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The Aurora Borealis Last Night

It’s interesting that many of my recent blog posts which are, admittedly, few and far between these days, are about the night sky. Or hikes. But certainly I seem to be paying more attention to the night sky. I’ve always appreciated dark skies not illuminated by artificial lighting. But why more photos of the night? It’s never been something I’ve pursued. Maybe it’s because at night, I don’t see the devastation that came from wildfires the last two summers? Or maybe as I age I gain a greater appreciation for the infinite reaches of the space outside our own atmosphere? Or maybe I just don’t sleep as much as I used to!

Anyway, for whatever reason, here is another set of images from the Aurora Borealis. It’s best to watch the slide show but you never know when you get to the end!

There is a chance that the lights will continue this week but I am feeling sleep deprived so this might be the last of the night postings for a while.

Clouds and Stars

It’s good to go outside with the dogs at night. Sometimes they see something, like a deer, that brings on a fit of barking and they need to be corralled. Other times I see something interesting. Last night it was the clouds. They were thin and illuminated by the waxing moon that was low in the west. These views are looking north. The dogs went inside long before I did.

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Cutthroat Pass Hike

This is another great fall hike! We started at the Cutthroat trailhead and hiked five and a half miles to the pass where we connected with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and hiked down another five or so miles to Rainy Pass where we had left a second car in the morning. We did not have the blue skies and sunshine of the previous week’s hike and that made the dogs a lot more comfortable. Also there were numerous stream crossings, especially on the Rainy Pass side, where the dogs could wet their whistles. At the pass we saw quite a few PCT through hikers who were nearly to their goal on their hike from Mexico to Canada. The ones we talked to said they should reach the border in just four more days. They were all cheerful and looked healthy and hearty. After such a long journey on foot, I think I expected them to look gaunt and tired.

Starting up the trail, not yet to Cutthroat Lake
Unexpected water on the trail
I love this enormous slab of rock. Can you see the face in it?
Quincy looks good in red
The start of our walk through the magnificent yellow larch trees
Left to Canada or right to go south. We went south.
Luna celebrated her 9th birthday the day after this 11 mile hike!
It’s so hard to get everyone to pose all at once!
Tails
Through hikers enjoying a grand view at lunch time. I wonder how many of these grand views they’ve had since spring?
Seems like one small earthquake could change the face of that mountain
Looking south into the central Casades
Lots of switchbacks make for an easy grade.
The golden larch season is fleeting. It’s best to enjoy it while we can.
Out of the larches and into the dark forest.
It was so nice to see small creeks in this drought-stricken year.
Frida blends into this creek

Work Should be Fun – Do What You Love

At Saturday’s Phoenix Festival in Twisp I spent some time watching Samantha Carlin create a glass vase. Samantha’s studio, Lucid Glassworks, is located on the TwispWorks campus and she was doing glass blowing demonstrations. I’d never watched the process from start to finish before. She explained each step along the way and it was obvious that she really enjoys what she does!

The work table
Colors bits of glass to decorate the plain glass
Getting a gob of glass
Shaping
A finished vase
Adding color
Heating it up to keep it pliable
Shaping
Blowing
Shaping
Blowing
More heat
Looking like a vase
Getting ready to work on the top
Now she can shape the top
More heat
Viewed through the safety screen
Almost done

Maple Pass Hike

The Maple Pass/Heather Pass loop hike may be one of the best, easily accessible fall hikes in the North Cascades. The fall foliage colors are outstanding. Combined with endless blue skies and surrounding mountain peaks and throw in a couple of brilliant tarns and it is sure to take your breath away.

My friend Cindy drove 2 1/2 hours to join me and all along the hike she kept saying – look at that, isn’t that just the prettiest sight. She was right. We did this seven-mile loop in a clockwise direction. This took us up the steepest part and down the more gradual sloping trail. We find that this is better for our feet, ankles and knees. Most other hikers went the other direction. We heard lots of pikas and got good looks at one of them. At the top of the ridge, a dark falcon went whizzing by us at top speed. It was so close we could almost feel the wing beats.

This is a lot of images. You should see what I left out!

Mountain ash
Climbing
Oh, it’s SO beautiful!
Lake Ann, one of two small mountain tarns we saw along the way
Red huckleberry foliage along the trail.
Ice crystals that emerge from the ground on cold nights.
Western larch needles. Larch is the only conifer I know that loses its needles every year.
Views, views, and more views.
See the tiny pika on the rock? Pika is the smallest member of the rabbit family. They live in talus fields like this and gather dry grasses, making little hay piles under the rocks, to eat in the winter.
You can see the downhill part of the trail above Lake Ann
The last stretch to the top
We walked up all those switchbacks.
Glacier Peak in the distance
Like being on top of the world!
Perfect lunch time view
And it was National Black Dog Day!
Already going downhill. The elevation slips away quickly on the downhill side.
Even Sky seems impressed by the color
The trail up was just on the other side of that ridge.
Last light on the peaks.
Still Smiling!