Discovery Under God's Scottsman Peak

It is always good to have a friend along when one discovers something about oneself. This was a cool early spring day in March 2007, out taking one of the first hikes on the season near Mineral Point. Sadie and I had lunch at this spot viewing the smooth waters and the views to the east towards Scotsman's Peak from Mineral Point. We were about an hour and a half from the Highlander and in starting up hill for the hike back I could go no faster than half speed. I did not feel bad, nor ill just a bit funny? I could not move any faster than half speed. I sat down to give myself more time and then started up again , at half speed. I thought, am not going to get back to the car sitting so at half speed I walked back to the car taking three hours instead the expected hour and a half. Well to make a long story short the doctor said I have atrial fibrillation which is an irregular heart beat, not a heart attack. And, o by the way you are also a pre- diabetic and let's talk. Now it took me three doctor visits for them to determine the "fib" thing because my heart would not cooperate with the ekg. Only when I felt funny one day and in calling the nurse she told me to get in there pronto so they could hook me up. I did and finally that is what they found.


The consequences of this effort had mixed results which for six months I attempted to reverse. When one is diagnosed with "the fib" and the doctor stated that I am now 9 percent more prone to getting a stroke so he has to put me on blood thinner therapy and keep me there for at least a year until I demonstrate with medicine that I will not "fib" any more. I thought this was OK for awhile until I sustained a nose bleed one wintery December night that would not stop. I ended up in the emergency room during a blizzard under which my wife demonstrated her superior driving skills. Doctor said this would require surgery if I happens again because where the weakness is he cannot cauterize.


What is the take home message here? Just like being careful what one prays for, so should one be careful with how hard one should seek diagnosis. With liability the way it is, doctors will not take chances and if you want them to care for you ,be ready for them to lock you down! Fortunately my doctor had confidence in my telling the truth when I say I "fibed" and he aggreed that I was a good canditate for getting off of the warferin. Having completely tracked my diet for a year, loosing 22 pounds, and excercising regularly helped do that. Today I am warferin free but still taking the heart regulating medicine which if I overdose on or take without food will make me into a zombe.

What do these pictures have to do with my learning path you say? I will tell you. The first picture is my buddy, Sadie, who is sitting on a ledge on Mineral Point from which the next photo was taken of the Cabinet Range to the east containing Scotsman Peak- highest peak in the middlebackground. The next two photos are some proof that I did survive under the medicines prescribed and still was able to beat the brush, measuring trees and helping people tend their "tall gardens". The picture chronology is discovery in April, through summer to October 2007, thense (surveyor talk) November where I added to the crew working in the same area. They all have Scotsman Peak although a bit camoflaged in them, the first in the clouds just to the left of the tallest tree, and the second through the larch tree crown upper left corner.
The big bright picture of Scottsman Mountain is a telephoto shot taken from a subdivision in Algoma just south of Sagle. While taking a walk one wintery day I happened to look east and there it was applified by the snow and alighned in the middle of the slot between Gold Mountain to the north and Grouse Ridge to the south. Hard to see in the summer when the haze is more pronounced.

The picture of my wife and I contains Scottsman Peak located just above her and was taken in March of 2008 during Easter sunrize with two other discoveries of the year namely our new neighbors whom we are most grateful for them being there. Scottsman peak is right below the wingtip of Sandpoint Seaplane and is one of the first rides provided by a brand new company in Sandpoint. The pilot is from Alaska and is looking for renote lakes in the Inland Northwest to take people. The whole family went on this trip and came back throughly charged. I guess a discovery point here is that it is a wonderfull feeling to help other people get settled in this now our God's Country.

The Catch of the Night

I walked out of the house last evening with Sadie to pick up the mail and while trolling back to the house look what I caught or maybe it caught me. This looks like a Blue Winged Red Quill Dun Mayfly. If Someone knows any better please let me know? There is more. This little guy let me photograph him at any angle my hand could contort to and it was quite a trip. According to the book Hatch Guide for Western Streams the fly patterns that may emulate the little critter are the SRI CDC Emerger – Brown, the Parachute Dun, and Comparundum. Guess I will try to ty the latter two. There is more. But not having much experience with drafting these type of documents I need to fill this space with busy words so that I can insert additional pictures gracefully if that is possible. Look at this design. Do I really think this little critter happened by chance? Look at all the parts that could go wrong. It is plainly evident that some intelligence designed this through time changing some things to adapt to different environments but the prototype had to have had all of the parts to start functioning. What do you think?

Lunch in the Woods

I was walking down this truck trail into this clearing looking for a place to have lunch. I had just measured 4 timber plots and was getting hungry. As I was about to sit down on the edge on the tree edge you are viewing, I heard a grunt- growl behind me up slope 200 yards. This caught my attention when I heard another similar noise and it sounded like two animals harmonizing! If you had ever heard coyotes barking and chiming, well this was similar but lower, like about 5 octives looooower!! This carried on for about 15 seconds and then quiet! This really had my attention now as I asked myself, why did I not walk back to the truck (only 300 yards) and get my 45 when my memory kicked in when starting my walk in here earlier this morning?! My initial response to this was "flight" but after looking up, and saying Lord, do I need to beet feet out of here or what?! The answer was, cool it Phil you have been in more tense moments than this in the woods? And besides most critters in the woods still have fear of man, don't they?! So I relaxed along the forest edge, ate my lunch, viewed the scenery listening and listening. Not a sound for 20 minutes. Then back to work and that evening, I came across the landowner driving into camp and told him what I had heard. He said, yep, we have a pack of wolves up above Grouse Creek. You could have heard them because they have a pretty large range. And with that I resolved to carry another 7 pounds in my pack as standard equipment.

Or, did I really miss the point here, by only considering the immediate need for sustenance and preservation? Might not there be larger questions here like how did all this structure surrounding and above me get here? Was it a matter of all these living cells , mouse traps if you will, just falling in to place one day, start working perfectly, or, were they constituted and arranged by some intelligent design? What happens to a mouse trap when one of its working parts is removed? What are the chances of each structure happening? Some scientists think if it is plainly evident then it..........? In what direction should we look for answers? The pictures above depict a direction I have been looking for years but was I really seeing? What do you think?