Working Glass at the Karg Glass Works, Wichita, Kansas

Last April we traveled to Kansas, and while there our friends Bob and Nancy took us to the Karg Glass Works, near Wichita. There we learned that you could take a class on glass blowing and participate in the process of making a glass ornament and a heart shaped paperweight.

We thought it would be fun to investigate a different art medium and so when we returned this fall, we signed up for the class. Nancy and her cousins husband Mark, (a retired custom jewelry designer), also signed up for the classes, and we met at the glass works.

We were all nervous about working near one-thousand-degree molten glass, but we shouldn’t have as our glass master, NIc Dickin, warned us about the different parts of the foundry and wisely did not trust us near the molten glass blobs, (I was nervous about getting burned). Our participation was to pick the colors, watch the process, and blow through a tube to expand the material while it was being shaped.

We had already picked the colors and Nic showed us the cold glass fragments that would be melted into the molten material. Collecting a blob of molten glass, he spun it into a cylindrical shape before rolling it on a steel table with the glass colors. He then reheated the glass, spun it again and inserted it into a mold which gave the preform glass its ridges.

Next, he had us move to a spot where we would blow into the tube, (blow don’t inhale), as he manipulated it into the desired form, (either a heart or an ornament).

Adding a stem, the final step was to place the work into an annealing oven where it would cool to room temperature, about five days of slowly dropping temperatures. These finished pieces were not like the small works you see made at fairs.

The first series of images were taken while making an ornament and the second series were of making the heart shapes paperweight. This first image is of some of our glass master’s work. His work and others from around the country were for sale in the large gallery. The last two images are of my finished pieces, (we also got a glass disc made from excess glass and of course I had to wire wrap it into a piece of jewelry!

Driving to Kansas

Massive computer problems......It’s always a little sad when we leave our place in Wyoming, but friends and good times await. The timing was perfect this year, as no major snowstorm was approaching and instead, we hit the peak of the golden aspens. It was the perfect fall colors, (the maples have already lost their leaves, but the aspens were at their best. Crossing Salt Pass, Renita took picture after picture of the color. It’s not like the colors of the Midwest, but the gold contrast nicely with the lodgepoles, ponderosas, and other evergreens. Too soon we were crossing the Red Desert and the trees were replaced by sage brush flats. We did not spot any wild horses, but there were lots of antelope.

The next day we drove to North Platte. The days drive was on Interstate 80 and north of Elk Mountain, a spot where you often see winter pictures of snowbound cars and trucks. From there you cross the highest pass of any interstate just east of Laramie.

The next day we passed the World’s largest ball of twine and nearing our friend’s home in Newton, Kansas. We stopped for lunch at Rock City Park. The park is a private park and the rocks are large boulders made of aeoline cross bedded sandstones.

The different layers are typical of ancient sand dunes are quite a bit different from alluvial sand deposits, (river sands form a distinctly different pattern, called a herringbone pattern). The wind was rally gusting, so we quickly ate lunch and left for the short drive to Bob and Nancy’s house. Arriving, with the usual warm greetings, we unwound by taking a walk. Nancy had made reservations for us at the Karg Glass works. Nancy, Mark, and I had decided to take the class and make a couple of objects from the molten glass, but that’s the next post! Clear skies

Taggert Lake Loop, with Fred and Becky Fall 2022

This has been our best year for hiking. As usual, we struggled to regain our breath after spending six months at sea level. So, we took quite a few walks and played pickle ball to build up our stamina, and it worked as we hiked the String Lake Trail, Grand View Trail, and finally the Phelps Lake Trail.

Of the four the Grand View trail was the hardest, but we finally succeeded, (twice)! Our friends Fred and Becky were getting ready to leave but we talked them into joining us on a hike of the Taggert Lake Loop. It’s a three-point-eight mile loop, with an elevation gain of about five hundred feet, (about the same as climbing Devils Tower, although the climb of the Tower is a real serious climb). One year we encountered a bear on the Taggert Loop, and it almost ran over Fred. Now Fred was so busy taking pictures that he had no idea that the bear was close, until he lowered the camera and was face to face with a black bear. He stood up and the bear quickly took a detour around Fred. Each fall on this hike we hear the elk bugling in September as they are in the middle of the rut. As I had my hearing aids repaired, I wanted to test them by listening for the elk. Leaving early, the hike is heavily used, we arrived at the trail head and got a parking spot! A good omen! The first section of the trail is easy but once you cross the Taggert creek bridge it becomes steeper.

