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Blue Lake Two Weeks Ago

On a Sunday, two weeks ago Marcy and I decided to take a late afternoon hike to Blue Lake. The parking lot was overflowing with cars but we managed to find a spot at the trailhead. We had timed it so that people were leaving as we were arriving. All the way up, folks were walking down and when we got to the lake, we had the place to ourselves. Sky was ecstatic to jump in the water repeatedly and I was happy she wasn’t bothering anyone with all her commotion. It was a warm day but we were there late enough that the sun dipped behind the rocky crags above us and it cooled off quickly.

It was a nice diversion from all the news about this summer’s wildfires. Just three days later the Twisp River fire broke out and our lives were pushed back into the tumult of evacuations and uncertainty.

Gray Jay otherwise known as camp robber

Tiffany Mountain in July

July 23, 2015 – 8:19 pm
Posted in hike
Tagged butterflies, dogs, hike, Tiffany Mountain
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It seems to be a tradition for me to hike to Tiffany Mountain in July. Earlier this year would have been better for the wildflowers and possible patches of snow but this was the soonest I could get up there. Yesterday MA and I and our pack of dogs made the short steep hike. It was a cool day, thankfully. There is nearly no water along the trail so we had to carry our own water and water for four dogs. We did notice early on the hike that three of them went off trail and came back with muddy feet. On the way down we found the well-used mud hole where they’d managed to wet their whistles and cool their toes.

There were quite a few wildflowers and I will put most of those images in another post. The fireweed was outstanding! Heading up the trail MA noticed that Sky had bits of blue powder, like eye shadow on her face. We determined that it must be some sort of pollen and eventually I found it on the fireweed. It looked like the older the blossoms, the more chance that the pollen was blue. It started out orange on the fresher flowers.

Sky found a stick that she was particularly fond of and Quincy soon decided he had to do everything in his power to get it away from her. He’d grab onto to one end and Sky would just stand there and hold her ground while he jerked one way and then another. After a bit, Sky would take off running and he’d lose his grip and take off as fast as he could to catch her. She’d slow down and then he’d grab on again. They had great fun. At one point, Quincy tumbled repeatedly head over heels!

All the dogs were pooped when we returned to the car and three of them had to share the back seat. It was a pile of pooches!

Here is a post from exactly three years ago about the same hike!

That last steep part

Sometimes they were sprawled flat on the ground

Nice views without any smoke columns!

You try to photograph four dogs

Sky photo bomb

Quincy

Trying to photograph that dainty white flower growing out of the rock

Frida

Luna

Stick game

Running with stick

Break time

Quincy with red flowers

It’s easier when they are tired.

Resting in the shade

Dogs and fireweed

Sky with blue fireweed pollen

Roger Lake. I photographed it before the Tripod fire, many years ago. I should find that slide and re-print it.

Lookout Mountain Hike

May 3, 2015 – 7:25 am
Posted in hike
Tagged Lookout Mountain, Methow Valley, Twisp
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Last week the dogs and I joined Lindsey and two of her dogs for a hike from her place in Smith Canyon up to Lookout Mountain. Before we left her husband asked if we were going straight up and she said no. That’s a good thing.

She said the whole hike should take about five hours. It is four miles and nearly 3000 feet elevation gain. It took us 5 hours and 45 minutes. I am slow. There is an easier way to get to Lookout Mountain. You can drive most of the way to a trailhead and then walk maybe a mile on a steep trail but we wanted to do the whole thing and I’m glad we did.

Smith Canyon is an oasis of green right now with lots of spring growth. At the bottom, balsamroot is in full bloom. In the canyon, maples and serviceberry and other shrubs are abundant under big pines and douglas fir trees. At the top of the canyon we reached Alder Pass and the road to the trailhead. Lindsey told me that this route is the OLD Twisp Carlton Road, before there was a bridge at Carlton. People would drive up Libby Creek to Smith Canyon and then to Alder Pass and down Alder Creek to get between Carlton and Twisp. What a difference from today’s Twisp Carlton Road that follows the meandering Methow River.

