Show i Section I Friday February 6 2004 The Herald Journal Outdoors report Page! mm—m—mmmm £4 Full moon hike The USU Outdoor Recreation Center will lead a snowshoehike from 1 1 tonight To register for the free 4 hike or to rent equipment call 8-- 797-326- archery shoot 3-- D Cache Archers is sponsoring the ' ' annual Bridgeiiand Classic shoot and Saturday Sunday archery at the Cache Arena at the Cache Fairstarts at 9 am grounds both days with the last line of shooters starting at 3 pmi Saturday and 3 pm Sunday We will set up for this shoot Friday night at 7:30 pm and any help would be appreciated For information contact Bob Steffen-hage- n or Colby Steffen-hagen ' 3-- The-shoo- 3-- D t D 733-63- 32 752-343-8 Full moon ski The Cache Hikers will go for a full-mo- cross-count- ry on ski up Tern-- pie Fork at 7 pm Saturday Those interested should meet at the Ranger Station 400 N 1500 East Logan Bring headlampflashlight warm clothes and drink For more infixma- tion call Jim and Julie Barta at ' 750-57- 90 Antelope Park trip Bridgerland Audubon Society will host a trip on Saturday for a morning and early afternoon of nature watching at Antelope Island State Park in' the Great Salt Lake Meet at 8 am in the parking lot between the Logan Fire Station and Cafe Ibis 50 E 130 North Logan At this time of year the bison and pronghorns are usually easy to see up close and bighorn sheep may be in view Unusual birds are often semi both ftom the causeway leading to the island and on the island itself Unusual waterfowl are often seen in the lake and falcons are often semi on the island Bring warm clothing and binoculars and either bring a lunch or be prepared to buy something (a buffalo burger?) at the snack stand We’ll plan to be back by midaftemoon For more information call Dick Hurren (435) - ‘ 734-26- ' Associated Press reporter Brian Skoloff snowshoes past a meadow along thd Gin Flat Trail in Yosemite National Park Calif Below Yosemite Park 'ranger By Brian Skoloff Associated Press Writer Yc : NATIONAL PARK Calif — Snow brings stillness to the Yosemite back-count- - Banff film festival - - 797-32- - " on Nevada'' Winter attracts just a fraction month mostly to Yosemite Valley for views of waterfalls El Capitan one of the world’s largest granite monoliths and the towering Half Dome 64 Many hikers hang up their gear come the first snow when Yosemite National Park’s back- country gets socked in by up tb 8 feet of the white stuff Park roads' close intermittently and most marked summer trails disappear beneath drifts taller than a man But it’s also a time when the park is quieter more serene even surreal especially at night when a bright mdon ignites the ’ snowy landscape with a white glow For the most part back- country access above 5000 feel y skiers is limited to and snowshoers In many places a hiker wearing just boots would sink into the snow upto thq knees making even a simple half-mil- e walk in the woods ' nearly impossible The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is looking for seniors and other volunteers to help with Conservation and Education Programs dur-ing the week and on weekends at Hardware Ranch The CacheValley Hunter Education Center is seeking volunteers for instruction office assistance range supervisors and general maintenance If interested contact Jodie Anderson at : 232-24- 770-825- 17 1 : By Jared Thayne By the tune We’d finalized arrangements over the phone Good Buddy Eldo had actually said “No worries’’ eight times:' I Counted It was one l of those you not only’ notice but basa'7 n base F : See SOLITUDE on CIO Validation and the mobile medicine chest idiosyncrat- 3 ed ed ic thing Z7 fcasa We pitched camp at about 4 pm after three hours of trudging through snow that seemed to swallow our snowshoes at times ' in about a foot Of powder The trail is considered a difficult route but our party — two ' men and two women ages 26 to 45 ranging from novices to experienced hikers tackled it with just a little sweat I prefer snowshoeing to crosscountry skiing simplyfor the access it affords While skiing you can move 10 times faster than snowshoes on flat ground or a declining grade but it requires ' constant effort to climb With snowshoes strapped to the feet like giant metal-clawspatulas a snow hiker can venture up steep grades and rocky terrain that would leave a cross- country skier at the bottom ' Snowshoeing Is simple for the most part — it's just like hiking depending on the conditions although a deep powdery snow Can make for a grueling trudge Bigger snowshoes allow a hiker to float better on the snowy surface but they can also be v more cumbersome -- ’ SFW banquet : clear liquor ry ' ' 'Jqdieandenonutahgov'' : it and spent an evening unex- pectedly imbibing the sweet ed : 'Sportsman fix' Fish andWildlife ' will be holding: their annual banquet and fundraiser on Saturday May 1 at die Logan Recreational Center Social hour begins at 5:30 pm and as in years past you will have chances to win many great items with a