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Shapes and Sights at Pipesteone Canyon

MA and I took the dogs to the area above Pipestone Canyon last week. It was very cold and very sunny. We didn’t stop very much and stayed in the sun as much as possible. The days are short and the sun is low in the sky so when we returned to the car, we were in deep shade. We wondered about the sanity of two joggers who were just getting started as we loaded the dogs.

Standing on the edge

Luna says, are you taking my picture again?

Cool geology

Remains

Fire-dried apples

The spring is frozen in place

Last light on the tree tops

Bear Creek Walk

October 31, 2014 – 3:27 pm
Posted in hike, Uncategorized
Tagged Bear Creek Trail, Cougar Flats fire, fall colors, hike
Comments (1)

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

Calm

Yesterday a tremendous rain storm with thunder and lightning cleaned smoke out of the air. After dark there was no glow on the hillsides and mountains we can see from our home. The only light was from the stars and a glow from the fire camp at the school a mile and a half away. 1500 people have created a small city there. After days of a power outage it was finally truly dark last night.

We face the north end of the burn where fire fighters and the rain have it well under control. Other places are still actively burning. ‘They’ say we will have power by this weekend. Communications are improving. Well that is true for this part of the valley. They say others will have to wait longer.

It’s a good morning

What Lurks in the Dark

There was a fresh skiff of snow the day before Christmas and no one else was here on our hill to mar the smooth surface. None of the part timers came for the holiday and the few others that live here were off visiting somewhere else. As we drove down our road, we noticed some fresh tracks. They were from a big animal – a cougar. Later Ken found them in our parking area and it appeared that the animal had stopped and looked at our front door. Out for a walk the next day I found clear tracks on our walking trail and at the part time neighbors’ place and more on the road. It looks like two animals traveling together – maybe a mom and mostly grown cub. You may remember a post I made last January when a cougar was captured just downhill from our house. Sure, we know they are out there but to see evidence of them being so close to the house does cause the hair on the back of our necks to raise. Luna seems to be very aware of them and frequently barks in the dark and needless to say, no one is going outside alone after dark, especially the puppy.

Puppy!

We were not able to bring home the little brown puppy. The vet reported that she might have an abnormality in one of her vertebrae and since we plan to have an active busy dog, she suggested we get another one. So Ken went back and picked out a little black lab puppy from the same litter.

We brought her home one week ago and she is rearranging our lives constantly! Her name is Night Sky Star Shine – Sky for short – and she is nine weeks old today. At first Luna was unhappy about this new addition to the family. Sky bit her ears, jumped on her, took all the toys and declared the big dog bed to be hers. She also soaked up all the attention! Two or three days into this, Luna decided she was going to have to learn to live with her and began playing with Sky. Sky adores Luna and tries to follow her everywhere. That’s good for when we go on walks. Sky is also independent and will go off in her own direction if we don’t pay close attention. She is starting the process of house training and yesterday actually went to the door to say ‘it’s time’. Of course, we are diligent to take her outside every time she wakes from a nap and a couple times at night when she wakes up. And she gets special treats for relieving herself outside. So far, so good. We have been introducing her to lots of people and other dogs and she seems to enjoy just about everyone that she meets. I’ve been taking her for walks at different locations and she always enjoys them. She is ruled by her nose and can find some of the most disgusting things. How do I get her to stop that?