Chasing Deer

Lake Fork in snow

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 00:32:00 +0000

I went for a walk today up the Lake Fork. There are 3 main draws in the mountains near Red Lodge. The West Fork for Rock Creek, the Lake Fork of Rock Creek, and the Main Fork of Rock Creek. We've gotten some snow in recent days. There was probably 3 inches on the ground. I felt like going for a walk and taking some pictures of the snow and its hard to find a prettier area than the Lake Fork.

Looks like more snow for the week, though no major storms. Work is going well. We've been selling Christmas Tree permits the last few weeks. For $5, people can come into the forest and cut their own tree. It's a nice thing and it's pretty popular. We've sold over 800 permits in a few weeks.

I'll be moving across the hall this coming week. A neighbor moved out and their apt is bigger than mine, but with the same rent. Plus, I'll be off the street and above the book store. There is a doggy daycare moving in under my current apartment, so the timing is good. The woman assured me that I wouldn't hear a thing, but I don't think she realizes how thin these walls and floors really are. So I'm hoping it will be quieter.

Other than that, life as usual. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

More from R.L.

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:44:00 +0000

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd write and give you an update. Things here are good. I'm settling in to work and life. Fall has come and gone and winter is now here. The ski resort here in town is open, and while there isn't a ton of snow, it hasn't stopped the people from turning out. 1,000 people showed up on opening day (2,500 people in in town). Here are a few pics of the last month or so.

Fall colors up the Glacier Lake Rd.

Greenough Lake

Rock Creek, as it rolls through town.

My apartment is above the red store front (on the left).

It has snowed several times this winter already, but each time it has warmed up and melted. It snowed again two days ago and we got probably 6 inches of fresh powder on the ground. But again, most of that has melted and turned to ice.

The backside of my apartment from the West Bench. Red Lodge actually sits down in a little valley, which shields it from the wind.

Mt. Maurice, from the West Bench

Various shots of town.

That's it for now. I haven't taken many photographs lately. But I'll do what I can to get some soon.

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 22:19:00 +0000

As you know, I've been in Montana for a month. I thought I'd make a quick post and show you some pictures of the area I'm in. The drive out was long. It took 3 full days to get to Cody, WY. This is only 1 hour 15 minutes from Red Lodge, so on day 4, I made it to town. On the way out, I stopped at Chimney Rock (above), Scott's Bluff, and Fort Laramie.

(Scotts Bluff National Monument- where the Oregon Trail went)

I found an apartment over a bookstore on the main street in town. It's a good size for me and it will at least get me through the winter. It's fun being on the main street, but it can be a bit noisy too, as there are bars below on the street, and harley's often drive up and down the street.

Below: view out my window. The historic Pollard Hotel

Outside town, there is the Beartooth Highway. It is considered one of the prettiest, roads in America. It travels from Red Lodge, MT to Cooke City, WY (the northeast entrance to Yellowstone). The road tops off at nearly 11,000ft.

Below: Beartooth Butte over Beartooth Lake

The thing I love about the mountains here is that you don't just go up and over the mountains. The mountains plateau on top and you drive for 30 minutes or more before you go down. There are high alpine lakes up top, and great views.

My first weekend after I started my job, I hiked up to Quinnebaugh Meadows (below). The weather wasn't the best, so I'll have to go back when it doesn't rain on me. But it's a pretty area.

The trail follows the west fork of Rock Creek and has two waterfalls as you walk up.

A moose I saw on the walk up (cow). I didn't stop to get a good shot, as moose can be rather mean. So I just kept walking and snapped it, so its not the best.

Last weekend, I drove up on Beartooth Hwy again. (Beartooth Lake, below)

A mountain goat ran out in front of my car. I pulled over, then followed him up and over a knob, where there were 7 other goats. I got a nice video of the males pushing each other and butting heads.

The next day, I hiked up onto the Silver Run Plateau. The trail up was brutal- 5 miles straight up and then 5 miles back, straight down. But it was worth the views. At the picture below, I'm at 9,500ft. The knob in the distance is over 10,000 ft.

