puddles

Ranger and I went out to seven mile again , it is one of our favorite places because most of the time Ranger can run free which he loves, and so do I it is so much fun watching him running and exploring everything, and just having a great time.

Here are a few ice shots from there. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Selkirks

It was a beautiful sunny day Friday so Ranger and I went out roaming to see if we could find some photos and we found these of Mount Spokane. It is part of the Selkirk mountian range. There is some information at the end of this post about the Selkirk range. The ski area on MT. Spokane is about a thirty minute drive from my house depending on the weather. In the summer you can drive to the top which takes about 45 minutes or so, and I think you can see seven lakes from the top, you can also see into Idaho and Montana it is quite spectacular.
I hope everyone has a wonderfull Christmas

Location: The Selkirks are nestled between the Purcell Mountains on the east and the Monashee Mountains on the west. The eastern boundary is the Kootenai River (in the US), Kootenay Lake, Duncan River, Beaver River, and Columbia Reach on McNaughton Lake. The western boundary is formed by Arrow Lake and the north flowing Columbia River, as well as a section of the Spokane River and, on the far SE, Lake Pend Oreille. The chain encompasses the Rogers Pass Area.

Terrain: The geology of the Selkirks is quite different from the Rockies and from the Purcells and other ranges to the West. Some of the rocks are the oldest outside the Pre-Cambrian shield dating about 600 million years. Before the Rockies were thrust up by continental drift, the Selkirks stood alone as an island of mountains bordering the Pacific Coast with an inland sea separating them from the Shield. The largest peak is Sir Sandford rising to a height of 11580 feet, north of Rogers Pass.

Selkirk Mountains History

The Selkirks were first identified as a separate range of mountains from the Rockies by David Thompson, of the Northwest Company of fur traders in 1807. At this time they were named "Nelsons Mountains". When the Northwest Company was merged with the Hudson's Bay Company, the mountains were given their present name of the "Selkirks", after Thomas Douglas of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the fifth Earl of Selkirk.

It was the Selkirks, and not the Rockies that formed the most formidible barrier to the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the confederation of Canada. In David Thompson's day, the only way to get through the Selkirks was to follow the river valleys such as the Columbia which skirted around the edge. The thing that made the Railway possible was the discovery of Rogers Pass. Initially the railway ran over the top of both Rogers Pass in the Selkirks, and the Kicking Horse Pass in the Rockies but within the first 40 years were made less severe with tunnels: the Connaught tunnel under Rogers Pass and the Spiral Tunnels to reduce the 7% grade on the "big hill" up from Field to the Kicking Horse Pass.

Rogers Pass was initially the hub of mountaineering in Canada, with the CPR providing guides and hotels from the pass. The railway through Rogers Pass continued to be plagued by snowslides, and was eventually abandoned in favor of the Connaught Tunnel under the pass. From then until the Trans Canada highway was completed in the early 1960's, Rogers Pass was deserted, as the road went north around the "big bend" at Mica Creek. Due to tremendous snowfalls, full time avalanche crews now bombard the slopes regularly above the pass in winter to bring down the snow. It is not uncommon for the trans-Canada highway to be closed for 12 or 24 hour periods.

Port Townsend

In October when we went to Wenatchee we also went to Port Townsend where my mother-in law lives, we only had time to stay one day but it was a lot of fun. Ranger and I roamed around town and took some photos. If you want to find out more about Port Townsend you can go to this web address. http://www.ptguide.com/history/ just copy and paste it in your browser, there is a lot of history there. Fort Worden State Park which is in Port Townsend is where they filmed a lot of the movie An Officer and A Gentlemen. Fort Warden is also a very interesting place.

I thought this was a funny sign, I guess it is there in case you can't stay on the sidewalk?




I thought this little church was interesting with its red door . There were also some great shadows and if you look close there is a lot of interesting detail in the building.

MT Spokane

Ranger and I went roaming on Mount Spokane the other day, the last time we were here there wasn't any snow. You can see this spot in my November 4th post it looks quite different.



Picnic anyone?





The reason I don't have more shots of Ranger is this is usauly how they turn out, because it is very seldom he stops long enough to get a shot.



You can see Ranger is having a good time he is smiling.



Something got his attention I don't know what he found but it stopped him for at least ten or fifteen seconds.

Motorcycle

Over the past few months I have made a few comments about our motorcycle so I thought I should post some shots of it. Please excuse the messy garage, cleaning it is one of many projects on the never ending list of things to do. To me one of our most memorable trips was when we went to Jackson Hole Wyoming with another couple, about a 2,000 mile round trip, about, six days. On that trip we went through Yellowstone National Park. If you have ever been to Yellowstone you know that the animals roam free, which when you are in a car is interesting enough, but when you are on a motorcycle, stuck in a traffic jam, and you have Buffalo walking along side the road about three feet from you and they turn that massive head and look at you, you can't help wondering what they are thinking. We are hoping to go on a nice long trip this coming year, maybe down through the Redwoods, if time permitted we would love to go to Brice and Zion, but we will have to see what the next year brings. Hope you enjoy the shots and hope you have a nice day.

More Wenatchee

Here are some more shots from the Wenatchee river






This is Rangers spot in the car , as you can see he looks pretty tired which is unusual for him, but at this point he had been out running, and chasing things around the Tumwater campground for about an hour non stop, which even tired him out, and that is hard to do. It tired me out just watching him, I wish I could tap into some of his energy.