By Ted Grussing
… first time I have been up at the peaks for a while … it is like a magnet to me … I made one more high altitude pass like this above the peaks and then tucked down close to the mountain and into the gentle orographic lift that was coming up the slopes for a couple more runs before heading SW to Sycamore Canyon. They were doing some burns at Snow Bowl so it was easy to determine wind direction and expected lift (not much, about 250’ p/m). In this view from a little over 13,000’msl the nearest peak is Humphreys Peak and the far one is Agassiz Peak and you can see a few of the ski runs for Snow Bowl on the lower reaches of the peak. On the left side of the ridge line running from lower left up to Humphreys Peak you can see several avalanche chutes. So it is greening up and still some beautiful snow on the slopes. The view is looking to the SSE; Parts of Flagstaff can be seen to the right of Agassiz and Lake Mary and above that Mormon Lake just above and to the left of Agassiz. The temperature was a pleasant 34F.
A very nice day and not at all weird; ten shots of espresso before 1P … fun visits with friends, some work on stones, a long outing with One and honestly not much else … salad for dinner, made palatable by the coffee ice cream that followed. Watched the movie “Assault on El Capitan” which detailed the history of the Wings of Steel route … only been done twice and also the politics of climbing which is pretty ugly. Couldn’t take any more murders on Criminal Minds or anything else, so for a while it will be aviation, climbing and stuff like that … can’t even imagine what it would be like to spend two or more weeks on a large wall rock … Ammon McNeely and his girlfriend Kait did it. The first ascent team was on the wall for 39 days.
Have a beautiful day and share the beauty and joy you find in life … someone might be having a “weird day” and you can make it better … I liked the missive back about looking for your glasses and discovering you are wearing them :+)
Cheers and Smiles
Ted
A bird flies through the sky, and I fly with it. I am each pearl of moisture sparkling in the sun.
I lie lazy on the clouds. And I acknowledge my kinship with each winged thing.
I see all as one, and nothing repels me, as this new day climbs noiselessly out of the valley of the night.
Peace lies over the world and over the world of my soul.
— Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
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