February flowers bring February snow

Just two days ago the first flower blossom of spring came out.

And last night the snow came.

Poor little flowers.

First flower blossom and snow!

I've shown you two photos from the past two months as the flowers have started showing up around my apartment since early January.

As I am typing this it is currently snowing outside my window. When I snapped this photo it was really coming down.

And the weather people are saying to expect up to 6 inches by tomorrow night. But shhhh....don't tell the flowers.

The first one just bloomed today.

Dutch Winter

This is a pretty neat video about what the Dutch do for fun in the winter.

Building an igloo time lapse

With winter here why not try something new on your next campout. Just because the snow is here doesn't mean you have to stop camping. But maybe this time, leave the tent at home and build an igloo.

Snow hike

If you're not in the Northwest then you might not know about the arctic freeze that hit our area the last few days.

Well, yesterday while most of the Seattle area was scared stiff cause of the ice and the snow, the Northern Rangers headed up Poo Poo Point for a hike.

And it was very much worth it.

The weather was sunny but in the 20's. However, the view was awesome. Snow all through the valley.


One thing that did surprise us was that when were up there, two paragliders showed up. They were getting set up when we headed down and we saw them land in the snow right as we finished our decent. Check it out:

Snowstorm time lapse

Report has it that Polson, Montana got snow today. Welcome to Montana Brandon.

A Skiers Journey

Winter is just around the corner and soon snow will be falling in the mountains.

Until then, check out this film by Jordan Manley called A Skiers Journey.

There are some truly beautiful scenes in it.

Glacier National Park: Part Two

Here is Part Two of mine and Brandon's trip to Glacier National Park.

This is our hike to Hidden Lake.

Part Two includes: hiking to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park, Logan Pass, Brandon chased by a goat and beautiful views.



Watch Part One here.

Outdoor Photo of the Week: Mount Shuksan

This week our Outdoor Photo of the Week is from Rakesh Malik. Here's a bit about the photo:

In early March, I went to Mount Baker and parked at the Bagley Lakes trailhead. There were a lot of people there, with snowshoes, skis, snowboards, and sometimes just boots. Oddly, the crowd thinned out drastically near Artist Point; I suppose most of the visitors were interested in the sport rather than in the view.

This is a picture of Mount Shuksan as the sun set. I used a Nikon d300 with a manual focus Nikon 105mm f/2.5 lens, and stitched 14 images together.

To view more of Rakesh's work, you can visit http://www.whitecranephotography.com or http://www.flickr.com/baratheon.

Think you've got a great outdoor photo? Want to see it hosted on Just South of North? Send your submissions to justsouthofnorth@gmail.com.

Please include your name, a short caption about the photo (date, location, and what makes it special) and your location.

Check back each Sunday for a new Outdoor Photo of the Week.

Campus Rail Jam Tour 2010

I was cruising around the internet today looking at snowboarding stuff. Why? Because everyone was talking about Shawn White and the Olympics today.

Anyway, I came across this site about Campus Rail Jam 2010. And imagine my surprise to see which schools they are going to but none other than Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington on March 18. (Why they didn't choose Eastern is beyond me. I mean seriously, Eastern is getting red football turf)

The site was pretty neat and the event seems like a lot of fun. Their first stop was the University of Arizona. Yes, Arizona of all places for snow. But I guess that if Vancouver can bring in truckloads of snow for the Olympics, why couldn't U of A bring in a few loads for a rail jam.

You can follow this link to view video from the event in Arizona. The female host is super annoying, but snowboarding in the heat and sun looks like fun.

(This is from Just Northwest)

Climber's body found on St. Helens

The body of climber Joseph Bohling has been recovered from Mount St. Helens.

Apparently Bohling fell into the crater of St. Helens while posing for a photo near the edge. The snow he was standing on gave way and he plummeted 1,500 feet into the crater.

Rescue teams were immediately called into the area but high winds and increasingly bad weather conditions forced them to delay the search until today.

According to the news site, his body was found on a ledge of the south crater, nearly covered in snow.

This is a tragedy on many levels. I feel for the climber's family and my heart goes out to the them.

This is another warning that cornices (snow overhangs) are not stable and at no time should be approached. All over the Mount St. Helens climbing site there are warning after warning about not approaching the crater of the mountain.

Cornices are unstable and prone to sudden failure. Extreme caution is advised! Do not approach the crater rim unless you can find a wind-scoured area where the surface of the rim is visible. The crater rim is unstable and is subject to frequent rockfall and collapse. Stay back from the crater edge, it is potentially hazardous at any time of year (especially during the period of elevated avalanche danger and rockfall during the spring thaw).

Especially during avalanche and spring thaw.

While it may only be mid-February right now, the weather outside is like mid-spring. It was almost 60 today just outside of Seattle. Not your typical winter weather.

That means the snow is becoming less stable and the spring melt isn't far away.

It is truly sad that the search ended the way it did.

(This is from Just Northwest)

Epic Video: White Style 2010

It was another beautiful day in Washington today. And I was wishing I was outside mountain biking.

