Man or Beast?

... was a hunting legal twelve years old and probably on the third deer hunt with Dad way out in the middle of nowhere (as it concerned me) in the vicinity of  'Glencoe, PA (his favorite area - gorgeous backcountry up there in 'Somerset County')... "Hey Dad - check out these tracks! Who the heck is up here running around barefoot!??"... "What the hell's wrong with you boy - those are (Black) Bear tracks!!"... "OOOOOooohhhh...." - never forgot that lesson, especially when out tryin' to impress the 'old man' - but man, their rear feet sure can resemble human tracks as we've witnessed many times thereafter - also went straight to the school library first day back and checked out every book on Black Bears and animal tracks - there were a few surprisingly...

... so was out fly fishin' late last Monday night and came across this along the river bank...

... was a single print sunk deep in the "creek mud"...

... searched "high and low - not another print in sight either, other than the two vague impressions identified above... think that we're gonna' stick with a human print on this one, though - were a lot of large rocks to hop - figure that someone missed this one and landed in the mud - besides, we wonder about that large toe... however, slightly earlier while walking along the riverbank we did spook something large that dashed off ahead, unobserved thru the brush - figured it was a deer considering all the matted river grass - had just jumped one near the exact spot two days earlier as well... but there's nothin' wrong with bein' wrong...

...Edit 09/11: Was a small print - about a size 7...

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... definitely a "beast" here...

... a large 'Wolf Spider' ready to pounce - was a pretty big one - photographed 'em the day before -  not "sickly" poisonous venom, but a painful bite none the less that leaves a large welt for a few days - take our word for it...

Whale Rock

... still think it looks more like a Beaver...

... did the short hike up upriver yesterday...

... for some SUP fun - the water couldn't have been any clearer...

... while on the way downstream, pointed out this thin seam on 'Whale Rock' to 'Z-Man' who decided to give it a try...

... don't know what it would be like on dry land with a pair of rock shoes, but as is it is pretty tough - has only seen one "send", that by a primed 'strong man Matt' probably twenty years ago...

... undercut with an overhanging start...

 ...then up the thin, crimpy and sloper seam and a long reach to a small one finger pocket that Matt claims is up there (think it is where that small plant is growing) - don't know, never made it that far - no one else did this day either...

... but it's still there and always will be until the end of time...

Brake Drum Forge

... had access to an old used brake drum off a thirty-ton trailer...

... so decided to make a coal forge out of the thing using some two-inch black pipe - mounted it to an old lawn mower deck for portability...

... got about $35 total into the thing...

... the big expense being this electric Mini Blower we picked up at the local 'Rural King' ($20) - that thing is a heck of a blower at 600 watts/75mph velocity - thought it was going to be too powerful but it turned out to be perfect for the job - performs double-duty as well for cleaning out the shop - works as a small leaf blower too...

... here's the initial "firing test" yesterday - what a blowtorch! -  although it looks similar it went a little better than for the guys at 'SpaceX' recently, and for a lot less expense - plus we got a lot of local coal available to supply the heat...

... got it burning to some hot coals in about fifteen minutes...

... further testing - we heated this railroad spike to orange-hot in about five minutes...

... had this 1/8 inch scrap steel plate to near yellow-hot but it had cooled to orange before we were set to take this photo... 

... had a good batch of coke clinkers cooked up from the test heat so this morning decided to fire it up again and have some fun - that's that same railroad spike after about three hours of heating and hammering, then a bit of light surface grinding and wire brushing to shine it up - added an edge for slashing and sharp point for penetrating rib cages - put an edge on the pommel for throat slashing right (or left) crosses - will probably work as a throwing knife too - dressed it up with a rubber grip - didn't get too carried away and is still a bit rough - but will still kill somebody (just kidding)...

What Not: Hoolimen, Beaver Den, Making Climbing Great Again

... Hooliman gymnastics...

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... a Beaver 'Bank Den' somewhere out there...

... just last weekend - didn't see any tracks around, but saw a second, more isolated den further down stream with tracks - this den has been there since late Spring, but figure that the Beaver may have abandoned it after summer and fishing season set in as it it located right along a popular stretch of fishing shoreline with lots of fishermen imposing on his serenity...

(internet image)

... Beaver Den mechanics - they usually resort to this structure when locating along a wide or swift flowing body of water...

... there was an assortment of late summer wildflowers in bloom along the shoreline as well...

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... wasn't aware of this event until we came across it on-line yesterday...

... 'PsicoRoc' Deep Water Soloing event held a few weeks back at 'Summersville Lake' just south of the border in 'West Virginia'...

... looks like a ton of fun - here is a link to their pretty good highlight film: https://vimeo.com/181035215 - generally have no interest in organized climbing competitions as such, but got to admit that this is pretty cool - may have been tempted to grab the board and take a ride down to check it out if we'd known...

... also like their event hat... don't know whose photos we've used here, but thanks...

... we had a short 'Deep Water Bouldering' segment at the end of our earlier 'Bouldering' film (http://www.wildfilmproductions.com/cinema.html) which we photographed way back in 1998 - forward thinkers as always around here... 

...the 'Way Cool Piers' are fun for stuff like this as well - though not nearly as difficult, they're still a long plunge into the drink...