A bartender's guide to Glacier

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Jay w
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

Ralph, no problem.

Pete. Thanks. As for the colors, I have no idea. The orange looks like some type of growth. The green is so bright, it looks like spray paint, but I'm not suggesting that. I'd really like to know how the rock can get such strong colors.

The ekg addition was a last minute add (it was after my bed time) so I grabbed an image of afib from the net.

My data:
Image

I have a bunch of data like the above, but it takes a while to scan it and get it off to photobucket. They now have phones that automatically (supposedly) sense the weird beats and send the data automatically to the company. Nothing the equipment you worked on back in the day. These two were recorded when I was sleeping and just waking up.

The easy way to spot afib it just to look at the irregular beat spacing. Another thing the docs talk about is a "p wave" which is a small blip before the main (QRS) wave. I guess it signifies that the atrium is firing and depolarizing (and sending a signal to the ventricles). I don't believe there is a p wave when you have afib. Docs out there, feel free to correct or add.

I'm starting to recognize afib in my Garmin data too. The Garmin records heart rate and not heart beats, but I know that my maximum is about 173 or so. So if my rate pops above that (usually for a short time at the beginning of a race), I have a problem. It also kicks my ass I don't feel good. Adrenaline makes the filter (SA node?) less selective, so I used to go into afib at the beginning of a race and then back into rhythm once I settled down. Another time I get afib is when I'm really relaxed like 5 in the morning. I believe this has to do with increased vagal tone. (And I don't know that subject well.)

Ok, too much info.

Jay
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by tibber »

that turquoise/green color on that one rock was very cool. I wonder if a geologist would know. When we see a turquoise color down here we think of copper.

As always, enjoy the trip comments and photos; gotta love that kind of writing style where you read with a smile on your face. I've only been to the Belly River once so I hope to get backpacking there one of these times.

Sounds like you're making good progress on the health side of things. The heart is a sensitive thing in more ways than one.
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by orin »

The orange stuff on Glacier rocks is lichen. It is a living organism made up of a combination of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria. Lichens come in a wide range of colors and shapes. Lichens can be bright green but I think the green on the rocks is something else, probably a layer of minerals.
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

6/29/18 Fri

I was wondering why yesterday’s steps were so low. I found my notes and I’ve listed the wrong number of steps for a number of days. Huh. Well, yesterday was 37,640 and 244 “floors climbed.”

What’s your take on this?

Take it to the bridge

St. Ansel said onto thee, “Jay, go to the bridge and take pictures.” So I went to the bridge and took pictures. The bridge being the one across the stream between Josephine and Swiftcurrent lakes. I took pictures with a Canon 16-35 lens at 21 and 28 mm at different exposures and different f-stops. Then I took pictures with a 21mm lens and a 28mm prime lenses at matching exposures so I could compare results later. Then I took some pictures with a polarizer and then some with a neutral density filter (long exposures), and then I did a panoramic. So, at 70 exposures and counting, I pleaded, “St. Ansel, when should I stop taking pictures?” There was no answer. “Please, St. Ansel, show me a sign.” It started to rain.

Image

Image

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It looks like Photobucket is putting their footprint on photos so I’ll try a different site. The first (6s exposure with a polarizer) is my favorite. The second and third are with an ND filter (30s exposure) and are my next favorite.

On the way back to camp, I came across a guy fishing (maybe it was two). “How’s the fishing?” About all I remember is the answer was good. Back at camp, I remember seeing the guy walk by the campsite and a while later there was a commotion.

Take it easy

This is a “bartender’s guide to Glacier,” so I better show some booze shots. Obviously white Russians (with milk instead of cream) were on tap along with some Surley Furious and cribbage. (No surprise if you’ve been following the report.) Note that Julie is beating me by 50 points. As a point of reference, 25 points is an ass-kicking. The remaining photos are by Julie.

Image

Image

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Take it back

We learned the guy fishing was cleaning a fish at his campsite and a griz tried to take the fish. He used bear spray, but the bear eventually circled around and intimidated him out of the fish.

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/local_new ... estriction

(Note that bear spray sitting on a picnic table is useless when there is a bear standing on the same picnic table. Just sayin’. Also, we have received a written warning by rangers not to leave a table cloth on the picnic table, but the ranger said that cleaning a fish at your campsite was “proper” procedure. Again, just sayin’.)

Take off

Unfortunately, the rangers gave us this info at about 6 pm and instructed us that we had to leave the campground or sleep in the car, but we could have a campsite at Two Medicine. (St. Mary was also an option, but I wasn’t interested in St. Mary.) For us, it takes quite a while to pack up and wedge everything into the proper place in the car. I’d guess it takes two hours to tear down and pack up, and then an hour drive (or more) to Two Med, and then probably 90 minutes just to get set up in a new location. Julie went over to the Motor Lodge and found a cabin. She had been chatting up the staff all week and wrote up a very positive review, so they were willing to hang onto the room until she checked with me. She went back and some people were pissed she was getting a room when they were there “first.” (That took some explaining.)

