Minnesota Milky Way

I went out with a few local youth last night to look for the northern lights. While the aurora was visible, it was very, very faint. The Milky Way, however, lit up the sky! This image was made at about 12:30 a.m. Exposure time was 30 seconds, aperture f4.0, ISO 6400. It was also the coolest night (temperature-wise) that we've had in a while. It actually dipped slightly into the 40's last night. This was good for high ISO photography, as the temperature cools the camera's sensor doesn't build up as much heat and therefore generates less noise in the final image. Enjoy!

Moving On :: The Cassiar Highway

Monday, August 30th - - Cold temperatures with blue skies and sunshine greeted me as I left Watson Lake. It was 33 degrees when I woke up at 6:30 this morning. It had been a clear, dark sky last night and it was the first time I had seen the stars since leaving Montana over a month ago!

I had to backtrack about ten miles to get onto the Cassiar Highway (Route 37) and it wasn't long before I got into a combination of smoke and fog. The smoke was due to the forest fires that started a month or so ago and were still smoldering. The road had been closed to traffic for a couple of weeks.

Early morning sun streaming through the forest. Most of the trees near the road were not affected by the fire but there was a smoky haze and acrid smell that filled the air.

This section was particularly bad because the smoke was “enhanced” by fog from a nearby lake.

Less than an hour later, I was through the burned-out area and back in sunshine.
There isn't much in the way of “civilization” along the Cassiar Highway. It travels through 450 miles of wilderness, making its way through valleys and over mountains. Not much different than many of the other highways I've traveled thus far here in Canada and Alaska. But this seemed more remote. Perhaps it was my frame of mind or the fact that there were few other vehicles on the highway. Or maybe it was because of the wildlife I saw along the way. A multicolored fox with fur of brown and red and black and with a bushy tail as long as its body. And bears. Eight of them were seen, briefly, individually, in a 100-mile stretch of the highway.

About 350 miles into the drive I was looking for a place to spend the night. There was a road that branched off of Highway 37 and it looked intriguing. It was paved, only 40 miles long, and it went to two towns next to each other – Stewart in British Columbia and Hyder in Alaska. I made the turn at the junction and headed west...

The route from Skagway – north, then east, and finally south.

Finally, He's Moving

Sunny decides to walk across the pen and Tuffee walks after him thinking she is herding.

A Country Ride in 49x16 Gearing...

We've finally set up my fixed gear bike, and the build came out much spiffier than I initially planned. Concerned citizens saved me from putting cheap components on a nice frame and I was able to get good deals on a very nice crankset and wheelset. One tiny problem however: the crankset has a 49t chainring and the wheelset came with a 16t cog, so the bicycle is geared insanely high. I decided to keep the cog and replace the chainring, most likely with a 44t. But that has to be special ordered, and in the meantime I really wanted to ride! Opinions are split on whether it is wise to ride on the road in such a high gear, but the consensus is generally "no." Having tried it, I agree - though it wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated.

Riding in traffic was fine: It was not difficult to start at intersections, and to stop I simply used the brakes. Braking with my legs would have been out of the question after accelerating, but with good brakes this isn't an issue. I then went on a 20 mile ride on the Minuteman Trail, which is pretty flat but with a sustained upward/downward incline depending on the direction of travel. The gearing was doable. I felt it in my leg muscles, but not in my knees, and was fine the next morning. But while doable, it wasn't much fun - in the sense that I prefer to cycle at a high cadence and most of the time that wasn't possible in this gearing. It was exciting how fast the bike accelerated on flat stretches, but the upward inclines felt like walking up an endless staircase. It was neat to experience just as a way of physically understanding how different gear ratios work in fixed gear, but I would not want to ride that way on a regular basis.

On my previous bike the gearing was 48x18, which felt slightly too low toward the end. So I am thinking 44x16 on this one should feel just about right. The bike is great and I am looking forward to many country rides in an appropriate gear in the coming months. Don't know why, but it feels really good to ride fixed gear when it's cold outside!

More Toddler Camping ..

Another last minute decision to make the most of time off and go camping. Packing for camping with Mirabelle always seems not worth it as we struggle to wrangle her and gear to pack in the morning of a trip. This usually has Jennifer second guessing our decision to go, and also has us leaving later than I'd prefer. Not to mention forgetting some things. (more on that later)



The idea was to drive up and secure a site at Tinkham campground off I90, then take a hike up to Denny Slide while Mirabelle takes her nap. Securing a site was not a problem and we soon took the short drive over to Denny Creek Trail Head for out hike.



Mirabelle is at an age where she does not want to be cooped up in the pack for a trip and enjoys doing some of the hiking on her own. (Although she is not at an age where she can keep from getting tuckered out pretty quickly.) She wanted out of the pack early and proceeded to inspect every rock leave and hole near the trail. She didn't want to sleep in the pack or the Ergo that we brought along as well. So we all soldiered on to the slide.







It was surprising to see so many people there early on a Friday afternoon. She got good and tuckered out there, and we continued up to Keekwulee Falls while she napped in the Ergo until we got back down to the slide. She did a fair amount of the hiking back to the car and then we headed back to camp where we needed to borrow a lighter to start our stove to make dinner.



