Dam icicles & fresh Bear tracks

The other day Bob, Peggy & I along with the dogs went up to the dam , it was a beautiful sunny day and 20 degrees so we decided to head to the dam before it got too warm. On our way there we did a couple of repairs to our road and the bridges we had built out of snow we made it. While we were at the big slide repair and while watching the dogs checking things out I noticed some tracks I knew weren't the dogs, even Peace's big feet were no match for these tracks, they belong to a very early bear that is confused by this weather and lack of snow so he's already moving around. I went out Tues morning to meet Bob & Peggy at the garage I thought I saw some tracks that looked like bear tracks coming this way but knew it was just too early for them to be moving and so thought we might just have a very big wolf out here, well after seeing these tracks on Thur I realized I had seen bear tracks.
While going to the dam and climbing almost 800' elevation from my house we found almost 1' of POW. These are just a few photos I took while at the dam and on the road to the dam. The top 2 photos are icicles from the dam that are getting bigger everyday. The 2 lower photos are of the bear tracks that were on the road to the dam. The dogs went a little crazy wanting to find him, it really kept them busy and got Peace to stop looking for the dipper bird to chase.
The conditions out and about are really great for being able to really go anywhere and if you are looking to do some backcountry touring either snowmobile or skiing you really can't ask for much better conditions. The Phelps Creek TH road is clear and has 2-6" of POWder and closer to the TH almost 10-12", even though the base is great it isn't as frozen as it had been so makes for great exploring. Since we have seen temps in the 40's each day the afternoon's are better for snowmobiles especially since the trail is very hard and icy in some places, but ice scratcher's help greatly, late afternoon's you might post hole in some places as the snow softens late afternoon, as soon as the sun goes behind the mountains though the snow is quick to firm back up. These are the things that make living here so great, everyday is something different, spending time with my dogs watching them enjoy life, the only thing that would make it better is having someone to ashare it with.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too. Peace

New Snow & Artist Conch babies

Yesterday when we went hiking it was starting to snow lightly and as the day progressed the snow got heavier. We had quite a few snowmobilers & friends come visit some we haven't seen since Peace was 8 weeks old and Bear & Lillie weren't even here yet. Our friends Dan, Jen, Jake, Jared, Allan, Chris, and some friends of their's came out riding and have helped me out in different situations over the years, it was good to see them.
The top photo was taken during the snowfall yesterday, the middle photo is this morning after the snow stuck everywhere.

The bottom photo is actually a fungi commonly called an artist conch, as you can see it grows in and on dead trees and what you are seeing is the fruit of said fungi, which after growing and covering the outside of dead trees people remove them, dry them out and then use them for a canvas for paintings and other art work, some we have found are over 15" across. The photo is of the bottom side of the fruit which is just starting to form but will be solid off white and dries to the texture of an artist canvas. I have found them all over out here in many different sizes and shapes some only possible to see when there is 10-12' of snow because they are so high in the trees/snags.
I'm not an artist, I can't even draw stick figures without a ruler or template but I do have a good eye I believe and see lots of possibilities with them from their beginnings like the photo to those that are multi-faced or 1' across, so until I learn to draw, I might just have to collect them for friends that are artist like Amanda & Rusty Gibbs and see what we ca come up with together.


I am grateful for the new snow and hope to see another 2' or more of snow so that it won't be so dry this summer. Everyone that has been here during the winter & come out here this winter are shocked to see so much of the buildings out here at this time of year, we are usually buried in snow and basically live in an ice cave for 3-4 months with only a way out and a couple of places to look out front and back. I normally have to climb up and then down to get to my porch 4-5' and usually getting i the powerhouse means climbing down 10-12' just to get inside it, this year I made steps in Jan and haven't had to dig another thing since which has been nice for sure but it's not good for keeping the fire danger down. Get out and enjoy the beautiful POW, get some fresh air, and enjoy the natural beauty all around.

We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too.

