Snow & Sunshine!

We had an amazing weekend at Eaglecrest and we are SO stoked to have the opportunity to ride such amazing terrain! I've literally never seen, much less ridden, so much snow in my life. It just continues to blow my mind! We've decided that instead of waiting and saving up for splitboards, we need to buy powder boards as soon as possible. Our short little east coast park boards just aren't cutting it here. It's at the point that if we try to ride the boards we have in the amount of snow that's up there, it will become dangerous. We need more floating instead of sinking! We never had to worry about having more than one board back home, but here, a board quiver is a pretty much a necessity!

I also got to teach my first lesson at Eaglecrest over the weekend, and it went awesome! I LOVE the fact that we have two hour lessons instead of just one hour. The teaching terrain is amazing... plenty of space, perfect pitch for beginners, and I'll be able to get every lesson on the lift! No more hiking up and down a slope a million times and never having time to make it on the lift with first timers. The first lesson of the season always makes me smile. Every year, after going so many months without teaching, all I have to do is meet my students and it's like the summer was just a blur. The satisfaction I get by seeing someone go from never snowboarding before to falling completely in love with the sport is priceless.

Anyways, Eaglecrest is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday, so we had planned on sleeping in and chilling all day. When we woke up, it was such a pretty day we couldn't stand to stay inside, so that means you're about to get photo bombed! :)

Enjoy!

Fish Creek Hike & Sea Creatures!

Well we sat around contemplating on how we're gonna cook our Thanksgiving turkey tomorrow and then decided to go on a hike! Since we didn't have much daylight left, maybe 3 hours, we decided on a shorter hike and to explore the Fish Creek area a bit more. We hiked for a little over an hour, then decided to head back so we could make it to the car before it got dark.

Fish Creek Trail is a beautiful trail. It winds through the woods following Fish Creek for what seems to be quite the distance. I have to idea how far the trail goes, and one day when we get an early start I would like to hike the entire trail. It wasn't too cold... mid-20s maybe. I got a few good pics along the way. 

We got back sooner than expected and still had some light left, so we drove on up the road to soak in the amazing views from North Douglas. We pulled over at a spot by the water (not sure what this place is called either). Followed the shoreline a bit, splashed through the water, checked out some tide pools, snapped a few more pics, then called it a day.

Fish Creek

Fish Creek

Ice circles?

Fish Creek

Fish Creek

Fish Creek

Fish Creek

FIsh Creek

Fish Creek... Dustin's slushy footprint

Snow on a baby tree :)

Our sea friends that made an appearance

Mountains on Admiralty Island

Frozen waterfall by the road

Birds...

Row of anemones in a tide pool

Cool looking little sea creatures...

You CAN Make A Difference, So Do It!

Most people think signing online petitions are pointless, but they most certainly are not. Your signature CAN make a difference, just as one person's signature did for this one... 

AIRPORT FINALLY BANS THE SALE OF SHARKFINS AFTER THOUSANDS SIGN CHANGE.ORG PETITION

In the past, I'd occasionally stroll over to Change.Org and sign a few that strike my interest. Now, especially after reading the above article, I'm going to make a point to sign at least 10 a day. It takes only a few seconds per petition once you enter your information for the first one. People have worked hard to start these petitions and they deserve our signatures. You can even have your name remain anonymous if you choose. If you have a heart at all, you will find petitions dealing with topics you care about and take those few seconds to do some good for the world. At this rate, this world needs all the help it can get. 

Here are a few good ones to get you started...

Change.org|Make Your Own Petition

^ This one is important to me. When I was a kid I took a trip to Disney and saw all the beautiful sea creatures - trapped in concrete tanks. I understand the importance of nursing an injured animal back to health, but not keeping perfectly healthy whales, dolphins, seals, etc, in these concrete jails just to make a buck off the public. So heartbreaking. 

Change.org|Online Petition Template

^ We all have heard of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) but most people are oblivious to how toxic GMOs really are. Studies have been done, results have been released, and despite mainstream media's efforts to keep these results hush-hush, the information IS out there and people need to know what Monsanto a.k.a. our government is trying to do - poison us to make a profit. Say NO to GMOs!

Change.org|Free Online Petitions

^ Ok, this one should be easy. We all hate mosquitoes. So why the HELL would someone want to release genetically modified ones? The scientists never get it right, and some crazy negative consequences will most certainly happen. If you think 'Oh, it's in Florida, it won't effect me' then think again. Mosquitoes fly. They travel. They will spread. They will bite you and then god knows what will be in your body. Think about that.

