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Tag Archives: Tiffany Mountain

A Few Good Bird Sightings and Some Wet Weather

July 12, 2016 – 2:52 pm
Posted in hike
Tagged birds, dogs, mountain bluebird, Savannah Sparrow, storm, Tiffany Mountain, wildflowers
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The weather forecast indicated about 20% chance of rain in the mountains yesterday. Around here, that means it’s not likely to rain. It was sunny and reasonably warm at home when the girls and I left for the 6500′ Freezeout Trailhead and the hike to Tiffany Mountain. The temperature was 46 degrees Fahrenheit and it was sunny when we started walking. Good weather for an uphill hike to the 8242′ summit.

In the burned forest (this is part of the Tripod burn from ten years ago) I heard and saw numerous birds, including lots of young ones with adults searching for food to feed the nestlings.

When we walked away from the trees, the sky was solidly overcast but still no sign of rain. Nearing the top, I started to feel occasional pelts of small hail. At the top, it was obvious that the weather was going to take a turn for the worse. We shared my peanut butter sandwich and I put on my extra layers (two coats, gloves and a wool hat) and tucked my camera away. Normally we would linger on the mountain top and look around for more birds and flowers and maybe ladybugs but not this time. It was hailing pretty solidly by then. And as we walked downhill it was soon raining. We didn’t notice the birds or flowers much on the way down. Still, it never got too cold and it wasn’t windy and I had the right extra gear with me. Overall it was a nice day.

Roger Lake is a real gem

Lots of downed lots on the lower part of the trail but they didn’t slow Sky any.

Paintbrush

A very young grouse – either a Dusky Grouse or a Spruce Grouse, depending on who I ask.

This game camera is aimed right at the trail. Are they counting hikers and dogs or looking for something else?

Lupine

Mountain Bluebird nest hole

Male Mountain Bluebird feeding young

Male Mountain Bluebird at the nest hole

Female Mountain Bluebird feeding young

I think this is a Savannah Sparrow

Reliable water following rainy summer days

Luna was wet before it even started raining

Horned Larks nest on the side of Tiffany

Near the top looking back at the trail

Approaching storm

I was hoping it would go towards the Okanogan and not towards me

See the storm on the other side of the ridge past Tiffany Lake?

Tiffany Mountain Wildflowers

July 24, 2015 – 10:56 am
Posted in wildflowers
Tagged fireweed, hike, Tiffany Mountain, wildflowers
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We were at Tiffany for the peak of the fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium) bloom! This tall lavender-pink perennial often comes in after a fire. The Tripod fire burned there nearly ten years ago and the fireweed is still very abundant. I was surprised to learn that its pollen turns blue as the flowers mature. The dogs were spotted with the fine powdery blue pollen. Lots of the wildflowers had mostly finished blooming but we did find some colorful blooms to entertain us along the way.

Agoseris

Buckwheat

Paintbrush

I wonder how many species are in this image?

Aster

Blue pollen

Tiffany Mountain in July

July 23, 2015 – 8:19 pm
Posted in hike
Tagged butterflies, dogs, hike, Tiffany Mountain
Comments (1)

It seems to be a tradition for me to hike to Tiffany Mountain in July. Earlier this year would have been better for the wildflowers and possible patches of snow but this was the soonest I could get up there. Yesterday MA and I and our pack of dogs made the short steep hike. It was a cool day, thankfully. There is nearly no water along the trail so we had to carry our own water and water for four dogs. We did notice early on the hike that three of them went off trail and came back with muddy feet. On the way down we found the well-used mud hole where they’d managed to wet their whistles and cool their toes.

There were quite a few wildflowers and I will put most of those images in another post. The fireweed was outstanding! Heading up the trail MA noticed that Sky had bits of blue powder, like eye shadow on her face. We determined that it must be some sort of pollen and eventually I found it on the fireweed. It looked like the older the blossoms, the more chance that the pollen was blue. It started out orange on the fresher flowers.

Sky found a stick that she was particularly fond of and Quincy soon decided he had to do everything in his power to get it away from her. He’d grab onto to one end and Sky would just stand there and hold her ground while he jerked one way and then another. After a bit, Sky would take off running and he’d lose his grip and take off as fast as he could to catch her. She’d slow down and then he’d grab on again. They had great fun. At one point, Quincy tumbled repeatedly head over heels!

All the dogs were pooped when we returned to the car and three of them had to share the back seat. It was a pile of pooches!

