Keena is supervising the camp move this spring. Carol's spring planting's are waiting in the back for planting.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Spring Move
Every spring, and every fall, the floating cabins and other buildings are moved from either near the shore to the log boom or from log boom back to shore for the normal summer configuration.
Why?
Ross Lake is a reservoir and Seattle City Light Lowers the level of the lake for electrical demands and for prevention of damage and flooding due to winter floods and early spring snow melt.
So, the resort moves the buildings and cabins in November and May.
Here are some images that Tom and the staff shot in May to show us the process.
Fathers Day Part II
Well, I can't think of a better way to spend Fathers Day than getting ready and packing for spending the long hours of the solstice up here at the resort with the kids and a couple of their friends.
The lake is at it's peak level, snow still hangs from the ledges and snowfields on Colonial, Pyramid, and Jack Mountains and the waterfalls are full.
The kids just took off in the blue boats for some exploration time up at Ruby Creek.
The girls from housekeeping are prepping the cabins for the next guests coming in this afternoon, Tom is assembling a new gas grill so he can burn some steaks and Carol is muttering at the reservations software program that is running slow.
Will shields, long time staff member is sharpening a chain saw, Wendy his wife has the day off and Ethan Abata is out splitting wood for the cabins.
Jeff Jewett, minus his dreadlocks from last year, also has the day off.
Lucas Qualls who is starting his fifth year on staff was blowing glass last night and these photos are from that session.
More later.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Canoe and Kayak Ross Lake
© Paul K Anderson
© Paul K Anderson
RLR provides the only shuttle service on the lake and can run you, your gear, and supplies the full length of the lake in our fast shuttle boat.
We also rent boats, canoes and kayaks, but you must reserve in advance during the busy summer season.
There are occasional cabins available on specific dates, so if you can plan your adventure around your reservation you could start or end your trip in style and comfort.
And of course, if you bring your own canoe or kayak, RLR will shuttle you and your gear by truck from the base of Ross Dam and Diablo Lake to Ross Lake and back again at the end of your trip.
Remember you must reserve camping sites through the National Park Service. See the link on the right side of the blog.
Check out www.rosslakeresort.com for rates and fees.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Solitude and the Quiet
© Paul K. Anderson
On a tiny island, in the middle of Ross Lake, in the middle of the North Cascades, he stops and listens.
It is quiet.
Quiet allows time to be undistracted, time for self-reflection, and for self-discovery. Soon he begins to hear waves gently lapping against rocks, the wind rustling the needles on the fir trees, and the kayakers paddles rhythmically entering and leaving the water.
He hears the sound of Canadian Geese flying above, and the Stellar Jay squawking for a handout. He hears his breath moving first in, then out. He hears his heartbeat.
The other children soon join him and the spell is quickly broken. A contest starts on who can toss the largest rock and make the biggest karploosh!
But for one brief moment on a tiny island, in the middle of a large lake, in the middle of a national park, a young man found solitude and quiet.
And for the rest of his life, in his most stressful moments, in the middle of a large city, in the dinning, cacophonous sounds of urban life, he may choose to pause and remember.
He will remember the snow on the mountain tops, the sound of the wind, the flutter and gyrations of a Big Leaf Maple leaf as it flutters to the ground, the luminous blue of the Stellar Jay, and the cedar and fir infused scents of fresh air.
And for another brief moment, he again finds the solitude and the quiet.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Waiting for Summer
© Paul Anderson
© Paul Anderson
The staff has been busy over the winter repainting our experienced boats and building a few new ones.
Loggers and Ross Lake
© Paul Anderson
© Paul Anderson
Walk around the resort and you will see underneath most of the cabins Red Cedar logs that are hundreds of years old. These "floats" were harvested by the original timber camp loggers when the dam was constructed and the lake began filling up.
The valley was steep walled and had very tricky terrain, so the only place to keep the crews was on floating camps that could be moved up and down the upper Skagit Valley as it filled with water.
Logging was necessary for the safety of the dam and for any visitors to the lake.
