Snow-maggedon2008 2.0

So we are at 16 fresh inches on top of the consolidated 5 inches that are now a solid sheet of ice. Jonathan is checking the level with the 24 inch measuring level.

In the last 48 hours we have had 21 inches of snowfall. And yet the kids were out sledding in the arctic tundra risking their lives with my permission, what a bad dad. I wonder if the Seattle schools were out today?

I enjoyed a life-threating 3 mile run on our trails in knee deep powder. It was a great time.

The woods were a quiet wonderland of snow and trails. It was great.

Tonight I was scheduled to be on shift at the Fire Department. Here we go with a great example of why... well just look at the Honda Civic Snow Plow...

I spent 45 minutes gaining 100 or so feet of my own driveway. It was amazing. The whole back and forth thing could have been out of an America's Funniest Videos. After securely anchoring the Civic in a frozen hole I contacted the department letting them know it was becoming evident I may not make it in. They filled the shift quickly with a local volunteer. Then I switched to the wife's car...

As you can imagine that didn't go so well either. We spent a large portion of last night getting Cheryl and here car home, finally deciding to park it in the neighbors driveway because we could not get into our own. As I made some very husbandly attempts to free her vehicle from the glacier, I, uh, well. The wonderfully secure cable chains were quickly entangled in the front axle after a few well practiced "back-and-forths" and a good rear ending of the neighbors shrubs. I called the department and confirmed I would not be in tonight, they understood. Cheryl and the boys were excited to have me home for the night.

Tony

Snow-mageddon 2008!!!

A local radio personality is doing a hearty tongue in cheek broadcast on the day's snowfall, highlighting the tremendous and utterly ridiculous media coverage of what has become another bust of a forecast. The people of Seattle are speaking out from their fully automated and stocked bunkers, from their Honda's with chains on the rear wheels, from their child filled homes due to school closures, and from places of employment with stories of commutes taking an amazing and ridiculous 30 to 45 SECONDS longer than normal. Mass hysteria has gripped the area...I am so glad we are better people than our parents. We look back on the snow days of the past with fond memories of hours of freezing fantastic fun, when in fact, according to today's safety procedures and warnings our parents would be locked up for endangerment!! How dare you allow your children to frolic in such a dangerous environment!! How dare you allow them to lose a glove or a boot, For the LOVE OF...DUCT TAPE IT ON!! Better yet don't let them go outside it's practically 34 degrees outside. We should declare an environmental and geographical emergency!! Where is global warming when we need it? (I think I'm gonna hyperventilate...where's my paper bag?)

Jonathan made a Calvin and Hobbes-esque snowman eating a carrot. Thankfully his frostbite was minimal and he will recover quickly, phew, potential disaster averted all in the name of snow sculpting. I've downloaded the latest legal description of jumps on sledding runs and have found out maximum height limits have again, for the safety of all children young and old, been reduced from a bone breaking height of 1.5 inches to a much safer politically correct 1/2 of and inch. I am so thankful we are safer now. No more bruised buns or jumping over dad, there will be none of that 'round here. A kid down the street was just arrested for using a...SLED, gasp!

Not to be out done and in a effort to utilize his school sponsored snowman building kit Gabe crafted a well rounded second to his brother's snowman. It was a test of endurance to brave the ever endangering temps hovering at a water freezing 32 degrees with wind chills dropping the temp to a freeze drying 31 degrees. The brave and intrepid artist pushed himself past the limits of most human endeavors to get the corncob pipe placed with incredible accuracy just in time to retreat to prevent hallucinations due to his hypothermia.

Oh, Mac&Cheese and hot cocoa have never saved a better pair of explorers. Later today, per or insurance carrier, we will have safety fencing and flood lights installed to prevent anyone from be placed in a dangerous situation while viewing the statues.

I hear rumors of an underground movement to actually build an illegal sledding run in the neighbors back yard, the jumps will be well over 3 inches high. I must do my part to squash any such action......or at least test the thing out!! WooHOO!! Were off again!!

Tony

P.S. The Psycho Cookies are on Cheryl's camera...I'll get them posted soon.

Interuptions...

