My Blog

I finish breakfast gathered my things, exit my home, my bastion of splendor where I so often find my senses absorbing sights and sounds, the splendor of the upper valley. Mt. Cashmere rises up in my south facing view, the shoulder of the majestic enchantment peaks rising into and forming the Icicle Canyon. Awakening in the wee hours of the morning… or is it the late hours of the night to see the moon set carefully atop the Tumwater ridge, an enormous, brilliant white circle. The moon’s white light washes over the ridge and onto the valley floor, into my window and illuminates my bed covers. The brilliant moon backlights the forest and the trees are silhouetted crisply on the ridge top. I don’t think this description comes close to describing the immensity of that view. I’m lost in the sentiment of past memories as I walk out the front door and drive down the hill to my office. Settling into my chair the daily tasks are addressed all so familiar: Check email, respond; forward; write new messages to those wishing to hear from me. And so the day progresses and just before noon, as I consider heading back to my home on the hill for lunch, I think I’ll run errands, off to the post office and the bank I go. Today I think I’ll walk over and back, after all it’s a whole two blocks. Stopping at the post office three or four familiar faces are greeted and who cannot stop to share a few thoughts with one and another as the mail is dropped into the receptacle. A few feet further and the bank’s front door are entered. Not too terribly much to do there, a quick deposit, a transfer of funds and I’m on my way back out… only to run into Fred.

Fred works in the winter recreation arena these days preparing trails for Nordic users and snowmobilers. He also enjoys those winter sports as a recreational participant as well and our conversation quickly moves toward the topic. Thoughts shared quickly turn to the lament of one of the shortest winters on record, at least as compared with past winters Nordic skiing on the local Leavenworth trails: we’ve lost a month of skiing this year. Ah but the positives come to the surface as well. Disappointments shared quickly turn to the positives of higher elevations where the snowpack is still significant. At 5000 plus feet there’s easily four plus feet of snow and the groomers are maintaining the trails. It is here where the diehard skier can be found seeking that coveted corduroy, a specially groomed trail suited to snowmobilers and skate skiers alike.

Fred shares a story of a recent outing: skis affixed to his snow mobile he heads out of the Blewett Sno Park gaining 100 feet of elevation effortlessly whereupon he summits the initial climb and here he arrives at the ideal conditions often found in March. The night temperatures dipped into the twenties and the groomer had run early – fresh, untouched corduroy greeted Fred and he parked his snow mobile, donned the skate skis and glided away... down the trail headed toward Lion Rock. Hours later having enjoyed a half day of skiing not a snow mobile in sight or another skier. The groomer ran just for him preparing a prize that was his and his alone. It’s considered a perfect outing: uninterrupted skiing; reveling in premium trail conditions; big views; peacefully communing with nature. To skate effortlessly mile after mile, to finally stop and listen to nearly nothing, only the silence of the forest, per chance a nut hatch trilling a soft melody. What more might one ask of life? Fred shares with me this perfect outing and I can only reply, “Nice! Next time you head out there Fred, think about calling ME.”Those precious days are few in number.