On Ice Climbing.

Although I'm a climbing arborist by trade, this winter I've been dabbling in ice climbing quite a bit, and I must say, I am fastinated.

Waterfall ice especially has me most captivated; climbing and hearing the roar of the water beneath. The banks of the gorge deep with shale and ledgerock, covered in some hemlock and laurel and by now of course the late January snow. Some so deep they see little sun and so the ice lays heavy and sure.

Climbing like this I believe helps my body especially with regards to arboriculture work, where most of the climbing in the canopy takes place on the rope itself, which is much more a tool rather than something to just fall back on. Climbing ice on crampons and axes is more delicate, forcing my style to take on a light and rigid character, very independent of the rope in a sense and much more about the medium of the ice. I like this ability to experience the different styles, so that they can compliment each other.

The small window of time too, the water freezes and it seems like it should be taken advantage of. The experience of climbing on a medium that is very indefinate as far as the seasons are concerned, yet in a moment on ice, time somewhat stands still.

Exploring the Mehoopany Creek Watershed.

North of Ricketts Glen State Park is the Mehoopany Creek Watershed.  To be more specific, the area that I'm talking about here is technically the south branch of Mehoopany Creek.  Essentially, the south branch of Mehoopany Creek and its tributaries will be our gateway to linking up Forkston (SGL 57) to Ricketts Glen, State park.

The landscape surrounding the south branch of the Mehoopany is basically comprised of deep mountain gorges spilling down from mountain top swamps. The hillsides are dotted with hemlock and beech trees, interspersed with mixed hardwood stands (basswood, maple, hickory cherry and oak). Young beech, striped maple, blueberry (high and low bush) and mountain laurel dominate the understory, along with princess pine sprawling low on the forest floor.

It is on the tops of the mountain sometimes where the biggest challenge lies in navigating the thick swamps. Losing direction is an easy thing to do.  But, it is here on the tops of these hills (roughly around 2300' in elevation, give or a take a few) where ground can be gained quickly on some of the lengthy game lands roads. With some snow and cross country skis, you have a multisport opportunity at the trek.

Looking Southwest, towards the goal.

My good friend knows this watershed all to well, and it's because of him that I've been really interested in making this trek happen. He's shared his experiences in these hills with me, and I'm really grateful for that hard earned knowledge, something that's hard to come by nowadays. You can't just Google that.

Regaining the reigns.

Sorry for the confusion. I was just able to reclaim this blog after a long hiatus. My old college email had changed, and starting a business and all (blah blah blah) I guess got in the way of my blog writing over the past few years (although my journals are still relatively full).  Anyway, I published a few drafts that had been sitting around for a while just to get them out there, which explains the backdated posts.

But I am working on a new series on Ricketts Glen, so it's something to look forward to. Please refer to the last blog post on Rickett's Glen, which is sort of the mini-introduction.

Get Nuts.

It's time to start collecting, or at least for Mother Nature it is.

Maryland's Eastern Shore, January 2011.

The last weekend of Maryland's waterfowl season was tough, and I would say it was a bit short of epic this time around, but why would I even think of saying that?



The first morning on the Chester River was a slow developing hunt. Ice had moved in throughout the night and made it difficult to set up a full spread of decoys until the hard water cleared by mid-morning. Not easy work pushing ice floats out of the slack water in front of the blind. Better than a real job though no doubt.



Once the spread was completed by our guide Joe Bryan, the detail was a limit of Canvasbacks. "And wouldn't that be nice," was the current running throghout the back of everyone's mind I'm sure. A few geese here and there looked enticed by the open water, but none ever did us. Then the Canvasbacks came. In a half hour we had our limit. Almost like a dream come true.





The Bull Canvasback is a prized duck on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Their red head and long neck makes them relatively easy to identify from the ground. But, as guide Joe Bryan informed us they can reach flight speeds of up to seventy miles per hour. So identifying a Canvasback is really only the first and easiest step in chasing the limit of one duck per day. Luckily for us, Joe Bryan is a smooth talker when it comes to getting divers into the spread.



After the river it was off to a field pit blind for the afternoon hunt. The weather was calm and comfortable, and the field we were hunting is notorious for producing big tolls of geese and good amounts of puddle ducks as well. Joe pleaded with the geese to land, and he worked the mojo decoys well enough to give his dog Ruger some mid-day exercise retrieving birds.

Ricketts Glen.

I've been spending quite a bit of my outdoor adventure efforts on Ricketts Glen State Park. From old growth forest to ice climbing to trail running to bouldering, this Pennsylvania gem is where my heart is, at least for now.

It's a 62 mile drive, door to door.  The other nice thing about this park is that it links up with State Game Lands 57 to the north and northeast, as well as State Game Lands 13 to the west. The public land tracts here are massive.

Which leads me to my next project, something that I've been thinking about since before old man winter's approach. Is it possible to link Windy Valley in Forkston Township (Mehoopany Creek watershed) with Ricketts Glen State Park? It absolutely is, and depending on mother nature, it can be done via foot, cross country ski, snowshoe or mountain bike. Pick your poison.

A good friend of mine who has a cabin in Windy Valley and myself are going to take on the project in the coming weeks. It should include some ice climbing along the way, and most likely just some old fashioned hiking. Unless we should see a good amount of snow, then by all means we'll dawn the cross country skis for covering the tops of the mountains. So, consider this just a small introduction to a many part series on Ricketts Glen, a wild little place in the world.