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We Got Away for a Few Days

The girls and I looked at our calendars and realized that we had five days with nothing scheduled and the air quality around here was going downhill due to forest fires both nearby and farther away in Canada. So we packed the camper with food and bedding and headed to NW Washington, specifically to the Mount Baker area.

There are only two campgrounds in between the town of Glacier and Artist Point, with about fifty campsites and most of those are reserveable six months in advance. Well, of course, we didn’t plan our lives six months in advance so I asked at the ranger station in Glacier and got some advice on dispersed camping. I had hoped to be higher in the mountains, closer to Mt Baker and Artist Point but we ended up just 4 1/2 miles out of Glacier on a bumpety bump road. The good thing (ask Sky) is that we were right on the north fork of the Nooksack River. There was clean glacial water and a couple of areas deep enough for Sky to swim. I also saw American Dippers along the edges. How they can see through all that glacial flour, I don’t know but they were diving for food.

We did not escape the smoke and Monday and Tuesday were particularly bad but not as bad as here.

Here are a few scenes from near our campsite.

Happy dog
Cool rocks
Luna swam some
Is this big enough?
Many trees were draped with moss and lichen but it was all very dry.
Devil’s club. We gave it a wide berth.
Smoky air
Look what Sky found!
Fireweed
Reddish crescent moon

It Wasn’t Easy

But it was stunningly beautiful. Easy Pass. It’s another great hike right off of highway 20 through the North Cascades. It starts out in a green, moist forest, something we don’t get to experience very often. That is because it is west of the Cascade Crest where there is more precipitation and it’s not as hot. Much of the trail goes in and out of the forest giving some respite from the sunshine. We had a fair amount of off and on cloud cover in addition to somewhat hazy skies as a result of wildfires. At a certain point the trail really gets to work – sending you up and over seemingly never ending talus slopes. Ok, I’m not in very good shape and the steepness was pretty hard on me, both going up and going down. Even Luna and Sky were pretty tired. But the views were worth it. And there were creeks most of the way so the dogs had plenty of chances to cool themselves.

Fireweed
Lots of hikers out on a Sunday
Ferns growing out of rocks!
Luna’s resting spot
Granite Creek

Music at the Methow Valley Ciderhouse

Friday night, Ken played at the Methow Valley Ciderhouse! It was a pleasant evening – not too hot for a change – and customers enjoyed his songs. He was joined by local cowboy poet, John Doran and also our good friend Mary sang with him too. Richard and Lynne, owners of the Ciderhouse, have put in a nice dog yard so people can bring their dogs and they can enjoy the music and hang out with their friends too.

Sky and Luna’s new friend, Bayou, a ten month old hound mix
Molly

Fire Season

It’s fire season and once again we are getting no breaks. There is a large fire (Crescent Mountain) burning in the upper Twisp River that is causing great concern locally. So far, it has stayed away from homes but there is no containment on it. There are fires in southern British Columbia that are also burning out of control and when the wind is right, the smoke descends on us and fills the valley. These images are from last week when the visibility was better than it is now.

Rock Mountain

Last week the girls and I hiked to Rock Mountain. The trail starts at Tiffany Springs campground which was full of campers. Unusual to say the least. It’s a long bumpety bump road to Tiffany Springs and few people make the trek up there. The Washington Native Plant Society was having a weekend of plant hunting and quite a group of amateur and professional botanists were out on the trails in search of rare plants. They are pretty good folks to be around – quite willing to answer questions about plants and other natural history topics. One of them did try to tell me I was going to Middle Tiffany Mountain and not Rock Mountain but after looking at my map and asking a friend who is familiar with the area, I’m quite sure I went to Rock Mountain.

The trails goes first to Tiffany Lake, an idyllic mountain lake, home to non-native, but tasty, brook trout. No one was fishing when we went by so the girls enjoyed chasing sticks in the cold water til the mosquitoes and black flies forced me back on the trail. The bugs followed us all the way to Honeymoon Pass and then finally let up when we got into a pleasant breeze. From there a person just follows the view across the rocky slopes to the mountain top. Lots of wildflowers and a few birds were interesting distractions and good excuses to go slow.

This resembles the Douglas sunflower
Buckwheat and paintbrush
Lots and lots of Castilleja (paintbrush)
Would you quite looking at the flowers?
I don’t know this white one
Let’s go
Pedicularis sp, maybe bracteosa?
Burned trees grow more beautiful as time passes
It feels good on my feet
I heard this baby bird up in a tree and was able to hold my camera above my head to get a picture of its gaping mouth hoping I was bringing food.
Aquilegia sp, maybe western columbine
Lots of asters
This tree, way up on the rocky slope, was only about six feet high and probably 25 years old or more. This year it has had phenomenal growth for such a harsh environment.
I don’t know this. I thought it was an anemone but the leaves are all wrong.
That high rocky spot is where we are going.
Funny place to find an old two track.
Looking down towards the road to Salmon Creek and Conconully.
Rock Mountain.