Third Curtain.... Rain Forest Wild-Clickers, Unite! 3 Clicks

oooh, I can feel that heap of snow falling on you , piffka!


now this does sound nice - i think we can fit a few wildclickers in here

Piffka, you'd probably have a great ski day at NorthStar! There are two
very gentle ski runs - one provides a tow bar <hilarious> the other a chair lift <mile long run>. Tried snow boarding two winters ago, then decided a snow mobile way less taxing, and when ya wannna stop - instead of crashing - one just shuts off the engine.

LOL, great story, Piff! You're the only person I know of who when completely covered by a pine tree avalance - stood there giggleing!
I've had a few near misses with natures stately pines when down-hill skiing, but have not attempted cross country. Way to strenuous for this senior. I'd be on the cell phone calling for a snow taxi.

ehBeth, You have got to post the photo! Ya telling me Cleo and Bailey are not sled dogs yet? Oh, speaking of cutie dogs, the shelter received a georgous Husky. Rescue will be picking him up soon. Gosh, if I had fences around the property I'd adopt the animal. He may be hybrid - (eye coloring and some mannerisms) but he is adoptable and for that I'm very grateful. Husky's smart too. He escaped the kennel, <not an easy feat due to the two doors he managed getting through> the reason why his last adopters returned him to rescue.

Piffka, thanks for the neat websites!

<ack - what happened? - we're not a featured thread anymore>

well, I got it featured. who knows why TPTB defeatured it.

1 Aktbird57 .. 953 38.075 acres
2 936 35.990 acres

Click (I'll try again for a a second one in a few minutes.)

I've never used a tow-bar. I've used a tow-rope a few times in my youth, though. <grin> There's always something going wrong with those. If I ever come down to Lake Tahoe in the winter, I'll be sure to go to NorthStar.

Good luck with the new Husky. How high do the fences have to be?

EhBeth -- Coocoochin is very nice and homey. Best times are when the snow falls all night long.

Piffka,
Your story reminded me of the Jack London book where the character - with only one match - gets dumped on under a tree. Thank goodness you were ok.

ehBeth,
Yeah, we are waiting for the photos.........

Coocoochin sounds very nice. I went with a party to Hidden Valley close to Cle Elem (sp) on a cross country ski outing. It was great fun.

All clicked.....

Y'know. I waited for a while, but I still could only click once. Hmmm.

Oh, I'd forgotten about that Jack London story -- The Fire? I asked my family if I had misremembered the tree avalanche (we went out to dinner last night so we had time for some real conversation). Mr.P says that I was stunned for a minute, but then started laughing. My daughter remembered what I was wearing. (green)

Cle Elum is south a bit from Leavenworth, which is a few miles south & possibly east of Plain & Lake Wenatchee. I've never been to Hidden Valley Ranch, but I've heard it is great. We drive through Cle Elum to get to our daughter's school, and we drive past H.V.Ranch when we go to Leavenworth. That drive is wonderful through Blewett Pass is sometimes a little hairy. One of my favorite places... Elk Heights. That's where Sherman Alexie's Indian John rest-stop is.

Here's a link to the webcam: http://www.king5.com/traffic/trafficcon.html?wapasses

I see there is no snow. Well, it's much prettier with snow.

Coocoochin sounds like the perfect lodge house! The cabin in Tahoe was knotty pine, even the drain board in the kitchen was made of pine wood!
One wall of the livingroom was fireplace that kept the place toasty and warm during the winter months. Shudda never sold the cabin. <sigh>

Piff, I'm saving a bundle on fencing after today! Husky picked up by rescue yesterday afternoon. Certain he'll find a new adoptive home.

There's a town called Dunsmuir not far from the CA/Oregon boarder. Contemplating relocating to the town in the historical Syskyou/Klamath/Cascade Mt. Range. The website pics are of the areas ecology and natural surroundings.

http://www.or.blm.gov/CSNM/history.htm

The Town of Dunsmuir <slide photos>

http://ci.dunsmuir.ca.us/n/

Egads Piffka,
You do have a knak for bringing back the memories - - - Elk Heights and Indian John rest stop........ That's the area for two stories. Once I was involved in an Army exercise at the Yakima Firing Range. After the fun was over I had a convoy of 30 + vehicles returning to Ft Lewis. When in the middle of nowhere along the route I received a call that a truck had lost control and was stopped on the roadside. I told my First Sergeant to keep the convoy on the road and stop for a rest at the Indian John rest stop - I would catch up with him there. The truck had lost a pin in the linkage to the clutch so the driver was not able to shift the gears. No one had a suggestion to solve the problem. I crawled under the truck - located the broken link and determined the size of the pin. I then went to my jeep and sat down to think. My eye migrated to the hinged corner of my jeeps windshield where I noticed a pin about the right size. At a moments notice after a few words, the driver of the truck had the pin from my windshield installed and we all met the convoy at Indian John rest stop.

The other story involves my being invited on an Elk hunt in the same area. Those guys are probably still talking about that particular hunt - but maybe this isn't the place for that tale.????

Stradee,
Really glad to hear about the Husky. I have another story about those animals from my years in Alaska. Nice animals.

Danon, you visited Alaska? How awsome!