That's it for now. The colors are changing nice and I snapped some nice pictures today, but I don't have them on my computer yet. It's supposed to turn cold here this coming week, so maybe we'll get some snow (at least in the mountains).

Sorry it took so long to get a post in. I still don't have internet at home. But I'll try to keep up to date with the blog.

Vermont

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:27:00 +0000

Last month I headed up to Vermont to see my friend Hunter. It was a good trip and I wanted to share a few pics of the trip. Above, Hunter and overlooking Lake Champlain.

One day we went over to the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park. Its a nice place and is still a working farm, raising Jersey show cows. Below is the old industrial butter churner.

The gauntlet.

My brother met us in Burlington, and we spent the day seeing the city and the surrounding area. This is Lake Champlain.

The world's tallest filing cabinet!

Downtown Burlington (Church Street).

Hiking up to White Rocks.

Overlooking the countryside. We didn't linger, as those dark clouds in the distant were moving in quickly.

Hunter putting a finger on his apartment.

It was a great trip. Not much in the way of winter, which is odd for February in Vermont, but that is ok. It was still a good trip.

The Carolinas

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:43:00 +0000

This past weekend I went up to South and North Carolina. My first stops were at Kings Mountain and Cowpens National Battlefields.

Then on to NC and the Carl Sandburg Home. The grounds and house were very pretty and his library of over 12,000 books was impressive.

After Carl died, his wife sold the estate to the government for a memorial. She sold it for half of what the government offered her, and then walked away from the house with all the possessions still in it. So the house today is how it was when they left it many years ago.

Where Carl did his writing. He won two Pulitzers- one for poetry and one for a biography.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

At Clingman's Dome

Grandfather Mountain

This trail is known for being very rugged and even dangerous. There are many wooden ladders to get you up rocks- in some cases there isn't much on one side of the ladders. Navigating the tops of the ladders can be tricky too.

When we showed up, there was a constant 38 mph wind (68.15 kph) with gusts up to 50 mph (80.47 kph). This made climbing the ladders and walking on the ridges extra tricky. One gust and your done.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Fall Colors on the AT

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:56:00 +0000

Went up on the AT again this past week. I thought I'd share some of the color. No bears this trip.

Congaree National Park

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:34:00 +0000

Took a trip up to Congaree National Park, in South Carolina earlier in the week. It is a swamp land, though it is the dry season now. In the wet season, everything is under water and you see the park by canoe. But this time of year, it was a nice walk through the forest.

The park is famous for having the largest contiguous (sharing common border) area of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the US. I know that's a mouthful- basically it means there are lots of big trees. Huge cypress, oak, and pine trees.

Cypress Knobs

Weston Lake

The former national champ Loblolly Pine tree. The current is also in the park.

Looking for wild hog. We saw a group and heard a couple of barred owls talking.

Wise Lake

Another big one.

On the AT

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Headed up to the mountains yesterday for a hike into Sheep Rock Top.

Our starting point.

At Wide Gap.

On Sheep Rock Top.

We saw two black bears on the hike. One was up in a tree and climbed down quickly when it saw us and ran up the trail. The second (below) was down a little draw from us. Sorry its not the best of pictures, but you can see its a bear all the same. Other people on the trail were spotting them too. In all, there were 13 sightings that we heard about just yesterday. The hills were infested with them.

Back into the Appalachian Mtns.

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:56:00 +0000

Yesterday my dad and I went up to the mountains to help on some trail work.

No trip up to North Georgia would be right without breakfast at Ma Gooch's.

The view from Tray Mountain, the 8th highest peak in Georgia (4,430ft).

The official marker for the summit.

The ferns were out in force.

Working on some water bars on the north side of Tray Mtn.

The finished product. It was a nice day of moving dirt around. We got poured on on the hike back to the car, so we were nice and ready to get back and get dry. But not a bad day- 5.5 miles over mountains and some waterbars fixed.

Last Day

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:56:00 +0000

I wasn't sure I was going to have time to write this blog post, with packing and all. But here I am, ahead of schedule and nothing else to do! So we get a bonus post!

I went over to Gambrill's house today, for a final meal and goodbye. Here is Apul posing with some cucumbers her relatives grew.

