Update from Salt Lake City

Well, I've been here a week now and thought I'd better post “something” so y'all would know I'm still alive! The days have been full (and fulfilling) and they have gone by quickly. Time flies whether you're having fun or not but seems to go by much quicker when you are enjoying what you are doing!



There haven't been any “breakthroughs” thus far but then I've been doing the “drudge” work, so to speak – gathering information from Deed Books. Yes, I'm digging into deeds once again. I've done some work in deeds “on location” in several counties in several states but it is so much easier and convenient to work on them here. Even though they don't have “everything” they do have much of what I need to look at. Of course, there are “a few” other things that I'll be working on as well.



And now, something to ponder...







The signatures above are for Charles Wiseman (my 2nd great grandfather) as found in Kosciusko County, Indiana Deed Book 57 pages 128 and 129 and recorded on February 27, 1885 (FHL Film 1705383). It is fairly obvious that the signatures are not the same. In fact, the two entries in the deed book are in a different handwriting (see below).



Also, Charles Wiseman resided in Switzerland County (in southern Indiana) when these deeds were executed. Thus, it is my conclusion that neither one of these is the actual signature of Charles Wiseman! Rather they are the interpretation of his signature that appeared on the documents that were sent to the Recorder's Office in Kosciusko County (in northern Indiana).



In other words, the signature is a transcription. So what this does for me is raise suspicions in regards to other “signatures” recorded in Deed Books or other types of records, such as this one for Wilhelm Foster. It's really kind of a bummer when you thought you might have the actual signature of an ancestor...





Kosciusko County, Indiana Deed Book 57 page 128 (FHL Film 1705383).Note that the writing is different in the two entries.

Ultraviolet 25 Coolum Cave Queensland Australia

Big long moves to good holds and exposure to burn. Nothing too technical, just keep hanging on untill the top.





Photo: Phil Box

Blue Ice again?

I have been lucky enough to secure a steady flow of Blue Ice climbing gear to the NA market.



They offer someunique items now and more to come in the near future.



More here:

http://coldthistletools.blogspot.com//04/blue-ice-gear.html

Hollow

We were at the Homestead Hollow Spring Festival over the weekend. Sold a bunch of soap, ate too much, heard some good music, scoped out everyone else's cameras, and met several blog readers. Thanks for coming by!


There's a sheep under there somewhere.

One of my favorite parts of Homestead is watching the Burrells' demonstrations. I forgot my camera and thought I'd missed the sheep shearing, but they did another one on Sunday.


The proverbial black sheep, Malachi.


Fleeced!


The previous days' work.


She was clearly trying to tell me something, I just don't know what.


Their eyes are fascinating.


The uncorrupted offspring of the ewes and rams.*


Nothing to do with sheep, I just loved this rhododendron.

*Every time I saw the lamb it reminded me of this line from a John Wesley Harding song.

Christmas Star

Esmerelda ..

I got to go out with Steve for what seemed like the first time this year. (I wanted to say Summer, but it is no longer, and I doubt I have been in the mountains with Steve since Spring.)

Due to my long hard day the previous day, and Steve bringing his wife's cousin along, we opted for a fairly mellow scramble of Esmerelda Peak in the Teanaway.

To avoid traffic we started a touch late, and arrived at the De Roux camp trail head after 9:30am. We hiked up the trail and took frequent breaks. After consulting the map we ignored the turn off point thinking it was just a cut off a switch back. We went too far and arrived at Gallagher Head Lake. We hung out a bit on some wooden benches taking in the scenery and getting cold. We altered our approach and headed cross country to the ridge to climb.

With some light bushwhacking we were on rocky slopes picking our way up the mostly solid terrain. With a few sections of third class rock, we were on the summit, taking in the views. We hung out for a while and then headed to the next "summit" on the ridge to the east. We continued to the next and then developed our plan to hike down a different way. A few loose third class bits got us down the ridge where we followed game trails down most of the way back to the trail. The slope was steep and loose and only got easier as we descended. I saw a fat garter snake on the way down and then we hit the trail and hiked out.

Scrambling the second summit (photo by Steve Machuga)

This was a fun trip and a good trip to do after the bruiser I had the previous day. It was fun to be out with Steve, and the summit of Esmerelda offers pretty nice views in all directions. It took almost as long to do the round trip drive as it did to climb the peak. Steve and I discussed how the book listed it as a T3, but we found it to be fairly easy with only a few steps of 3rd class. However, I am beginning to think that the technical scramble rating used also increases for navigational difficulty. But who knows. Yet another nice day out in the mountains.

My pics are here.

Long Island Sunset

As its name implies, Long Island is a very LONG but narrow island in the Susie Islands. Only about 100 feet wide at its widest point, it is roughly one half-mile in length. This photo was taken at sunset over the East end of Long Island.