january 2010 echo magazine - snowmobiling

Annual SNOWMOBILING Issue - Top-Rated Kittitas County Snow

Recreation & Entertainmentin Kittitas County

See Page 23 www.mountain-echo.com

• Sled Mods• Crystal Springs

to Easton now Groomed

• Snowmobiling Roots Run Deep

Will the recession and global climatetrends affect the snowmobile industry?

The International SnowmobileManufacturers Association (ISMA)reported in November, industry in-dicators are positive for the 2009-10 season. On average thesnowmobile industry annually gen-erates 90,000 jobs in this country,and $28 billion in revenues. Somethree million snowmobilers are saidto be the engine of the industry’seconomic engine and this year, ac-cording to the November report,North American snowmobile regis-trations increased, compared to lastyear. In Canada, there was an eight-percent increase, and in the UnitedStates, registrations increased byone-percent. ISMA studies indicatethere are over 2.5 million registeredsnowmobiles in North America.

Snowmobilers' level of activityis also rising. The report said snow-mobilers would average over 1,300miles of riding this season, on thesome 230,000 miles of trails inNorth America, a 20-percent in-crease from last year.

The report also said climatolo-gists across North America reported a7-degree below average temperaturefor parts of North America, and thatan initial analysis shows global cool-ing will continue “for ideal snowmo-biling temperatures this winter.” TheFarmer's Almanac also predicts afrigid winter with abundant snowfall.

TUNDRA by Chad Carpenter

PAGE 2 JANUARY 2010 - SNOWMOBILING ISSUE WWW.MOUNTAIN-ECHO.COM • CASCADES MOUNTAIN-ECHO

The Washington State Parksand Recreation Commission an-nounces the launch of its firstTwitter account, featuring statepark winter recreation notifica-tions. Twitter, a social media site,will enable State Parks WinterRecreation Program staff to sendimmediate notifications aboutSno-Park closures or opening,grooming trail updates or otherpertinent Sno-Park informationdirectly to members of the pub-lic. Followers can choose to havewinter recreation tweets sent totheir mobile devices in additionto their Twitter account feed.

The winter recreation notifica-tions can be viewed at http://www.twitter.com/WaStatePks_ WNTR. To follow State ParksWinter Recreation Program an-nouncements, Twitter users mustlog in before selecting the “fol-low” option on theWaStatePks_WNTR Twitterpage. After following the account,

users can select the mobile de-vice delivery option in the fol-lowing settings.

Winter recreation announce-ments will be available duringthe 2009-2010 winter season,with announcements conclud-ing near the end of April 2010.Annually, the winter season be-gins Dec. 1 and ends in March orApril depending on weatherconditions and snow levels.

The Winter Recreation Pro-gram manages more than 3,500miles of groomed snowmobiletrails, 700 miles of groomedcross-country ski trails and morethan 100 Sno-Parks (plowedparking areas near snowmobileand cross-country ski trails). TheSno-Park Program is supportedentirely by user fees, snowmo-bile registrations and a percent-age of the state of Washington’sfuel tax. General fund dollarsand other state taxes are notused to maintain Sno-Parks.

Snow TweetsWinter Recreation program now on

Twitter

Since March of 2002, the Echo has been bring-ing recreation and entertainment news and peo-ple features to visitors and residents of Kittitas

County on the eastern slopes of

the Cascade mountains.As interest in the publi-cation grew, the Echoevolved over the yearsfrom primarily black and

white with a littlespot blue, to fullcolor throughout.In this next phase, the newly reformattedCascades Mountain Echo Magazine reinventsitself once again. We look forward to hearing

feedback from you, ourreaders.

An exciting new look for an old friend. Launchedeight years ago, the Cascades Mountain-Echo hasundergone a magazine make-over with this issue.

CASCADES MOUNTAIN-ECHO • WWW.MOUNTAIN-ECHO.COM SNOWMOBILING ISSUE - JANUARY 2010 PAGE 3

P.O. Box 308 • 807 W. Davis StreetCle Elum, WA 98922

(509) 674-2511, phone(509) 674-5571, fax

E-mail: [email protected]

On the cover: BRIT ANDKRISTI BALANT ARE GOING TOTAKE THEIR TWO DOGS, BURTAND JETHRO, ON A SNOWMOBILERIDE. RIDING INSTEAD OFPULLING A SLED IS PERFECT FORTHEM! SEE STORY PG. 18

JANIE MCQUEEN PHOTO

MOUNTAIN-ECHO STAFF: Jana Stoner, Terry Hamberg, Janie McQueen, Lyn Derrick, Jim Fossett, Deanna Plesha, Paige Berrigan, Pat Ellis, Casey Clark, Jeff Bornhorst, Cindy Steiner, Carol Punton, Debbie Renshaw and Bonnie Montgomery

Welcome to Cascades Mountain

Echo MAGAZINE

www.Mountain-Echo.comCascades Mountain-Echo, a division of Oahe Publishing Corp.

March

2002

THE CASCADESMOUNTAIN-ECHOis now CascadesMountain EchoMAGAZINE. Thefirst Echo cameout in March, 2002.Echo Magazine will continueto focus on a different recre-ational or entertainmenttheme each month. The newformat comes with a re-de-sign of layouts and a newlogo for the magazine.

20032004

2005

2006

2007

2008

October

2009

Volume 9No. 1

Imagine yourself at 2:00 a.m. ona cold, coffin-dark, winter night, inthe middle of a blizzard, high in themountains where the wind blowsat gale force, and you’re forty-milesfrom the nearest phone. The onlycompany ya got is your Snow Cat, arock n’ roll song playing throughthe static, and the same Stanley

thermos you’ve had for the last 25-years. For a little over a decade, thatwas groomer Tim Foss, head of theForest Service grooming program,in charge of maintaining 500-miles

of trails in Kittitas County. In Sep-tember, Foss left that post to be-come head of the U.S. ForestService Winter Recreation programfor the Cle Elum Ranger District.


JOHN SIMON, shown above with one of the two USFSSno-Cats used to groom over 500-miles of trails inKittitas County. Simon takes charge of the groomingprogram from Tim Foss this winter season.

Jim Fossett photo

Snow Ranger Program cut back

Simontakes over

grooming

By Jim Fossett

Taking his place is JohnSimon, also a veterangroomer, since 1988.Simon and a team of three,with a little help from twoSnow Cats, a Pisten Bullyand a Bombardier, take onthe 2009-10 winter seasonahead of the curve, in asense. Mid-December, theSnow Cats were still sit-ting in the shed.

