Sam Goes XC

Today was Sam's first cross country meet. He's a junior in high school, but this is his first season. He's been running for joy for some time now, and decided to sign up for the team.

There were about 150 guys in the high school men's race.

The Madison team totally ready for things to get going.

And off they go..

At about half way through, Sam was back at about 25th. Here he's drafting off a couple of buddies he worked with over the summer.

Sprinting to the finish.

He was the first Madison guy to finish, and placed 23rd overall. And learned some strategy. Not bad for his first race. Now he wants to go faster.

No More Weird Thing

So, there's this weird thing in our kitchen that Jann has hated ever since we first saw this house. She's been pestering me to get rid of it, but I have resisted..

It's a little set of balusters built put atop a half wall that separates the dining room from the stove in the kitchen.

I finally ripped it out today. But, it turns out, the top of the fixture was screwed to a huge steel strip that built into the wall. I had to borrow a grinder from the welding lab to cut it out.

I'm standing on the stove.

So, now, the room is much more open. Jann is always right. Never resist.

A Bed for the O'Connors

About a year ago, or perhaps more, Emily asked me to make her a bed. Without thinking about it too hard, I agreed. Now, I wonder about the precedent I've set, having six children as we do..

It has simple frame and panel head and footboards. The cherry wood will darken with age.

Detail to show the finish. You really need to touch it, though.

Kind of bleached out because of the direct flash, but this shows the layout of the whole thing. Sixteen or so inches of mattress and foundation should just about reach the bottom of the headboard frame.

Cirith Uncle

We made a zip through Yellowstone to show Pete Uncle Tom's Trail, which ends in about 350 stairs down to a platform close to Yellowstone Falls. We then hiked out to Sublime Point (Point Disappoint), and around to Clear Lake, and back to the parking lot. About six miles in all.

At the bottom of the stairs. Now we have to climb 350 million stairs just to get back to the top.

The Falls, from somewhat farther away, at Artists' Point. I wish Jack would just smile normally..

Pete, from knee level. Notice the scar on his forearm, where he tried to amputate his arm with a hedger.

Jack and Adam, striking a pose.

I have to work to get pictures of Laura. She doesn't like it.

Big Fat Dad, from belly level. 

Two Nights in Alaska Basin

In preparation for Adam's 50-miler, some of us hiked up to Alaska Basin in the Tetons, and spent a couple of nights. We had a magnificent time.

Starting out, on the bridge over Teton Creek, about a half mile into our journey. This was Big Jack's first backpacking trip, and he carried his own pack, weighing about 12 lb.

The air was pretty smoky our first day. Not sure where the fires were.

During a break (mostly for me to rest), Pete and Jack spent some of their extra energy exploring a little waterfall.

As usual, I was pretty wiped out after the first day. It is about 7.5 miles from the parking lot to our camping spot in Alaska Basin. Most of it is gentle climbing, with a bit of steeper stuff at the end. Total altitude gain of about 2500 ft.

We actually took our 6-man tent. Adam carried the footprint and stakes. Pete carried the poles. Jann carried the tent, proper. And I carried the fly. So, Pete, Jann and I had packs around 30-35 lb, and Adam's was about 22 lb.

Supper the first night. Chicken noodle soup, enhanced with real chicken chunks. This is the same camp sight Rory found last time we were here. It is perfect.

The second day, we just day hiked to Sunset Lake, and Hurricane Pass. This is Sunset Lake at mid day. I wonder if it is totally cooler in the evening.

If you look close, you can see the trail of the rock Pete is skipping.

At the top of Hurricane Pass, with the three Tetons (Grand, Middle, and South) in the background. And some random other hikers.

Pete, showing us his "light on your feet" stride.

Pete launching off our jumping rock in Mirror Lake, near our camp site.

Adam, showing somewhat more artistic flair. Unlike Pete, he hadn't brought any swimming trunks.

Jack wanted to explore some caves above the camp site, so he took Jann, Pete, and Adam. After our second day of hiking, I didn't quite have the energy to join the others.

Second night. We're enjoying our Lindt Chocolate. This is a commercial advertisement.

Jack on a rock.

Pete, pretending he's a bear trying to get at our bear bag.

Jack and his piggy tail hat.

Our second night was actually a little chilly. There was frost on the ground when we left the tent. But it soon warmed up. We had perfect weather all three days.

Pumping water the last day, preparing for the hike  down.

Our flower shot, just outside our camp site, after pumping water. It seems most people camping in Alaska Basin choose camp sites nearer the lakes. Which means that they see lots of neighbors. Our Rory site is completely isolated, and looks out on this spectacular open meadow. We never saw anyone except when we went to the lake.

Soaking our feet after the hike down. It was nice and chilly.

Boys, water, and rocks.

When we got back to the parking lot, there was Grandma and Granpa's car, but they were not to be seen. We had told them we were going to camp the second night on Death Canyon Shelf, and hike down The Devil's Staircase. But you need a permit to camp on the Self, and you can't reserve it until the day before, if you hadn't scheduled it way in advance. Turns out, it was already scheduled for another group. So we stayed in Alaska Basin both nights, and then just went back the way we came up. But the grandparents had intended to surprise us by meeting us as we came down. They hiked all the way up The Devil's Staircase, and quite a ways along the Shelf, before deciding something was wrong, and heading back to the car. When they finally showed up in the parking lot, Grandma was looking pretty tired. But they had brought treats, and food, so we blessed them, and had a nice visit recovering from our day.