Lara-Karena Kellogg (Bitenieks)

Lara-Karena Kellogg (formerly Lara-Karena Bitenieks) died Monday evening while climbing Mt. Wake in the Alaska Range. Some of you may have known Lara from her years as a climbing ranger and member of our Mt. Rainier search and rescue team. But when it came to friends and social networks, Lara was indeed a power-broker in Seattle. Her loss is greatly affecting many people. Her friends are coming together to sort through the sadness and remember her life.

The NPS released Lara's name after her husband, Chad Kellogg, was notified in China where he was climbing (he is now returning to Seattle). There is a lot more to say about Lara. She was a very close friend and influential force in the way the Mount Rainier climbing program runs today. Lara possessed an amazing amount of style, confidence, independence, and strength.

The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer spoke with her climbing partner Jed Brown for details of the accident, Jed has a detailed narrative about the climb and accident on his website. They were climbing the N.E. Ridge of Mt. Wake. The green dot indicates the high point and the red dot is where the accident occurred. This route has some history. In 1994, two Alaskan climbers fell at nearly the same location during a rappelling accident. We will post a lot more on Lara in the days to come.

Jed Brown provided this picture of Lara from their climb. The Mt. Wake photo was taken by Eamonn Walsh and provided to us by Mark Westman.

Glimpses of Maine

September 13th. Checking lobster traps on the Nauti-Gal II in Somes Sound, Mount Desert Island.






September 19th. Lobster boats in the harbor at Lubec.





September 21st. An old building on the Schoodic Peninsula.




September 25th. A view of Mount Katahdin from Interstate 95. The summit of Katahdin is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.





September 25th. Along State Road 11 in northern Maine. Yeah, I got lucky with this one!






September 25th. A little further north along State Road 11 in northern Maine.





September 27th. Seagulls at Schoodic Point.

Early Winter Wonderland along Old Highway 61

Several November storms meant a lot of early snow accumulation inland from Lake Superior near Grand Portage, MN. This photo was taken on November 25, . I was a bit disappointed that these storms left little snow in my yard. I live right on the shores of Lake Superior and early winter storms often mean that rain falls along the shoreline instead of snow. Right now I barely have one inch of snow covering my yard, however one only needs to drive a few miles inland to see the ground covered with almost two feet of snow already!

Lamport and Draughton via Brampton Valley Way

10 of us - Barry, Barrie and Vera, Norma, Sue, Steph, Gordon, Phil, Jill and me. 5.3 miles. Mostly fine with a couple of brief showers.

A bucolic scene

We started from Lamport High Street, and turned right along the Harborough Road which we followed for a short distance before turning left and following the path downhill to the Brampton Valley Way.











We turned right along this pleasant path and crossed over the A508, then continued for about a mile and a half.





















We turned off to the right, near a disused footbridge.



We crossed a field, hugging the edges, to the road between Maidwell and Draughton. We turned right and along the road to Draughton. Snack stop was outside Draughton church.



A few hundred yards further along, outside the village a footpath led to the right. We walked along the edge of a recently harvested field gently uphill to a spot marked as a tumulus - some vegetation and a round pond. This was when another shower hit us.













We made our way down to a gap in the hedge to the road,



and crossed over to pass Shortwood house and a couple of cottages on the left. There's a large area where they keep young game birds, possibly partridges, in long runs. At the top of a short hill we turned left along a sheltered path, then across further fields. It's a flat walk following the path and a very short distance after a left turn along the road we arrived in Lamport. Another left turn, and we were back at our starting point.

Wild Hollyhocks

These little flowers are kin to our tame hollyhocks. I have seen them bloom at all different heights. Here they are only inches tall. In my yard they can get several feet tall.

Lake Itasca :: Day's End

Wednesday, August 10th - - It had been a perfect day! In hopes of catching a nice sunset, I strolled along the beach area. There were no clouds in the sky but the haze turned the sky into a stunningly brilliant orange.







Disclaimer: The image above has been cropped and digitally enhanced! The contrast has been adjusted and a little saturation added, although not all that much.







As the sun dropped below the horizon, the orange color deepened to almost red.



This little duck was all by itself. The kids had gotten out of the lake and it was zig-zagging all around the beach area. I love the patterns it made in the water...

Easter!!

May you have Egg-zatly the kind of easter day you want. Make sure it is a good one.
Happy Easter one and all.