Nevada Northern Railway's Plein Air Outdoors Art Festival

 A couple weekends ago I had the opportunity to participate in Nevada Northern Railway's Plein Air Outdoors Art Festival. This is the fourth year they've had the event, but my first to attend. I went as one of 16 vendors that included artists, photographers, food vendors, crafts booths, and product booths.

The weekend kicked off with a train trip pulled by Steam Engine 93. It sure is magnificent.

We left from the East Ely Depot.

This logo is on the tickets, too.

We went with friends, which made the trip even more fun. A highlight for the kids is getting the tickets torn and later stamped by the conductor.

Harold narrated the trip, telling us about the history of the train and Ely, as well as information about some of the sites on the way.

The girls were all chill.

We sat outside briefly on the way up the canyon, but that's when they're really shoveling coal, so you get a lot more cinders on you. So we stayed mainly inside going up but mainly outside heading back down the canyon.

Angie was the engineer for our trip and we had a smooth ride.

A game of I-Spy was lots of fun on the way down. We looked for and found lots of holes in the rock, both mines and little solution caves.

The kids posing. I don't get many of them this way (sitting down together).

Everyone on board seemed to have a good time.

Deanna and her girls.

A highlight of the trip is going through the two tunnels. Here's the older tunnel. Some people were preparing for the cinders. They weren't bad.

The next day Deanna and I set up canopies and displayed photographs and books. I didn't have any train photos, but Deanna had quite a collection from her Western Mountain Photography.

The kids constructed a train out of boxes and other kids were encouraged to help.

It was nice having both of us there because we could take turns watching each other's booth and then wander over to the other booths. I met Colleen Reynolds, an artist from Salt Lake City, who was painting the scene in front of her. This was so impressive to watch!

It was a fun weekend and we learned a lot about being at an art event in a capacity different than a visitor. Thanks so much to Dany Feinstein of NNRY for organizing this event!

The railroad has the Ghost Train coming up in October, which people who have been on it have told me is really fun--and spooky!

Chickens!

 Watching the chickens gives me great joy. They are so stupid (one still has problems finding the door of the run, even when the other two go out in front of her), but so fun.

The hens should be old enough to lay eggs, but haven't started yet. We've put a golf ball in the nest box to encourage them. Hopefully soon!

The kids have given names to them all, but I'm not sure if they use the same names each time or change them around.

We're still trapping skunks, so are very careful about getting the chickens in the coop each night. We have some changes planned for the run, but haven't had time to implement them. Hopefully we will do better with these chickens than our previous chicks.

New Artwork and Photos Gracing My Walls

For a long time, I always wondered if the artwork I liked was "good" artwork. Maybe it was that art appreciation class in Florence or a field trip to the Chicago Art Institute that made me question if I had good taste. Finally I got it. Art is good if you like it. And since everyone likes different things, that makes room for lots of artists in the world.

I've tried drawing and painting and quickly realized that despite my best efforts, I don't have much natural art ability. Fortunately, I have some friends who are artists, and I've recently added some of their art to my house. 

And since if you're reading this blog you might share some of my tastes, I thought I'd share these pieces of art with you.

First off is a tryptych (three-piece) panel done by Kristin Gjerdset. She was Great Basin National Park's 2012 Artist-in-Residence, quite an honor, as the competition to be the artist-in-residence is quite fierce. The artist-in-residence usually receives two or three weeks housing and in return provides a piece of art for the park. Below is a print of Kristin's contribution, which is on display at the Great Basin Visitor Center. On the left is aquatic life, in the middle terrestrial life, and on the right subterranean life. Kristin captures the tiny things that are so frequently overlooked. (Click on any of the photos for a larger version)

She also did an amazing job of capturing some of the complexity of Lehman Cave.

With the Lepidoptera BioBlitz this year and getting to know butterflies better, I couldn't resist this gorgeous piece of art. You can find even more on Kristin's website.

Another friend who is an artist is Mimi Matsuda. We worked together in Yellowstone many years ago, and now she is a full-time artist based in Montana. Along with some amazing artwork of trout, she also has a whimsical series that makes me smile. The latest one I got of hers is this large 'Wildlife, Watching'. That comma placement is very important! You can see more of Mimi's marvelous creations on her website.


I also enjoy good photography. Fortunately that is one area where I feel I can make a contribution. Some folks have specialty areas of photography, and one is Kelly Carroll of Great Basin Images. He has some amazing night sky photos. I really liked this old horse-driven car with the star trails.

Sometimes you don't want permanent art on your wall, but just want to be able to enjoy a variety of views. If that's the case, Deanna Stever's calendar may fit the bill. Deanna asked me to contribute photos to it this year, which I was very honored to do. You can find the calendar at Lulu or at the Garnet Mercantile in Ely. Deanna also has lots of photos available from her Western Mountain Photography website. 

