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Category Archives: hike

Hiking Season

The snow melted quickly in the mountains (sadly) so the girls and I are starting to get out on the trails. It’s Willow’s first hiking season and she is enjoying all the new sights and smells. Willow is ten months old. She is a big water drinker so I need to remember to bring extra dog water when there are no streams to cross. Wildflowers are coming along and the conifers are putting on lots of new growth. Few snow patches remain and when they find them, the dogs get to roll and cool their bellies.

The Last Fall Hike

Winter came early this year. We were lucky to get a hike the day before the snow happened. It was mostly gray and overcast but occasionally the sun gave us a little warmth and then there would be a snow flurry too.

These hills are now covered with one to two feet of snow and we need skis or snowshoes to get around.

One More Fall Hike

This is my favorite trail, I’m pretty sure. I can return to it multiple times during a hiking season. It does have the very worst road though. It’s a place where the sub alpine larches are enchanting in their early summer greens and amazing when they turn golden in the fall. Pikas are frequently heard and sometimes seen while crossing the talus slopes. Earlier in the year marmots let loose with piercing calls to frighten even the bravest dogs and people too. Now they are underground. The pikas continue to harvest greens to dry in their ‘hay’ piles and then store under the rocks for the long cold winter soon to come.

At the trailhead, the wildfire smoke was thick – we could taste it as well as smell it. But we’d driven all the way so we headed out and gradually, there was less of it but it was always present. While I am not quite ready for winter to set in, it’s the only thing that will quell the wildfires burning in the mountains throughout the northwest.

Color of Fall

What a strange fall it’s been. Unseasonably warm and very smoky from wildfires in the mountains. I have not been hiking as much as I’d like to. A friend was driving across the North Cascades so we met at one of the busy trailheads up there to soak in a few fall colors.

Hiking with Dogs

Sky and I enjoyed a hike with the curly red dogs, members of the Good Girls’ Club, and Kim recently. Sky is trying to teach them to pose for group photos and after they were a little tired, they started to get the hang of it. The paintbrush and lupine were stunning in the midday sun and the views were perfect. And look at that poodle’s smile!