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Tag Archives: Methow Valley

The Aurora Borealis Last Night

It’s interesting that many of my recent blog posts which are, admittedly, few and far between these days, are about the night sky. Or hikes. But certainly I seem to be paying more attention to the night sky. I’ve always appreciated dark skies not illuminated by artificial lighting. But why more photos of the night? It’s never been something I’ve pursued. Maybe it’s because at night, I don’t see the devastation that came from wildfires the last two summers? Or maybe as I age I gain a greater appreciation for the infinite reaches of the space outside our own atmosphere? Or maybe I just don’t sleep as much as I used to!

Anyway, for whatever reason, here is another set of images from the Aurora Borealis. It’s best to watch the slide show but you never know when you get to the end!

There is a chance that the lights will continue this week but I am feeling sleep deprived so this might be the last of the night postings for a while.

Clouds and Stars

It’s good to go outside with the dogs at night. Sometimes they see something, like a deer, that brings on a fit of barking and they need to be corralled. Other times I see something interesting. Last night it was the clouds. They were thin and illuminated by the waxing moon that was low in the west. These views are looking north. The dogs went inside long before I did.

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Northern Lights During a Dark Night

Last night’s power outage made for a darker than usual night. No moon and no hazy skies also provided good looks at stars and meteors and even the northern lights! We are lucky to have less light pollution than a lot of places.

The dogs thought I was nuts standing out there in the dark and they went inside to bed. I was only up til midnight when it seemed like the aurora faded away. This morning I learned that they were even more dramatic in the wee hours of the morning. A girl’s got to sleep sometime!

This is looking down valley towards fires burning in Black Canyon and along the Columbia River
Looking up

Night Skies of the Methow

Last week I made a few attempts to stay up late or set an alarm in hopes of seeing the aurora borealis but my timing was all off. I never did see the colors and pillars of light that others were seeing. Big sigh. I did see some lovely night skies though. We are lucky to be able to see lots of stars since we don’t have a terrible amount of light pollution. People here value that particular quality of life in the Methow and work hard to encourage others to cut down on night lighting or shroud their lights in such a way that the ground is lit but the light is not spread far and wide ruining others’ night time experiences. For more information on this issue, see the International Dark Sky Association website.

This is a good time to see Venus and Jupiter in the early evening sky. From our vantage point they will come close to converging in a few days.

Venus and Jupiter appear to be getting closer to each evening.

Lookout Mountain Hike

Last week the dogs and I joined Lindsey and two of her dogs for a hike from her place in Smith Canyon up to Lookout Mountain. Before we left her husband asked if we were going straight up and she said no. That’s a good thing.

She said the whole hike should take about five hours. It is four miles and nearly 3000 feet elevation gain. It took us 5 hours and 45 minutes. I am slow. There is an easier way to get to Lookout Mountain. You can drive most of the way to a trailhead and then walk maybe a mile on a steep trail but we wanted to do the whole thing and I’m glad we did.

Smith Canyon is an oasis of green right now with lots of spring growth. At the bottom, balsamroot is in full bloom. In the canyon, maples and serviceberry and other shrubs are abundant under big pines and douglas fir trees. At the top of the canyon we reached Alder Pass and the road to the trailhead. Lindsey told me that this route is the OLD Twisp Carlton Road, before there was a bridge at Carlton. People would drive up Libby Creek to Smith Canyon and then to Alder Pass and down Alder Creek to get between Carlton and Twisp. What a difference from today’s Twisp Carlton Road that follows the meandering Methow River.

We walked about a mile on the dirt road to the trailhead and then the last stretch to the mountain top. It was a rewarding hike with great views of much of the Methow Valley. It would have been an interesting spot to watch last summer’s fires unfold. Unfortunately the sky was a hazy white that only got worse with a prescribed burn near Mazama.

Lots of Lewisia including this columbiana not yet blooming
Sedum sp?
Imagine the tales this snag could tell.
Winthrop is just to the left of this image. The drainage on the left is the Chewuch River.
Snow-covered Tiffany Mountain in the distance – a favorite summer hike.
The reddish colored forests and hills in the background burned last summer.
Twisp on the Methow River
Laurie’s house
You’re taking my picture again?
Mavi, the yellow dog, is 14 years old!
All four dogs in one image.
The Alder Creek Mine
We saw two game cameras. The Lookout wolf pack used to roam this country. I wonder where they’ve gone or if there are any left?
Maple
This view of Lookout Mountain is from the hill above our house. Lookout is the high spot in the middle and Alder Pass is the low spot to its left. We walked up from the other side of the pass.