Sports photographer for the weekend

Presidents Day weekend is a big weekend for the Methow Valley. While it's a three-day weekend for us, many Seattle area schools have the whole week off, so hotels and cabins are full, and several fun sports events keep things interesting.

 I ran around the valley photographing the snow sports (not normally my beat) because the sports editor was over in Tacoma covering the state wrestling championships.

I shot folks getting on the bus for the Tour of the Methow:

Loading up the school bus before a day of skiing.

The Tour of the Methow is a Nordic Club event that celebrates some of the best ski trails in the valley. These folks were taking the bus up to Cub Creek to start a minimum 30-kilometer ski. I met some of them on the trail heading for Winthrop later that afternoon - (when the weather had changed from snowy to warm and sunny) - on the tail end of a 60-K leg. They had been moving, with some rest stops, I'm sure, for around six hours by that time.

Just for the record, I am NOT one of those skiers.

Next, I shot photos of the Snowshoe Softball tournament.

Making a dive for third base.

Snowshoe softball is ALL about the running, diving and fielding.

These teams come back for the tournament every year. Most are from the west side of the mountains, so they are delighted to be getting all snowy.

Second base action

Rad first base woman

The third - and final - fun photo assignment was on Sunday morning at the Doggie Dash. You pretty much can't take a bad photo there. Here are some fun ones:

Some of the costume finalists (after the heats were skied, so I'm going backwards here).

Kristen Smith in roller derby garb with Kurt Meachum as referee.

Kelly Schuh, young winner of Best in Show award. She gets to keep the Golden Poodle statue for the year.

Kelly becomes painfully aware of the hazards of having dogs on the sidelines during her heat.

I love that the dogs get into it as much as the people.

Conconully Super Mush 2012

Musher Roy Etnire of Seeley Lake, Montana finishes a 23-mile race.

On Saturday (Jan. 21) I explored the world of Northwest sled dog racing in Conconully, Wash. with fellow Methow Valley News reporter Marcy Stamper. It was the first time either of us had been to the Conconully Super Mush, which is now in its 11th year. We were thrilled to be there, and I would recommend it as an unusual addition to the many snow sport events available around here.

The three-day event attracted mushers and their teams from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana in four events: the 32-mile 12-dog sled race; the 23-mile (mid) six-dog sled race; the 12-mile (sporting) six-dog sled race; and the nine-mile one-or two-dog skijor.

The Okanogan National Forest terrain is forested and hilly with the highest point of the race being Scheiner Creek at 4400 feet elevation. The steepest section gains 1000 feet in three miles.

Alaskan huskies (a mutt breed to be sure) alert to the possibility of treats while recovering from their exertions.

Matt Hamel of Seattle and his team come in strong after a 12-mile run.

Thad McCracken and his huskies traveled to the race from Hood River, Oregon.

McCracken prepares a hot meal for his team in the parking lot shortly after the race.

Kimberly Blanchard of Seattle came in smiling along with her happy dog after the solo nine-mile skijor.

Mikki Douglas gives her labs some love after the skijor.

Kevin Creager of the French Creek neighborhood in the lower Methow Valley, finishes the skijor.

Kevin Creager was the only Methow Valley contender. This was his third year in the Super Mush and his first time in the skijor event. The last two years he entered a six-dog sled team.

Creager described the conditions as "really mushy and super slow with six inches of fresh snow on top of the groomed trail."

Creager is a fisheries biologist working on salmon recovery on the Entiat River near Chelan. He got into sled dog racing eight years ago. The dogs he raced on Saturday (pictured) were rescue dogs from Idaho, he said.

"The coolest thing is to take a dog from a bad situation and let it do what it was meant to do," Creager said.

Resting up under the truck after a day of racing. 

Nordic team snowball fight

Mazama Corral trailhead

Thirty-seven kids ages 6 to 11 participated in last week's three-day Nordic camp in Mazama. I observed their comings and goings from my post at the Corral parking lot, working as a trail ambassador that day.

After three hours of skiing, the kids and coaches came in for lunch at the Community Hall and parked their gear alongside the trailhead.