In the photos notice that one old tree is actually serving as a "nursery log" for another tree, something that is common in old growth forests but not so familiar in floating resorts!
2009 Season Opening
© Paul Anderson
Tom and his crew spent several days last week moving all of the cabins into the summer locations along the shore. Carol's flowers are growing, and the Adirondack chairs are set out in front of the cabins.
The new boats are just about built, and many of the experienced boats have a fresh coat of paint.
Everyone is looking forward to your arrival up here in the North Cascades on Ross Lake.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Roland 1996-2009
Photo by Tom Barnett
From Tom and Carol:
We wanted to let all of you know that Roland - our resort supervisor, recently passed away.
He loved all of the children that visited and as Paul mentioned in an earlier post, was a frequent visitor to the cabins that had the best cooks.
You could often look to the open door and see 1 paw laid across the threshold gently waiting for an invite, or his black nose sticking around the corner by the laundry cabin, quivering, as he tried to determine what was on the menu for the evening down at the various cabins.
Over the past 13 years Roland probably consumed more steak than any human being.
If someday archeologists were to dig on the hillside above the cabins, they would be surprised at the number of T-Bones, Rib and Porterhouse bones found buried just below the surface.
Tom mentioned that if he had his choice he would choose to come back as a Ross Lake Resort dog - and live the good life.
One of Roland's best attribute in his later years was to lead and set an example for many of our guests and guide them through his daily seminars on Non Aerobic Position Studies.
Many guests, after returning from the morning fishing, would bring their lunch and a cold beer over to the picnic table near the office and sit at Roland's feet learning from the N.A.P.S. master. Sitting in the warm sun, feet propped up, they would soon join him in the study.
Roland was 13 years old and had a kind and gentle attitude about life.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Technology
©Paul K Anderson
© Paul K Anderson
© Paul K Anderson
© Paul K AndersonTechnology
I was lying flat on my back a month ago, gazing up at several bright lights and realized how very important, but also intrusive, high technology was to each of us. In a couple of minutes the surgeon was going to insert several high definition T.V. cameras, and numerous surgical instruments through a half dozen small incisions and perform a procedure that several decades ago would have laid a patient up for weeks.
Instead, just a few hours after the surgery, I was ably walking back and forth, up and down the aisles of the post surgical floor, relatively pain free, happy to be moving.
Several months ago my daughter invited a boy to go skiing with us up at Mt. Baker. I was curious to overhear what they would talk about since this was the first time she had asked a boy along.
A curious phenomenon took place, they seldom spoke but occasionally giggled over something that was typed in the newest communication form, instant text messaging between cell phones, and between several other cars. Something few of us "older generation" types will understand, interpret or rattle off with any semblance of grace and dignity.
I suppose that when these kids reach my age, there will be even more sophisticated micro cameras that will go in and assist in repairs of "texting thumb."
Spring has returned to the lower Skagit and Samish Rivers. The Snow Geese have left for Wrangell Island off the coast of Siberia. The Trumpeter Swans are readying their nest sites in the Yukon Territory and in Alaska.
The Bald Eagles, so prevalent just downstream in Marblemount during the late fall and winter salmon runs have dispersed except for the resident eagles that are beginning to rear the next generation.
Although a month late, the tulip fields are finally at their prime in fields west of Mt. Vernon.
Spring also marks the return of paragliders to Blanchard Mt. at the south end of the Chuckanut Range.
These adrenaline seeking athletes wait for the right updrafts, then run and leap off of the south or west slopes of Blanchard.
They soar out over Samish Bay, occasionally sharing a thermal with a local raptor. Too soon, gravity takes over and they slowly drift over the tiny hamlet of Blanchard and the boyhood home of the iconic broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow.
In the 1950's, Murrow hosted a T.V. series called Person to Person, in which he interviewed celebrities live in their own homes.
The morning of the show a large semi would pull up in front of the celebrities homes and the crews would unload complete lighting setups and up to six T.V. cameras for the multiple rooms where the celebrities would be interviewed.
Even at my young age I was able to empathize with many of the interviewees who gave up so much privacy by giving a tour of their homes, live before a nationwide audience.
