C-man saves the season!

Well, we were starting to think that we may not get anything this year. I missed a bear a week ago. We'd had a chance at another bear last thursday and the deer had all but disappeared...... Things just wern't falling into place. Just the way it goes sometimes.
Lucky for us Chuck never quits or gives up. His persistance finally paid off yesterday!


As the story goes........
Just as Chuck was to call it a day and start on the trail back to the rig there was the big forky standing beside the trail. (as a side note, we'd seen this deer in the preseason several times, and we're amazed at the size of his body) The deer initally bolted but, after a little cat and mouse Chuck got his chance.
So with 30 min. of daylight left the work began!
It took Chuck and Aaron quite some time to get that old guy out of there. You seen Aaron tore his A.C.L. this last spring, and isn't of much help, except to pack the guns out so......The C-man , manned up, cut the deer in half, he put half in his pack, and drug the other half all the way back to the rig (about 4 miles)! His saving grace was there was a foot of snow, and mostly down hill to help with the pulling otherwise it would have been a two trip deal.

My part of the story comes in at 11:30 i hear my cell phone make a beep and i just happened to be up putting Kai back down to sleep. So, decided to look at the phone. I see there's a text message......from chuck.....asking "you still up?"....my response was something to the affect of "I am now....dip-shit" so, that prompted a phone call only to find out he'd poped the big one and could use a hand getting it out of the rig since Aaron lives upriver and had already been dropped off. So.....at midnight i made my way over the chuck's house to help him get this toad out of the truck and hung up in the garage.

By 1:30 a.m. i was back home, in bed, with a big smile on my face. Our season had been saved, and Chuck, the most deserving of us all, had harvested the big boy! Man, what a season!


I might also add that this deer is OLD! He had hardly any teeth left in his mouth, and what were left were worn down to numbs. We think we saw this deer last year but, he was a 4 point then. We suspect he'd regressed this year due to his age. Now that being said, old deer like that are known to be just a weeeeeee bit tough, sooooooo I think we're going to have a LOT of lanjeager to make!


So, from the North.......were persistance pays off.....and the right men get their bucks too!


Mark......The Iron Skillet

One of my Favorites

Well, this isn't my favorite thing to do but, this post is about one of my favorite people.

Gary Jones, my mom's uncle, or my Great Uncle, passed away this last Tuesday and it has truly shocked us all. Gary will be missed greatly but, one thing is for sure-he'll NEVER be forgotten. He created too many memories for too many people for that to happen.

I heard about Gary's passing Tuesday night from mom and dad. I was shocked, as most were, and as I went to sleep that night I shed more than one tear as I thought of Mr. Jones.

While trying to get to sleep that night I continued to think more and more about Gary and the following day I decided I needed to do something to remember him by. Just for me, for some closure, to share with others how I said MY "goodbye" to Gary.

For the last couple of years I'd had this awesome picture hanging up at work. A picture of Gary, holding a beer, giving the thumbs up, with a GIANT load of wood in his truck. I labeled the picture simply "A big load-a-wood". I looked at that picture often, among that mass of other fishing and hunting pictures taped to our office walls. That one always caught my eye though, and I found myself sharing "A Big Load-A-Wood" with others on more than one occasion.

Wednesday afternoon, before heading home, I took that picture off the wall and sealed it up in a ziploc bag for now i had a plan.

I was to go hunting on Thursday, with two good friends. We were headed in on a long hike into my "Favorite" of "Favorite" spots- the "Canyon Ridge Bowl". There isn't a more fitting spot for me to honor Gary, than by taking him with me on that trip.

My goal was to find a nice sized fir tree, with one hell of a view, and tack Gary's picture to the base of that tree, shed a few tears, and say my goodbye.......and that's exactly what i did!

Here is where i left Gary, a view looking up from the bottom of the bowl. From here he can see all the Bear, Dear, cougar and Goats that will roam threw this basin almost every day.

Here he is tacked to the tree, under a few branches so he won't get to wet on those rainy days.

A picture of one of the biggest trees in the bottom, that also had the best view.

It snowed that morning, just a little, this is a shot looking back to the east. This picture doesn't do it justice on how pretty it was that morning.

