Garden Status

Not the best pictures, but the garden is growing. 

The creek rose to a dangerous level on Sunday, but has gone back down. The garden was at risk of being washed away. 

Back from Spring Break

I took off a week of gardening to head to Jamaica! What a great trip! 

We have found Josh only has a light green thumb. The plants did just fine under his care, but he did make three more raised flower beds! So we have decided to leave the plants to me and the construction and building to him. 

So far I have onions, kale, spinach and arugula in the ground outside. There are several different varieties so it will be fun deciding which ones we like best. 

The worms are eating through the compost pretty quickly. I'm going to have to feed them more often. 

The tomatoes and squash shot up over the last week. 

The Electric Heater Saves the Day

We have had a few cold days over the last week and a little snow as well. Right in the middle of this cold spell the propane heater decided to have mood swings. One hour it would work great and then the next hour it would turn off. Wednesday it decided to turn off for much longer than an hour and by the time I made it out to the greenhouse after my class the temperature inside was exactly 32degrees. My heart sank... I had 20 tomato plants and almost as many squash and peppers that can't freeze. I rushed to get them out of the greenhouse and into warmth. I decided not to take the chance of the heater turning off in the middle of the night again and completely ruining all the progress I had made, so the tender plants are back in my apartment. The kale, spinach and arugula have stayed in the greenhouse and seem to be doing great! They love the colder temperature.
When I got the tender plants home and examined them my spirits lifted, most of them had none or very minimal damage from the freeze! Those that did get too cold have dead spots on the outer edges of their leaves, but all seem to be recovering. It didn't complete kill any of them. I am truly shocked and amazed!
Wednesday night we got the heater back up and running, but the following day the mood swings continued until it decided to just completely stop working. Last winter I used a very small space heater to keep an indoor greenhouse warm, so that little guy has been plugged in over the last few days and has stepped up and been a greenhouse hero. The little electric space heater has kept the greenhouse above 40degrees for the last several days in a row. I couldn't be more thrilled.
And in case you were wondering the worms have survived this entire ordeal. I moved the dirt around a little this afternoon just too check. I think it is a little too cold for their liking because as fast as I could uncover them they were working to bury themselves back in the dirt.

Worms and Transplants

With the arrival of the worms it was time to fire up the heater and get the greenhouse warm!

So into the dirt they went. 

If you ever decide to put 1,000 worms in dirt make sure the dirt is warm. These little guys were excellent escape artists and I'm sure I lost more than a few of them as they looked for warmer dirt. After a little while with the heater on it warmed right up and they settled in. 

I also took this opportunity to transplant a few of the crowded plants. I got a little carried away with how many seeds I put in each pot. Only 2-3 next time, not 5. 

Here are a few pictures of the root systems of zucchini. 

This is just a little guy that hadn't even poked out of the ground yet. 

The tomatoes were only one single root with with a few little branches. 

It was pretty fascinating to see the different types of roots. 

Ephesians 3:17- Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your ROOTS will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 

Progress

It is coming together! Benches, heater, and worm composter are ready to go. I was surprised at how much room there is. I thought it would be a lot tighter. 

We were able to use repurposed stuff for almost everything. The worm composter is an old plastic drum. The shelves are from an outdoor deck that was torn out. The heater is an old bathroom heater from a renovated house. 

I have 1000 worms on the way for the composter!! I can't wait to get them started and making some dirt. 

Lots of Seeds

 I finally had time to plant the seeds this evening! I have had dirt in the pots all week but just didn't have time to fill them with seeds.  

This was the planning stage. I wanted to make sure I had enough pots. It worked out pretty well. 

One of the best things I did last year was write down which plants were which. When they are seedlings they all look the same. They are stubby and green. 

There they are on the greenhouse ready to go! I gave them a little water and I made sure both lights work. And now we wait. 

The first seedlings

The basil has begun to sprout. Still waiting in the peppers to make an appearance. 

Hopefully I can get a few more seeds in the dirt soon!