Stradee,
I lived at Ft Wainwright for almost three years. It is located at Fairbanks, AK. My first winter there was 1970 - the temp went down to minus 72 degrees F. and stayed there for two weeks. I learned later watching TLC - The Learning Channel - that it's the coldest winter recorded in AK. Yes, we were outside in that weather - but careful to keep things covered. (grin) I still have my 60 Below Zero club card from one of the Army exercises in AK.
It doesn't appear to be getting that cold in the Fairbanks area these days. Must be the global warming trends ((I at first typed Warning Trends - that's probably accurate))

All clicked.

Danon, I'm glad that we've hit some of the same spots. I'd be interested in the elk tale. When my d. & I drove through Elk Heights this fall, we thought we saw an elk. Got off the freeway, only to find the "elk" was rusted steel. Somebody's bought a nice chunk of acreage & built a great-looking place. We're headed across the pass for an overnight. I'll wave for ya.

Barrow? Fairbanks? Juneau?

But... Dunsmuir! What a great looking, sounding place and a railroad connection... and a webcam. You can check up on it. Relocating?

Dunsmuir reminded me of a little town we admired this fall, Canyon City. It's in Grant County -- this county website has a link to the London Times online (!), topo maps & the tale of John Day, the man who had four recorded deaths. I wonder who put together this website?

Grant County OR


Click

Well Piffka, nice link............
I have stood at Point Barrow - and at that moment I was the "tallest" person in the N Am Continent. Because it's the Northern most point of the N Am Continent. The village of Barrow is very interesting - people for the most part living as they have for the past few thousands of years. I stayed at the only hotel in town - in the dining room there were parts of the airplane that Wiley Post and Will Rogers died in.
Juneau is interesting for it's glacier. Anchorage is more interesting - people living in AK call the area the "Banana Belt" because it doesn't get as cold there as the rest of the state.
Nome is an interesting place - I went fishing with a friend on a river just N of town. Only caught two - that's all I could carry.
AK is one of those rare places where you can go out of town and stop to hear silence - or the gentle rustle of a breeze through grass.
I liked AK.

The elk hunt.
After accepting an invite to go elk hunting I told the guys I didn't have a large game rifle. They said they would have one there for me. When I arrived at camp the day before season started my friend handed me a Remington Mod 721 that had the sights removed - all the sights. The rifle had NO sights whatsoever. I said thanks. Next morning before light we all went our agreed on directions. Me with my rifle with no sights. After walking for about an hour I came across some fresh dung and prints of a good sized bull. I followed the trail for about two to three miles and as I entered a thick growth of brush I heard a slight rustle ahead. It took about a half hour to get closer to the point of the sound. When I thought - or felt - I was very close I stepped into a small open spot and there he was - about thirty feet away. I saw the antlers and as I brought the Remington up the bull reared up on his back legs and turned his body broadside to me. It was only my familiarity with arms - having grown up with them that allowed me to consider firing the rifle with no sights. I fired using a technique called 'snap shooting' while looking at the animals heart. Snap shooting is like finger pointing - the instant you point at something you are actually pointing straight at it. After that initial instant your finger will waver. It was a clean heart shot and the animal died instantly. In approaching the animal I sat and waited for a few minutes saying a prayer of thanks for the food he was providing. I field dressed the carcass and after hiding the liver I went for help to get it back to camp. Nobody believed at first that I had gotten an elk with a clean heart shot using a rifle that had no sights. But, there it was.
True story.

And a great story it is, Danon! An unsighted rifle? Whew! I can easily believe the behavior of that elk. They are relatively fearless of human presence, like moose, unlike deer. Late one night this past Summer, driving from the casino at the Inn of the Mountain Gods on the Mescalero Apache Res, near Ruidoso, NM, one crossed right in front of my car's headlights, gave me a disinterested look, and kept walking across the road at a very leisurely pace. No worries. Big buck, too, nice points on his antlers. It was past midnight, I wasn't speeding and there was no danger of my running into him. But he wasn't least itty bit worried either. A deer would have been bounding across that open space of roadway to get back into the brush.

Man Danon, the weather in Alaska sounds way to cold for me! You'd have to spend no more than a few seconds outdoors before your lungs froze! Glad you're still here.

The Elk story saddens me though. I'm such a softie for wildlife, that if my life depended upon shooting an animal for food, I'd probably starve.
Giving you much deserved props for thanking the animal's spirit. You're a good man Danon me boy.

Piff, yep - looking to relocate. Dunsmuir a lovely town with lots of CA history - and located just this side of the Oregon border. Had occasion visiting the town a few years ago, and thought that someday i'd live there! Well, maybe now is "someday".

1 Aktbird57 .. 955 38.163 acres
2 936 35.991 acres


danon - how are we doing, in terms of pace?

ehBeth,
and all Wildclickers,
Our pace is set and sure - we are a determined bunch and loyal to the core. We akteamers are clicking to beat the band!! We are carrying on with the good graces of the gods of desire.

er......... anyone else have anything to say??

Actually, we are still at our original championship pace and continuing - rather a refreshing thought.

I for one am glad to be among such Wildclickers!!

Stradee,
When asked if I hunt - I always say no, I occasionally harvest an animal. And each time - I too am saddened at it's passing. It's another aspect of nature - we being a part of it all.

Danon, nature is a marvelous thing. My hope is one day, man and animal can co-exist without the use of firearms.

Clicking and clicking. Currently reading "The Story of Pi". And thinking of Danon and Merry saluting the souls of the animals - we are part of the web of life and most of the time we are not too aware of our small place in it. Greetings to all of you good and persistent clickers.