Burrough Hill

Burrough Hill-Little Dalby-Somerby-Burrough-on-the-hill-Burrough Hill





Led by me, with Barry, Gordon, Maureen and Eddie. Sunny, but chilly wind. Muddy underfoot in places. Quite hilly, with 641 feet of ascent in all. Good views, but not crystal clear. Around 7 miles.

We can see for miles and miles . . .

We set off from Burrough Hill Car Park, between Somerby and Burrough on the Hill. It costs £2.50 to park, but there are decent toilets, and a picnic area too.



I decided this walk was going to be a "save the best till last" walk, and after a couple of hundred yards along the farm road we took the first path signed to the right, down across some rather muddy fields, passing a farmhouse on our right. We continued to follow the marked path. It can get a bit confusing around here as there are lots of yellow posts!



With the help of the map we avoided the temptation of the Dalby Hills walk thorugh the woods, and struck out downhill across a field towards Burrough Road, a very quiet narrow lane. We joined it just after a farmhouse, turning right towards Little Dalby.




















Soon after this splendid wall and path, and a sign to Treedale, the road bends to the right, and there is a sign marked "Jubilee Way" . This is our route, across a field, and then joining a muddy track uphill.







It passes the other end of the Dalby Hills Path woods, and climbs steeply, eventually reaching a 56-step staircase (Thanks, Eddie) which emerges through more trees to a ridge. At this point rather than follow the direction of the path over muddy fields we wend our way successfully along the edges, picking up our markers and following them through a swampy section, over a bridge and then up to a narrow path between houses into the village of Somerby.





Time for our break on a convenient bench near the Stilton Cheese pub. We decide to keep the walk fairly short, since it's been fairly muddy and hilly. So, through Somerby we go, and pick up the path just after the junction with Field Road. The path goes left and crosses a field before reaching a disused gravel pit area. The path skirts this and is then well marked most of the way to Burrough on the Hill.





The path we want is in the far right corner of the churchyard, and we soon catch sight of Burrough Hill itself, looking quite something from this angle. The path is clear - there are a couple of possible routes here and we take the right hand one.



A steep pull to the top of this Iron Age hill-fort, and we can enjoy the huge view from the toposcope. Then it's a wander over to the trig point further over, and we're ready to head back to the car park.



Leicester University has been excavating sections of this hill, and studying their finds. More info here.









A grand day out.



For more pics and details of the last time I did this walk (almost the same route, though not quite - see here.







of walk

Athlete by Choice - Duncan Brown

I get attracted to certain characters.

And I go out of my way to meet them.

China is not too far.



I went to China to meet Duncan Brown.

He wasn't there.

No problem, I met some amazing people anyway. (see previous posts)



I line up another trip 3 months later. I read on Facebookthat he's leaving. Crap, I already bought a ticket.

Turns out we crossed over for a coupla days.



So here's Duncan Brown on his last attempt on his long term project on his last climbing day at his favourite crag in his, now ex, home town of Yangshuo.

No Guarantee 513.c







I finally catch him at his going away thrash at Yangshuo's ex-pat climber bar "The Rusty Bolt".

There's a bunch of climbers I've met on previous trips, I know enough people to not feel uncomfortable.

I recognise him, I give him a big hug, he looks accepting, but bewildered. I introduce myself.

He talks intensely. The party goes off. I sneak out.










iPhone selfie

We meet next morning at the grubby bus station headed for Lei Pi Shan, super crag.







He comes across confident. And he is keen to talk climbing. Big picture.









There's no idle chit chat. Duncan wants to know my opinion on where Australian climbing is at.

I pull together a few patchy ideas and speculate about the new breed of young gym-trained climbers rattling the hierarchy.

He delivers a professorial lecture on training, crag development, international climbing.













We are there for one thing. A last ditch effort to send "No Guarantee", and I, to make sure everyone sees it.

I feel it's my duty to make sure Australia knows who's coming home.



"No Guarantee" climbs a full 40 metres straight through that black blob all the way to the trees.


Reference the blob, we'll get back to that later.

Duncan wears: Kailas clothing.


Climb "Paper Cut" 28, pull a harder crux, and keep on pulling for another 20 metres.







The "rest" near the top of Paper Cut.

Then launch into the hard stuff.







The day I turned up in Yangshuo was the first fine day after a long wet spell.

As usual the first thing I do is check the Li River.

I'm suddenly shocked. There's so much water. I instantly think of disastrous Chinese floods. They can do some damage. The sun came out and the rock started to dry out.








iPhone shot from December.

