“We don’t start groom-ing until there’s at least afoot of snow at the Sno-Parks,” Simon explained.“That way we don’t teareverything up with theCats.”

Meanwhile, Simon saidhe’s been spending timegetting the Bully and the Bombardierready for those 12-hour, meat-freezer-cold nights on the trail. “I re-belted the tracks on the Bombardier,”he said. “The two rigs are ready to goas soon as the snow falls.

“Basically we’ll be running theprogram just the way Tim did. Theprimary places where we deploy in-clude Blewett Pass near MineralSprings Restaurant, North Fork Tean-away, and Kachess Sno-Park.

Fewer Snow RangersWhat will Foss be doing as head of

the Forest Service’s Winter Recreation

program? “I’ll be in charge of thecross country ski, dogsled, snowmo-bile, and snowshoeing programs. Thewhole nine yards,” Foss said. “My pro-gram, though, is down about $35,000in funding, mostly from grants we did-n’t get because of state budget cuts,and other funds we applied for anddidn’t get for various reasons.

“The winter program had nineSnow Rangers last year. This year wecan only afford to have two fulltimeand three part-time.”

Foss said Snow Rangers educatetrail users, enforce regulations, andmaintain trails, signage, and kiosks.

“Enforcement involveschecking to make sure winterrecreationists have Sno-Parkpermits, and that snowmobil-ers have registered their rigs.”How will the shortage ofrangers impact him?“It means we’ll have fewerpeople to deal with prob-lems,” Foss said. “Mostly day-to-day stuff, like freeing trafficjams at turnaround points, re-placing stolen signs. Thingslike that.”Asked if he had anything toput out to our readership,Foss replied, “If you’re a snow-mobiler, get your sled regis-tered. Every dime goes backinto grooming and plowing.Registering your sled keeps

the winter trails program going. Sospread the word. Tell your neighbors.

“The other thing is Sno-Park per-mits. You gotta have ‘em.”


16th Annual SnowmobileGolf Tournament

Saturday, Feb. 6, 20109 a.m. - Registration

10 a.m. - Tee-Off

Silver Ridge Ranch, Exit 70-EASTON4-Person Scramble Golf Tournament

(using snowmobiles as golf carts)

Entry Fee: $20 per playerT-SHIRTS AND PRIZES

“Long-Drive” Contest

Proceeds benefit WSSA Legal Fund andAnimal Regional Rescue Facility

Hot Food availablePlenty of Parking

Call to sign-up!Bob McGinnis, 509-674-6969Mike Sweet, 206-255-1956

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TIM FOSS takes over the U.S. Forest Service Winter Recreation Program,after heading up the grooming program for over a decade. Jim Fossett photo

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FebruaryWinter Rec

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The New Year promises to be a busy one for theWSSA membership.

Starting in January, snowmobile clubs all over thestate kick into high gear with regular meetings. Visitwww.wssa.us/Calendar2.html to see what’s happening.

District 2 South will hold their election on January6, the day after District 4 South holds theirs.

International Snowmobile Safety Week cycles outJanuary 10-16, the week District 5 South holds theirelection (January 13).

There’ll be a poker run on Saturday, January 16,hosted by the Vancouver Sno-Busters and Mount Adamssnowmobile clubs. No details available at this writing.Contact the WSSA for more info.

District Six will hold their election on January 21,and the day after, WSSA officials will host their annual‘Take a friend Snowmobiling and Media Ride’ at CrystalSprings Sno-Park.

Then on Tuesday, January 26, the WSSA travels toOlympia for their annual interaction with legislators.For more info on that, contact the WSSA.

February 12-15 marks the Annual WSSA Convention,to be held this year in Chelan.

To contact the WSSA, logon to www.wssa.us, [email protected], or call (800) 783-WSSA.

What’s up WSSA?Washington State Snowmobile Association report


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JANUARY 2010 - SNOWMOBILING ISSUE WWW.MOUNTAIN-ECHO.COM • CASCADES MOUNTAIN-ECHO

TRAIL GROOMING IN PROGRESS. Tony DiPangrazio poses with the John Deere 6615 4x4 tractor with a Diamond Mower Deck used for brushing out thetrail. Volunteer crews worked the trail route from the Crystal Springs Sno-Park to Easton and the Easton Reload Sno-Park. Photo courtesy of Tony DiPangrazio

Groomed trailfrom Crystal Springs to Easton is finally

A REALITY!by Dan Johnson & Tony DiPangrazio

AFTER MANY YEARS of hardwork, lots of paperwork, anda lot of hours by some very......dedicated people, this season we will finally have agroomed route all the way from the Crystal Springs Sno-Park to Easton and the Easton Reload Sno-park. Originally,Fred Wemer and Elwood Hunt (from the Cascade DriftSkippers Snowmobile Club), and Lin Cole (from the Sno-mads Snowmobile Club), started a Recreational Trails Pro-gram (RTP) grant to get this project started. They saw theneed for a safe groomed trail from Crystal Springs Sno-Parkto Easton and beyond. The problem was there were someprivate land issues, the John Wayne/Pioneer Trail and a rail-road crossing in the way. These three guys got the ballrolling. Fred and Elwood did all the grant paperwork andgot it started. When the RTP grant came to life, the Cas-cade Drift Skippers found out they did not have enoughmoney ($17,000) to front the project and then get reim-bursed from the grant. This is where Tim Schmidt, ParkRanger/Manger from Lake Easton State Park, took over theproject. He got State Parks to be the lead on the grant withthe Cascade Drift Skippers second-in-command. (We hopewe didn’t leave anyone out as there were a lot of otherpeople pushing for this for years.)

We needed to get access agreement’s, permission items,easements, gates, cement pedestals, crossing fee’s/permits(paid to Burlington Northern Railroad), brushing equipment,and a lot of donated ‘hand labor’ to get this done.

As many people do not know, we lost the ‘easy route’ toEaston years ago when the Forest Service removed thebridge over the Yakima River down by U-Fish off Exit 63.This cut off the short route to Easton and the only waythere was to go up the Stampede road, out to Tacoma Passand down Cabin Creek, up over Beeler Pass off of LogCreek, over to Cole Creek and then to the Reload Sno-Park.Well, now it’s a whole lot easier and much shorter with thisnew route. The new route starts at the John Wayne/PioneerTrail off of the 54 road at Crystal Springs Sno-Park. You cannow run down a groomed trail all the way to the Monahan’sRailroad Crossing, take a right and follow the trail markersto the Easton Reload Sno-Park or take a left at the CabinCreek Road and head towards downtown Easton.

