To The Dogs

That's my new friend, Ritz. Gouda (in her house) and Argus (on top of his) watch in the background. Feeding nine energetic dogs is entertaining! Ritz was the most calm; she followed me around and ate when I was done with my work. She is a beautiful animal!

All nine of them had more energy in one leg than I have in my whole body. Jeff told me that he and Mary had these dogs on a trail most of the winter season every year. In Alaska, before moving south, Jeff's teams ran more than 9000 miles. Not much by Alaska standards. ;)

Makes me want my little cabin in Alaska just a tad bit more....

Sled Dogs

This weekend, I'll be house-sitting for some co-workers. Jeff and Mary spent many years working up in Denali NP before moving down here. Their 'kids' are a team of nine Alaskan Huskies. Yes, they are a working sled dog team. 3 of the dogs are old enough and are technically 'retired' - many of their dogs have logged more than 8,000 miles pulling sleds. For Alaskans, that's really not a huge amount of miles.

But Jeff and Mary are going out of town this weekend and can't take the kids. So I get to play with them all weekend. I'll take pictures!

Dumb Question

If someone gives you a blog award, and you can't seem to find where it is on-line and therefore have no knowledge of what you've won, are you still a winner?

Or do I just need group therapy?

Time for a Little Road Trip

I got to play the tourist (touron?) role. When I figured out a few places to visit in the region, I had to add Roslyn, WA, to the list. Why? Because Northern Exposure was a cool show. Enough said.

Hikes out of Ohanapecosh

Two big fir snags in Grove of the Patriarchs. This little ~1 mile hike takes you to a nice old-growth stand in the southeast corner of the park. Don't ask if it's really "old growth" or "ancient" - we interpreters debated the names for like 15 minutes the other day. Either way, the area is worth seeing! The trees are HUGE.

These little Calypso orchids were about 100 yards from the Ohanapecosh visitor center. Beauty is everywhere! These little flowers are only about 1" tall, on a 3" stalk: you need to look close to see them!


Silver Falls. Round trip, you'll probably hike about 2.5 miles. The forests are nice, the bridge over the river is interesting. Can you hike I-beams in a log? Our trail crew did!