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Planting and Harvesting

Fall is the time to plant garlic. Weekend rains – the first substantial moisture we’ve had in months it seems – left everything fresh and sweet smelling and ready to start anew.

 

 

The last couple of years I’ve planted garlic from my previous harvest. This year I am trying some glorious garlic from a family farm in the Twisp River valley. Each head was almost a handful!

 

Raindrops on a leek

 

Uh oh, Ken has my camera now.

 

Luna watched from the patio garden near the house.

 

The garlic is planted and fertilized with horse manure from the base of Patterson Mountain and mulched with straw from a demolished straw bale building up in Lost River.

 

A few of the red potatoes; there are still many more to dig

 

The biggest spud!

 

Fall colors in the Methow Valley

 

Slate Peak

Friends are visiting from Iowa this week and we are busy showing them the highlights of the valley and Ken is trying to take Paul to all the great fishing spots, despite the fact that steelhead season didn’t open when they thought it might. Little trout from streams and big trout in lakes will have to suffice for this visit. Yesterday we drove to Slate Peak and hiked around the basin below it and enjoyed the fall colors and migrating raptors. We saw Rough-legged Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Northern Harriers and some unidentified accipitor. Later the guys caught small trout in a beautiful mountain stream while Corly and I went to see spawaning chinook salmon in the Methow River. It was a lovely day.

 

Luna is practicing on the edge of Slate Peak for her upcoming agility trial

 

The last of the blue sky days

 

Smoke from the lingering wildfires creates some hazy conditions that doesn’t quite block the view of Mt Baker

 

Ken and Corly are dwarfed by the Pasayten Wilderness stretching off to Canada

 

Ken and Paul have been friends for 25 years and though they seldom see each other it’s as if they were together all the time!

 

Luna

 

This is the basin I hiked through a month or so ago. See that here.

 

Slate Peak Lookout

 

These sedimentary rocks show that while we were over 7000′ elevation, this land was once underwater.

 

Lunch from the Rocking Horse Bakery, Mazama Store and a local orchardist served on a lichen covered rock!

 

Does Luna really like Paul so much or is she considering his lunch?

 

Lichens

 

Fall colors in an old burned forest

 

No shortage of cameras

 

If a tree falls in the forest…………

 

Cuthroat Lake

Yesterday was Luna’s sixth birthday! It just doesn’t seem possible that she’s officially middle aged. What does that make me? We celebrated with a hike to Cuthroat Lake – a gem of a lake in the North Cascades. It’s an easily accessible trailhead off of highway 20 and it’s only a two mile saunter to get to the lake. I’ve only been there once before, years ago and in the middle of summer. The mosquitoes chased me away in no time and I never returned til yesterday. Fall is definitely the time to visit Cuthroat Lake. The trail was not overly busy yesterday, surprising for a three day weekend with fine fall weather.

 

Beautiful colors

 

On the trail

 

Most of the small creeks are dry.

 

After no rain for weeks on end, the trail is very dusty

 

They needed a break

 

Pretty

 

Frozen bubbles

 

This grass was still frosty at midday

 

Fall larches color the forest

 

Ken had to wet a fly

 

Luna thinks maybe this is a little boring

 

That’s a tiny trout

 

Luna’s not sure if this is the highlight of her day

 

More pretty

 

Birthday girl with her birthday buff

 

Fall lighting is the best

 

Love the way it lights up the larches

 

A breeze ripples the clear water

 

More fall colors

 

Ice crystals force up through the moist soil along the shady side of the lake

 

The water is so clear – there is no sneaking up on the trout

 

Blue and yellow – my favorite color combination

 

Larches are my favorite trees

 

Exploring

 

And still more pretty

 

Treasures

 

Mom and baby sister

 

Lots of local Methow folks made the trip to Cuthroat Lake yesterday.

 

Life Goes On

Despite the smoke.

Today the smoke has cleared out of much of the valley leaving blue skies in its wake! It’s forecast to return but for now, what a relief. Here are a few images I’ve made the last few days when I ventured out into the gloom.

This hibiscus is a recent gift from a friend. The flower’s colors are amazing.

It will soon have to find a room in our house as it is not hardy in our winter.

Shaggy mane mushrooms have popped up around our backyard.

Some people eat them. They don’t appeal to me.

This moth was on the outside of the window while I was inside

French pumpkins.

Our growing season isn’t always long enough or warm enough for them.

A sunflower gazes into the murky sky

Smoke Gets in My Eyes

Forest fires have been wreaking havoc on everything in north central Washington for the last two weeks. Most were started by a lightning storm that roared through the region the night of September 8. One was human caused. For a few days our area was spared the heavy smoke but that soon changed and this has been a common late afternoon sight, if we get to see the sun at all. Official air monitoring by the state has listed our air as ‘unhealthy’ for the last few days. It could be worse. In Wenatchee and Cashmere, it has been ‘hazardous’. The good news is that the hard-working fire fighters are starting to get a handle on most of the blazes with strong lines built by hand and machine and with the help of many aircraft. Some of the interior parts of the fires will burn til the snow falls. And there is no precipitation in sight.

This image is from last Friday. I was photographing a wedding at Sun Mountain Lodge.

Photos from the wedding will be posted at my other blog before the end of the week.