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Tag Archives: hike

Pipestone in January!

Most years, it is a long slog to get up to the Pipestone Rim Trail in January. You’d have to park at the bottom of Lester Road and walk, snowshoe or ski up to it and then you’d be tired before you even got to the trail. This year, we can drive to the trailhead. With just a bit of snow it is getting lots of use from hikers, dog walkers and fat bikes. Three women and five dogs enjoyed it yesterday. Snow was in the forecast but the few flakes that fell didn’t amount to anything and at one point the sun was shining. More snowflakes in today’s forecast.

Frida
Luna
Wondering – where is the rest of the group?
Sky
Wyatt Ann. She loves me.
Jennifer pointing out landmarks at the lower end of the canyon
Amazing geology of Pipestone
Juniper, close to the edge
Sky, close to the edge
Looking back from the trailhead
Tired dogs are good dogs.

New Year, New Trail

The new year started with a gloriously sunny day and after we gathered our wits and woke the dogs, we went out for a walk on a trail we have not walked before. It went up and down Bear Creek between Lester Road and the Wildlife Area headquarters. It was a pleasant walk, not steep at all, although if a person wanted she could easily climb lots of hills for more exercise. The creek has aspens on both sides of it and also some nice patches of water birch. These are punctuated with ponderosa pines and there was one deeply shaded area when we walked through some douglas fir. The hills above are covered with bunch grass, sagebrush and lots of forbs. With the low snowfall, the hillsides are brown, waiting for spring already. We heard and saw a few birds. Chickadees were making their spring ‘cheeseburger’ call that I associate with territory claims. A Hairy Woodpecker also seemed to declaring his ownership of the tall aspens.

three deer watched from above
Bear Creek
Sky – how do you get your ears to do that?
Sunshine through the forest highlights the lichen
What caused the damage to this tree to make it lose so much pitch?
pitch
aspens
What a treasure
I saw this eagle briefly til it saw me
We never get tired of the snow covered vistas
lone pine on the horizon
Evidence of past lives
Big rock
Reason with her.

Walking our Dogs

Four women and six dogs got together for a walk in the hills above the valley yesterday. We had a feeble hope that we might get up above the clouds and into the sun but that was not to be. There was an occasional ‘sucker hole’ that almost drew us up even higher but in the end we slipped and slid our way back down to the trail. The low snow accumulation is sad and we will surely hear about it more than we want come next summer if this weather pattern continues. Our region is dependent on winter snowfall for adequate water supplies in the summer.

Lots of hoarfrost from the semi-persistent fog
All six dogs in one frame
Looking back at the valley filled with fog
Wolf lichen provides some color
Catch me if you can!
Trip likes to take a toy on his walks and the other dogs know that it is HIS toy, not to be messed with.
Bree and Sky like sticks they find along the way
Jessi compares little 4 1/2 month old Sky to her full grown Nakana
Sky wonders if Bree will share her stick!
Something is always sticking to Luna
Bree approaches Sky politely
Would YOU share your stick?
High above Aspen Lake
Looking north to the North Cascades
This tree recently fell over
What is remarkable is that it was growing on this rocky ridge top with nearly no soil
Frosty lomatium
Aspen leaves like Christmas ornaments
Jessi said her dog likee to be held as a puppy like Sky does
Lynne with Bree
The two pups are beginning to show signs of friendship. We hope they can get over the barriers between sporting dogs and herding dogs!

Puppy’s First Mountain

On Wednesday, the dogs and I hiked to the top of Patterson Mountain. It’s not a long hike or particularly challenging but if you are a three month old puppy, it might be a big event in your short life! According to the hike report it is 1 1/2 miles from the lake to the summit, gaining 1100 feet elevation. Enough to warm you up. Sky was a trooper, staying on the trail and keeping up with no problem. We encountered one other group of hikers on our way up – the Wednesday hiking ladies. We stopped and had a nice visit with them and I was warned that if my puppy went missing that I might want to check in Chris’s backpack! As usual, Sky attracted a lot of attention. We started and ended the hike with a visit to Patterson Lake and Sky almost, inadvertently, went swimming!

 

Sky considers leaving her comfy crate
Following big sister Luna
Look! I got you a stick!
Wait for me
Hurry up youngster
Tug
Finally heading up the trail
Don’t get lost
Magic forest
I was the only one that had to use the stile
Mt Gardner. I love when the snow returns to the mountain
Gardner over Patterson Lake
It was a glorious day!
On the mountain top
No puppy in her pack
Sun Mountain in front of the upper Methow
Luna
Watching Luna swim
I can catch her
Ooops. Maybe not
I’ll watch from here
Now I’ll get it!
Hey! Wait up!

Fall to Winter and Back Again

Saturday afternoon Ken and I and two of our friends and a total of six dogs went for a quick afternoon jaunt to Aspen Lake. The morning sunshine was replaced with leaden clouds that made it seem colder. And sure enough, it was snowing when we got to the lake. My new camera was confused by that and instead of focusing on a distant duck, it focused on the snowflakes. It made for an interesting effect.

 

Aspen Lake
An interesting painterly effect, if not exactly what I was looking for
The obligatory puppy photo
Subtle fall colors with a touch of snow
Through the aspens
Lindsey helps one of her old dogs over a log
Healthy sagebrush seed crop this year
Barrow’s Goldeneyes
That old tree looks like something out of a story
Overlooking Moccasin Lake on the way down