Howell Mountain Trip

We were told there are lots of Grizzly Bears on Howell Mountain, so we bought some bear spray (very potent pepper spray), but I was attacked already while trying to walk into a restaurant in Montana.

Then we encountered a very friendly six month old raccoon.

about five miles up the trail we spotted the track of a small Grizzly Bear. I put my foot in the photo for size comparison.

Finally at the top of the northern shoulder of Howell Mountain, at about 10,300 feet elevation, we were standing near the top of the cliff on the south side of the gulley, looking north. Our route down into the gulley was to the right of this photo. The wreckage is in the sloping meadow to the right of center. Our future path in and out is up and down that cliff between the two snow fields.

Turning to the right, we began our descent. That's Lief with the pack and Aunt Hazel preparing to follow. You'll understand why I didn't take any more photos during the climb down the cliff. It took both hands and both feet, and lots of concentration to avoid falling.

Arriving finally at the site of the wreckage, we first examined it. The elevation is about 9600 feet. We found debris scattered all over the steep mountain meadow, both above and below the fuselage. The cliffs above are composed of conglomerate; looking like poorly mixed concrete. The hard stones easily break out of the limestone setting and fall down the slope, denting the aluminum and driving it farther down the slope. Wind and snow has a similar effect of driving the debris farther down the slope.

Looking down the slope you can see the left wing in the trees at photo center. Last summer Louis and Sam dragged it laterally into those trees to prevent it from sliding further down the slope. Both wings had been torn from the fuselage during the crash. The right wing was found at the same height, south of the fuselage, on the left side of the fuselage. You can see it in the previous photo, beyond the fuselage.

This view is taken from the crash site looking south at the cliff we climbed down. The photo I took from the top was above the left edge of that big patch of snow, and the bottom of our "cliff" descent was at the tip of the trees near photo center.

In addition to airplane debris, we found the remains of an unfortunate Elk. We considered several situations that might lead to its demise.

I think it may have slipped off the top of the snowbank above and it fell to the rocks below. But here's a quote I like from Louis: "In my entire lifetime I have never seen animal tracks going across one of those types of snowbanks. That has to mean something." ...and another quote: "I don't EVER want that to happen again!"

This view was taken from our camp site in the trees, just below where the left wing is being stored. The wreckage is just to the right of center. Debris was found scattered as high as the bottom edge of the snowbank, indicating that the impact happened up in those steep cliffs, around the area where the snow remains.

Here I was being very brave, taking my pack off to extract my cell phone for this photo. My sense of balance is not keen and the weight of the pack could have sent me careening down the cliff. In the foreground you can see the loose scrabble that needs to be avoided. Beyond the scrabble, at about eye level, is the far side of the snowbank we used for sliding up airplane parts.

Looking to my left and down, I can see a blue dot in the trees above the photo's center. That's my four-man backpacking tent. Below center and slightly to the left is the fuselage, and at the tip of the trees at photo right center is a stash of airplane parts being staged to drag up across the big snowbank.

I think those rocks in the middle of that snowbank is where the impact happened.

Before I put my pack back on, here's what my route upward looked like. Lots of hand holds and lots of footing, but you need to watch out for the rocks that look solid but easily come loose.

This view from the top shows the mountain ridge to the east. The airplane clearly made it over those ridges, and they appear to be actually higher than this ridge. A significant drop in altitude, along with the fact that the propellor was not turning at impact, clearly indicates a mechanical malfunction.

From this same position, looking south, you can see the false top of Howell Mountain. The actual top is about 1/2 to 3/4 mile farther south. That false top is about 150 feet higher than the photo location.

Here's where I stood while pulling on the parachute cord that was attached to airplane parts. We pulled about 400 feet of cord before the item attached to it became visible over the curve of the snow. Sometimes the item would dig into the snow and the cord would stretch like a rubber band. Then it would break loose suddenly and begin sliding easily. We don't talk about walking out on that snow. What happened on the mountain stayed on the mountain. We only lost one wing piece and when it came dramatically crashing back down it went airborne for a few seconds. The wind at the top, and the rushing water at the bottom, along with the elasticity of the cord, made communication between top and bottom nearly impossible.

Here's a view from the top of the cliff, just before I began my descent.

Looking back up at that descent route from the staging location, it doesn't look too bad. I think the upward angle of the camera conceals the actual steepness of the slope.

This stark and solitary scene, featuring Aunt Hazel as she crested the top of the mountain, gives a hint of the immensity of the mountain.

Safely back in Cody, here is the crew, all cleaned up and showing off the two undamaged airplane parts we recovered. From left to right you see Auggie, Aunt Hazel, Louis, and Lief. Auggie and Louis are the ones who found the route to the crash site two years ago.

While in Cody we had some time to visit relatives we barely knew, including Lief's third cousin A.A. who is four years old and showing us how to properly use the "cleaning wand" (the radio antenna from the airplane).

Since she had Mama's cell phone she told us she wanted to take a "selfie" of us. ("Mama" Denise is my second cousin.)

Replacing a Cabin Air Filter on a 2006 Subaru Forester

There are SEVEN phillips head screws holding the glove box assembly, and that glove box is covering up the Cabin Air Filter. FIVE of the screws are exposed by opening the glove box.

The other TWO screws are found underneath the glove box assembly. This photo shows the bottom left corner of the glove box door, highlighted with the arrow, and the screw is circled.

The bottom right corner of the glove box door is indicated in this photo with the arrow. As you can see, the phillips head screw is holding more than just the glove box. It is also holding part of the dashboard cover, and I consider the entire thing the "glove box assembly" to include both the glove box and this part of the dashboard.