I seem to have misplaced my camera and therefor I will delay the Psycho Cookie posting... On to other topics... It seems some of you have an opinion regarding the amount of life miles I have recorded. Well if you think I have an issue with running let me refer you to the Running Streak List for a dose of real fanaticism. These folks are a bit, well let's just say the are serious about running. I have found counting miles to be a bit more manageable than a running streak. Even with my meager collection of miles I don't even come close to the all time cumulative miles list. It seems I'm just an average Joe Runner. I feel so much better now. And yet I did pull off a 3.5 mile ice/snow run yesterday. Next topic... Our Christmas tree is up and twinkling. The boys, with help from a couple friends, decorated the side of the tree they could reach and in time, when the weight of all those trinkets reached a dangerous level, the tree came down. Yes we had a "TIMBER" moment in the living room. We have since recovered from the trauma and the tree is connected to the wall via super strong stealth string and a drywall screw. Last year's cookie caper has been repeated although to a smaller scale. Last year around this time, Sodhi, our 60 lb Goldendoodle, escaped (in the middle of the night) and decimated our collection of Christmas cookies, including the espresso laden biscotti. Fast forward to yesterday, and he managed to take advantage of the Buckeyes cooling on the back porch. Buckeyes are basically a frozen ball of peanut butter, powdered sugar and real butter dipped in chocolate, the perfect 15,000 calorie snack in a neat and tasty package. So they get dunked and need to cool for the chocolate shell to harden for freezer storage. I fill the chest freezer in the garage and having run out of available room, put the last tray of 20 or so balls of goodness on the back porch (It's 20 some degrees outside). He found them. I hear an odd sound of cookie sheet on ice with the added accent of wax paper crumpling and happy dog noises. My brain instantly remembers leaving the cookies on the back porch and I know exactly what the noises mean COOKIE THIEF!! Sprinting to the location of the crime I arrive in time to rescue about 25% of the valued morsels. The dog, caught re-pawed, quickly retreats to the 5" of crusty snow in the yard knowing I would not initiate a barefoot chase. I figured he'll get his when the pound or so of peanut butter and chocolate start to digest. Last night he didn't eat dinner and WOW did he have gas! Usually such an act of disrespectful behaviour would generate a stern, "BAD DOG!!" But in this case it might need to be, "BAD HUMAN!!" for leaving the cookies out in the open. Psycho Cookie photos and stories to come, I promise. Tony

Updates

Hello from Monroe where it is snowing and cold. We have about 2" of white stuff on our back porch from last night's dumping. Currently the temps are dropping and we are expecting more snowfall tonight , WooHoo

Thanks to all of you who have asked about the job search. Things are going as well as expected in the first two weeks of unemployment. I have submitted the paperwork to update my teaching certificate and have apps. pending in Monroe and Sultan School Districts. we'll see what comes up. I am also going to pursue full time firefighting in that I will be testing soon,and applying with many fire districts around the Puget Sound region.

On to the snow. We have a wonderful lace-leaf maple outside our living room window. It has a full canopy of leaves in the summer and a wonderful blaze of fall color. But not anymore. he heavy wet snow overloaded the branches and over night the tree split perfectly down the center in three equal sections. The maple is no more.

Tonight is the 8th (or 9th) annual PSYCHO COOKIE night. I will update with many photos later. Our friends from the Graham area driving up for the night. I will encourage Steve to swim down the Puyallup river to Puget Sound, head north to the mouth of the Snohomish River and head upstream to the fork of the Snoqualmie and the Skykomish rivers, left turn Clyde. Proceede up the Skykomish river to the Lewis Street bridge and then another left turn will send up Woods Creek to the Bollenbaugh Hill bridge. Exit the stream and the transition to the run portion of the journey to our home. Although today if may be a cross-country ski leg instead.

See ya in a few hours with cookie photos.....

Tony

Updates

That whooshing sound you ask.....no it wasn't Superman, it was November.

The month of November 2008 has come and gone and with it a few life changes and updates.

Gabriel still fits in the dryer and has yet to produce two new teeth to replace his missing from chompers. He starts winter Basketball season tonight.

Jonathan just finished a fun soccer season, making new friends along the way. The team had a great time improving their skills and working together.

Cheryl and I have now reached 12 years of marriage. We celebrated with a relaxing "boy-less" dinner out.

I am now unemployed. The last month was a challenging time for me professionally and personally. It became apparent my current job did not have the ability to meet some basic family priorities. I fought with this realization for a time and in doing so learned a lot about myself and my behavior patterns. Cheryl and I have begun a new marriage chapter (#12) as we work hard to become a stronger couple, better parents and attain our family goals. We are both very excited about the future for the four of us resting in the knowledge that God has everything under control and we only need to know the next few steps. We have been very blessed over the past 12 years and know that the path we have chosen remains the same. It will be an interesting month of December and 2009. We love you all very much and appreciate your support.

