A Wonderful Weekend

What an awesome weekend we had here in the valley. Friday, Ken and Megan came in to stay with us. They are both volunteers for the wolverine study. They made it in about 2:00 pm after walking the bare road. We headed out for a ski to Lake Josephine shortly after they arrived. Ken also volunteers with the track surveys in the park, so he surveyed the trail to Grinnell Lake. I followed closely behind trying to retain some of this important knowledge. We saw tons of tracks, ranging from snowshoe hare, vole, and weasle, to lynx, coyote, and wolverine. We made it up to Grinnell Lake (this time with no appearance by the wolverine) where Ken directed Megan and I over and over again until he got the "perfect" shot with his fancy camera. Eventually we headed back to Josephine to collect hair samples. We made it to the lake just in time for the tail end of sunset. Shortly after we watched the moon rise over Mt. Wynn. What an incredible view! We skied across Josephine with the moon rising to collect hair samples from the foot of the lake. Soon, we were cruising down the trail (some more gracefully than others) towards Swiftcurrent Lake. We skied back to the cabin by moonlight and enjoyed the rare night with no wind. After dinner the four of us headed out for some moonlight sledding. We only have one sled, so we pulled out the cardboard and had a blast. Once again, Ken spent many tense moments directing Megan to get his perfect shot of her sledding. I think it worked out in the end.

Saturday morning, Megan, Ken, and Jeff headed out to Apikuni Falls. After hiking to the falls Megan headed back out, but Ken stayed behind. The three of us left in the afternoon for the Iceberg Lake trail. We hadn't made it very far up the trail when our other guests arrived. Leslie, Dan, and Nick (more wolverine volunteers) met us up on the trail where we spent the next couple of hours fooling around on the hills. Jeff and I raced down the hill and unfortunately, he beat me two out of three times. Bummer! The boys were being boys and trying to do jumps off of some of the hills (Again, some were more graceful than others). Leslie was a rockstar and tried it herself. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well (blood was involved). We all decided to head back to the cabin when it started to get dark. We heard the coyotes going nuts on the way home. Once home, we had a good 'ol time playing DDR and flip cup (sorry GPI) and drinking some high class whiskey (Black velvet, baby).

It was a rough go of it Sunday morning, but we all rallied and headed out to actually get some work done. Well, all of us except Jeff who stayed behind to try to fix the toilet that was destroyed. Don't worry, I won't say any names. Ok, yes I will...Nick. (Alright, alright, it wasn't his fault so much as bad timing and bad plumbing). Anywho, we made it to all five of the wolverine sites to collect hair samples and replace some of the deer legs. We were out all day which was a nice cure for the hangover. The wind started howling about 3:00 pm, but at that point we were almost done. Leslie, Dan, and Nick headed back out around 5:00, so it is once again quiet around here.

Monday, I will be heading to Whitefish for anywhere between a few days and a couple weeks. I will apologize in advance for the lack of blog writing in the mean time. Perhaps I will get a few blogs in from Whitefish or will be able to get Jeff to blog.

Then We Were Off to Apikuni Falls

Today Jeff and I headed out to Apikuni Falls. It's a short trip from the cabin and took less than two hours. It was quite windy, but the view was worth the trip in the icy wind. We chose snowshoes since the trail is relatively steep and we still haven't had much new snow. The falls were so beautiful with all of the blue ice. Trust me, the pictures don't do the falls justice. We didn't stay at the falls for too long. The wind was funneling though there, kicking up lots of loose snow.

After we returned to the cabin, we brewed our third batch of beer. It's an anchor steam, and I can't wait to try it.

P.S. The porter turned out well.

A Ski to Fishercap Lake

What an incredible day! When the sun came up this morning, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I ran out onto the lake in my slippers (it was 1 degree) to snap some pictures of the mountains as the sun came up. So amazing! Later, Jeff and I ate an early lunch and headed out on our skis. We just couldn't pass up such a beautiful day. We decided to ski out to Fishercap Lake. We saw five separate sets of wolverine tracks along the way as well as snowshoe hare and coyote tracks, and the tracks of a very busy little squirrell. We also saw a beautiful gray jay near the Swiftcurrent Motel. The view on the ski out to the lake was incredible, and it was only topped when we reached the lake itself. The snow on the mountains is such a perfect, untouched white. What a day! The temperature was only 9 degrees when we left, but it warmed up to the upper 30's in the sun. Plus, we had another day without an ounce of wind. I feel so lucky being able to see and experience this place in the solitude of winter! The ski back was so fun (it's mostly downhill) and took a fraction of the time it took to get there. We skied around the Swiftcurrent property to make sure everything was in order (and it was), and we even heard coyotes calling up on the side of Mt. Altyn. We are back home now, and I'm (sort of) busy working on those darn job applications.