Despite the fact that we too were intruders, we were still in awe of the technology that would allow us to talk (well not us - but Edward R. Murrow for sure) and see into the homes and lives of the rich and famous. We were mesmerized by the power of 1950's modern technology and our own 12" black and white t.v.
Up at the resort Tom and Will are applying the finishing touches to the new generation of blue boats. New bottom paint is also being applied to the more experienced boats.
Carol is planting all the new flowers on the docks and in front of the cabins.
Soon the cabins will be slowly pushed back into their historic summer locations from their winter berths next to the log booms.
The Adirondack Chairs and benches will be placed in front of the cabins, and for the next 4 1/2 months guests and friends, without the distractions of T.V.s, cell phones and internet connections can practice what appears to be a lost art.
Sitting down with friends, relaxing below the snow capped North Cascades, and enjoying the solace of face to face conversation.
An original form of communication encouraged here on Ross Lake for almost 50 years.
Edward R. Murrow might have enjoyed some of these discussions.
Enjoy spring everyone.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Waiting For Summer
© Paul Anderson Odin Taking the Plunge
© Paul Anderson War On the DockThis past month, in the Puget Sound lowlands, the weather jockeys have recorded the 6th coldest March on record. To find a colder March we would have to look back to the mid-1970's.
But, life goes on. Skiing is still excellent up at the Mt.Baker Ski Area, in the lower Skagit River Valley the daffodil fields are blooming and although late, it seems that the tulips are getting ready to shake off the cool spring and finally burst out into their fields of color.
Down on Fir Island the farmers are starting to work the soil and the Snow Geese, you can tell, are getting anxious to start the journey north to Wrangell Island, off the northern coast of Siberia.
But April is finally here and it is only a little over two months before Ross Lake Resort opens again.
Here are a couple of shots to remind us of the approaching summer and what it is like to be young again and out of school for summer vacation.
Monday, March 16, 2009
North Cascades Institute Learning Center ...............A Good Neighbor
Old Growth Forest 170 feet Up
Life in the Tree Tops
© Paul Anderson
Great Blue Heron
Thunder Bay Writers Retreat
North Cascades Institute
Learning Center
Trumpeter Swans
Samish River Delta
© Paul Anderson
I've taken classes from the North Cascades Institute on a number of occasions and I highly recommend them!
At the Thunder Bay Writers Retreat, three inspiring nature writers, Kathleen Dean Moore, Gary Ferguson, and Ana Maria Spagna encouraged and worked with us for 4 days as we wrote, observed, listened, hiked the trails and enjoyed the ambiance of the Learning Center.
Another class found me suspended from a large jib crane in a gondola with 6 other participants, 190 feet up into the canopy of an old growth forest. It was a truly remarkable experience! We moved up, down and over almost 6 acres of old growth from one of only several "canopy cranes" operating in the world.
Meandering the back roads near the lower Skagit and Samish Rivers, Trumpeter Swans were studied with one of the leading experts and protectors of North America's largest waterfowl.
You have the opportunity to take a whole catalog of classes from leading experts in their fields.
Topics of study, to name just a few categories: butterflies, raptors, watercolors, writing, poetry, geographical regions, sustainability, local foods, birding, glaciers and the high alpine, wildflowers, geology, amphibians, photography. The list goes on and on.
So if you are looking for a way to spend additional quality time in the Cascade Range check them out!
Contact the North Cascades Institute and request your catalog.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Just-As-Good-As-Any-Other-BBQ-Sauce
Before we get started a quick story (you'll get the point later in the recipe).
When we were first married, my wife decided to surprise me with a new recipe that she found from some generic article in the Seattle Times.
It was for Sweet and Sour Chicken. It called out to use 1 cup of Heinz Chili Sauce which is very bland like ketchup. I took a bite at dinner and you can guess what happened.
Steam shot out my ears. Sweat ran down my neck and forehead. She asked me if I thought maybe it was kind of hot?
So, being newly weds, I gently replied "Oh, I don't know." "How do you feel about this recipe?"
She replied, "Gee I think it's a bit warm!"
