On my way to get some small surf at Ocean Beach this morning, with the relic on the left.
First trip over the new Bay Bridge
Piergorgio film
Alpinismo Roots, one of my Facebook connections (which celebrates the roots of Argentine alpinism), linked to this video this morning, made by Michel Bordet and David Autheman of their climb, All You Need is Love, on the West Face of Piergorgio in Patagonia in November of 1999. I’m surprised it hasn’t pinged my radar before, since Jim Donini and I were there at the same time, making the first ascent of A Fine Piece on the West Pillar of Cerro Pollone, right next door. (Here’s my story of that climb, surely the longest website post I’ve ever made, with lots of photos; and based on the number of “likes” it received, my most successful, too.)
I recall some fine times with Michel and David that season, they struck me as good fellows, although we didn’t have much language in common, unfortunately. Their vid doesn’t have the highest production values in the history of mountaineering, but there are some pretty fine scenics (especially near the end), oceans of fine granite, and the wind really howls in a few places.
Alpinismo Roots is a good FB page, if you’re into that sort of thing, I suggest “liking” it.
More photos of Esfahan, Iran
Another photo gallery of Esfahan, Iran. (Click on any of the pictures and you can scroll through with more detail.)
Also, from Reuters: “Iran’s foreign ministry to lead nuclear talks with world powers”
DC-2 & DC-3 flying in formation
I’m loving this picture of a DC-2 and a DC-3 flying in formation–the two airplane heroes of China’s Wings–which comes courtesy of Liz Matzelle.
The DC-3, on top, wearing Pan Am colors, was recently restored by the Historic Flight Foundation, and it’s an airplane that once flew for the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC)–as CNAC No. 100.
Last December, I posted a bunch of photos of the gorgeous restoration of this airplane, and a month later, I posted a picture of this exact airplane standing on its nose after a rough landing at the Dinjan airfield in 1944. (It was back in the air the next day.)
Pete Goutiere ferried this same airplane–CNAC No. 100–from Miami to Calcutta at the end of his home leave in 1944, and he was just telling me about it at the CNAC reunion this past Friday. How great is that?
I think the DC-2 (the lower airplane, in TWA livery), is the last airworthy DC-2 in the world.
[EDIT, 9/18/2015: As Robert tells us in the comment thread below, there is another airworthy DC-2 in the Netherlands….Thx!]
And here’s Pete, telling me the story last Friday…
Climbing Mount Damavand
Of all the mountains in the world I’ve been fool enough to climb, Iran’s Mount Damavand stands with Argentina’s Cerro Torre as the only two “offshore” mountains I’ve been fool enough to climb twice. It’d be hard to find two more different mountains.
(There are quite a number of more local mountains I’ve been fool enough to climb a whole lot more than twice.)
Here are some photos of my 2011 trek up Mount Damavand, Iran’s highest peak, 5610m.
For the full account of our trip, check out Rope Diplomacy: On the Steeps in Iran, $.99.
2013 CNAC reunion party at Moon Chin’s house
I’ve had a hectic week, first stumping for CNAC and China’s Wings at Boeing, in Seattle, which seemed to go very well, and then celebrating with the CNAC Association at Moon Chin’s house last night, which was fabulous, as always. Here are a few photos from the party:
The “old” Bay Bridge’s last day
November 12, 1936 to August 28, 2013.
I’m excited to drive over the eastern span of the “old” Bay Bridge on its last day in service.
I’ve always been partial to the Bay Bridge, a working man’s bridge, the red-headed stepchild of the Bay Area compared to its glamorous twin, for it’s the span that gets me into the great city of San Francisco, about which I like most everything except its baseball team.
Photos of Esfahan, Iran
Here are some of the photos I took in Esfahan, Iran. Most taken in the Friday Mosque, one of my favorite public buildings I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.
What are those huge concrete arrows pointing the way across America?
On Saturday, we got a musical arrow to the heart courtesy of Lake Street Dive, but what about those gigantic concrete arrows pointing the way across America? Do those things really exist? What are they doing out there, and what purpose do they serve?
Well, as this photo and article posted by Ken Jennings at The Daily Traveler demonstrates, they do exists, and it turns out that they have a strong connection to China’s Wings.
Turns out they served an important purpose in the 1920s, guiding the frail little biplanes of the fledgling U.S. Airmail service across the country, and that Ernie Allison, chief pilot and operations manager of the China National Aviation Corporation during the 1930s and late 1940s, was one of the pilots using those concrete arrows to find his way across the United States.
Allie was one of the Airmail Service’s original pilots, and he had mind-boggling adventures flying the mail, pony express style, before he went to China in 1929, experiences ably described in chapters 5-8 of Nancy Allison Wright’s book about her father, Yankee on the Yangtze
This article at BonnevilleMariner.com describes the concrete arrows and light towers that once pointed the way across America. Apparently, one of the rotating one-million candlepower beacons that stood next to the concrete arrows is in the Smithsonian.
Since the route went from New York to San Francisco, one or two of these arrows must have been relatively close to my house in Walnut Creek, CA. Does anybody know if the arrows in the Central Valley between SF and Sacramento still exist, and if so, where they’re located? I’d like to check one out.
Right Mate, Let’s Get On With It still ticking along
Chuffed to see Right Mate, Let’s Get On With It checking in at #7 on the Kindle bestsellers list for mountaineering just now. Give it a whirl if you haven’t read it, only $.99, and I think it might be the best piece of adventure writing I’ve ever done.