I was in the right place at the right time after lunch in order to photograph an impromptu snowball fight outside the Mazama Community Hall. Here is what transpired.

Don't shoot the photographer!

2011 Doggie Dash

A little starting line showdown.

The Methow Valley Nordic Club's Doggie Dash is a zany, off-the-wall event which delights spectators and participants, locals and out-of-towners.  Held at the Winthrop Town Trailhead on Sunday of President's Day weekend, this year's celebration of nordic skiing and dogs boasted excellent snow conditions and brilliant, sunny weather.

Participants on skis ranged from Emmet Bondi at age 3-ish, to full-fledged senior citizens reacquainting themselves with their inner child.

Karla Segale as entomologist, left, Susan Pritchard in striped leggings, right.

Four-legged racers included Karla Segale's petit black and white Pappilon (weighing no more than 8 pounds in butterfly wings), and a couple of monstrous Bernese mountain dogs.  Thanks to far-sighted planning, the tots only compete against other children, and the tiny dogs are not asked to run with the Titans.

Separate prizes are given for costumes and speed; one need not be a champion skier to compete.

The rules, written by the Nordic Club, are as follows:  Dogs must be on a leash.  You must start and finish with the same dog.  Imaginative costumes suggested for both you and your dog. 

The only costume-related liability I observed was Dave Ford's dog becoming hobbled by its Spandex cape.  Other mishaps included crossed leashes leading to trips and falls, and a number of dogs and owners crossing the finish line as separate, disconnected entities.  I observed no tears, but lots of smiles and good-natured ribbing.  

Danbert Nobacon, left, John Spaude, right, Teri Pieper with camera in the background.

The photo opportunities were boundless; however, my little camera had some trouble keeping up with the speed of events, and suffered a bit from the low temperatures.  To view a professional slideshow of this year's event, check out Teri Pieper's blog.

Man versus nature

Beautiful Beacon's beach

Ahhh . . . beautiful Southern California!  The beaches go on forever, and you barely even notice when the seasons change.  It's a luxurious January getaway for those of us who live in the frozen north, who fend off nature's winter assaults by relocating snow with shovels or huge machines, and burning lots of carbon-based fuels to stay warm.

Did I mention that the January sun shines warmly in San Diego? Except for when it rains, a lot, like this year, but I'll get into that in a second.

Blue skies, brown pelicans, and big bluff-top homes.

If you have plenty of money, (or you got in when the market was low) you can own real estate in a Southern California beach community.  If you are wealthy, you and your neighbors can perch your homes atop the bluff overlooking the blue Pacific ocean.  What could be better than al fresco dining on your own spacious deck above the sea?

Frank climbing the trail post surf session.

Pesky ominous sign.

Bluff-top homes with elaborate beach-access stairs

If you are the proud owner of beach-front property, why would you mess with the public beach access (as fine as it is)?  At Beacon's Beach, for example, public access comes with a long walk down a switch-backy trail, and pesky ominous signs about bluff erosion.

Naturally, the smart homeowner desires private access to the beach. People construct some pretty amazing stairways to get themselves, their kids, and their gear down to beach level.  Here are some groovy examples.

I love the rock work on this one.

Pretty slick; you can pull up the gangplank at the end of the day.

Did I mention that it has been raining a lot in SoCal this year?  Yeah.  It started in October and pretty much rained on and off for months.  This has saturated the soil, and any bits of earth that are not covered with concrete are showing signs of erosion.  Bluff slippage has been going on for years, no surprise, and homeowners have used some creative techniques to slow the inexorable forces of water and gravity.

Concrete and lots of trips to Home Depot.

Plastic sheeting - probably a stop-gap measure.

New concrete retaining walls with groundcover sandwiched between.

The neighbors went with the same builder.

Among the many pleasures of beachcombing along this stretch of shore, is acting as amateur archaeologist.  The tiny strip of cobbles and sand is filled with the artifacts of homeowners' attempts at shoring up their bits of paradise.  I'll wrap up this blog post with some photos of my peripatetic excavations.

I imagine these seemed pretty sturdy at the time.

Notice the prehistoric concrete stairs on the sand.

I'm so sorry.