Nice Clean Pickup Truck for Sale on TomsList

For those of you wanting a little memorabilia from the North Cascades we have a rare opportunity.  A new posting has just been added to TomsList for a low mileage pickup truck - runs fine. downhill

Perfect for that teenager with a mullet haircut wanting a first car and you are a little hesitant about loaning out the family Dodge Dart.  You are trying to reach 425,000 miles on it after all!

This little baby has only been run short distances - half of which were typically downhill. some involuntary.  Not many hard flat freeway miles on this showcase.

Great airflow, no air conditioning required. Let go with your hand and the moon roof opens seamlessly.

You can still kick the tires on this puppy!

Enjoy the evergreen scents of the North Cascades emanating from the plush upholstery. until the needles dryout

Handles rough roads like a mountain goat, nothing sheepish about this midnight blue babe magnet.

You Dads, with this beauty you can spend those magic moments in the garage teaching that teenager how to patch a radiator, change the oil, touchup minor dings and scratches.  That boy will look at you with awe and respect when you show up in the driveway and he realizes that this truck is for him and that you are keeping hold of Mom's K car for a few more years.

He'll be so happy he may even offer to massage your feet for the next 6 months.

Inquire on Tomslist.  Minimum bid required.

Buyer to accept delivery on site.

sold as is, buyer beware, no returns accepted

Rock Slide at Ross Dam, Diablo Lake!

Hi Everyone!

Well I just got off the phone with both Carol and Tom about the rather large rockslide that happened a few weeks back and this will result in some minor changes to you and your trip from Diablo Lake to Ross Lake.

Tom and Carol want everyone to know what is going on.

Here is what we know:

1. A large rock slide came down off the rock face near the tunnel that we drive thru just above the boat dock where we load and unload at the base of Ross Dam.

2. No one was injured.  A favorite truck of the resort was destroyed.  Long time staff member Will Sields was traumatized by the loss of the truck to such an extent that he and his lovely bride decided to continue on their annual month long trip surfing in Hawaii.

3. The dock at the base of Ross Dam was split in half.

4. The tunnel is closed.

5.  The National Park Service and Seattle City Light will come up with a fix.  They have brought in boatloads of experts to come up with a viable solution.  The National Park Service deals with rockslides on a regular basis.  They are experts in dealing with rockslides and keeping the public safe.

It looks like the National Park Service will be responsible for building a small trail/ATV road from the new location of the boat dock, up across the benches where guests will be loaded into the Ross Lake Trucks.

6. A short, gradual 100 yard walk will be required of guests.  Luggage will be transported to and from the trucks on the ATV trail for you by the resort staff. In the tradition of the North Cascades everyone will help load and unload the boats and trucks as we've done since the resort opened.

7. Guests in the early part of the season will be the most affected as the new process is refined.  There will also be construction and some blasting going on when guests aren't around to stabilize the rock faces.

8. Long time guests are looking at this as another interesting approach to one of America's favorite, most interesting resorts.

7. Campers requiring portages of canoes and kayaks will be affected.  You will be required to haul your gear and equipment up to the resort trucks.

Moon Shadows and the Milky Way

©Paul Anderson

Trout and Olympic Bronze Medal

Since so many of us love trout - especially the wild Ross Lake Rainbows - I thought that I would pass on this interesting piece of news.

Bryon Wilson - originally from Butte, Montana - just won an Olympic bronze medal in men's moguls competition just across the border on Cypress Mountain in west Vancouver.

Bryon also carves and sells wooden sculptures of trout.  Check out his website:

http://www.wilsoncarvings.com/

Beautiful art.

Congrats on the Bronze Medal!

Hi Everyone Welcome Back

Its been 4 months since the last post and spring is in the air here in the Puget Sound lowlands.

After a huge snowfall in November, El Nino has been effecting the weather patterns reducing the snowfall in the high Cascades.

Last spring, after what seemed like months of cool weather, many of the flowering trees and shrubs didn't bloom until late April and early May.  This winter is decidedly warmer and trees and plants started budding out and in some cases blooming in late January.

Hundreds of Trumpeter Swans feed in green fields alongside I5 near Conway next to the lower Skagit River and recently hundreds of empty buses passed through the valley heading north to Vancouver and the Winter Olympics to ferry volunteers and spectators to events over the next 12 days.

