Field Notes
See the pictures, read on for the stories.
The latest Instagram pictures rotate through, along with links to their quick stories. But there’s so much more to tell. Some from our own experiences, others that are shared. From young to old, from local to international, the AdvenChair is making the rounds!
“The wild requires that we learn the terrain, nod to all the plants and animals and birds, ford the streams and cross the ridges, and tell a good story when we get home.”
—Gary Snyder
And the stories we can tell!
We love to share our news and yours. Have an AdvenChair story to tell?
Snow Trial on the Canal Trail
The scouting report called for plowed, packed snow on the service road that serves as the Canal Trail along the Deschutes River. The fresh snow from the night before should give good traction, a good “joggable” surface, similar conditions to a trip a few years ago.
The AdvenChair team tests the two-foot snow dump on the Canal Trail with their all-terrain wheelchair.
BY GEOFF BABB
The scouting report called for plowed, packed snow on the service road that serves as the Canal Trail along the Deschutes River. The fresh snow from the night before should give good traction, a good “joggable” surface, similar conditions to a trip a few years ago. The forecast was for 28 degrees with partly cloudy skies; good conditions considering that we had just survived “Snowmageddon” where a record 2-3 feet of snow had fallen the week before (we ended up with a bright, sunny 35-degree day).
With Brian pulling and John driving we set out from the parking lot and immediately encountered a 2 ft high berm of packed snow at the curb cut and 300 ft of un-shoveled sidewalk before getting to the trail itself. The sidewalk was rough, uneven, and covered with 8 to 12-inch chunks of hard snow. After a lot of pulling and pushing, we made it to the trail itself.
Checking out the front wheel of the off-road AdvenChair wheelchair
We soon realized a problem with the scouting report – it only mentioned the plowed, packed road and we were still a quarter-mile from it. The trail had a well packed 18-inch-wide path with 8 inches of soft powder on either side. The packed snow was plenty solid but not wide enough for the wheels of the AdvenChair. The front wheel would slide off the path, causing the chair to tilt to the left, then right. The road was too far away, and it didn’t take long for us to agree that this wasn’t very much fun. So we turned around and headed back to the parking lot.
In our AAR – after AdvenChair review – in the parking lot we agreed that the trail was too rough today. Had we made it to the road, we would have had smooth rolling. We did learn that the fiberglass towing polls are too rigid to maneuver around obstacles like frozen chunks of snow, but that pulling with nylon straps is easier. The front wheel didn’t track well, but the ground clearance of the foot plate was excellent, easily clearing the chunks. A walk through the neighborhood on partially bare roads sounded like a much better option. It was a rough slog on the trail and we learned a lot. We finished the day with a nice walk through a new neighborhood.
AdvenChairing is a Team Sport
My wife, Yvonne often refers to the AdvenChair as the “community chair” because so many people are involved with it, whether designing it, telling the story, or on the trail, where it takes a team to push, pull, and/or maneuver the chair. This was the case last week on a hike at Smith Rock State Park.
The team heads out to test the AdvenChair off-road wheelchair at Smith Rock State Park, Oregon
BY GEOFF BABB
PHOTOS BY MICHELLE SIMMONS, The SUITCASE STUDIO
My wife, Yvonne often refers to the AdvenChair as the “community chair” because so many people are involved with it, whether designing it, telling the story, or on the trail, where it takes a team to push, pull, and/or maneuver the chair. This was the case last week on a hike at Smith Rock State Park.
Our timing was perfect as we set a date a week in advance for a photoshoot of the newly powder coated AdvenChair to have high quality pictures to use on the website. With temps in the 50’s and blue skies, matched with stunning rock formations, conditions couldn’t have been much better.
Checking out the front wheel of the AdvenChair all-terrain wheelchair
Photographer Michelle Simmons had a list of shots in mind – moving on the trail, people talking, close ups of the chair, and various group shots, and designer Jack Arnold wanted to watch how the chair performed, particularly the front wheel.
In the parking lot several people helped me transfer out of the van and into the AdvenChair while others readied the straps, poles, and shoulder harness needed for pulling.