After dinner we headed to the river where Mirabelle just had to get in and wade in the South Fork.






As you can tell from the jackets, the air was not warm.




After a breakfast of fresh picked red huckleberry oatmeal, we headed to Twin Falls State Park to get in another hike. Unfortunately, all the hiking Mirabelle did the previous day left her a little too tired to accomplish that hike and we cut the hike short just after the switchbacks leading closer to the falls.






Speedy little hiker

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun :: Eli Yarian

Randy Seaver's challenge for this Saturday night is to pick an ancestor or relative with a military record and a gravestone then write about them.



I've chosen Eli Yarian, my 2nd great-grandfather, primarily because I haven't written about him previously!



Eli and his brother Benjamin enlisted in Battery D, 1st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery on January 28, 1862 and were mustered out on July 15, 1865. Their brother David enlisted with Battery A, 1st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Light Artillery on August 11, 1862 and was discharged with the regiment in 1865.



Another brother, Jonathan, served with Company A of the 35th Regiment Indiana Infantry in which he enlisted in September 1864 while living in Noble County, Indiana. He and his wife, Jane Hook, had moved there in the summer of 1860. Jonathan joined General Thomas' command in Tennessee, and was with his regiment during the concluding campaign in the western part of the Mississippi Valley. He fought at Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville. On December 16, 1864, during the second days battle at Nashville, Jonathan was severely wounded and taken to Cumberland Hospital, where his left leg was amputated. He was honorably discharged on May 26, 1865 and returned home to Noble County, eventually moving to Nappanee, Elkhart County, Indiana.



Some of the battles that Eli and Benjamin participated in were:

Munfordville, Kentucky... September 14-16, 1862

Lavergne, Tennessee... December 26, 1862

Siege of Knoxville... November 17 to December 4, 1863

Kingston, Georgia... May 24, 1864

Siege of Atlanta... July 28 to September 2, 1864

Franklin, Tennessee... November 20, 1864

Nashville, Tennessee... December 15-16, 1864

Eli was wounded at the Battle of Nashville, but not seriously. He was transferred to the Eastern Army at Fort Fisher and then to Cleveland where he was discharged in July 1865. In the spring of 1866, Eli and Benjamin moved to Elkhart County, Indiana and made their homes in Locke Township. In the fall of 1866 they both got married. Eli on the 22nd of September to Lovina Berlin and Ben married Eliza Coppes on the 25th of December. Lovina's family had lived in Portage County, Ohio and moved to Elkhart County in 1864 so it is likely that Eli and Lovina knew each other prior to coming to Elkhart County. Purely conjecture on my part, but it's possible that the reason Eli came to Elkhart County after the war was because Lovina was there! Maybe, maybe not.



I'm very fortunate to have a photograph of Eli, which was sent to me in May .. by Kathy Foster who is distantly related to William Walker, the husband of Eli's sister Susanna. I wrote about that “Happy Dance” moment in February ...





Eli's life came to a tragic end at about noon on Monday January 28, 1895 as he was assisting a neighbor in cutting down a tree. It fell in the opposite direction than was expected, striking him in the head. Death was instantaneous.





Eli is buried alongside his wife Lovina and two young daughters in South Union Cemetery, Locke Township, Elkhart County, Indiana. Note that his inscription has the year 1894. His obituary was published in the Nappanee News on January 30, 1895 and his estate entered probate on March 1, 1895. This photo was taken on July 12, ... I've visited the site several times since then, the last time being in the spring of ...



The inscription on the gravemarker reads:YarianLovina 1845 – 1932Eli 1839 – 1894

The inscription on the footstone reads:ELI YARIANCO. D.1ST OHIO L.A.

Eli and Lovina were the parents of seven children:

1. Estella E. Yarian (29 Oct 1867 – 07 Feb 1935) married Theodore B. Irvine and had two children: Harry and Frederick.


2. Willis Oscar Yarian (18 May 1870 – 07 Dec 1948) married Grace Melvin and had two children, Harold and Grace Maxine.


3. Susie Lula Yarian (05 Jan 1872 – 29 Apr 1956) married Henry Phend and had 10 children. See Phend Family Index to Posts. Susie and Henry are my great-grandparents.


4. Edith M. Yarian (19 Feb 1875 - 01 Mar 1875)


5. Lydia Blanche Yarian (17 Sep 1878 – 03 Jul 1889)


6. Mary Winifred Yarian (26 Dec 1881 – 22 Mar 1945) married Earl Glen Rosbrugh, had three children: Pauline, Mildred and Glenwood.


7. James Arthur Yarian (31 May 1884 – 12 Feb 1930)

The Deed is Done!

Took all of 10 minutes. One of the advantages of living in small-town America! And in Indiana. Now, if only the irritating political ads (on both sides) and the very annoying phone calls would stop!!! The ladies at the polling place said there has been a good turnout for in-person voting. I was number 1,136. That doesn't sound like much but there's only about 20,000 registered voters in Noble County. They have also gotten "a lot" of mail-in absentee ballots too. Like everywhere else in the nation they are expecting a record turn-out. It's been pretty amazing to see all of the attention that Indiana has gotten from both parties. For the first time since I started voting, I feel like my vote will actually mean something. 'Bout time.