Ice Wall, River & Spot Satellite Messenger

This top photo is of one of the ice walls formed from all of the water coming out of the mountain above the river. It's one of the places the dogs like to go run especially Peace & Bear because it is where the dipper bird hangs out and he likes to get them to chase him and they like chasing him. The next photo is the river just below the ice wall and the log jam at the confluence of the Phelps Creek and Chiwawa River, nice hole for the fish to hang out.
The bottom photo is a self portrait with my newest peice of safety equipment my Spot Satellite Messenger. Living out here and doing most of my traveling and hiking alone with my dogs I've been limited in what I can do because of being so far out here and being alone, especially having bad knees and shoulders, this is such a beautiful area and because of that beauty I find it hard to stay inside but have felt limited in where I could safely go up to now, usually I would just email a friend to let them know i'm going hiking and to where or if I'm going out to garage or snowpark, then call once there and when I'm heading back home, with an email once safely home, always with the understanding that if not heard from in 2-4 hours depending on how I'm traveling to call 911 because there was a problem.

Well with the Spot tracking messenger I can let people know where I am in realtime on google maps by turning the tracking mode on, I can also just check in to let them know if going out and if I'm OK even if my power is out now, a nice back up to have. I can send an OK or tracking message with GPS coordinates of where I am or where I have been for 24 hours or longer if I reset it again. If I'm out now and have a problem mechanically or physically but not a real emergency then I can send a help message with exact GPS coordinates and then if it is a real emargency I can send a 911 message which ties me in to the geos emergency worldwide service and will inform the authorities closest to me and get emergency teams dispatched to where I am using GPS coordinates. I believe this will give me an added sense of safety & security whenever & where ever I choose to go now with pretyped messages for check in or help depending on what I'm doing. You can find out more about it at www.findmespot.com if you are interested especially if you love the outdoors as much as I do and live as remotely during such crazy weather times like we have been experiencing. I purchased mine from Rescue Essentials for $149 and it came with the tracker option included via coupon for 1 yr a 49.95 value, then had to purchase yrly service plan for 99 and also got $100K SAR insurance for anywhere in the world for $7.95 and then repair or replacement insurance for 17.95 total of 135 for total service including tracking and unlimited checkin & help, I thought this wasa very good deal since they retail for as much as $169, but shop around there are deals, I'm happy with Rescue Essentials and their customer service is 1st class thanks Jorian, find them at www.rescue-essentials.com
We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too.

Making a Snow Road on way to the Dam

This past Monday Bob and I went to see just how bad the road to the dam was, and this slide and one other small place made it difficult to get past. This area slides every year never fails to let go and normally by this time of year we haven't been able to get to the dam for over a month or two. A few weeks ago when it was raining and we were getting wet snow I thought for sure that the whole face of the backside of Phelps Ridge had let go and slid, well I was wrong. The owners had gone up there a week before and told me they had to do some digging to get by on snowmobiles because of the slide area letting go as usual.
As we got up to the settling tank we had no difficulty getting there and were feeling good about getting up to the dam but we had to do some cutting and digging to make it level enough to get past on the ATV. We found it to be gorgeous going up there and we even found several natual ski runs across the creek. They are accessible from the Phelps Creek TH and by doing a little skinning you can get over 2000' of verticle skiing done and end up at our road across the creek. We had a great time getting there and seeing all of the beautiful snow and ski runs normally cutoff during this time of year.

We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

Cascade Quest Sled Dog Race 2009 @ Trinity

This weekend was the annual Cascade Quest sled dog race and we had 4 Purebred 6 dog teams, and 12 6 dog teams plus a 12 dog team that wasn't racing just a practice run. The teams started getting here around 6:15pm last night and last team arrived at 9:05pm. It took a while to get the dogs fed and settled in for the night so it wasn't real quiet for a little while after they arrived but once they got full and laying down for the night it got fairly quiet until about 4 am when someone must have been moving around and within a moment all 108 dogs outside started singing in harmony with my 3 dogs joining them for a moment. The dogs outside continued singing until they finally restarted the last leg of the race at 8:30 am.
This was the largest group of 6 dog teams in the last 5 years that I have been here for the Cascade Quest. This year we had a completely new crew here except for us and Dr Ty Johnson the Trinity vet not only for the race but also for my dogs and cat also. It's nice having a vet that makes house calls to Trinity and this year he brought his daughter Haile who is 8.
Haile got to meet Emma Porter a first time musher to Trinity who made here first snow run, night run, & overnight run all in one race, but she isn't new to Trinity. For the last 4 years she has come up here as part of the crew here during the races with her dad Tom. This year Tom ran the sporting class team race while Emma ran the 6 dog staged race.
This year the trail was fairly fast due to the conditions we have had the last 3 weeks with very cold nights and warmer days so we were expecting some of the times records to fall this year. We had a great time, had many returning mushers and dogs some with different teams and owners along with some new mushers to this class race who did very well. Not sure how things finished today at the Rec club but should know in the next couple of days. If you haven't had the chance to witness the superb atheletes in action you should check it out. Once the mushers start putting the harness and booties on the dogs the switch goes on and the dogs are ready to run, it's a beautiful thing to watch.

