A Martin Photo: January 2019

December was a blur and fairly uneventful as we set about resettling into our short term rental apartment in Gig Harbor. After being on the road for five months, we decided it would be nice to have a home base for our winter activities, primarily snowboarding and fishing. We were fortunate to have found a fully furnished, affordable apartment in Gig Harbor which will allow us to stay in the PNW until the end of March. When we rolled into town, after an adventurous drive through snowy Idaho (insider tip: Idaho does nothing to their roads when it snows, nothing, and the people don't drive any slower when the roads are caked in snow than when they aren't) that included Shaun getting a touch of food poisoning and throwing up about every 20 minutes for nearly the duration of the trip, we were thankful to just be able to move in without having to go to the storage unit just yet. The day after we arrived, the changes in weather had wreaked havoc on my sinuses, and I had come down with a terrible cold/sinus infection that put me flat on my back, though propped, for about four days. After we were both eventually well enough, it was a trip to the storage unit for a few Christmas decorations and to change out our summer clothes for winter ones which saddened me more than usual. I have always loved winter for snowboarding, but this was my favorite summer/fall, and I felt more than a twinge of grief at having to literally and figuratively pack it away for a while.

We miss you already, rolling home!

We were able to get a couple of good early season powder days in at Crystal Mountain, White Pass, and Whistler Blackcomb. We did some eagle watching, spying over 130 between the Mt Baker Highway and Whistler Village and capitalized on the early season hotel rates allowing for great proximity to the slopes which were surprisingly uncrowded for December. Shaun started teaching me a two handed fly fishing technique called spey casting, which I was able to practice in the shadow of anywhere from 5-10 bald eagles along the Skagit River. Owing to our time off, we had more time to spend with friends and family around Christmas, meeting up with my brother and his family, having Christmas dinner with our friends Hannah and Brett and family, catching up with some former co-workers at various happy hour events, and enjoying dollar tacos at a new place on 6th Avenue with our first friends from when we moved to Washington, Kelly and Brad. After being on the road so much, it was great to be able to reconnect with some of the people who have made living in Washington these past 10 years so special.

Always great to get in some early season powder at Crystal

One of the most uncomfortable chairlifts of all, but a charmer still

Great to catch up with these people!

Eagle going in for a landing

Eagle party along Mt Baker Highway

Eagle in Squamish, BC

Didn't even notice the crane until I was editing

One thing we were both looking forward to was being able to fish the Yakima River in the winter. Neither of us are really into the summer tubing crowd, so it makes fishing their over the summer months less desirable, but in the winter, you may see a couple of other groups fishing all day and no loud, drunk tubers (who litter like crazy by the way). We had a couple of productive days on the river late December, coaxing a few trout from the deep, slow pools and into our nets. During the winter months, the fish retreat to deeper, slower water to pod up and conserve energy. They feed near the bottom of the river on small midge like bugs and care must be taken not to exhaust them, so you try to land them quickly, even if that means you're more likely to lose them. It isn't lost on me that fishing isn't a painless experience for the fish, and I struggle with that at times, but I do really love it and have enjoyed gaining more knowledge about fish species and the issues that face rivers and other conservation related matters. The fact is, the fly fishing community are huge activists and advocates for cleaner rivers and streams and for the removal of dams that are largely unnecessary now and are contributing to declining salmonoid populations and as a result food sources for our endangered southern puget sound orcas.

