Teri J Pieper

Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

First Campout of the Summer

June 7, 2018 – 8:59 am
Posted in camping
Tagged kayak, Lost Lake, Okanogan Highlands, wildflowers
Leave a Comment

We spent last week at Lost Lake in the Okanogan Highlands in eastern Okanogan County. If you’ve followed this blog for long, you know we go there just about every year. What is it about this place that we find so inviting? Let’s see: old growth western larch forest, Common Loons, wildflowers, historic CCC structures, peace and quiet, wildflowers, perfect small lake for paddling and relaxing, brook trout in that lake, good birding and much, much more.

Weather was kind of chilly and we enjoyed our campfires each night. Fishing was off from other years but Ken was able to bring in enough for two meals. A friend joined us for a couple of days. We did some serious birding and she got to paddle Ken’s fishing kayak. The dogs were happy and busy and they slept like rocks each night. I think we all slept well with the frogs in the background. We woke to singing Swainson’s Thrushes and Ruby-crowned Kinglets each morning.

camp life

Good dogs on a walk

Calypso orchid

Luna waited patiently while I crawled around looking at the wildflowers.

Clematis

Snowberry

Western larch needles

Mountain ash

Watching us paddle back for breakfast

Big Dog Fun

The rivers and streams are too high and dangerous for the dogs so they were relieved when we came to a flooded stretch of road where they could get in the water.

High Water

May 17, 2018 – 11:34 am
Posted in moving water
Tagged Chewuch River, Falls Creek Falls, moving water, spring runoff
Comments (2)

Spring runoff is in full swing right now with some rivers out of their banks. Here in the Methow, most places are pretty safe but other watersheds are not so lucky. The water has not quite peaked so it could get worse before it gets better. Lots of snow in the mountains and warm weather this month have contributed to this. It is amazing to watch the rivers and streams and waterfalls and hear the power in the flowing water.

Falls Creek Falls

This rainbow moved and appeared and disappeared seemingly at random. I finally determined that the water was pulsing over the falls and when there was more water, the rainbow was more vivid.