Here is a post from exactly three years ago about the same hike!

That last steep part

Sometimes they were sprawled flat on the ground

Nice views without any smoke columns!

You try to photograph four dogs

Sky photo bomb

Quincy

Trying to photograph that dainty white flower growing out of the rock

Frida

Luna

Stick game

Running with stick

Break time

Quincy with red flowers

It’s easier when they are tired.

Resting in the shade

Dogs and fireweed

Sky with blue fireweed pollen

Roger Lake. I photographed it before the Tripod fire, many years ago. I should find that slide and re-print it.

Fall Hike

October 2, 2014 – 8:03 am
Posted in hike
Tagged fall colors, hike, Tiffany Mountain
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I have to admit I wanted summer to come to an end as soon as possible but now that fall is here I am sorry I missed out on so much hiking this year. The summer was sort of a lost season. I look back at posts from June and early July and it seems like eons ago.

Now life is better and the weather is perfect for hiking. A person does need to remember to take her extra layers and if it’s sunny she will be putting them on and taking them off regularly.

The girls/dogs and I hiked to Tiffany Mountain earlier this week. It started out gloriously sunny with bluebird skies so as I climbed through the burned trees I soon had to shed my jacket. In the open I was able to see migrating raptors including a Golden Eagle! Mountain Bluebirds and Clark’s Nutcrackers entertained me along the trail. As we made the final push to the top, the wind picked up and gray clouds rolled in. It tried to rain or snow or something wet and cold. We hunkered against a rock and I tried to make some selfies with dogs and quickly had lunch before making the descent. It warmed up again as we neared the trailhead but never got as nice as when we started. I found a few lingering small flowers and some slow butterflies.

After the hike we stopped at Boulder Creek. Along the way we saw an aspen with unusual coloring. Instead of its leaves turning yellow, they were a reddish-orange. I have seen this occasionally in the past but it is pretty uncommon.

I always wonder when these burned trees will fall and hope it’s not when I’m on the trail

The round top of Tiffany Mountain

A natural watering hole

American Pipit

The Pasayten Wilderness in the distance

A distant smoke from a fire on the Conconully side

Tiffany Lake

Alpine larch trees with fall colors

Clark’s Nutcracker

Growing lichen

Fireweed seeds. We hope some will grow on our place.

An unusual aspen showing reddish orange fall foliage

Boulder Creek

Tiffany Mountain on Thursday

June 21, 2014 – 6:36 pm
Posted in hike
Tagged Clark's Nutcracker, hike, ladybugs, Tiffany Mountain
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How many of my posts start with ‘The dogs and I’? Well here is another one.

On Thursday, the dogs and I hiked to the top of Tiffany Mountain. It’s a favorite hike I do most years. This is early in the season and I’ll do it again, maybe next month when the wildflowers are in bloom. Well, when most of the wildflowers are in bloom. Some were blooming on Thursday but the snow has only recently melted leaving behind last years brown grasses and the starts of some flowers. Even the larch are not fully leafed out.

On the rocky mountaintop there was some extra color from Ladybugs! Technically, I think they are Lady beetles but whatever you call them, there were thousands, probably millions of them. As I understand it, they migrate up in the fall and hibernate under the big rocks and emerge when the weather starts to warm up. It wasn’t really warm in my opinion. 52 degrees at the car when I started and colder still on top with a stiff breeze. The sun came out as I went down and it was warm enough to lose the jacket before I returned to the trailhead.

Along the road to the trailhead, scarlet gilia, various penstemons and lupine were blooming

Roger Lake from the trail

Roger Lake in the distance

Spring beauty

Clark’s Nutcracker. These birds have excellent spatial memory, which enables them to cache up to 33,000 seeds in the fall, and then locate a large percentage of those during the winter. Information from http://www.birdweb.org

Looking back down the trail

A good rock for a break. About halfway up and it has a nice depression that collects water

Sky wonders if we are really going to the mountain top. Or maybe she is watching Luna.

Someone named this rock. I think they call it Troll Rock.

Buttercups

Sweet yellow flower growing out of a crack in a lichen-covered rock

The top is over 8000′ elevation and there it is.

Sky waits while I catch my breath

Hmmm, another one I need to learn.

Clark’s Nutcrackers cache seeds from whitebark pine trees and here under a rock outcrop, there were two whitebark pines growing. I wonder if the nutcracker planted the pine nuts and forgot them.