The bowline knot is the most useful knot you will ever learn. It will not slip when in use, and comes undone easily even after being tightened under thousands of pounds.
Hiking & Nature
How to Tie a Taut Line Knot
This knot is very useful for adjusting tie downs quickly and easily. For example, a tarp could be held down by a series of these knots and be made very tight so the wind cannot make it rise, and easily be removed simply by sliding the knots later. A taut line knot is also used to keep large tents from sagging by keeping tension on the lines leading to the stakes.
The Power of Niagara Falls (short video)
Here is a video I shot from below the American Falls at the Cave of the Winds.
Took the family to Niagara Falls – Awesome!
Some who read this blog know that we are not able to get out as a family much. We have a handicapped son at home that needs 100% care. Carol really needed a break, so we placed Michael in OLV’s respite program for the week. We decided to get away to Niagara Falls. We were there on Tuesday and Thursday. We had a great time (BTW the we is me, Carol, Lisa, Timothy, Hannah and Frankie – James joined us on Thursday). The weather was perfect. We purchased the Niagara US Discovery Pass which included the following attractions: Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, Niagara Aquarium, Niagara Gorge Discovery Center, Niagara: Legends of Adventure Movie, and the Niagara Scenic Trolley transportation all day. I highly recommended this package.
I delayed taking some of my HCV treatment meds on Monday night and Tuesday morning. It helped, but I was still hurting. It took me all day Wednesday to recoup. After Thursday, well it is now Monday and I am still in bad shape. Only 16 weeks left of this treatment!
The first adventure we tackled was the Maid of the Mist boat ride. I have been on the Maid of the Mist before but every time is a great experience. You can really feel and hear the power of the falls from this ride. Plan on getting wet even though they supply you with the famous blue rain jackets.
After the Maid of the Mist we viewed the falls from the Observation Tower and then went to Prospect Point. I was able to capture some good photos from both these locations. We then loaded up on the Scenic Trolley and took the complete three mile ride around Niagara Falls State Park. This park is the oldest State Park in the US.
Our next stop was on Goat Island to the Bridal Veil Falls area. This location is one of my favorites in the park. You can reach out and touch the water (do not do it). After taking some pictures and finding the information for the 
Earth Geocache located there we decided to go below to the Cave of the Winds.
None of us have been to the Cave of the Winds before. What a mistake, living 45 minutes from here and never experiencing this – wow. It was great and was the highlight of the mini vacation. Carol and Hannah on Hurricane Deck on the picture to the right says it all. The Bridal Veil Falls behind them is POWERFUL! I took a ton of pictures from this area. It was mesmerizing! I shot a great video of the America Falls, I will post in another blog entry soon. Looking up and seeing the water rush down towards you is – well a rush! I was hesitant to leave this area, I enjoyed it very much.
Our next stop was Terrapin Point this is a short trolley ride or medium walk away. This is the location of the 
famous Horseshoe Falls. After acquiring the information for the Terrapin Point Earth Geocache we jumped back onto the Trolley for a ride to Three Sisters Islands. There is a regular geocache called “The Other Sister” located here and an Earth Cache called the Green Cascade. We found both of them. The Other Sister is a tough hide and we where glad to find it.
I was pretty much shot after all this. We decided it was time to find a restaurant for dinner. We drove around for a while and decided to head to River Road in Tonawanda to stop at Old Man River. I am glad we did, this is a nice hamburger type joint that sells seafood also.
Thursday lead us right back to Old Man River for lunch. 
Our first stop at the Falls was to the Trolley for another ride around the park. Then it was off to The Niagara Falls Discovery Center. The center showcases the natural and local history of Niagara Falls and the surrounding area, it is a hands-on learning experience for all ages. A movie was shown to us here. It was kind of a disappointment. They can do better. We also experienced a virtual elevator ride into the gorge. Next up was the Niagara Aquarium. It is nowhere as nice as Marine Land on the Canadian side but it is worth going to. We enjoyed the seals, sea lions, electric eel and various other native and non native fish. It was nice and relaxing.
From here is was Trolley ride back to Goat Island to Terrapin Point. We then decided to take the long walk back to Prospect Point to view the falls illuminated when darkness set in. It was a nice hike and worth it. I acquired many awesome night shots of the various areas. We had a great time and recommend everyone to make the trip to Niagara Falls!
See our full Picasa Web Album (143 pictures)
Geocaching… a great hobby!
Let me introduce you to a new hobby of ours here in the Broughton household – Geocaching. Geocaching is fun, it is for the whole family and it gets you out and about – ya that word – exercising. What is geocaching? Glad ya asked. Geocaching a high tech adventure game that is played world wide. Headquartered at www.geocaching.com this game involves hunting outdoors for hidden treasure. People all over the world have hidden “caches” and have logged the coordinates at geocaching.com. With a GPSr unit (we have the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx) one enters the coordinates into their receiver and the hunt begins. Many of the caches are hidden in neat places. Some take a good hike to get to and some also require solving puzzles.
To learn more go to Geocaching.com and also Geocacher University.
Santa Cruz Island Eaglets Attacked & Rescued
Yesterday two eaglets at the Nature Conservancy’s Santa Cruz Island Pelican Harbor nest were dramatically attacked by another eagle. This nest has a live web cam viewing the chicks at all times. An alert viewer of the cam notified Santa Cruz Island biologists. After rushing to the site the biologists found the eaglets alive but injured. One has a fractured wing and the other a broken beak. Today, both appear to be doing well – having been feed and also getting some needed sleep.
Watch the video (9 minutes) of this attack and hear the biologists speaking into the web cam as they make the rescue:
Tiff Nature Preserve Photo Album added to site
I added a new photo gallery to my Digital Photography site: Tiff Nature Preserve – the pictures are from a hike I took with some of my kids in October of 2004. At the time there was a wild bee hive on one of the paths. A week after I shot these photos it was destroyed by vandals.
-> Go to the full Tiff Nature Perserve Gallery
Here are a few sample shots:
Click on any image for a larger view