This new route ties into a lot of areas. You can nowtake a groomed snowmobile route all the way from CrystalSprings to Whistlin’ Jacks Lodge on Highway 410!

One of the big concerns on this project was most ofthe trails from the Easton area to Woods and Steele roadwere severely overgrown with brush and small trees. Thegroomers had a hard time grooming this route due to allthe over brush and narrow trails/powerline roads. Therewere way too many miles to do all by hand. Some of thetrails had to be brushed with hand tools, primarily the For-est Service Roads. Several clubs reached out for donationsto rent a commercial John Deere Tractor with a brush cut-ter attachment on the side. Scott from Sumner Tractormade us a deal on the 4x4 ‘Monster’ to use for two weeksand get as many trails brushed out as possible. Tony DiPan-grazio gets a lot of credit as he just about lived in that ma-chine for about 10 days straight. Many businesses,individuals and clubs graciously donated money and fuelfor this project. Total cost for this was over $4,000 andthat’s not including all the free labor and transportationcosts involved.Without the generous support of many busi-nesses and individuals, this project would not be complete.

Editor’s Note: A few days after this article was sub-mitted to the Cascades Mountain-Echo, the following up-date was received from Tony DiPangrazio: “Today five of us

made a minor repair to the Tucker Creek Bridge. We re-placed a broken plank and then overlaid the vehicle track

area with 4x10 planks lengthways. Turned out good.”


Groomed trail from Crystal Springs to Easton isfinally a reality thanks to the following individuals:

Individual Contributors:Johnny Cunningham • Tony DiPangrazio • Dan Johnson

Brushing Crew & Work Parties:Sean Hammerhan • Bill Turnbull • J.D. Turnbull

Mike Sweet • Craig Upchurch • Doug Williams • Bill YeagerDave Brandsrud • Larry Yates • John Black • John StorchChuck White • Tony DiPangrazio • Johnny CunninghamJim Sternod • Ty Locke • Ty Locke Jr. • Casey KiehlmanBrett Crawford • Brian Cook • Mark Berg • Gary Harris

Robbie Meyer • Scott Meyer • Pete Beaupain

Equipment Operators: John Black • Tony DiPangrazio

Ad sponsored by Kittitas County Grooming Council Donations

Thank You!

Groomed trail from Crystal Springs to Easton is finally a reality thanks to the

following clubs, associations & businesses:Washington State Snowmobile Association

Snomads Snowmobile ClubHi-Country Snowmobile Club

Cascade Drift Skippers Snowmobile ClubWashington State Parks, Tim Schmidt, Lake Easton State Park

Burlington Northern / Santa Fe RailroadStampede Summit Seekers

Easton Tree Farm / Cabin Mountain LLC “Vic Monahan”Kittitas County Grooming Council

Bator Lumber & Building MaterialsBeau’s Pizza, Pasta, Steaks & Breakfast

Cascade Towing & Repair • Cle Elum ChiropracticCorliss Resources Inc. • Easton Snowmobile Rentals

El Caporal Family Mexican RestaurantElk Horn Coffee Company

Glondo’s Sausage Company & Italian MarketJet Chevrolet and RV • Mountain High Hamburgers

Phatties Super Shop • Rent Me RentalsRV Town Inc. / Lee Frazier

Smith Brothers Dairy / Jason DollemoreSportland Yamaha, Arctic Cat, Polaris & Ski-Doo

The Spirit Mine Liquor Store • Sumner Tractor and EquipmentTotal Ground Management

Ad sponsored by the Cascade Drift Skippers Snowmobile Club

Thank You!

xxx

Upper Kittitas County’sKevin Wilmoth modifiesstock snowmobiles, nicknamed ‘sleds’ by hardcore enthusiasts. In partnershipwith friend Craig McBride, a paint-job specialist in Yakima,the two men are making a name for themselves. They’regetting calls from people in New York, Canada, and all overthe country. Simply put, the reason for all the attentionthey’re getting? Wilmoth can make a sled move like some-thing out of a Star Trek movie – and McBride can make it

look like it is. The kicker is: Wilmoth has no interest in turn-ing what he does best into a fulltime job … even thoughhis sleds are winning national awards and garnering cover-age by national media outlets.

“I’m a machinist and a mechanic,” Wilmoth smiled. “I dothis because I love it. Friends, kids in the neighborhood, theyall come over to the shop. We watch movies, work on sleds.I do a lot of custom work for a guy here in Washington. I docustom work for people here in the county. There’s alwayssomething happening in the shop.”

Wilmoth says the adrenalin fix a mod-sled provides forwinter-speed freaks is continually feeding his passion and


Stock-->under the hood with Wilmoth

Sled mods

WILMOTH UNDER THE HOOD WITH AN IN-STALLED BOONDOCKER Pump Gas Turbokit. The enlarged silver pipe is ceramic, ex-hausting more hot air than a stock pipe. To-ward the very front of the sled: theinter-air-cooler, a cereal box-sized radiatorthat cools air. The computer box at bottomleft regulates how much fuel is fed to the en-gine. At Wilmoth’s left hand: where theTurbo charger sits. Jim Fossett photo

By Jim Fossett

keeping him as busy as he wants to be with a hobby. He hasa regular 9-to-5 job to do.

“The industry is huge,” he said. “Mod-sleds are huge all overthe world. The recession hasn’t affected the demand for themat all. You always have the wealthy, but if everyday people don’thave the money, they get it, by giving something else up.”

Wilmoth can jack a 160HP stock sled to 200HP with aturbo charging kit he says has to be installed with care andsavvy. We asked him to walk us through the process.

Putting a 200HP Punch into a 160HP Stock SledWilmoth favors a Boondocker Pump Gas Turbo kit to jack

a sled to warp speeds over 100mph. Before he’s done, he’lladd various bells and whistles that’ll drive the original costof a stock sled upward to triple its original value or more.

The turbo kit, he said, passes charged air through theturbo system and into the engine, creating more horsepower.Simply put, the whole idea behind turbo is: deliver more air,deliver more fuel, and get more power.

Pieces and parts in the turbo kit: Turbo charger (with ro-tating fins inside); oil tank; wiring; computer box (controlsamount of fuel fed to the engine); clutching; exhaust gauge;and an inter-air-cooler, which looks something like a cerealbox-sized car radiator.

“For one sled on the drawing board, I’m going to install theturbo kit and an after-market manifold Y-pipe. The Y-pipe is biggerthan stock and allows more airflow, adding another 3 or 4HP.

“After-market reeds are going into the same sled, to allowmore airflow from inter-air-cooler … to the fuel injectors …to the reeds … to the engine.