I asked for a refund on the campsite and the ranger said that wasn’t possible. When I said that legally they were charging for a service they weren’t providing, they turned me over to another ranger. She had me fill out some paperwork and four months later, we still haven’t seen a refund.

Nature takes it’s course

Well, we went for health food: pizza and beer….and potato chips. After finishing dinner, I sealed up the pizza but I forgot to seal the chips. Not long after going to bed, a mouse found the chips and was making some noise. I couldn’t figure out what it was because it sounded like the noise was from outside. I’d get up and it would stop; I’d go to bed, and it would start again. Then I opened the door to the bedroom and found the sound was from inside the cabin. To make a long story short, I put the food in the car (eventually throwing away the chips) but the mouse was still scurrying around the room. Julie slept like a log; Jay slept an insomniac.

Image

Image

Image

Steps: 17,912

Tomorrow’s moving day. Time to turn over the campground to the rv’ers. My prediction was the campground would be closed to tents for three to four weeks. That’s long enough to make a legal argument that they took appropriate precautions.

Cynical? Nahh. Realist.

Jay
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by NDjason »

Jay w wrote: The easy way to spot afib it just to look at the irregular beat spacing. Another thing the docs talk about is a "p wave" which is a small blip before the main (QRS) wave. I guess it signifies that the atrium is firing and depolarizing (and sending a signal to the ventricles). I don't believe there is a p wave when you have afib. Docs out there, feel free to correct or add.

I'm starting to recognize afib in my Garmin data too. The Garmin records heart rate and not heart beats, but I know that my maximum is about 173 or so. So if my rate pops above that (usually for a short time at the beginning of a race), I have a problem. It also kicks my ass I don't feel good. Adrenaline makes the filter (SA node?) less selective, so I used to go into afib at the beginning of a race and then back into rhythm once I settled down. Another time I get afib is when I'm really relaxed like 5 in the morning. I believe this has to do with increased vagal tone. (And I don't know that subject well.)

Ok, too much info.

Jay
Jay - I'm enjoying your report. Great photos!

Regarding AFIB, I had issues with AFIB for a number of years. It was pretty random until I started intensely training for the Chicago marathon. I ended up having to drop out as it would kick in somewhere around mile 13-15 and I'd get too dizzy to keep standing. After that, it was every few weeks, usually Sunday mornings, and lasting 4-6 hours.

In early 2015 I had an ablation done at Beth Israel in Boston. Took a few months for things to get all the way back to normal, but haven't had a single issue since. Crazy to even say *minor heart procedure" but it wasn't too bad.

Glad to hear you're doing so well too!
~ jason
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

Jason, it's interesting to hear other people's issues. It seems like everyone's heart issues are unique, at least the people I've run into. I assume you had a pulmonary vein isolation procedure? Glad it worked out since I've read some horror stories (check out Lennard Zinn). Also, it was interesting to hear about the marathon training and the heart going wacko at 13 miles. Bass ackwards compared to me. Yeah, the various folks said that the procedure would be a cake walk, but it took me a week to get over being lazy from general anesthesia.

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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

6/30/18 Sat, Aster Falls

-Steps: 18,344

We had a nice breakfast at whatever the Swiftcurrent restaurant is called. We enjoyed the staff this year. In past years, I’ve run into some foreign employees who seem homesick and have had that attitude come through their interactions. Everyone this year, admittedly it was early in the season, but the people were great (foreign or not). After breakfast we still had to do some packing at our campsite before heading to Two Medicine.

The site we got in the end loop (C loop?) at Two Medicine didn’t look like it had a spot for a tent until the camp host told us we could tent near the ranger cabin. Even tucked into a pocket, the wind was so strong we decided to put up the small tent and use the “tarp” to protect the tent from wind. The wind was relentless and we ended up spending much our time in the car rather than setting up camp chairs. Our cribbage games (have to play you know) took place at the camp store.

Eventually I headed for a hike but definitely took my time. There was on and off rain so I didn’t really want to wander too far. I was really surprised at how busy the trail was. Rain, heavy winds, and crowded trails. Huh.

So, the photos. I love the little swamp you hit right off the bat on the hike towards Cobalt Lake. So I snapped a few photos there and hid under trees to get out of the rain drops.

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I snapped a few at the next swampy area too.

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And the first stream crossing.

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At the base of Aster Falls, there was a group and a guy with a tripod setup right where you should set up a tripod. I pulled off my shoes and was going to cross the stream to the area I had explored on one of my first trips to Glacier. I thought for a second and decided put my shoes back on. Then I headed up a set of switchbacks and took this shot of the falls.