Apul made her famous steamed buns and we had chicken and salad. It was a great meal.

We walked up on the rocks for some final pictures.

That's it. We head out tomorrow morning. до свидания Каркаралы.

Final Post from KZ

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 05:13:00 +0000

In three days I leave Karkaraly. It will take another 3 days to be home in Atlanta. So this will be the final post from KZ. I'm going to keep this blog going back in the states, but for those of you who have signed on to see the KZ adventures- thanks for reading. It's been fun sharing.

I started this blog in February of 2009. In that time I've had 7,744 visits from 43 countries.

5,127 hits came from the US. I managed to have someone view my blog from all but 4 states.

Romania checked in at second place with 1,163 hits- so thanks to everyone in Romania who read the blog!

So, all things come to an end. The mustache is getting tiresome, so I thought I would show you the full length before it gets cut off. Its been fun to grow. Its taken quite a long time to grow. But I'm tired of getting hair in my mouth when I eat and I'm going back to a much hotter climate...so its going.

I took one last trip last week and went to the other side of Karaganda to KarLag (Karaganda work camp). This was one of the biggest gulags in the Soviet Union. In whole, it housed over 800,000 people and the surface area of the camp was the same size as France. We went to the museum, which is a pretty good one- very western in appearance. The museum is in the old administration building.

I took one last hike up to Lake Baceen a couple of days ago. It's probably my favorite place in the mountains here. I never get tired of going there.

There were some lost Russians that were on the wrong trail and could not find the lake. I found them and led them to it. They asked me where I was from. I said, "America, but don't worry, I know where the lake is." haha. They couldn't believe they were rescued by an American.

Yesterday I went to my old host families for one last goodbye. Ludmila made a salad I liked and a fresh cake. I got to say goodbye to the boys too, which was good.

L-R: Alishair, Ludmila, Gambrill, Gohar, Me, Emir

So that is it. I'm not sure when I'll post again, but there will be more pictures and new adventures I'm sure. Until then, thanks for reading!

Hike to a new place

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:41:00 +0000

I went for a hike this afternoon to a new place I hadn't been to before. It offered some good views of the nearby mountains.

I don't know the name of this grass, but I call it Feather Grass. I think it gives the forest a very interesting look.

Not sure how this one is standing.

Drinking horns and Hikes

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 05:48:00 +0000

The drinking horns that Gambrill and I made are complete. I thought I'd show you the step-by-step process to make sure they are sterile and drinkable. First (forgot to take this picture), you fill the horn with bleach for a couple of hours. This kills all the bacteria in the horn. Next (above), you wash it out really good for 10 minutes, then fill the horn with water and drop in a denture tablet.

Below you can see the affects of the denture tablets. Let it sit a night. The denture tablets deodorize the horn.

The denture tablets will leave a slime. It needs to be washed out good. Next, you pour in vinegar, which will cure the horn. You let it sit for 3 days.

Next, you pour out the vinegar, wash it again, and pour in stout beer or vodka (vodka in our case) to finish the curing. Let it sit another day.

Then the horn is ready drink from! Our horns are complete!

Separately, I've taken several hikes lately and I thought I'd show you some of the pics.

A common site in my house- a sheep carcass. Two days ago (July 20th) was the 160 year anniversary of the towns mosque. My family prepared food for it. There were 8 yurts put up near the mosque, lots of food and fermented mare's milk (kumis), and a wrestling competition.

10 days from now I leave Karkaraly for good. I'll travel down to Almaty for my closing paperwork and then on the 5th I fly home.

A Risky Goodbye Party

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:58:00 +0000

Gambrill and I recently made a Kazakhstan risk board. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It has the same number of "countries" as a normal risk board. I had to put in geographic barriers to make it more interesting (in the original, continents are separated by water).

Went for a nice hike a couple of days ago. Gambrill's friend, Laura, was in town visiting, so we took her around to see some of the sites.

At "Heart Rock".

It's a bad photo- but thought I'd show you it anyway. Many rocks here have cool shapes- this one is a face.

Yesterday we had a goodbye party for the teachers at Gambrill's school. We made garlic bread, peanut butter, ranch dressing with carrots, and deviled eggs. As well as cookies and such. It was a good turnout.