I can' quite find the words to describe what Gabe's sketch stirs deep in me but I know I will do whatever I can to keep holding his (and Jonathan's) hand.

Tony

P.S. Anyone hiring?

Spinning Out of Control

This summer I had an amazing opportunity to ride, on my old mountain bike, the full length of Smithbrook Road. Smithbrook is a serivce road that intersects Highway 2 just East of Stevens Pass. Labled NFD 6700 RD on the map, its common name is Smithbrook due to the actual brook it parallels in the first few miles. The well used dirt road climbs up Nason Ridge from 3200' to a saddle at 4600' in the first 4 miles then gently descends to the paved Little Wenatchee River Road at 13 miles. The first 2 to 3 miles of Smithbrook road are the most traveled allowing access to trail heads leading to Lichtenwasseer Lake, Lichtneberg Mountain and Lake Valhalla. If you continue to the top of Nason ridge you enter more untraveled areas. The view from top is as expected, spectacular.

So it was during the downhill portion of the ride I encountered a few trees that bring me to today's topic. Spiral growth patterns in wood. I have seen it many times running through the Cascades and other forested areas. Areas where fire has run through and eaten the bark and also older trees, with missing bark, displaying a twisted growth pattern in the wood. I've always wondered what causes this type of growth pattern, genetic defect or environmental triggers.

The illustrations below ilustrating the sprial growth pattern are taken from the following website:

http://www.ag.auburn.edu/aaes/communications/bulletins/figureinwood/index.htmlSpiral Grain As mentioned before, normal orientation of longitudinal cellular elements is parallel to the longitudinal axis (Figure 10). However, slight undetectable spiraling is a rule rather than an exception in most trees. In certain trees, elements are sloped or spiraled circumferentially to an extent sufficient to be detected. When wood with this characteristic is split, exposed surfaces will not be parallel to the longitudinal axis as in straight-grained material (Figure 11). Spiral grain occurs quite commonly in certain species and is considered a defect in many cases (60, 85).

Obviously there is some sort of increased strength as a result of the spiral pattern as it can be seen utilized in iron work, fiberglass lamp poles, and PoleVaulting poles. I am sure there are many other general applications that I am just not aware of.

Studies similar to the JULIA RAUCHFUSS1* and JAMES H. SPEER research done in Illinois show no single reason for the growth pattern, at least in White Oak trees. They sight an extensive list of references none of which conclusively determine a single cause for the spiral growth pattern; wind, slope, soil, age, sun, Coriolis effect, and the like. They do however state the effect on timber value. Apparently the commercial value of such wood is very low as the strength of the milled timber from such trees is inconsistent at best and very poor at its worst. Other websites from Wood Workers and Wood Turners discuss the growth pattern as a flaw and suggest shunning such wood as undesirable for standard projects. One possible positive is the use of younger spiral growth trees as power and light poles. In this application the tree is not processed or milled past its basic form and the spiral pattern is actually a benefit. In the above photo taken on a rainy day, sorry for the blur, you can see the grain and the long crack on the surface that spirals up the pole. I guess when we are confronted with a topic like this and discover that many smarter people have studied it to death and still do not have an answer, we should accept the fact that the answer may not be within our grasp or just to complicated to pin down. Doesn't help much. Still, the trees are cool to look at. Tony

