Crabtree Falls in North Carolina

Today we drove on the Blueridge Parkway, and got out to hike to Crabtree Falls.

This was Aric's first waterfall, which was really special. I think he was impressed. Nathan and I were too!

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir

The poetry of the earth is never dead. ~John Keats

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man. ~Author Unknown

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein



I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. ~e.e. cummings

Echo Ridge Nordic ..

We had some time to get away and decided on trying out Echo Ridge. A Living Social coupon sealed the deal for accommodations and we were off. Our drive out was planned so we would stop in Leavenworth for lunch and then Mirabelle would nap between there and Manson. Arriving in Leavenworth to our favorite lunch spot, the Munchen Haus, closed had us spending more time there then we wanted. And as hard as Mirabelle tried, she didn't fall asleep until we were near Knapps tunnel which had us driving around before we arrived at the hotel. So we didn't end up getting any skiing in the first day, but due to the daily fee of the location that may have been for the better.



The next day started well with breakfast baked goods from the Red Apple before making the 30 minute drive up to Echo Ridge. I hadn't seen the grooming report for two days and wasn't sure what to expect. They were clearly getting close to the end of season, but it was difficult to determine how close. And they were still grooming almost all of the runs, so it had to be good...right? The drive up involves leaving town and heading through orchards until reaching the Echo Valley downhill ski area, which seems like a nice little family place to ski. Then the road turns to dirt and continues up switchbacks with some snow drifts and steep drop offs thrown in. We arrived to bluebird skies and parked in the lower parking lot expecting perhaps to only ski the green runs out of the lower lot. The goal was to ski those runs in the morning and return to the van for lunch and head out again in the afternoon. But we would see what Mirabelle might want from the day.



After bundling up Mirabelle in the Chariot and handing her a churro, we were ready to go. It appeared the trails were groomed the previous day and there was about a centimeter of fresh snow on top as well. Conditions in the track were a touch icy going uphill. And pulling the extra forty pounds or so behind me kept me out of the track all morning. The trails were pretty mellow and we were having a good time so when we completed the trails out of the lower lot I asked Mirabelle if she wanted to keep going and she said "yes!"





We headed up the connecting trail to the upper lot which was the only blue we would do for the day and then did all but one of the green trails out of the upper lot. At some point Mirabelle had fallen asleep which allowed us to get in about eight miles of skiing for the day. The conditions we found on the upper trails were equal if not better to the lower trails and we really had a good time. The upper trails offered more views including down to Lake Chelan and over to the Stuart Range.

We skied back down the steeper blue trail to the car and had lunch.







After lunch we donned snowshoes and walked away from the parking lot thirty meters or so to build a snowman. Mirabelle at first enjoyed snowshoes, but as the terrain became more uneven she had difficulty not stepping on her own feet and was starting to lose patience with them. The end result is her memory of snowshoeing is positive. After snowman construction Mirabelle did a lap of the parking lot on her skis before we opted to head back to town.





The next morning it was raining in town, but I had hopes of snow level occurring before the ski lot and I was right. This time we headed up to the upper lot to get on some blue runs. Snow was coming down steady, but not very heavy as we geared up and left the parking lot. Since we weren't sure on conditions we started out on the only green we had not yet done and if we found it to be too icy we would turn around and repeat some of the trails from the previous day. While the grooming done the previous afternoon had hardened up overnight, the fresh snow falling on top made conditions pretty good in most places with some more sun soaked parts being more icy than treed sections. This trail would have offered some nice views, but due to the snowfall, there was limited visibility. An interesting thing this trail did offer was what I'd call the magic white carpet. Some areas where there was no snow around except for the eight foot wide (16" deep) swath in which we were skiing on. The surrounding hillsides looked almost like summer. Turn the corner on the ridge, and you were back in winter wonderland complete with better trail conditions.





We arrived at the end of our green trail and opted to take blues back. These were pretty fun and not nearly as steep as the lot to lot trail and were not significantly more difficult than the green we had been on. I feel like they did offer more terrain variation though. Somewhere on our way back Mirabelle said she was done, so we headed back to the car sticking to blue runs and finishing our morning with about 3.5 miles under our feet. The snow was still coming down, but it was around the time we wanted to leave for home. We thought about staying another night, but opted not to and started heading down the mountain for home.



This was a really fun outing and reminded both of us why we like Nordic skiing so much. Mirabelle had a great time too! We had a lot of fun and so no one else on the trails while we were out. (We saw some people in the lot, and the groomer about to go to work, but we had the trails to ourselves.) It was really fun and a great location. We are thinking of making this into an annual trip.

Bikes Gone Wild?

We saw this in an alleyway in Harvard Square earlier this evening. A fence full of bikes is a surer sign of spring's arrival than crocuses!

Some seemed to be particularly effected by Spring Fever. Are these bikes up to no good?

The old Roadster was bemused, recalling his own wild youth in the '60s.