After removing the SEVEN screws, the dashboard assembly needs to be flexed so it will unhook from both above and below. Wiggle it around and you will figure it out. The next photo shows the fan housing and cabin air filter WITHOUT the glove box assembly in place.

The cover for the cabin air filter is now exposed and can be removed by unclipping two snaps at the bottom and unhooking it from the two top hooks. The cover plate has been outlined in red to help identify it, and the two bottom snaps are indicated with the arrows. Notice that there is a wiring harness in the way on the right side. It makes removal/replacement of the filter just a little bit difficult.

This is a close up of the filter cover plate. Again the cover is circled in red and the snaps at the bottom are indicate with arrows, but the two hooks at the top are also identified here. Pull the bottom of the two bottom snaps back toward yourself to unsnap them, then wiggle the cover plate and you will see how it comes loose from the upper hooks.

In this final photo you can see the rear edge of the cabin air filter cartridge. It simply slides out when you pull on it. Push the wiring harness on the right out of the way to get the cartridge out. Notice that there is an "UP" indicator on the edge of this filter cartridge. Don't get that confused with the direction of air flow, which is actually DOWN. When you take out the old filter you will see that all of the dirt is on TOP of the filter cartridge, so it is obvious which way the air is flowing.

Angry Skies

I thought I was taking a photo of our big oak tree, but the sky looked so angry in the background that I decided it's a photo of the sky as well.

Renton Antique Auto Show

Last weekend we attended the Antique Auto Show in Renton for the first time. Here are some photos of my favorite cars.

Hummingbird Wings

Here is an awesome photo of a hummingbird in our back yard. You can see the wings in mid-stroke as they scull from front to back.

To put the picture in perspective, here is the full frame. So you can see the bird's food supply, the red flowers, and you can see how really tiny he(she) is.

Cutting Down Alder Trees

Last weekend I helped cut down about six Alder trees. It's the most Alder tree cutting I've done since I was a teenager. This photo is proof that I am still able to stand up straight afterwards... ...and it's a nice three-generation photo.

Competition For Maria Parker

Here is evidence that a mermaid can ride a front wheel drive recumbent bicycle. All persons in attendance agreed that she looked a lot like Maria Parker. Maria, by the way, set another course record yesterday at Bessie's Creek, going 457.7 miles in 24 hours. I can hardly wait to see what this mermaid can do when she gets shoes for the clipless pedals.

Home Made Bow and Arrows

The bow in this photo was originally a reject during some experimental bow making that happened a few years ago. I found it in my wood scrap heap the other day and added some nylon twine to make a fairly decent archery bow. We needed arrows so we cut some Maple branches and whittled them down. We added some wing feathers that we found in the yard and they turned out to be fairly decent arrows.

Here's proof that even the Wee One can handle the bow and arrow. She struggled at first but eventually was able to shoot the arrow about thirty yards and make it stick into the ground.

Maple Tree Flowers

Did you ever notice the flowers in a Bigleaf Maple tree? They're green so they don't really look like flowers. They hang like a cluster of grapes. The actual flowers are about the size of blueberries but they're green. In this photo you can see how big they are relative to the size of my hand.

In this close-up photo you can see some of the detail of the flower. It has pistils protruding and a fuzzy grey ball inside the outer green shell.

Here you can see the whole cluster and how it hangs from the branch. This specimen is a little leggy since it is growing under the shade of a large Douglas Fir tree. Later, in the Summer and Fall, these flowers will turn into those winged seeds that fly like helicopters. As a child I would spend hours climbing in Maple trees and picking those seeds to watch them fly down.

Fire Drill

Ever since I was about ten years old I wanted to be able to start a fire using a fire drill. That's two pieces of wood rubbed together until they're hot enough to catch fire. Well now I have encountered a WONDERFUL eleven year old great nephew who is interested in doing that too. So now I have justification.

I started with a Google search of "how to" videos, then started corresponding with my youthful co-conspirator. We both looked at the videos and saw what we had to build: A hand board, a hearth board, a wooden drill, and a bow.

He was successful before I was, by getting the wood hot enough to smoke. He sent me a photo and to my alarm I saw he was doing this on his hardwood bedroom floor. Yikes! Fortunately I found out that his mother was watching and she stopped him before he burned a hole in the floor.

So I found some appropriately sized pieces of scrap wood and made an attempt myself. In this photo you can see the lubricated hand board, the friction burned drill tip and hearth board, and the little pile of dark brown, burned wood shavings.

In this third photo you can see how I held everything together, on top of a five gallon paint bucket. I'm too old to get down on one knee. Hey, but I got smoke on my first attempt!

Milkmaid Yoke

My niece is milking goats and sheep, and has been struggling to carry the buckets of milk from the milking shed to her house. So she asked me if I could carve a "bucket-carrying" yoke for her. This yoke isn't exactly like the American "milk maid" yokes that completely cover the shoulders, but possibly more like the Asian style which is more like a narrow stick carried across the shoulders. The wood I chose for this project was a stem of Hazel wood that grew with a natural slight bow in the middle.

One of the hooks is made from a forked branch I pruned off my Pear tree and the other, straighter hook, was pruned off my Oak tree. The idea for the hooks came from Roy Underhill, the host of the The Woodright's Shop TV show.

Cedar River Flood: Dec 2015

It has been raining for several days now, not very heavy but consistently, at the rate of about two inches per day. It's too warm to make snow in the mountains, so it's all coming down the rivers. They say it has been accumulating six inches per day in the mountains, so that's a lot of water coming down the rivers.

This flood isn't nearly as bad as the November flood about twenty years ago but it's still awesome. The muddy water is up to the top of the planter boxes in these photos and the high water mark is three to six inches higher. So the crest of the flood has passed. Whew!