Skip to Sunday if you don’t want to read about the trails.
Saturday, Sept 14
Last week’s blog had a small description (and photo) of John and 3 others in their 20th anniversary tee shirts for Washington Trails Association at the Cascades Beckler Peak Trail. The Anniversary is for the “trail work” mission of WTA and there were multiple celebratory groups working all over the State during the weekend. WTA started in 1966.
Link to WTA history.
Another (special) group exists (Volunteers for Outdoor Washington – VOW) that initiated the historic Iron Goat Trail and continues with that development.
Link to VOW site.
[Note the link to ‘history’ at the left side in the light-blue rectangle.]
On the main page linked to (not the history page), note near the bottom mention of the “Horseshoe Tunnel Extension”, a 3 mile trail going from the Martin Creek trailhead to the Kelley Creek Trail. The phrase “horseshoe tunnel” refers to the old railroad tunnel in the shape of a twisted horseshoe (one end higher than the other with 2 crossings of Martin Creek. This was part of the scheme for getting trains up (or down) the western side of the Cascade Mountains near Stevens Pass. The trains now go through a tunnel that (on the west end) is located here:
47.715282, -121.145384
The old railroad grade (see history link mentioned) is now the Iron Goat Trail on the slopes to the left (west) of this tunnel and is the thinner of the 2 white lines seen as you slowly zoom out. About 3 miles farther west at
47.729479, -121.206978
is the Martin Creek Trail Head. The Martin Creek Trail is not shown on Google Earth because it is still under construction – about half of it is still only little colored streamers tied to trees going along the west slope of Martin Creek. A person working 5 hours can carve out about 10 feet of trail or a bit more and then on another day finish the tread (walking surface). Sometimes small bridges or rock cribs have to be built for the trail. Each of these may take 4 to 6 people a day or more of work. On Beckler Peak trail Kevin and John made tread on about 30 feet of sloping material left by the mechanical earth mover (a large backhoe?) and then at the top of the grade dug a trench and placed rocks to be covered completely with tread (mineral soil).
A drain ditch is dug upslope from where the ‘hump’ is to be so water goes off the trail and doesn’t go down the slope and scour out the new tread. In the photo the drain is going off trail at the left side under the shovel handle and where Orange Hat John’s right foot is. The “rock bar” and drain are suggested because of the topography of the trail and the high precipitation (See ‘Orographic” cartoon below.). Run-off on these Pacific Ocean facing slopes is sometimes violent and otherwise just high and relentless. Actually, Seattle is fairly dry being in the “rain shadow” of the Olympic Mountains but just east of the lowland it is a different – wet – story. August and September are mostly dry but this year we have already had some interesting storms.
We are just north of EBRG in the yellow area (dry or rain shadow) at 2,240 feet elevation.
Sunday, Sept 15
What a day. We worked much of the morning on the blog, and John finally got it posted right before we left for the Bluegrass Jam session at the Swauk-Teanaway Grange. Only a few folks made it there today, our first meeting since May. We had 4 guitars, a harmonica player, 2 fiddles, and a bass fiddle. It was actually nice having such a small circle so we could hear the words people were singing. In the audience we had two couples, 4 spouses, and a single guy. A storm was brewing we saw on our way home, and then it hit as John was moving 5 gallon buckets and a couple of barrels under the roof line. There was one close-by lightning and a huge thunder clap. We and the dogs dived under the bed! Okay, just two of the dogs. A couple more as it passed over. Then 45 minutes of calm, only to get a second wave. We didn’t finally get around to eating until 8:30. Some point in there the Internet access was lost. Our electricity turned off and on rapidly, and shut John’s computer down. Mine works with a back-up battery, so I lost nothing but the Internet. It’s now after 10 and no connection, so we both decided we would hit the hay.
Monday, Sept 16
Morning — still no Internet at 7:30 a.m. I called the “technical control center” after 8:00 a.m. and got the national place in NC or ME after a LONG wait, only to find out indeed the internet in our area was not available and they were working on it. It is not every customer, but we are one affected. So, be patient and wait. We waited for 18 hours from the original loss, and I was not very patient.
