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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

A Change in the Scenery

Last week Ken and I and the dogs got away from home for a few days. Whidbey Island was our destination. Whidbey is over 50 miles long and lies at the north end of Puget Sound, otherwise known as the Salish Sea. You get there by taking a ferry or by bridge across Deception Pass at the island’s north end. We took the bridge. It’s a good place for beach walking, exploring small towns and history and eating good food. We did all that and I got to take my kayak out in Penn Cove (where they grow the wonderful mussels) with Ken’s brother.

We camped at Fort Ebey State Park in a beautiful forested setting. It was a short walk to a bluff trail that provided wonderful views of the strait and good birding opportunities. It’s part of a large system of trails for walkers and mountain bikers. Fort Ebey is one of a series of forts that were constructed for coastal defense beginning in the 1900’s. Several of these installations were converted to state parks in the 1960’s.

The dogs had a great time on the beaches and the sunsets were marvelous. Driving across the pass we enjoyed the first dusting of snow in the North Cascades and a walk in the big cedar trees along the Skagit River at Newhalem.

New snow
Liberty Bell
Moss-covered limbs on the Trail of the Cedars at Newhalem
I was so pleased to see that Sky’s big stump didn’t burn in last summer’s fire at Newhalem
Bridge across the Skagit
Ringing the bell
Look both ways before crossing the highway Luna
Deception Pass
A bird’s eye view of a seal from the Deception Pass bridge
The gulls and kelp make an interesting abstract as seen from the bluff at the state park
Beautiful views of the strait were a short walk from our campsite
A great kelp bed on the west side of Whidbey
A boy and his dog
This old boat could use a little work
This is where the mussels are grown
Getting the platforms ready for new mussels
Seals like the mussel platforms
Arriving in Coupeville for lunch. Mt Baker in the distance
There’s Carl
Sunset on the bluff
Morning on the bluff
Mt Rainier
Kelp
A dog and her stick
Limpet on driftwood
Lake Pondilla
Fort Casey ruins
This is how they used to protect the inland waters
A freighter travels towards Seattle
Kites
Crows
Fort Casey lighthouse
Ebey’s Landing beach
Mt Rainier and a ferry.
Birds use the kelp bed as a platform to hunt for food.
What’s that NOISY intruder?
This noisy parachute with a lawnmower engine was quite the disturbance. All the birds flew.
Luckily, he didn’t stay too long.

Windy Pass

Last weekend Marcy and I hiked to Windy Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail. It’s a pleasant hike – never steep – with outstanding views all along the way. In addition to the fantastic views of the North Cascades a hiker gets to see evidence from the mining adventures dating back to the 1890’s. Given the rough and narrow road that we have to drive nowadays to get to the trailhead, it is amazing to imagine miners traveling to these distant mountains on foot or horseback and hauling immense loads of equipment too. One spot in the road is called Deadhorse Point and scares the beejebers out of some folks in cars.

Guthrie, Marcy’s dog blew out his knee last year and is just a year out from surgery and injuring his other knee. It’s good to see him running and grinning with the other dogs. Even with three dogs we got to see a little bit of wildlife including lots of ground squirrels and a few grouse.

As we finished our lunch and got ready to head back, we heard a familiar voice and saw a friend from the Okanogan. He had scaled nearby Tamarack Peak and joined us for the hike back to the parking area.

The weather was cool and sunny – perfect for a late summer hike on the PCT.

Slate Peak can be seen from the beginning of the trail
Mount Baker
I have forgotten the name of this mountain
Guthrie
Magenta paintbrush
Magenta monkeyflower
Cool beetle
Anemone seedhead
The yurt is used in the winter for helicopter skiers
He’s a handsome fella!
We have such a long wildflower season
The way back
Ground squirrel with nesting material
Dusky or Sooty Grouse?

Summer Scenes

September marks the unofficial end of summer around here. Kids returned to school this week and most vacations are over. Harvest season is in full swing. The weather is beginning to feel like fall. Birds are flocking up for migration. And we try to squeeze in a few more hikes. Here are a few scenes from the end of summer.

 

Cutthroat trout in Blue Lake
Blue Lake
The back of Liberty Bell
Abundant flowers at the farmers market in Twisp
Yummy looking bread at the market
Rugosa rose blooming in the Twisp Commons
Seckel pears
Ginger gold apples – one of my favorites
garlic
Beautiful peppers
Turkey Vultures
A very late-blooming serviceberry
Lots of snowberry has become established in the two years since the fire
Interesting that the snowberry shows both flowers and berries at the same time
And snowberry is somewhat fire-resistant so that’s a good thing
Arrowleaf balsamroot
Dusk from our hill

A Walk in the Woods

The girls and I enjoyed a pleasant walk in the woods earlier this week. We had no destination and no plan. The pine forest smelled wonderful and the creek was cool and inviting.

Sunrise
An old lightning scar perhaps?
Tiny growth rings
Pine drops
Ponderosa pine trees
Luna almost looks underwater
How high?
Sky has been a little under the weather this week and I think it shows in this picture.

Birthday Hike

If you’d ask Sky what she wanted for her third birthday, I’m sure she would have said “I want to go to the lake and I want you to throw sticks forever!” And Luna would have said “Let’s invite all of our friends and their people and have a party at the lake!” But I didn’t ask the dogs. I made a decision to go for a hike and take them along. The hike did feature a lake, twice, so Sky sort of got her wish. And Luna met some new people but she was mostly pretty tired and not very social for a change. One mountain bike rider complimented them on their good trail manners. I did not tell him that they were tired.

We hiked to Cutthroat Pass from the Cutthroat Lake side. It can also be accessed from Rainy Pass, following the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). But there are no lakes going that way. After some hot days here in the valley it was a refreshing 54 degrees when we started at the trailhead. Of course I was sweating by the time we got to the lake and the dogs were grateful for the cold water. They didn’t stay wet long as we climbed out of the forest and into the open rocky country on the approach to the pass. Kristen, from Methow Trails was one of the bikers and she is known for her wonderful photos. I was delighted when she asked for my camera to make photos of me with my dogs! After lunch, the dogs and I watched the mountain bikers descend and then walked quickly back to the lake. Sky was ecstatic. Luna was tired and she joined me, sitting in the shade nibbling on native huckleberries. After the 11 1/2 mile round trip they both slept all the way home.

Lots of little fish in Cutthroat Lake
Cool pyramid shaped rocks
Luna wanted that one
Don’t stand too close
Cool silver snags
I wonder what’s in that cave high above the lake
Approaching the pass
Looks like we are on the top of the world!
There’s Kristen!
Dogs waiting patiently while a hike heads north on the PCT.
And there they go.
Luna found the only shade.
If this stump could talk
Cooling off in the creek
Huckleberries
Throw the stick
Too pretty
Those last two miles are the dustiest.
My wild guess on this one is a juvenile Townsend’s Solitaire.