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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Road Trip

Ken and I are recently back from a road trip that took us to NE Washington and SE British Columbia. As you might imagine, I made lots of images on this trip. We started at our favorite camping spot – Lost Lake in the Okanogan Highlands. We left home in the midst of a dramatic thunder and lightning storm and were a little nervous about fires, with good reason.

Once a person crosses the Okanogan and heads east into the next mountain range, they are approaching the edge of the Rockies and the habitats – the plants and animals – begin to change from what we observe here on the east flanks of the North Cascades. It’s fun to go a short distance and be in such a different place.

Lost Lake is also like a place that time has forgotten. The campground is an old CCC facility, built in the 40’s. There is no electronic communication. Boats on the lake go slow without high-powered engines. It is one of the few places in Washington where not-so-common Common Loons nest. They will be featured in another post. People walk and ride bikes; they say ‘hi’ and are happy to see you. Well, that’s been our experience. The campground host said that during the previous weekend that was not the case. Good thing we missed that! The Okanogan Highlands Alliance has worked to preserve the wetland at the far end of the lake from development and encroachment of cattle grazing. They have also been creating some interpretive trails near the wetland and in the upland section.

From Lost Lake we headed towards the far northeast corner of Washington – planning to stay near a border crossing so we could get an early start on our trip to BC. We aimed for Sullivan Lake but it was busy and the weather was pretty exciting with strong winds and thunder and lightning. A short drive further north took us to the Millpond campground. It was smaller and quieter and suited us for the night.

 

Lightning-caused fire near Riverside, above Omak
Lost Lake
We had some rain
And a campfire every night
Homemade pico de gallo with chips for an appetizer
camp coffee
Lily pads
Catching fish
One of several brook trout out of Lost Lake
Old CCC building
Rainy afternoon drive on a road we’d never driven before
Rocky Mountain juniper?
Badger hole?
It went to a tremendous viewpoint above Bonaparte Lake and Creek
Looking down the creek at the next rainy downpour
Don’t you think we ought to go now?
All the makings for spring rolls
Nasturtium spring rolls
Getting the trout ready to cook in the campfire
One of my favorite things to do
Reflection
The real thing
Lost Lake
Lost Lake
Lost Lake
The Okanogan Highlands Alliance has installed some new interpretive signs on their trails
There are a few old docks for the private cabins that line one side of the lake
No ATV’s! That’s a good thing.
Which part is real?
Lost Lake is perfect for people-powered boats
Late season flowers with pollinators
This scary guy was in the truck
Shorebirds on Maryann Creek near Chesaw
Oh yeah, I can’t get enough of this
Common Loon
Crystal Falls, the smallest state park, located east of Colville
Sullivan Creek. It feeds into the Millpond
Fly fishing
In this creek he caught, and released, a brown trout
Millpond at sunset
And a view of it from a trail that goes above the pond
The mouth of Sullivan Creek

 

Wildflower Walking

Kim and I hiked up to the top of Tiffany Mountain and then around it, crossing Whistler and Honeymoon Pass and then around Tiffany Lake before leaving the trail at Tiffany Springs Campground where we had left my car in the morning. Ken had generously shuttled us from there to the Freezeout Pass trailhead before going fly fishing. The temperature was comfortably cool most of the day; clouds built up with the threat of thunder storms. Luckily the storms did not materialize.

Most of this area was burned in the 2006 Tripod wildfire. Many people would look at this now and see nothing but dead trees. However the grasses and forbs and shrubs are thriving. Wildflowers are abundant and vibrant this month. In wetter areas we found young aspens and willows – perfect habitat for moose and other animals.

 

The trail begins by climbing steeply up from Freezeout. Fireweed blooms in the understory
Ken started up the trail with us
The first glimpse of Tiffany Mountain from the trail
It’s a gorgeous route through the flowers
Red paintbrush
A dried up puffball
More gorgeous meandering
The view from the top. Tiffany Lake and Little Tiffany Lake
Looking down at Salmon Creek. Later we walked up that valley to get to Honeymoon Pass.
And looking down towards Winthrop
Fabulous delicate rock gardens on top of 8200′ Tiffany Mountain
Walking through another field of wildflowers
We saw lots of these butterflies
Cool rock formations
Whistler Basin after we crossed Whistler Pass
Geum sp
These were common on the east side of the mountain and nowhere else.
The trail goes sidehill on the east side before dropping into Salmon Creek
Oh yeah, I liked these.
Geum sp
Geum sp
Geum sp
You can see Honeymoon Pass in the distance
In the creek bottom, it seemed like we went a long time in the wrong direction but finally after crossing the creek, we found the burned sign that said we were headed towards Tiffany Lake.
Can you see the trail through all that lush undergrowth? There are orange diamonds on the snags, marking the way. Sometimes those snags fall.
Woodpecker holes
Looking back UP at Tiffany Mountain where had been just an hour or so before.
Almost to Honeymoon Pass, looking down Salmon Creek
Columbine
A glimpse of Tiffany Lake on the other side of Honeymoon Pass
The end of the trail

 

The Garden Last Week

Last week, before the temperatures rose to the nineties, the garden was vibrant and full of color. This week, it seems tired and droopy, no matter how often we water. Fortunately I made some images last week and captured it at its prettiest, so far, this year. It was full of pollinators – mostly Ken’s honeybees.

