Old Man's Cave

 We had a fun caving adventure this week. Clint had heard about Old Man's Cave and wanted to go, so we got a permit and the key from the Forest Service. The cave is only open October-April due to a maternity colony of Townsend's big-eared bats that use it in the summer. Fortunately the snow had melted so we had no problem driving to it. The kids were really anxious, and as soon as we stopped they were off hiking running.

 The entrance isn't huge, but it is big enough to walk in. Except there's a gate in the way.

 And the gate has a rather small entrance. That was okay. Three of our cavers were small.


Jenny was ready to photograph our adventure.


It wasn't easy to photograph, as it was so dusty inside. We went first into the lower level and explored there. Then we headed into the upper level and got to a less dusty section.

 It had been many years since I've been in Old Man's Cave, and I had forgotten how colorful it is. It also has a lot of walking passages, making it very pleasant and a change from many of the little holes in the Great Basin.

 We did have a little crawling, just to remind us how good we had it for the rest of the cave!

 The two ladders made the kids feel like they were on an especially adventurous mission.

 The cave has some beautiful formations.

 Here's Jenny going down a smaller passage.

 We made it to the back of the cave and signed the cave register.

 Clint checked all the holes to make sure we weren't missing anything good. We skipped the passage to what I know as the clay room (I think it's actually called something like the grand palace). It's a narrow little chute that goes into a room where you get totally dirty and it's hard to get out of. Maybe when the kids get older!

 For now, they were happy goofing off and telling cheesy jokes.

 It was hard to get them to stay still for a photo! Do you like Ava's and Desert Boy's footwear? Oh my, we didn't notice till it was too late. And I didn't notice Desert Boy had his boots on the wrong feet till more than half way through the trip. They didn't seem to slow him down at all.

 We tried to get the kids to take a photo of us, but this is the best Desert Boy could do. Maybe Jenny got a better photo with her camera!

 On the way out I admired other cave formations. There is really a lot to see in the cave, and I wouldn't mind a slower trip to check it out more thoroughly. The kids were really ready for a snack by this time and moving fast to get out of the cave.

 I did stop to take a few more photos. This area must have been spectacular before the formations were broken. Many of the formations were sold at Lehman Cave so people would stop breaking the formations in that cave. Ugh. Fortunately people came to their senses and stopped selling the formations, some of which may have taken over a million years to form.

 Not far from the entrance Clint noticed this huge two-foot long spider web. I had seen several recently in another cave, so I was totally excited to see this one in this cave. I'm hoping I'll hear back from a cave biologist soon to find out what kind of spider makes this web.

 Seeing the natural light at the entrance of the cave is always a welcome sight. As much as I love caves, I also love getting out of them safely!

 We were treated to beautiful light as the sun descended behind the nearby mountains.

 The kids ran down the mountain, but I stopped to take a look at the sign outside the cave giving a little more information about the bats.

 It was a gorgeous afternoon, with mountain shadows stretching into the valley. I'm going to make it a goal to enjoy this magical hour more often this year. It usually falls right about dinner time, so I think we may have to have some picnic dinners in scenic locations.

The kids still had plenty of energy after the cave trip, although they scarfed down every snack they could find. We'll have to see how much they remember of the cave trip in a few months. It was a good outing--thanks for the idea, Clint!

Desert Boy's Art

My friend Jenny inspired me to get some photos of Desert Boy's artwork. He's really developed over his few years, which I especially notice when I compare Desert Girl's and Desert Boy's styles. (I need to take some photos of her artwork before they end up in the recycling bin!)

Desert Boy is with me as I write this. He says doesn't the picture above look like a silly penguin?

 Tiny people and a huge person and a bird that doesn't fly with wings but has an engine on the top of it and a jetpack under it

 A teapot

 My mom and me under the rainbow

 Snowblower train

 My dad and me with Henry the dog

 Diesel steam engine on rusty, old tracks

 Bumblebee laying eggs on a flower

 Handprint turkey for Thanksgiving

 Desert Boy is still learning how to get letters and numbers in the right direction.

