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Something fun

It’s been a long hard week for me. But I remember that it started out much better a week ago yesterday. I went to the canine agility trials at Confluence Park in Wenatchee and saw lots of great dogs doing great (and some, not so great) stuff, running, jumping, going through tunnels and so on, all while having fun. I have over 1000 images to edit from that day. Tomorrow I will start on them.

On the way home, shortly after dark, my car hit a mule deer on highway 97 below Pateros. At 60 mph. It was not a good thing. I’ve never been in a car accident before and it left me shaken. And it left my beloved Honda a total loss, according to the insurance company. Luckily, I was not hurt and the deer, well, she got off the highway but I have to believe she died out in the bitterbrush. It took a couple hours to get my car towed up to Twisp and Ken met me with a big hug and we cleaned out most of the stuff and went home to a glass of wine and tried to relax.

And then on Tuesday I had to report to Okanogan for jury duty. ‘Everyone’ says, oh don’t worry, they always send everyone home, no big deal. Not so. I was the 13th juror selected for a three day trial. They had picked twelve and sworn them in and then the lawyers conferred with the judge and he asked me to join the group and swore me in separately. I nearly cried. And the stories we heard from the witnesses were enough to make a person want to stay home behind locked doors. There’s a big scary and sad world out there with people stuck in a milieu of drugs and crime.

Yesterday I started the process of car shopping. Ick.

So, should I try to put it all out of my mind and just think about happy things like the dogs running and jumping just for the love of their people?

I think so.

Wasp nest

Another nice walk today. Juliet and I rambled around in the upper Rendezvous for most of the morning. There was some smoke from controlled burning in Fawn Creek but other than that, skies were clear and the air was cool. We saw a few birds, some deer, lots of squirrels and a chipmunk or two. We came across at least four piles of moose droppings, none too fresh; and some bear poop. Well, I stepped in the bear poop.

One of my favorite sights was of an intact wasp nest. We had already run across one that had been pulled from its tree and dismantled. This one was still perfect and right at eye level and stinging insects around. On the ground, there were remains of an earlier nest. WAs it from earlier this year or the remains from last year? These nests are amazing structures and simply made out of spit. How do they do it? If you know more about these and the specific species that make them, I’d like to learn about them.

There is a hole on the top. It’s a little bit ragged and I wonder if it was made by a bird or is part of the original structure?

Hole on the bottom for quick exit and entrance

I really like the way it is formed around the branches that support it.

Aspen Lake

Aspen Lake has become a favorite short fall hike. Last year I went with Susan and all of our dogs on Halloween Day. See that day here. Yesterday, just Suzanne and me and no dogs. Deer season starts this Saturday so it looks like we will miss the peak of fall colors up there. Last year, I was too late, this year too early. Either way, it’s still beautiful.

 

 

The trail around the lake

 

I love the movement of the aspens

 

 

 

Methow big sky

 

These ripples were caused by a giant dragonfly that flew into the water and thrashed around for a while. Pretty soon a fish came and tried to eat it.

 

Pretty peaceful place

 

I enjoyed the patterns of the tall grasses on the way down the trail

 

 

 

 

More Images from Blue Lake

Ken has been wanting to go for a hike for weeks but his schedule has been busy and now with fishing season going again, it’s hard to fit in something we want to do together. Blue Lake was high on his list after I went there recently so off we went for a short day hike.

It really is a beautiful place and now with the larch, also known as tamarack, trees going into their glorious yellow phase, it is a must see place. I know of two kinds of larch trees in our region – the western and the alpine. I’m not sure where the dividing line, elevationally, is for them. There is probably some overlap and we may have seen both around Blue Lake at 6250′. Larches are the only conifer type tree that has needles that turn yellow and fall to the ground each year. Well, it’s the only one I know about.

 

Ken imagined he could see the glacier coming out of this round valley.

 

 

A small shallow pond near Blue Lake

 

 

Ice remained on the pond at midday

 

 

Just can’t quit photographing these trees.

 

Ken can’t quit either

 

Mountains to the north

 

 

 

It’s either the world’s tiniest mountain goat or a feral jack russell terrier

 

The outlet

 

 

 

Down the trail.

 

Another Blue Lake Hike

Just a short post with more photos coming. It was a bit colder and wetter this time and the larches have really started to change color!

 

Scene from the trail

 

the North Cascades

 

Blue Lake