Kaia making sure that Doug is doing it correctly, lol she enjoyed it once it was down but not when it was taking off or landing. 

Bill & Roshon getting their gear ready to do snotel maint 

Scotty getting ready to go Park Creek to do annual maint 

Doug the Pilot for Northwest Helicopters flew in to do Snotel Maint  

Elaine & Gregg just before going flying with Doug the Pilot for Northwest Helicopters 

Beautiful colors in the meadows below 

Glacier Peak with lots of snow still

Lyman Lake From the air yesterday  

Snotel Maintenance

Me in the front seat
Lyam Lake from the air
Comintg into the LZ for Lyman Lake
Glacire Peak with plenty of snow 

First Snow of the Season

Well this past Thur and Friday there was snow up at the higher elevations and we got some much needed moisture, it has been extremely dusty since June. The snow on Massie Mtn is all but gone but today and yesterday it has rained some more. The hunters are out in force and this weather should make the deer moving more. Now it is just getting ready for winter the temps are dropping at night into the mid to low 30's. This wetness should also help with the fires that are ravaging the state. We haven't seen rain since June but this past few days we have gotten almost a 1/3rd of an inch. Life is good in Paradise. Hope you find yours.

Our trip to Texas

Well we just returned from Texas on Saturday and had the most wonderful time even though my part of being there was like being in a whirlwind for the 4 days I was there. Elaine had gone to Tx 2 weeks before for Breece's birth a month early and she is doing great. There was alot of healing that has been started especially with my girls Serah and Jenn and my 2 grandkids Aiden and Avery. It has been a long time since seeing them mostly because I listened to lies and not talking to them to learn the truth just compounded the problems but God is good and he opened doors that had been shut and I'm so grateful. Elaine and I have 4 children and 4 grandchildren and 2 son in laws and 1 daughter in law our family together is growing quickly when just a few months ago it was just me by myself at Trinity and the kids.
Life is Good and we have found our Paradise hope you find yours.

Mother and daughter at home and all is well there. 

Chad with his beautiful new daughter Breece 

This is Elaine's mom Bobbi and Breece's great grandmother. 

Doug Elaine's brother holding Breece, Elaine and Blake after dinner the last night in Texas 

Elaine and I getting ready to come back home after a whirlwind trip to Texas 

Elaine's nephew Blake and Breece at home in Mansfield, TX 

Avery and me she is 4 months old here 

Serah, Jennifer, Avery and Me at Serah & Brian's house in League City TX. We had a great visit 

More TX Pictures

Elaine, Breece and I in Texas this past week, it's the first time that I have been back since moving to Washington in 2003.
Sarah and Breece the first week home.
Breece and her dad Chad at home in Mansfield TX
Breece Ann her first week in this world 

Photos from TEXAS with our kids and grandkids

This is the first original Hoogen painting at Trinity and it will be used to offset the winter white.
Elaine with Breece 4 days after she was born in Texas.
Avery at 4 months with her dad Brian.
Avery me and Jenn my youngest daughter 

A Little about Polaris Ranger being used here.