Beauty Surrounds Us!

What a night for football on Sunday. That Vikings/ Saints game was awesome. But don't worry Brett Favre fans. He won't retire this year. Not with his last pass being an interception. Oh, how I hope the next two weeks fly by to the good ol' Super Bowl. Although, it is always quite sad when football season ends.

Monday, it was back to work for Jeff. There wasn't any work for me, so I pretty much bummed around the house all day. I replanted my basil, thyme, and chive plants so that I could start growing the leaf lettuce plants. Supposedly it only takes three weeks until harvest. I can't wait to have a nice, green salad! Oh, I forgot to mention that on Sunday we had some delicious fresh basil on our pasta. YUM!

Today, Jeff and I spent most of the day over at the hotel. (I even went in early...a first for me.) I finished my work by 2:30, so I decided to take advantage of the perfect weather and go for a ski. Today was awesome. We hit a high of 30 degrees, it was sunny, and there was no wind! I skied around Swiftcurrent Lake then headed out to Lake Josephine. There were coyote tracks all across Swiftcurrent Lake as usual. The trail out to Josephine is still a bit crummy. We only have about three inches of powder over top of the icy snow. But, I made it to Lake Josephine without any tears this time, so I will call it a success. Both of the deer legs on Lake Josephine have been devoured by the wolverines. And, there were lots of wolverine tracks around the dock. I didn't see any mountain goats (I was sure that I would), but I did see some tracks up on the hillside. On the ski back home, I noticed that there were fresh wolverine tracks over top of my ski tracks. I must have just missed it when I skied to the other side of the lake. Bummer! I made it back to the cabin about 4:30. There were ten bighorn sheep grazing on the side of Mt. Altyn. What a day!

A Camping Adventure

So, Friday night Jeff and I ate a senior citizen early bird dinner. We dined on pork chops at 4:00 pm before departing on our camping trip. Neither of us saw the point in hauling food and cooking equiptment with us on our camping adventure. We had no interest in cooking in 18 degree weather when we would only be two miles from home. We left the cabin at about 4:30 pm to head out to Lake Josephine. We were looking forward to getting back on our skis that were stranded at the ranger station for almost three weeks. Well, as you probably know, it has been above freezing for three weeks now. It just cooled down to the lower twenty's and teens this week. Translation: all the snow is now ice. Even crossing the lakes was less than desireable because the skis were sliding in every direction (except forward it seemed). Once on the trail it is a short, gradual climb, then a short flat area, then a short, gradual decline. This would be easy to ski under normal circumstances, but since we were essentially skiing on ice, it sucked! I literally was on my rear more often then on my skis. I couldn't go up because I couldn't dig my skis into the ice and I couldn't do down because there was no way to slow down. Everything just ended in a big crash. At the risk of sounding weak and pathetic, I was so frustrated and banged up that I actually broke down. This was not a good way to start our camping trip. I ended up walking the remainder of the trail and then skiing (very slowly) across Lake Josephine. We camped in the middle of the lake just out of the hazard area for the avalanche chute. When we got there, I opened my pack to find out that the hot chocolate I was carrying leaked throughout my pack. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as I first thought it was though I'm not sure I felt lucky at the time). Jeff and I set up the tent and crawled inside. I donned all of my extra clothes (I brought a lot) and put on my nice knit gloves. Jeff and I were enjoying the hot chocolate and chatting. Then, as luck would have it, I dropped my cup of hot chocolate all over my sleeping bag and gloves. AWESOME! So I had to use my bandanas to mop up the mess. Now my sleeping bag was wet and smelled like chocolate, and my gloves were useless. Good thing the bears are snoozing away. At this point, I wasn't exactly having the time of my life. It was cold, very cold, and nothing was going my way. Jeff and I bundled up in our sleeping bags, read for a while, then attempted to doze off. Jeff is a much warmer sleeper then I am so he had no problem sleeping. I may have gotten an hour of two of sleep. In the middle of the night, Jeff started screaming in his sleep. This is not the first time he has done this in a tent. I think he has this recurring dream while camping that a bear is coming into the tent and has bitten his hand. I like to make fun of him for this. Lucky for him, I have given him a lot of material to make fun of me.