Cabbage with leeks
Raspberries
Bean trellis
Bean vines
Robin’s nest over the garden. It’s her second brood this year. She complains whenever we go in the garden.
Echincea
Echinacea
Echinacea
Echinacea with bee
Green-eyed Susan
Green-eyed Susan
Daylilly
Lavender
Lavender
Lavender
Salvia
Poppy pod
Hollyhock
hollyhock with bee
Raspberries – I can’t keep up with picking them
Yellow yarrow
Radish flower
Volunteer pumpkin/squash flower
Volunteer squash/pumpkin
Volunteer squash/pumpkin
Dill
Sunflower
Leek flower with honey bee
Sunflower – all of this year’s sunflowers are volunteers
Sunflower
Sunflower
Leek flower with honey bee
Leek flower with honey bee
Leek with honey bee
Leek flower with honey bee
Leek with honey bee
Volunteer poppy – late bloomer
Volunteer poppy near the compost pile
Volunteer pumpkin/squash
Echinacea with bee
Sweet pea
Leek flower with bee
Leek flower with honey bees
This tomato will be striped, orange and yellow, when ripe
And one more raspberry

Blue Lake Views

The trail to Blue Lake is easy to get to and the short distance – 2.2 miles – makes it a popular destination. From my house, it’s less than an hour to the trailhead, all on paved highway. No bumpety bump roads to contend with. Yesterday’s weather forecast showed thunder and lightning all morning and into the afternoon but, like as often happens, the forecast was wrong and the storm passed by ten am. I met Juliet in town and we were off to relish a few moments in the mountains together before we both get busy going in opposite directions.

 

 

The lake is just over that ridge
Blue Lake lives up to its name
White heather flowers
Considering a swim
We can’t get enough of this view
Whistler Meadows
This is where the mosquitoes come from
Backside of the iconic Liberty Bell formation
Heather
How old was that tree when it died? What kind was it? How long ago since it died?
Backing up to get the shot
The outlet
An old cabin. What an amazing place to spend the short summer.
Two boys and their dad watch trout in the small outlet stream
This image does not do justice to these delicate flowers
Lupine
White rhododendron, a native wildflower, very unlike the rhodies seen in NW gardens
Hemlock with its telltale tipping over top
The outlet stream
On the trail
A lousewort
Polemonium, Jacob’s Ladder
A little pond near the trailhead
Elephanthead, another lousewort

Good Tools

Good tools are a joy to work with and can make mundane tasks easier and quicker; allowing more time for fun and creativity. For me, cutting mats is a mundane and sometimes frustrating task. I’m not very good at straight lines and right angles. My old Logan mat cutter has been useful and it was a good thing for me to start my mat cutting experience but it wasn’t always accurate and sometimes it didn’t hold the boards and well, I didn’t always like it. When I saw on our local electronic bulletin board that the frame shop was selling a big work table and a C&H professional mat cutter at a great price, I had to go see it. I think the table excited me as much as anything. Just the idea of having that much space for projects was enticing. Not only could I use it for matting and framing, it would be great for book making. I have done a few handmade books in the past and would like to do more.

The problem with this whole idea was how to get it out of the shop, to my house, and into the basement workroom that I use. Ken was reluctant but he could see that I really wanted it and his brother was coming in a few days and Carl is good at figuring out the best way to do things like this.

 

The previous work space. Some plants have to go. Anyone want an angel-wing begonia?

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This is a great table. Ken was able to use it in its smaller configuration for his computer work station. I was prepared to try to sell it and relieved that we had a place for it.

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Ahhhhh, empty space.

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Here is the table at the frame shop. I am not using the paper holder on the right, in case anyone needs one.

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And here at home, making the first cut – a board for Carl to use a template for drilling holes for our new deck railing (another post on that coming up soon)!

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And here I am framing photos for the next show at the Winthrop Gallery!

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Many thanks to Carl and Ken for doing the heavy lifting and assembly. And thanks to Tom from the frame shop for showing me how to use the new mat cutter. It’s a good tool.