Vet Visit

Marine air moved in and our 90 degree days abated for a while. As it got cooler last night I covered the whelping box to hold in the heat. Excited rears sticking out from under the covers was my first view of Koyuk and her family this morning.

Today was a well mom/pup check-up. Both the warming box and the next size basket were too small for the growing pups. Everyone was bundled up in the large laundry basket for their first car ride.

Mr Navy and Ms Orange have doubled their birth weight. Everyone else is within 1oz of doubling their weight. (Koyuk has lost 6 lbs in spite of her daily 6 cups each of puppy kibble and ice cream). All were pronounced perfectly wonderful. 

After the official check-up, the entire clinic staff got their share of puppy-breath.

Day 6 cont.

Dowager McKenzie supervising the pups from her throne.

Mid-day snack (one of several). I love when the pups flip upside down and paddle away while eating.

Karmin came over to pup-sit for me while I attended to the much neglected vegetable garden. Everyday the pups will be purposely exposed to new stimuli. I want them as bombproof as possible when they go to their forever homes. Karmin tickled all the puppy toes with a cue-tip and then had them navigate across no-skid shelving mats. No biggie thus far.

The pups have all gained at least 7 oz. Every four hours around-the-clock Koyuk makes sure I am awake enough to give her a cup of high calorie puppy kibble with a cup of vanilla ice cream mixed in. Of course, I have to sample the ice cream to see if it up to quality standards. She is still getting skinny. I can't say the same for myself.

Day 6 Morning With Navy Boy

Pretty nice digs but an hour has gone by so time to go ....

 belly up at the milk bar.

 Dreaming of the next meal.

 Amazing how fast that little chubby belly needs filling again.

And another nap.

"Yeah, finally lunch time."

Day Five

Agenda for Day 5: sleep, eat, sleep, get toes tickled, eat, sleep, get bath, eat, sleep, be held in various positions, eat, sleep, crawl about, repeat...

Good Morning little ones.

They are growing so fast that there is not much room in the warming-now-holding box. I am going to have to get a bigger box to place them in during linen changes. All have gained at least 6 oz. Mr Red has gained 8 oz.

 Eat, then bath...

This photo is pretty true to their colors. It is also true to the fact that it is impossible to line them up and have them stay long enough for a picture. As usual,  Ms Pink is executing her getaway. Ms Orange and Mr Navy are already across the whelping box. As they get older, their color will change. The top of the head is the best indication of their final color.

 Eat, bath, then bedtime.

Good-nite

Good night 4 day old little ones. They have all been fed, had their bath and are now twitching about with puppy dreams. Koyuk and I have paws crossed it will stay this way for at least 4 hours.

Meet Klah, Karuk, Koma, and Mazama

The BrownStone Cascade Peaks litter is named with the Chinook names of Cascade Peaks I have climbed.

Native American myth tells us that the Three Sisters, known as Klah Kiahnee ("Three Points"), was once the largest and tallest of the Cascade mountains. Then the earth shook for days and the mountain boiled inside until fiery rocks came seething forth. Flame and smoke rose high into the air, tossing red-hot stones in all directions. When quiet finally descended again, most of the mountain was gone, leaving only the three points we see now. The North Sister is 10.085 ft. The Middle Sister is 10,358 ft. The South Sister is 10,358 ft. In 1970 I was dumb enough to take on a bet the I could not climb all three in one day. I threw in Broken Top for good measure earning a round of beer.

 Adventurous Klah (Three Sisters - Ms Purple)

Karuk is an active volcano located in California at the southern end of the Cascade Range. At 14,179 ft. Karuk is the second highest peak in the Cascades. The oldest known human habitation in the Mt Karuk area dates to about 7,000 years ago, and by about 5,000 years ago, there was substantial human habitation in the surrounding area. Karuk means "White Mountain" to the Native Americans.

