News and Information – Page 36

August 15, 2009

Missouri’s North Fork of the White River

Missouri and Illinois are home to some of the nicest float streams in the country. Most people from the St. Louis and the Columbia metro areas head south-southwest to the Gasconade, Meramec, Big Piney, Current and Jacks Fork rivers for a day or a weekend of leisurely paddling. There is little doubt that the Current an Jacks Fork are very special streams, and nationally recognized as “scenic”.

If you have not tried it, add a trip to the North Fork of the White River, in far southern Missouri to your future plans. Sections of this river, in my opinion, rank near the top of all Missouri or Arkansas streams for recreational value and for scenery.

The North Fork arises just south of Cabool, Missouri (near Highway 63) and is fed by Indian Creek and numerous springs to make it a beautiful float stream. It enter Norfork lake just north of the Arkansas border. In the springtime, it is floatable from above Missouri Highway 76 downstream; as the spring wears on the highest put-in point is Topaz (an old ghost town with a water mill, 6 miles downstream. Finally by late summer, unless you are interested in wade fishing, Twin Bridges becomes the highest practical put-in point. Even in near drought years the river is even floatable from Rainbow Springs downstream to Dawt Mill, a long one day float.

This river has many Class 2 stretches at the spring water levels; but is fun even in late summer. The bedrock along this stream creates ledges which produce large standing waves (they will enter the canoe or kayak) all summer long. The volume of flow is high and constant due to the large springs. The water is crystal to blueish in color and very cold (due to the influence of the large springs along the way).

Because of the water temperature below Rainbow Springs (aka. Double Springs), the Missouri Department manages a fantastic “Blue Ribbon” trout fishery. Rainbows reproduce naturally in this stream and in great numbers, and frequently reach a length of 22″ or more. In addition, Brown trout are stocked several times per year, and reach weights of up to 15 pounds. If you are planning to fish below the springs, check the regulations.

The upper section of the river is a very good smallmouth bass fishery; with plenty of 20+ inches in length.

The scenery is magnificent to near wilderness from Hammond Camp to Kelly Ford. Black bears are becoming more common in that section. the bird life along this river is phenomenal; with a hundred species of wood warblers, vireos, shorebirds, swallows, and a nice population of nesting Bald eagles.

Spanish Moss hangs from many old cedars on the top of bluffs. Maidenhair ferns cling to the rocks at water level on the same bluff.

If you are planning to camp along the way, gravel bars are nard to find, so begin looking for a suitable location early in the evening. Because of the spring-fed nature of this stream, it is also ideal for wintertime float trips. Call the Alpine Shop for detailed particulars on put-in, take-out points. outfitters, fishing regulations, etc.

You will not be sorry you made the 3 1/2 hour trip to the North Fork.

August 4, 2009

Team Alpine Shop Takes Dusk to Dawn Adventure Racing Title

On the evening of July 25 into the morning of July 26, Team Alpine Shop was hard at work in the Bonk Hard Racing Dusk To Dawn Adventure Race. Nine hours after their start, our team consisting of Carrie and Jeff Sona, David Frei and Doug Nishimura, have another win in the books.

Here’s Carrie’s account:
Doug, Jeff, David and myself headed to Lake Perry for D2D. We have done this race all 4 years and love the format. Race mantra- “Start at dusk and finish at dawn- racin’ in the cool of the night”.

The pre-race meeting was at 7:30 pm and we got the maps. With all of us relegated to reading glasses except our youngster Doug, at 40, we were happy to see that all the controls were marked and we didn’t have to plot. The race start was moved up to 8:30. We went back to the TA and got busy route planning. We would start on foot and then we would come back to the TA once early and then not til the finish. The start was moved to 8:45 and we lined up. Jason held up the flag, played the national anthem and then shouted go. Fast and furious start as usual. About a mile road run to 3 controls in the woods that could be obtained in any order. Mass crowd to CP 1 and 2 and then on the way to 3 some teams cut off at a pond that didn’t seem far enough to David so we kept going. We were in and out of 3 at the front and headed back to the TA. We were happy that the 3^rd control was a little challenging to separate the field. Total mileage of the first O section was at 4 miles. A couple of solo racers got back ahead of us by a couple of minutes. Next up was heading out on bike and then to a bike drop. Exciting event for 1^st section- Doug lost his shoe in thick mud twice.