Yet, for as lovely as a winter as we've had in the Northwest, a lot of the country has been having snow. So they are still thinking about snowboarding season at the moment.

But what if you combined the snow and mountain biking? Well, then you'd get this:



(This is from Just Northwest)

Epic Photos: Winter vs. Spring

For those of you who don't know, Punxsutawney Phil (the most famous Groundhog of all) saw his shadow yesterday.

That means that there will be six more weeks of winter.

However, the Ground Frog from Sammamish, WA didn't see his shadow. I'm not sure who to believe. A frog or a rodent. Hmmm....

One thing that I do know though is that winter has been very mild in Washington this year. So mild that it feels like spring. But in other places of the nation winter has been fierce.

Here's some pictures that my Aunt sent me. These are of North Dakota the other day:



And these are some pictures of our winter in Washington that my dad sent me today. Can you see a difference?



(This is from Just Northwest)

Ski resorts to donate to Haiti relief

I saw this over on The Adventure Guys site and thought it was really great.

Are you looking for something to do on Saturday? Then why not head to the slopes for some fresh powder and to donate to the relief effort in Haiti.

Two Washington resorts, Crystal Mountain and The Summit at Snoqualmie, both operated by Boyne Resorts, will be donating $1 from every lift ticket sold on Saturday, January 16, to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund.

According to the Crystal Mountain site, they've received six inches of new snow in the last 24 hours and have 39 inches at the base.

And at The Summit at Snoqualmie, they've received a little over an inch of new snow in the last 24 hours and have 52 inches at the base.

So hit the slopes this weekend for some exercise and to support a great cause.

(This is from Just Northwest)

Outdoor Photo of the Week: St. Helens winter

We took a drive up to Mt. St. Helens. This photo was taken just before coldwater lake. The mountain looks so peaceful...for now. Photo by Heather Roslie/ Winlock, WA.

Click on the photo to make it larger.

Think you've got a great outdoor photo? Want to see it hosted on Just South of North? Send your submissions to justsouthofnorth@gmail.com.

Please include your name, a short caption about the photo (date, location, and what makes it special) and your location.

Check back each Sunday for a new Outdoor Photo of the Week.

Outdoor Photo of the Week: First snow

I snapped these photos while I was out at my parent's house in Buckley, WA today. The weatherman had been threatening that it'd snow over this weekend. And sure enough, it did. Buckley is about 700 feet in elevation. When we were heading home, the snow stopped once we got off the plateau.

Oh, and the Christmas light I just thought was a neat photo.

Click on the photo to make it larger.

Think you've got a great outdoor photo? Want to see it hosted on Just South of North? Send your submissions to justsouthofnorth@gmail.com.

Please include your name, a short caption about the photo (date, location, and what makes it special) and your location.

Check back each Sunday for a new Outdoor Photo of the Week.

Epic Photo: Snowshoe

It's the weekend. Hit the trail.

Finally Friday

That's right faithful JustSON Nation, it is Friday. That means in just about 10 hours you are free for the weekend. FREE!

Here's an idea of what you could do:

Gotta love snow.

100 percent chance of snow on Friday in Spokane

Wonders of wonders, it IS going to snow about 1 to 3 inches in Spokane tomorrow. If you know anything about the area, you know the past two years this town has been absolutely slammed with snow.

Normally I wouldn't bat an eye at 1 to 3 inches of snow, but I now have a car that has small tires and low clearance... basically a recipe for getting stuck. Oh boy.

We'll see how things go, otherwise I'll be stuck somewhere in Spokane covered in snow.

(And while Casey claims to be the "outdoor guy" he doesn't have to deal with snow like idea. What a poser.)

You know winter is coming when...

1. Casey thinks twice about wearing his Speedo to the pool. For some reason he likes imitating 80-year olds and wears a Speedo even though nobody wants him to wear a Speedo because it scares small children.

2. When you wake up in the morning and look outside, it looks like "The Mist" or "Scary Creepy-arse Fog" or "This is what the Earth is going to look like in 50 years thanks to pollution." Seriously, Spokane turns into that creepy town from "Silient Hill" after October in the monring. Somebody should study this and make sure the town isn't built on some sort of Indian Burial Ground.

3. More Canadians start popping up everywhere.

4. Christmas decorations... in the store... everywhere. Wait until the music starts and you'll be freaking out like Bill O'Reilly taping a bad "Inside Edition" promo.

5. Blue. Balls. CRAP!

6. Even the Spokies are starting to dress up like the climbers who summited Everest. (On a side note: Do Spokies have some sort of special thick skin, because have you seen how cold it gets outside in Spokane AND these people are still out there. You'd think they could just find a foreclosed hourse or burn the falling dollar for heat.)

7. Ultimate Frisbee guy dissapears.

8. Drunk skier guy that brags about being a hill pro appears. Still unable to pick up women.

9. Malt Liquor becomes popular again. People just want to numb their senses and this glorified engine grease is the best way to do it.

10. Les Schwab employees start getting that "1,000 yard" stare because they're getting swamped with a rush not unlike the Isrealites leaving Egypt.