Skip navigation

Category Archives: hike

Still Not Summer

Yesterday, the girls and I enjoyed our first outing over the pass this year. It’s hard to believe we are staying so close to home all the time. And we barely got over the pass so maybe it doesn’t even count, even if we did leave our county. There were a fair number of cars in the parking lot when we arrived and many of them had out of state plates – it seemed like more than usual.

The trail is muddy in places but more of it is snow-covered and icy. Normally I would not take my hiking poles for this hike. This time I did and I was glad to have them. They made the downhill part of the day much easier. Lots of little streams crossed the trail. Luna appreciates having water to drink regularly. Her old body seems thirstier all the time. She did lead the way and did more exploring than Sky so at 13 1/2 she is still going strong. The lake is mostly ice-covered and Sky was disappointed I did not throw the stick in it for her. Next time. There was a little bit of rain but no wind like at home where we’ve been buffeted by high winds for days.

Sky did get to swim in the pond near the trailhead so her day was complete. It was a good outing.

Come on, let’s go
Maybe we could have cookies first?
Rhododendron albiflorum, a native rhododendron
Strange things in trees
Strange things on trees. Quite a few trees along the trail have small pieces of duct tape. Why?
The lake is up there, on the right
Mostly ice-covered
cool patterns
underwater
The stick. Throw it.
What’s over there?
How about this stick?
Happy dog, swimming around, wagging her tail.

Not Yet Summer

The weather here remains unsettled. The wind frequently howls, clouds come and go, the temperature doesn’t go much above 70 and there are occasional thunderstorms. It’s June and feels very cold. But why should we let that stop us? I woke Ken up yesterday and told him we needed to go for a hike. There are lots of projects around here to do and he continues to work from home and now he has to travel again so there’s no time like now.

It was a LONG bumpety bump drive to get to the trailhead at 6800 feet elevation and given that it had rained hard at home the previous night, we should not have been surprised to see new snow. Not a lot but I imagine that the folks camped up there were not real happy about it. Along the trail little and big rivulets and small streams were running joyfully down the mountainside. Flowers bloomed in snow and standing water. Anemones were everywhere. Water dripped from evergreens as the snow melted.

Ken fished for brook trout while the girls and I explored a bit around the lake and Sky took great joy in swimming for sticks despite the cold water. She shivered when she sat still.

It was a lovely short hike despite the long bumpety bump drive.

Lupine
Brook trout, just before it got away
So much anemone
Buttercups!
Water everywhere
Happy, happy dog!
Last year’s aspen leaf. The trees haven’t even leafed out up there now.
Some odd fungus
I think this is elephanthead. Maybe Pedicularis groenlandica
Moss spores
like abstract art
Willow leaf buds
Looking SW

Mountain Hike

The girls and I got a late start yesterday but still managed a very pleasant (mostly) hike in the mountains. The trailhead was only forty five minutes from home and there was no snow at the start. It was cloudy and spit a tiny bit of rain but not enough to get out my coat. Luna enjoyed the cool temperatures but not the rickety bridge across one of the big creek crossings. We hit snow about two thirds of the way to the lake and near the lake were walking on snow all the time. I had to be careful not to get to close to the edge and get my feet wet. Sky was ecstatic and of course, wanted me to throw sticks but I didn’t. It’s pretty shallow with logs under the surface where she could hurt her legs. As if to make up for the lack of stick throwing, she rolled in something unmentionable after we left the lake. I scrubbed her in the big creek using a hemlock branch but didn’t get it all. She had a bath at home.

Sky says the bridge is still good.
Cool bumble bee
Western white pine
Sunshine at the end of the hike

Nothing But Time

We had some nice days last week and it’s hard to just stay home and try to get the exercise we all need. The girls and I took a short drive and followed a dirt road to a small, mostly frozen lake. The temperature may have gone all the way to 70! Luna has increasing trouble with sunny warm days. At 13, it takes a toll. I was counting on a little creek for water for the dogs but Bowen Creek is already dry. Fortunately I brought water for them, just in case. The road was dusty with car and truck and mountain bike tracks. We saw and heard lots of birds and saw a small herd of deer climbing up the nearby mountainside. Almost back to the car, Sky took herself for a swim in a vernal pond while Luna lounged in a diminishing snowbank. Sky has been nursing a shoulder injury for weeks and is not allowed to jump or do any retrieving. It’s finally on the mend, we hope.

Snow-capped Mt Gardner above the Methow Valley
Aspens ready to burst into green
Dusty road
Lots of Mountain Bluebirds
Singing Western Meadowlark
Tiny wildflowers
That’s where the paragliders launch in healthier times
Mule deer
The dogs never saw the deer. I wonder why?
Ice-covered lake
Bubbles under the thin ice near the edge
The lake is lower than usual and the muck was quite stinky and full of snail shells
I had to search for this singing Yellow-rumped Warbler high in the cottonwood trees
Beautiful ponderosa pines
A pair of Mallards flew into the open water in front of us
Sky watched the Mallards
But then she returned to trying to talk me into throwing a stick for her
The hen Mallard said, ‘it’s time to go now’
And she went
He did too.
What do you call these little water skimming bugs?
Last year’s fireweed
Sky took herself swimming
Luna cooled herself in her own way
The first ballhead waterleaf I’ve seen blooming. Can you see all the pollinators on it? I counted at least five.
My first fully opened arrowleaf balsamroot

Here is the list of birds we saw and heard:

Mallard  6

California Quail  2

Dusky Grouse  1

Sora  1

Turkey Vulture  1

Northern Harrier  1

Bald Eagle  1

Red-tailed Hawk  1

Red-naped Sapsucker  1

Northern Flicker  3

American Kestrel  1

Say’s Phoebe  2

Black-billed Magpie  2

Common Raven  3

Black-capped Chickadee  5

Mountain Chickadee  2

Red-breasted Nuthatch  1

White-breasted Nuthatch  1

Mountain Bluebird  20

American Robin  15

Chipping Sparrow  1

Dark-eyed Junco  25

Vesper Sparrow  2

Spotted Towhee  3

Red-winged Blackbird  15

Yellow-rumped Warbler  1

Late Winter Hike

The girls and I ventured out into the hills last week. Our path was sometimes covered with crusty or soft snow, mud and occasionally dirt. The steep south-facing slopes are bare and dry but other locations not so much. At the top of our climb, it was windy. Very windy. No flowers yet and very few birds but that’s changing quickly.

Remnants of an old foundation
Watch out for old barbed wire
New growth
Looks like she could fly right into that wind!
bunch grass
Last year’s balsamroot
Too much knapweed, or barnaby as they call it around here
Looking down valley
Squalls in the mountains.