While off the Internet today I was cleaning up my computer files and preparing to send things to people I needed to, I found a photo I took 5 days ago and forgot to put in last week’s blog. We have been including pictures of the little Pacific Tree Frog that hangs around our “front porch” area. Now isn’t this the cutest smiling amphibian you’ve ever seen?
John transferred 40 bales of hay from trailer to barn today and we picked a lot of tomatoes, squash (he picked all the squash and most of the red tomatoes), and went back for more to the other original garden and brought back the last of the strawberries for me to fix for dessert. I picked most of the little sun gold cherry tomatoes. Boy, they all are yummy.
Tuesday, Sept 17
I slept in and was awakened by a helicopter doing curly cues above our Naneum Fan … John was running the dogs because his Internet went down again so he saw more of this than I did from the back window. Could have just been flight training or they might have been looking for plots of flowering Cannabis plants. No later reports of such so this will remain one of life’s little mysteries. Anyway, the Internet was back on when I got the machine purring.
We both had a lot of work to do, and then John fixed an awesome brunch — cheese omelet, bacon, fried potatoes and onions (we grew), and a pluot.
This afternoon we went to town for my two needs in radiology at the local hospital: a mammogram and lung X-ray (routine yearly) because of the Amiodarone (antiarrhythmic agent) I’m taking. I’ve now been taking ‘Ami’ for 3 years with no nasty side effects and it is doing its job nicely. Anyhow, that’s the reason for the special lung exam – just monitoring things.
While in EBRG we delivered tomatoes, squash, and corn to two people. While I was in the hospital, John took off with recyclable glass and plastic for free disposal at the transfer station. Then he went by Goodwill and found a soft plastic pad rolled up and his first thought was using it for cutting insoles for his shoes and boots. That thought led him to look at the boot rack and “lo” there was a nearly new pair of nice insulated work boots. Just $8. No brand. Soles are heavy Vibram and there is a little attached label on the side indicating the waterproof/breathable fabric inside is expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) — also known as Gore-Tex. So why doesn’t such a pair of boots have a company or brand name showing? Inquiring minds want to know. And he went on up town to the dollar store and bought a pair of metal tongs. They were actually the same as we had, but we both thought they were smaller — yet we still wish we could find our aluminum smaller ones. I wish he would find his missing cell phone. He came to pick me up at the hospital, and I was already sitting out front and walked out to the parking spot he chose. From there we went to the St. Vincent’s store (right by the grocery), to check out work boots there. They didn’t have anything in his size but as we walked back through the store through the “women’s” shoes, he spotted a pair of black shoes that looked just like mine. Wow — thanks for his eagle eyes. They are exactly my size and in new condition. Someone must have died and the kids just took all the stuff to St. Vincent’s. I paid $4.99 for them. If I went to a store or on line, they would cost me $120. No joke. These are Brooks Addiction, and I have worn that brand for 20 years.
It’s the only shoe that works for my feet, and gives me the support I need. Those shoes are actually prescribed by an orthopedic doctor here in town for fasciitis. I never lucked out and got them covered by medical insurance, but since starting to wear them, I have had no episodes of plantar fasciitis. When I started wearing them, I felt guilty paying $79.00 for a pair of shoes. Over the years it has increased significantly. I wear them for everything — regular daily use, and dress up. I have both black and white ones. You can see why I was so thrilled to find today what looks like a new pair.
I forgot to tell the problem of the evening. We were fixing a late dinner, BLTs, and realized the dishwasher bottom was FULL of water. John came back to the kitchen in sock feet, and got wet. We looked down and the water was coming out of the front of the washer. I turned on the garbage disposal to be sure water was not backing up, but it must have already. We unloaded the dishes, and cleaned up the floor, and decided to wait till morning to try to fix it.
Wednesday, Sept 18 (John’s brother, Richard’s birthday)
Normal stuff for a Wednesday–slept in a little later than usual and turned on my computer to start by reading morning emails. NO INTERNET, again. Back on the phone to see what’s up. I managed to get a local gal we know (with the wonderful name of Choral) from the past to ask in person. Turns out they had tried to reload something to correct the problem from 2 days ago, and in the process set a bunch of numbers out of commission again.