Fred and Becky passed us, but we did have to stop as much as previous years. In fact our stops were short and infrequent, and our friends did not have to wait as long for us. We realized all of our hiking had paid off and we reached Taggert Lake in our best time ever!

Crossing the bridge at the lake’s mouth we climbed further up, pausing for a quick picture of Renita and I surrounded by fall foliage, (thanks Becky).

At the apex of the hike the others could hear the elk bugling and finally I was able to hear the courtship calls and challenges.

To be able to hear again is an indescribable joy, and I wish some of my other family and friends would get their hearing tested as they are missing so much, (Ok C I will get off the soapbox). We headed down the trial and reached the place where Fred had his close encounter, but no bear. There were not any ripe berries or choke cherries and we did not see any for the rest of the hike.

We ate lunch and Becky discovered a plant called stink wart. It has lots of seed pods that attach to your, clothing and Renita and Becky took a while to pick all of the seeds off her clothing. It always neat to learn a new plant, especially if you are not the victim. The trail flattened out and a number of other hikers passed us, but it didn’t matter as we were not in any competition, (we were all over seventy years old). Tired and sore we reached the parking lot! Our philosophy is that there is a blessing in every day, (sometimes it hard to see), but not this day!

Fred and Becky had to leave but we stayed and went lookin for bears. We didn't find any bears but a steller jay posed after alertng us with his chatter! If you have never seen a steller jay they are larger than a blue jay and even more colorful than my picture. Clear skies.

Bears, eagles, and a hawk, another day with Jen in Grand Teton National Park

Jen wanted to see more bears so on her last day here we loaded up and returned to Grand Teton National Park. Arriving at the Moose entrance we drove to the pond armed ourselves with bear spray, and cameras and headed down the trail.

Not passing up any photo opportunity we noticed a caterpillar on the trail. Taking a quick pic we walked further, but no bears. On the way back we did watch a cooper hawk wheeling overhead and I got a few good pictures even though it was a long way away.

Back at the pond a group of people were staring at a tree across the way, and they told us a black bear cub was halfway up it. The sow had been visible, but it had walked into the thick underbrush. We couldn’t see the sow but Jen and Renita both spotted the cub. Meanwhile, I took a couple of pics, but I couldn’t see anything but branches, (a small black bear cub in a dark fir tree is tough to spot).

Resting by the car a bald eagle flew in and landed on a tall tree across the way. I had just put the camera away and so it took me awhile to reattach the 150-600 telephoto lens. Just before I was ready the eagle’s mate flew in and joined it!

They watched the ducks feeding in the pond below, but they never tried for a duck dinner, (at least while we were there, we did see an eagle at the Boundary waters try to take a duck but that one got away). We decided to make another drive down the road and on the return trip a bear management specialist stopped and turned on his lights. A Bear! We were the second of three cars from the bear management worker, and it took a bit before we were waved past. Now the black bear was quite a ways up the hillside and you could only see its head. Neither Jen or Renita saw it, or could see it enough for a picture. We turned around and by then the bear had disappeared into the brush.

Finding a good place to park we were discussing the day’s events, when Jen cried out, “Bear”! Sure enough, the bear had decided to climb the hill to the plateau. It started to run and quickly crested the ridge disappearing from sight.

We never did see the bear again but it had been a good day and so we headed back to the ranch.

