Seriously?
I have no idea who may happen upon my blog's waste of space on the internet, my means of passing idle time. What I do know is that sometimes you can read something in an abstract location and it can key you in to something you were unaware of before.
Wild Steelhead are threatened or endangered throughout the world. We are talking about wild fish, those not reared in concrete retaining ponds destined to add numbers to the dwindling wild stocks. Those hatchery fish, or commercially farmed fish are designed to be caught, removed from the river system and fed to those interested in the meal.
I'm talking about Wild Steelhead. Those that harvest them, through commercial netting, recreational angling (yes, some places you can catch and keep those...which is wrong...but a different rant) or by tribal gill netting programs are putting pressure on a dwindling resource.
For those that find wild steelhead listed on a menu. Please be responsible, even if you could care less about fish or fishing. Please inqure as to the source of those fish. If they are from a commercial farm raised fish supply often called "wild" they really aren't, enjoy your meal. If the wild fish are truly wild, caught by the tribes in gill nets or commmercial harvesting, please boycot this meal and this establishment until they get the message.
When everyone stops eating wild steelhead, eliminating the demand, then the supply source will dwindle or maybe go away entirely. Save the wild steelhead, they are a precious and rare fish, each spawing run unique to its home watershed. We have already pushed them to the brink of extinction, please prevent them from being pushed further. My children and their children deserve to greet this native creature in its natural habitat, not in some museum.
People who care about the world and its creatures would not eat wild steelhead or tolerate those that do or would. Thank you.
An organization that is focused on preservation of wild steelhead stocks:
Wild Steelhead Coalition
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Another Snowy Adventure
Sometimes it takes forever to get the kids up and out of the house. Today I was dragging a bit, just tired and cold. Finally pulled the fishing gear out of the rig from yesterday's failed attempt at New Year's Day fishing. Loaded the backpack, snowshoes, sleds and outerwear for all and I was ready to roll. The girls took about another hour before they were ready.
We arrived at the entrance station of Hurricane Ridge to find a line of about 40 cars. Upper parking lot is full said the friendly ranger. We are letting one up for each one down. The girls watched "Madagascar 2" while we waited. About 40 minutes later, close to 2:30pm, it was our turn.
The road was slick in spots, well sanded in spots and pretty wet in others. I knew the ride down would be slick after the sun dropped below the mountain tops.
The girls suggested we sled first this time, I agreed but wondered if I'm carrying four sets of snowshoes and my backpack for nothing. I was. We got in two full hours of non stop sledding action, each girl slowly getting more brave with each run. Higher and higher they went to start. Tougher routes, bumps and tracks they took. Even Jill and I took a turn or two riding with the girls, but the fun was mostly them sliding and us watching.
The ride down was slick as expected, got a bit fishy in the spots I expected and I was having fun with it. I could tell Jill was not so I slowed down a bit and tried to keep out of hot water.
Back to school tomorrow for them, work for me and Jill will have the house to herself for a bit of the day. I wonder how all of us will do our first day back to our normal routines. We are already contemplating what we might do next weekend...after tryouts with Rising Stars of the Kitsap Children's Musical Theater, of course.
We arrived at the entrance station of Hurricane Ridge to find a line of about 40 cars. Upper parking lot is full said the friendly ranger. We are letting one up for each one down. The girls watched "Madagascar 2" while we waited. About 40 minutes later, close to 2:30pm, it was our turn.
The road was slick in spots, well sanded in spots and pretty wet in others. I knew the ride down would be slick after the sun dropped below the mountain tops.
The girls suggested we sled first this time, I agreed but wondered if I'm carrying four sets of snowshoes and my backpack for nothing. I was. We got in two full hours of non stop sledding action, each girl slowly getting more brave with each run. Higher and higher they went to start. Tougher routes, bumps and tracks they took. Even Jill and I took a turn or two riding with the girls, but the fun was mostly them sliding and us watching.
The ride down was slick as expected, got a bit fishy in the spots I expected and I was having fun with it. I could tell Jill was not so I slowed down a bit and tried to keep out of hot water.
Back to school tomorrow for them, work for me and Jill will have the house to herself for a bit of the day. I wonder how all of us will do our first day back to our normal routines. We are already contemplating what we might do next weekend...after tryouts with Rising Stars of the Kitsap Children's Musical Theater, of course.
Kicking off 2011 in Chilly Family Style
It was pretty cold today when we went out for some fresh air and adventures on the first day of the New Year. The Mrs is really into geocaching and has introduced each of us to this very economical and fun way to add some exploration, hidden treasure and adventure into our lives. It is really a fun way to spend time together. Taking turns as the line leader following the path on the GPS keeps us all engaged. Making suggestions of where we might think the geocache might be found has really kept our interest. It also has made us wonder where we might stash a cache of our own.
Finally today we did. After bungling a cache placement on the 30th of December, because we did not know of another very close pre-existing cache, we had to relocate my first cache. My fly fishing themed cache was found by a fly fishing friend because I had posted the coordinates on washingtonflyfishing.com before the cache was activated by goecaching.com (hence my total bungle). My friend read the coordinates and headed out and found the cache. Today I fixed my mess up. The ladies tracked down the Little Miss Muffet cache while I moved Take Me Fly Fishing to the north by approximately 400'. This put me out of the too close range of the existing cache and with any luck we'll get approval of the new coordinates.