A few miles ride to get out of the park to a bikewhack to the road. We saw Phil (soloist) taking the hill to the left of where we went up. We got up the road farther and saw a 2 guy team ahead and passed them. Then we saw Eric (soloist) and were feeling good as we were in the lead with them. Phil and Eric stuck with us until we got to the paddle. Few uneventful controls on the bike before the bike drop. 22.5 miles to the bike drop followed by the second trek section that looked like straight forward follow the trail type stuff to the paddle put in. We were disappointed that the nav was easy but it turned out to be more challenging than we thought. Staying on the trail was difficult. David didn’t want to give up on it and just head south as finding it again when it petered out could prove tough. He was right so we pace-counted and stayed focused to keep track of where we were on the map closely. With his careful nav we went right to everything and got to the canoe. Second trek ~ 4 miles. Gear check with some nice identical twin sisters at the canoe and then we started paddling. Exciting event for section 2- I went down hard on my left hip on the gravel skidding to a stop at one of the controls. I have a big bruise there now as a result.

At the paddle, Eric and Phil got to paddle their kayaks while we had lovely aluminum canoes. We chose to take only 1 kayak paddle (for me) but the paddle was twice as long as we thought as we didn’t realize we were going to paddle to our bikes and then put them in the canoes with us and take them to the paddle take out. The paddle was beautiful with a crescent moon and perfect temperature. We paddled to the bike drop to load up our 50 + pounds of expensive weight and secured them in the boats and headed out. The soloists had their bikes moved for them as they were in kayaks so they got to keep moving and we got behind them and never could catch them again. Bushwackers was the closest team to us and we knew they took kayak paddles so were worried. We saw the Bushwackers glow sticks as we headed out of the CP. Jeff was bumming he didn’t have a kayak paddle and was moving his little canoe paddle like crazy. We paddled to the take out and kept looking back but we never saw Bushwackers. Paddle 9.2 miles. Exciting event- lake so shallow in the middle of the lake that Jeff got out and pushed at one point.

At the boat take out we unloaded our bikes and had a 3 point O section. As we headed out we saw Eric finishing the O. We had a little problem with one on the shoreline that took a few minutes but no major deal. When we got back to head out for the last bike section we saw Bushwackers coming in from the paddle. O section 3 miles.

Last bike was ~ 20 miles with 6-7 of it a rocky, single track section. First section of single track was fun but by the end I was losing my sense of humor with the rocks and ready to get to the finish! There was a night trail run on the same trail that night and there were pink ribbons and glow sticks adorning our route but the prettiest sight were the jugs and igloo coolers full of water at the CP in the middle of the single track. We were all at the end of our water so we guzzled, filled up some bottles and headed for the finish. Crossed the line just before 6 am. Exciting event- 1^st place finish!

Results/splits http://www.bonkhardracing.com/races/dusk_2_dawn/results.asp. Good race all the way around. Well organized, fun format, CP’s spot on. Sadly, Jason says this is the last year for D2D at Lake Perry but we’re hoping he finds another spot for this great race. Thanks to Jason, Laura, Kelly Sumner (course designer) and all the volunteers.

July 7, 2009

Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series – First Week Results

Alpine Shop, Lone Wolf Coffee, Wapiti and Velo Force Racing Team hosted the first Short Track Dirt Crit Series Mountain Bike Races on Thursday, July 2 at Castlewood State Park.

Complete results and photos from the race are available through a link here.

Chris Ploch of DRJ Racing (and an Alpine Shop Bike Technician) took over the lead from fellow Alpine Shop employee John Mathews just after the first lap and never looked back. Ploch built a sizable lead throughout the first 45 minutes of racing and established the early lead for the series championship.

Ralph Pfremmer- course designer, racer and owner of Lone Wolf Coffee and Wapiti- established a tight winding course through the start/finish line for each lap in the meadow just past the entrance to the park; but nowhere on the course was as difficult as the crossing over Keifer Creek. Continually stopping riders in their tracks as they had to navigate the water and then immediately climb the steep bank, only a few of the top riders could power up the slope without losing an obvious amount of speed.