Its so nice to have Jen and Eric near us and we are so glad they are out of South Florida. Hurricane Ian was just south of their old condo. We have been able to see them three times this year and we look forward to more adventures! Clear skies

Teaching Fly Fishing Techniques

After a long day in the Grand Teton National Park, we all needed an easy day so that meant fly fishing. The problem was that hunting season was in full swing and so we did not want to go up the Grays River or to McDougal Gap. Instead, we headed to Salt Creek and then later to the Salt River. Jen is learning to fly fish and so the main goal was to teach her how to fish small streams and how to lay out line, (a description on how a good fly fisherperson can make long casts with their flyfishing rod and reel), and read water. It can best be described as looking for edges, or current breaks. That’s where the fish often lie in wait. Hoping to find a few Bonneville Cutthroat Trout we first went to Salt Creek. The stream was low and clear and while we did see several catchable sized cuts, they were really spooky and impossible to catch. There were quite a few fingerlings and they readily hit our flies, but they couldn’t get the fly in their mouth. Still Jen did a good job of Imitating Renita and was soon making good casts, (she had already learned how to roll cast and now had another tool in her creel. We never did catch any fish, so we loaded up and drove to the Salt River. Both of the streams have populations of Mountain Whitefish. That’s a sign of a high quality western stream.

We fished by a diversion dam, constructed for irrigation, and the water was clear. It was flowing over the dam, which is higher than normal for this time of year. As we watched a guide dropped his clients on shore before rowing through the spillway. He then picked them up and continued downstream. Meanwhile I was tying on different dry flies and nymphs, all to no avail. I did have one large cut make a pass at my dry fly, but it never hooked up. Jen had given up on dries and tied on a strike indicator with a gold beaded black marabou nymph. It was weighted and as it bounced along the bottom a fish picked it up. It was probably a mountain whitefish as it did not jump. A little later she hooked and lost a nice cutthroat, but it also shook off the hook, (trout jump). At least she was getting bites, which was more than I was. We ended the day back at the ranch and talked about the next day’s adventure. It was a good day on the water and Jen is doing a good job! It wont’ be long before she starts landing the fish! Clear skies Mountain whitefish have a very tiny mouth and so the hook often pulls free

Day One With our Daughter Jen, The Grand View Trail, Moose, and a Black Bear

We were surprised when our daughter asked us if it would be ok for her to come down and visit us. She had some unused vacation days and she had to use them or lose them so of course we readily agreed to spending some more days with her, (Eric didn’t have any extra days off). The night she arrived we talked about her itinerary and she enough on her list to keep us busy for a lot longer than three days. Her list included, hiking the Grand View Trail, bear watching, wildlife viewing, driving up to Yellowstone, and some more flyfishing lessons! The next morning, we got off to an early start and arrived at Grand Teton National Park about nine am. We drove to the Moose Wilson Pond, parked, and were rewarded with a resting moose calf. It was resting below us, unconcerned with all the people taking pictures.

Heading down the trail we hoped to see a bear, so of course we didn’t see one. Instead, we spotted a moose and her calf. As the cow moose was feeding three people got way too close, less than twenty-five yards!

Luckily for them the cow did not stomp them and instead flushed out into the sagebrush covered bench,

(Jen took a video of them but I have not figured how to post it on the blog).

Upon returning a larger moose had showed up! Loding into the car, we drove south on the road hoping for a bear encounter. We did not have any luck as there had been a sow and cub black bear, but they had walked off into thick brush. After several more loops without seeing any bears, we decided to drive to the trailhead for the Grand View Trail. Armed with our lunch, walking sticks, binoculars, cameras, phones, and our lunch we started up the trail.

The first part of the trail is easy, but Renita and I soon had to stop to catch our breath. There was too much weight! Jen showed us how posture helps to expand your chest and allow in more air, but we still had to make frequent rests. She patiently waited for us but after a while decided to wait for us on the top.

We finally caught up to her as she was visiting with two other young people on top. We rested, ate our lunch, and then posed for a picture on top. After admiring the view of the Tetons, Emma Matilda, and Two Ocean Lakes, we headed back down the trail.

The others had stopped their descent, and were taking pictures of three ruffed grouse. One posed in the middle of the trail, and we took a great picture. The camouflage of these birds is excellent! If they hadn’t moved, we never would have spotted them.