“Lastly I’m going to install a set of high performance fuelinjectors, one for each of the two cylinders in the engine.”

Bells and whistles Wilmoth intends to add after he’s done withengine modifications include upgrading stock front and rear sus-pension systems with ZBROZ (front) and EZ Ryder (rear) kits.

“I’ll finish it off with an after-market trail tank, to give thesled a couple more gallons of fuel capacity. I’ll add a Van Am-burg Enterprises running board and rear bumper that’ll serveto stiffen and stabilize the tunnel, and I’ll install a gauge cage,so the rider can easily see gauges sitting or standing up.

After all that, well, it’ll be ready for a custom paint job.”That’s where McBride’s talents come in.

AWARD WINNING MOD-SLED at a show in Boise, Idaho. Patriot is a2009 Yamaha Nytro. Paint job by Craig McBride, mod work by KevinWilmouth. Inset: “Star Wars”. photos courtesy of Kevin Wilmoth

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Cle Elum’s Lin Cole can talk about snowmobiling andSnow Cats back nearly three decades, to 1980, whenKittitas County became the second county in Wash-ington’s history, he said, to host a grooming program.

“I retired from the Forest Service in Cle Elum after32 years,” Cole commented. “In 1980, I was a SnowRanger at the Snoqualmie Pass ski areas, managing theNordic Skiing and Sno-Park programs.

“Grooming got started in 1980 because, in 1979,Jack Denny, a former Roslyn mayor and president of anUpper County snowmobile club called SNOMADS,wrote a letter to what is now State Parks requestinggrooming in Kittitas County.

“At that time, Spokane was the only county that hadgrooming.

“Anyway, because of Jack’s letter, State Parks ap-proached the Forest Service in Cle Elum, and I tookover what was to become the county’s first groomingprogram, but not before we had to hurtle one, small,and most unusual glitch.

“In order to get a grooming program, we had toshow that we were already grooming.

“So, we borrowed an old Army surplus, 12-mantroop carrier from State Parks. We took it into the shopand jury-rigged it with a snow-scraper – and thendragged it up and down Salmon La Sac Road a couple

times a week, back and forth between the Salmon LaSac Campground and the Last Resort.

“We only had to do that for one winter. The opera-tor was Peoh Point’s Dick Goodman. He lives in Ellens-burg now.

“The next winter (1980), we got our first Snow Catfunded by State Parks. I believe it was a new one. It wasa Thiokol. At that time, we had 300-miles of trails in Kit-titas County to groom. Today, we’ve got 500.”

Cole has access to many of the photos vaulted awayat the Cle Elum Ranger District. He shared a half dozenof those with ECHO reporters, noting each one with amemory-making comment.

Index to Photo Essay by Lin ColePHOTO #1: Challenge of snowmobiling. Highmarkingtracks on Table Mountain. The objective is to get thesled as high up the mountainside as you can, and thensafely come back down. Years ago, we occasionallywatched riders somersault back down the hill, the oneswho didn’t make it to the top, and with each rolloverof the sled, we counted: $1,000 … $2,000 … $3,000.This photo I took in the early 1990s.

PHOTO #2:: Running out of snow. We were about ¾ quar-ters of a mile away from Whistling Jacks, on the Little


The Rootsof snowmobiling

in Washington stateare sunk deep in

Kittitas County

5

Naches River. That’s a popular destination for snow-mobilers. Anyway, we ran out of snow. Sometimes youdo run out of snow. It’s not uncommon. We opted towalk the rest of the way. I took this photo in 1995.

PHOTO #3: Annual Sno-Park clean up event. Cleanupsare orchestrated by volunteering snowmobilers and cross-country skiers. You wouldn’t believe what we pick up atSno-Parks: furniture, sheet rock, appliances, tires and rims,everything you know winter recreationists wouldn’t leavebehind. It wasn’t unusual for us to pick up four to eighttons during a two-day pickup in the spring. We spread outover the whole county. I took this photo in 1995.

PHOTO #4: Educating legislators. We took a group ofWashington state legislators and their aides for a ride justabove the Blewett Pass Sno-Park, up to the slide area, andthey didn’t want to cross that half-mile stretch. Too steep,they said. So, we shoveled and snow-stomped a path forthem to get across. On our return trip, a Snow Cat hadgroomed the same stretch they had been worryingabout re-crossing all day. I took this photo in 1984.

PHOTO #5 (top page 12): First new sled. This is a pic-ture of me taken at Grouse Springs, near Mission Ridge,north of Ellensburg. The Ski-Doo in the photo was thefirst new sled the USFS bought for our use in thegrooming program. Great view of Mount Rainier in thebackground, about 80-miles away. A friend took thisphoto of me in the early 1990s.

PHOTO #6: Grooming fun. A USFS Snow Cat passedover a fairly new bridge. The bridge was narrow, andthe Snow Cat was wide. It simply sloughed off thebridge into the creek. Nobody was hurt. The machinewas unharmed. The bridge had to be rebuilt. We had totear the bridge down to get the Snow Cat back on thetrail. I took this photo in the early to mid-1990s.


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Do you have access to a telescope?There are some planets that willblow your mind when you viewthem through a telescope! Aboutonce every 26 months, Marsmakes a great appearance as it movesinto opposition, so get out your dusty ther-mos, fill it full of hot coffee or cocoa (anything hotwith caffeine will do) and go outside for some greatnight sky viewing whether you have a lens or not!

PLANETSThis month on Jan. 29, Mars reaches opposition and

its brightest (magnitude -1.3) sphere in the last couple ofyears. You will be able to see the Red Planet whether youhave a telescope or not, just look in the east as darknessfalls. The little planet will be visible as a distinctly reddishdisk and easy to spot with your naked eyes. You canbegin to practice looking for Mars on Jan. 1. However, atelescope of any sort can show you some details of Marsand it’s also a good idea to wait until the planet climbshigh in the south around midnight toward January’s end.If you wait until then, there will be less atmospheric dis-turbance in the sky. Mars will actually be orbiting at itsclosest proximity to the Earth on Jan. 27.

Mercury makes its greatest western elongation atmidnight EST on the 26 of January. If you want to see it,start looking for the tiny planet about Jan. 4 as it rises inthe twilight sky. It jumps into the morning sky from thenon, so you can look for the little guy on Jan. 13 in thesoutheast about 30 minutes before sunrise.

Jupiter is usually on display all the time, and thismonth it will be shining at magnitude -2.1 as it rises inthe southwest just after sunset. The Gas Giant will set inthe west soon after Mars comes into view.