A little while later, the snow had melted, but the sun was out and I snapped a picture to the North.

And then another shot looking down into the bottom where Gary was to be pinned up.

And last, before I pinned up my only picture of "A Big Load-A-Wood" I had to take a picture of it.

So here's to you Gary. You'll be missed, but NEVER forgotten. May you have clams to dig, deer/elk to chase, fish to catch, and wood to cut.

From the North.......where Great men are missed but always remembered....and we shed tears too.

Mark.....The Iron Skillet

Old School

As i'm sure you've all heard or read. Nicole has really crunched the budget this year. Due to both daycare costs and my 1/2 time employment. So sacrifices have had to be made. For me this comes in the form of Coffee! I LOVE coffee, and more so i like GOOD coffee. Unfotunatly, good coffee is expensive.....(i.e. not in the budget). So the solution has been FOLGERS. In all honesty i HATE folgers! I think it tastes like rancid, acidic, CRAP! BUT......i'd rather drink that than no coffee at all. So this week, i started on Folgers. The first pot in the regular drip coffee maker took some more hair off my head, and added hair where i really don't need any more...but...i won't go there.

After that first day of black acid tar i started thinking of ways to make this coffee taste better. That's when i found myself remembering last Feburary's fishing trip with dad in the camper. We used the Perculator coffee pot, and had FOLGERS and as my fadeing memory served me right....it tasted pretty good.
That's all it took for me.....so to the shop i went on a search and destroy mission and eventually found my old perk pot, and hastily mixed and matched parts until i had it put back together.
On Tuesday morning, the old pot was set to work, and Wa-la.....i've got some pretty good tasting coffee once again!

I have to say i'm quite pleased. The Elec. coffee maker has been put in the shop, and "old Faithfull" has found a new position in the kitchen.

So...From the North.....Where we say "Bring on the Folger's", make sure to drink it pipeing hot, and go "Old School" too!


Mark......"The Iron Skillet"

Dad's Rule's

Well today found me and Kai at home together once again. The poor boy has had the "swine flu" for 4 or 5 days now, and as of yesterday it was his first day without a fever. So even though he's fever free, it prompted another day home with dear old dad....or as people at my 1/2 time survey job call me.....Marty Stewart, the "Iron Skillet" of MEN! I don't mind, i like my kids and as said b4 sick or not time spent with my kids is a good thing....and sooooooo what if i like to cook, cann produce, and sometimes clean house too! Speaking of cleaning house check out "Bub". Looks like my diligence is paying off!

What's that you might ask? Well, this afternoon, both "Bub" and i were a little stir crazy so i started on dinner, and i gave the little man a box of trix ceral, gated off the deck so there were no dogs to bother him (it was 60 deg. this afternoon!....so no lecture's PLEASE), I put on his heavy coat and shoes, and gave him the deck to have to himslef.
Well, as you can see is didn't take him long to dump the trix, wander back inside and aquire the broom and head back out to "clean things up"......in "bub's" words this comes across as "bmaodfrejofhdoiangoehfiojfrt" don't worry i understood everything! Remember.....i'm Marty Stewart/Iron skillet man! I found the broom, and sent him on his way.

Where might he be sweeping such excess food you might ask? Well, to the two overweight, out of shape, a.k.a. FAT dogs waiting for a tasty morsel! Rember, i gated the deck for NO dogs. Well, to my dismay, that stops neither DOG nor BOY when it comes to food. Needless to say, ALL of them had a good feast!

Don't worry, a boy has to "smash" a few b4 the old dogs get any! An up close shot of Kai, his CLOD STOMPERS, and smashed TRIX!

An "UT OH" shot of the so called "accedient" in progress.

Look at this action photo of "First sight of The Droppings". Notice the look on both "old man Jed's" face and Kai's. Is that looks of Surprise, or Fortune? You be the judge!

From the North.....Where we get sick......battle though it.....get better......and feed dogs too!

Mark.....a.k.a......Marty Stewart......a.k.a........Iron Skillet!

Say Hello To My Little Friend!