Now even though we had all of those dogs here the only ones that didn't enjoy it were Peace, Bear & Lillie because they were put on house arrest and lockdown while all of the other dogs were here, just didn't need them wanting to play with all of the tied up dogs, it wouldn't have been a pretty site.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too. Peace

Ice Formations upstream Phelps Creek

Yesterday morning when we went for our morning hike we headed upstream on Phelps Creek and found it to be colder that heading downstream towards the Chiwawa River. It's quite easy to get there now because the alder is buried under the hardpack snow and there are ice bridges everywhere, some cover the creek completely. Peace, Bear & Lillie love getting out and hunting, following scents to every tree the find, and playing chase and having fun.
I'm also curious about the forecast we have been having for this week, I keep seeing fog forecast but we haven't seen fog or anythig else but beautiful blue skies with a few clouds on occasion. It has been about 4-8 degrees colder than being forecast for the nights which is causing moisture to be pulled from the snow and beautiful hoar frost on the surface of the snow, to me it looks like beautiful snow feathers some alsmost 3/4" tall and the dogs love to eat it as they are walking & playing. It looks like the cold temps will get colder through the weekend with Sunday down to possible -2. When hiking around we hardly leave footprints even in the hoar frost. It's been great to be able to go any direction we want each day without fear of post holing or the snow dropping out from under your feet, no need for snowshoesbut some good ice cleats don't hurt.

The water temp of Phelps Creek usually stays between 42& 47 year round until we get into single digit temps, upstream is not as open as downstream therefore it stays colder because of mountains on both sides, not as much sunlight reaches it at this time of year and it is why we are seeing the great ice formations in the creek, I think they are beautiful, hope you like them too.

I am really enjoying having the snow set up so well so early in the winter and I've been taking advantage if it and using it as part of the rehab on my knee. I go walking everyday with the dogs to exercise and keep my knees stronger, it's just very confining when it is so deep and POW with no bottom makes it much more dangerous, you never know if it will hold you or not. Becasue the snow looks like big white pillows and is uneven it makes for good therapy, helping me to strengthen both knees, up & down, crossing creeks, side hilling to get some places and inclines that challenge me without being so dangerous, each day we do a little more. Every morning we go out for a 1.5-2 hour walk and exploration, checking out places to ski and snowmobile that aren't usually accessible and then come in for brunch, which also helps the healing I normally don't eat but once a day. After brunch and a slight rest we head out again for another hour or so, everytime heading a different direction, I'm finding it to be great therapy and fun at the same time.

If you like being outdoors and hiking this is the time to get out and enjoy it, no snowshoes necessary, pack a snack and water and a good walking stick of choice and get out and enjoy. For those that like winter camping there are plenty of snowpits readily available from treewells and fallen trees that will protect you and give you a warm place to sleep.
No need for trails since you can literally walk anywere you want without having alders and vine maple everywhere to hinder you. Jump on your sled, grab your dogs or friends and get outside and enjoy this beautiful winter weather, it'll do you some good.
We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too. Peace

Exploring with Ivan on Snowmobiles

This winter I've been taking it easy letting my knee heal after surgery in August, all I've done as far as riding has been the tracked ATV just to keep the snow packed down and making it easier to get around. After the snow settling down and becoming hard packed and I do mean hard, I've been walking with the dogs and checking out places to ride that usually aren't accessable this early in the year, checking out ski runs and places to snowmobile that no one ever rides through the trees.
Today my friend Ivan came out to ride with me and just have some fun in the snow before he heads to Jackson Hole and then on a cruise. We rode down to the horse camp and Phelps Creek campground riding through the trees getting off the trails and making our own way and exploring some new ski runs that need to be named. We found many places on both sides of the river to ride and play lots of mid sized jumps and getting to ride along the river was a great feeling. The dogs had a great time chasing us and hunting anything that moved or the scents left by the martens and other critters we all got some good exercise. The morning started rather cold 14 degrees and Ivan got here at around 9:15 after a chilly 30 minutes ride out here, we had some coffee and caught up some but we had to get out in the snow and all. We headed out to the campground to look at some ski areas that need to be skied and enjoyed, we just need about12" of POW th really make it nice riding.