Change.org|Online Petition Form

^ Reagan should've been smacked for removing these solar panels. Even though this doesn't directly effect us, the White House (and all the dummies that occupy it), of all places, should set an example for the rest of America to see. We all know clean energy is good, and if any 'house' should be eco friendly, that's the first one that should be.

*******

Even if you don't care a bit about these particular petitions, there ARE some out there that will hit close to home. Find them. Sign them. Feel good about yourself for the day. And if you want more, there are several petition sites out there, another good one being ThePetitionSite.Com

Goodbye Snow, Hello Spring

Well... the rain and the warm temps are making a permanent stay in the forecast, which means goodbye to the snow. Hopefully we'll still have some patches left to play around with the traditional Spring Park. We were gonna go out today but rumbling thunder and the occasional rain drops made us lazy and stay inside. 

As much as I LOVE snow and winter, I'm kinda excited for spring and summer. I'm ready to get my tan on and appreciate the beautiful planet we live on. Ostara (the Pagan holiday for the spring equinox) is Monday night and the weather is supposed to be beautiful. I'd love to go camping and appreciate the 'greening of the Earth' but we'll see how that works out. I've found that I really love things involving nature and the earth, and it makes me feel more 'intune' with myself. Guess that explains my love for the winter season and snow... and snowboarding of course! 

As far as Spring Park... I'll post an update as soon as we get some features out and have some fun. I really wanna put my GoPro to use since I didn't get to use it much over the winter (thanks, rain and warm temps).

Sorry for the lacking updates lately. Our internet is out at the house and I have to rely on other locations to update anything. I'm working on getting our own internet service so I can update more in the future. 

Natural Health: Cayenne Pepper

So after stumbling upon the Health Benefits of Cayenne Pepper, I remembered the bottle of organic cayenne pepper supplements I bought a few weeks ago. I had no clue what I was buying, I just saw a unique herbal supplement on sale (it really was dirt cheap) and figured 'what the hell, it can't hurt me'. It's really amazing how much natural herbs can help us with daily ailments. Instead of buying all this over-the-counter artificial bullshit, we need to revert back to our natural ways and use what Mother Nature gave us.

Seriously, check out that link, or just google 'health benefits of cayenne pepper' and prepare to be amazed. What's awesome is that there are THOUSANDS of other herbs and natural plants and things that can cure any possible disease and sickness that can affect us.

The most amazing time lapse video you'll ever see...

So stunning. Everyone must watch.

May Day Hiking

We were celebrating May Day without even realizing it was May Day! haha. Dustin, Katie, Harper, and I ended up hiking some random different places today, and here's some pics of our adventures.

beautiful butterfly

more beautiful butterflies

and even more beautiful butterflies

myself at Elk River Falls

Dustin and I at Elk River Falls

the beautiful Elk River Falls

Dustin and Harper looking over the edge

Katie and I atop a big rock cliff

Celebrate Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day!

Go out and plant a tree, flower, bush...

pick up some trash...

admire nature...

do SOMETHING to show Mother Nature you love her :)

One thing that kinda irks me is that there has to be a day dedicated to nature.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great thing! But... we should be

doing the things we do on Earth Day, EVERY day. People should

celebrate and admire this beautiful planet EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Not just one day a year, which most people do.

Anyways... just be thankful that the earth hasn't kicked us out

for being so mean to it in the past 100 years.

Go Lunar!

Tonight will be epic, but this has nothing to do with shredding. The northern hemisphere will be seeing something magical in the next few hours. It's the first lunar eclipse to happen on the Winter Solstice, and to make the moon red, since 1638. It's also the last lunar eclipse of this kind to happen for over 400 years. Pretty epic in my opinion. I'm not that much into science, or astronomy for that matter, but something this rare is pretty darn cool and needs to be recognized. If you want to see it and you're on the East Coast, set your alarm for around 1:40 and be prepared to set up for about 3 hours. The main event will happen around 2:40. I dunno if eclipses are normally this long, but maybe it's why it makes this one so special. Who knows. All I know is that my ass is setting the alarm and I'm not gonna miss this for the world. Hope everyone can enjoy this spectacular show! Or at least a small part of it!

Lower Pond Creek Hike

So my friend Katie came up today and we all decided to go on a hike.

This was the most strenuous, hardcore hike I've ever been on
in my entire life. I thought I was going to DIE before I got back
to the car. It was fun, and I got plenty of pretty waterfall pics :)

Now I just need a new camera so I can take some better pics. :)