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Tag Archives: dogs

Lopez Island on Labor Day

We were up early Monday morning and got out of here before 5 am! It was a struggle but worth it to catch the 9:30 ferry from Anacortes to Lopez Island. The weather was quite nice over there and we were anxious to try our hand at catching dungeness crabs. We arrived at Odlin Park around midday and set up camp next to some of our Methow Valley friends. Others arrived a little later in the day.

It was great to be out of the forest fire smoke and breathe fresh, clean air. The fires have really taken a toll on Methow Valley folks this year, both physically and mentally. The smoke has often been very hazardous to breathe and people are trying to stay inside as much as possible. Most people that move to the Methow are looking for an active outdoor lifestyle.

On Lopez, our friend David came by and was ready to set some crab traps and check some that he had put out earlier in the day. It was exciting to see the traps full of crabs. Many of them were not ‘keepers’ and had to be returned to the saltwater but we did find some legal males. All females have to be let go. We spent the afternoon settling in and before dinner time we returned to check and pull the traps out of the water and were delighted to find some more keepers! That evening we all got together for an epic dinner party with crab, spot prawns, pasta, fresh vegetables, dutch oven cobbler and blackberry crisp. The food was amazing and we were all so busy eating that I forgot to make any images.

On Labor Day, the pleasure boats were returning to the mainland.
Luna likes the ferry but Sky isn’t sure about all the noises.
On David’s boat
Float for a crab trap
Here they come!
Looking for crabs that are big enough to keep
Our campsite is a little right of center
Don paddled his canoe out to watch the process
There’s a good one.
A ferry passes at sunset

Just Another Hike

Wildflowers, vistas, butterflies, dogs, clean cool creeks. What more could I want?

Looks like we went a long ways down
larch
Not far into the hike and their tongues are hanging out
Clear, cold water
When I was young, we drank out of streams like this. I miss that.
Luna cools off. She still has some of her party toenail polish
All the way up there?
Hey, could you toss me a rope or something?
Ahhhhh, that’s better.
Funny orange mold
That cornice won’t last much longer
Glaciers made those scratches
Thistles are pretty too
Silky phacelia
Orange agoseris
Platanthera dilatata. White bog orchid.
Pedicularis groenlandica. Elephant’s head lousewort

Walking in the Mountains

Yesterday summer arrived! It took its own sweet time this year. Temperatures in the valley rose above 90 but up high, they were in the 70’s – perfect hiking weather.

The girls and I made the long drive up to and beyond Harts Pass to walk up to the lookout at Slate Peak. From there we had a 360 degree view of the North Cascades! Seeing the peaks and basins, I could choose where we were going to go hiking and I chose my favorite – the stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail that goes towards Grasshopper Pass. Since we’d already been enjoying the day, it was a bit of a late start on the hike and we only made it just past Tatie Peak. Still, a wonderful outing full of grand vistas and charming wildflowers and a few animals too.

Mountain goats frequent a salt or mineral lick on the way to Harts Pass.
The goats are not very attractive this time of year.
Silky phacelia
Mount Baker in the distance
Old snow
Anemone occidentalis
Snow in July! What could be better?
Shooting stars
Lomatium
Phlox
Yellow violet. I’m not sure which one.
Ballhead waterleaf. This bloomed at home months ago.
Glacier lily
Heather – white and magenta
Castilleja sp
A very alert ground squirrel
Lewisia columbiana
Saxifrage
Oh, look who found a stick.

New Places

The girls and I, along with Red Molly went out on a new road the other day. It’s always fun to explore new places. It was good timing because the wildflowers were still quite nice. Of course, the mosquitoes were still quite numerous and hungry. A person just can’t stand still for long.

Fort Stevens State Park

We stayed two nights at Fort Stevens. After an evening at the beach, we were driving back to camp and were lucky enough to see a herd of eleven Roosevelt elk. They were all bulls with velvet-covered antlers. We had seen them near Warrenton outside of Astoria, before going to the park and Ken had seen one from the beach. Some of them were grazing on Scotch broom, a nasty yellow-flowered invasive weed in the Pacific NW.

Just before we left Oregon, we went to see the wreck of the Peter Iredale. It crashed into the sand in 1906. The ship was 287 feet long and 30 feet wide. Only a small portion of it remains visible in the sand. The area surrounding the mouth of the Columbia River is knows as the graveyard of the Pacific in regards to shipping disasters.

One of those high dune crossings to the beach. Beach sand in sun was quite hot and I worried about the dogs’ paws. We got them to the wet beach sand as quick as possible. It was too hot for us to cross with bare feet.
Ken finally got to fly his kite.
How happy is this?
South Jetty of the Columbia River
Roosevelt elk. All bulls in velvet
The wreck of the Peter Iredale
Dogs on the leash. Waiting. Good dogs.