By the time I got to her it was late morning. She said she could reset it for me, and she did, with me waiting on the line to verify I could connect again. Phew. Meanwhile, John was trying to find a tiny socket wrench to remove the filter in the bottom of the dishwasher. After the hunt and the removal there didn’t seem to be an problem with the filters – but the washer seems to be okay – for now!
I was running late to be leaving for town at 11:20. I got out and into town in time to play music. Today they fed us a tough beef and onion dish, a chicken pasta, a green mixed salad, and a bread pudding (mostly apples) with ice cream for dessert. I ate the chicken out of the pasta, the salad, and pulled out the craisins in the pudding (I’m not allowed cranberries on one of my meds.) From there over to SAIL exercise class and a real workout with a different instructor. Grabbed two pieces of chocolate cake with little choc chip miniatures and two small pieces of an apple fritter there to bring for our dessert. I wasn’t home very long when we turned around and went back to town to the university to attend a free BBQ with free wine and beer. It was outside and began with a chilly wind but that quit and we got additional shirt/sweaters from the car so all was well. We sat at a table with some CWU VIP ‘cool’ folks, and so, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The wine was from Bonair – one of our favorite places and the folks there a great help with our now-extinct wine class. They had 3 of their wines: Riesling, Chardonnay, and Merlot.
Thursday, Sept 19
I was tired from a late night, and slept in, but John was up early and out with the dogs for exercise. It was cool this morning and cold last night down to 38 at the airport 5 miles south of us. Our thermometer about the same time only said 46. John picked some tomatoes for some friends, and a few for us — so we can have BLTs tonight with an added piece of Havarti cheese, and some Bartlett pears on the side. He went to town with me for my music at Dry Creek, dropped me off, and ran some errands, the most of which needed was gasoline for his car that claimed it was only willing to go 70 more miles. Before dusk, I delivered tomatoes to the neighbor who gave us pears and a handful of Italian plums in return, and now John is feeding the horses, so I have to go get some canned cat food ready for him to take the ferals. I give him ones for them with fish in it, because Rascal doesn’t like Whitefish or Salmon, unless the Salmon is home cooked.
Friday, Sept 20
Left for White Heron about 10:15, and got there in time to visit in the vineyard and John helped harvest a few small bins of Syrah grapes with Cameron, while I took photos. John had carried buckets of sand home from the spring pruning time and used the sand in his Onion growing endeavors. We took some of each variety to Cameron along with a couple of potatoes and one of the orange winter Squash. From there to the Bluegrass Festival at George to enjoy some music. Had lots of fun and much time taken, along with photos. We got home after 5:00. Didn’t accomplish much of necessity today but made a little vacation out of the day. So, below is the photo evidence of our little vacation:
John (top) is showing me a just picked cluster of Syrah grapes. The cluster is “open” meaning not all spaces are filled that could be occupied by individual berries. The next photo is of Pinot Noir and the berries press against one another. Some of the difference is characteristic of the variety and part can be weather related during flowering. If there is wet and windy weather pollentation can be spotty. The tight clusters of Pinot Noir can cause problems if there is rain just prior to harvest because the water can encourage mold. The individual Syrah berries have a slightly oval shape rather than spherical but that is hard to see in my photo.
I also took a short (21 seconds) of the picking. John is under the vines on the right.
The BlueGrass Festival at George is a multi-day event but during our short time there we listened to the organizers from the local region including, our favorite, Gracie the fiddle player from Moses Lake – 30 miles to the east.
Saturday, Sept 21
We woke to find a dozen wild Merriam turkeys out beyond the fence in the back. They have been roosting in a big Ponderosa Pine just across our north property line in the neighbor’s never-visited back corner. We have heard them many times – thought they might have been a few of the farther-away neighbor’s Peafowl – but those are usually very vocally noisy. These were more discrete, so we should have known better. More video; watch for Tom to go by at 14 seconds – note the ‘beard’ – a bundle of long feathers on his chest.
There is nothing much on the schedule today except John intends to pick up some rocks and spray some recently sprouted weeds brought on by our recent rains.
Hope your week was fine.
Nancy and John
Still on the Naneum Fan