Two weeks ago the Legendary Banked Slalom snowboarding race was held up at our local ski area - Mt Baker.  You may remember dock guy Odin Barnett - Tom's cousin and son of Jerry and Allyson (who worked the front desk for several seasons).  Odin took 2nd place in his division.  Well done Odin.

Tom used to ski race up at Snoqualmie Pass Ski Area and a friend on his race team Joe Sweetin - well- his son Austin won his division at the Legendary Banked Slalom.  Austin is an amateur just out of high school but is sponsored by a board and clothing manufacturer.  He recently returned from almost a month back east on a photo and video shoot in Canada and the east.  He has been featured in double page ads in various snowboard magazines performing incredible jumps.  Oh to be young again.

Who knows maybe we'll see Odin and Austin someday perform in future Olympics.

Christine Gedye/Edge of Light

all images © Christine Gedye

Christine Gedye visits Ross Lake Resort each September with her husband to celebrate their anniversary.

They enjoy kayaking up the Ruby Arm and capturing the quality of the light in photographs. Over the years they have captured hundreds of images in bright specular light, in sublime mist, moody weather, on the cusp of changing weather, flat high overcast light, and the light at various times of day.

From those images, and from memories of emotions felt while paddling through this landscape, Christine created a seriesof paintings from the Ruby Arm.

Several of these paintings will be part of an exhibit at: The Fountainhead Gallery 625 W. McGraw Street in Seattle. 206.285.4467.

The exhibit is titled: Christine Gedye / Edge of Light. October 8th to November 2nd, 2009

I strongly encourage you to attend the preview this Thursday night, October 8th 5-7 PM or the opening reception Saturday October 10th 5-7PM. Christine extends her personal invitation.

As you can see from these paintings, Christine is passionate about her art, and like each of you who regularly read this blog, she is also passionate about Ross Lake and the North Cascades.

Congratulations on the exhibit Christine. Your paintings are beautiful and capture the emotions so many of us feel here at Ross Lake and at the edge of light.

You may preview her other images at: 

www.christinegedye.com 

The Fountainhead Gallery is at: www.fountainheadgallery.com

Ken Burn's Film on the National Parks

Please don't forget to watch every night this week.

The film is excellent.

Way to go Ken, your artists and historians!

Twilight Shot II

©Paul Anderson

Ruby Creek Art

Photos © Paul Anderson

Andy Goldsworthy has inspired many people to create art outdoors that has little or no impact on the environment but helps satiate the creative drive we all have.

Good friend Jerry Wilbour (as a younger man Jerry spent months living and camping in this part of the North Cascades building and maintaining trails) and I, his son Curran, and my son Dyan headed out to do some exploring, to build a cairn.

At the head of the Ruby Arm, just upstream from where the creek enters the lake, backpackers, day hikers, kayakers and boaters have created a small gallery of cairns that have but a brief existence. Wind, fall and winter rains, snow, spring floods and gravity will soon remove all trace of these masterpieces.

We spent a couple of hours on this morning relaxing and spending time with the boys. Just guys out building stuff and dinking around.

The Back Door

© Paul Anderson


If you hike over to the dam you'll get on the trail here. Hike a few hundred yards west towards the dam and then follow the switch back east to gain elevation. If you continue to follow the shoreline you will end up in a series a gullies. That is not the way.

Don't worry as you hike east because you need to get above those gullies, you will shortly access the main trail and can then head west towards the dam or east to Green Point and the Sourdough Trail.

Ask for directions from the staff if you have any questions.

Who are they? Why are they smiling?

Why are they smiling you ask?

Well after several years of rapid shiner growth (the minnows you see in the lake) the wild rainbow trout are getting large enough to enjoy the shiners for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This results is some veeeeeeeery big and fat rainbows.

So big in some cases that they are starting to grow beyond the 2 foot measuring tape at the fish cleaning table.

Who is the guy with the ruler? Tom Barnett of course! Owner and fisherman muy excellente! And he is happy that so many friends and guests are being rewarded with nice fat fish.

