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About a week ago, Gene, and Phil, fellow ski patrollers and I skied out to this ridge to scout a hopefully proposed location for a new temporary Mount Tahoma Trails hut about two miles beyond the Copper Creek Hut. The view included Mount Rainier above the Glacier View Wilderness and Mount Beljica, the Goat Rocks, Sawtooth Ridge, Mount Adams, Griffin Mountain, Mt St Helens, Mount Storm King, Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountain Range. What a day! What a view!
(the image also has three sets of cougar tracks that course along the ridge).
Mount Tahoma Trails - Ski Trooper Ridge - 360º panorama©2008 Ed BookWe are calling the ridge Ski Trooper Ridge to honor the Army's 10th Mountain Division who got their start early in the 1940's on Mount Rainier. The location is on privately owned timber company land and so any hut we would erect would have to be stationed in place temporarily being moved after the snow season. We've been thinking of designing some sort of arrangement of ocean shipping containers mounted on trailers. This hut would be crude compared to our (Mount Tahoma Trails Association) other huts which are actually (3) two story cabins and a two story yurt located along our 50+ miles of cross country ski trails.
( Here's a larger version of this photo (~600K) )Peace Tags: forest, landscape, mount rainier, mount tahoma trails, mountains, olympic mountains, olympic mtns, panorama, photohoop, snow, wa, winter
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Mount Tahoma Trails north district near the Morge Lakes Cirque©2008 Ed BookI've seen lots of cat tracks in the snow this year but they were mostly made by Bobcats. I didn't see any cats though. These tracks were much bigger and there were three sets. I suspect siblings or mother and offspring who were still with her. I have seen Bobcats and fox and martins and rabbits and hares on the trail system and elk, deer, and bear in the summer up there but have yet to see a cougar in the mountains. I'm certain that they have seen me and have seen their tracks on my own. I often ski in remote areas alone and sometimes at night but do so much less lately because I'm paranoid of the big cats. Last week, I was skiing down one of the trails and saw where two sets of cougar tracks entered the trail and were ahead of me going the same direction. It was snowing and they were fresh enough to not have snow in them. I made lots of excuses to myself for stopping, a snack, then a drink, then some photos, and then another drink, and and and till I realized that it would be dark soon and I had a couple more miles to go. I didn't enjoy that ski so had to repeat it again the next day early when I wasn't afraid. (I'm afraid of the dark and of big animals that would like to eat me and can usually handle one fear at a time but when they gang up, they become symbiotic and I chicken out.) I even practiced swinging my ski poles around to be ready for a confrontation. Peace Tags: -print available-, forest, landscape, mount tahoma trails, mountains, snow, wa, winter
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a few years ago, Bob was mountain biking in the Capital Hills near Olympia and found that he was being followed by an emaciated looking very young and obviously lost husky. The dog couldn't be chased away or dissuaded from following. After about eight miles of trail, Bob decided that he had found a new friend, or rather, vice versa. Luka went home with Bob and they've been together since. Here, we see them on the trail enjoying the snow. Luka is strong and loves to run and run she does and wow is she strong. While I was talking to Bob, she sat patiently waiting but obviously eager to get up the trail. I turned and went up the trail a little way to photograph them coming up the trail toward me and behind me heard Bob yelling for Luka to stop. I turned to see that Bob had fallen and Luka was running full speed, dragging him behind, flailing in the snow...
 ©2007 Ed Book Peace Tags: animals, blue, forest, mount tahoma trails, people pics, snow, trail, wa, white, winter
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 ©2007 Ed Book If you're a Washington state resident, I have a request for you.
There are funds available for recreation on state Department of Natural Resources lands and a large portion of the Mount Tahoma Trail system is located on these state lands and The Mount Tahoma Trails Association (MTTA) is a non-profit organization that maintains the trail system. There is a line item to purchase and maintain snow cat grooming equipment for the trail system on the Department of Natural Resources appropriations bill being considered this week by the state legislature. As there are no fees for trail or hut users and all work is done by volunteers, the trail system meets the criteria for these recreation funds. The current sno-cats for grooming are old and in need of constant repair. (They were obtained being retired from service at other trail systems and have been kept in use with much volunteer effort but they spend most of the time unavailable, needing repair.)
SO... what it takes: please call the legislative hot line at 1-800-562-600. You will be asked for your name and address to determine your representatives and then
say that you would like your elected officials to support the Department of Natural Resources appropriations bill to purchase and maintain snow cat grooming equipment for the Mount Tahoma Trails System.
That's all it takes. this phone line is well-staffed from 8AM to 8PM.
We've been told that these phone calls are effective and will significantly contribute to the success of maintaining a safe trail system with reliable grooming equipment.
Thanks and
Peace Tags: -print available-, forest, mount tahoma trails, mtta, snow, trail, wa, white, winter
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 ©2007 Ed Book When I was on the Mount Tahoma Trails in January, I photographed quite a few folks and had them sign model releases so I could use the images for stock photo sales in exchange for a photo of them. (payment for signing a model release must be of some value so I give them a photo of themselves, which should have considerable value to the model) On each model release, I tried to describe what the folks were wearing in the images so I could identify them later as well as contact information. On a few of these releases, I asked them to describe what they were wearing. When I was going through the images at home and looking at the model releases, I found that I couldn't read a lot of the handwriting and couldn't match all model releases with images. So, if you're reading this and were one of the folks I photographed, and I haven't contacted you, contact me at ed at edbookphoto dot com to help me match your name to your image. I can't find a model release for these folks so am posting the photo here in hopes they see it and contact me. What do I provide? I send an email-sized image and if requested a large file optimized for printing. Peace Tags: mount tahoma trails, people pics, snow, winter
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 ©2007 Ed Book Mt Wow, Mt Beljica, and Mt Adams from the Puyallup Ridge Trail. Peace Tags: -print available-, alpenglo, landscape, mount tahoma trails, mountains, snow, wa, white, winter
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 ©2007 Ed Book Peace Tags: -print available-, alpenglo, clouds, forest, landscape, mount tahoma trails, mountains, snow, sunset, trail, trees, wa, white, winter
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