Saturn is another planet that is almost always in view.In January it begins the new year with great telescopeviews as it will already be shining brightly in the south-east when Mars reaches its highest position in thesouth. If you can find them, point your telescope at Sat-

urn’s moons for a visual treat. Any tele-scope will display its brightest moon,Titan, which will be visible close tothe planet’s disk on the mornings of

January 2, 10, 18 and 26. Saturn’srings will extend twice the width of the18” disc of Saturn (through a tele-

scope). They will tilt at 5 degrees to our line of sight,which is the widest since 2008. So, practice catchingthem now, because they will begin to narrow by summer,only to widen again by the end of the year.

SOLAR ECLIPSEThis celestial event (only once this year) occurs on

Jan. 15 and will be visible for observers in Africa, south-ern India and eastern Asia. The eclipse will last at its max-imum point for over 11 minutes and that’s quite a longtime – astronomically speaking!

PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSEThere is also a partial lunar eclipse that we can see in

North America on the evening of New Year’s Eve. Thispartial lunar eclipse will also be visible in Australia andAsia on Jan. 1 in the morning.

METEOR SHOWERSJanuary is the month to view the Quadrantid meteor

shower. It will peak on Jan. 3 and though the Moon inter-feres significantly with observing for the meteor shower,the Quadrantids are known to produce many brightmeteors, so it’s still going to offer excellent views withlots of meteors per hour. The radiant will be northeast,and you will see several of the streaking beauties withyour naked eyes. I like to get a snuggly blanket, a thermosof hot beverage, a chaise lounge (my feet pointed towardthe radiant), and then watch the show while lying down!

The winter night skies are always awesome to see, andthe celestial events happening this month are unbeat-able! Even if you miss an event because of cloudy skies, itwill behoove you to go out and turn your eyes skywardat the first clearing.


NAME: Mars was named for the ancient Roman god ofwar. It is associated with war because the planet’scolor resembles the color of blood. When viewed fromEarth, it is a bright reddish-orange.

PROXIMITY TO THE SUN: Mars is the fourth planetfrom the Sun. The Red Planet’s distance can be aslittle as 128, 390, 000 miles or as much as about 154,860, 000 miles.

ORBIT: Mars travels around the Sun every 687 Earthdays, which is the length of a Martian year.

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE: Mars has 38 percent gravita-tional force of that on Earth. So, a person standing onMars would feel as if her weight had decreased by 62

percent. And if that person dropped a rock, the rockwould fall to the surface more slowly than on Earth.

ROTATION: The Martian day is 24 hours 39 minutes and35 seconds long and spins, like Earth, on its axis fromwest to east.

MASS/DENSITY: The mass (density) of Mars is about7.08 x 1020 tons. That last number is 642 followed by18 zeroes! Earth is about 10 times as massive asMars. Mars is roughly 70 percent the density of Earth.

ATMOSPHERE: The atmosphere of Mars contains muchless oxygen than Earth at about 0.13 percent. Carbondioxide makes up 95.3 percent of the Martian atmos-phere. Other gasses present are nitrogen, 2.7 per-

cent; argon 1.6 percent; carbon monoxide, 0.07 per-cent and water vapor at 0.03 percent.

TEMPERATURE: The atmosphere of Mars is coldest atabout 40-75 miles above its surface. There the tem-peratures are -200 degrees F. It increases to -20 –140 degrees F in the daytime when going toward thesurface. The temperature can vary widely during theday in the lowest extremities. But it can reach -150degrees F late at night, even near the equator. Tem-peratures can be warmer than normal when there ismuch dust. The dust absorbs sunlight and then trans-fers the heat to atmospheric gases. travels aroundthe sun in an elliptical (oval) orbit.

By Janie McQueen


ELECTION WORD FIND

• 1915: THE ELECTRIC NEON SIGN WAS PATENTED BY GEORGE CLAUDE.

• 1953: VIEWERS TUNED IN TO SEE LUCY GIVE BIRTH TO

BABY RICKY ON “I LOVE LUCY.”

• 1966: INDIA ELECTED INDIRA GANDHI AS PRIME MINISTER.

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DOWN1. Counselors’ workplaces2. More or less3. Tubular pasta4. Solid, liquid or gas5. Put up with6. Weigh down7. Explorer Tasman8. Rhinoplasty site9. On the calendar10. “M*A*S*H” locale11. It can be bent or lent12. ORD guesstimate

13. Lord’s Prayer adjective21. Greeting at a luau22. __-Kettering Institute25. “Turf,” to a diner26. Packer’s string27. Full of back talk29. The John B of song, e.g.30. Grain for grinding32. Revue bits33. Anglican bishop’s topper34. Go on the fritz35. Blue hue37. “__-hoo!”38. Memorial designer Maya __40. Student of Socrates

41. Classic column style46. End a shutdown48. Stage digressions50. Kind of 25-Down52. Slugging pitcher Owings53. Model’s asset54. Raced at the Olympics55. Lamb piece57. Elder or alder58. Part of YTD59. Israel’s Eshkol60. “Thar __ blows!”61. San Francisco’s__ Hill62. Surgeons’ sites, briefly

JANUARY 3Mel Gibson, Actor (54)

JANUARY 5Diane Keaton, Actress (64)

JANUARY 6Rowan Atkinson, Comic Actor (55)

JANUARY 7Kenny Loggins,

Singer (62)

JANUARY 8Stephen Hawking,

Scientist (68)

JANUARY 9Dave Matthews,

Singer (43)

JANUARY 10Rod Stewart, Singer (65)

JANUARY 12Rush Limbaugh, Radio Host (59)

JANUARY 17Michelle Obama, First Lady (46)

JANUARY 18Kevin Costner,

Actor (55)

JANUARY 24Mary Lou Retton,

Gymnast (42)

JANUARY 26Eddie Van Halen, Guitarist (55)

JANUARY 27Bridget Fonda, Actress (46)

JANUARY 28Elijah Wood, Actor (29)

JANUARY 29Sara Gilbert, Actress (35)

JANUARY 30Brett Butler,

Actress/Comic (52)ACROSS1. Salary maxes5. DJ Freed9. Sport played with shotguns

14. Help in a holdup15. Classic cleanser brand16. Hardly eager17. “__ Lisa”18. Bad day for Caesar19. Ordered set20. Uruguayan resort23. 1980s TV’s “Remington __”

24. Minimal amounts28. Many ER cases30. Odin or Thor31. One time Pan Am rival32. Hard shot36. Vega’s constellation38. Floral keepsakes39. Algonquian-speaking people42. __-bitty43. London lavs44. Not sharp or flat45. Capote, on Broadway46. Shoot the breeze

47. Surfacing stuff49. Disney’s Dwarfs, e.g.51. “Piece of cake!”56. 2001 Destiny’s Child single60. Be too nosy63. Fen growth64. Smokes, in brief65. “Stormy Weather” singer Lena66. Roof’s edge67. Totally confused68. Jed Clampett’s portrayer69. Largest dwarf planet70. Lamarr of film

HOW THEY SAY IT...