As soon as the sun started to come up, I woke Jeff up and convinced him that we should go home. Lucky for me, he complied. We made it home just before 9:00 am. I drank some decaf tea, ate breakfast, and turned in for some sleep in a nice, warm bed. Jeff and I spent most of Saturday relaxing. Jeff rallied and went to the hotel for an hour to do some work. It snowed lightly, but steadily all day. I haven't had to shovel snow in weeks, so I'm out of practice. But, from the looks of it, I will be getting some practice soon!

Today, we will be watching football. A storm front has slowly made its way over the mountains, and it is starting to snow. YIPPEE!

Who do you think you are Bear Grylls?

So, our busy week is drawing to an end. Yesterday, Jeff and Troy spent the afternoon strolling out to Lake Josephine. (I decided to be responsible and publish a blog for the third graders.) There has been much activity at the wolverine sites on Lake Josephine and Swiftcurrent Lake. The deer leg at Lake Josephine was torn down and devoured, and there was wolverine hair all over the gun brushes. Cool, huh? After the boys came back, we chowed down on some delicious meatloaf. After dinner I went outside, plopped down the lawn chair in the middle of the snowdrift, and star gazed for a while. What a beautiful sight! Later, Jeff and I watched Man vs. Wild which was somewhere in Montana (I'm guessing the Beartooth Wilderness). It was the most ridiculous thing we have ever seen. I thought Bear Grylls was supposed to be teaching wilderness survival not how to get yourself killed fast. Please watch this show. It will really make you appreciate how much smarter you are than this guy.

Troy left this morning. He biked the whole way and made it out in just over an hour. Man, I wish I had a bike out here. Jeff and I worked all morning in the hotel. I went back over after lunch and finished up the third floor while Jeff relaxed at home. It was another perfect day. We hit a high of 33 degrees, there was no wind, and the clouds didn't roll in until the early evening.

Tomorrow, Jeff and I plan to camp out. Yay!

A Feast at the Firehorse Cafe

Ok, so I'll admit that I'm still a bit amped up about the wolverine sighting. I just still can't believe that I actually saw one! Well, Kass and Sally took off about 11 am on Monday. Once they left, I headed over to the hotel to get some painting done. It was warm and just a touch windy. After work I walked up to the top of the hill behind the dorm, post-holing most of the way (ugh!), to check on the wolverine site on Cracker Flats. All is well there. I followed the beaten path of the bighorn sheep back towards the cabin. Monday night I finished my third Harry Potter book (Yep, Shayla has turned me into a nerd) and packed for the trip out to the Post Office that we would be taking in the morning.

Jeff and I left the cabin about 8:30 am for the Post Office. We left in a mad dash in order to make it before the 10:30-12:00 lunch hour. The entire road is clear except for three or four patches of snow. We could have biked almost the entire way if only we had bikes. This warm spell is really beginning to chap my ass! Anyway, Jeff's boss Troy met us at the gate. He is taking sort of a working vacation and staying with us for a couple of nights. Troy drove us the rest of the way to the Post Office where we had some nice goodies from Dave and Pattie, Uncle Scott and Aunt Becky, and Charolette and Tim. Thank You!!! Then, to our shock and surprise, the Firehorse Cafe was open. So we all ate big burgers and drank sodas then shoved off for the gate. It was a nice walk in (40 degrees and very light wind), and we were back at the cabin by mid-afternoon. Jeff and I taught Troy Pass the Pigs, and we watched a movie to cap off the night.

Today is another beautiful day. The sun is shining and it is 36 degrees. Jeff and Troy are over at the hotel working and I am baking pitas to go with all of the wonderful fresh veggies Troy brought us. After lunch we are going to go explore!

P.S. I'm still working on getting the video of the wolverine on here. Hopefully, it will be soon though!