Adventures in Gardening

This past year I took on the challenge of gardening. I do consider it a challenge. While it might seem simple and dull to some, it truly was a daily adventure. As I undergo round 2 of the gardening era I would like to jot down and pass along some of the stories I encounter.

So the adventure begins and the first seeds have been planted!

I am starting them in my apartment. 

Jalapeños, Sweet Basil & Sweet Peppers

 The greenhouse is moving right along. We were able to get it covered in plastic today.
I am still missing a heater and benches/shelves, but hopefully both will be added soon.
Almost ready for some plants.

Bicycle Touring Part 1

I bought a bike. It only seemed fitting after working all summer at a bike shop. It's a green Surly Crosscheck with white Ortlieb panniers. Once I had the bike the only logical thing to do was ride it out of town. The only road from Skagway goes to Whitehorse in the Yukon. From there flights were cheap to Vancouver. So on September 30th Mike and I loaded our bikes and climbed the pass out of town. After 2 1/2 long cold days (the second night dropped to below freezing, we woke up to everything covered in ice) we arrived in Whitehorse to friendly faces a hot shower and a warm house! The next day we hopped a flight to Vancouver. It was a bit of culture shock to be in a real city after 4 months of Skagway, but fun to see a new town.
The next afternoon we battled the one-way street of Stanley Park and made it to the ferry to Vancouver Island. We spent the night right outside of Nanaimo and woke up the next morning and rode south. At Crofton we caught a ferry to Salt Springs Island and rode the 20ish kilometers to the other end of the island. It was beautiful and such a relief to be off the busy Highway 1 of the main island. One more ferry back to the main island and a fast 20 mile ride to Victoria. While smaller than Vancouver Victoria had plenty to see and do.
The next day Mike and I parted ways in the morning and I caught my final ferry ride to Port Angeles, WA to meet up with Dad. He was there at the dock waiting for me when I arrived! And so began our Pacific Coast bicycle tour.

Upper Dewey Lake

Just off of 3rd ST is the Dewey Trail System. A short mile hike takes you to Lower Dewey and from there you can walk around the lake or take a right to Sturgill Land, a left to Upper Reid Falls and Icy Lake or go straight and hike to Upper Dewey Lake and from there Devil's Punch Bowl. The takes you from sea level to just over 4,000ft right in between Upper and Punch Bowl. The hike is 3.5 miles and after a nice long lunch at Punch Bowl was about a 7 hour day.

This is Upper Dewey Lake

Upper Dewey

Celebrating at Devil's Punch Bowl. There was still ice in the lake

Looking down over Skagway and the valley

24 Hours of Light

To celebrate the Summer Solstice I participated in a mountain biking relay. Whitehorse has a phenomenal mountain biking trail system. Pretty much anywhere you are in the city and within a 20 mile radius you are less than half a mile from well maintained and marked trails. 

One in particular is the 24 Hours of Light Trail, that the Contagious Mountain Biking Club of Whitehorse uses to host an annual relay event. Teams can consist of 1-8 people and you try to get as many laps on the trail as you can in a 24 hour time period. 

Our team from Sockeye Cycle lapped the trail 24 times in 24 hours and placed 3rd out of 10 8 man teams. One man, Carl, did 21 laps all on his own! 

The trail was great for everyone. It started out with a lot of uphill climbing then a few rocky sections, then a section over a ledge with a great view of the neighboring valley, then a winding tree section, then the last 2 kilometers was about as fast as you wanted to go down a dirt service road and a small down hill to finish your lap. 

Our team after being awake for the 24 hours a little sleepy, but we had a great time. 