Soon we were headed down the steep trail into the Crooked River Canyon. Amy Kazmier used the disc brakes to easily control my speed, but just in case, Dave Green and Kirk Metzger followed with nylon straps attached to the chair should she need help.
Amy Kazmier is on the disc brakes to safely descend into the park, with Dave Green and Kirk Metzger as backup on nylon straps and Brian Tandy on lead.
With her two-year-old daughter Addison on her back Danielle Cochran pushed me across the footbridge at the Crooked River. This was Danielle’s first outing with us, but she was already a valued team member after she and her husband Joe had donated coffee through their business Smith Rock Coffee Roasters to the Indiegogo fundraising campaign.
As Brian Tandy pulled me with two fiberglass poles attached to a shoulder/waist harness, the team easily moved me through rocky spots and across smooth boardwalks before really testing the system. Michelle asked for a photo near the water, so the team guided me about 50 feet down a log and earth staircase to a small beach. With a combination of teamwork, strength, and finesse I was quickly back up the stairs and onto the trail.
Moving through rocky spaces.
Heading across the boardwalk to the beach.
Heading down the stairs to the beach.
Hanging out on the beach.
Headed up the hill out of the canyon
At Smith Rock descending into the canyon from the parking lot is optional. From the bottom though, the climb out is mandatory; but three pullers and a pusher (with some rest breaks thrown in) quickly pulled me the 200 yards to the top.
Around a picnic table we debriefed with an AAR – an “After Action Review” in military and firefighting parlance, but in this case, I’ll coin the term “After AdvenChair Review” – to discuss the day.
Everyone was impressed with how easily the AdvenChair all-terrain wheelchair rolls and how well the weight is balanced. Jack shared his ideas on upgrades to strengthen the front wheel and to improve the footrest and steering tubes. Through the test, AAR, refine cycle we’ll continue to improve the AdvenChair.
With teamwork Michelle was able to get some good shots for the website, Jack got important feedback on the design, new people were able to experience the AdvenChair, and we all enjoyed a stellar January day.
At the “After AdvenChair Review”
And a fine day was had by all!
It Was a Grand AdvenChair Indeed!
Amy, Yvonne, and I arrived back in Bend tonight after 3 days of driving from the Grand Canyon, exhausted but excited (most everyone else flew home Friday). I wanted to write a quick update, and then it’s off to a shower and bed.
Amy, Yvonne, and I arrived back in Bend tonight after 3 days of driving from the Grand Canyon, exhausted but excited (most everyone else flew home Friday). I wanted to write a quick update, and then it’s off to a shower and bed.
Despite our extensive prep and training, the infamous Bright Angel trail water bars may have broken the axle on my wheelchair at around 2 miles into the canyon but it brought out the best of us. I wasn’t hurt, it wasn’t an emergency, and team worked wonderfully to do a field repair and get me back up to the rim. My time on that trail was over but 8 of our 13 team members did make it down to Bright Angel campground and spend a night before climbing back out. Between pulls on the whiskey bottle, the campfire conversation on our last night centered around building the bomb-proof expedition chair and planning our next trip to the Big Ditch.
I’ll share more stories and pictures soon, but in the meantime, thank you for all of your support!
The Grand AdvenChair—A Team Effort
One of my earliest and profound memories from the hospital following my stroke was when I was still in the ICU, dealing with a lot of pain, and not fully aware of what had happened to me and what was next. The nurse came in, tuned my bed toward the window, opened the curtains, and said “you have a lot of friends.”
One of my earliest and profound memories from the hospital following my stroke was when I was still in the ICU, dealing with a lot of pain, and not fully aware of what had happened to me and what was next. The nurse came in, tuned my bed toward the window, opened the curtains, and said “you have a lot of friends.” Gathered in the parking lot on a cold, snowy, late November Central Oregon day were close to 100 friends who had come to a barbeque fund raiser for me. With Yvonne’s help I waved and thought “Wow, there are a lot of people pulling for me. This is really a team effort and I need to do my part and work hard.” (I could only “think” this because I couldn’t talk at the time)
There will be 12 (maybe more) on the team that goes to the Grand Canyon with me but the “team” really is much bigger when the 40 or more people who have donated toward the Grand Advenchair are counted. Thank you all for the response so far! It means a lot to know that so many people are behind us! One donor said it so well “None of us gets down the road by our own steam alone. None of us. We all rely on the kindness of strangers and the generosity of friends.”