Duncan jams in a kneebar at the base of the black tufa blob.
















Time to get some perspective here. There's the black blob way down there. There's a climber in blue on Single Life, I think, level with the blob.














Now that's what I went to China to see!




Extensive crag development all around China has brought Duncan's small town Yangshuo Mandarin accent into scrutiny. He reckons the Chinese big city folk take him for a retard.

Something I had never even remotely considered.

So he bungs on a posh big city accent whenever in Beijing. More "ARrrrrr's" apparently.





Lei Pi Shan, just another Chinese roadside attraction.




Walking away from Lei Pi Shan for the last time. The last time for this era, at least.



Without the tick he so badly wanted.

It's a tough crag.

I was there also, three months ago, the day Logan Barber walked away from Lei Pi Shan. Returning to Australia without the send of "Storm Born" he had tried so hard for.




Logan Barber >




I feel kind of privileged to be there that day. A special day in Yangshuo. Bringing to an end an era for such a prominent Australianclimber.

I've searched this photo for any trace of disappointment on Duncan's face. It's not there.

Why? Because he knows he didn't waste any effort. There was nothing he didn't do.

He says he's ready to return to Oz. I sense that's true.

He's got a plan. He knows where he's going. And why.








Too late for buses. On foot to Goatian.


Four years is a long time to spend in a kooky little town like Yangshuo. It's got to change a person.

Maintaining focus and perspective must become a challenge. Some people do it well.





Duncan will be putting his effort behind his fitness and nutrition programs in Australia.

Look out for it.



Welcome home Duncan.














Athlete by choice




jj

Visiting Neighbours at Work

A couple of weeks ago I visited Seven Cycles - a local manufacturer of titanium, steel and carbon fiber bicycles. I was given a tour of the factory and it was, of course, fascinating. I never tire of seeing local framebuilding shops: The machinery, the precision of the work involved, even the heaps of tubing and the scraps of metal lying around excite me. And there certainly was all that at Seven, on a grand scale.






To my surprise - seeing how they are TIG-welders mostly - there was even lugwork. Lots and lots of lugwork in fact, with interesting cutouts.






But what made the biggest impression on me during the visit was not the intriguing floor layout, the delicately carved titanium latticework, or the explanation of Seven's approach to the manufacturing process. It was the fact that I recognized so many of the faces I saw there.





It is hard to explain the state of mind this put me in without coming across as preachy about local manufacturing, which is not my intent. I am not thinking about the political-economic implications of local manufacturing as a concept, but about the very concrete existence of my local manufacturing. I mean, there is a factory 6 miles from my house, and in this factory they make bicycles from scratch, and the people making these bicycles - well I happen to know many of them and they live nearby, and sometimes we even see each other on the street. That is highly unusual is all. In today's society the relationship between objects and the people who make them has become completely abstracted. We do not expect our neighbours to make the stuff we might be using; we expect that stuff to be made by some nameless entity, far away from our little world.





When I told SevenownerRob Vandermark how much I enjoy watching frames being built, he replied that not everyone feels that way. For some seeing the process takes away the mystery, and it's more exciting if a frame just "appears" - shiny and new with flawless paint. I've heard that before. A framebuilder once told me that he discourages customers from watching him work, because it makes them more aware of the possibility of human error and later those customers are liable to feel more nervous about their frames. Psychologically, that makes sense. But it also means that consumers of goods prefer not to think about the process of making those goods, which has all sorts of far-reaching implications.





Maybe it's because I've made things by hand myself and used them, as well as given and sold them to others who've used them. But seeing how something is made excites me rather that ruins some illusion of flawlessness.






The first person I saw when I entered the production area during my visit was Bryan Hollingsworth of Royal H. Cycles - whom I watched make a lugged mixte frame for me more than 2 years ago now. He works for Seven(making carbon fiber frames!) a couple of days a week, and on Royal H. the rest of the time.





Welder Mike Salvatore has his own project on the side as well, albeit a Sketchy one.






Dan Pugatch lives in Somerville and is well known on the local cycling scene.





Dan writes ablog and contributes to Boston Retro Wheelmen, but what I didn't know is that he also has this cool tattoo that promotes cycling to work in regular clothing. Notice that the pirate is riding a step-through with a full chaincase. I wonder how the crate is attached to the rear rack, and whether there is a sword peg brazed onto the frame?






Jonathan Henig lives maybe 5 minutes from me and is a fellow photographer. First thing he did when we started talking was examine my camera lens and nod approvingly.





I had not met Neil Doshi before, but I knewhis bike - a happy marriage of titanium, green canvas and leather.






