Sisters, Part three, class 5 rock and some grade A photos

Joe caught between different phases of water, ice and vapor

dbBrad grabbing some hang time on Sisters Glacier!

Wonderfully rich vegetation which can only be found near intact old growth forests.

One of about 10 different flowers blooming in the  magnificent old growth forests between the Nooksack and the Twin Sisters, Washington.

dbBrad self portrait

'I love my Panasonic lumix'--dbBrad

The Panasonic Lumix macro is awesome--dbBrad

Jeff and Joe hanging out at base sisters rocky summit

Have I mentions how I love my Panasonic Lumix?

dbBrad looking South West off summit of South  Sister.

Baker just visible over the clouds.

Panasonic Lumix Solar charger--what a great dbBrad idea!

Company from the Western Route on South Sister.

Nature rules!

And of coarse, dbBenton, the worlds cutest Australian Shepherd dog ever!

Sisters, Part two--high alpine-glacier travel

dbBrad in the dbAlpine, much preferred to dbSuburbia!

Approaching Twin Sisters, WA, at about 4k feet

View of South Sister from camp at 4300'

Architect Joe Greene Architecting!

Between the trees are cliffs, with a narrow little snow field--our route!

Joe and Jeff  contemplating the route.

A picture of a picture, with Mt. Baker in background and camp just above Jeff's shoulder!

Evidence of the slightly faster pace of dbBrad!
Mt. Baker viewed from North side of South Sister at about 5500'

Joe Greene admiring natures architecture.

Ice and Rock demonstrate architectural principles of  natural lighting, ventilation, heat transfer/storage,  and shelter .  So simple and so elegant, what I strive for in my buildings--dbBrad

Twin Sisters, part I

Part one--epic approach through huge trees, thick healthy under story and raging streams.

South Sister, North Cascades, dbSumit

Often unnoticed, the Twin Sisters sit East and slightly South of Mount Baker.  There are two peaks, the north and the South sisters separated by a jagged knife edged ridge.

Crossing Green Creek

There are several approaches to the area surronding the Sisters, but few routs to the top.  Steep Ice and Steeper rock make for a fairly techical summit.

Rugged off trail, steep, slippery and heavily vegetated.

Our route was from Mount Baker Highway to Misquito Lake road to Forest Service road 28 via an unmaintained trail heading up Green Creek.

Freeways of the Forest, large logs are often the easiest way to move through the forest--if you can get on them!

After crossing the Nooksack and hiking through some amazing old/first growth forest, we crossed Green Creek and headed up the hill.

dbBrad, Joe and Jeff next to an old growth cedar.

Steep, lots of vegitation, huge trees and giant falled trees some of which may have been a thousand years old and laying on the forest floor for several hundred years.

Out of the forest, onto the snow fields.

Some of the last truly healty land.  Beautiful and just Hell to move through!  And interesting, but even with all the snow and rain this year, very little erosion, and very few slides.

Knocking off the vertical, one step at a time.

One we got high enough, ,the forest thinned out and we moved out onto the snow fields.  Still steep and slippery, the travel went much faster without all the vegetation lashing our shins and whipping our ears and tripping up our feet!

dbBrad on slippery slopes again!

Traversing a particularly steep snow field.

North tower, Twin Sisters, North Cascades WA

Lunch Break, on the rocks!

Friction Fit db Bird Blocks

Many of my roofs have perlins.  They create a strong roof by having dimensional lumber running in two directions.  They provide structure for overhangs.  And they create a roof that looks great without the need for soffeting.

Sometimes I fully notch the perlins, but often I just set them on top the rafters as another layer.  This works great for venting allowing air flow in two directions.  However it creates a need for additional bird blocks to keep critters out of the insulation and roof cavity.

My latest solution rather than make a bunch of miniature blocks, is to make breathable bird blocks that friction fit with foam pipe insulation and nylon screen.

Just tape one edge of the screen, roll it over the correct size of pipe insulation and run your hands over it until the tape sticks.  Cut to length with a knife and stuff into place.

Super easy to install, even after the roof is done!  Great look because they disappear in the shadows.  Relatively durable because the foam is protected by the same screen as every other Bird Block.  Great solution for bird blocks between perlins 1.5"-2" thick by any length up to 6 feet.

Klepper Trip on Lopez Island, Fran and dbBrad.

Fran and I recently took a trip to Lopez Island in the San Juans.  Our intent had been to get some paddle time in some big water, primarily Haro strait between San Juan Island and Stuart Island.  As it turns out, we spend most of our time in the sun on a sandy beach eating fresh Dungenous crap, watching kids and hanging out.

Fran, the Easter Egg Queen, gets a new challenge.  Paint and an Entire Stump!

As it turns out, we missed a ferry leaving Anacortes and the next boat wasn't for over three hours.  So we drove back up the hill, found a nice forested parking lot with a view of the water and did some Klepper maintenance.

The Klepper pieces getting arranged for assembly.

The Klepper is a folding kayak made of impossibly fragile wood sticks, little aluminum connections like pop can tabs and a canvas skin sewn together with thread..

It seems impossibly fragile, but assemble the pieces inside the skin and blow up the sponsons and the skin stretches tight and the frame stiffens up and one thinks 'well, maybe this will work'!!

Fran and dbBrad out on the water sailing.

But put it in the water and load it and you've got an amazing ocean worth boat that paddles great, holds tons of gear, is the most comfortable of any small boat I've ever been in.

Morning coffee being delivered.

The real bonus is it has a complete sailing rig with lei boards, a 12' mast, main sail and a jib so you don't even have to paddle!!

Just the jib is up and I'm paddling lightly and were doing about 3-4 knots.

Such a good boat that Klepper has been making literally the same boat for about 75 years.  Such a great value that Military powers including Navy Seals use these boats.

Hauling gear up to camp after a long paddle.

We however, Fran and I, were just hanging out on and around Lopez island for the weekend, for some paddling, some sailing, and some fun on the beach.

Sailing a two person Klepper with one person.

Having lots of beach time was very nice.  It afforded us some nice conversation, big fires, good food and a chance to fuss with camping gear and boating stuff.  One thing I'd always wanted to try was sailing the Klepper solo.  So I rigged up a seat in the middle, moved the lei boards further back, rigged up a control board for the lines and took it for a little spin.  Very doable as a single, even paddling.

Bubbles over a crab shell.

SeaWeed and crab shell