Mietzke's Holden Adventure

Today was my day off and I hiked up copper basin with two new friends Ani and Steph. We left at about nine and hiked for about an hour and a half. Most of the trail was very steep and since we have not had fresh snow in two weeks it was quite slick in places packed sown smooth. It was a beautiful clear morning and the temperature was somewhere around ten degrees which made hiking very bearable. I even shed a sweater half way up. On our Way up to the basin we went passed the mine which looks like the bones of some ancient giant creature towering out of the snow on a steep bank. I kept thinking if the mine could talk it would have some very interesting stories to tell. Its shell is rusty brown iron and grey cement walls streaked with rust and greenish blue run off from the copper. The same color of the walls on the tunnel off of Rustin Way, in Tacoma. On our way up we played a game where we tried to picture what Kind of animal the other people in the village would be if they were animals. Steph and Ani thought I was an otter.
We continued our hike through a thick stand of trees which helps us to remain safe from avalanche danger. This morning the avalanche risk was low anyway because we haven’t had any new snow and the temperature has been incredibly low.
We crossed one open Avalanche shoot at the bottom of the basin, and we crossed one by one so we could spot each other on the shoot in case of break away snow so if their was an avalanche and someone went down with it we could find them and dig them out. There was no avalanche today only extreme beauty. As we entered the basin all of the trees were covered with leafy frost that grows upwards on their branches like a coat of fur. We licked the frost off some of the trees and it tasted earthy. The peaks of the mountains were so close and the silence that gathered in the basin was thorough. We sat on a ground pad and ate eggs and drank warm water and took in the basin filled with snow, a creek, grand outcroppings of rock, frosty trees and a frozen bluish green waterfall up towards the top. We got up there before the sun had come into the basin and the snow walked its way down the cliffs and the avalanche shoots and moved the shadows around the basin. We sat in silence just taking it all in.
While we were eating some little birds began to flit from tree to tree. They were so tiny. How in the world do they stay warm in these temperatures and what do they eat? They seemed perfectly contented bringing twittery songs to the basin and flitting from branch to branch. After a while we began to get cold and headed down the hill. The way down was beautiful! We could see all the way down the valley to where the lake lies covered in a fog.
As we were walking the sun came out showering us with light. The snow sparkled and glittered and we headed down to the river to take pictures. The Ice on the river is amazing! There are several layers. As the water level goes down the rivers freezes lower and lower creating layers and layers of ice. In some places the ice lies in sheets several inches above the actual water and there are air pockets in the ice that change the patterns and the colors of the ice. I wish I could bottle this all up and bring it back to share but pictures really can’t capture the subtle details the shadows and the movement of this winter valley. I am amazed every day to get up and be here surrounded by constant gentle surprises.
When we got back Dave came up to the chalet with me for a while and we bathed in the sunlight streaming through our living room window and talked and talked. It was so good to be here together in the sun. We are both experiencing so many new things and sharing them has been so special!
The girlies finished their first semester of school and their embroidery teacher had a party for them in her chalet. They had cookies and got to explore Marve and Nancy’s house and had such a good time. They came home afterwards laughing and giggling with their friends. Jordyn has gone down to work on the snow fort for the next hour until supper and Nyrie and her friend Ellie are in the back room squeeking and squeeling, and in Nyrie fashion being such a silly.