Tom's young cousin Bode was up this past weekend and provided dinner for us. Oh man, fresh grilled wild Ross Lake Rainbow Trout! The taste was great.

Oh, and here is some more trout for you fishers!

Service to America

Joe Kemphaus has a lot to be proud of.

Proud that he was able to retire from a company after a long career and before it closed its doors in his hometown.

Proud of his skills as a sports fisherman and of his aluminum sport fishing boat..

Proud because he is an honorable man who has tried to live by the rules.

Proud of his country, and his family.

I recently met Joe when a mutual friend introduced us. Joe was fishing these waters for wild trout with Scott McLeod.

Scott had just returned from a long journey.

Joe has fished the waters of Ross Lake for a number of years, Scott has not.

So after Scott reconnected with his wife and two kids ages 3 and 6 over the last 30 days, Joe brought Scott up here.

It was a good time for Scott to help Joe get out fishing, and for Scott to reconnect with his grandpa. It was a time for Scott to step back and pause after the emotional intensity of his homecoming with his wife and children.

Scott had just completed his third tour of duty in Iraq.

Grandpa Joe is a smart man.

It was interesting getting Scott’s perspective while gazing out at Ruby, Snowfield and Colonial Peaks. He was a foot soldier with the US Marines his first two tours and as a linguistic specialist and Arabic interpreter most recently with the National Guard.

He participated in the invasion, the long months spent finding and disassembling I.E.D’s and most recently the S.A.F.E. negotiations and withdrawals from the major cities. Scott likes the Iraqi people and he feels that most Iraqi’s like the American people.

Much of his time after the invasion was spent trying to provide basic services for the Iraqi people - water, power, education. He has helped provide water to truck farmers who previously eked out an existence from their dry, parched plots of land. He has helped farmers till the soil.

Iraqi men who worked, who could provide for families are less tempted to accept outside money to lay down I.E.D.’s. They were able to keep their families from starving.

Scott has seen women’s rights flourish since the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

We talked about what was working and what wasn’t from his perspective.

Sitting here in the middle of the North Cascades and talking with Scott, it didn’t feel like a 30 second sound bite from Fox or MSNBC. It didn’t feel like the glowing reports from John McCain and Lindsey Graham nor the doom and gloom from their counterparts.

It felt like the report and perspective, with intelligent insight, of a young soldier who is trying to serve his country with dignity, with honor.

So what did I learn from this discussion here in the middle of the North Cascades?

Maybe we need, as a country, to lead and vocalize more from the middle rather then the edges.

Maybe we need to tone down the rhetoric and think more about the common good of the American people rather than being obstructionists in the political arena.

Maybe we need to think about the needs and requirements, jobs, education and health of middle class families like Scott’s and his Grandpa Joe rather than redistributing the wealth of average Americans and concentrating it up to the banks, Wall Street, multi-nationals and large corporations.

Scott will graduate soon with a degree in middle eastern studies. He is already fluent in Arabic.

After he has his degree he will apply for officer candidate school and a career in the US Marines.

Joe Kemphaus has a lot to be proud of.

And so do we.

Scott, thank you for your service to America - to us.

Autumn Quietly Arrives at Ross Lake Resort

© Paul Anderson

It has been a wonderful summer up at the resort. Some of the best weather in years. The fish have been biting and guests have caught large Ross Lake wild rainbow trout. So large that some don't fit in the 24 inch measuring tray at the fish cleaning table.

Now fall is arriving. Colors are starting to turn. Sunrise is later, sunset earlier.

Snow dusted Colonial and the surrounding peaks last night but the warm sunny weather returned today.

If you happen to be out on a hike and are returning a little later than you normally would, or hiking in later from hiway 20 and across the dam, you will be greeted by the warm lights of the resort. Our office hours are 8 AM until 8 PM.

Enjoy the season.

NW Explorers at Ross Lake

Aaron Shamp and Nick Alonzo are two independent film makers who enjoy the beauty of the Pacific NW. When they venture out they try and capture the simplicity of the backcountry.

Here is a short video that they produced on a recent visit to the resort and Ross Lake explaining the process for getting camping permits, the hike in, fishing, weather. Basically everything you will encounter on an adventure here.

Music was provided by friends of Aaron and Nick.