Inspired by Kelly and Deanna, I've added a few photos to my author website. You can send free e-cards with the images to anyone you like.

I'm curious, what's the newest art you've gotten for your house? I'd love to check it out!

Hiking with Kids-North Schell Peak, Nevada

My husband and I will soon be off on our tenth anniversary trip. We decided to climb Mount Rainier, at 14,410 ft. To prepare, we decided we should hike one mountain peak a month, and we've amazingly been able to stick to that training plan.

In April we hiked Crystal Peak, 7,108 ft, 2.5 miles round trip, a few hundred ft elevation gain.

In May we hiked Wheeler Peak, 13,063 ft, eight miles round trip, about 3,000 ft elevation gain.

In June we hiked Mount Moriah, 12,050 ft, 7.5 miles round trip, about 2,000 ft elevation gain.

In July we hiked Pyramid Peak, 11,998 ft, 8 miles round trip, 3,900 ft elevation gain.

And in August we hiked North Schell Peak, 11,883 ft, 6 miles round trip, 2,800 ft elevation gain.

Here's the story of the North Schell Peak trip, a peak I really enjoyed.

The night before we stayed at the Timber Creek campground. Since it's not far from Ely, we fully expected it to be full, but only two other campsites (of about 11 there) had tents up. Each site had a concrete pad, fire pit, picnic table, and lots of space. Potable water and pit toilets were nearby.

It was a chilly night, and we woke to frost on our packs. So we got up, left the tent in place, drove to the end of the road, and started hiking. We followed an old road through the aspens.

The old road followed Timber Creek as it curved to the north. The scenery was gorgeous.

The trail climbed steadily along the drainage. I hadn't even expected a trail so far up, so was very pleasantly surprised. The creek went dry, but we did find an occasional spring.

I even found a few ferns in a cool, moist spot.

And also a deer skeleton. Even though it's bow season, we didn't see any hunters.

The trail petered out as the creek bed merged into alpine slopes. We stopped for one of many snack breaks and snapped a quick family photo (I've learned not to wait until the top!).

Then we knew we just needed to go up. A gentle ridge beckoned us.

The lupine was still blooming, although some seed looked ready.

We found some wood up high on the slope, above any trees, indicating that the forest used to be up higher on the slopes.

Although Desert Girl was carried for about 500 ft elevation gain, she did most of the hike. One technique that was particularly effective was for her to share her dad's hiking poles. When he moved a pole forward, that helped propel her forward.

Desert Boy was charging ahead to the summit, except that what he thought was the summit was a false summit. It was a hard lesson to learn. Fortunately the bribe of pizza after the hike helped rekindle everyone's spirits. Plus as we got higher, the scenery was so dramatic.

Finally we only had the last ridge to climb, past the small wind shelter.

I got distracted by the alpine plants, which are so diminutive due to their short growing season and harsh conditions they have to withstand.

When I looked up from photographing plants, I saw my husband and kids making good progress.

The ridge had looked so sharp from below, but was not at all hard to hike up. We were glad we had our coats, it was cold!

And then we were there! Even our dog Henry made it.

Of course the top isn't the end of the hike, it's only halfway! We still had to get back to the vehicle. We debated going back the way we had come (which would have been a good idea and easier) or following the ridge and taking the straight line down. Since we seem to be suckers for taking the hike less traveled, we followed the ridge.

A huge group of ravens hung out in the leeward side of a saddle.

The buckwheat was beautiful.

Someday I'd like to hike a lot more of the crest. The Schell Creek Range is 142 miles long. I don't think I need to hike all that, but a few more miles would be beautiful.

Can you spot the people? We didn't see anyone else on our entire hike. The register from mid-July had seven people signed in. Nevertheless, North Schell Peak is a popular peak with those wanting to hike peaks with greater than 5,000 feet prominence. (Here's a list of ultra-prominent peaks in the lower 48).

It was blustery on our way down.


Although the landscape views are superb, I like taking in the little details, too, like the little wasp. It had a variety of flowers to visit.

Some of the quartzite rocks had interesting patterns in them.

And here's a pretty butterfly.

The scenery was absolutely spectacular. Have I mentioned that already? I know that I certainly never pictured Nevada looking like some of it does. The Basin and Range topography makes for a huge diversity of habitats.

Before long we reached a huge aspen grove, with most of the aspens bent due to winter snows.

It took us four hours to get up and about 2.5 hours to get down, with a round-trip total of close to six miles. It could certainly be done faster if you didn't need to take as many snack breaks!

Before we left the canyon, we had to stop at the playground. Yes, Timber Creek campground has a playground!

I hope to get back to the Schell Creek Range to do some more hiking. It is gorgeous and uncrowded.