"Really?" "Oh I'm not so sure about that, what did you use?"
"Oh it said to use Heinz Chili Sauce, but we don't have any and you're always telling me to be creative when I cook so I just substituted a cup of this Thai Chili paste."
Point taken.
2 qts water
2cups brown sugar
6 tblsp yellow mustard
1 large onion chopped
5 cloves garlic
1/2 stick butter (ok to substitute olive oil for sauteing onions and garlic)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 tblsp cayanne
2 29 0z cans tomato sauce
1 12 oz can salsa casera or equivalent (remember the story above)
1/4 cup Durkees Louisiana Red Hot Sauce or equivalent (Remember the story above)
1/4 cup Trapper Mexi-Pep Hot Sauce or equivalent (remember the story above)
Saute onions and garlic (I've even added shredded carrots)
Glop everything into a large pot and cook, and cook, and cook sloooowly so it doesn't burn.
I would leave the lid off since we want to reduce the liquids somewhat.
Taste and adjust to suit your tastebuds. Remember, you may like more vinegar, or brown sugar, or mustard, or you may just want to use ketchup instead of tomato sauce! Again it's up to you and how you want the sauce to taste - try it, experiment!
Try cooking several more times over the next couple of days and then package what you need to take up to Ross lake Resort!
Rub My Ribs Rub
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tblsp salt
2 tblsp fresh pepper
2 tblsp white pepper
2 tblsp thyme
2 tblsp rosemary
2 tblsp garlic powder
2 tblsp onion powder
2 tblsp cumin
4 tblsp paprika (ok this was a test, 4 tblsp = 1/4 cup)
cayenne pepper (if/as req'd) Hey! If you are manly use more, if kids around omit, it's up to you.
mix all together and break up any lumpy pieces of brown sugar. Taste and correct with more of individual ingrediants.
Rub all over the ribs before cooking.
Ross Lake Resort and Ribs
OK, its a given that most fishermen like ribs!
Especially if it's on a fishing trip and you have already had your fill of Ross Lake rainbow trout for the past couple of breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
These ribs are easy to make in advance or in your cabins oven or on the gas bbq.
They're great to munch on sitting in front of the bunk house and cabins while reliving your fishing stories (I meant lies) again and again about the ones you've caught in the past or the ones you hooked here in '76 but they somehow shook off - yada yada yada!
So grab an ice cold one from the cooler, plop down on a bench or Adirondack chair, put you feet up - look up and watch that glacier creep down the north face of Colonial and in a couple of hours start munching on these ribs.
* Slabs of Ribs - you decide how many. Regular pork ribs, St. Louis style or baby back ribs!
* Aluminum Foil - don't forget to bring it with you!
* Rub My Ribs Rub (recipe follows)
* Just-As-Good-As-Any-Other-BBQ-Sauce (recipe follows)
- If you have time rub the ribs down a day before and keep in refrigerator (wrapped in plastic wrap). Don't be overly obsessive, you can always rub the meat just before cooking.
- Remove plastic wrap and double wrap each slab in aluminum foil - it's okay to have a little excess room on top.
- Place on cookie sheet and bake in 300 degree oven for 2-2.5 hours.
- Test for tenderness at end of regular cooking time by lopping off a couple of those ribs and eating them! Hey! You are the cook and if anyone complains - glare at them or stare them down! It's ok to cop an attitude because you are the creative genius behind this dinner!
- Order the whiners to get the cook a beer or margarita* from your friendly neighbors next door (*but only if they serve better ones than you make - like Cathy and Jeff).
- If done, drain the excess juices from foil, cut into serving sizes like 4 ribs to a piece(remember to repay the neighbors with ribs) and eat as is!
- But wait! What if someone wants BBQ sauce? Well, serve it as a side or better yet slather it all over a slab or two and finish off on the grill of the gas bbq next to the cabin (sans foil so you get a few tasty blackened sauce spots).
Monday, March 9, 2009
Connections
Do you know the connection between the upper Skagit River (and of course Ross Lake), the Columbia River Gorge, the Palouse wheatfields of Eastern Washington, and the National Bison Range - Moiese, Montana?
