23 February 2012
21 February 2012
Against all odds
Dark, peaceful silence was ruptured by the 3 a.m. alarm. We'd packed Sunday night, so all we had to do was peel our eyes open, put everything in the car and go.
We couldn't preload the car because we had items we didn't want to freeze in the single-digit overnight low. Such as my camera. And cheese sticks.
Our goal was to make Kanab before the BLM field office closed for the day on Monday. We wanted to find out exactly what we would need to do Wednesday in order to attempt to gain a lottery permit for The Wave. Although we'd planned four days for four chances, we didn't want to miss a potential day of success by being late and missing the drawing.
Snowy and icy conditions throughout the mountains of Colorado and Utah slowed forward progress and cut stops and breaks to five minutes or less, yet we pulled into the BLM parking lot 645 miles later with 15 minutes to spare.
The office had moved – into TWO different locations. One specifically to handle the daily lottery for The Wave. Off we went to find the new lottery location. We drove all the way across Kanab during rush hour, but the journey was nothing like trying to get across the street in downtown Denver at 5 p.m. We made it in time.
We'd have to report back at 8:30 a.m. sharp the next morning for our shot at two of ten lottery permits to hike to The Wave. We asked the odds. They'd had three happy hikers that morning, but 68 the previous Friday. 58 people had been turned away. It doesn't matter how far you drove. Or flew. Only 10 next-day lottery permits are awarded each day, regardless of how many potential hikers plan a vacation around this destination.
Not terribly enthusiastic or hopeful and yet not entirely discouraged, we checked into our hotel room, then walked across the street to the grocery store for dinner. We like to make our own food while on vacation. Back at the hotel room while dinner was cooking, we watched three back-to-back half-hour television documentaries on gravity, Titan and Europa, quite the treat as we don't have television at home (by choice). Minutes later, we were out cold.
Sleep. Comfortable, peaceful, warm sleep.
In five years, we'd never been successful in the six-months-in-advance Wave lottery, also ten permits per day. We'd regularly researched the application calendar to determine which days might provide the best chance, and we'd tried several times for Valentines' Day. After five years, we decided to take a chance for the walk-in, next-day lottery. After all, there were plenty of other things in the area to see if we were still unsuccessful.
Christmas, Valentines' Day and Super Bowl Sunday receive the fewest advance lottery applications. We couldn't do Super Bowl Sunday because we didn't want to miss the 2012 Ride the Rockies route announcement, which just happens to be the same day.
We've experienced some fairly dismal lottery success with Ride the Rockies, too. I expected our next-day Wave attempts to meet similar success ratios, which is, not favorable. We scheduled time off to take four chances at the next-day lottery. Then what do we get but snowstorm after snowstorm!
With my luck, we'd be successful in this lottery attempt and see nothing but white. Good thing I like snowflakes!
During the long trip to Kanab, I did needlework and slept while The Lizard did ALL the driving. I also picked out several great rock formations I wanted to shoot on the way back home, since we couldn't afford any time hog photography stops in our quest to arrive in Kanab before the end of the workday.
On Valentines' morning, we awoke to three new inches of snow and a forecast for 100% of more of the same. We knew we wouldn't get the glowing orange coral Wave everyone else gets, and we knew chances of making it across the slick muddy road were next to impossible. Or impassable, as the many signs along the route so blaringly warned. We decided to try our permit luck anyway. We were first and second in lottery line but were informed permits were available for that very day. Rather than take a chance on the next-day lottery and 50% chance of snow, we opted for a leftover same-day permit, which no one else wanted due to the current forecast. We received our coveted green tags! We would get a chance to hike The Wave on a snowy Valentines' Day! The very day we'd failed at advance lottery attempts!
In case you're wondering, yes, hiking in the snowy desert in the middle of a cold February is indeed a romantic date for us!
The blizzard nearly caused us to turn back while driving to the trailhead because the highway was so awful and visibility non-existent. The Lizard decided to keep going, ever so slowly, at least to the turnoff, just to check dirt road conditions. Good thing, too. About five miles later, the clouds suddenly broke, and the sun slowly crept out of hiding. God opened a window for us!
The dirt road was passable, the three-mile mostly sandy trail was in good shape, the cold wind was tolerable with proper clothing, and the sun even lit up the sandstone toward the end of our two-hour stay inside and above The Wave. The sandstone was dry; snow lingered only beneath shaded north-facing sage and juniper along the trail. Many hikers report never finding The Wave as no trail proper is maintained, and the general advice is to NOT follow footsteps in the sand because they might go the wrong way. We found route-finding to be a joyous adventure, and many features along the way were equally as photogenic as The Wave itself.
We had The Wave to ourselves for about 30 minutes, and only eight others (two of whom we suspect may have been unmarked BLM spies making sure all hikers were legal) came and went during our two hours there. Everyone was courteous of each other's photos. The Wave has been described as only about an acre in size, and it truly is small enough that more than 20 people at any given time would ruin any photographic opportunities. More than 10 people at one time would have severely limited photo creativity, in my opinion. There is wisdom in the lottery system, as crazy as it seems.