Aaron went to Western Washington University in Bellingham.

Visit their work at thenwexplorers.com.

Enjoy.

Thanks for sharing your artistic talents with us.

Gregg Farris Inspirational Award

The group has been coming to fish the waters here at Ross Lake for a quarter century. Brad Luce seated on the right and his good friend since high school John Kloess, seated on the left, have made every trip for 25 years.

The trophy, "the Bobo", named after the groups good friend Greg Farris who passed away in 2000, is awarded at the end of each trip to the individual who has inspired the group by doing something humorous or embarrassing (I read that to also mean something dumb perhaps - nah 15+ plus guys away from home, away from spouses and kids, fishing, eating red meat, grillin' wild trout, telling lies, living in close quarters - couldn't happen).

I played and toured with my rugby mates for 25 years, I think I understand.

I'm going to check with Brad to see if the trophy was ever awarded for excessive snoring? Like keeping the bunkhouse awake next door type snoring? Or maybe intergalactic travel without a space vehicle? Sounds like more than a few good stories!

I would imagine that the good times and memories enjoyed by these fishers would fill several scrap books.

And I believe that each year Greg is toasted and remembered frequently by his good friends up here.

It's all about long term friendships and having a history together.

Life is short, congrats on 25 years fishing the waters of Ross Lake in the heart of North Cascades National Park.

Ross Lake History

Editors note: We love getting stories from you, or photos or favorite trout recipes served with wild Ross Lake Rainbows! Please don't hesitate to drop me a line at: Paulinbham@gmail.com

If you have a good story, some good pictures, I can scan the images and then return them quickly.

Thanks Brad, what a wonderful sense of place you have for this area.

Paul

I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed the Ross Lake Resort Blog.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Brad Howell. I am a 2nd generation Skagit Brat. I worked at Ross Lake Resort the summer of 1965 when Wayne and Margerette Dameron owned it.

I first fished the Lake in 1952 at the age of 5 and can't tell you how many hours I spent on that little piece of paradise. Over the years Tom and I became great friends. I was the Sr. Operator at Ross Powerhouse for about 20 years and delivered Tom's mail every day. I am now retired and spend most of my time playing golf in the Palm Springs area but do sneak a peak at your blog to remind me how lucky I was to grow up and spend most of my adult life in or near Ross Lake. Keep up the good work.

I remember an old 8MM tape someone took of me landing a 5+ pound hybrid trout, cross between a cut and rainbow, at the mouth of Roland Creek, in Roland Bay.

I dropped a single egg with no weight under a log jam and the war was on. I think I was about 12 years old yelling my lungs out for help. Dad ended up crawling out to the end of the log jam and netted the trout with me hanging on for dear life with the rod and line under the log jam.

Another picture was with the old SCL floating camp at Boundary Bay. The City Light loggers were cleaning up the lake at the North end. I was about 8 or 9 and my dad and I spent a weekend up there. It was during the fall towards the end of the fishing season.

Anyway my father was an archer and hunter so he wanted to harvest a black bear. There was a big bear giving the crew fits and as luck would have it Dad was able to harvest the bear.

Speaking of bears, the year I worked at the resort we had several actually wander onto the resort docks. One of the girls who worked there was on her way to the restrooms, on the hill where Will lives, and the bear was coming down the hill.

Well Wayne shot the bear and the girl - I believe her name was Connie - didn't make it to the bathroom. Wayne and I drug the bear down to the boys cabin and propped it up on a chair. When the boys came in, Dave Johnson and Brian Howell, they opened the door to their cabin and almost jumped into the lake.

Wayne Dameron and I just about laughed ourselves silly. Where else could something like that happen? I guess it was in 1966 or 67. Keep up the good work.

If I run across some old Ross Lake photo's I will scan and send to you.

Next time you talk with Tom give him a big hello from Brad and Paulette.

Brad Howell

The Natural

@ Paul Anderson Haliaeetus leucocephalus near Skymo Creek

Tom and I were taking a quick run up lake in the water taxi with my kids. I casually asked if he had seen any bald eagles lately.