Max Heart Rate

What is your max heart rate? Not, how fast have you had your heart beat but what is your max rate? It is easy to find out. If you look just under your left ventricle right next to the model number you should see some stats that will have the max rate. Try not to read the rest, warrantee, expiration and the like, it's to depressing. Seriously how do you figure it out? A lot of the training I have done is based on knowing this number and then extrapolating efforts from there. Things like: "run at an effort of 50% of MAXHR", "cool down at 30% of MAXRH", "15 min at 85%MHR", and the like. Have I been running to hard to 20 years? Have I been not running hard enough for 20 years? Have you ever seen a EKG of a person sneezing? It's cool, never mind. I have found many of the simple equations having you add your age and subtract the number of petals on a south slope growing flower of your choice. Or just.....guess. I know everyone has there favorite way of determing the magic number and I guess it is a mute point, cuz God gave us all a different set of A, T, C, and G's. We could really find out the MAXHR of each person in a similar fashion as the Navy created the current SCUBA Diving Decompression tables. But we would have a lot fewer runners around. "Dr. Fartlek said that just before his hearts exploded it was beating at a rate of 210bpm. I guess that was his MAXHR." Here is what I have come up with (forgive the plagerism but I have had this little bit of info for so long I do not know where it came from.): "Summary data Target intensity for health benefits = 40% VO2 max = 63% HR max Target intensity for aerobic fitness = 60-80% VO2max = 75-88% HR max Target intensity for elite training = >85% VO2max = >92% HR max Swain et al equation: % HR max = 0.64 x % VO2 max + 37 Miller et al formula: HR max = 217 - (0.85 x age) -3 beats for swimming -5 beats for cycling elite sub 30 YO –3 beats elite +50YO +2 beats elite +55YO +4 beats Londeree & Moeschberger interactive formula: HR max = 199.1 + 0.119 x AEF4 + 0.112 x AE + 6.28 x EF3 + 3.485 x F2 + 2.468 - 0.0006 x A4 - 0.591 x A A = age; A4 =(age4)/1000; E = exercise type, if run = 1, if bike = 0; if sedentary F2 = 1, otherwise F2 = 0; if active F3 = 1. otherwise F3 = 0; if endurance trained F4 = 1, otherwise F4 = 0 Raphael Brandon " So 220-your age seems a bit easier don't ya think. I have graph of my heart rate during the Firefighter Stairclimb here in Seattle and I spent just around 6 minutes above 190 and almost 1 minute above 200 maxing at 203bpm. And look Ma I can still type. So my max must be above 203, right? I know there are many waaaaaaaaay smarter people out there with great answers and explanations but I just don't really care much to spend the money and time, plus every time I look at the computer on my wrist calculating and displaying all 5 lines of data downloaded every millisecond from the 32 satellites orbiting the earth high above my head I tend to trip over a protruding stick or rock and miss the beautiful colors of fall, oftentimes my fall. Oh the joys of running in NW woods at 187.352bpm. Next time a question about trees. Tony

The Hammer The File and The Furnace

Excerpt from A. W. Tozer It [is] the enraptured who [can] shout in the midst of serious and painful trials, "Praise God for the hammer, the file and the furnace." The hammer is a useful tool, but the nail, if it had feeling and intelligence, could present another side of the story. For the nail knows the hammer only as an opponent, a brutal, merciless enemy who lives to pound it into submission, to beat it down out of sight and clinch it into place. That is the nail's view of the hammer, and it is accurate except for one thing: The nail forgets that both it and the hammer are servants of the same workman. Let the nail but remember that the hammer is held by the workman and all resentment toward it will disappear. The carpenter decides whose head will be beaten next and what hammer shall be used in the beating. That is his sovereign right. When the nail has surrendered to the will of the workman and has gotten a little glimpse of his benign plans for its future it will yield to the hammer without complaint. The file is more painful still, for its business is to bite into the soft metal, scraping and eating away the edges till it has shaped the metal to its will. Yet the file has, in truth, no real will in the matter, but serves another master as the metal also does. It is the master and not the file that decides how much shall be eaten away, what shape the metal shall take, and how long the painful filing shall continue. Let the metal accept the will of the master and it will not try to dictate when or how it shall be filed. As for the furnace, it is the worst of all. Ruthless and savage, it leaps at every combustible thing that enters it and never relaxes its fury till it has reduced it all to shapeless ashes. All that refuses to burn is melted to a mass of helpless matter, without will or purpose of its own. When everything is melted that will melt and all is burned that will burn, then and not till then the furnace calms down and rests from its destructive fury. With all this known to him, how could [anyone] find it in his heart to praise God for the hammer, the file and the furnace? Timely thoughts, Tony

Found While Running

There will always be the philosophical, "I found myself while running" story but that will have to wait for another time.

Today I logged an easy 3 miler. It was a variation on the "short loop" near the house. I parked the car at Salem Woods Elementary and timed the run just so I would finish as Gabe was released from class. As I descended the grade to the school parking lot I spotted a 1 1/2 wide roll of black electrical tape. That would have been helpful last night. I installed a CD/stereo in my little Civic and has no tape to wrap the spliced wires with, so I cannibalized what little tape I could find inside the dash. It was ugly. this roll will come in handy some time.

I finished the run picked up Gabe and came home then thought of all the interesting things I have found while running. To shorten the list I dismissed all the natural items like cool rocks, driftwood and weird leaves. So here are a few.

Twice I have found $20 bills, once in the parking lot of Sultan High School and once on the pipeline trail just up the street. Other monetary items include various coins here in the states, Mexico and in Managua Nicaragua. Money is an easy on to start with pennies are to easy unless they are tails up and are wheat backs, for some reason the wheat backs are cooler.

