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Tag Archives: hike

Cute Animals and Wildflowers Too

The girls and I had a nice hike on the Pacific Crest Trail recently. We started out watching and listening to pikas on a talus slope. Willow and I watched from the trail while Sky looked for a shady spot. She’s seen them before! On the way back I stopped to search for a pair of ground squirrels who were whistling back and forth. And LOTS of wildflowers. It may have been the peak of the season since the snow melted early and everything is drying out quickly. There were no little streams and only the smallest of snow patches for the girls to cool their bellies and feet. I think the helicopter was looking for wildfires since we’ve had a fair amount of thunderstorms recently. It was a nice day in the mountains.

Hiking Season

The snow melted quickly in the mountains (sadly) so the girls and I are starting to get out on the trails. It’s Willow’s first hiking season and she is enjoying all the new sights and smells. Willow is ten months old. She is a big water drinker so I need to remember to bring extra dog water when there are no streams to cross. Wildflowers are coming along and the conifers are putting on lots of new growth. Few snow patches remain and when they find them, the dogs get to roll and cool their bellies.

One More Fall Hike

This is my favorite trail, I’m pretty sure. I can return to it multiple times during a hiking season. It does have the very worst road though. It’s a place where the sub alpine larches are enchanting in their early summer greens and amazing when they turn golden in the fall. Pikas are frequently heard and sometimes seen while crossing the talus slopes. Earlier in the year marmots let loose with piercing calls to frighten even the bravest dogs and people too. Now they are underground. The pikas continue to harvest greens to dry in their ‘hay’ piles and then store under the rocks for the long cold winter soon to come.

At the trailhead, the wildfire smoke was thick – we could taste it as well as smell it. But we’d driven all the way so we headed out and gradually, there was less of it but it was always present. While I am not quite ready for winter to set in, it’s the only thing that will quell the wildfires burning in the mountains throughout the northwest.

A Few Pollinators

Mostly butterflies from a mountain hike yesterday in the midday sun. It seems that there are not enough wildflowers for everyone who wants one.

Jump in a Lake

Sky and I got an early start at a popular hiking trail last week, beating most of the swarms of hikers. We even got a great seat on the rock overlooking the lake and had it all to ourselves. And Sky did her traditional jump into an icy cold lake. Really icy. Most of it was still covered with ice! Much of the trail was snow covered or muddy too. Starting early, we avoided most of the swarms of the mosquitoes too. They were thick when we returned to the overflowing parking lot at midday.

It’s nice that more people are enjoying the outdoors but I wish they’d take better care of it and pick up their messes. And I wish the Forest Service had more money to maintain the popular sites.