Skiing Grand Targhee... yet again

Saturday brought another beautiful day at Grand Targhee Ski Resort. I met up with Lowell, (friend of a friend) and we hit it off right away. While he's a much better skier, we have kindred spirits and, well, I'll let the pictures explain:
Practicing my 900 (that's 2.5 360's). Not really, that kid's probably half my age and my 900 was head-over-heels in a ball of snow.
These next two pictures are an attempt to describe "West" skiing. Notice the 1 groomed trail, all the people, the wide open terrain and 2000 feet of vertical to top it off.

Lowell in front of the Teton's
Lowell scoping out some summer hikes
Sorry - no handstands today. Standing on my feet proved to be the bigger challenge.
The year was 1832 and Lewis & Clark were leading an expedition over Teton Pass in search of ........ deep powder.














Lowell: "Joe, have you ever hiked that?"
Joe: "Nope, you?"
L: "No, but it looks pretty fun."
J: "Yeah, but isn't it hard to hike in ski boots? I've never hiked in ski boots, and walking to the car is hard enough."
L: "I think it's only about 15 minutes. I'm sure there will be steps." (Never trust somebodies guesstimate when it comes to hike times)
J: "It would be a really nice day to do that."
L: "Yeah, if we were to do it, today would be the day."
J: "Do you want to do it? If it looks too steep, we can always cut out, right?" (Cutting out early? That's like giving up - Joe should know he doesn't do that - reference "Scouting" post.)
L: "Yeah, may as well. If it tires us out, we can always call it a day."
J: "I'm game if you are."
L: "Let's do it."
Don't worry Mom - if you don't see my telltale ski-tumble-ski impressions, you know they aren't my tracks. This is what we didn't do.
The dashed line on the left is where we hiked up. "X" marks where I fell. OK, so the first one you can all relate to - just standing there minding your own business when "whoosh", down you go. It just happens. The others - well, it was steep, it was deep, and a lot of fun! Next time we'll have to go before everyone else makes tracks.
The trail follows the valley at the bottom. And yes, people we're skiing off the cliffs on the left. You may also notice some black shadowed marks on the left/middle of the picture. That's where they blast the side of the mountain to trigger avalanches before the skiers do!

Mesa Falls, Joe Falls

After a long week at work, it was time to enjoy some sunshine on Saturday. So, following a meeting in the morning, I headed out to Ashton, Idaho for another cross country ski trek to Mesa Falls. The trail was groomed most of the way, except where snowmobiler's had intervened. While I was thoroughly enjoying the sunny weather, it tends to make for sticky snow, the demise of a great XC ski trip. But in this case, it probably kept me from getting too much speed and heading off the cliff. Here's a few pictures from the trail:

The ski trail followed the cliffside on the right. Lower Falls is about 3 miles upstream, then another mile to Upper Falls.

Lower Falls

Upper Falls in black and white.

If you look close, you can see the rainbow! Recently I've been reminded of the pain and suffering that is so evident in our world. But don't forget about the One who created that first rainbow. The beauty of His creation is just an example to remind us that God cares for us individually! Whether you've had a good or bad day, God knows and cares for YOU!

The last of the serious photos...

Now THAT, is a lot of snow!

I dare you to stand under that while I...

Cheap entertainment - especially for the other's watching.

Here it is... the pose you've come to expect.

Uh oh, something isn't right...
That's cold...

But not defeated.

Who turned up the heat in the think tank?!?

Yellowstone on #209

This weekend brought another trip to Yellowstone! Yellowstone continues to by my favorite national park and winter was no different. Well, it was different, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. If a picture is worth a 1000 words, you better get reading... it's a long one!

The roads through the park are closed to traffic during the winter, unless you've got tracks for that van of yours, or rent a guide and a snowmobile!
Our first stop, and supposed destination was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This picture is looking right...
...looking straight on...
(are you into rock climbing?)
...looking left...
(don't miss the 300 foot waterfalls behind the rising vapor)
...looking far left. I think one of the falls was upper and the other lower, but such details have long since been replaced by more important information... like the 900 earthquakes Yellowstone experiences daily.

At this point, we were supposed to turn around and head back to the lodge. But thanks to a fast moving group (I will not publicly admit to speeding - just keeping pace with the guide) the guide offered to take us a little further where we got to see...
...yes, a tree.
(But I'm told it's a famous picture!)
Out of frame is Dragon's Mouth Spring, a boiling, gurgling, sputtering and spitting cauldron that's generating the steam in front of these trees.
While searching for otter's on the edge of Yellowstone Lake (we did see some, but no pictures), we came across some bacteria organisms, aptly named "Bacteria Mats".
The steam is enough to melt the snow in some places...
...but not others. (Yes, the packed down snow was deeper then 4 feet, much to our amusement when a fellow tourist stepped off the beaten path and found himself "swimming" out of the snow.)
This one's for Mom.
This is for everyone else (and no, I still don't like my picture being taken.)
Elk don't like their picture taken either.
Momma Elk didn't care so much.