Tools are another category of items I find a lot of. Wrenches, screwdriver, hexes, hammers, a hatchet, socket parts. The best are the Craftsman tools for the lifetime guarantee. I stop in at Sears tell the guys I found in on the road and they scrounge up a new one lickety-split. I guess they know the guy who's truck it fell off will be in some day to replace it.

one of my most memorable finds was this aluminum miners helmet. I was easily 8 miles in on some back logging roads near Sultan above the Skykomish river, somewhere near the summit of Haystack Mountain. I had reached the end of the rugged roads overgrown with small alder trees when I came upon a clearing with a bunch of old logging debris; cables, rusty metal parts and this helmet have buried in the dirt. It was pretty mangled when I found it so I tried to open it up a bit but it seemed to not like being worked and started to break along the crease lines. It was a cold fall day and there was an early snow on the ground. I had not worn gloves and used the time proven "pull-your-sleeve-cuffs-over-your-hands" technique. It was working wonderfully. So carrying the helmet with its wonderfully effective ability to conduct heat seemed to be sucking any remaining warmth from my already chilled hands. Oh the price you pay for"take-me-homes".

A while back I found this water bottle. Most water bottles on the side of the road are most undesirable being filled with unwanted fluids. But this bad boy was open and left in the middle of the road. I surmised, due to its pristine condition, it had fallen off a bike. It smelled like the typical plastic water bottle and has proven itself very useful since being sterilized with a strong bleach bath.

Various pieces of sporting equipment would include: golf balls, baseballs, soccer balls, basketballs, a left footed Jr. snowshoe, three baseball gloves, and a play swing with chains. That last one was tough to carry home.

I recall going on a run to clear my head from a project I was working on at home. It was a tree stand for hunting deer in the woods. While on the run I found two large chunks of pressure treated 4x4 perfect for finishing the project.

I remember a story of a gent who collects lead tire balance weights. I see a lot of those, but leave them for him out of respect. Of course

I don't recall many other items right now but I'm sure in my now 17016 miles I have found many other things.

Now on to running goals. I really have only three hard goal the soft ones are not worth mentioning. But he hard goals are: running a sub 5:00 mile, running a sub 3:00:00 marathon and running around the world. I attained the mile goal a few years back running a 4:59 on a really hard track at a High School track in Lynnwood. Qualifying for Boston I hammered out a 3:08 marathon on the old flat and boring Seattle course. I don't think I will ever have the chance to train like that again. But we'll see. The run around the world thing is a lifetime goal. The number I have chosen is 24,902, though people argue about the exact number. I am currently at 17, 016, only 7886 miles to go.

"Trials of miles."

Tony

"You Might Be a Redneck if..."

“Shshshhhh….I hear coyotes. Let’s go see if we can get one.” The local pack of wild coyotes has been slowly growing in the last few years. Last season I counted no less than seven sizable dogs led by one Alpha male. The neighbors to the northwest, who run a small kennel, have lost a few borders to the pack and are very concerned. Our neighbors to the west have horses and often see the pack roaming through their pasture, concerned for their horses. Both have requested a thinning of the pack. They are not a currently a direct danger to us as they are, but the growing numbers could become a safety issue. So the thinning is a serious topic. The boys can hear them too. So we decide to head off and see what we can see in the grassy pasture. I grab a rifle and request the boys to dress appropriately for a short walk through the tall grass and blackberry bushes to the fence where we can view a wide area where the dogs roam. They are excited to be part of the ”hunt” and rush to get dressed. And here is the result, a picture for the ages. Maybe it will reappear at a wedding or be used for friendly family blackmail. We’ll see.

The real issue is not the photo itself or the lack of appropriate clothing. It is that the photographer did not stop us. I think that speaks louder than the picture itself.

The discussion about current garb does not help the hunt as we debate, loudly, the fact that Jon is not wearing boots. the coyotes silently slip into the woods and vanish. We continue to update our hunting wardrobe to match the surroundings for optimum camouflage. Yesterday we actually got it right as we stalked a deer in the tall grass. the Boys were in full military camo and nearly "indivisible". No Jon, it's "INVISIBLE.

It's a process. Tony

Mom's Been Busy

Mom's artwork is gaining attention. Here is an article about a recient piece. Tony.

Manland

This is Manland, as it as been named by the wife. The platform is 12'x12', made of reclaimed 4x4's recycled from large pallets. The siding is scrap from a shed making company next door. The roof is real from Lowe's. It sports four full sized bunks and a hammock for relaxing. As you can see from the approach photo it is well hidden in the center of our woods. It reminds me of the many tree forts I built as a boy except the gaps between the pieces of wood are smaller than those of the tree forts of my youth.