Besides Ploch, Josh Johnson (Big Shark), Bob Arnold (DRJ), Mathews and Greg Sandknop (Seagal) rounded out the top five finishers for the A division (Category 1 racers and experts).

In the B Race (Cat 2 racers & Sport level), Jeff Powell (Ballwin Cycles) took home the cash prize for first place followed by Justin Bouwen, Todd Holtman (Ghisallo), Craig Hoeflinger and Craig Thrasher (Velo Force).

The final race of the night for the C Division (Category 3 racers and beginners), Jax Powell (Ballwin Cycles) crossed the finish line in first followed by Caleb Lambiner, Kevin Bonney, Andy Runty (Ghisallo) and Ben Tiefenbrun (Dogfish).

The Alpine Shop Short Track Dirt Crit Series continues this Thursday, July 9 at Castlewood State Park once again. Alpine Shop will also have Gary Fisher mountain bikes available for racers or spectators to demo throughout the evening.

July 2, 2009

Black Wolf near Yellowstone

This is reported and pictures submitted by a long time Alpine Shop customer, Tom Piotter.

Here is the picture of the Black Wolf that crossed the road and came by our car as we were turning around about 15-20 feet away. We were on our way to the Old Faithful Lodge from the Mammoth Springs Lodge. Most of the Wolf population in Yellowstone is in the Slough Creek area were they were released. This one came out of the small fir trees right were I was standing only minutes before.

Click to enlarge.

June 19, 2009

Alpine Shop Announces Early Open for “On Your Way Saturdays”

If there’s one thing you can count on when you’re ready to leave for a day (or a week) of adventure, it’s that you’ll realize you’re missing something right before you leave.

Alpine Shop has a solution with our new early morning hours each Saturday at our Kirkwood location. Starting June 21, we’ll open the doors each and every Saturday at 8 am and we’ll have coffee and donuts waiting for you when you come in. PLEASE NOTE: “ON YOUR WAY SATURDAYS” ARE AT OUR KIRKWOOD LOCATION ONLY. That way, you can grab the gear you need… and fuel up with some energy at the same time.

On Your Way Saturdays: Alpine Shop Kirkwood now opens at 8 am every Saturday morning.

June 5, 2009

The Amazing Tanagers

Most of us spend a great deal of time outdoors in the months April-October in Missouri and Illinois. For the most part, we are casual bird-watches (birders). In the Past three years I have gained a profound interest in our beautiful summer migrating birds; especially tanagers and wood warblers.

Two-three weeks ago I spent about some time on the North Fork of the White River in southern Missouri, hiking, flyfishing, and photographing migratory birds. I was astounded at the colors that the tanagers presented. Some were still in their mating season molt, and had multiple combinations of colored feathers; all with some red and yellow. The mature male birds, that had arrived weeks earlier, had the full red feathering. They migrate every spring from South America to Missouri and Illinois and points north to breed.

There are two types of tanagers that breed in Missouri, the Summer Tanager, and the Scarlet Tanager, both primarily red. The females of both species are primarily yellow-orange with some green hues. They nest high up in Oaks and hickories and do not mind Missouri mixed pine forests. They feed primarily on insects, and spend their summer in our tree canopy.

A good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope brings them in close enough to examine. However, in early – mid May they are building nests and come to ground for grass. Usually the female picks up the grass for the nest, and the male stands guard on a low branch or fence, to watch and guard for her.

The Summer Tanager (more common) is so bright and rosy, that red over-saturation is a photography issue; the Scarlet Tanager, which can be identified by his black wings, requires a larger territory (about 5-10 acres for forest), so there a fewer to see. The Summer Tanager requires only about 1 acre of territory.

They are common in Forest Park, Shaw’s Garden, Kirkwood Park, and can be seen just about anywhere there is a grove of trees, in St. Louis. Tanagers are about the size of a cardinal (only slightly smaller). The next time you think you see a cardinal, especially if it is more than ten feet or higher in a tree, look again you might have spotted an immigrant from South America.