Returning to the car we decided to drive the loop looking for bears and on the last loop we saw a bear jam. It was a large black bear, eating berries, and we were so close to it that we had a hard time getting a god picture.

It’s really hard to get a good picture, but my best one only shows the bears ears and the outline of its head. It had been a wonderful day in Grand Teton National Park, and we celebrated it by eating pizza at the Snake River Brewery. The individual pizzas were so large that we could only eat half of them! WE will definitely stop there again. On the way home we decided that tomorrow would be dedicated to flyfishing. Tired we collapsed into our beds. It was a great day! Clear skies

A Day of Bears, Moose, and a Picnic at Phelps Lake

We are trying to make weekly trips to Grand Teton National Park. The bears and moose are extremely active right now and are easy to spot as the bears, are gorging on berries. We also heard about bear activity at Phelps Lake and decided to try and hike the four mile round trip from the LSR Preserve Headquarters, (we have never hiked it).

Meeting our friends Fred and Becky we first had to take some images of the moose and red breasted mergansers feeding in the pond. Next, we decided to hike the trail near the pond and we encountered a flock of cedar waxwings. They were gorging on the ripe hawthorn berries and pretty much ignored us as we took their pictures.

Heading down the trail we met a group who told us about a cinnamon black bear feasting on berries. It was easy to find the spot as there were people peering down the hill. We couldn’t see anything but after a bit we could hear branches breaking, (thank goodness I have hearing aids).

The brush was so thick that we couldn’t see the bear so we waited patiently and finally were rewarded with a brief glimpse of the beautiful cinnamon black bear. It was difficult to get a good shot, due to the thick brush but We got lucky and took an image of the bears face. It showed its ears, snout and even one eye as it glanced around looking for berries. It moved back into the thick brush and so we headed back to the parking lot.

When we returned to the parking lot we were lucky to see a second moose, (there are three hanging near the pond, two cows and on small calf that hides in the tree line). If you are lucky, you can spot the calf by for its ears. We spilt up as our friends decided to take the Park Road and look for the bald eagles that had been fishing at the Oxbow.

We next decided to drive south to the LSR Preserve. Renita and I choose to try the hike to Phelps lake. Its normally a three point four mile round trip but the first part of the trail was closed due to black bear activity. A reroute had been devised which added another six tenths of a mile. Loading our backpack with our lunch and both of us armed with bear spray we headed up the narrow trail.

We ran into a man who mentioned to us that we should have the bear spray more readily available and so we readjusted our gear, (he was right we were being careless, it was on the side of the pack, not on our belts). Crossing the closed road we started going uphill. It was much easier than the Grand Vista and so we didn’t have to stop much to catch our breath.

Soon we reached the trail intersection where we took the Phelps Lake loop. About the time we spotted the Lake, a side trail was closed due to all the bears. At the lake we found several available rocks where we sat down and enjoyed the view. The waters were still and the sun was out so we had a perfectly enjoyably lunch.

After finishing our lunch, we took some pictures before heading back down to the LSR parking lot. We never did see any bears, but we now have another hiking trail to add to our list, (perhaps the next time I will take our fly rods).

As we returned to the Moose Entrance Station, a member of the bear management team was directing traffic. It was a bear jam. The cars ahead of us were stopped, which they are not supposed to do and we both looked for the bear. Not seeing it I stuck my head out of the window and there was the bear! It was right below me. I ducked back into the car and told Renita we needed to drive, “Now!” I could have almost touched the bear, (it was so close Renita could not see it).

I stuck the camera out and tried to take a picture and luckily got one of the bear’s face. It had turned it head and was looking at me. Finally, the car ahead of us moved and we were able to get away from our close encounter. We did turn around for another picture but really could not see it good enough for more shots. It moved into the thick brush, and we didn’t see it again. Passing the park headquarters we ran into another jam. This time a cow and calf moose were feeding along a side channel of the Snake River. The moose had moved into the thick brush, and we never did get a good picture. It didn’t matter it had been a great day! The count was two black bears, four moose, and a new trail! Clear skies