What soap/cream did you use today?

Dave in KY · 12-23-2022, 04:29 PM

(12-23-2022, 04:25 PM)Lipripper660 Wrote: I’m finishing up with half a day of work before I’ll head north and join the family. It’s a balmy one degree F on my garage thermometer this morning which is a far cry from yesterdays -17. Christmas Eve is calling for an unbelievably warm 23 degrees so Santa will be ok and none of the reindeer are endangered of frozen ears. The cabin thermometer shows a high of -22 yesterday and this morning my bride called and said the 1st level furnace is off! I suspect a popped fuse and she has my eldest on a ladder to confirm. It’s always something! And a new furnace to boot! Ah well, they still have the downstairs furnace and the fireplace upstairs so they won’t freeze and the pipes will be ok. And my son is almost as handy as his dad.
This season of shaving soap Christmas scents has been revealing. Most lead my mind Tom”indoors” with balsam and spice, or the scent of baking. They are pleasant but I find myself enjoying the “outdoor” scents more. If I’d have been at the lodge I’d have put on snowshoes and boogied across the lake and over into Thurmon Ridge. When there is ice on the water it’s only a quarter mile to get over there and tucked into the trees. The forest over there is north facing and dark. Elk hang there most of the year but this time of year they will have moved out and be on the wind-swept sage f the redrocks. There will still be a moose or two, and then pine grouse won’t be leaving. If I climb the ridge I’d see the Henrys Fork dotted with white meaning the trumpeter swans have arrived for their winter vigil. The Henrys Fork is one of the few bodies of water that will stay open, even in extended sub-zero temps because half the river comes out of the valley floor at Big Springs at a constant 50 degrees. This swans can get to veg and bugs all winter long. Literally hundreds will be there by now. From the top of the ridge I would also see Silver Lake to my east, Bishop Mountain to my west, the lodge to my north tucked under Sawtelle Peak. I can see into Yellowstone to the north and east. It’s a grand place to be anytime of year but Thurmon is safer when the grizz are hibernating. The ridge is covered with old timber and you better choose your path carefully to avoid blow down. It escaped a lot of logging because it’s part of the Harriman Ranch (Union Pacific) and was gifted to the State of Idaho and became Harriman State Park. It’s better known as the Railroad Ranch and although it gets plenty of visitors, this corner is too remote for most so I generally have it to myself. Shoot, it’s no joke getting here even when the ice is on. The scents! Cold air, big Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) are so awesome and smell so good and if you pay attention, old trees don’t smell the same as you get wood. The flat getting into the ridge is covered with Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and Aspen (populus tremuloides) and their combined scent is so good! Often there will be the scent of woodsmoke but the scent of two-stroke oil from snowmobiles is absent because they aren’t allowed in the park. If I sit still I’ll hear the sigh of wind in the tree tops and an occasional human voice from the other side of the pond. It’s amazing how sound carries across the ice. But it’s peaceful as always and lonely and still. I do love lonely places. B&M Taiga hit that spot today.
I sure hope my so gets the furnace going or I’ll have chores to do when I get there. Merry Christmas Gents.

Awesome read Lip, wishing you the best of times with your family!

DanLaw · 12-23-2022, 04:40 PM

(12-23-2022, 04:25 PM)Lipripper660 Wrote: I’m finishing up with half a day of work before I’ll head north and join the family. It’s a balmy one degree F on my garage thermometer this morning which is a far cry from yesterdays -17. Christmas Eve is calling for an unbelievably warm 23 degrees so Santa will be ok and none of the reindeer are endangered of frozen ears. The cabin thermometer shows a high of -22 yesterday and this morning my bride called and said the 1st level furnace is off! I suspect a popped fuse and she has my eldest on a ladder to confirm. It’s always something! And a new furnace to boot! Ah well, they still have the downstairs furnace and the fireplace upstairs so they won’t freeze and the pipes will be ok. And my son is almost as handy as his dad.
This season of shaving soap Christmas scents has been revealing. Most lead my mind Tom”indoors” with balsam and spice, or the scent of baking. They are pleasant but I find myself enjoying the “outdoor” scents more. If I’d have been at the lodge I’d have put on snowshoes and boogied across the lake and over into Thurmon Ridge. When there is ice on the water it’s only a quarter mile to get over there and tucked into the trees. The forest over there is north facing and dark. Elk hang there most of the year but this time of year they will have moved out and be on the wind-swept sage f the redrocks. There will still be a moose or two, and then pine grouse won’t be leaving. If I climb the ridge I’d see the Henrys Fork dotted with white meaning the trumpeter swans have arrived for their winter vigil. The Henrys Fork is one of the few bodies of water that will stay open, even in extended sub-zero temps because half the river comes out of the valley floor at Big Springs at a constant 50 degrees. This swans can get to veg and bugs all winter long. Literally hundreds will be there by now. From the top of the ridge I would also see Silver Lake to my east, Bishop Mountain to my west, the lodge to my north tucked under Sawtelle Peak. I can see into Yellowstone to the north and east. It’s a grand place to be anytime of year but Thurmon is safer when the grizz are hibernating. The ridge is covered with old timber and you better choose your path carefully to avoid blow down. It escaped a lot of logging because it’s part of the Harriman Ranch (Union Pacific) and was gifted to the State of Idaho and became Harriman State Park. It’s better known as the Railroad Ranch and although it gets plenty of visitors, this corner is too remote for most so I generally have it to myself. Shoot, it’s no joke getting here even when the ice is on. The scents! Cold air, big Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) are so awesome and smell so good and if you pay attention, old trees don’t smell the same as you get wood. The flat getting into the ridge is covered with Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and Aspen (populus tremuloides) and their combined scent is so good! Often there will be the scent of woodsmoke but the scent of two-stroke oil from snowmobiles is absent because they aren’t allowed in the park. If I sit still I’ll hear the sigh of wind in the tree tops and an occasional human voice from the other side of the pond. It’s amazing how sound carries across the ice. But it’s peaceful as always and lonely and still. I do love lonely places. B&M Taiga hit that spot today.
I sure hope my so gets the furnace going or I’ll have chores to do when I get there. Merry Christmas Gents.

We really need some photos Lip. The description is almost too good to be true!

Oh good God, do envy your lifestyle so.

Merry Christmas to you and yours