The places we went in the summer aren't accessable because of all of the mountain alder everywhere but now the snow is just deep enough to hold it down and the snow is hard enough it won't pop up and hit you, and we had 3-4 X's as much area as in other previous years to ride and the nice thing is you can't get stuck, it's a great feeling, and allows you to be more daring, it was wonderful and so much fun. With the 20 degree temp swings everyday into the teens at night and up to mid 30's to 40 during the day also cause some of the biggest snow feathers I've ever seen and each day the become larger, when you walk across them you hardly leave tracks across it. Today was a wonderful with a great friend & adopted family member and even though I will feel it tomorrow it was worth every little ache or pain, it was a big part of the healing process, being outdoors surrounded by the natural beauty all around is very magical.

We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too. Peace

Hiking up James Creek

Today started out foggy here in the valley, but you could see blue skies above, so I knew it was going to be a nice day for a hike with the dogs. Yesterday we walked down the Chiwawa River snowbanks to the Phelps Creek campground, the snow is hardpacked enough you don't need snowshoes or have to worry about punching through and post holing. These are the conditions usually not seen until late Mar, early April after the snow basically has stopped falling but before the melt out. It's the time to go snowmobiling and not have to worry about getting stuck, you can go up hills and all normally impassable because the snow snow is so soft and deep POW.
Once we stared out we walked up the river until we found an area to cross on snow, not a downed tree and then we walked as far up the west side of the river as far as we could without going up the mountain just yet. The dogs had a great time chasing snowshoe hares, squirrels, and the martens across the snow. Since last Easter when some friends and I hiked up there in white out conditions so they could ski while walking the ridge above the creek and looking down on the creek I've wanted to hike it. It is almost impossible in the summer because of the mountain alder being so thick only deer and small creatures and my dogs can get around through it, I haven't tried but know those that have to their painful regret.


Today was perfect but almost dangerous, it was 18 when we started out, the hoar frost looked like diamonds, you could see how high the river had been running because of the mud on the ice & snowbanks, and the alder were buried and held down by the hard packed snow that is almost ice due to wet snow and rain last week and the 20 degree temp swings each day, warming to 40 and down to 18-20 overnight. I didn't have to worry though I had my ice traction studs on , they are great best I've had or needed being here. Today though we walked up the creek from the bottom up either walking beside or right up the middle on the snowpack. We found several small snow sides not big but slides none the less and because they are basically frozen now made nice stairs for climbing up once we got to the bottom of the waterfall, the dogs and I investigated as much as felt safe. We actually were standing right below where Grant, Ivan & I took a breather last year just before they skied down, one of the slides was at 3 Dog Run which we named last year after the dogs took off and ran to the bottom and back up again. These are just a few of the photos to show how gorgeous it was there today, you can see more on the web album online. Today's hike was a blast temp was 25 when we returned 2 hours later, the snow was just starting to get soft enough to see where we had been. The only thing that would have made today better would have been to have someone to share it with.

We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too. Peace

Old Friends Remembered

The snow here is very firm with 23 degrees, you can basically goo anywhere because the snow is compact, more like springtime conditions than what you would normally expect for mid-January. No new snow and lots of sunshine and plenty of early morning Alpenglow.
I often get asked about the wolves I shared Trinity with for a couple of years, so here are some photos of Kaia & Nashaba, thanks Ted and everyone else.
This is the time to get outside and enjoy what snow we have. Peace

Are You Kidding Me !!!

I normally keep a pretty close eye on several different forecast to get a good idea of what the weather is supposed to do, but then I also watch what is going on around here at the same time. The forecaster's missed this by a mile, it was supposed to be in the mid 20's last night, instead it stayed above 40 all night with crazy winds some over 30 mph. It has made the snow very slick and glazed, from firm to soft and we are now below 4' on the gauge. The road here was groomed last night and if it had gotten as cold as forecast would have set it up nice, since it is so warm I don't even want to go out walking around much due to severe risk of post holing which is something I prefer to avoid, evenn the dogs are having difficulty with keeping their footing and sliding around, it is funny though. In just over a month we have gone from lows of -9 to now highs of 49, making it very hard on the water supply for summer. Like I've said the macro-climate here at Trinity is so very different from anything you will find in this area, Fish lake is at 36 with 1mph winds and Steven's Pass it's 32, yet it feels like I went to sleep and woke up and it's late April the snow is dirty with debris fom the trees, the snow is melting due to the strong winds and if you are walking in this snow wear snowshoes or sink, the advantage is I can go just about anywhere on my snowmobile and not have to worry about getting stuck in bottomless POW. If this keeps up we will not have any snowpack by the time April gets here which reminds me of the first winter I was here, I hope we don't have a repeat. This continues to be a crazy winter and everything that normally takes 5-6 months to happen here has now happened in one month.
We found our Paradise, hope you find yours too. Peace

