Off On The Right Foot

( Dateline: 2456660 )  Greeting Dear Friends and especially Dear Facebook Friends who take time to mosey over here and read what we have to say.  Today, we're putting the discussion of what we've done at the bottom instead of the top.  We're going to start with news and morning reading material first.

The biggest news is the ridiculous weather back in the Midwest and the East.  Yes, we're all accustomed to reading about ridiculous weather but this cold front is epic.  It could easily produce some of the coldest weather Indiana has seen in at least 20 years and probably some of the coldest weather in recorded weather history.  Here's what the Indianapolis NWS has to say about it in their morning AFD today:

Meanwhile--Warm & Dry here.

THIS WILL BRING THE COLDEST TEMPERATURES CENTRAL INDIANA HAS SEEN IN 20 YEARS WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF SUBZERO TEMPS ON THE ORDER OF 36 TO 48 HOURS ACROSS A LARGE PART OF THE FORECAST AREA....AND EXPECT COLDEST TEMPS WILL BE FELT MONDAY NIGHT. HAVE LOWS FROM -17 TO -10F ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA AND FRANKLY THIS MAY STILL BE CONSERVATIVE CONSIDERING MODEL TRENDS THE LAST FEW DAYS.

TO PUT THIS COLD BLAST INTO PERSPECTIVE...INDY HAS EXPERIENCED JUST SEVEN DAYS WITH LOWS OF -10 OR LOWER SINCE THE RECORD COLD OF JANUARY 1994. WE MAY ADD TWO DAYS TO THAT LIST EARLY NEXT WEEK. EVEN MORE IMPRESSIVE...THE COLDEST HIGH IN RECORDED HISTORY IS -11 FROM
JAN 20 1985. ONLY 16 DAYS IN THE INDY PERIOD OF RECORD HAVE EXPERIENCED SUBZERO HIGHS. MONDAY AND TUESDAY MAY BE ADDED TO THIS VERY SHORT LIST.

DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS WILL BE A PROBLEM IN TANDEM WITH THE TEMPS...
AS THE SHARP PRESSURE GRADIENT BEHIND THE RAPIDLY STRENGTHENING LOW
WILL MAINTAIN GUSTS IN THE 20-30MPH RANGE MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.
WIND CHILLS ARE LIKELY TO BOTTOM OUT AT -40 TO -30F MONDAY THROUGH
TUESDAY.

Here is a link to an article in my Home Town newspaper, "The Lafayette Journal and Courier."  My heart goes out to all those folks I know back there along the Banks of The Wabash.

http://www.jconline.com/article/20140103/NEWS07/301030006/Weather-Partly-sunny-highs-under-10-says-Paul-Poteet

Meanwhile, NOAA says this winter will bring no relief to the drought-stricken Southwest.  The news in this article is not good.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20131121_winteroutlook.html

Moving on to a brighter, funner topic, here's an article from the Tucson newspaper about a new guide to The Arizona Trail.  This particular guide is long overdue and will become an instant hit with both hikers and people who collect trail guide books (AKA: Little Yonni).

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/new-guidebook-spotlights-arizona-trail/article_ac948de7-0400-54b0-9859-115433134679.html

Whoever heard of a Chamber of Commerce "being mothballed."  At first we thought it was some sort of pest control gig.  But no, it's true.  Only in Camp Verde, of course:

http://cvbugle.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=40934

The Coconino National Forest is FINALLY revising their Master Plan...finally as  in after TWENTY SEVEN YEARS!  YIKES!  We clearly remember the 1987 charade they called a Master Plan back then.  It was simply a justification of "business as usual."  Luckily, it's obvious this new master plan will be far more in touch with the realities of our time.  We will highlight various portions of it over the coming days.

http://go.usa.gov/jHnY

And, finally, once again in the news today--The MegaLoad!  No, it's not a new lottery.

This article was written by Laura Zuckerman and is Copyright 2014 by "The Post-Register."  It is used here with permission from the publisher.

SALMON -- A giant load of oilfield equipment bound for the tar sands of Canada is expected to make its way through Salmon tonight, Idaho Transportation Department officials said Thursday.

The so-called megaload hauled by Oregon shipper Omega Morgan weighs 901,000 pounds, is 76 feet longer than a football field and stands nearly as tall as a two-story house. It needs two lanes for travel.

The megaload was to travel through Lemhi County overnight Thursday and be on the southern outskirts of Salmon this morning. Local officials said the load could move through Salmon as early as 8 p.m. today. But ITD spokesman Bruce King said the megaload was not authorized to begin the trek until 10 p.m.

Under the terms of its Idaho permit, the megaload can travel only from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

It was unknown how long the trip through Salmon might take or how long the load would block a Salmon River bridge that connects the city's east and west sides. The megaload will turn off the bridge onto U.S. Highway 93 North and ultimately cross Lost Trail Pass into Montana.

The megaload is one of three massive shipments planned by Omega Morgan in the coming weeks. All will travel a route through Idaho that includes passing through the communities of Arco, Leadore and Salmon.

Idaho State Patrol troopers were expected to flank the megaload tonight to address any protests similar to the ones that slowed its pace through Oregon.

Salmon was among cities listed by Wild Idaho Rising Tide as a possible site for protests by those at odds with ongoing expansion of the oil and gas industry. Other protesters have objected to transforming Pacific Northwest states into "high and wide" industrial corridors.

Lemhi County Emergency Management Director Janet Nelson said emergency vehicles would be placed on either side of the Salmon River bridge so first responders could address any medical, fire or other emergency that may arise. Officials hope no emergency calls will require transferring patients between the local hospital and medical centers in Montana while the route is taken up by the megaload.

"That would be a problem," Nelson said.

The Shoshone-Bannock tribes on Thursday expressed concern about the megaload's impact on their homelands along the Salmon and other Idaho rivers, where they still exercise fishing and hunting rights. Tribal leaders criticized the ITD for failing to consult with them before issuing the permit to Omega Morgan. They said they expected "full and complete mitigation" linked to any damages or incidents tied to the megaload's passage along river corridors.


Idaho has not required a bond for the shipment.

------------end of Zuckerman article-------------

Spent a slow Thursday morning messing with the blog and writing up the first morning edition.  Stopped by the Red Rock Visitor Center to see if any new trails were recently created.  Finally got on the actual trail at 12:30 pm.  Hiked for 3 hours.  Back home with plenty of time to process and post photos.

Today (Friday) is more of the same.  Mess with this blog, take off and go hiking, come home and enjoy 60-degree weather.  Maybe rustle up a camp fire.  Enjoy Happy Hour.

Thanks for reading.  Many Cheers, jp

PS---Speaking of reading, You have helped create a real bump up in the readership of this blog.  Our own visits are not counted in the statistics.  Our "Statistics Week" ends at at 12:01 am Friday morning (today)  This week, we averaged 16 visitors and 43 page views per day with an average time spent on the blog of five minutes sixteen seconds.  

For the past four week, we averaged four visitors per day who logged an average of 8 page views per day and spent less than 30 seconds total on the blog.  Most visitors are reading the blog between 9-10 am and again at 6 pm.  THANK YOU for reading!