 Bowling balls that want to knock down the tree

 Bell on a clock tower

 Train with the Big Dipper

 Skyscrapers, sun, and flower

Turtle, snake, and lizard

Kids Yoga

Is snow and cold weather keeping you indoors? Are the kids going crazy (or driving you crazy?). Is the kid energy level high but the parental motivation low? Thanks to my sister-in-law Sarah, here's a fun way to have fun and burn off some of that energy: Cosmic Kids Yoga!

Above is the first episode, which is about 15 minutes long. The kids love the story that go along with the yoga poses. There are four more on YouTube for extra fun, plus they now have a DVD.

Have fun!

Winter Carnival 2013

Last Friday night we headed out for a school fundraiser called the Winter Carnival. The kids absolutely adore it. Now that we have a munchkin in school, that means we not only attend, we also get to help out. The theme was March Madness and we had a little basketball hoop game. The kids did lots better than me at it! My husband was able to run the booth for a bit so I could get a few photos, do the cake walk (one of my favorites!), and help Desert Girl with a few of the other booths. Desert Boy just came back to ask for tickets every few minutes. He was happy being self-sufficient and winning lots of little trinkets. It was a great night. To see more, check out my other blog.

Time to Plant Seeds!

 I started getting weekly emails from My Square Foot Garden a couple weeks ago, reminding me that it was time to start seeds indoors. Last year I just bought seedlings from the store, but this year I decided the kids would really enjoy seeing things grow. So we bought a couple supplies:

In particular, I bought a mini-greenhouse seed starter kit for $6.99 and some potting soil. I also bought a couple extra packets of seeds, although I had more than I thought left over  from last year.

 The kids got the soil moist in a big metal tub and then started filling in the plastic trays. I thought they would like this a lot, but it wasn't nearly as fun as I had anticipated. Oh, well. I guess playing in mud is more enjoyable when it's less supervised.

 Then came the seed planting. Desert Boy did a fine job, but Desert Girl thought it was fun to put seeds into extra spaces. Hmm, we may have some surprises coming up.

 We carefully labeled everything with little bits of paper secured on toothpicks.

 Then it was time to water with a little warm water on the bottom of the tray and add the plastic cover. I put the whole tray up on top of the refrigerator, hoping to find a nice, warm place for it. Our house is usually about 65 degrees and I had read that germination was best about 70 degrees. It turns out that the refrigerator is near our door, and all the opening and closing lets in some drafts, so I found a place on top of a high cabinet. It didn't have good light, but the seeds don't need light at this point.

 Three days later, I took down the tray and we saw seedlings! Broccoli, spinach mustard, sunflower, and parsley (which probably really isn't parsley because that takes longer than three days to germinate) had just barely emerged from the soil in six of the little spaces.

Desert Boy is keeping a record of the sprouts. It's been good for his math, reading, and handwriting skills. Today was day 4, and we had sprouts in 11 of the compartments. This is fun! The plastic cover seems to make a big difference, as many other times when I've tried seeds indoors, I've invariably let the plants get too dry. Hopefully this year we'll have much better success!

What plants do you like to grow the best?

Snow Survey 2013

The last week of February is the time to do the snow survey for the March 1st forecast. I was sort of looking forward to it, as the scenery is beautiful, but I was also sort of dreading it, as it's a really long day and I haven't been cross-country skiing since last winter.

 We met at the road closure at 7 am, which meant for an earlier start and a more likely finish before sunset. Last year we ended by skiing in moonlight, and we didn't want a repeat of that.

The first mile and a half was along the road with two inches of snow, and often times less. It was a little frustrating not to be able to drive up the road, as the snow was so low. We were wondering if the whole day would be with so little snow. We saw lots of bare ground and signs of spring--many birds singing (mountain chickadees, Cassin's finches, dark-eyed juncos, common ravens, northern flickers, nuthatches, kinglets, and more). John told me that when he had skied up the day before, he had seen marmots at the marmot crossing sign. Wow, marmots in February! With the are south-facing slope bare of snow, they apparently can find some food.