grand prize giveaway of a Honda 4x4 4-wheeler or a North Cache Conserve- ' tion Elk tag Tickets are now available at Al’s Sporting Goods Seeholzer Vision or from a local SFW representative If you have any questions about ? ” SFW or our banquet please call Cody or Cliffixd Stokes Johnson Agroup of shepherds later found ' mid-Novem- " ' We strapped on our snowshoes at Crane Flat where the plowing of Tioga Road ends The road provides vehicle access across in sumthe park’s mer but typically closes to auto traffic because of avalanche danto mid- ger from May It’s been closed as early as October due to severe weather In 1995 after Barry Hance a park maintenance employee was killed in an avalanche while plowing the route in preparation for reopening the road remained ' closed through July " The National Park Service may manage Yosemite but Mother Nature is dearly in ' charge snowshoe trick up A 35-mi- le Tioga Road atop several feet of snow through forests of red fir lodgepole pine and the occa- sional Jeffrey pine with its sweet-scentbark brought us to Gin Flat a subalpine meadow at about 7000 feet We covered about 1000 feet of elevation gain during the hike below a snowy ridge through a thick forest until reachingthe flat giving way to a view of snow-tippMount Clark some 20 miles to the southeast rising to 11522 feet Legend has it that Gin Flat got its name after a barrel of gin rolled off a horse-draw- n wagon high-count- cross-countr- of those tourists about 100000 a Volunteers needed ' ry It’s a solitude not easily found summer during the when some 600000 visitors a ' month descend on Yosemite’s 1200 square miles of protected wilderness in the central Siena high-seas- ' Deb Schweizer left Genevieve Bookwalter and Skoloff reiaxat campsite last month after a strenuous hike Find quiet in California 53 USU and the Outdoor Recreation Center will host the best films from die Banff Mountain Him Festival at USU’s Kent Concert Hall al 7 pm Thursday Feb 12 Tickets are $7 general admission $3 with USU ID available at the ORC and the door for information Call APphoto tlud eventually causes a Hiythmic flinchin1' ' ' your ear lohe Eldo grew pp a couple of blocks away finm nte and just up die street from Good Buddy Blainer but fix thri last six months or so has holed up his saintly wife and kids in some pnwpe gated compound in Bris-- : bane Australia where he manages an office that sells holistic oils or something and sends pieople to trade shows Whiere everybody sits in cir- cles and howls A They’re not freaks or anything (Eldo haseveryone — including diie grandmotherly recep- - tionist —shooting “Goodwill” free throws on breaks) it’s just that - ' everything is appaiently alittie bit different Down Under which explains why people there say “No : worries” instead of“OK”“Nq “How’s “I’d be glad to” your way" mother” “Happy Groundhog’s Day!" “You’re being served it summons” or “Our tests indicate die bleeding will probably never stop” At any rate we had long ago planned to get together and ud during the fust chance Eldo had “to -take holiday home” which I guess is Australian for “getting far away V' from slithering creeping dungs dial make one’s wife scream in order that one min more fully Cnjoy a dile-leChristmas” And as far as our wives knew that was all it was going to be too: just a ss little Bud reunion with just a little on a condo in St George ' Which brings us to our skiing and just a few little laughs carfirsts um glitch Yes the Good Of Course being Doctor was generous enough to loan riers as we were I think deep- ' ski down the three of us understood full out his " boots and his computer-chippe- d well the fact that our little adventure new skis but he hadn't yet found the ' held the distinct possibility of time to have one fitted to the other' becoming some sort of ultnhcom-petitiv- e valiand middle-ag- e as a result Eldo was immediate- at attempt ' dation jikely to end in one or more ly diagnosed with “a revere-to-acut- e of us either in a coma or financially need for a Calibrated Binding Cheeky responsible for a Search and ResCue ' Orso saidtheski tech whose ear-helicopter rotor After all the three I’m sure was already twitch- - :k' lobe of us hadn’t skied On the same before Eldo approached even mountain together for 20 years the ing and said “Q’day” Wamen Commission never had so ' ' Eldo was digging out $15 to have much to prove the tech perform the emergency Of course traveling as he did ' CBCi too but caught a break when halfway across the worid and all Eldo was obliged to borrow ski gear ' the guy started bughing and finally said ‘t)r you can use die screw- - : from our other buddy Good Doctor driver out on the deck tq do it your- - : Dennis whoas always demonstratself:MATE!” Which pretty much ed his superior Bud intellect by ended Eldo's miraculously acquired : sensible most tiling any doing the accent one of us could — avoiding the mayhem altogether and instead writSeeTHAYNEooCIO ing out a check for the full amount ’’ cBcr : - |