Beautiful Day @ Trinity

Today was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and the snow was firm but not frozen like it was yesterday, and for the first time we could get to the foot bridge without punching through post holing. Now that the temps have gotten warmer the ice dams are melting somewhat revealing the creek a little more everyday. The dogs love it too, they can go anywhere they want which means they can hunt without having to snowplow to get to the smells and have fun playing in the snow without getting wet. Bear found something he liked in the snow by the foot bridge digging as deep as half of his body as you can see in the photo of him, Lillie likes to belly slide on the snow, Peace was out hunting somewhere else. I was able to drag around Trinity and even started getting things ready for the sled dog races that will be happening in the next few weeks, it's called the Cascade Quest. With all of the snow we have had I haven't been able to keep it knocked down and with the rains the snow is like Big pillows of snow, not very even and so it will take some work to get it ready for the dog teams. I hadn't been out there very long and the temp was hovering around 32 so that it was firm but still soft enough for the drag to cut the snow down some without being so hard it does nothing. That only lasted about 45 minutes and then it warmed up and got very soft so that I went from barely making a mark to cutting a 10" trough, so I decided it would be better to stop before I messed up what I had done already. The rest of the day we kept an eye out for any sledder's that might make it out this far but so I could find out what the road south of here was like, probably not passable due to slides and possible downed trees. There is always tomorrow and with the warming trend expected this week I'll only be able to drag early in the mornings and only if it drops below 30 at night. We'll just have to see what happens and hope they groom this week all the way out here then for sure friends can come in to visit without difficulty. All in all today was a beautiful day and the dogs had a blast gettting to go places thaty haven't been able to for a while. The marten has been around here causing Peace to go a little nuts, once she winds something she wants to find it no matter how far away it is or where it has gone. I believe Peace would be great at an extreme obsticle course the way
she, Bear & Lillie travel through the woods, they are all bushwackers, I don't think she would find a closed course very challenging, especially since she uses downed trees as bridges and highways through the woods, deer trails, the creek and river to get around in the brush, and she just loves to run, not bad for a Lab/Rott/St.Bernard mix but she has the heart and soul of the wolves I've had, she just stays closer to home. Well that will be someting else to write about another day. The snow and rain is gone but the winds are picking up getting stronger keeping the wind chimes singing their songs which I love to hear, but it also knocks the snow down compacting it even more.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too. Peace

Icicles a Favorite Toy

Most of us are thrilled when we see big icicles hanging off of buildings and windows and all but my dogs could care less when they are hanging around here, but once they fall it's a different story. They can not go outside without grabbing one before coming back inside which is OK but can be a surprise if you happen to be walking in your socks sometimes.
Today it started out snowing around 8 and we had friends coming out to visit and they were leaving the snow-park @ 9:30. They got here around 11 and were soaked because it had been raining Fish Lake and half of the way in here but the whole time they were here it snowed about 3" in about 5 hours but that turned into rain within 20 minutes after Ivan & Sam left. We had a great visit and they brought in some needed supplies of ice cream, 1/2n1/2, & milk.
With these warming temps and now the rain all of the snow that has been piling up on the roofs is starting to slide off & building up around the houses which is helping to insulate things but most of all there are icicles everywhere and not one time can any of the dogs go out or come in without picking up one to fight over. It's another of the many things they do to entertain me everyday. If you haven't met Peace, Bear & Lillie in dog you are missing out, even though at times it seems chaotic with them they each have very definite dogalities and are a pleasure to be around. They have never met a stranger either 2 or 4 legged and they are my best friends. It's such fun to watch them playing in the snow, playing keep away or tag using a branch that has fallen, it just doesn't matter to them. After spending $100's on toys for them the ones they like best usually can be found on the ground while they are out playing, keep it simple is even true for them.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too. Peace