Blackbirds and Rains Return

Blackbirds and Rains Return

On February 7th, winds and rain continue to buffet the Sawtooth Valley, making ski conditions at the Alturas Lake Ski Area a little worse than horrid. Skiing is not recommended at this time. In one bright note, the first redwing blackbird of the season has returned with its prophetic cry of Ku nam wi cu! Ku nam wi cu! An exclamation understood by the Chitimacha Indians to mean “The world and all is going to burn. The world and all is going to burn”.

Sticky trails at Alturas

Sticky trails at Alturas

On Wednesday, the 4th of February, Timinius had a successful grooming session on the Alturas Lake trails, pushing through several inches of new snow, laying down corduroy on all trails except for North Cabin and adding classic tracks on all but Sheep Thrills.  Stanley gals, who came out to ski and enjoy the fresh grooming, reported trails were a bit “sticky”.  With Thursday morning temperatures in Stanley reported to be an alarming 42 degrees at dawn and a storm watch in effect for Friday and Saturday predicting up to a foot and a half of snow, wet and sticky conditions might be expected to continue.

SKI WITH THE WILD BEASTS

SKI WITH THE WILD BEASTS

On Ground Hog’s Day all the trails at Alturas Lake to the East of the creek were groomed for skating and looked just great. Snowfall over night has no doubt erased any trace of corduroy. New snow is, however, good for revealing the tracks of the wild beasts that live along the trail. Excellent tracks of otter, badger, fox, ermine and skunk are often seen at Alturas. Today, the  3rd of February is not only the approximate mid point of winter but also the feast of St.Blaise, the patron saint of wild beasts. He loved all animals and animals therefore loved him in return. According to the Baldwin Project, bringing yesterday’s classic stories to today’s children…”The birds and beasts and fishes grew to love him because he never hurt them, but talked to them kindly and healed them when they were sick or wounded. The timid creatures were brave in his presence, and the fierce ones grew tame and gentle at the sound of his voice. The little birds brought him food, and the four-footed beasts ran errands and were his messengers. The legends say that they used to visit him in his forest home, which was a cave on Mount Argus. Every morning they came to see how their master was faring, to receive his blessing and lick his hands in gratitude.”

Shadows moving with the sun

Shadows moving with the sun

On Sunday, the first day of February, approximately one half inch of new snow fell at the Alturas Lake ski area. Over the Hill, South Loop and Wapiti were groomed for skating. On Monday morning, the second of February, at 6:30 a.m., local groundhogs crawled up from their burrows into a shadowed world and seeing their shadows quickly retreated, predicting the return of six snowy weeks. But retreat not in fear from life, like our groundhog friends, in the words of Longfellow…

Be comforted; the world is very old,
And generations pass, as they have passed,
A troop of shadows moving with the sun;
Thousands of times has the old tale been told;
The world belongs to those who come the last,
They will find hope and strength as we have done.