Birthdays, New Hats, and Peppers

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 05:16:00 +0000

Yesterday was Apul's (Gambrill's host grandmother) 78th birthday. So we ate shashlik (shish-kabab). It was a good evening.

Gambrill and Natasha guarding the fire.

The birthday girl- 78 years young.

Here is my most recent purchase. I bought a KZ army hat. This is the current model. I had it custom made for me for relatively cheap. I'm giving my best "general" face (with a cuban cigar).

Update on my "garden". My first jalapeño is coming in. That is exciting.

The basil is going strong. Won't be long now before it can be harvested.

The tomatoes though...are stunted. They did the same thing last year. I get them up to a certain height and then...nothing. They are growing- just at glacial speeds.

Yesterday was the 1 month countdown until leaving Karkaraly (must go to Almaty for paperwork, etc). The 5th is the one month mark until leaving KZ. So its getting near. No big plans for the 4th. But I hope everyone has a good 4th of July!

Picking strawberries

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 02:40:00 +0000

Yesterday the forecast was for rain, but I thought I'd try my luck and went out picking strawberries. You can see how small they are- it takes a long time to gather up enough to make it worth your while. But last year I had seen a spot that was crawling with huge strawberries, so I headed off, picking along the way.

Then I looked up and saw black.

Seconds after I snapped this picture, I was in a torrential downpour...and I was 30 minutes from town. So off I went. A car passed me on the way back- I waved at him and he sped by. Thirty minutes later I was back in town, soaked to the bone...but with a small bundle of strawberries.

Short hike

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:10:00 +0000

I went for a short hike up on the mtns around town. Just thought I'd show you some of the pics.

Making a drinking horn

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 12:21:00 +0000

This winter Gambrill's family slaughtered a cow. We were given the horns from the cow and Gambrill came up with the idea of a fun project- sand them down, sterilize them...and drink out of them.

Below you can see the originals- the day of the cow killing. Much of the color is char, from blow torching the head.

After months of work, we are both done with the sanding stage. It was a lot of work- shaving off a lot of char and revealing the horns natural colors and patterns. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Next, is the disinfection stage. Bleach, denture tablets, and vodka, on a steady rotation for 7 days...

Nearing the end...

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:43:00 +0000

I took a hike up to a ridge near town a couple of days ago and wanted to share the pics. Just a few days ago was the 2 month mark...less than two months and Peace Corps II is over and done. I'm pretty excited about heading home soon. The next two months should be a whirlwind- saying goodbye, finishing up a few things, other volunteers visiting...more hiking. Its the final coast to the finish line.

I've eyed this ridge from town for a long time and finally took the time to walk up here. There are some great rocks and views. Walking in these mountains is more time consuming than you think. All the rocks create cliffs and crags and you spend a lot of time walking around when normally you'd be walking up. But its fun to explore.

A good view of town.

More pics to come soon, I imagine. Some other volunteers are visiting this weekend and we'll hit up the hotspots and bounce around on the rocks.

Last Bell Ceremony

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:10:00 +0000

Today was the last day of school. There was a big celebration for the 11th graders (1-11 in KZ)

The kids below performed a song in English called the "Number Rock". They did a great job.

Below are the uniforms for the 11th graders. It is the same uniform that the young girls where, and it signifies going full circle (wearing the same uniform on your first day and your last day).

To us, they look like 'french maid' outfits, but here it is the standard uniform for girls all across KZ.

Babushka as far as you can see.

Gambrill and I gave a speech to the crowd (below). We thanked them for having us and gave her director a small gift. We played to the teachers and students...the babushkas are a hard crowd to please!

Teachers

After the ceremony ended, we went with the teachers on a 'ghosti'. This means going for a large meal, lots of toasts, etc. It's fun when the teachers are involved, as they are a lively group.

Here is the spread, minus the meat dish (monty).

After getting stuffed, we left this house and immediately went to another. We ate more. Here is the table in the second house...minus the meat dish (bishbarmak).

And we left this house, even more stuffed...and immediately went to a third house. The table was just as impressive and we were socially obligated to eat even more.

