Leaving for the great white north

I'll be leaving in the morning to head to Idaho to see my favorite lady. The weather has not been all that good today and there were chain controls up this morning on I-80 and north from Wells into Idaho. Things have improved some but Karen tells me that they got some heavy snow in Idaho Falls today, which I also saw on the traffic cams. The showery nature of this cold system is hit or miss and under some of these showers the roads can get pretty coated, so I'm hoping I am going to miss most of that tomorrow. We'll see.

Today there was a skiff of snow on the ground here in Susanville and the temperature today never got too warm. The best I saw on my thermometer was 33°. I walked around town today down to Walmart and back up town to the Post Office. Both times I was really cold and the wind made it even worse. When I went to buy some washer fluid for my truck I was shocked to find that good old Walmart only has +32° washer fluid. Where in the hell do these people think their store is located anyway? People, get some -20 stuff, that's what we need around here! Anyone who is putting that +32° stuff in their cars this time of year is asking for trouble. It's going to freeze up, duhhhh! Since the weather where I'm going is even colder than here, I couldn't even think about buying any of it. I'll get some in Idaho, I'm sure they must have the good stuff up there. OK, I'm off to see the wizard... no, Karen.

Fishing at Eagle Lake again

Today I went up to Eagle Lake and tried one last time to catch a few of those illusive critters. I say "last time" because it may very well be the last time I fish up there since I'll be gone to Idaho until after the first of the year and next fall I'll be living in Idaho. So I said my goodbyes and I also managed to catch one small one, which was good since the conditions were really bad. It was smooth and calm and not the way I like it but I didn't freeze my ass off either so that was good.

The moon made a nice picture this morning when I got there and as you can see it was almost full. Like I said, it was smooth and glassy and I felt privileged that I even got one fish to bite. It was too small to keep and I let it go. Had lots of stuff to do today to get all my work out of the way and get ready to head to Idaho. The weather for the next 4 or 5 days doesn't sound too good but I am hoping to get a chance to make the trip on Sunday, otherwise I might have to wait a few more days and I just don't want to do that. I don't mind snowy roads as long as it's not icy and blizzard conditions. Hope that doesn't happen!

Sunny before the arctic blast

The sun was nice and warm today for another long walk up the Bizz. There is supposed to be a major change in the weather this weekend with a 20° drop in high temps which sometimes translates into colder than they predicted. There is also some snow in the forecast which we can use, I just hope the weather doesn't cause me any travel problems for my trip to Idaho. I'm hoping for the best on that one.

It's going to be a long winter I am afraid, between missing Karen when we are apart and preparing for my impending move, I have lots to think about. It's all good though and my outlook is still that I gotta love it... and I do.

Fishing at Eagle Lake

Got up early this morning and went up to my usual spot at Eagle Lake. I left later than usual but still got there before I could see my bobber. Shorter days this time of year, in fact the winter solstice will be coming up on the 21st. That's the shortest day of the year, sunlight-wise for anyone who doesn't know that. But anyway, back to my fishing... I started getting bites right away and before too long I hooked one. The first 2 were small so they went back but I ended up getting some solid 2-3 lb fish like the ones in this picture. I landed 5, broke one off and had many bites, all within an hour of getting there, which made it all so special.

It was a little cold with a North wind blowing and my net froze up when it wasn't in the water. One of these fish on the stringer was giving me a good fight when the sun was hitting the hill across the lake behind me and it was just beautiful the way it was lit up. I went to get my camera after landing that fish but the good show was over and I didn't get any pictures of it. Still fresh in my mind though! A great day fishing and I was only there less than 2 hours. Next week I'll be heading to Idaho and I just can't hardly wait for that. You know why!

Climbin' Stony Ridge

I climbed to the top of Stony Ridge today from the bottom. I could have driven part way up but that would defeat the purpose so I walked from the main road. Karen was #1 in my thoughts like she always is. I kept thinking about how she would like the scenery along the way so I took plenty of pictures and even a couple of videos but the videos didn't do the walk justice so I'm not sharing them. Anyway, a beautiful day for a nice hike and some really pretty forested scenes.


The pointy peak in these pictures is Clarks Peak and if you look close to the peak on the right, you'll see the lookout at Thompson Peak.

My time doing these hikes is quickly coming to an end, as soon as the snow comes that will be the end of it for the year and I'll be gone to Idaho before the thaw in the spring. I can't wait to make this move, I'm just not happy here anymore without Karen. Ya think I have it bad? Yep!