After placing mine, the Mrs took the coordinates and tracked it down. I wanted to make sure that she could get to it and see how the route was. She found it, with a bit of difficulty, but the coordinates seem to be right on the money. Total freeze on the lake prevented me from making this a water craft required cache access, but we rolled with it anyway.
Then we headed toward a few other nearby JeffCo caches. In hand this time was little Sophia's Starter cache. She asked for an ammo can, had me paint black over the white certified empty sticker and she loaded it with a "first to find" prize and some other trading trinkets. She was very focused and impressed me significantly. We found a nice spot for her cache to be placed and she directed me step by step into its proper placement and concealment. My work met her approval, our coordinates are far enough from several other caches and with any luck we will get approval on her cache too.
The other two ladies will have to prepare their caches next...but not tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to return to Hurricane Ridge, this time to snowboard and snowshoe again. Sleds were again mentioned, but as a lazy dad not wanting to have everything in the garage in the back of the truck I asked to leave the sleds at home. I think it will work out. I should be getting my rest. When in snowboard mode, we put them on pretty gentle slopes for now. My job is lift service. I let them stay buckled in and take turns lugging them up the hill, which is a pretty good workout for the cheeseburger loving fat kid in me.
Finally today we did. After bungling a cache placement on the 30th of December, because we did not know of another very close pre-existing cache, we had to relocate my first cache. My fly fishing themed cache was found by a fly fishing friend because I had posted the coordinates on washingtonflyfishing.com before the cache was activated by goecaching.com (hence my total bungle). My friend read the coordinates and headed out and found the cache. Today I fixed my mess up. The ladies tracked down the Little Miss Muffet cache while I moved Take Me Fly Fishing to the north by approximately 400'. This put me out of the too close range of the existing cache and with any luck we'll get approval of the new coordinates.
After placing mine, the Mrs took the coordinates and tracked it down. I wanted to make sure that she could get to it and see how the route was. She found it, with a bit of difficulty, but the coordinates seem to be right on the money. Total freeze on the lake prevented me from making this a water craft required cache access, but we rolled with it anyway.
Then we headed toward a few other nearby JeffCo caches. In hand this time was little Sophia's Starter cache. She asked for an ammo can, had me paint black over the white certified empty sticker and she loaded it with a "first to find" prize and some other trading trinkets. She was very focused and impressed me significantly. We found a nice spot for her cache to be placed and she directed me step by step into its proper placement and concealment. My work met her approval, our coordinates are far enough from several other caches and with any luck we will get approval on her cache too.
The other two ladies will have to prepare their caches next...but not tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to return to Hurricane Ridge, this time to snowboard and snowshoe again. Sleds were again mentioned, but as a lazy dad not wanting to have everything in the garage in the back of the truck I asked to leave the sleds at home. I think it will work out. I should be getting my rest. When in snowboard mode, we put them on pretty gentle slopes for now. My job is lift service. I let them stay buckled in and take turns lugging them up the hill, which is a pretty good workout for the cheeseburger loving fat kid in me.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Ending 2010 Right
Spent the last day of 2010 with all three of the ladies in the wide open spaces of the Olympic National Park. We headed up to Hurricane Ridge to enjoy the crisp clean air on a beautiful day. The sun was shining making the cold temps feel so much more comfortable.
Our trip plan included our first family snowshoe outing. The Mrs and I have snowshoed before, with the girls in tow in either the Chariot on its ski attachments or in a sled. This time all four of us had our snowshoes. Both girls did absolutely awesome. We kicked around below the 8 and under sledding area near the visitor center. Then we headed down the road toward Hurricane Hill. Of course we did not go that far, but we did go a full mile out, took a few photos along the way, and then back. The girls were so awesome the whole day. As a treat for them as they began to lag a bit on the uphil back to the sledding area, I offered to tow them in the sled.
I put their snowshoes on my pack, they got comfortable and I pulled them up the final 1/8 to 1/4 mile. This got me into a bit higher heart rate level so it was good for the cheeseburger loving fat kid in me, and got them a bit of rest for some sledding.
I'll post some photos later and try to catch up on the fishing trips from 2010 that I've neglected.
Our trip plan included our first family snowshoe outing. The Mrs and I have snowshoed before, with the girls in tow in either the Chariot on its ski attachments or in a sled. This time all four of us had our snowshoes. Both girls did absolutely awesome. We kicked around below the 8 and under sledding area near the visitor center. Then we headed down the road toward Hurricane Hill. Of course we did not go that far, but we did go a full mile out, took a few photos along the way, and then back. The girls were so awesome the whole day. As a treat for them as they began to lag a bit on the uphil back to the sledding area, I offered to tow them in the sled.
I put their snowshoes on my pack, they got comfortable and I pulled them up the final 1/8 to 1/4 mile. This got me into a bit higher heart rate level so it was good for the cheeseburger loving fat kid in me, and got them a bit of rest for some sledding.
I'll post some photos later and try to catch up on the fishing trips from 2010 that I've neglected.
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