Well, here she is in all her glory. The new (to me) boat has arrived! What a monster! I used to think the 20' aluminum boat was a big boat (and it was) but this boat is in another class all together! All i can say is WOW! That and a big "THANK YOU" to mom and dad.
This boat has lots of meaning to all of us, especially to Nicole. This boat was her grandfathers boat, the last one he ever bought and the only one that was ever brand new. He purchased her from Yeagers sporting goods where, Alice (his wife/Nicole's grandma) worked and where Nicole and I first met. So......she has a long story of staying within family. It's good to see her back in Bellingham once again.

Mom and Dad had a safe journey on Friday on their trip up North, making it here by noon. By 1 p.m. we had the boat in the hole and ready for the "hand off" pictures.

Needless to say, i was pretty darned excited!

But, before the change of hands was made official we had to seal the deal with a little boat transfer "bottle". Dad broke out this 5th of Jack Daniels as the bottle to be.

He then proceded to douse her liberaly with a little "brown juice" to give her some good fish mojo and to ensure safe transport in all types of weather.

Needless to say we both partook of a few "pulls" off the bottle too!

So....Signing off from the North

Where boats get bigger, The saying of Thank you isn't enough, and we drink Whiskey too!

Mark...."The Iron Skillet"

Blue Sky, Berries, Bears....and SNOW!

Well, I had this post all planned out but, for some reason this bloger program won't let me move my pictures around this morning.....so..... I guess i'll kind of go in reverse order here today.

Yesterday I found myself with a day off, and some time to get up into the hills to do a little hunting. What an amazing weather shift we've had here in the last week! As i parked at the trailhead yesterday morning i was greated to that soft crunch of new snow as i stepped out of the truck. Man i love this time of year! So, i dawned my gear and headed up, up, and up some more until once again i came out on "The Ridge" as we call this spot. What a cool hike. Nothing like hiking in deep timber, in the dark, in the snow and then pop out into a giant meadow basin filled with snow!

This isn't the most conducive for bear hunting, but with Deer season only a few short weeks away i wanted to check on a couple of Bucks that we've had a hunch would be hanging out in this basin. Sure enough, it didn't take me long and i found them. I wish i could have taken a picture of these two old grand bucks, but my battery died in the camera and the distance they were at wouldn't have done them any justice. Let's just say they were BIG! I watched them feed for over an hour and then eased back out of the area and messed around in another basin for a few more hours before heading back to the truck and back home by 4 to greet the family and have dinner going.


I love this time of year for the fact we go from summer to fall in a short weeks worth of time!
Look at this picture from just last Sunday. Although it did freeze up here that morning, it was 65 deg. at 2 p.m. when i took this picture!

This spot is refered to as "The Secret Trail". Good name huh? The seceret in this spot is there is NO trail! Anyway, no bears this day either. We ended up near the top of the rock that morning before asulting a few other spots and heading back to the meadow for some water and the trek back out to the rig. Chuck and I did manage to each fill two containers full of blueberries while we hiked around. Nothing like those berries. So sweet and tasty this time of year! Once home and sorted i ended up with 6 cups worth......just enough for a blueberry pie for Thanksgiving!

The Berry picking was really brought on the day before by these three chracters.

My friend Chuck his wife Minda and there two kids Jake and Livy invited Isa and I up to pick some berries and have some lunch on the mountian last Saturday. Actually Kai and Nicole were invited too, but Kai was sick that day so, they opted to stay home and rest. So Isa and i are never ones to pass up a chance to hit the hills so away we went.

Isa really likes Livy, and had to have a picture with her. So the wish was granted.

While i had the camera out, i might as well try and get a good picture of Isa with Mt. Baker in the background. I told Isa to smile.......and well, she did.......I call this her Cheezy smile.....eyes closed and all!

Not to be distracted for to long, we had some berries to pick right....so pick Isa, pick!

After not to long i here this little inocent soft voice say...."Look dada i pick berries" so i had to get a picture of that too.

Most of Isa's berries were consumed before they ever made it into the container, Jake and Livy's berries had the same fate. The kids had fun though, and a good time was enjoyed by all.

So with that, i'll wrap this up.

From the North.....Where blue skys are filled with snow and blue berries taste good too!

Mark...."The Iron Skillet"