© Paul Anderson Boulder Intrusions Ruby Creek/Skagit River Watershed .jpg)
© Paul Anderson Windsurfing, Columbia River Gorge. Oregon/Washington
© Paul Anderson Son on Wheat, Waiting to Ship the Harvest, the Palouse, Washington
© Paul Anderson Bison Calves and Shorelines, National Bison Range Montana
Well, it's not that they are close to each other! Hood River, Oregon is about 350 miles, Palouse, Washington is 420 miles, and Moiese, Montana is 565 miles from Newhalem and the National Park Visitor Center!
If you guessed that the Columbia River had the largest watershed in the western USA flowing directly into the Pacific Ocean and the Skagit River had the third after the Sacramento River basin you would be accurate - but wrong about the connection.
OK! Here's the story.
Approximately 14,000 years ago the Cordilleran Ice Sheet covered much of Western Canada, Southeast Alaska, the Yukon Territory and the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Periodically the ice sheet would advance south into the Puget Sound Region of western Washington, down the Purcell Trench in the panhandle of Northern Idaho, and parts of western Montana.
The ice sheet dramatically altered the landscape of the Puget Sound lowlands.
So, when one of the lobes of the Cordilleran moved south into Idaho it dammed up the Clark Fork River with a lobe of ice 2,000 feet high!
Think of that when you drive across Diablo Dam which is just 390 feet tall!
The ice dam was 5 times the height of Diablo Dam and it created a lake with water volume as large as two of the Great lakes. The lake was called Glacial Lake Missoula.
The National Bison Range, 40 miles north of Missoula, Montana and next to the Flathead River, was smack dab in the middle of one section of the lake and when the lake was at its highest level only the top few hundred feet of the 2000 foot hill (that made up the majority of the Bison Range) stood above the water level of the lake.
Notice the subtle lines in the background of the two bison calves photo- those are different shoreline levels of the lake.
Periodically, the lake would fill up to the top of the ice dam causing the ice to become buoyant. When that happened alll hell broke loose.
Breached, the dam released a volume of water equivalent to many times the flow of all the world's rivers, it was a flash flood of biblical proportions. The water swept into Washington state scouring out the scablands of the Columbia Plateau, removing all vegetation and topsoil and creating large "pothole" lakes in the volcanic bedrock.
Downstream of the Tri-Cities, the water was slowed by the mile wide Wallula Gap - creating a hydraulic dam - enough to lose some of the sediment load. When the water finally swept past, mud flats hundreds of feet thick were left behind.
The water continued down through the Columbia River Gorge where it rose as high as Crown Point - 733 feet above the river.
Over several thousand years, new ice dams blocked the Clark Fork River and the episode was repeated again, and again, and again.
Scientists estimate 41 times.
When the mud dried and storms swept in off the Pacific, the winds - constricted by the Gorge (thereby increasing the intensity like a jet engine) - formed huge dust storms that rolled across the landscape for days.
When the dust storms reached the heights of the Palouse Hills the load of rich dust - earth - loess was deposited in some places hundreds of feet thick. The particle size of the loess was perfect for retaining sparse winter moisture ensuring that the wheatfields of the Palouse would neither require irrigation nor suffer from droughts that plagued other wheat producing areas of the country.
Today in the Gorge, those same winds have created a tourism industry centered around windsurfing.
Here in the upper Skagit River another lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet crept up the river from Canada effectively blocking its migration down to the Fraser River in southern British Columbia. An ice dam was created here too and over time a deep lake was formed that eventually topped a ridge. Water breached the ridge slicing down through the hard rock and creating the narrow, steep walled gorge that today serves as the foundation/bedrock for Gorge, Diablo and Ross Dams.
The Skagit River had reversed its direction.
And there you have it!
Ice dams blocked rivers!
When the water breached the dams and the surrounding landscape, dramatic changes took place.
And these changes have directly benefited all of us with clean energy, recreation opportunities, wildlife protection, food for people around the world, and some pretty spectacular areas for fishing and photography!
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