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This was one more switchback up (half switchback?) and looking towards the end of Two Medicine Lake. You can see why I wasn’t took keen about getting too far from home. Yup, that’s waves of rain heading my way. Yeah.

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I’ve never been to the end of this hike, and it was a real treat to find a set of deadwoods that just seemed to glow. Man, I kind of think this is my favorite picture from the trip, but I’m second second-guessing that.

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The thought on this photo was to have the tree be the only thing in focus. In this small size, you can’t see that, so I’m hoping it works in a larger size.

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A deadwood shot…for Pete.

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This, this right here is a visual metaphor for work. Guess we’re nearing the end of the trip.

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I was about to hop in the car and get out of the elements and I thought, I gotta get one more photo. The weather is just starting to get good. (Grin.)

Image

That evening, we ended up driving a couple hundred feet from our campsite down to the lake and I shot a few more photos. The wind was so strong it felt like riding a motorcycle, like I couldn’t trust the camera on a tripod. Maybe next time I try working up the “sunset photos.” There are also some sunrise photos from the next morning, and maybe I’ll play with those at some point and do a winter update.

So, in the morning we pulled stakes and headed for a Whitefish breakfast with Pete (we owed him one). Then it was south to my cousin’s “log cabin” near Missoula. “Log cabin” my ass. This thing is a beautiful home on plenty o’acres. First night, we had steak and lobster. Campin’ food.

Jay
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Sue Z »

Jay w wrote:This, this right here is a visual metaphor for work.
Jay
Can't imagine why you thought of that on a hike to Asster Falls. Uh, oh, NSFW?
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Ear Mountain »

Jay w wrote:...Then it was south to my cousin’s “log cabin” near Missoula. “Log cabin” my ass. This thing is a beautiful home on plenty o’acres. First night, we had steak and lobster. Campin’ food.
Jay
Sounds like a GREAT place to "camp!"
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

Sue, not quite sure what nsfw means so I looked it up. (Not safe for work.) I'm sure I'm missing the connotation. but I'd say independent ideas are not welcome at work when you don't have decision making capabilities.

Ear, yeah, good food, but the next day I was out with a weed wacker, then with a shovel digging up the cap for the septic tank, so I (actually we) earned some of that food. Generous people and quite a home.

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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

This gives a feel for the time in Two Medicine. The camp host gave some stat about the winds, like 4 days of the last 40 had winds under 10 or 15 mph.

Image

The waves don't look like much, but I remember not really trusting the tripod as I bent over to grab someone out of the backpack.

Jay

(Snow on the ground here)
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by MarxMN »

Jay - this is quite the trip report. You did not have great weather but you certainly tried a lot of photography techniques. You posted a lot of great pictures including a lot of dead wood pictures - I like those too.

Thanks for all the time and work that went into this report.

Bill
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

Thanks Bill, I appreciate that. Yeah, the trip reports take a ton of time, but I enjoy working on the photos. I used to put more time into the writing, but there's only so much time in a day. As far as weather, I don't mind clouds or light rain, but I don't like wind. It may sound weird, but I also don't like endless days of sun and 85F. That's just too hot and I have a hard time getting interested in pictures when it's always sunny.

So, in the theme of this thread, I have another booze shot. I put the photo on Facebook with, "I went shopping today. It's blanco Friday."

Image

Jay

Hey Ear, I skied on a local golf course today. (Barely enough snow.)
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by tibber »

I ditto what Bill said. You have a great writing style and it doesn't seem to matter the circumstances, you make the best of it; most good photographers do.

I love a White Russian but one of my favorites has always been a Smith and Currans; most bartenders don't know what it is. Now that I think of it, you can actually take a White Russian and put a dash of soda with it to resemble a Smith and Currans.

When I was in Caborca, Sonora, Mexico last weekend my friend had me try this drink, a Sangrita. If you like tequila, I think you might like this interesting combo. However, this was a different version than some of the recipes you find online. I think I would have preferred the last part be more pomegranate than bloody-mary like. You sip from right to left. It took me awhile to get the hang of it.Image

I can't remember the name of the tequila another person was drinking that smelled like what we do when we sit around a smoky campfire but I didn't like that at all.
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Re: A bartender's guide to Glacier

Post by Jay w »

Tibber, high praise, thank you. I'll have to try adding some club soda to a white Russian. I have been adding a splash of Gran Marnier or Contreau to some drinks and it adds an interesting after taste. So, I've been having fun just "winging it."

So what are the three vials of elixar? It looks like a clear (blanco) tequila, a barrel aged (anejo) and a blood mary type of mix.

So, another photo. This was as we were leaving....all packed up.

Image

I'm not sure what kind of bird that it, but here's a crop.

Image

Jay
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