It was christened last week with a group of seven children and a bunch of hot dogs. We did a fire pit and BBQ'ed for dinner. I am trying to get a camp out down there before fall sets in.

The map shows a small square in the middle of the property, that is where Manland resides. We will continue to tweak the surrounding area to perfect the atmosphere and bring Manland to its full potential.

Tony

Summer's Close

Sorry for the interlude. I seem to have experienced a hardware failure in my hard drive. We are currently trying to recover the data, but don't expect much, cautious optimism.

On we go...

Last weekend, Labor Day, we had our last who-rahh at the Ellensburg Rodeo in Eastern Washington. It was truly a blast! We spent the weekend base camping at the E-Burg KOA with another family and day tripping to the festivities in the Windy City of the West, the Columbia River, and to Vantage for a little columnar basalt rock climbing. All in all a great time for everyone involved.

The rodeo, listed as one to the top 25 in the nation, was a wonderful combination of Kitittas County Fair and rodeo events. The standard roping, riding and family fun. One of the highlights occured when a bull, who just threw its rider decided the arena was too small and crashed through a fence into the "warm up/staging" area. He bent the gate, blew out and ran free for a bit only to be eventually wrangled and brought back to the arena by some amazing ropers. As he was throwing his fit one of the ropers accomplished a very timely roping of his neck and with the help of his well trained mount, delaying the bull just long enough to safely remove or at least warn the unsuspecting folks under the grandstand. It was an incredible lasso at a time when it NEEDED to happen.

Day two we ventured to the Columbia River to swim and play. We found a small beach with a sandstone cliff and lots of space for the kids to play. The water was refreshing and a welcomed break from the hectic fair.Day three we made our way to the Feathers climbing area near the Gorge. The Dave Matthews Band was completing their weekend of shows and the traffic was clearing out as we were heading in. The climbing area is a dry desert with columns of basalt. Most of the climbs in walking distance are rated very difficult for recreational climbers of our caliber but we found four routes in the 5.1 to 5.7 range that met our needs and as it happened all four were in the shade. Later, after a few hours of pumping our arms and legs on the climbs, we ventured to the Wild Horse Monument along the highway for a short hike to enjoy the views. Cheryl even got to shoot a few barn photos, one of here favorite subjects.

Today school started and summer officially ended for the boys. Jonathan is now a third-grader and Gabe ventured out into first grade. I have to run and pick them up here in about half an hour.

Cheers, Tony

Steamboat part 2.2

It is Thursday and I know where my children are.

Yesterday we rode bikes for a long and enjoyable ride on the paved trails about town. Cheryl Jon Gabe and I stopped at the Yampa River to rest and eat a snack. It just happened that the very spot Cheryl picked to play in the river was right next to a familiar bridge. Last year we located a Geocache under this bridge. We went ujder and found the cache and logged in. I flipped back tot he log in form last yea and discocvered we had logged in on 8/13/07...today is 8/13/08, cool.

We fished in a local pond designed for kids, taking home two trout each for a total of 6. The fish would be dinner. Then I found out the regulations for this little pond have changed from last year, it's now catch and release, oops.

Today I snuck out for a moring of river fishing on the smaller water making up the middle fork of Elk River and later on much more productive main body of the Elk River. It was a blast.

Now we are off to go for a swim in a local pool that is fed by hot springs. Chat with ya soon.

Tony

Steamboat part 2

Monday morning in Steamboat Springs CO and the Yampa river valley is filled with a misty layer of ground fog. The valley sits at about 7000' and in the summer enjoys warm days and often times very cool nights. The village at the base of Mt Werner is similar to the compact and bustling collection of retail shops, rental houses and condos you find in most large ski resorts. Mt Werner tops out at 10,530' of elevation and provides a ton of skiing terrain. The town, at least the down town area, is a beautiful, welcoming and cozy western style community with the old brick buildings and weathered wood you would expect to see in the high plains. There is a touch of the modern with high end art shops and boutiques inhabiting historic buildings, miles of paved trails and parks to play in and diverse collection of ethnic eateries to chose from.

On to the day...

