Copper Creek Cabin & Winter Storm Warnings

Pam, Garry and I headed up to Copper Creek Cabin on Sunday for a 2 night stay. We were aware of a winter storm warning and I even went as far as to add up the snow accumulations they were predicting for the area we were at and came up with 12-27 inches.

The trail was groomed and firm so we hiked up in 1:50 even with the heavy packs. We arrived and decided not to head back out so we settled in. We did a lot of snow clearing and the snow was starting to come down.

Every time someone had to use the outhouse we were digging more snow. But that was just Sunday.

Monday we awoke to a lot of new snow. We took the opportunity to get in a workout and headed out on Cal's Trail and then off towards Puyallup Ridge. The open areas had some significant drifting going on and we found a couple of places where we postholed to our crotches.

We arrived at the corner for the turn to Snow Trooper's Point and elected to head back. The wind was really picking up and the snow was coming down relentlessly.

We arrived just as the last of the Sunday night guests were readying for the descent and eventually it was just Pam, Garry and I. The rest of the expected guests used the "discretion is the better part of valor" approach and stayed home so we had the cabin that sleeps 14 guests and 3 ski patrollers to ourselves.

We were back on the trail at 7:10 for the trip down.  We were breaking trail the whole way. The first 3 miles or so were fairly easy with an average 8 inches of compression under the snowshoes except for open areas where there was a lot of drifting snow. The last 1.5 miles or so was much worse and took us nearly 1.5 hours to complete. All in all we were back at the car - now a snow cocoon - in 2:45 including some trail maintenance removing some heavy branches that broke under the weight of the snow.

We spent 15 minutes digging the car free and slid our way down the road into Ashford.

Pam says that even knowing what we now know she wouldn't change a thing and I am going to have to agree. The peaceful night at Copper Creek was more than worth the tough snowshoe down.

Be very well and more soon....

Control Is Everything

When you are trying to lose weight there are so many plans and rules to choose from. While it is best to move to a diet that is pure fuel without bad carbs, fats and sodium sometimes that isn't as practical as we would like. When that is the case the only friend is portion control.

The trick is to find some practical tips to make it easier to do. I've dug through a bunch and came up with what I think are the best of them. Here we go.

1. Use a smaller plate and never serve family style. Dish your food up in the kitchen and bring nothing extra to the table - no bread, no salad no anything. Take your time eating your meal and wait a minimum of 20 minutes after finishing before going back for more. That will allow your body to feel full.

2. The goal is to have 2/3rds of your plate to be fruits and vegetables. Those do not include grains or starches - so no potato in that 2/3rds. If that isn't what you are doing now ease into it. See this as the goal that you are heading to and move at your own pace towards the goal. If that green is salad, measure your dressing and use as little as you can. One Tbsp of the average dressing is 100+ calories. Over time I have come to find as much enjoyment out of a salad dressed with fresh lemon juice and some fresh ground black pepper as I used to from Blue cheese or ranch in my big days.

3. When you eat out try to share your meal with someone or ask for a box when the meal comes and move half of it into the box BEFORE eating. Don't guess what half is later. Get your dressing on the side and use as little as you can.

4. Portion leftovers if possible. That way you will be able to quickly reheat the right amount and not a little too much.

Along with these easy steps if you can clean the wrong foods out of your diet and replace them with better fuels for your body you will easily get where you want and need to go and feel better than you ever have. I know I do.

Be very well and more soon....

Snow Bowl Overnight - The Good Side Of A Temperature Inversion

If you live in the Puget Sound area right now you are aware that we are mired in a temperature inversion that holds the pollution and cold air down on the surface. I am well familiar with them because I lived in Spokane for 6 years where they are normal in the winter.

I have never had cause to imagine the other end of a temperature inversion before Friday. We headed to the trailhead for our overnight stay at Bruni's Snow Bowl Hut in the MTTA trail system skimtta.com. It was sub freezing when  Pam, Sherrie, Lisa, Gary, Garry, Sue and I headed up with our heavy packs to the cabin for the night.

It is about 2.75 miles to the junction where you turn to Snow Bowl from the trailhead. By that time we had gained a decent chunk of elevation and we were in the sun for the most part. It was very obvious that the temperature was rising as we were which is the opposite of normal.


We reached the cabin in less than 3 hours including many stops along the way. By then the temperature was in the 45 range. After emptying all the ingredients from our packs for what would become a feast of pizza, salads and snacks we began mixing our pizza dough so it could rise.

We crossed Annelise's group on the way down so it was Fireball Time for her.

Garry found a friend.

Next to join us at the cabin were Terry and Zena. They were that last to arrive in the daylight. As dark settled in Doug, Suzanne and Phyllis arrived followed shortly by Rhonda, Gay, Lance and Brenda bringing our total to 16. Gene from MTTA also joined us so we were a dangerous force of 17 with way to much food, wine and Fireball.

A late night and morning of conversations ranging from the CFA exam to the Jabberwocky occupied us. The overnight temperature never dropped below 48 degrees and when the last of us left the cabin at 1 PM it was a whopping 55 degrees.

We made the descent in good time and were even able to assist a gent who had a flat time on his Ford F250 - why so many lug nuts Ford? It involved some digging and chopping and a bottle jack that barely cut the mustard, but all was well.

As we headed back home we drove into the bad end of the temperature inversion again complete with fog and cold and everything.

Be very well and more soon....