Continued. . .
by Robert Glenn Ketchum
Growing up my parents had a home near Sun Valley, Idaho. It was there that I learned to ski. Over many years I befriended members of the Decker Flats Climbing and Frisbee Club, with whom I had both life, and art-forming outdoor experiences. I had my camera, and these are my adventures. Enjoy!! ~Robert Glenn Ketchum
Monday, March 2, 2020
The Higher You Get, The Higher You Get - Sun Valley and the DFC&FC, #200: DFCFC, #200: As edge my way along the lakeshore, Belle, my lab, keeps sticking her nose into the snow to investigate whatever she smells beneath it, and as a consequence, her snout is cutely decorated with powder. In fact, everything around me is decorated with powder, and as I draw closer to Schiestler Peak, there is much powder decoration to ponder. The light snowfall has etched the granite crags and terraces, making them more pronounced, and the blowing winds of the past night have knocked all the snow from the trees, so they stand in sharp contrast to the bedecked rocks. The weather is streaming through overhead, the clouds zooming across the skies, driven by high winds in the upper atmosphere. When breaks in the weather appear, pockets of sunlight flash blindingly across the landscape, which I work myself into a frenzy trying to capture on film, but it is COLD, I am still sleepy, and I have not yet hit my morning stride. The tripod legs are especially cold, even through my gloves, but hey! I’m havin’ some fun now. Actually, I am. It is a blustery, beautiful beginning of the day, but I am definitely going to want breakfast when I get back to camp, starting with something hot to drink.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2020, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Monday, February 24, 2020
The Higher You Get, The Higher You Get - Sun Valley and the DFC&FC, #199: DFCFC, #199: It did snow on and off all night, but not enough to bury us. When morning arrives, there are broken skies above, letting in some blinding sunlight, so Belle (my labbie), and I, arise quietly before my camp mates, and scurry around taking pictures. Gordon and Polly periodically whacked their tent fly during the night, causing it to shed any snow accumulation, and that worked out nicely because the snow piled higher on the sides of their tent, and insulated them. As a consequence, they are warm and unconscious. Belle, on the other hand, is wild! She likes this new white stuff and is busy running around in it. In the distance, at the far end of Clear Lake is Schiestler Peak, which is putting on a morning light show, so camera in hand, I begin to tread my way carefully in that direction. There IS enough snow to cover small rocks and stumps, and make them slippery, so I have to pick my way along the shoreline to avoid a faceplant. Behind me, East Temple and the Deep Lake basin are still storming away, but in front of me there is the promise of something else. Perhaps this spate of weather will end soon.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2020, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Monday, February 17, 2020
The Higher You Get, The Higher You Get - Sun Valley and the DFC&FC, #198: DFCFC, #198: About the time we finish our extended meal, the granular snowfall turns to true snowflakes, and it begins to snow seriously. Since there is no knowing how much snow we might get, winter campers know there are certain things that must be done, so your camp will be functional after the weather passes. The first of those is to collect everything that is laying about on the rocks. and put it under the tent fly, so that if it snows inches, or more, nothing gets buried, and you will be able to find it in the morning. Then the stoves get moved under cover as well, and lastly we re-pitch the tent fly itself, so that it is as taut as possible. Not only does that assure protection for all the stuff just stashed beneath it, but if there is an accumulation of snow, it will make it harder for the fly to sag in, onto the tent. With our duties accomplished, there is little else to do but to sit and watch the storm as it closes in on us. Besides, the one thing we have not yet put away is our liquor supply, so it is time to bedeck ourselves with all our cold weather clothing, grab our ensolites to sit on, and break out the after-dinner libations. Party on Garth! By the time we are finally ready for bed, it has snowed enough to cover the ground without melting off, and it is clear to all of us, that this storm is just getting started, so we finally retire to the warmth of our sleeping bags, and doze off to the sound of flakes tapping down on our rainflys, while we are all wondering how deeply we might be buried when we wake.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2020, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Monday, February 10, 2020
The Higher You Get, The Higher You Get - Sun Valley and the DFC&FC, #197: DFCFC, #197: Finally back at camp, night has not fallen, but as the clouds roll in, it grows considerably darker. Expecting it to be really cold tonight, we decide on having a big meal, so food prep begins with a nice fire and some hot soup. Then, on to A LOT of carbo-loading, and some freeze-dried sausages that are surprisingly tasty. Doggo, Belle Star was hoping for some trout, but the lake at which we have camped gets fished frequently, so they are wary, and the constant wind makes the effort pointless. She did, however, find some sausage a decent substitute. About midway through our sumptuous repast, little white things began to fall out of the sky, and East Temple Peak, in our distant view, grows hazy through the screen of a light snow that is beginning to fall. The question in camp is whether this will remain a “light” snow, or are we going to get hammered. We know we are risking the wrath of the weather gods, by daring to be camping here so late in the season, so now it appears that tonight we will discover our fate.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2020, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Monday, February 3, 2020
The Higher You Get, The Higher You Get - Sun Valley and the DFC&FC, #196: DFCFC, #196: After Gordon William’s little rock dance part way up the summit approach to Haystack Mountain, we all find a wind protected, sunlit meadow for some relief from the chilling breeze and a bit of snacking. Labbie doggo, Belle Star, is especially happy about all of this, and her black fur warms immediately, putting her into a heavenly doze. The weather is broken, and streaming over us, so it is hard to tell what the future might hold, but for the moment we are happily toasty. Vicki Golden, my partner (left), and Gordon are smiling for the camera, and Gordon’s campmate, Polly, is still pondering the sheer walls of granite that spill down from Haystack. The day remains kind to us for some time, so we hold ground, and bask in it, while Gordon enjoys some stinky canned sardines. Eventually we work our way leisurely down, and back to camp. En route, it seems we picked the exact moments to enjoy the sun, because as we descend, the weather is doing so as well. The wind grows colder, and the clouds close out the blue sky with what looks like it could be an incoming snowstorm.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2020, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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Monday, January 27, 2020
The Higher You Get, The Higher You Get - Sun Valley and the DFC&FC, #195: DFCFC, #195: If you read the last few posts, you know that Gordon Williams ascended a non-technical crack in the ridge above us on Haystack Mountain, although none of us really wanted him to attempt it. Vicki Golden, Polly, and I, thought there was too much snow and clear ice to risk exposure, and in fact Gordon eventually came to that conclusion as well, once he got into the cleft that might have led him to the summit. Recognizing the danger he is finally down-climbing to all of our relief, but I thought I might put that into better perspective for those of you who are following. Where Gordon went is virtually vertical, and there is ice and snow everywhere in patches. Vicki, Polly, and I, remained at the highest point of our ascent, which has the appearance (last post) of being for more benign, perhaps even flat. While there are some patches of grass and gravel, at our position on this ridge, in fact, even those are very steep platforms, and the granite rolls off sheerly, on both sides of our position. In the image above, Gordon is back with us, but look at the slope of the rock he is negotiating. He is angling towards a larger terrace below where we have been sitting while we watched him, and where Vicki is still ensconced. Polly has dropped down a bit and is crossing over to meet Gordon. If I back up any further for this shot, I go over the sheer side into Black Joe Lake. Doggo, Belle Star thinks we are all nuts, and just wants to find a flatter place lower down, and behind some form of wind protection, so she can lie in the warmth of the increasing amount of sunlight that seems to be coming our way, as the passing weather breaks off.
photograph(s) © copyright, ROBERT GLENN KETCHUM, 2020, @RbtGlennKetchum @LittleBearProd #LittleBearProd
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