South Arete Summit, 7,807 ft (photo credit Joel Reid)

Last month I enjoyed a beautiful climb up the South Arete of the Early Winter Spires in the North Cascades. Though I love strolling in the high country, I don’t often do technical climbing. Thanks to my brother-in-law and climber extraordinaire Joel Reid for leading the adventure! Our climb was in mid-October and there was already a dusting of snow on the ground. While considering the 1.5 mile+ approach and climb, I opted to wear my KSO Vibram Five Fingers with a pair of Injinji socks. The shoes gave great traction and I was impressed how great my feet and knees felt at the end of the long day. As for the cold, as long I kept moving, I had no problems. I’m excited to try the new KSO Trek model coming in Spring 2010. Learn more about my other minimalist footwear adventures here.

From Hwy 20

Early Winter Spires

Vibram KSO

Ellsworth mountains, the highest in Antarctica (Seelye Martin)

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Ice Bridge Mascot

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photo credit: Darin Reid

I invite you to read my other posts on my toe shoes and you can learn how others are enjoying their Vibram FiveFingers at www.birthdayshoes.com

Painting in Antarctica (photo credit: Akos Hivokovics)

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with Kirsten Murphy, the co-host of a weekly radio show in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories,  called “Ends of the Earth.” The program is broadcast to more than 30 aboriginal communities through the Native Communications Society and focuses on climate change and sovereignty from a scientific, aboriginal, and artistic perspective. Kirsten included an excerpt from our conversation about my project, “Portraits of Ice” and painting in Polar regions on their Monday, June 8th broadcast. I’ve included the clip below, or you may listen their full archived show (I’m just over halfway through the program).

Download audio file (interview.mp3)

Methow Valley Sketch

I’m settling into my routine now after a great Wilderness First Responder (WFR) class in the Methow Valley, one of my favorite regions. Paul Nicolazzo, founder of the Wilderness Medicine Training Center (WMTC), taught the 80-hour course and was an inspiring instructor. I chose to take the class with WMTC in part because they offer distance-learning programs for which the academic studies are completed at home and exams are taken online. This meant I had five days of practical studies instead of the eight to ten days other courses may take when they include the academics on-site. The distance format allowed me to pace myself with the material and I felt well-prepared for the practical sessions (which included many scenarios and fake blood). I highly recommended the WFR course to anyone who spends time in remote regions.

Right now in addition to my regular art endeavors, I’m learning to save lives by taking a distance learning Wilderness First Responder course through the Wilderness Medicine Training Center. I’m studying this week at home and will be in Mazama, WA (one of my favorite regions) May 21 – 27 for the practical exam. As an Expeditionary Artist, I endeavor to be able-bodied and capable! On that note, I thought I’d share a couple of my affirmations (and a bird for spring…) that I use to keep perspective and focus. What are your affirmations?

Since that night, I’ve experience a number of memorable meals while traveling including catching my first fish and eating it, hunting game in Mali, and skinning seals in Greenland. My first time fishing was in French Polynesia in the Marquises Islands. I met a Frenchman, Didier, who was exploring the islands and invited me and another woman to join him on board for sailing. When he learned I’d never fished before, he set me up on the bow of the boat with a rod and told me to be patient. When I felt a nibble, I pulled up and landed a small, silver fish. “You caught one!” cried Didier, who came over to help me prepare it for dinner. We each caught a fish that night and mine was the smallest. “You caught it, you eat it,” Didier insisted. “Okay,” I replied, “but only after I sketch it. I completed a quick ink and watercolor sketch by lamplight.

In Mali, West Africa, I spent close to two months living in the desert with semi-nomadic Toureg. I met them through a wonderful musical group Ensemble Tartit who first invited me to the Festival in the Desert in Essekane (60 km from Timbuktu), and then introduced me to their extended family. Living in the desert, I drew continuously, learning the local language, making friends, and learning the rhythm of the land. The Tuareg have a traditional saying, “Aman iman, axx isodak, isan telmdu, isink esuk” which translates to, “Water is life (the soul), milk is food, meat is flavor, and everything else just fills the belly.” I craved and drank milk daily and often spent afternoons accompanying two friends hunting in the the forest (low, scrubby trees) to supplement dinners with meat. Tip-toeing and watching rabbits and birds, I learned the names of trees and animals. I also learned to shoot a rifle and how to skin a rabbit. More so, though, I learned to appreciate where my food comes from. Hunting was not a sport to my friends. Whatever we brought home was shared with the family and gave flavor to a diet of rice, few vegetables, and milk. In terms of adventurous meals, I ate game animals and just about every part of goat and sheep (including stomach for breakfast)

My appreciation for hunting and wild game continued in Greenland. In the north, imported foods are expensive as well as infrequent in the winter. Seals, walrus, and fish are necessary components to peoples’ diets. I’d tasted seal and whale with friends, but it wasn’t until late one evening that I learned the process of skinning a seal. It was 11pm one foggy evening and I was lying in the Upernavik Museum Refugium, where I was artist-in-residence. I’d tacked towels up over my windows to block out the light and was trying to fall asleep when my phone rang. My friend was calling me, and invited me to the dock where he was just back from a hunt. Curious, I trotted down to the waterfront where my hunter friend was out by his boat beginning to work on a ringed seal. I kneeled down and began helping clean the innards. Soon after I arrived, my friend reached into the animal and pulled out the liver. He cut off a piece for himself and another for me. “Here,” he said, “this is one of the best parts- it’s nutrient rich.” I accepted his offer, and ate the freshest piece of meat I’ve ever tasted.

These experiences and others have given me an appreciation for learning where our food comes from and for the process of obtaining it. While I habitually eat vegetarian now, I am respectful of cultures and traditions that do eat meat and will always accept an offer to try something made with love. Of course, I like to sketch it first.