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New Year, New Trail

The new year started with a gloriously sunny day and after we gathered our wits and woke the dogs, we went out for a walk on a trail we have not walked before. It went up and down Bear Creek between Lester Road and the Wildlife Area headquarters. It was a pleasant walk, not steep at all, although if a person wanted she could easily climb lots of hills for more exercise. The creek has aspens on both sides of it and also some nice patches of water birch. These are punctuated with ponderosa pines and there was one deeply shaded area when we walked through some douglas fir. The hills above are covered with bunch grass, sagebrush and lots of forbs. With the low snowfall, the hillsides are brown, waiting for spring already. We heard and saw a few birds. Chickadees were making their spring ‘cheeseburger’ call that I associate with territory claims. A Hairy Woodpecker also seemed to declaring his ownership of the tall aspens.

three deer watched from above
Bear Creek
Sky – how do you get your ears to do that?
Sunshine through the forest highlights the lichen
What caused the damage to this tree to make it lose so much pitch?
pitch
aspens
What a treasure
I saw this eagle briefly til it saw me
We never get tired of the snow covered vistas
lone pine on the horizon
Evidence of past lives
Big rock
Reason with her.

New Years Celebration

What’s a New Years Eve party without a campfire and some fireworks and other fun? Several good friends joined us to ring in 2014 last night with good food, warm fires, some alcohol, dogs and music too! We started inside with food and beer and wine and moved outside to a campfire with some music, s’mores, more to drink and a few bottle rockets. Later, when we determined that it was 2014 somewhere, maybe not here, we started the big New Years Pyre. And we turned it into a sacrifice to the snow gods. Someone said that Ullr (I need to look this up) is the winter god and if we could appease him, maybe, just maybe and if we did a snow dance too, maybe we would get some snow. Soon. We hope. So Ken added an old classic three pin binding ski to the pyramid shaped pyre that also had some sparklers and other pyrotechnics. As we watched it all go up in flames, we shared a big bottle of champagne and our fine friendships and looked forward to 2014 with optimistic anticipation.

Music around the campfire
Get Jennifer and Ken to teach you their new lyrics to Ghost Riders!
See the old ski in there?
Up in flames
Friends
Sharing

Walking our Dogs

Four women and six dogs got together for a walk in the hills above the valley yesterday. We had a feeble hope that we might get up above the clouds and into the sun but that was not to be. There was an occasional ‘sucker hole’ that almost drew us up even higher but in the end we slipped and slid our way back down to the trail. The low snow accumulation is sad and we will surely hear about it more than we want come next summer if this weather pattern continues. Our region is dependent on winter snowfall for adequate water supplies in the summer.

Lots of hoarfrost from the semi-persistent fog
All six dogs in one frame
Looking back at the valley filled with fog
Wolf lichen provides some color
Catch me if you can!
Trip likes to take a toy on his walks and the other dogs know that it is HIS toy, not to be messed with.
Bree and Sky like sticks they find along the way
Jessi compares little 4 1/2 month old Sky to her full grown Nakana
Sky wonders if Bree will share her stick!
Something is always sticking to Luna
Bree approaches Sky politely
Would YOU share your stick?
High above Aspen Lake
Looking north to the North Cascades
This tree recently fell over
What is remarkable is that it was growing on this rocky ridge top with nearly no soil
Frosty lomatium
Aspen leaves like Christmas ornaments
Jessi said her dog likee to be held as a puppy like Sky does
Lynne with Bree
The two pups are beginning to show signs of friendship. We hope they can get over the barriers between sporting dogs and herding dogs!

What Lurks in the Dark

There was a fresh skiff of snow the day before Christmas and no one else was here on our hill to mar the smooth surface. None of the part timers came for the holiday and the few others that live here were off visiting somewhere else. As we drove down our road, we noticed some fresh tracks. They were from a big animal – a cougar. Later Ken found them in our parking area and it appeared that the animal had stopped and looked at our front door. Out for a walk the next day I found clear tracks on our walking trail and at the part time neighbors’ place and more on the road. It looks like two animals traveling together – maybe a mom and mostly grown cub. You may remember a post I made last January when a cougar was captured just downhill from our house. Sure, we know they are out there but to see evidence of them being so close to the house does cause the hair on the back of our necks to raise. Luna seems to be very aware of them and frequently barks in the dark and needless to say, no one is going outside alone after dark, especially the puppy.

Christmas Walk in Big Valley

This is our sixth Christmas here! How can that be? It’s long enough to establish some holiday traditions. And one of my favorites is to ski with the dogs on Christmas afternoon. This year there is not enough snow to groom the trails at Big Valley so we went for a walk with dogs and friends instead.

 

Luna and Wyatt Ann are delighted to be out on the trail together again!
There goes Sky
Magnificent ponderosa pines
Juniper
Frosty Wonderland
Here comes Sky
And there goes Sky with Wyatt Ann right behind her
Methow River
Juniper was the only to get in the river
Cool stick
Down river
Frosty shapes coming out of the water
These plants were thriving under the ice
Along the trail
An enormous paper wasp nest leftover from summer
This should be a packed and groomed ski trail with a couple feet of snow and no grass showing through.
Wyatt Ann
Massive wheel line. Little dog.
Here she comes
And there she goes. Almost lift off!
What’s so funny?
I got a bone!
Ken left his pole back on the first part of the trail
Hey – wait for me
A boy and his dog

 

Here is an article about the economic impacts to our community in a low snow year.