We’ve exceed our initial goal of $3,000 but will keep the campaign going through the trip to continue to raise money to support the development of the next prototypes of the Advenchair so that others can get off the road, on to the trail, and into the wild. Visit https://www.gofundme.com/2dg5g9g
The team and I are preparing by working out, and testing and improving the chair. Though we obviously can’t reproduce the “Big Ditch”, we do have some awesome trails in Central Oregon to train on. One key team member (who unfortunately can’t make the trip) is a helicopter mechanic with a high level of detail, and always asks “What can go wrong here?” We’ve picked some rougher, more technical trails to test ourselves and the chair for the “What if?” scenario. We’ve refined our terminology and procedures and practiced things like backing down a too-steep trail, climbing stairs and water bars, and picking our line through rocky stretches. We’re basically writing the manual!
Comments from a friend:
Geoff
You’re f*cking crazy. As always.
So are your friends. What a bad ass plan.
Enjoy the brutal trip. Y'all gonna laugh your asses off and swear at each other. So much fun.
Looking forward to the reports
Enjoy buddy!
Thanks again and stay tuned for more updates.
Onward!
The Grand AdvenChair
When I survived a brain-stem stroke in 2005, I had to completely change how I looked at the world, approached adventures, and accessed wild places. While this has probably been the hardest challenge I have dealt with in my life, it has also been one of the most rewarding because my family and friends have made the outdoors possible for me.
In September I’ll be traveling by wheelchair into the Grand Canyon, an expedition we call the “Grand Advenchair”. I’m hoping that you can help us.
When I survived a brain-stem stroke in 2005, I had to completely change how I looked at the world, approached adventures, and accessed wild places. While this has probably been the hardest challenge I have dealt with in my life, it has also been one of the most rewarding because my family and friends have made the outdoors possible for me.
Using a wheelchair has not dimmed my pursuit of challenges; it’s only made me change the ways that I experience them. This outlook on life led me to begin The Onward Project with the mission to encourage people with physical and life challenges to explore and enjoy wild places, whether in the Grand Canyon or the local park.
The Grand Advenchair team will consist of a hard-core group of family and friends who have been training for this trip. They are wildland firefighters, mountain bikers, backcountry skiers, and outdoor leaders and enthusiasts. Oregon Adaptive Sports will provide critical staff and logistical support and film and produce a video documenting the 3-day expedition.
Early-on it became obvious that a standard, skinny-tired wheelchair was not going to allow me to get to the places I wanted to go. For over 8 years I’ve worked to create and refine a wheelchair that gets me off the road, on the trail, and into the wild. The AdvenChair is now ready: mountain bike tires, a larger front wheel, handlebars and disk brakes that allow control by the “driver”, and a towing system. This is not your grandfather’s wheelchair! My ultimate goal is to design and produce AdvenChairs to allow others with mobility challenges to access their own wild places and nurture their souls.
We will descend into the canyon via the South Kaibab Trail, dropping 5,000 ft over 7 miles to the Colorado River, and after a rest day climb back out on the 10 mile Bright Angel Trail.
Your support will help cover expedition costs within Grand Canyon National Park including food, permits and camping fees, and pack mules to haul gear in and out of the canyon, production of a video and limited travel costs. Any amount we raise beyond our $3,000 goal for trip expenses will go toward developing and promoting the next prototype of the AdvenChair.
Thank you for your support.
Onward!
Please consider making a gift to support the Grand Advenchair at one of these levels:
_____ $500 Condor - help with production costs of a video documenting the Grand Advenchair.
_____ $250 Big Horn Sheep – help defray travel costs of team members
_____ $150 Mule – sponsor one of the pack mules we will use to haul our gear.
_____ $50 Ringtail Cat – cover the costs of camping permits and fees.
_____ $15 Canyon Wren – food for 1 person for a day.
_____ Other
Visit GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/2dg5g9g to contribute.