I caught two bald eagles sittin' in a tree...
A coyote sitting pretty.

So, there you have it! In the end, we went all the way around the park loop, logging 138 miles and enjoying so many of God's wonderful creations! I'm not sure it get's any better! But the weekend wasn't over as I headed to Kelly Canyon for some night skiing. Kelly only has 900 feet of vertical, but hey, I wasn't begging for a masseuse afterwards either! Here's a few pictures from the evening:
Even after dark you could always locate Chris, a co-worker.
Here's a look down at the lodge from about 1/4 of the way up. You quick ones will figure out why it's called Kelly Canyon.

REALLY?!? I wonder what the punishment is - a body cast? Maybe they just put your body in a stretcher sled and give it a push toward the bottom. Incidentally, a ski patrol informed me that it was a misdemeanor, punishable up to $250. Apparently they like to keep the idiots around in Idaho.

Scouting

This weekend started with a Youth Rally at the holiness church in Twin Falls. Afterwards, I went with the young people to the home of a local parishioner for food, food and more food. Of course, I don't turn down food these days lest I be stuck eating only what I make! But I had a good time and enjoyed the opportunity to become better acquainted with the people. Below are some pictures from the area:

You know the economy is bad when they're giving away stock!
There's something about seeing mountains peek through the fog that fascinates me.

The Snake River Canyon

Yo, this bridge has mad "Ups"
(Some of you will get it - clicking on it might help.)

...after discovering the black and white feature on my camera.

I dare you to push him!

The Pastor's boys were kind enough to let me stay in their room. (OK, so they did provide a bed along with the stuffed animals.)

On Saturday, I got up early, excited for all the plans I had for the day. I started by heading to Scout Mountain in Pocatello. You may remember that I hiked this a couple months ago and thought it would make for a nice cross country ski trek. (If you don't remember, there are some pictures in the "December 2008" post along with my profile picture and the mountain at the top of the blog.) There's allegedly an ATV trail that runs along the bottom to the back side, then takes a more gentle approach to the top. (I'd tell you more about it, but... ) Below are pictures from the trek:
They aren't very creative with their road names. And yes, the connecting road was 002. (Neither work with Mapquest.)
The road (001) to Scout Mt is closed for the season, but a popular place for XC skiing. The trail starts at a campground at the end of the road. In this picture I am on a trail, rounding the final peak before the real ascent.
It's also the same spot where I came upon some rather large paw prints. For perspective, the very fresh paw prints are following a snowmobile trail, which I was now following. It was at this point that I removed my headphones and transferred the pepper spray from my backpack to my pants pocket. Maybe you have a better idea of the animal, but my guess is a very large mountain lion. (The previous mountain lion tracks I saw were about 1/4 the size.) Click on the picture for a closer look.
Finally, after 4.5 hours of skiing, post-holing, crawling and climbing... the top! Just out of frame is a 30' shear snow drift that would have been fun to go down, but I did not see how I would get back up as thoughts of an avalanche came into my head. The irony is that I would think of such a thing... at the top. After finding shelter from the wind, a good PB&J sandwich and a change of socks, I was ready for the trip down, or so I thought.
8,700 feet has to be close to the top of the world.

Heading down was when the adventure really began. For those wondering how many times I fell, I ran out of fingers and toes. But it became quite routine and predictable - very comical too if only you could have watched. Due to the steepness, rock outcroppings, small saplings, a hard crusty snow and no edges on XC skies, the downhill switchbacks went something like this: Figure out a path, stand up and aim, get out of control, fall, turn back, repeat, and repeat, and repeat. In the meantime, I was able to perfect the faceplant, the double fisted snow pound, the sideways tumble, the right foot out and the left foot in and numerous other humorous positions requiring contortionist skills to undo. How does it happen so fast and take so long to undo? I was planning to take some pictures of my various falling stances, but by the time I got to the bottom and dared take my camera out, I could only think of getting home. To my delight, the hot tub jets in my apartment complex did wonders for my sore (and cramping) latissimus dorsi muscles. (Don't worry - I didn't know I had them either.) So much for plans of night skiing too! (Maybe next weekend.)