Yakima River Rainbow

One for me

Great scenery

Fish eat, even when it's cold

Part of our goal this winter was to chase snow, and we were able to successfully do so down to Utah the second week of January. Powder chasing is a tough business- you end up laboring and poring over weather reports, calculating snowfall amounts, assessing wind speed and gusts, guessing which will be the best snow and whether there will be wind holds that could keep part of the mountain closed. Being in the van all summer and driving long distances really upped our stamina for long road trips, so we were able to drive from Gig Harbor to Salt Lake City in one day. Early morning hikes and all nighter photography adventures have also made us ideally suited to rise at 3 am and take off, which allows us to get to our destinations at reasonable hours, setting us up for a good night's sleep and an early wake up to head to the mountain. We rode two days at Snowbasin, between Salt Lake City and Ogden, and our first day was a combo powder day and storm riding, lapping that famous Utah champagne powder. Storm riding is basically riding or skiing while the storm hits, so those days often have poor visibility or excessive wind. We were able to get into the alpine the first day, but the winds were so strong, they literally blew people over at the top, so it was one run and down for us there, and we spent the rest of the day riding in the shelter of trees and gladed runs mid-mountain and down. Snowbasin was where many of the Salt Lake City Olympic events were held, and while there isn't much of a base/resort presence, the facilities are top notch- ornate and gaudy but charming by virtue of what they represent. Our second day was bluebird which made for incredible views of the valley and surrounding peaks. It also allowed us to get eyes on what we were actually riding the day before. Unfortunately there was a long delay opening the alpine lifts and the gondolas were malfunctioning, so by the time they did open, the sun had baked the snow leaving it heavy and not at all fun, so we decided to bail after half a day and hit the Middle Provo River for some winter fly fishing. It's amazing how warm you can be in sub 30 degree temperatures surrounded by cold streams and snow banks/drifts, but there we were in just long sleeve shirts under our waders. We found some fish willing to take our flies, and while they weren't huge, the scenery and solitude were definitely soothing to our souls. The next day it was time to head home but not before stopping in Pendleton to enjoy a fabulous inversion- a sign of high pressure to come!

Storm riding at Snowbasin

Had great views on day 2

Expansive terrain (photo by Shaun)

Little brown on the Middle Provo

All of this, only 45 minutes from Salt Lake City

High pressure means no snow in the mountains and warmer temps, which while I can appreciate every now and then, it seems like kind of a waste of a winter day. Nevertheless, we made the most of it, hiking around Lake Crescent, working to continue to refine my spey casting, and exploring waterfalls on the Olympic Peninsula and in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Winter sun is good for one thing- incredible low angle light that is a photographer's dream. Other than that, I could do without it for a while.

Early mornings at the Bogachiel

Seeking steelhead

Olympic National Forest road drives

Our main objective was blocked by snow, made the most of this one

Lake Crescent vibes

Sunny winter morning along Hood Canal

Probably the easiest waterfall to access in all of Washington

A trail doesn't even exist to this one.

No trail to this one either

Winter golden hour is the best hour

Spey casting along the Hoh River

Another powder chase commenced mid January, with us heading to West Yellowstone to give us flexibility to fish the Madison and Gallatin rivers, chase snow either in Big Sky or Grand Targhee, and meet up with one of our closest friends/travel buddy/snow buddy, Frelan. We coordinated a powder chase and met up in Big Sky for a sneaker pow day- about 10" of new snow and very few people on the mountain, despite the fact that it was MLK Day. We rode hard and covered almost the entire mountain with good snow until the end of the day. Shaun and I also got two winter fishing days in, catching several nice rainbow trout. The thing about cold weather or weather that is traditionally viewed as "bad" is that it takes crowded places and restores them to their former greatness- no people! After a successful multi activity stay in W Yellowstone, Shaun and I headed to Jackson, and if you read the fall installment of this blog- one of my favorite places on earth. We spent one whole day searching for and photographing wildlife, finding some new spots holding animals and also some further photography locations. After enjoying a frigid but sunny day outside with the critters, it was then time to turn our thoughts to powder at Jackson Hole. There are no sneaker pow days in Jackson as half the town are ski bums who watch the weather way more intently than we do (in case you were wondering, the other half of the town consists of people who have no business on any mountain, anywhere, yet they come in droves to ski some of the most challenging terrain in the country haha). The Jackson Hole Aerial Tram ascends nearly 2.5 miles up the mountain in 9 minutes, transporting 100 jam packed people at a time to expansive alpine bowls, craggy chutes, and massive cliffs- intended for expert and above skiers and riders. Corbet's Couloir is one of the most famous runs, embedded in ski lore for many years. It's literally a straight vertical drop into a bowl that averages around a 40 degree pitch angle. It is pucker central and something I would never dream of attempting, but it does make for excellent people watching when it's open (which it wasn't on day one). Couple the technical difficulty of the tram serviced terrain with high winds and often poor visibility and you have the makings of lots of injuries to people who don't accurately assess their ski prowess (aka most of the people in the tram line). We had a nice run down Rendezvous Bowl before descending into an area called the Hobacks that had a bulletproof sun crust from the day before and large wind drift moguls along with thinner than expected snow coverage- not our favorite run of the day, but something to check off our list. Luckily the storm continued to churn and added several inches to the base during the day with more arriving that night.
Taking a short break back in WA before taking our chase up to Canada to kick off February!