Skip navigation

Tag Archives: gray jays

It’s not unusual to see Canada Jays at Washington Pass. These sweet birds, often referred to as Camp Robbers and formerly known as Gray Jays, are gregarious and opportunistic. They have evolved to know that people often have food with them and so when they see people, they will investigate the situation. And people see these sweet looking birds and often want to lure them closer for fun and photos. I watched as others fed the jays in the parking lot and was able to get some nice photos of them in the snow.

Yesterday Luna and I and Guthrie and Guthrie’s person Marcy went for an afternoon hike at Blue Lake. From the valley it was easy to see that the first snow had fallen in the North Cascades so we knew we would see snow along the way. We drove through it at Washington Pass and the trailhead was covered with white stuff. The dogs were thrilled to see fresh snow! Luna has been lucky to find snow every month this year. The north-facing slope didn’t provide terrific lighting for the afternoon hike however the grandeur of the scenery lit up our senses and we quite enjoyed the short trek to and from Blue Lake. The views were full of graphic bold images and reflections that left me wondering what was real and what was reflected. Lots of images were made.

This is an avalanche chute full of debris along the trail

Guthrie relished the snow

These brown icicles dripped off of an old log

Blue skies, fiery larches and new snow!

This larch seems to be waving goodbye to fall or hello to winter

The outlet

Reflections everywhere

What’s real

The iconic viewpoint for Blue Lake. It looks much different in summer.

It is almost too much to take in with one image

With the fading light, the mountains and sky provide a bold graphic image in black and white

Guthrie – who could resist this guy?

Gray Jays stopped to see if we had any food to share

Otherwise known as Camp Robbers

Color?

Or black and white?

Reflections in black and white

Goodbye to fall and Blue Lake for another year

Luna in her birthday buff

Again, what’s real and what is reflected?

Down the trail in the late afternoon light

Two peas in a pod

This tiny pond is a delight

Reeds, all bent in the same direction

With frosted Christmas trees across the way

And still, Blue Gentian blooming. In the snow.

%d bloggers like this: