After starting it and then clearing a lot of snow off my car that had been parked up the hill at a turnaround about 1/4 mile from the house since Friday evening, I proceeded to load Jamie and cross my fingers that the old beast would make it up the other hills necessary to successfully navigate my way to Glacier Highway.
Once reaching the highway I turned left and slowly headed further Out the Road on my way to the Shrine of St Therese.
It was a cold and sunny morning, my dog as usual was eager to roam, and I knew that it would be both very beautiful and very quiet out at the Shrine.
Arriving at the Shrine I drove down one hill and then decided not to push my luck by heading down still one more hill to the parking lot.
There is a left turn immediately prior to the lot and I took it, parking my car at a quiet dead-end.
The picture above is the scene I found when I climbed out of the car, and I was very glad that I had decided to spend some time here this morning..........
Jamie and I walked back down the side road we had just taken, turned left and headed down to the hill towards what I knew was a beautiful and wide open view of the mountains and the channel............
My almost completely black and white pictures of yesterday turned into almost completely blue and white pictures this morning, in the watery and weak wintery sunshine............
There are many pieces that make up the area that is the Shrine of St Therese.
There is a lodge and cabins that can be rented for retreats. A home for the year round property manager. A large walk-to island hidden in the pine trees that contains monuments and a small and beautiful church. Trails both dirt and gravel.
And very beautiful views of the channel and the Chilkats.
Tourists fill this place through the summer.
Religious locals visit here because of its spiritual icons and working church.
And people like me, who are neither a tourist nor a religious person come here because it is simply an extraordinarily wonderful, peaceful and beautiful place.
It is a place to enjoy nature. And a peaceful place to come for introspection.
Today I was here for both of those things..............
A small and rustic storage building on the grounds..........
The lodge - today quiet and empty, but a busy place at most other times of year............
Even though it did not feel windy to me, I could hear (even before I could see) the waves crashing along the shoreline.
The first time I found the Shrine was not long after moving into my house.
I still remember the astonishment I felt - the same astonishment I felt when I first pulled my borrowed mountain bike into the parking lot of Eagle Beach - that places so beautiful existed, and existed close to where I had chosen to live......
Unlike last week when we had a lot of snow that promptly melted within just a few days because of above-freezing temperatures, this snow may very well be around for a while.
It was right around freezing yesterday, but snowed a good deal more after Jamie and I got back from our walk down at the end of the our road.
Today it is about 26 degrees, and the forecast is for more snow every day this coming week...........
I could not see this small private plane in the viewfinder of my camera, but snapped a picture anyway.
I was glad to see my plane showed up with the water and mountains as a back drop..........
I very often have the urge to look up an online thesaurus and search for better words than "beautiful".
I never have, because on days like this, with scenes like this, words just don't cut it.
The pictures just have to speak for themselves............
This short trail leads to the Shrine that is completely hidden in the trees.
It is a lovely, quiet and private place..............
The first time I was here was in March in the snow and sunshine.
A day very much like today.
As I have with many other local places, I have taken pictures of this statue in all seasons.
One of my favorite pictures was during the spring when she had tulips flowers growing in front of her.
But I still find winter pictures the most beautiful of all .........
A very lovely stone church built in the 1930's...........
By the time Jamie and I had spent 20 minutes or so exploring the Shrine I was getting very cold.
Feet were cold (even wearing my dead-sexy insulated boots) and I needed an extra pair of socks.
My hands were cold and I needed thicker gloves.
Not having either one of those things we headed back along the walk-way and wandered along the shore slowly making our way back to the car...........
The last time I walked on this bridge it was in the fall right after work.
The day was also sunny but much warmer, and with the days getting shorter I ended up taking some beautiful pictures of the sunset before heading home.
When I think about that walk now though, I realize that I was putting off going home.
The pressure at work was becoming overwhelming at that time and so was the pressure at home.
Leave the dirt at the door.
Don't bring it in the house with you.
No matter what.
No matter what, home needs to be the safe place where you can leave the dirt at the door..........
This bridge, somewhere underneath the snow, contains a large plaque naming a huge number of groups and individuals who helped to finance this bridge...........
Taken from the bridge, this small stream feeds directly into the channel..........
Well I did it.
I finally had the chance to try out this cross country skiing thing to see if I could do it and to see if I could like it.
I bought the skis, boots and poles for $35 at a yard sale this past summer, and the entire setup has been waiting patiently in the corner of the porch for my initiation to the sport.
It took me a good 10 minutes to clip into the skis (which is nothing, because it took me an hour to successfully clip into my bike the first time I tried out spd pedals:
and I never even made it out of my driveway that day).
Thankfully I did indeed make it out of my driveway this morning and spent about 30 minutes mechanically wandering up and down my road
I fell hard once when I couldn't stop on a downhill.
I moved in that robotic, self-conscious, over thinking way that people have when they are trying out something new.
But I had a really good time, think that I could really get to like it, and want to go out to the campground beside Skaters Cabin next weekend where there is a large number of flat and wide open trails to really test out my new-found activity.
Big fun!!
LC is now in Montana.
Getting on the ferry on Friday. Arriving in Juneau next Monday December 20.
This entire year has been a long, expensive, adventurous, exciting, exhausting, gut wrenching year on many fronts.
But yes.
Maybe it will be a good Christmas after all........
One last picture of a snow covered trail heading back to the car this morning............
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