We walked about a mile on the dirt road to the trailhead and then the last stretch to the mountain top. It was a rewarding hike with great views of much of the Methow Valley. It would have been an interesting spot to watch last summer’s fires unfold. Unfortunately the sky was a hazy white that only got worse with a prescribed burn near Mazama.

Lots of Lewisia including this columbiana not yet blooming

Sedum sp?

Imagine the tales this snag could tell.

Winthrop is just to the left of this image. The drainage on the left is the Chewuch River.

Snow-covered Tiffany Mountain in the distance – a favorite summer hike.

The reddish colored forests and hills in the background burned last summer.

Twisp on the Methow River

Laurie’s house

You’re taking my picture again?

Mavi, the yellow dog, is 14 years old!

All four dogs in one image.

The Alder Creek Mine

We saw two game cameras. The Lookout wolf pack used to roam this country. I wonder where they’ve gone or if there are any left?

Maple

This view of Lookout Mountain is from the hill above our house. Lookout is the high spot in the middle and Alder Pass is the low spot to its left. We walked up from the other side of the pass.

Bear Creek Walk

October 31, 2014 – 3:27 pm
Posted in hike, Uncategorized
Tagged Bear Creek Trail, Cougar Flats fire, fall colors, hike
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The girls (dogs) and I walked along Bear Creek earlier this week. It was the one weekday without rain in the forecast and I’m glad we took advantage of it. They were right – we’ve had rain four of five days this week. Of course, we need it and it does help me get inside tasks done but really, folks around here are unaccustomed to gray drippy weather. And it has brought much needed snow to the mountains.

This particular area of Bear Creek burned in the Cougar Flats fire in July – part of the infamous Carlton Complex, the biggest wildfire in Washington’s history. I remember at that time saying to a friend of mine “all of our favorite spring and fall walking areas are on fire”.

I was happy to find that the landscape around the trail suffered mostly a ground fire and most of the trees look like they will live! The fire stimulated new growth in plants that would have been dormant in the mid-summer heat and I saw sunflowers, yarrow and a tiny vetch in bloom. It’s nice to see their color at this time of year. And the trees are providing lots of color as well. The deciduous trees are all shades of orange, yellow and green and the pines that are partially burned are even pretty with their dark orange needles.

Ken and I walked this trail on New Years. You can photos from that day here. Sky was still a puppy then.

This area will be beautiful in the spring.

Dalmation Toadflax – and invasive, non-native weed.

Sky scampers across Bear Creek

A tiny puffball mushroom

New growth – maybe a willow?

Burned out tree root hole

I think this is a tiny buckwheat

Douglas Sunflower

Tiny vetch

Yarrow

Innovative foot bridge

Perhaps part of an old foundation

Luna looks good in yellow

Pitch

This tree bled pitch before the fire and it’s still doing it.

Beaver Creek

Fall Hike

October 2, 2014 – 8:03 am
Posted in hike
Tagged fall colors, hike, Tiffany Mountain
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I have to admit I wanted summer to come to an end as soon as possible but now that fall is here I am sorry I missed out on so much hiking this year. The summer was sort of a lost season. I look back at posts from June and early July and it seems like eons ago.

Now life is better and the weather is perfect for hiking. A person does need to remember to take her extra layers and if it’s sunny she will be putting them on and taking them off regularly.

The girls/dogs and I hiked to Tiffany Mountain earlier this week. It started out gloriously sunny with bluebird skies so as I climbed through the burned trees I soon had to shed my jacket. In the open I was able to see migrating raptors including a Golden Eagle! Mountain Bluebirds and Clark’s Nutcrackers entertained me along the trail. As we made the final push to the top, the wind picked up and gray clouds rolled in. It tried to rain or snow or something wet and cold. We hunkered against a rock and I tried to make some selfies with dogs and quickly had lunch before making the descent. It warmed up again as we neared the trailhead but never got as nice as when we started. I found a few lingering small flowers and some slow butterflies.

After the hike we stopped at Boulder Creek. Along the way we saw an aspen with unusual coloring. Instead of its leaves turning yellow, they were a reddish-orange. I have seen this occasionally in the past but it is pretty uncommon.