 We didn't see marmot tracks, but we did see lots of rabbit tracks and a fox that meandered back and forth across the road several times. When we saw the two tracks next to each other (above, rabbit on left, fox on right), I wondered how much time separated them.

 We also found where a bunch of turkeys had crossed the road. They have spread all over the park, and this wouldn't be the only time we saw evidence of them.


We reached the first of the three snow survey sites after a little more than two hours. During the summer it's about a five to ten minute walk from the trailhead. The snow survey sites were established in 1942 by the predecessor of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). These sites, part of a large network in the West, help the NRCS predict how much water will be in streams in the summer. Many of the snow survey sites have been automated, and the 10-mile round trip we were doing is one of the last, long courses left.

It only takes about 20-30 minutes to do the actual snow measuring at each snow course site. The basic procedure is to use a special metal tube to measure snow depth and then weigh the snow in it. This is done five times at preset distances from the snow course markers. The average is computed and compared to previous years. The first site had roughly 50 percent of average for the snow water equivalent (SWE), which is a nice way of saying how much water is in the snow. We hoped the upper two sites would be a little more positive.

Five of us started the snow survey, but one member turned back after the first site. He may have known what was to come:

 Deep powder, sometimes up to our knees. It made trail blazing a real chore. We took turns leading, but none of us could go for very long because it was so taxing. People who love to ski powder must not spend much time going uphill in powder. And we had a lot of uphill to go--2,600 feet.

 Here's a view I had at one point while I was leading--fresh snow with cool shadows. The scenery was beautiful, but it was hard to think about it sometimes, as we were gasping for air.

 What was frustrating was that even though we were in deep powder, up higher on the hill all the snow had melt off. It was such a teaser!

 We also had some obstacle skiing, like going over deadfall and under logs.

 About lunch time we found a melted out spot and sat down for a few minutes. That 15 minutes was the only time during the ten hours that we got to sit. Mark couldn't get one ski off, and I couldn't get either off, due to the bindings freezing up. So we felt a little stuck. The temperature hovered near freezing, which meant that I got chilled relatively quickly and set off for Snow Course Site #2.

 Snow Course #2 down in the trees and cold and snowy. After we finished that site, one member decided to head back and wait at the lunch spot. He was just a little too worn out due to the elevation and exertion. The remaining three of us headed on to the last site.

 One thing that's good about getting way up there is that the views keep getting better. This area is so pristine, and I love the feeling of being out in the wild. Realizing that if any of us needed a rescue that we would have a very long wait makes it feel even more raw and makes me feel more alive. We carried a SPOT device and checked in regularly.

 I kept on the lookout for winter beauty, like the snow melt circles around the aspen trees.

 And a Douglas fir cone that had rolled down the slope, creating its own little trail.

 The pure winter light made the limber pine needles stand out in the shadows.

 Here comes Ben.

 Then at about 9,500 feet, we saw some animal tracks. We had seen hardly any animal tracks above 8,000 feet, so we were surprised. What was out and about? It didn't take long to see the three-toed tracks and some wing brushes in the snow. A turkey had been up here. They are non-native, so we're none too pleased to see their evidence.

 Finally, about 2 pm, we made it to the third snow course site at 9,600 feet. It's in a meadow longer than a football field.

 Here I am, with my pack creating a strange silhouette.

 Ben takes one of the snow samples, pushing the metal pipe through the snow until it reaches the ground. We found lots of mud under the snow.

Then the snow was weighed while I took notes. Both the second and third sites had roughly 70-75% of average SWE. We need more snow!

When we finished the fieldwork, it was time to head down the mountain. I fell several times, but the powder provided a soft landing. Getting back up was not easy, though. By the time we got back to the truck, I was thoroughly exhausted. Ten hours on skis does that to a person!

We have a photo in our house of my husband's grandfather helping with the snow survey decades ago. He and the group are all on snowshoes. I wonder how long it took them to do the snow surveys, and think of all the untold stories of these annual winter forays up the mountain in search of snow measurements.