 Three day old Karuk (Mt. Shasta - Mr. Green)

 Mt. Koma was well known to Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. The indigenous name for the mountain is Koma Kuishan ("White Sentinel" and "Crater"). Koma is an active glaciated volcano and has the second most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range. Koma is the most heavily glaciated of the Cascade Range volcanoes. The volume of snow and ice on Koma is greater than that of all the other Cascade mountains (except Rainier - Takoma "larger than Koma") At 10,781 ft, Koma is the third-highest mountain in Washington State and the 5th highest Cascade. In 1969 I was a beach guard with a high chair view of Koma. Viewing it daily made me want to get to the top. I climbed solo so have no photos.

  

Three day old Komo (Mt. Baker - Ms Yellow)

The spirits of the Earth and Sky often come and talked with the people. Liao was the spirit of the Below-World who lived below Mt. Mazama. Liao often came up and stood on the top of Mt. Mazama and his head would touch the stars near the home of Skell. There was no lake then, just a hole through which Liao passed to see the outside world. One day, Liao saw Loha, daughter of the Klamath Indian chief and fell in love with her beauty. She rejected him. He got angry and swore that he would take revenge on her people. He tried to destroy the people with the curse of fire. The Klamath Indian chief sought help from Skell. Skell descended from the sky to the top of  Mt. Mazama. Skell and Liao battled, thundering and trembling the Earth, hurling red hot rocks back and forth to each other from Mt.Karuk to Mt Mazama, causing great landslides. A terrible darkness spread over the area for days. All spirits of Earth and Sky took part in this battle, creating intense fear among the people. Attempting to calm the ferocious volcano gods and to make up for the sins of the tribe, two medicine med offered to sacrifice themselves and jumped into the pit of the Below-World. Impressed by their heroic sacrifice, Skell fought even harder. He finally defeated Liao, driving Liao deep down into the Below-World. He collapsed the top of Mt. Mazama to imprison Liao forever beneath the world. Skell wanted peace and tranquility to cover up this dark pit so he filled it with the beautiful blue water.
Mt Mazama was destroyed by a volcanic eruption that occurred around 5.677 BC. The eruption reduced Mazama's approximate 12,000 ft height by around a mile. At 8,159 ft, Hillman Peak is now the highest point on the rim. Mazama's collapsed caldera holds Crate Lake. The rim road is closed due to deep snows in the winter and spring making it ideal for skiing and mountaineering.

Three day old Mt. Mazama (Crater Lake - Mr Orange)

Wy'east, Pahto and Loowit

Native Americans composed many legends concerning the three "smoking mountains" Wy'east, Pahto and Loowit that guard the Columbia River.

According to the Bridge of the Gods tale, Wy'east (Mt. Hood) and Pahto (Mt. Adams; also called Klickitat by native peoples) were the sons of the Great Spirit. The brothers both competed for the love of the beautiful Loowit (Mt. St. Helens). When Loowit chose Pahto, Wy'east struck his brother hard so that Pahto's head was flattened and Wy'east took Loowit from him (thus attempting to explain Adams' squat appearance). In other versions of the story state that losing Loowit caused Pahto such grief that he dropped his head in shame.

In one version of the legend the two sons of the Great Spirit Sahale fell in love with the beautiful maiden Loowit who could not decide which to choose. The two braves, Wy'east and Pahto, burned forests and villages in their battle over her. Sahale became enraged and smote the three lovers. Seeing what he had done he erected three mountain peaks to mark where each fell. He made beautiful Mount St. Helens for Loowit, proud and erect Mount Hood for Wy'east, and the somber Mount Adams for the mourning Pahto.

In another telling Wy'east, the chief of the Multnomah tribe, competed with the chief of the Klickitat tribe. Their great anger led to their transformation into volcanoes. Their battle is said to have destroyed the Bridge of the Gods and thus created the great Cascade Rapids of the Columbia River. 