English: ICESpanish: HIELO

Italian: GHIACCIOFrench: GLACEGerman: EIS

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS

WORD SEARCH

BACKUPCOMPUTER

DATADIGITAL

GAMESKEYBOARD

LAPTOPMOUSE

SCHOOLSTORAGE

TYPEWORK

Just in time for Computer Month,see how many related words you canfind & circle throughout the puzzle.

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ZZLE

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20

ICE HOCKEY EVOLVED FROM A GAME BRITISH SOLDIERS BROUGHT TOCANADA THAT THEY CALLED “SHINTY.”

by Lin Cole with Jim FossettWhen you run a number of snowmobiles over

the trail, the surface tends to transform into smallbumps, for a number of reasons. As each succeedingsnowmobile goes over those bumps, the tracks on thesnowmobiles tend to displace a little more snow eachtime, until, well, it’s like when you get the washboardpattern on a dirt road in summer.

On winter trails, washboard patterns are morelikely to happen on climbing turns, and that’s true ofdirt roads as well as snow trails, however the bumps

on climbing turns creep, over time, encroaching thestraightaway and beyond.

Bumps grow up to become moguls, called‘whoop-ti-doos’ by snowmobilers. The objective ofgrooming, of course, is to remove the bumps andmoguls when they’re still ‘young,’ to eliminate theteeth-jarring effect. (Remember this piece of advice

when you’re raising your kids.) Grooming also levelsthe playing field, the surface of the trail, to preventsliding. Good groomers leave a berm in certain spotsto provide a kind of natural guardrail.

Slides are animals of a different sort. Trails acrosssteep hillsides can be wiped out after a fresh snow, sogroomers come in and carve out new ones.

A typical groomed trail is wide enough to accom-modate two snowmobiles to pass each other from op-posite directions. The first trails were nine or ten feetwide, now they’re 14 to 16-feet wide. To deal withparticularly troublesome or hazardous areas, a goodgroomer will typically make two or three passes,widening the trail and creating natural guardrails.


Why Groom?

SOME CALL IT a corduroy pattern, and some call it awashboard pattern. Either way, the patterns are partof the classic portrait of Pacific Northwest groomedtrails in winter. Photo courtesy of Lin Cole

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Omelettes, Crepes, Blintzes, Elk Sausage, German Pancakes,Chef James’ Homemade Cinnamon Rolls,

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Open Weekdays: 10:00 a.m.-Closing

RONALD, WA • 509-649-3301

Snow farming is the use of obsta-cles, equipment and knowledgeabout management of snow inorder to strategically manipulatesnow coverage. Often this is donefor the purpose of skiing or evenpreventing snowdrift in certainareas like roads. The most popu-lar obstacle is the snow fence,which is used to create drifts and

collect more snow in a given areathan would otherwise naturallyoccur. The snow can be moved toother areas and groomed withthe use of a Snow Cat. Sometimesthe snow fence is readily mov-able in order to maximize the col-lection of blown snow, despitewind direction changes.

Source: CHS Snowmakers.


www.FrontierMgmt.comCall or stop by

for your tour today(509) 925-3099

802 E. Mountain View Ave.Ellensburg, WA 98926

[email protected]

Cle Elum’s Centennial Center“Working with Seniors and Community”

Senior Center Events Calendar:

This calendar brought to you as a public service by your friends at Hearthstone Cottage

PUBLIC INVITED to these events!at Cle Elum Eagles Club (509) 674-7530

Jan. 15-18 - Enjoy coffee at Indian John Eastbound rest stop

Jan 21 - Chef’s Dinner - 5pm @EaglesChicken Fried Steak, potato, veg, roll, dessertJan. 26 - Legends Casino Trip $10 -

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CRABFeed - @ Cle Elum Eagles ClubFRESH Crab and all the fixings!Live Blues & Jazz, Door Prizes/RafflesTickets go FAST every year! 674-7530

Winter Factoid:

What is

Snow Farming?

A Dog’s LifeE-mail: [email protected]

You can find out about the dogs who really pull sledsonline at www.nwsda.org A dog like me neverpulled a sled, that’s for sure! I would never pull a sled.I’d have to be a different breed of dog and have lotsof energy. I’d much rather ride on one!

That also goes for some new friends of mine, too.Burt is a seven-year-old Bulldog owned by Brit and KristiBalant of Gig Harbor. He has a friend that lives withthem, too. Jethro is a Wiemaraner (yup, that’s the way it’sspelled folks) of over one-year-old and Brit is taking careof Jethro for a good friend who is serving in America’smilitary in Iraq. How wonderful to have a friend whowill give Jethro a good home, food, water, love and train-ing while his human is overseas protecting our country!

Jethro’s human comes home from overseas dutyin April, so this winter is Jet’s first chance to ride on asnowmobile with Brit. I must admit that bothpooches would much rather ride than walk. Couldthat be because of their short hair? Most of the sleddogs I know are longer haired and a different breed.

Nah - Burt loves to play in the snow – but ride on asnowmobile? “It’s easy,” said Burt, “all you have to do is

hop on the seat in front of your human.” Ithink that being too big for the seatwould slow a dog down, too. But, theseguys seem to fit just perfectly. I get thefeeling that Burt likes to go with hisowner, Kristi. Not only does he thinkabout her protection, but he also mustthink of his own protection - things likenot sliding around on the seat!

(I love to play in the snow, too. Justthrow a pine cone or even a piece ofbark and you’ll see my tail waggin’ as Irace to retrieve it- in fact, all you haveto do is act like you’re throwing some-thing to get the desired results!) Woof,did I just give away my doggie secrets?

READY TO RIDE. Kristi Balant takes her dog, Burt, with her everywhereshe goes - even on a snowmobile! Janie McQueen photo

A newbreed of

‘sleddog’

By Dixie Dog

Woof! You mean that dogs can pull sleds, too?


A BULLDOG (that’s Burt) is also known as a British orEnglish Bulldog. That tells me his ancestry goes backto England. Burt simply loves Kristi and life, and hegets to go absolutely everywhere with her!

