Leaving Twisp....

“Miner’s tent” for cocoa stop.

No-one knows the second verse of jingle bells. For our last night of our 10 day stay in the Methow, we hop on the Sun Mountain sleigh ride. Mack and Jack, Shire draft horses, whisked us away from the lodge up to a view ridge.

Today’s bird sighting: a flock of the elusive Methow flamingos making a break for it to cross the Nordic trail.

Saturday, January 2nd - skiing out from the Fish Hatchery trailhead towards WolfRidge. New warming hut at the junction of Powers Plunge and the Community Trail.

The Cinnamon Twisp from the Cinnamon Twisp Bakery in Twisp.

My New Year’s Day dinner: Strozzapretti with lox that Ben bought off a boat at Fisherman’s Terminal in a white wine cream sauce with fresh chives and dill.

The requisite après snowmobile/snow shoe lunch at The Schoolhouse Brewery: we shared garlic fries and their best ever Reuben sandwich at a table al fresco with pints of their amber ale. In Winthrop in January, al fresco is at another level of fresco.

Bohemian waxwings.

Snowshoe day at Pearrygin lake. I came upon a huge flock of Bohemian waxwings wheeling around, scared a group of six fat quail from under a bush and also came upon some chattery squirrels.

“Sledding”

-----Original Message----- From: Benjamin Haskell <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Fri, Jan 1, 2021 4:17 pm Subject: Snowmobile write up After skiing in the Methow valley for over 30 years, I (Ben) thought it might be fun to see how the “other half” lives and check out snowmobiling on the extensive trail network that the area is known for almost as much as the ski trails. There is one outfit that guides snowmobile trips, so I booked a half day for me and Becky. The Chewack Ranch doesn’t have much of a website, and my pre trip phone  interactions with the owners were perfunctory at best, so I had some worries about the level of professionalism compared to other guide services I’ve hired in the past.  However they had been written up by a Seattle newspaper at one point, so I figured maybe they just aren’t tech savvy and spend more time ranching than doing snowmobile tours or working on their website, which would be fine by me. I wasn’t sure what to wear since I haven’t ridden before, although the website stated they had snow suits and helmets. Becky and I got up two hours earlier than we have  all week, and it was snowing pretty hard on the drive there. Becky wasn’t too excited about the whole idea to begin with given noise and fumes, and since the views were socked in and it seemed like it would be cold getting snowed on driving outside for four hours, she decided it wouldn’t be worth it, and would be happier to go snowshoeing instead, even though it meant losing her trip cost. But I still wanted to go, so she agreed to pick me up afterwards. We arrived early, and there was another family waiting as well. Owner Don showed up and got things going, giving me about a 30 second intro to operating the snowmobile. No Covid precaution discussion or face covering by Don, but I was solo on a machine, outside, with my face covered by a helmet, so I felt fine. I had figured snowmobile touring would be a safe activity that way regardless since it’s pretty much socially distant by design. Don didn’t seem much for questions, definitely  giving off the  “if you you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t be here” vibe, but since there was a whole other family with kids and more tours scheduled this afternoon, I figured he wouldn’t let anyone get in too much trouble. The tour itself turned out to be pretty straightforward, all on packed forest service roads. The first half was flat along the Chewuch river. Not sure how, but one of the other family members got their sled stuck at one point, so Don pulled them out and we took it slow for awhile after. The family had only signed up for two hours, so we dropped them back at the ranch, then it was just me and Don. At that point we went a lot faster, which was great, and headed up higher into the mountains though the Tripod fire burn zone up  to Freezeout Pass where I had driven with Becky and her parents a few years ago.  The road in that area is pretty rough, so it’s very long drive during the summer at 10mph. But on snow, it’s easy to do 40mph, so it’s a much quicker way to get back in there- and certainly a lot more fun than driving! We stopped a few times along the way.  Don asked if he was going too fast (we had been up to 50mph a few times), but I felt totally solid so no problem. Don’t know if he was blowing smoke up my ass, but he said he hadn’t taken a guest that fast for last couple of years. Don also went on several rants about “liberal environmentalists” from Seattle, forest service mismanagement of forest fires, lack of logging the burned trees, and over regulation of grazing rights. I figured the snowmobile crowd would have different views about a lot of things, but he didn’t hold back even though he knew I was from Seattle. Wasn’t sure if he was trying to “educate” me, or just was blowing off steam and doesn’t care who his audience is even though he is running a business, or just assumes anyone who rides a snowmobile would be of like mind. Anyway, it was entertaining if not enlightening. But the fun was the ride itself- did end up getting a bit of that floating-at-speed sensation that you get skiing, and the power is exciting like any off road motor sport. But the noise and fumes are still a drag. Even if those aspects sort of become background during a long ride, the experience didnt  make me want to go out and buy a sled anytime soon- too much environmental impact, too much of a hassle with internal combustion engines. But if they ever come up with good electric version, then maybe.... We did somewhere between 40 and 50 miles total in about 3 1/2 hours of   riding with a few scenic breaks, and I ended up being overdressed and almost too warm the whole time. The steering handles are heated so hands were fine, and heat flows out the foot platforms, so feet were fine too. I could have worn about half the layers I did under the snowsuit. And yes, when I dropped off the suit and helmet, Don’s wife was there to disinfect them, so I guess they acknowledge that Covid is an issue, even if it’s just an issue of governor’s order to stay in business!

Ben returns safely to the ranch. He’s the second one in red.

Photos of Ben’s sled and his guide, Don along the Chewuch River.

Ben is ready to rock and roll with his helmet and snow suit provided by the outfitters.

New Year’s Day, o’dark thirty. We are at the Chewack Guest Ranch at 7:40am. It’s blizzarding and about 22 degrees.

New Year’s Eve (and our 21st anniversary): Ben surprised me with a bottle of Dom Perignon which I’ve never had. We enjoyed it with ikura (salmon roe) and crème fraîche on light crispy crackers. It was delicious. And we exchanged cards.