Much Indigenous American lore was inspired by the volcano's beauty and contains numerous legends to explain the eruptions of Mount St. Helens and other Cascade volcanoes. In one tale, the chief of all the gods and his two sons, Pahto (also called Klickitat) and Wy'east, traveled down the Columbia River from the Far North in search for a suitable area to settle.They came upon an area that is now called The Dalles and thought they had never seen a land so beautiful. The sons quarreled over the land, so to solve the dispute their father shot two arrows from his mighty bow — one to the north and the other to the south. Pahto followed the arrow to the north and settled there while Wy'east did the same for the arrow to the south. The chief of the gods then built the Bridge of the Gods, so his family could meet periodically.When the two sons of the chief of the gods fell in love with a beautiful maiden named Loowit, she could not choose between them. The two young chiefs fought over her, burying villages and forests in the process. The area was devastated and the earth shook so violently that the huge bridge fell into the river, creating the Cascades of the Columbia River Gorge. For punishment, the chief of the gods struck down each of the lovers and transformed them into great mountains where they fell. Wy'east, with his head lifted in pride, became the volcano known today as Mount Hood. Pahto, with his head bent toward his fallen love, was turned into Mount Adams. The fair Loowit became Mount St. Helens, which means "smoking or fire mountain".

At 11,240 feet, Wy'east is the highest point in Oregon and the fourth-highest in the Cascade range. Wy'east is home to 12 glaciers and is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt. I have climbed Wy'east numerous times on several routes. In 1970 I was stunt woman for Olivia Hussey in a movie made just down from the summit. Wy'east fumerals are right behind me.

Three day old, brave Wy'east, Mr Navy

Contrary to legend, the flatness of Pahto's current summit area is not due to loss of the volcano's peak.  Instead it formed as a result of cone-building eruptions from separated vents. Pahto's summit is 12,300 ft.

Three day old Pahto (Mr. Red doesn't really have a flat head)

Mt. Loowit is well known for its ash explosions and pyroclastic flows. It's most notorious catastrophic eruption was on May 18, 1980. The blast reduced the elevation from 9,677 ft to 8,365 ft replacing it with a 1 mile wide, horseshoe-shaped crater. I was lucky to summit Loowit long before she blew her top. Pahto and Wy'east can be seen in the background.

The fair and beautiful, three day old Loowit, Ms Pink.

Meet the BrownStone Cascade Peaks Pups

These pictures were actually taken yesterday but that blog was a bit full. The pups remain healthy, strong and active. Koyuk and I are in desperate need of sleep. Each of the pups have gained around three ounces during their three days of life.

I always pick a theme animal to photograph puppy growth comparisons. For a Cascade Peaks litter I have chosen animals that can be found in the Cascade mountains (well Moose is a bit of a stretch but he was so cute). The pictures are in order of birth. The names will be their registered names and are Chinook names for different Cascade Peaks I have climbed. In paraphrases are their gender, rick-rack color and  the current mountain name.

 BrownStone Cascade Mt. Wy'east   (Mr. Navy - Mt.Hood)

 BrownStone Cascade Mt. Loowit  (Ms. Pink - mt. St. Helens)

 BrownStone Cascade Mt. Pahto  (Mr. Red - Mt. Adams)

 BrownStone Cascade Mt. Karuk   (Mr. Green - Mt. Shasta)

 BrownStone Cascade Mt. Klah  (Ms. Purple - Three Sisters)

 BrownStone Cascade Mt.Koma   (Ms. Yellow - Mt. Baker)

 BrownStone Cascade Mt. Mazama  (Ms. Orange - Crater Lake)

Last 3 of New BrownStone 7

Whelping day BrownStone 7 part two. Once we got home we figured we still had three pups to go.

The twins waiting for siblings.

Then there were 5.  Purple girl came along 1 3/4 hours later.

 Midwife Karmin helping whelp Yellow girl.

 Then there were 6.

 A bit like Christmas eve - a long wait.

 Dave came home to check out his new family.

 Might as well eat while waiting.

 Well fed and still waiting.

 Koyuk supervising the puppies in the warming box.

 Mindy came home to meet her new neighbors.

 Navy boy with mom's foot for a pillow.

Orange girl joined the family 3 3/4 hours later just before we were about to head back to the vet. Koyuk could finally relax with all her pups.

 Sarah testing her 'cushy' seats and meeting the little ones.

 Greg really likes Pink girl.

 Twenty-four hours after she went into labor, Koyuk (and I) are ready to sleep with her family.

As it turned out, just like any baby, the puppies had other ideas. Throughout the night, Great Aunt McKenzie and Grandmother Cedar made sure we were awakened whenever there was a squealing puppy.