If you decide to hike and photograph birds, do not forget to look at the full line of Mountainsmith shoulder bag called the “camera tote” at the Alpine Shop stores in St. Louis and Columbia. You can carry your camera and maybe an extra lens or two, without stashing it on your back. These bags are so easy to use and allow you to quickly draw your camera from your side.

Pictures taken by me with a Canon 5d MK II and a Canon 300 mm f2.8L IS lens with 1.4X teleconverter. Handheld. Click to enlarge.

June 1, 2009

The old bridges of the Meramec Basin

For older paddlers that floated the Meramec, Huzzah, or Courtois during the 1970’s or earlier; you will remember these old Hog-trough bridges.

Prior to the Hog-trough bridge prevalence, there was about 10 years of Corduroy bridges (during the 1920’s-1930’s) at local fords (crossings that required you to drive through the river on gravel beds). Corduroy bridges where made by placing and nailing logs perpendicular to the banks to create two rails; after that was completed, eight foot logs or railroad ties were spiked to the rails one after another parallel to the current. These were a great improvement over the fords until they became slick with algae and the spikes were exposed; usually the third year. At that point it was not unusual to be pushed off the bridge by current, or get multiple flat tires.

Then about 1930 the hog-trough came into play and the concept lasted almost 45 years. They were most common on the Courtois, Huzzah, and Upper Meramec Rivers, however there were a two on the Current River at Montauk Springs and at Cedar Grove.

During the early 1970’s most were replaced by low water concrete bridges or planked over to make it easier for “city folk” to drive across. Eventually, the planking was also covered with concrete.

Finally by the mid-1980’s they were all replaced by concrete bridges.

To my knowledge, there was a hog-trough at each of the following locations;

on the Huzzah Creek;

Davisville

Huzzah Post Office

Harper Ford

Kenner’s below Highway 8

Scotia

on the Courtois Creek;

Hazel Creek

Blount’s Ford

Butts

Moutrays Place

Scotia

on the Meramec River;

Cooks Station

Wesco

Scotts Ford

Onondaga

Blue Springs Creek

Examples below;

(some shots courtesy our Customers; click to enlarge)

May 14, 2009

Climbing with Conrad Anker

Working at the Alpine Shop has presented many cool opportunities over the years. However, today’s “opportunity” really just about takes the cake!
As advertised, Conrad Anker is in St. Louis tonight to host the movie, EVEREST, and to give his own multimedia presentation on his career and his latest first ascent. He is a world-class climber and as such I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that he wanted to get a “work out” in before his afternoon of presenting and talking about his climbing experiences. Upper Limits, the local climbing gym, agreed to let him climb this morning, before their regular opening time of noon. This arrangement is super cool on Upper Limits’ part, and then to top it off they decided to invite Alpine Shop employees to join in!! I can only begin to describe how cool this morning was to all of us!! We had the entire gym to ourselves!

Conrad Anker has climbed all over the world and helps to draw attention and funding to a charitable foundation in his deceased partner’s name. I won’t go into his list of accomplishments, but you can find out lots more information about his life and mission at his website or at the website of the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation’s website.

So, on to the really cool stuff from this morning!! We got there about 10am, and in total there were 5 of us from the shop (3 from the Kirkwood store, and 2 from the Chesterfield store). We actually got there about a half hour earlier than Conrad and Brian Masewicz, the North Face rep who was helping to make all of the day’s events possible. Since we were there, we decided to go ahead and start climbing. I think we were all a little intimidated by the idea of climbing with someone who was so much more experienced than all of us, which meant that the warm up time was greatly appreciated. It was also really nice to swap belays with my coworkers, instead of having to talk about work!

After Conrad and Brian showed up, we continued to climb and Conrad joined the group. Of course, when he was climbing everyone paid a little more attention to what route he was doing and what move. It is really amazing to see confident climbers do their thing: so much grace and pose in their moves! On a side note, it was fun to see that even someone of Conrad’s abilities does a warm up route of a 5.6.