Moving Ahead Without Fear
The weather for the 2016 Pole Pedal Paddle relay in Bend, Ore. ranked in “the top 5 worst days” in the 40-year-history of the event and still attracted nearly 3,000 racers. Oregon Adaptive Sports (OAS) fielded 4 teams of racers in the Adaptive division for the 6th straight year. The Can Do Crew, No Boundaries, True Grit, and Onward! all showed up ready to race, rain or shine.
The weather for the 2016 Pole Pedal Paddle relay in Bend, Ore. ranked in “the top 5 worst days” in the 40-year-history of the event and still attracted nearly 3,000 racers. Oregon Adaptive Sports (OAS) fielded 4 teams of racers in the Adaptive division for the 6th straight year. The Can Do Crew, No Boundaries, True Grit, and Onward! all showed up ready to race, rain or shine. It's only fitting for this inspiring group of challenged athletes that the first team out of the date was Onward! - moving forward - and the last OAS finisher across the line was Greg Dauntless - without fear - racing for True Grit.
The alpine and Nordic skiers found the 3 inches of new snow fast and fun but the bikers had a wet and cold 22 mile ride down into town. Fortunately, it had stopped raining by the time the runners hit the trail along the Deschutes River. The river was calm, but crowded for the paddlers. The weather hardly bothered the sprinters finishing off the race at the Les Schwab Amphitheater. Minutes after the group picture the rain returned but the downpour couldn’t dampen the smiles of the more than 40 racers and support crew. The slide show below says it all.
Final results: 1) No Boundaries, 2) Onward!, 3) Can Do Crew, 4) True Grit.
The racers are grateful for the support of NuMotion, Fratzke Commercial Real Estate, Therapeutic Associates, Knife River, Bend Dental Group, Century Insurance Group, Dana Signs, and New York City Subs for helping make the Pole Pedal Paddle another legendary year.
A big thanks to the OAS staff and volunteers who make this all possible!
Photo credits: Pat Addabbo, Yvonne Babb, Carl Backstrom, Renae Gibbons, Jessica Hamm, C J Johnson, Missy Peterson, Jill Pfankuch, and Kellie Standish.
Calm Amidst the (Fire) Storm
A lone clarinet player sat under the Augusta Street Bridge as we completed our last stroll on the River Walk. We had been in San Antonio for the Association for Fire Ecology’s 6th International Fire Congress and the quiet jazz melody lilting over the river was a calming send off from a very busy, energetic, and enjoyable week.
A lone clarinet player sat under the Augusta Street Bridge as we completed our last stroll on the River Walk. We had been in San Antonio for the Association for Fire Ecology’s 6th International Fire Congress and the quiet jazz melody lilting over the river was a calming send off from a very busy, energetic, and enjoyable week. I had worked for the past two years with the conference steering committee to pull this off and even last minute uncertainty about U.S. Forest Service participation couldn’t prevent a successful event attended by over 600. With a huge amount of behind the scenes work, especially by our hard-working co-directors, AFE has been organizing high quality events like this that bring together fire researchers, managers, and students for 15 years.
Conferences are also important for keeping the “Fire Family” together. It’s really gratifying to see friends I’ve known since 1988, as well as colleagues from around the country and world (Spain and Mexico). Even the workshop on fire effects I organized included students from Ghana and The Netherlands.
I couldn’t attend conferences without help and am always grateful that Yvonne can travel as my caregiver. After the meetings were over on Friday we took our own field trip to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center near Austin and decompressed from a busy week. Yvonne is very much a part of the Fire Family, helping with registration, taking in presentations, and even managing to get away from the conference and fit in a day of birding with an old friend.
Downtown San Antonio is built around the River Walk, a section of the San Antonio River that was channelized in the early 1900’s for flood control, and later developed into an entertainment district. While narrower than the irrigation canals here in Central Oregon and moving slower than a “lazy river” at a water park, the Paseo del Rio reminded me of EPCOT at Disney World with all the colors, smells, and music of all the restaurants and hotels. Once we figured out where the elevators and ramps were to access the river walk with my wheelchair from the streets above, we rapidly learned why this was such a popular destination.