The WEIMARANER (that’s Jethro) was originally bred forroyalty to hunt large game. Then they were used to huntsmaller animals because the popularity of hunting biggame dwindled. The Weimaraner is an all purpose,multi-skilled, gun dog and he is bred for his loyalty, loveand fearlessness. Jet (that’s what his friends get to callhim) will be a good family dog and guardian for the fam-ily – especially after he learns the ropes from Burt!


For SPECIAL DEALSon select 2010 Yamaha’s and Ski-Doo’s, visit us at

www.i-90motorsports.com

Make tracks for I-90 for your Yamaha and Ski-Doo Snowmobile needs

With co-sponsor Ellensburg Public Library, the Kittitas Environmental Educa-tion Network (KEEN) is organizing the second annual e3 Winter Fair Green-ing in the New Year. It will take place on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 10 a.m.to 2 p.m. at the Hal Holmes Center in Ellensburg. Offered are exhibits anddisplays, fun children’s activities and opportunities to share New Year’s reso-lutions for sustainable living are part of this community event for “greening”in the new year. For more information on the e3 Winter Fair, see KEEN’swebsite at www.kittitasee.net or contact Stefanie Wickstrom at 964-9599or [email protected] or Kim Freier at [email protected].

e3Winter Fair

JANUARY 2010 - SNOWMOBILING ISSUE WWW.MOUNTAIN-ECHO.COM • CASCADES MOUNTAIN-ECHO

Book Reviews by Janie McQueenAfter the cold snaps of winter which we noticed in De-

cember; there will probably be another cold snap beforewinter is done! What a perfect time to curl up by the fire orin a snuggly blanket with a good book? How about a fewgood books? I got the two prevailing “sides” (no bias for me)of the Amelia Earhart story online. And it just doesn’t hurt topurchase books used instead of new, because I paid a topprice of $1.90 for each book. There should be a good de-scription of the book’s condition, as well. The beauty of pur-chasing online is that the books showed up in my mailbox! Ialso purchased three books written by Amelia Earhart her-self. One book has not arrived yet at this writing, so I figuredI would tell you about the books that I already read.

Lost Star – a book authored by Randall Brink and it hashistorical photographs as well as the cunning war issues be-hind the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, her navigator, FredNoonan and their airplane. It is written with Amelia’s per-sonal radio transmissions and many quotes from those sur-rounding her and working on the airplane. The book issecond to none in the “conspiracy theory” about Earhart’smysterious disappearance. I must admit that this book was a“you don’t want to put it down” kind of book and much eas-ier and more interesting reading than the other book I gotabout the mystery surrounding her flight.

Amelia Earhart, The Mystery Solved – was writtenin 1999 by Elgin and Marie Long (Elgin’s an ex-militarypilot) about the strange disappearance of Amelia Earhart onher “around-the-world” flight. The book is far more detailedthan the Lost Star, but it still offers historical photographsof Earhart and her entourage of people. I just love staringat the pictures! It also culminates with lots of navigationaljargon and the determination that her plane stills rests atthe bottom of the ocean under 17,000 feet of water! “Whatwill we find inside … are there any signs of remains? Thereare dozens of questions that can be answered only by re-covering the plane.”

Another answer? That’s why I read about the two mostpopular theories. And that’s exactly what the books are nomatter how convinced the authors are about their answers

– the books are theories.There is no way to actuallytell whether Amelia Earhartran out of gasoline as sug-gested by Elgin and MarieLong, or was captured andexecuted by the Japanese,as the Lost Star suggests,at this time.

I found that the bestway to make a determina-tion was to read the bookswritten by Amelia Earhartherself.

20 Hrs., 40 Min. – was written by Amelia Earhart whenshe crossed the Atlantic Ocean with Louis “Slim” Gordon andWilmer Stultz. Earhart’s sole purpose for the flight was towrite notes in the planes log and to be the first woman tocross the ocean. She did not pilot the airplane. This booktold much about Earhart up to the point of flying across theAtlantic. She also writes in such a way that captures thereader’s interest immediately! I liked reading it.

Last Flight – written by Amelia Earhart and put to-gether by her husband (G. P. Putnam) at the time of her lastflight. Yes, in case you didn’t know, Amelia Earhart kept beau-tiful flight logs (photographs included!) and sent them to G.P.every time she landed at an airport. Let’s take a look at someof Amelia’s own writing, because her words are her legacy.“But how many of the earthbound realize the relativenearness of sunlight above the cloud-covering? How manyknow that perhaps only three thousand feet above the graydank world my plane, if I will let it, may emerge into sun-light over a billowy sea of clouds stretching away into blueinfinity?”These words are captivating and stimulating. Theycome from the soul of a woman who helped other women,and loved flying to the point that her own life became in-significant. “We flew along until the ridges grew into moun-tains and poked their dark backs, like sharks, through ayellow sea. These acted like a barrier to the sand, and theair cleared somewhat, so we could again see what we wereflying over – dry river beds, a few roads connecting vil-lages, and then a railroad.”This except was logged byEarhart on the 1,390 mile flight from Karachi to Calcutta.Along with the photographs, Amelia’s book was probably su-perior to the others. But, that’s a matter of taste, I’m sure. Thebook did offer a concise view into Amelia Earhart’s heart thatwouldn’t otherwise be possible. And in it, she not only pro-vides the details of the flight, but gives a clear rendering ofher very last flight and what it meant to her.

At the end of Last Flight, when Earhart is nearlyhome, G.P. adds a letter written to him by Amelia beforeleaving on a dangerous flight. “Please know I am quiteaware of the hazards. I want to do it – because I want todo it. Women must try to do things no men have tried.Their failure must be but a challenge to others.”C

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PAGE 15, PUZZLE SOLUTION

Amelia Earhart’s story

Painting by Joel Olson

February 12th-14th, 2010

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...to find a ‘live-here’ who’s willing to part with his or herHoly Grail: Local Knowledge. Boondocker Joe Wallick isone of many Upper County outdoor recreationists whofits the bill of someone who knows the lay of the land.Joe’s been snowmobiling in the county for the last 15years. He’s gone through eight snowmobiles in that time-frame. That should tell you something. We caught up withJoe in mid-December to get some local knowledge aboutthe trails in the Upper County area some say rank as‘Snowmobile Paradise.’ These days, Joe’s running a pair ofSki-Doos, a 2006 and a 2007, both Rev 800’s.