Although this entire event had developed from Conrad wanting to get his own work out in, he was very relaxed and took the time to give everyone else a belay or tips on their climbing. He came over to watch me on a route that was slightly above my ability level. I was ¾ of the way up, had finally fallen, and was taking a rest. All I could think was that he HAD to come over to watch when I was pumped and hanging on the rope! This was actually a good thing though, since you can’t wuss out with such an experienced climber watching you, so I got back on the route and with a cheating hold or two, was able to make it up the rest of the route. By the time I came down, Conrad had moved onto a climb of his own, and my belayer decided to take a turn at the same route I had been on. She also had problems at the same spot and Conrad came over and offered to climb the route to help us troubleshoot the area. Watching him climb a route that I had fresh in my mind was really interesting. Of course his strength and ability were far better, but it was neat to see that many of his moves were the same. When it came to the troublesome section, he moved left on the wall, where both myself and my coworker had started to go right. This left him in a very different position about 2 feet higher up, and completely changed the sequence of holds that were used for this section. After he came down, we talked about the route for a little bit and then he went on to another route. Another two coworkers came over to work this route and after seeing another two examples of how the route was done, I decided to give it another try. I still fell in the troublesome section, but I got a lot farther into it and was almost through when I fell. I rested briefly and then finished the route, without any cheating holds this time! Just another example of how watching and learning from other climbers is such an important component to climbing!

At noon, Upper Limits opens to the public, and a few regular customers came in. We finished up and then posed for a group picture. It had been a really fun morning! This afternoon there is going to be a Meet and Greet event for Conrad to talk one on one with some of our customers, and then of course the big event is the Everest movie at the IMAX tonight at 7pm! What a great day of climbing and movie watching!!

(more, AND better, pictures to follow, when I get them from the North Face Rep!)

May 12, 2009

Alpine Shop Welcomes Conrad Anker to St. Louis

One of the most acclaimed mountaineers of recent history, Conrad Anker has climbed some of the most technically challenging terrain in the world. This quest has taken him from the mountains of Alaska and Antarctica to the big walls of Patagonia and Baffin Island and the massive peaks of the Himalaya. In May of 1999, as a member of the Mallory & Irvine Research Expedition, Conrad discovered the body of George Mallory, the preeminent Everest explorer of the 1920s. The disappearance of Mallory and Sandy Irvine on their summit bid in June 1924 is one of climbing’s great mysteries, and Conrad’s discovery and analysis of the find has shed new light on the pioneering climbs of the early expeditions.

Alpine Shop, in cooperation with The North Face and the St. Louis Science Center would like to invite you to experience the majesty of the Himalayas and the dangers they pose through two special presentations. First: an exclusive showing of the OMNIMAX film EVEREST followed by an even rarer chance to see this majestic region of the world through Anker’s eyes through a mulitmedia presentation immediately following one of his expeditions to those very mountains.

Make plans to join us on Thursday, May 14 at 7 pm for Conrad Anker: A Night of Summits and Support. General admission tickets are just $5 for the whole night and will be available in advance starting Friday, May 1 at 7 pm (as part of our Swap Friday Night First Choice Night) at all Alpine Shop locations.

Want to make a dramatic night even more memorable?A very limited number of exclusive engagement passes will be sold on a first come-first served basis. These passes will include tickets to the show with preferred seating as well as an invitation to a private reception at Culpepper’s in Kirkwood before the show. Along with food and drink (also provided with the ticket cost), you’ll have a chance to meet and talk with Anker about his adventures. We will sell only 30 of these exclusive passes at a cost of $35. Again this package includes a pass to the private reception at Culpepper’s with Conrad Anker, all food and drinks at the reception, and preferred seating at the show.

All proceeds from tickets sold to this event will benefit the Khumbu Climbing School Program, part of the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation.

The Night’s Agenda:
4 – 6 pm: Meet & Greet Reception at Culpepper’s in Kirkwood (premium ticket required)

7 – 7:45 pm: EVEREST Film on the OMNIMAX screen

7:45 – 8 pm: Intermission

8 – 9 pm: FEATURED Presentation – Conrad Anker

May 9, 2009

You Can Paddle Day Photos

Photos from today’s You Can Paddle Day are up on our Facebook fan page at http://tiny.cc/alpineshop_ycp

Thanks to everyone for joining us on a gorgeous, if occasionally chilly day on the water. Thanks to all our reps who made it in for the event and helped give our customers a chance to paddle some of the newest and best craft on the market. If you couldn’t make it out this year, make plans to join us next year.

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