Carcross, Yukon

Last summer I really began to enjoy downhill mountain biking. At Winter Park in Colorado you load your bike on the lift and then ride it down the ski runs. However, in Alaska downhilling is a little different. There are no lifts to take your bike up the mountain so you have to ride or push it up your self. Just about 1.5hrs from Skagway is a great little town called Carcross. It is in the Yukon and a great place to visit if Skagway is rainy and foggy. Carcross always seems to have some sunshine. Just to the south is Montana Mountain or a downhillers paradise. At Montane Mt a man named Wayne has dedicated the last 15 years of his life creating and maintain some excellent single track mountain biking trails. There are runs with jumps, mellow blues and greens and some really difficult steep runs or some with lots of rocks for the more technical rider. The best part about the mountain is you can find a run for everyone you go with. The down side is you have to ride your bike up the hill, no lifts. But it's worth it!

This is lake Titshi just past the Yukon boarder on your way to Carcross.

And we saw a bear this Sunday!

 Liz and Mike riding up the service road to our first rune.

 Coming down the trail!

Me, Mike and Liz all skipping the jump. We all jumped it the next time through.

Going over a "skinny" or wooden feature.

Skagway the town

There are very few sunny days and most of the time the weather is rainy, cloudy and windy. Skagway the name comes from the native Tlingit word Skaguay which means "home of the north wind." And most days it lives up to that name. However, we have had some beautiful days, so I took advantage of one and took some pictures around town.

This is the back alley of the shop with our row of vans we take on tour.

This is the front of the shop on 5th street.

Just a cool picture of the mountains coming directly out of the sea. They are about 4,000-5,000 feet high and extend about 1,600 feet into the sea.

This is from the end of the pier looking back at Skagway. The valley is the White Pass and one of the major routes to the Yukon during the gold rush. It is the only way in and out of Skagway by car.

Arriving in Alaska

I arrived in Skagway, AK from Juneau on a very small plane:

Here is Skagway from the plane window! On the right you can see a cruise ship in the port and it's so windy the water is rippling.

 This is the view from my bedroom window:

Splitboarding

Splitboard: A Splitboard is a Snowboard split down the middle to form two halves. The two halves are stably connected by a simple, but durable interface to form one piece. The halves can be unassembled and function as skis with skins attached for climbing snow up to 40 degrees. A great piece of equiptment for backcountry powder adventures with proper safety equiptment and avalanche training awareness.1

The beginning of any trek starts with the board assembled like skis with a pair of skins on the bottom. Skins are like a piece of carpet that only lets the skis go one direction and have a sticky substance on the underside and clips on the tail and nose to keep it on the ski.

This mornings trek to Francie's cabin was exciting. It snowed a few inches the night before and snowed the entire way up.

We are making fresh tracks. The only ones up the trail so far. 

At the top with Skylar. 

I haven't done anything to difficult. We've stayed on well maintained trails. However, the ride down is incredible. There is nothing like like. Making fresh turns in untouched powder and no is around. It's calm and surreal and peaceful. 

1) http://www.pranaproducts.com/snowboarding.html

The Cave

I have become a fan of geocaching. It's basically a scavenger hunt for grown ups.
On the south end of Breckenridge there is a trail that follows Highway 9 out of town. It starts just next to the ice rink.
This cache is a multi stage, so you have to find the first cache to get the coordinates for the second.
The cache is called Frewey's Cave. On the trail you find the first cache within 1/8th of a mile and the second cache is about 1/2 mile more. It takes you off the trail just a little, but brings you to this.

You can't tell at first, but that rock pile is a cave. It goes back a ways and if you are willing to crawl you can get several yards back into it. 

On the hike out there are fantastic views of Breckenridge Ski Resort. 

Geocaching takes me on amazing adventures!

Lily Pads in the Winter

Winter hiking can be exciting! If you pick a well tracked path you don't even need snowshoes. The hike to Lily Pad Pond is one of my favorites in the summer, so I thought I would see what it is like in the winter. From Frisco you take the Meadow Creek trail head and stay right at the fork about 1/2 miles in.
There are beautiful pictures of lake Dillon along the way.

 This picture is looking back at Frisco. Mt. Royal is the small peak in front and Peak One looms behind it. 

My hiking companions! and Buffalo Mountain in the back ground.