Skip navigation

Summer’s Last Hurrah

We spent last week camped at Odlin Park on Lopez Island in the San Juan archipelago. The weather was mostly lovely with just one windy day and we were able to be on the water a fair amount. Sky got to try dock diving and Luna poked around the wrack line for smelly stuff, occasionally going in the water. We set crab traps, lost two of them on the windy day, and Ken fished (unsuccessfully) for salmon. We shared good food with good friends at our beachfront picnic table. The day we left, wildfire smoke from Oregon and California filled the air and we were ok with the end of the camping trip.

Expensive transportation to the islands
Our beachfront campsite
So many kinds of boats
Freight and heavy equipment travels on barges
Crab trap floats
Mangy looking crow on the beach
Cute little Mew Gull
Resilience
Madronna trees
Pelagic Cormorants cling to cliff faces
On top of a cliff

Summer Fun at the Lakes

Summer is fleeting and soon it will be fall. Got to remember the warm days at the lakes.

Despite annual herbicide application, the milfoil continues to spread.
They should probably give up the herbicide.
Rainbow trout
On the lookout for more.
Common Loon, probably in its second year.
The water at Blue Lake is icy cold.
Luna
Sky
Finn
Sky
Lindsey
Luna
Sky
Sky

And There Were Loons

This is the family we saw back in June. The youngster was still quite little then. Look here and scroll down til you see the little loon. Now it’s two and a half months old and nearly as big as its parents who are still feeding it. A banding crew caught it sometime during the summer and it is banded and scientists may be able to find it in the future and discover its migration route.

A Few Birds

These images are from an August camping trip to the Okanogan Highlands.

Ducklings on a log
Ring-necked mama Duck
Coots are cute
Spotted Sandpiper
Always bob, bob, bobbing its tail
Can you identify these duck butts?
Does this head shot help?
That’s better.
First time I’ve seen Northern Pintails in our region during the summer.

Summer Fun

August has been warm and sunny and we have been out on some terrific hikes. Sometimes the girls do not get to go. Too much sun and dry conditions are hard on Luna. I don’t know how to tell her that one day, I will be taking Sky and not her. How do you handle leaving the older dog behind? It’s kind of heartbreaking. Some days and trails are ok for her and I do carry water for her to drink but she seldom drinks much of it. She’d rather have a cool mountain stream or a muddy puddle! She really likes to cool her belly in a creek or even better, on a patch of snow. Snow patches are getting few and far between this late in the summer.

The wildflowers have been glorious this year. We have seen lots of pikas, marmots and ground squirrels too. We have enjoyed blue skies and sunshine and endless mountain views. I have had no work this summer so I am very happy to spend my time in the mountains. If we have to be socially distanced, this is a pretty good place to do it.