Charles Jennings
@chasjennings
Neuroscientist, founding editor of Nat Neurosci; current research manager at Brigham and Women’s Hospital; hiker and occasional marathoner; proud father. 🇬🇧🇺🇸
Wildfire smoke near Boston this morning - the worst I have ever seen here.
Is there a cat version of the quinceanera? Toby is celebrating today—he was adopted as a stray so his exact birthday is unknown, but CVS needed a date on record to fill his prescription (for ‘Toby Feline Jennings’) so I arbitrarily picked May 26, and so it has been ever since. Happy birthday!
If anyone is visiting London, I’m told that the exhibition of native Hawai’ian art at the British Museum is very impressive. Also, they were apparently fans of Beavis and Butthead.
The FBI director cannot be allowed to monopolize the market, so I'm proud to announce that I am launching my own competing brand.
Today I did (but can't quite say ran) the 7 Sisters Trail Race in Amherst MA. It’s about 11 ½ miles with 4500’ ascent and is reputedly one of the hardest trail races in New England. It attracts a serious crowd, so I was toward the back of the pack as expected—happy to have survived without injury!
Seems a long time ago, but on Feb 14 I was ice climbing at the artificial canyon in Auburn MA. One of my companions had a drone and just sent this photo. I am still a novice and was safely top-roped here (I don’t have the skills to lead), so it was less dangerous than it looks—but still a cool pic!
A Boston perspective on two firings: Andris Nelsons was just fired as BSO conductor, and received an outpouring of support from the musicians. Pam Bondi, not so much—her DOJ colleagues immediately tore down her official portrait, threw it in the trash, and circulated the pic on social media.
Also current Lt Gov Kim Driscoll, reminding everyone that Concord helped get rid of a previous king!
Great turnout for #NoKings rally and march in Concord MA today—looked like several thousand people. Former MA Gov. Deval Patrick was the keynote speaker.
Hiking in the White Mountains of NH last Sunday. We were hoping to catch the end of the ice-climbing season but were defeated by the water crossings—snow was melting rapidly, and getting across the final stream was challenging!
This is the good kind of ice, not to be confused with ICE… Climbing today at Auburn canyon, a flood control channel near Worcester MA. (I am the belayer with the orange helmet.)
At first I thought this guy was planning to push a shopping cart up Denali, but apparently it’s a Trader Joe’s parking lot in Hanover, MA – photo from Boston Globe
Visiting family in SoCal for Xmas, and managed an overnight backpacking trip with my son to Los Padres NF before the rains arrived. We climbed Hines Peak (6703’) from near Ojai, with great views of the Topatopa Bluffs along the way.
Yesterday I climbed Tripyramid (a NH 4000-er), and as usual in the White Mtns, the summit is in trees, so not much view there. But the ascent via North Slide was challenging, and despite great views in perfect conditions, I was not in the mood to take pictures until we reached safety at the top.
People travel from across the world to see New England fall colors, but we have them right outside our front door!
Among many great costumes at today's #NoKings protests, this guy in Boston totally nailed it!
Day 9: Our final half-day involved 6000’ of descent through different climate zones, from the alpine environment at Shepherd pass, down through forests, and ending in the semi-desert environment of the Owens valley. [End]
Sunrise at our final campsite at Shepherd Pass (12,000’). What an amazing place!
We were very pleased with ourselves after summitting Mt Williamson, seen in the background. It’s slightly lower than Whitney—which I haven’t climbed—but is supposedly much harder, and felt like a real achievement.
Day 8: Mt Williamson was tough, but we made it! Whitney is visible over my R shoulder in the summit pic. I didn’t take photos on the way up or down (too busy trying not to fall) but we met another climber who took a pic of me descending the chute—posted with permission (thanks Sean!)
From the summit of Mt Tyndall we had a great view of the W face of Mt Williamson, the second-highest summit in CA and our target for next day. It looked intimidating, but we were ready to trust Secor: “Aim for the cliff face with a large black stain and then follow the chute up to the left.”