Our hike still feels like a dream to me, and The Lizard still can't believe we did it! I wonder if I appreciate this hike more because it took so long to achieve the dream. Many high-fives were exchanged as we entered The Wave and then again as we departed and again when we returned to the car. 14 February 2012 was my best valentine date ever, worth every day of the five years it took to get inside The Wave.
Perhaps this will be a harbinger for the 2012 Ride the Rockies lottery (which we breathlessly entered during the exceedingly wee hours of Super Bowl Sunday while football fans across the US slept!), when results are announced March 2…
20 February 2012
Snowflake Monday
From the notes I left when I designed this snowflake, I mistakenly thought this project from a year ago was a sock yarn snowflake on the Spindrift quilt. I recently worked up one more flake using the rough-note pattern, making a few necessary adjustments, and was quite surprised to find it wasn't a snowflake I recognized. Initially, I wondered if I'd designed it in my sleep because I could not find the original snowflake, and it didn't come close to any of the flakes on Spindrift.
A little more research led me to the true inspiration behind this pattern. Years ago I made McKenna Ryan's "Moose Junction," back when it was first released in 1999, and for more than a decade it has hung above my bed, regardless of where I have lived. I see this stunning collection of blues every single night before I fall asleep and first thing every morning when I wake. After searching my home one final time for the missing snowflake, I found the very crystal behind today's design. It's one of the snowflakes in the border fabric of my winter wildlife wall hanging! This snowflake came from a quilt; it just didn't come from Spindrift!
Isn't it funny how you can look at things every day and not see them?
Whatever happened to that original snowflake? I'd overlooked the white thread flake several times while searching for what I thought from my notes was supposed to be a blue sock yarn snowflake that must not have made it into Spindrift. The original snowflake wasn't night-sky hued; the fabric background of the model snowflake is the color culprit!
Hence today's name: Hide and Seek Snowflake.
You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!
Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 20 crochet thread, size 13 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffening agent, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line (NOTE: This snowflake may be worked with size 10 thread and size 7 or 8 hook, and it will be slightly larger than what I've made.)
Hide and Seek Snowflake Instructions
Make magic ring.
Round 1: 12 sc in ring; sl st in starting sc. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat.
Round 2: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in same sc, 1 hdc in next sc, *3 dc in next sc, 1 hdc in next sc; repeat from * around 4 times; 1 dc in same sc as starting dc; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.
Round 3: 1 sc in same ch, *ch 6, 1 sc in middle dc of next 3/dc group; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 3, 1 tr in starting sc (ch 3 and tr count as final ch 6 sp).
Round 4: 1 sc in loop, *ch 12, 1 sc in next loop; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 5, 1 qtr (5 yo) in starting sc (ch 5 and qtr count as final ch 12 sp).
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.
Round 5: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc); 1 dc in loop, 2 hdc in same loop, 6 sc in same loop, *in next loop work 6 sc, 2 hdc, 3 dc, 2 hdc and 6 sc; repeat from * around 4 times; 6 sc in next loop, 2 hdc in same loop, 1 dc in same loop; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.
Round 6: 1 sc in same ch, ch 12, *1 sc in middle dc of next 3/dc group, ch 12; repeat from * around 4 times; sl st in starting sc.
Round 7: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in same sc, *[3 dc in next ch 12 sp, ch 3, sl st in top of dc just worked] 5 times for a total of 5 picots along ch 12 sp; 3 dc in same sp, 2 dc in next sc, ch 3, 2 dc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 7, 1 sc in 7th ch from hook, ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 6, sl st in 6th ch from hook, working back down spike ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, sl st in next sc, ch 6, sl st in same sc, ch 3, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook, ch 3, 2 dc in 3rd ch from hook, 2 dc in next sc; repeat from * around 5 more times, omitting last 2 dc of on final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.
Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.
Mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.
17 February 2012
Friday Funny
Don't know if this truly is the precursor to rollerblading, as claimed, but this video from 1923 sure was interesting to watch! (I apologize for the commercial at the front, but I guess someone has to pay to keep good stuff like this on the web.)
16 February 2012
Flake on Me
Some may have called it a miserable commute.
A good six inches of snow when only half an inch of dusting was forecast, automobile/tree entanglements at both neighborhood exits (no injuries at either, thankfully), miles of gridlock past the snarls, a half-hour wait in 9 degrees for commuter trains that couldn't manage forward motion due to unexpected accumulation and track blockage, sardine-like quarters aboard trains when they did arrive, the potential loss of an hour or more of vacation time, and the snow continued to fall even though the sun was supposed to make a showing.
For me, appropriately dressed and daily fantasizer of all things flake, I kept watching white powdery puffs hit the black section of my coat sleeve and break up into individual and intricate snowflakes while visions of crochet stitches danced in my head. I kept wishing I had a microscope! Or at least my Nikon with macro lens. The iPhone just couldn't capture the magic.
But my crochet hook just might!
14 February 2012
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