And now I saw it in person, along with dozens of other contraptions in the famous Bike Room. The bikes of Seven employees are staggeringly practical - lots of upright 3-speeds, handmade racks, huge saddlebags. More what I would have expected to see at Rivendell than at Seven, a company known for its racing bikes.






After my tour, I couldn't help but wonder whether I'd gotten the most out of it. The space is truly impressive and there is a positive energy that makes me want to run out and apply for a job there, regardless of what it is they'd assign me to do (I hear there is a titanium shavings sweeper position open?). In retrospect I should have asked more detailed questions about the manufacturing process. I should have taken close-up photos of the machinery with a medium format film camera. Instead I walked around talking to everyone, then watching them quietly, then talking some more. Not necessarily about bikes either. And then we all said "good-bye" and "see you soon" and then I rode my bike home - an idyllic route from Watertown along the Charles River Trail.






Cycling home after my visit, I remembered the first time I met Rob Vandermark. It was about a year and a half ago, when I had just discovered the Ride Studio Cafe. The first time I came in there was this tall, polite, unassuming guy serving coffee behind the counter. Naturally, I thought he was the barrista. Later someone came in with a flat tire and he went to take care of that, so then I figured he was the all-around shop guy. After a brief chat, it also turned out that he was my neighbour - living nearby in Somerville and commuting to Lexington by bike when possible. Only well into another conversation with him later did I learn, with some embarrassment, that he was the owner of both RSC and Seven Cycles. As a customer, you would never know. And of course the whole point is that it should not matter.







I guess all I'm saying is... My neighbours build bikes. And I think that's really, really great.

Spring Weather

Small pockets of sunshine followed by waves of snowy/rainy weather have been passing over the park the last couple of weeks. Winter conditions still persist on the mountain: climbers are still choosing to climb the Ingraham Direct instead of the Disappointment Cleaver, eighteen feet of snow still remains at Paradise, and the snow plows are still hard at work clearing the roads.

Please continue to check back to the Access and Roads thread for the most up to date information regarding White River and Stevens Canyon opening dates.

With Memorial Day Weekend just around the corner, the climbing season is getting into full swing. The Climbing Information Center will be open daily from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm starting Friday, May 27th. Come on up and enjoy the start of the season!

It's Been a Week...

A busy week at that and I'm way behind with the blogging. Readjusting to cooler weather and dealing with the rain and the wind and the storms that have been affecting Northern Indiana as well as many other areas of the country. Aaahh Springtime!



My goal of not traveling on the Interstates from Louisiana to Indiana was successful. And I only had to travel on four-lane highways around and through towns and cities. Of course, it took a bit longer but it was worth the extra time and far less stressful.



It was rather startling to go from this (on the Natchez Trace April 19th):





To this (Northern Indiana on April 24th) where the only “green” is the grass:





But, thankfully, all of those April Showers have brought forth the beautiful flowers!











As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had a visit with the doctor earlier this week and I'm happy to report that my leg is feeling much better! An ultrasound was done to rule out blood clots and none were found. The doctor prescribed a pain-reliever/anti-inflamatory drug that has helped considerably. The cause of the pain? Most likely a pulled muscle that will heal itself with time.



I've been taking advantage of the “free wifi” here at my friend's house and working on several projects. Rather got “caught up” in researching a very, very distant relative who just happened to have lived in southern Noble County, not far from my ancestors here in Whitley County. And by “distant relative” I mean really distant. You have to go back to the 1635 immigrant, Thomas Joslin, to get to our common ancestor. It's been fun. Haven't had a challenge like that in quite a while!



What's ahead? I'm working on it, formulating a plan. Really. I had hoped to be able to attend the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in June but that won't happen this year. I have to be back in Indiana by June 14th for a follow-up appointment with the doctor. But I've put the Jamboree on my calendar for .. along with RootsTech!

Volcano's Out

Climbing rangers have recently been spotted in the park. Check back soon for some updates related to climbing, skiing, and park access. Hope everyone had a good winter!

Minnesota Milky Way

I went out with a few local youth last night to look for the northern lights. While the aurora was visible, it was very, very faint. The Milky Way, however, lit up the sky! This image was made at about 12:30 a.m. Exposure time was 30 seconds, aperture f4.0, ISO 6400. It was also the coolest night (temperature-wise) that we've had in a while. It actually dipped slightly into the 40's last night. This was good for high ISO photography, as the temperature cools the camera's sensor doesn't build up as much heat and therefore generates less noise in the final image. Enjoy!