Besides eating until you hurt...three times over, it was a good day. The school year is over and the summer is here!

A trip to Kent

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Sun, 22 May 2011 04:27:00 +0000

Two days ago, 16 Americans came to Karkaraly. They were students on a trip. Gambrill's director heard they were in KZ and pulled some string to get them to visit us. Day one, we drove southeast of town to the Kent Mountains and visited Kizhel Kensh.

Kizhel Kensh are the ruins of a 17th century Buddhist monastery. In the picture below, you can see many small specks. The mosquitoes were terrible. So terrible that they are visible in a picture!

This picture gives you a good size comparison for the rocks.

The next morning we went to the mosque in town. I've been meaning to take pictures inside for 2 years...now we have them.

After that, a quick walk up to Baceen and back for lunch. :) All in all, not a bad couple of days.

English Resource Center

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:50:00 +0000

Today we had the grand opening of our English Resource Center. Gambrill and I have spent the past 6 months gathering books, materials, etc and creating a one-stop-shop of English documents and American culture.

260 books, cds, and other items. Some of you may see things that you sent for our reading enjoyment. Since we can't take it all back home, we thought we'd donate it to the cause. So thanks for your help!

Raul Bakievich, the school's director showing off his pitching grip!

The Village Life

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:08:00 +0000

This past weekend, Gambrill and I got invited up by our friends, Bobby and Magda, to see the village they live in. It is called Myrshuk. This village really is way out in the middle of nothing. We took a 2 hour bus ride to the town of Egindybulak, where Bobby and Madga met us. We loaded up in their piece of junk Mitsubishi Delaca and drove another two hours over two track dirt roads until we arrived in Myrshuk.

The picture above is nearly the entire village. 50 people live here. They raise livestock for a living.

Saturday night, I stepped outside to use the bathroom. It was pitch black out. As I was using the bathroom, I felt the presence of something near me. I turned on my light to discover this huge horse-like dog about 2ft away from me. Good thing he decided to like me. Otherwise I'd likely be dead now.

This is where Bobby and Magda live (on the right, near the minivan). It is basic village life with very few creature comforts.

Shashlik was declared the meal for the next day, so they killed a sheep. Shashlik is our shish-kabob.

Bishbarmek and tea with the family.

The next morning we loaded up in the car and headed out on a drive across the steppe. The back door of their minivan doesn't shut, so it kicks up all the dust from the dirt roads into the car itself. Everything, including ourselves, was covered in dirt.

Later, while the shashlik was being prepared, we went for a walk. Here is Bobby hanging over the edge.

After eating, and of course bottles of vodka, spontaneous dance parties often erupt.

People's Solidarity Day

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Mon, 02 May 2011 04:15:00 +0000

For the first time in KZ's 20 year history, Karkaraly celebrated People's Solidarity Day, yesterday. Every organization and school in town walked in a parade. It started at the city hall, where speeches were given, then the procession, easily 1500-2000 people strong walked to the town stadium. Here are some pictures.

Most are of Gambrill's students.

My old host sister, Gohar, is the tiger/bear/dog.

This picture makes me laugh.

Gambrill's director, Raul, with Leilah, the woman in charge of all the school's performances.

The babushka patrol! I like this picture. My host family is in it. In the back row, third from the left is my host father, Gaziz. Two down from him and the first woman in the second row (from left) is my host mother, Karlagash.

Both Gambrill and my host father, Gaziz, gave speeches. Gaziz is to the right of Gambrill. She was asked to speak because it is Solidarity Day.

After her speech, a news reporter from Karaganda interviewed Gambrill.

Left...left....left, right, left

noreply@blogger.com (John) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 02:46:00 +0000

This is Chip. Recently Gambrill's host mom and sister went to Karaganda. Gambrill went to school. Somehow in the 5 hours her host grandmother was alone, she somehow got a new dog. He's a good one.

Yesterday, Gambrill's school held a marching competition. From what we gathered, there is no real reason behind holding it, other than for fun. The kids took it serious and they did a good job.

The group below is the one that won. It was a small controversy, as other groups felt they did better. But the judges thought otherwise.