After the typical quick and chaotic breakfast feeding frenzy, ideas and suggestions fly about the room as to the adventures for the day. Gabe chimes in, "That's not an adventure. An adventure is when you don't know where you are or where you are going." Hiking up Fish Creek Falls seems to be the popular option for the day. Daco has already left for the same hike, but unknown to us he chose to take a different trail having already hiked the Falls trail. It takes about an hour and a half to coordinate and load up the three infants, two boys and eight adults. During my pre-trip research I found information about a trail running series here in Steamboat. One of the races is a roughly 16 mile trail run from Fish Creek Falls to the gondola atop the ski area. Although the official race isn't run until next week I found the course attractively interesting. With Cheryl's blessing I left the parking area and headed up the trial climbing quickly to around 7500' and attaining the upper meadow in roughly and an hour of fast hiking and running. As the trail leaves the rocky outcroppings and ridges of metamorphosed granite I enjoy the swirling patterns of crystals in the rock. It reminds me of chocolate ribbons swirled in ice cream. I pass many hikers who greet me and comment on my hiking speed. A young couple comment on the GPS Velcroed to my hat. We discuss the distance to Long Lake and how far we have gone. Continuing I stop for water as the trial parallels the stream. I have always tried to take pictures while running and most often just forgot or not wanted to stop. In the upper meadows the trails become a mixture of mud dirt and small rocks, great terrain for making up time after the slow climb. I push myself and with frustration find myself struggling. I walk for a bit to lower my heart rate and decide to attempt a self portrait. After three attempts I think I have a good shot. Take a peek. It just kind of figures, one piece of grass and it blocks my face.

The trail skirts meadows filled with purple, yellow, red, orange and white wildflowers all in full bloom. The grasses and quaking aspen flutter and sway in the high mountain breezes. The pines produce a low soft sound as the wind passes through the needle laden branches.

The trail map suggests an intersection at around 5 or 6 miles where I will leave the Fish Creek Falls trail and head toward the summit of Mt Werner on Mountain View trail. It seems to take longer than expected to reach the turn off but a 5.7 miles I round a corner and there it is. Mountain View trail intersecting with Fish Creek trail. There appears to be a road of some sort in two or three miles but I never seem to find it. I continue to be frustrated with my fitness level until I realize, I've running above 8500' for over two miles now, that would explain it. From here to the summit of Mt Werner the trail would continue to climb with a significant amount above 10,000'. I figure out the map issues, concerning the lack of "road", comparing the map to the GPS. What I assumed would be a road was just a well used a trail. As the summit approaches the trail circles another much larger grassy meadow. I weave in and out of the woods enjoying the smell of the Ponderosa pines in the warm afternoon. A grouse gives me a bit of a scare as he scampers across the trail and lights atop a rotting log and stares at me form a safe distance. I know there are black bear, cougar, elk and deer up here but the only sign I have seen is be the elk prints and piles of "berries". Every now and then the trail cuts through thick brush prompting me to announce my presence with a loud, "Shoo bear! Shoo bear!" If they hear me, I never see or hear them, although there was that one whiff of poop that brought me to attention. As the trail prepares to bid adieu to the meadow I peek through a break in the trees to see a heard of elk grazing at the far edge. Here is my feeble attempt at tyring to document the occasion. I guess the camera needs a stronger zoom. The blurry brown specs in the grass off in the distance are the elk. The wind was in my face as I tried to get closer. Then it swirled and with in a few seconds my presence was sensed by the heard. All heads turned in my direction and they were off silently entering the protection of the trees. It was one of the coolest things I have seen while out on the trails.

The GPS says I have traveled over 10 miles and now it is really getting hard to maintain a shuffle, 10,200'. Rounding a small hill I sight a ski lift and my spirits lift. I am closer than I thought. I attain the service road at around 3 hours and 40 minutes. The Gondola summit is still a ways off and I don't think in my condition I will make it there in under four hours. The downhill is pounding my quads and aggravating my right knee, so I slow to a comfortable pace and by 4:05:37 I reach the Gondola. I find the trail designed to get hikers to the base of the ski area. I seem to have misjudged my remaining distance and find it frustrating to have few more miles left. At mid-mountain I burn a few minutes searching for the secret trail we discovered last year that leads directly to the rental house. I finally find the small break in the chest high grass and drop down for the final mile an half to the house. The trail is well over grown with berry laden bushes, sharp edged grasses and quaking aspen. I finish the trail with my standard "Shoo bear!", loud jokes and poorly worded songs to keep the predators from eating me. The trail is familiar and comforting, I've been here before. I pop out onto pavement at the 17 mile mark having been moving for 5:05:45. the final three-quarters of a mile is a slow walk on weary legs, I need a bath.