"No, but I know one hangs out on an old snag by Skymo Falls sometimes, lets stop by and check it out!"
We turned the point near the falls and looked up and the eagle had landed.
The light was quickly fading and the wind had kicked up causing the boat to bounce, I fired off several shots and was able to get an image, a small vingette from Ross Lake and the North Cascades.
The composition isn't perfect, the light not the best, but whenever I view this image in the future, or for that matter see another bald eagle, one of the memories that will pop out is hanging out with my kids and a good friend in the middle of Ross Lake.
It's a little thing, but it's enough coupled with so many other good memories from here to get me through a tough day at work, or when stuck in traffic on I-5, until my next visit to the North Cascades.

Eagle Sightings

Brad Luce sent me a short note this morning that I thought you might enjoy. He comes up at least twice a year, once with his wife and on another trip with a group of fishing buddies. He and his group have been fishing these waters every year since 1984. His father-in-law who is approaching mid-ninety has been fishing Ross Lake since the 1950's. Brad also writes a newsletter for his group of fishing buddies and from time to time I'll post some of his writings. We are also hoping to find some images from the 50's to display.

Paul,

As for the bald eagle............last year, a buddy of mine and I were fishing the point just before you turn toward Big Beaver on Sunday mornning. There was not so much as a ripple on the lake. It was beautiful. There was a big eagle sitting a top one of the trees on the point, about 30 feet up. He sat there for nearly an hour and watched us repeatedly troll right under him. We hit a few fish and we were both waiting for him to attack our fish as they jumped. Luckily he didn't. I have often thought of that big beautiful bird watching us fish.....

Oh, and as for a perfect picture of him............neither of us had the camera!

Brad

Family Camping on Ross Lake

Lucy, Chris and Lucas on the shuttle home.

Frank , son Lucas, friend Mark and his son Chris recently camped for three days on Ross Lake.

Frank and his wife, when kids were only a gleam in their eyes, had enjoyed canoeing trips on Ross Lake, but like many young families they had to put off some activities and trips after Lucas and his sister were born until the kids were old enough to appreciate the mystique of wild places.

Friend Mark has spent many nights on Ross Lake as a scoutmaster leading trips for numerous scouts and their dads.

This was Lucas' first trip camping at Ross and for Frank's family, I predict that a great family tradition has started.

Frank said it best, "Mark recommended that we motor up to Lightning Creek. We had an amazing three days of fishing, swimming, light hiking, adventuring down the creeks and climbing the waterfalls. Without a doubt, my son's favorite activity was swimming off the dock and fishing. The little fry minnows nibbled us from head to toe."

"It was great."

"I look forward to bringing my wife and five year old daughter up there next year."

Good job Dads!

Dawn on Ross Lake

©Paul Anderson Ridge Lines at Dawn

Sometimes there are only seconds at dawn to capture the image. Changing weather pattern, changing light, changing color values all affect the image you have in your mind.

Remember, one of the best times to capture the mood of the landscape is during changing weather patterns and changing light conditions.

Try and be ready to capture the image as quickly as you can. With so many variables changing so rapidly you may only have seconds to get a usable image. Choose your primary composition and capture it - follow your instincts.

I remember hiking down to the bottom of Canyon de Chelly with my 75 pound pack. I quickly found a composition I liked of White House Ruins. I set up my 4x5 view camera and waited for the late light to begin its ascent up the canyon wall.

Another photographer soon joined me, set up his 4x5 and began his wait. But he soon decided to move to a different location - a process that took about 5 minutes. After a few more minutes he moved again, and then again, and again. By the time the light started to move up the wall I was capturing the image and he was trying to set up in a new position. I used approximately 30 sheets of film and one of those was used on a magazine cover, in several calendars, and in catalogs for photo tour companies. He never shot a single picture.

I believe that my hike back up the steep trail, with my heavy pack, in the dark, to the canyon rim was easier for me knowing I had captured a good image.

In a photo like this, don't be afraid to shoot many duplicates as the sky changes, you'll never know which photo is going to convey the emotion that you are feeling as you look at the landscape. Many times I fail to capture even one image that I have pre-visualized, but if I don't put myself into that position I will never capture what I want.

Your photograph, just like this one, may never be published, but this portrayal of elusive color and early dawn light meant something to me and so it was worth getting up early.