Of course, our Miles and Marianne were more discreet and only nuzzled affectionately. Happy Spring and happy cycling!

Hay for Horses

Tuffee helping Lee unload hay for the horses.

Jackson Visitor Center - Final Weekend to Visit!

Yup, the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center (JVC), whose design has been loved, hated, and debated since its opening in 1966, will welcome its last visitor on Sunday, September 28. It is closing to prepare for the demolition and move to the new JVC, which will open at 10:00 a.m. on October 10th. Between September 29th and October 9th, the Paradise Ranger Station (in the upper lot) will serve as the main NPS contact point at Paradise.

Here's some background on the now infamous "space saucer" of Paradise. The NPS commissioned its construction as part of a 10-year effort called MISSION 66. MISSION 66 set out to improve infrastructure and visitor services for NPS in time for its 50th anniversary in, guess what, 1966. The Paradise visitor center was originally known as the "Paradise Day Use Facility" until 1987, when it was re-named in honor of Washington Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. "Scoop" had originally secured congressional funding for the project and personally selected the architects.

The future of the oldJVC is significantly less promising. With the initiative to build a new visitor center came the $880,000 contract to demolish the JVC and rehabilitate the lower parking lot. Sometime late next year, you should be able to park your vehicle near the current information desk or bookstore. If the weather holds, this fall the contractor intends to start salvage operations of reusable materials and also carry out removal of fuel tank and hazardous materials. Final demolition will begin in the late spring of and will be completed by the end of the summer.

NOTE: If you're visiting the park this weekend, September 27 and 28, there are no entrance fees. The NPS is waiving fees on Saturday in celebration of National Public Lands Day and on Sunday in honor of newly naturalized United States citizens. The JVC at Paradise will be open from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. through Sunday the 28th. Come on by, because it's your last chance to lounge in those creamy orange couches and chairs.

New Years in Hawaii

Joined the Hanks family on Maui just after Christmas to bring in the new year of from a tropical warm paradise. Our adventures took us all over the island from Haleakala to whale watching, a drive through Hana and hanging out with family...don't worry we visited the beach often to wake board and even snorkel.





sunset the night i arrived

Lori and I-my first stop after arriving..the beach

Ariel...you put on a few pounds!

That's going to be fun to clean up

And she clears it with her 2" vertical...AMAZING!

Shaka!

last 4 pics are of Hana-we survived the winedy road w/o spewing

Whale watching

That's not a whale...that's a dolphin!



Can you believe what we just saw?

A Hawaiian tradition...an offering given to the river





husking my first coconut-harvested from Hana

did you know coconuts are the only fruit that does not have a machine to husk it? once (in Kanab) i went on a date with a man who called himself the "Coconut King" he was working on industrializing the husking of coconuts...that was way more work than i bargained for...where was the 'king' when i needed him most?







tried to climb a coconut tree







I must share with my experience on Haleakala and it's significance for me and my family:



As a young girl, in Sandy Utah living just off of 106th, Grandma and Grandpa Patterson came to visit after they returned home from their mission in Hawaii. I learned that grandpa served his first mission in Hawaii as a young man. How the island people must have been so dear to his heart all these years and then to be called there again and able to take is wife and share his love and experiences for/with the people there as well as create their own together. During their visit to our home Grandpa gathered all us kids around him and said, "Anyone who wants ice cream say Haleakala!" A tradition we all looked forward to with enthusiasm and excitement in the years to come. In unison we yelled at the top of our lungs, "Haleakala!" we were driven to Reams grocery store a few miles east of our house on state street. My favorite ice cream at the time was bubble gum and rainbow sherbet. Without exception no matter our age each time we saw Grandpa he would get that look in his eye, gather us around and we would know..."Haleakala!"



For years i believed this was a word Grandpa made up. I thought i was so cool. When i met Lori Hanks and we became close friends she was showing me pictures of her home in Maui Hawaii. one of the pictures was her and a few cousins by wood sign: Haleakala. i asked her about it. She smiled and told me it is a an inactive volcano on Maui. It means "House of the Sun". I shared my stories of Grandpa, Haleakala and ice cream with her. I told her one day I would to go to the mountain, take a carton of ice cream with me to the top and eat it with my Grandpa (who has passed on).



My desire had become reality, i had made it to Hawaii. Early on the second day after my arrival on the island Lori and i ran to the story and bought a half gallon of Roselani Mint ice cream and spoons. Caravaning with three other cars we made our way up the paved switch back road to the top of Haleakala National Park. We walked a short distance up a pathway to the peak of the volcano. I gathered everyone together including a few tourists who were near by and said "Who wants ice cream say Haleakala!" A chorused "Haleakala" was shouted. Spoonfuls of ice cream were shared with everyone. I know my Grandpa was sharing the smiles, laughs and joy we all felt as we ate ice cream together. One last time grandpa and i were able to join in sweet union of love and care and in memory of our relationship over a carton of ice cream.











Thanks for meeting me there Grandpa, it was great!