Joe’s Holy Grail: Top Five Winter TrailsOver the last 15 years, you must have compiled a

list of favorite runs. In a word or two, can you charac-terize, say, your top five? Sure. My all-time favorite is Tuc-quala Lake, known locally as Fish Lake. Access is viaSalmon La Sac Road. The road is plowed right up to theSno-Park there. It’s about a 10-mile trip to the top. Trail isgroomed. I like Fish Lake for the open fields. It’s got nicehill climbs, too. French Cabin Creek ranks a close secondfor me. Access is via Salmon La Sac Road to French CabinCreek Road. You can park along the road up there. The re-gion offers great hill climbing, and lots of opportunity toboondock.

How do you describe the trails at French CabinCreek? Collectively, you could liken the trails layout to thespokes on a bicycle wheel. Typically, the majority are allheaded outward to some point where you have to turn-around and come back.

What’s your Number Three favorite? Cooper Lake.Access is via Salmon La Sac Road again, off Cooper Lake

Road. You park near the Cooper Lake Bridge, right afteryou turn off from Salmon La Sac. I like that area becauseyou can get to a lot of places, like Mineral Creek andKachees Ridge. The trails layout is like a spider web, roadsintersecting and branching out all over. The region has alot of play area, too. Places for jumping. Lots of littlerolling hills.

Crystal Springs Sno-Park rank anywhere in yourtop five? Yah. It’s number four. Access is easy, right off I-90. It’s a great place for new riders, I think, because youcan ride the power lines for miles. Here, too, there aremany opportunities to boondock. Overall, there’s lots ofnice backcountry riding.

As for my last favorite, I really don’t have a particularone in mind, but I’m thinking Blewett Pass is a populardestination point, though I haven’t ridden it in years. Youcan definitely get lost up there. Plenty of open space, Imean to say, plenty of area to ride forever. Access is Route97, toward Wenatchee, at the top of Blewett Pass. TheSnoPark’s right there.

Do you ride often? Every week. Usually Thursday orFriday. Typically we average 40-miles a ride. We like to getout at sunrise and back before sunset.

What’s your favorite thing about being out there?Favorite thing? Ha! I’d have to say eating hot food on thetrail. I love that. We use a Hotdogger, a cooking rig you canstrap on your muffler. While you ride, the food cooks. Weload up our Hotdogger with things like Pizza Pockets orOven-Bakes. You can get enough food in one Hotdoggerto feed two people. We usually travel in twos, so we bringalong two Hotdoggers.

Snowmobiler’s

Holy Grail

of local knowledge

It’s universal. If you’re breaking trail in foreign territory, you’re best bet is...


By Jim Fossett

JANUARY • 2010❖ SATURDAY, JAN. 2

Kittitas Audubon Society First Saturday Bird Walk, 8:00 a.m., meet at Irene Rinehart parking lot near Ellensburg. Most walks run 2 hrs. Everyone welcome. For info, visit www.kittitasaudubon.org.

Forest Service Interpretive Snowshoe Walk, Snoqualmie Pass, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. every Sat & Sun. Reservations are required. Special outings scheduled for families with children. Call 509-852-1062 (before Jan. 2); and call 425-434-6111 (afterwards).

❖ MONDAY, JAN. 4Cascade Field & Stream Club, 7:00 p.m. at Sunset Cafe in Cle Elum. Info: call 509-674-1714.

❖ SATURDAY & SUNDAY, JAN. 9-1010th Annual X-Country Ski/Snowshoe eventIron Horse Inn B&B / Iron Horse State Park.For more information, contact: Chuck Repik, 253-582-7474; Iron Horse Inn B&B, 509-674-5939.

❖ SUNDAY, JAN. 10Ski For Health Day, 12:00 - 3:00 p.m. at theIcicle River Trails, Leavenworth. For more info,call 509-548-5477 or [email protected]

❖ MONDAY, JAN. 11Kittitas County Snow Grooming Council7:00 p.m. at Tom L. Craven Conference Room, Cle Elum Ranger District, 803 W. Second St.For info, call Howard Briggs at 509-674-7229.

❖ THURSDAY, JAN. 14Alpine Lakes Trail Riders (ALTR) chapter ofBack Country Horsemen of WA, 7:00 p.m. at the Roslyn Riders Clubhouse off State Route 903. For info, call Dana Bailey, (509) 304-8701.

❖ SATURDAY, JAN. 16Winterhop Brewfest, Ellensburg.Contact: Ellensburg Chamber, 1-888-925-2204.

Cabin Fever Dance & Potluck at theSwauk Teanaway Grange, 1361 Ballard Hill Road, Cle Elum. Info, call Gerry Lloyd, 509-674-1989.

❖ SATURDAY & SUNDAY, JAN. 16-17Bavarian Icefest, downtown Leavenworth.For more info, visit: www.leavenworth.org .

❖ TUESDAY, JAN. 199th Annual Wenatchee Valley Environmental Film Series, Wenatchee Valley Museum,127 S. Mission. For more information, call509-667-9708 or visit: www.cdlandtrust.org.

❖ FRIDAY, JAN. 22“Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predator” screening of a new documentary by Gree Fire Productions, 7:00 p.m. at the Barn Beach Reserve. For more info, call 509-548-0181 or 509-548-7584 or www.barnbeachreserve.org.

❖ SATURDAY, JAN. 23Reenactment of Ellensburg Public Library Opening, 11:30 a.m. soup luncheon with dessert at the Hal Holmes Center; 1:00 p.m. ribbon at the library follows. Archive tours, Library tours and Children’s activities planned until 3:00 p.m.Info: Debby DeSoer, [email protected]

❖ FRIDAY, JAN. 29‘Final Friday’ Live Music & Art Walk5:00 - 9:00 p.m., downtown Roslyn.For more information, call 509-649-2551.

❖ SATURDAY, JAN. 30Children's Concert: Music of Daniel Dorff, 2:00 p.m. at the Canyon Wren Recital Hall at Icicle Creek Music Center, Leavenworth. For more info, call 509-548-6347; or www.icicle.org.

U.K.C. Senior Center Crab Feed & Bingo,Cle Elum Eagles Club, 220 Pennsylvania Ave.For ticket information, call 509-674-7530.

Downtown Mountain Boys bluegrass band performs, 7:30 p.m. at Cashmere Riverside Center, 201 Riverside Drive. For info, call509-548-1230; www.CashmereCoffeehouse.com.

• JANUARY EXHIBITS •• Carpenter House Museum and High Country

Artist Gallery, Cle Elum; 509-674-9766.

• Roslyn Museum203 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Roslyn; 509-649-2355.

• Clymer Museum of Art416 N. Pearl St., Ellensburg; 509-962-6416.

• Kittitas County Historical Museum114 E. Third Ave., Ellensburg; 509-925-3778.


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january 2010 echo magazine - snowmobiling

Documents

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state taxes

miles of groomedcross

percent increase