This past November I purchased a Polaris Ranger to use during the winter to get in and out of Trinity instead of a snowmobile for medical reasons, I had planned to purchase tracks from Litefoot Mattracks but when I went to get the Ranger the dealer had some tracks made by Polaris and was told that they would perform as well as the litefoot tracks, so I gave them a try on the Ranger while a friend put the litefoot tracks on his ATV so we got to use both of them. On the groomed trails the tracks performed ok, but less than 48 hours after they were installed the right rear track assembly fell off after less than 45 miles that is one trip in and not all the way back out I ended up having to walk out 6 miles, not a great way to start out. Over the winter I was able to go in and out of Trinity fairly easy with the Ranger with tracks but the lugs aren't designed to help much with the kind of powder that we get here, at times there is just no bottom to the snow and with the large surface area on the bottom of the Ranger it is easy to high center the Ranger then the tracks just spin. The Ranger low gear is extremely low and when using the tracks only goes about 5-7 mph which makes for a very long trip out especially when it is 23 miles to the garage where the trucks are parked. Personally I would like to see a higher low range and more top end than what the Ranger comes with and the 2007 Ranger does that gaining 10 mph on the top end. After less than 6 months use of the tracks from Polaris while on a trip out in May the front left track totally demolished itself in the middle of the only steel part on the tracks the hub, it cracked and then broke and again I had to walk out which for someone with healthy knees but I wore braces on both knees just to walk after being run over in Seattle in 2003, and have difficulty walking at all much less in deep snow. Needless to say that those instances and several others completely turned me off to the Polaris tracks but I gave the dealer and Polaris the opportunity to make it right but they weren't willing to stand behind them or take responsibility for their poor quality. I like the Ranger it is a great way to be able to get in and out of here in the winter and it makes it much easier to being in supplies instead of like the year before when everything that came in did so in a backpack on a snowmobile, not so easy a task. I would not recommend the Polaris tracks to anyone interested in them especially if you plan to use them alot during the winter as they won't hold up according to what I experienced this year. I put over 350 hours on my Ranger in the 5 months we had snow which means the tracks had 350 hours when it demlished while going out which caused me to be stranded for almost 35 days not able to go out because I had to put the wheels on to get home, not an easy task since the snowpark was still open and only tracked vehicles were permitted, we live and learn. I returned the trackes to the dealer and was informed that the tracks were mine and not Polaris' problem. Not good customer service from the dealer or Polaris. I have ordered new tracks from Litefoot for this coming year the new improved M3's they are 2" wider and 6" longer than last years modle and they also have a 1-3/4" lugs which should move the Ranger through the snow and powder much better and without the problems incurred while using the Polaris tracks. The Mattracks litefoot tracks that my friend had on his ATV held up all winter without any mechanical problems other than snapping CV joints. We'll just have to see what happens this year. Right now I wouldn't recommend the Polaris tracks until they have corrected the problems they have and willing to stand behind their product.

Boy it's sure Smokey outtside

Well this morning when I let Peppy outside the valley ws full of smoke much like it has been for the ;last few days but today it seems very heavy. There are many fires north of Trinity even as far away as Winthrop yet the smoke is covering everything. It's been very dry this summer with very low humidity. All the Hummingbirds and Grosbeaks have headed south for the winter. The deer aren't coming in like they have been and all the young are getting fat and ready for their trek out of the mountains. The mountainsides are brown from Tussock moths we believe and it has definitely taken it's toll, it is sad to see but also part of the cycle of life.
Elaine is enjoying her time with her family , getting to play and take care of Breece and Sarah which is something she has ben missing, it's also a time for growth and that is a good thing. I miss her very much and yet know that all things happen for a reason and when they are supposed to happen. Sometimes the reason it takes so long is that we have to be ready to receive what it is that we need or want. Life is Great. We found our paradise hope you find yours. Namaste'

Many Changes Happening

This past Monday we, Elaine got a call that her daughter Sarah was in the hospital and they had induced her, Breece wasn't supposed to be here until the 18th of Sept or so that was the plan. Well things happen for a reason and their baby Breece Ann was born on Tues morning 4# 12 oz , 17" long and strawberry blond hair she's doing great, they came home today. This morning Elaine flew out to DFW after being bumped last night and she said all is well there but it is hot.
Then I was blessed to talk to my daughter Serah whom I hadn't talked to for too many years and found out that not only is Aiden my grandson doing great and started Kindergarten I haven't seen him since just after he was born and that really sucks, because I believed some things that weren't true. WE learn from our mistakes hopefully and now we find out that we also have a new 4 month old granddaughter Avery and according to her mom she's the best. Well I had made a decision to go to TX to see Elaine while she was there helping Sarah and Chad adjusting to being new parents, and now we will get to see my kids and grandkids who have been missing way too long and for that I'm very grateful. I haven't had any news of them since my mom died as she was the link between and now there is the chance for that to be corrected once and for all. I am very blessed and grateful that we can change the way things appear if we believe and don't doubt that God has and gives only good gifts. Love and peace are the only principals that matter to me if it isn't Love it isn't God and therefore isn't what God wants at all. Life is Great and gets better everyday, Today is all we have so I want to make the most of it, the past is just that we can either learn from it or continue to repeat it, I choose to learn from it and move on into today. We've found paradise here and hope you find yours too. Namaste'

Just so Everyone knows

Many people have been telling me that I haven't update the blog which I apologize for, but this summer has brought many new changes to Trinity, I now have a helper named Elaine and shw is the person I have been waiting for for all these years. I believe that everything that has happened has brought me to this place and has brought Elaine into my life and we have both been looking for the same things in life.I am able to share and experience love the way I have always believed it to be just never got to experience it first hand because of choices that I made. Life is wonderful along with Elaine came Peppy the third of our wolfers even thought his his body is much smaller more like a chihuahua, but the spirit of the wolf. He loves to explore just like Kaia and Shaba.