Tony

Heading to Steamboat Springs CO

Day 1 8/8/08 More like day -1 for Gabe, Ama and me. We departed Monroe last night at 4pm heading to La Grande, OR. Jon struggled with the departure but I think once he realizes he gets to fly to Denver on an airplane and his brother doesn’t he will be fine. The journey last night was uneventful. We stopped in Yakima at a DQ for dinner and shared the restaurant with a group of Wildland Firefighters fresh off the lines of a few local spot fires. As the sun set it glowed a dark red as its light filtered through the smoke of many small brush fires in the area. A few were stopped in their tracks by the ribbon of asphalt we drove the rest were controlled by ten foot wide firelines, scars in the brush exposing raw soil and separating fuel from fire. In a perfect scenario a bulldozer or piece of machinery would create a perfect fireline in minutes but from the looks of terrain these lines were handmade by similar rough hands as those sitting across the room eating ice cream. We crossed the Colombia River around 9pm and wandered into La Grand along I-84. The La Grande Inn was a welcomed sight at 10:30pm we pulled in, found a room and promptly sacked out. Day 2 8/9/08 Early to rise I discovered a Starbucks within walking distance of the Inn, aah, I’m better now. After a quick continental breakfast of cereal, donuts and juice we are off into the sagebrush covered hills of Eastern Oregon heading south along the historic route of the Oregon Trial. Idaho brings with it a rip-roaring 90+ degree dry heat. We stopped in Boise to stretch on the campus of Boise State University where Gabe took a full body dip in the Boise River, while Ama broke into a science building and made off with some sort of 3-eyed fish specimen. She claims we can EBay it for gas money. I think the,”I just needed to use the facilities.” comment was a ploy, but ya never know. (Okay, so I made up the fish thing.) Off we go south to Twin falls for a quick refueling and Tropical Mango Gatorade. Gabe chose a fake-Slurpee instead. The roads in southern Idaho are a collection of well maintained 75mph straightaway’s linked by sweeping banked corners allowing for the increased speeds. We find it is best to stay in the smoother left hand lane as the double and triple semi trucks tend to maintain a slower speed in the right hand lane. Pulling off I-84 there is a 4 mile spur into Twin Falls that passes over the Snake River. The view of the gorge reminds me of the view from I-90 as you cross the Columbia River in Vantage Washington. We are flying by potato fields filled with lush green plants and miles waving golden wheat fields. I napped as we passed by the “Welcome to Utah” sign. A few minutes later as I awoke from my power nap we were heading south for the Great Salt Lake. Ama wanted to stop and swim in the lake so we investigated the chances of actually getting into the lake. We found that Antelope Island was the place to go. It was a bit out of the way for us but it was well worth the drive. According to the locals the level of the lake has been dropping over the last few years. When we pulled up to the beach area we found that we had to walk about a quarter mile over very hot sand just to get to the shallow water. I remember reading about the lake as a child and seeing photos of people floating on their backs and reading a book or magazine. Well it is true you can float. Normally when I exhale I become negatively buoyant but in the very salty water of The Great Salt Lake even when I exhaled completely I could float high enough to have my hands and feet above the surface. It was a great and interesting experience to enjoy the water. We only spent about fifteen minutes in the lake as we were on a bit of a time crunch, having heard of construction delays on the road leading to Rock Springs WY. Walking back to the car was a foot frying dance in the hot sand. By the time we made it back to the parking area we were completely dry and coated with a sparkling dust of salt crystals. After a quick freshwater rinse and a change of clothes we departed for Wyoming but not before hitting the local Starbucks for an iced mocha. We found lodging in Evanston, a small growing town of truck stops and hotels. I took a few minutes to get in a run while Ama and Gabe swam in the hotel pool. Dinner, Olympics on TV and bed time. Day 3 8/10/08 Today we are off to the Flaming Gorge park (back to Utah) in search of dinosaur tracks, we hear they are here somewhere, we can hardly wait. The adventure of actually finding the fossilized tracks was interesting. We drove to Vernal, UT and spent some time in the Verna Field House viewing the wonderful paleontology display, it was amazing. We did however discover we had inadvertently driven past the road leading to the foot prints. The poorly marked (The sign was facing the other direction and was all off four inches by twenty-four inches, Kind makes ya feel link they don’t want people to come visit. I guess that is better in the long run for the longevity of the fossils.) The footprints were amazing, depressions permanently formed in the sandstone on the shore of the Red Fleet Reservoir. The approach hike was a roasting mile-and-a-half walk through a soft sand carpeted juniper forest. It was worth the ten mile retracing of lost miles and dehydrating hike. We clicked off the remaining miles to Steamboat, tossing in a quick stop for ice cream, with expediency, arriving at the rental house around 4:00pm.

Tony