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Category Archives: hike

Love Where I Live

What a place! We left the house at 8 am and drove for less than an hour on a paved road to a trail that took us to this gem of a lake! And we had it to ourselves. Amazing!

It was the last fun adventure in what has been a lovely staycataion – sharing good times with old friends and visiting some of the highlights of our neck of the woods. The time was interspersed with some work (one wedding and some gallery stuff), a couple of big rain storms and the resulting washed out road that serves our little neighborhood and dealing with a contractor for the repairs. But mostly it was lots of fun with Mary and then Kim and our beloved dogs. Let’s do it again soon!

White heather catches a patch of sunlight
Rhododendron albiflorum
Sun shining through native rhododendron
Outlet creek
Sky says ‘quit looking at that creek, the lake is right up here!’
Ziggy wonders about Sky and her obsession with fetching
Luna enjoys the water, calmly
Lots of little trout jumping all the way out of the water to catch the bugs
This is the life!
Throw it again
Nature at its finest
Shake
Even Luna gets into the spirit of fetching
Clark’s Nutcrackers called back and forth
Aster
Heather

Another Day, Another Mountain

Mary had to cut her Washington vacation short rather abruptly when a wildfire threatened her community and even her home. So far her place is safe and hopefully will stay that way. She was able to get some stuff out when she returned and then stayed at a place out of danger. With fires threatening people and landscapes all over the west, we all seem to live in a state of fear during the summer.

But for one day, before the fire, we enjoyed a beautiful hike in the high country, going to the top of 8000 foot Tiffany Mountain. It was sunny and cool and NOT buggy! Once again we had incredible views – this time into the Pasayten Wilderness, the Sawtooth Mountains and even into the Okanogan Highlands. A perfect mountain day.

On the trail through the meadows
Prairie Smoke, my favorite little wildflower these days.
Luna resting in the lupine
Sky on a rock
What bird is this?
Are you going to eat that Mary?
Views!
Can I help you?
Luna sees something
Sky isn’t sure about the puffball.
It’s the black dog gang!

Sunshine, Snow and Skeeters

My friend Mary came to visit from Montana last week. You might remember that we went to visit her and Brad last month when we went to Big Hole and Bannack. She brought her dog, Gus and we had our pack of black dogs to accompany us on our adventures around the Methow.

One day we hiked to Maple Pass, a perennial favorite hike in the North Cascades. It is a great loop hike offering some of the most easily attained stunning views of our rugged landscape. On the top of the ridge there was lots of snow to cool the dogs and even a nice pond for swimming. Unfortunately all this melting snow produced a bumper crop of mosquitoes and they were hungry for new blood – ours. Even the dogs were going nuts. All of used some herbal bug repellent which gave us a little relief but still we hardly ever came to a complete stop. That didn’t stop us from enjoying the sun and the views and having a good time.

The trail climbs steeply and the views unfold in a grand way
Luna cools off in the shady heather along the trail
Even Sky needed a break
Rainy Lake
Lots of water flowing off the mountains
heather
Western anemone seedhead
Luna found a little seep to cool her belly
Luna loves snow!
Ahhhh!
There’s the top!
A few switchbacks gets us up there
Even Sky got into rolling down the snow patches
Gus jumps for joy!
Luna is just happy!
Glacier Peak
That had to be cold water.
And so quickly we went down.
Lake Ann
Altogether on the trail

A Few Good Bird Sightings and Some Wet Weather

The weather forecast indicated about 20% chance of rain in the mountains yesterday. Around here, that means it’s not likely to rain. It was sunny and reasonably warm at home when the girls and I left for the 6500′ Freezeout Trailhead and the hike to Tiffany Mountain. The temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit and it was sunny when we started walking. Good weather for an uphill hike to the 8242′ summit.

In the burned forest (this is part of the Tripod burn from ten years ago) I heard and saw numerous birds, including lots of young ones with adults searching for food to feed the nestlings.

When we walked away from the trees, the sky was solidly overcast but still no sign of rain. Nearing the top, I started to feel occasional pelts of small hail. At the top, it was obvious that the weather was going to take a turn for the worse. We shared my peanut butter sandwich and I put on my extra layers (two coats, gloves and a wool hat) and tucked my camera away. Normally we would linger on the mountain top and look around for more birds and flowers and maybe ladybugs but not this time. It was hailing pretty solidly by then. And as we walked downhill it was soon raining. We didn’t notice the birds or flowers much on the way down. Still, it never got too cold and it wasn’t windy and I had the right extra gear with me. Overall it was a nice day.

Roger Lake is a real gem
Lots of downed lots on the lower part of the trail but they didn’t slow Sky any.
Paintbrush
A very young grouse – either a Dusky Grouse or a Spruce Grouse, depending on who I ask.
This game camera is aimed right at the trail. Are they counting hikers and dogs or looking for something else?
Lupine
Lupine
Mountain Bluebird nest hole
Male Mountain Bluebird feeding young
Male Mountain Bluebird at the nest hole
Female Mountain Bluebird feeding young
I think this is a Savannah Sparrow
Reliable water following rainy summer days
Luna was wet before it even started raining
Horned Larks nest on the side of Tiffany
Near the top looking back at the trail
Approaching storm
Approaching storm
I was hoping it would go towards the Okanogan and not towards me
See the storm on the other side of the ridge past Tiffany Lake?

Despite the Best Laid Plans

Sometimes a hike doesn’t go as planned. This one was thwarted by wide, cold creeks. I removed my socks and shoes and crossed one only to find another one just around the corner! Then I remembered that last fall these two creeks were tiny and also, there were many more tiny creeks so after just an hour on the trail I turned back. I could still go to the lake that I had bypassed to save for later. Ready to cross the creek again, I saw a group of friends who I’d seen at the trailhead with their three dogs. They too, had been thwarted when they tried to get to the lake. One of their dogs was old and could not make a necessary log crossing. Three of their group had gotten across the same creek where I was and upon hearing it wouldn’t be the last one, they turned back too. Not before we attempted to get a photo of the five dogs. It was probably the worst circumstance for a group dog photo. Two of the dogs are black; two are blonde and one is a light colored basset hound. And the lighting was mottled shadows in the forest. Oh well. It was a fun attempt.

After the photo attempt, we parted company and I took a short spur trail that went to the near side of the lake. It had some hard packed snow on it and then there was some mud that I tried to skirt around. Well, that was a bad idea. I slipped and found myself ankle deep in mud with my socks and shoes soaked and dirty. The dogs, in the meantime were at the lake wondering what was taking me so long! I was able to rinse the mud off and left the socks and shoes in the sun to partially dry while I ate my sandwich and threw sticks for the dogs.

It was a beautiful day and the dogs had fun and the scenery was lovely.

Highway 20 approaching Liberty Bell and Washington Pass
One creek crossing had a nice bridge
Lots of water!
Brrrr.
Even Joolz thinks the water is cold.
Some dogs are not paying attention
Good. They are all looking the same way.
Hey – did you know there is a lake just around the corner?
Sure enough
Throw the stick. Now. I’m not kidding.
White pine
Columbine