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Tag Archives: PCT

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.

So Many Wildflowers, So Many Colors!

The girls and I had a floriferous hike last week. The wildflowers were magnificent and the sky was the bluest blue. We saw and heard pikas, hoary marmots and ground squirrels. Did you know that pikas make hay piles in the summer? They let the ‘hay’ dry out and then haul it under the rocks so they can eat it all winter. Pikas are the smallest rabbit species and they do not hibernate.

I know, this is a lot of images for one post but really, you need to see the beauty of the mountains right now.

This is a pika haystack!
The pikas were stacking anemone seed heads like this!
Pikas live here.

Another Floriferous Hike

Thursday was one of our first real summer-like days with highs in the valley over 90 and in the mountains, it was 75. Perfect hiking temperature for the two-leggeds. Luna thought it was a bit too hot for her and often sought respite in the shade. The hike is 9.4 miles round trip in bright open sunshine most of the way. I will have to consider that for hikes with Luna who will be thirteen in October. Not that I am ready to leave her behind. I am quite sure it would break her heart if I took Sky hiking and left her at home. Luna is always excited to go for an adventure and bounces with joy at the thought of going someplace in the car.

So many wildflowers. And I have so much to learn. And the geology. Oh my. Lots to see.

Lewisia columbiana carpeted the rocky hillsides
Lewisia
Puffball
Darned yellow composite
Agoseris aurantiaca
Castilleja sp
Aquilegia formosa, Western columbine
I hope they like dogs.
Luna rests in the shade
Penstemon and darned yellow composite
Penstemon and bumblebee
Chamerion latifolium, closely resembles fireweed but much shorter
aster
Anemone drummondii
Castilleja sp
Buckwheat
Tiny Sedum, maybe lanceolatum
The good girl gang

Last Week’s Hike

Summer has come to an abrupt end. The good news is that wildfires no longer threaten people and their homes and soon the smoke will be gone from the valley.

Last week Mary and I and our pack of dogs headed for Harts Pass and the Pacific Crest Trail. We had a good hike to Grasshopper Pass, going past many PCT thru hikers who were anxious to keep walking. If everything went well for them, they’d be in Canada, 35 miles away, the next day. A few flowers were still blooming and we heard marmots and pikas and we ate a few huckleberries along the way. We had a little sunshine, some breezes, a little misty rain and ever-changing light. It was really lovely.

huckleberries
Ever-changing light
paintbrush
Buckwheat
Pearly everlasting
larch trees
thru hiker
thru hiker
thru hiker
thru hiker
Hot dog tights?
No one wants to sit next to Sky. Can you see the brown stuff on her shoulder?
The route back to the trailhead
Larch madness season is coming
Molly gets a drink.
Mary taught Luna to get a drink from her hydration pack. Sky would not even try it.

This Time With Snow

Honestly, this is my favorite hike. I’m pretty sure. We did it with Molly and Mary in August and you can see it here. It was very different in mid-October with another Mary, and Marcy and Gus and Guthrie too.

Near the end of the hike, I lingered in the sunshine, not ready to let this moment go. I was rewarded by a tiny pika perched within ten feet of me. No doubt, this little guy was relishing the moment in the sunshine too. Pikas, the smallest members of the rabbit family, live in the harsh environment of talus (rock) slopes and they do not hibernate. During the warm months, they gather greens and make ‘hay’ piles, letting them dry before storing them in a dry place under the rocks, to consume during the LONG winter months.

The dogs were so excited!
The whole day felt sparkly like this!
A fair amount of snow in places
A moment in the sun
So long til next year!