The memory of the peaceful musician was important to us mere hours later at the San Antonio airport after learning that we would miss our Denver to Redmond flight to get home that evening. Jazz helped us see the brighter side of spending another night in San Antonio - compliments of United Airlines.
Despite the short drive to La Quinta our cab driver was impatient with us, possibly because he wanted to get back into the queue at the airport to collect fares greater than the measly $12 that our trip provided. We shook our heads as he drove off, but felt compassion for him as we tried to imagine the struggles he faced and the battles he was fighting that we knew nothing about.
After dropping our luggage in our room we navigated extremely busy streets and narrow sidewalks to use our United food vouchers at Applebee’s (what a step down after a week of great food), crossing over and under an incredible interchange of 12 lanes. While pop dance music blared in the restaurant I closed my eyes and smiled, thanking the clarinet player under the bridge for the image of solitude that we needed six hours later.
After a few hours of fitful sleep the taxi picked us up at 4:30 a.m. to take us back to the airport. Once we were finally headed north the flights were smooth and uneventful and clear skies, the snow-covered peaks of the Three Sisters, and Casper the Talking Dog welcomed us home.
A Wizard, A Weasel, and a Badass Wheelchair
“Sticky” Steve Morrison was up from Florida and we were eager to show him some of our Oregon beauty. Shepard Smith and Kirsten Nugent had brought Sticky to Bend from Corvallis and had wanted to see Smith Rock State Park (“to see the old homestead”) Friday before heading back to the Willamette Valley.
“Sticky” Steve Morrison was up from Florida and we were eager to show him some of our Oregon beauty. Shepard Smith and Kirsten Nugent had brought Sticky to Bend from Corvallis and had wanted to see Smith Rock State Park (“to see the old homestead”) Friday before heading back to the Willamette Valley. That was the chance we had been looking for to take the AdvenChair, now outfitted with disc brakes and a towing system, down and back up the steep trail to the Crooked River.
The brakes held me perfectly as Yvonne piloted me down the hill (Sticky and Shep followed holding webbing as a redundant system should Yvonne slip). Safely at the river, we took the wide path downstream until we found a good lunch spot. Then came the real test; could we get back up the hill? Sure enough, with Shep, Yvonne, and Kirsten pulling and Sticky pushing, the team grunted me (with a couple of rest stops) to the top, aided by the 50 yards of concrete walkway poured over the steepest crux pitch. We were ecstatic about the hike and bought ice cream in Terrebonne to celebrate!
Sticky (he’s a bee keeper) had flown into Medford so we volunteered to drive him back Saturday and to take him to Crater Lake National Park. We crested the hill to the rim, pulled into the first viewing spot, and looked down upon Crater Lake. It was brisk and windy and the gray swirling clouds prevented us from seeing the shoreline hundreds of feet below, much less the east side of the lake. But there where brief breaks in the clouds, enough to let us see the sun, the lake below and Wizard Island sitting within it, giving us hope that by the time we got on the trail the clouds would open up and reveal the entire lake.
Yes, indeed, by the time we had gone about a mile on the Garfield Peak trail the sky opened up to reveal the entire lake and its famous blue water. There were many wildflowers blooming in the meadow below and the sun was brilliant, working in concert with the fast moving clouds to create intriguing shadows on the multi-colored Wizard Island and rim of the caldera. We sat in silence and took it all in.
I’ve been really pleased with how my modifications to the AdvenChair have come along but I got the biggest chuckle as we were preparing for the trail. We had parked outside the Crater Lake Lodge next to about 20 motorcycles, and as the Rip City Riders mounted their machines and the silence was broken by idling Harleys, 3 riders came over to the van, looked at the chair, and said “that’s badass!”
We just grinned as they roared off.
After leaving Sticky at the airport we broke up the 4 hour trip home with some great BBQ from a road-side stand in Union Creek and a quiet walk through the meadow on the south side of Diamond Lake. It was a long day, but seeing Mt. Thielsen shrouded in clouds and watching a weasel watch us on the trail confirmed that it had been a pretty wonderful visit with great friends.
