Out of shape again

I received the call from No1 son in Madison late last week informing me that Loveland Pass got a snow dump, the Packers were playing the Bronos Monday night, and "lets go dad!". I came up with a number of reasons why I should stay in Minnesota but was unable to persuade myself. So here I sit, tired, sore, mildly altitude addled, and very content. For some reason, I am adverse to any gratuitious exercise for exercises sake. I'll kayak, bike, ski, hike, or engage in any outdoor activity that promises a bit of a workout but you can't get me near a club or piece of exercise equipment. As a result my AARP eligible legs, which have been mostly in a kayak cockpit for the better part of the summer, feel like someone has been plunging ice picks into my quads and calves. Which is exactly how my upper body will feel sometime next April when I jump back into the kayak with toned and well muscled legs from a winter of cross country and telemark skiing. The problem with that first time out, doing whatever the incoming season tempts you with, is that the first time is so damn much fun that you don't want to stop, even though you know you will pay. Hmmm, let see.....if I ski run for run with a 28 year old cyclecross racer will I be sore tommorow? The same brain that says, "of course you will be you idiot!" also says "but its just so damn much fun!". So here I sit, waiting for tommorow so I can do it all over again. Ouch!

Full moon/Hunters moon paddle

Last night several of the usual suspects and a couple new ones did the 2nd Annual Hunters Moon paddle on White Bear Lake. It was a perfect crisp fall night in Minnesota and promised both an excellent sunset and moon rise. We were not disappointed. The Voice of Reason and I were a bit late and met up with an old classmate of the VOR's at the launch, who joined the regular crew for the evening. Upon paddling out to the usual middle of the lake viewing spot I was a bit surprised that no wine bottles had been pulled out of any day hatches per standard operating procedure. After savaging me for being late, the whining nd excuses began about cold fingers, too cold to stop paddling and drink wine, etc, etc. We did stop briefly and were rewarded by the sunset / moonrise in the photos. We retired to the B.Dahlie estate, in Mahtomedi of course, where the missing wine (and beer) was discovered along with a number of wild game hors de ouvres, spicy squash soup, and a couple of classic fall pies, pumpkin and apple. It was an excellent fall paddle with the weather, culinary, and cameraderie elements combining to make the perfect evening.



The actual full moon is this evening and will be the largest full moon of 2007. Here are some moon facts courtesy of the above mentioned VOR classmate (no blog name....yet) :

Tonight, those blessed with clear skies can enjoy a glorious Full Moon, (exact full phase at 0452 UT, October 26). In fact, the Moon will reach its full phase within a few hours of perigee, the closest point in its elliptical orbit, making it the largest Full Moon of 2007. On April 3, the Full Moon was within hours of apogee, the farthest point in the lunar orbit, corresponding to the smallest Full Moon of 2007. The difference in apparent size between the largest and smallest Full Moon is quite dramatic. But seen in the sky many months apart, the change is difficult to notice. Skygazers should also enjoy the Moon on Saturday, October 27, as it encounters the lovelyPleiades star cluster. Because the Moon will be so bright, it will be easiest to spot the Pleiades stars near the Moon with binoculars or a small telescope.

(Sorry, none of these links are 'hot')

Max

Last weekend one of my all time favorite characters, former Green Bay Packers wide receiver and broadcaster Max McGee, died when he fell from his roof in a western Minneapolis suburb while trying to remove leaves. I don't think Max could play in Roger Goodells corporate NFL today. I think he would have been a bit too colorful, as were many of the characters that made the NFL what it is today. Max was not one of those guys who was lost when their football career ended. He and left guard Fuzzy Thurston started a restaurant called the Left Guard. There was one in my hometown of Eau Claire, WI. It turned into a little chain called ChiChi's which he sold for a few million bucks at the height of its popularity. He didn't need to clean off his own roof but I guess you would expect a guy like that to want to do it. The other great thing about being financially secure was that he didn't have to do the Packer broadcasts for almost 20 years. He did it because he enjoyed it and we enjoyed his commentary because we knew he would not pull any punches; if they sucked they sucked and he would tell you that. He also founded the Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes; I guess you would have to expect something like that from a quality guy like Max McGee.

In the winter of 1966 a benefit was held at a small bar (The Golden Spike Bar if my memory serves me) in Altoona, WI for a kid that was hurt in a car accident. The above mentioned Fuzzy Thurston was from Altoona and donated an official NFL football, signed by all the members of the team, to be raffled off for the benefit. I was standing next to the OldMan when he won the football. I believe he had a couple more glasses of Leinies to celebrate the event. All my childhood heroes including Paul Hornung, Ray Nitschke, Bart Starr, Willie Davis, and even Vince Lombardi himself signed the football. When my dad died I inherited the football and last night I pulled it out of its top secret storage facility just to take a look at Max's signature. I noticed he signed right next to his buddy, Paul Hornung, who said, "I just lost my best friend".

