappie population, haven't heard of much for for walleye.”

“http://inlinethumb42.webshots.com/2857/2036898450010729333S425x425Q85.jpg

Humm.... That didn't work out how I planned... oh well, he's the link to the album.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559033286XyVTBG
last edited: 5/14/07 11:01:44 PM”

“you take good care of that knee Lucy, i sometimes wish i had known better. i often wonder if i should have called for help instead of hiking out the twelve miles with the knee locked; i will never know. don't wrap it ever, carry the right knee brace for the problem. trust me on this. i wrapped it wrong and the pain was much worse. so find out exactly WHAT the problem is.”

“Nice pics! Looked like fun! Thanks.”

“pretty hat lucy. loved all the wildflowers. wished i was fishing! i am more jealous now than ever!”

“Thanks for posting the great pictures. I'm filled with envy.”

“Pamela, I have an appointment with my doctor next week. I was looking on "the other sides" forum about knee problems and realized that it could be so many different things and therefore so many different treatments. I'll keep you posted!”

“Grace, thanks for the pics! The bass spawning bed pics came out great!”

“Hey Lucy, was this your first time out? Chances are you have the same problem I had, lots of torn cartilidge.

My first trip I got no more than 3 miles and I almost collapsed from the pain. I toughed it out and finished the trip. Visted a knee specialist 2 weeks later and he prescribed Day Pro. Basically an anti-inflamitory, it almost erased the pain my next time out.

My third trip that year was a deathmarch through the PA hills. We hiked something like 20 miles on a Saturday and I felt it big time when we stopped to make camp. Sunday's mileage was something like 8 miles, I barely made 4 of it. Had to hitchhike back to may car becuase I could barely walk.

Saw the Dr. upon my return and surgery was scheduled for the right knee. Simple procedure, he went in with a laser and cleaned up the torn cartiledge. I had the left one zapped one year ago as well.

I don't get out as much as I want to, but I can hike faster and farther now with only blisters slowing me down.”

“Just wanted to confirm that we were calling our bass friend by the correct name. We were.

The Largemouth Bass gets ready to spawn in the spring, when the inshore water temperature reaches about 60 degrees F.

Their typical spawning area is located in shallow bays, backwaters, channels and other areas protected from the prevailing winds. They usually look for areas with firm bottoms of sand, gravel, mud or rock, and usually in water from 1 - 4 feet deep. But in some cases of very clear water they will be in deeper water.

Actual spawning takes place when the water temperature reaches between 63 - 58 degrees. The female will lay from 2000 to 7000 eggs per pound of her body weight. She will deposit her eggs in either one nest or can deposit them in several different nests, after which she leaves the area and returns to deeper water to recooperate. Once in the deeper water she will remain there for several weeks without eating.

Once the eggs are layed, the male guards the nest (or nests) and refuses to eat until the eggs hatch. But will pick up slowly moving objects and move them off the nest. And will attack fast moving objects near the nest.”

“good thing the dogs were slow moving! ; )”