The thing I enjoyed about Max the most was his dry sense of humor. As a guy with a decent sense of humor and who values friends with a good sense of humor, I can imagine the loss his close buddies have felt. There are several good stories, including the classic Super Bowl I all night partying story, which you can read in any of the many tributes on the web. One of his great lines was, "When its third and ten you can take the milk drinkers and I'll take the whiskey drinkers every time". I suspect Roger Goodell and his corporate NFL suits would cringe at that statement these days. Max will be dearly missed on a number of levels.

The Gales of November come early

Below is the Nearshore forecast for the next couple of days on western Lake Superior. I would dearly love to be up there to see 10-14 footers rolling in. There will likely be some great shots later today on the Duluth Shipping News website, which is where the photo above came from. There is a cool shot from yesterday of the Coast Guard heading out for heavy weather training. A nor' easter like this will have the surf rolling in at Park Point and there will likely be kayakers out surfing the big swells when the wind drops. This would appear to be one of those days when you really need to weigh that 'adrenaline pumping fun' vs 'downright dangerous' equation. I'd still love to be there!

GALE WARNING NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE
TONIGHT

TODAY
NE GALES TO 40 KT...WITH A FEW STORM FORCE GUSTS TO 50 KT.
AREAS OF FOG. RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. WAVES 10 TO 14 FT.

TONIGHT
E WIND UP TO 30 KT...VEERING SW AND DECREASING TO 15
TO 20 KT IN THE LATE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. SHOWERS. WAVES 8 TO
10 FT SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 5 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT.

My First Time

I attended a presentation last night on managing risk in sea kayaking. This event was sponsored by the Inland Sea Kayakers, a group that I belong to. It was a very good presentation and addressed the question of who is the biggest risk, a beginner in a T-shirt with the pfd strapped on the back deck or the expert who decides to head out and surf some 6' breaking waves by himself. In the matrix that was presented it was suggested that the 'unconscious incompetent' (T-shirt guy) and the 'unconscious competent' (Surf boy) had some of the same things working against them. Both the 'conscious incompetent' (knows they don't know what they are doing and seeks training) and the 'conscious competent' (in the process of training or trained and very cognizant of the risks) had a much better chance of coming back healthy and with good stories to tell. Which reminded me of my very first time in a sea kayak on Lake Superior.

It was 1997 and NumberOneSon had graduated from high school. He and I took a week and headed up to northern Wisconsin to do whatever we felt like. We canoed the Namakagan River, fly fished for panfish, mountain biked the CAMBA trail system, and ate like kings. I had talked about kayaking with my long time Madison buddy, The FrugalFisherman, and I figured if he could do it so could I. I had the usual fear of being trapped in the spray skirt upside down but figured I could learn how to avoid that. We were only about 40 miles from Bayfield so we called Trek & Trail, booked the four hour intro to sea kayaking course, and off we went. It was all brand new stuff. Bilge pumps, wetsuits, paddle floats, spray skirts.....paddle with your core, don't tuck the pull strap under the skirt, etc. All interesting stuff but I was impatient to get on the water. At the time they were using the Perception Eclipse, a boat that has the intial stability of one of those rolling logs they use at the Lumberjack Championships. But what did I care or know about stability, I was a veteran canoeist and had kinda listened to the instruction. When it was time to get on the water I hopped in the boat, put on the skirt per instructions, and headed for Basswood Island. I made it about 200 yards before I went over. I guess I had missed the part about 'if your nose is over your belly button you can't go over'. God it was cold. May in Chequamagon Bay, 3 weeks after ice out is no place for a wetsuit. I had only intellectually understood the wetsuit concept of your body heat warming the thin layer of (freezing) water between it and the neoprene. The concept became very clear at that point as did the realization that if I had to urinate I would require a tweezers to successfully complete the operation. The instructor paddled out quickly but I was only in chest deep water and told him I was fine. I was, however, freezing my ass off and my confidence was shaken at best. From the looks on the faces of my fellow rookies it was apparent that their confidence had also taken a bit of a nose dive. The instruction was excellent however and we all continued on and went through the rest of the exercises. I was, of course, very confident of my wet exit abilities at this point and since I was already soaked tipping over again held no fear for me.

When I am trying to show someone the basics of kayak touring I always retrieve the memories of that day in 1997. I remember being awestruck when the instructor did a high brace and snapped right back up out of the water. I also try to remember it when we are gazing out at the waves and trying to decide whether to paddle or sit back and make another pot of coffee. When paddling in a group of different skill levels its good to recall when you were the novice of the group. Nothing is worse than making the decision to paddle after the rookie does the 'Minnesota Nice' thing and tells you they will be fine. Ten minutes into the trip when the same question is posed you get the same answer, 'fine', but now the neck and shoulder muscles are clenched and the head does not turn toward you to deliver the 'fine'. At that point we need to be cognizant enough to make the suggestion to head back to the coffee pot and give it a try later. Even though we always fall into the 'unconscious competent' zone a times, its good to remember how you felt when you went out for your first time. It helps center you back in the 'conscious competent' area where you can be most useful to yourself and your paddling companions.