Sky and I have enjoyed some really great hikes in the last week. The October weather has been perfect for it and the colors are just outstanding this year. After the gruesome summer this is such a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively.
Here is the first one from last week. I found lots of scat of various colors and sizes. It makes me think that it is a good area for wildlife although I only observed a few birds. The wildfire near Conconully was still sending up some smoke.
The next day was also overcast so we headed for a trail along a river. It is a relatively flat trail and easy for the old dog to navigate plus there was water for all of us to cool off. And there were cedar trees, enormous cedar trees. And big leaf maples too. It clearly rains there, a lot! The long foot bridge is a giant cedar snag that conveniently fell across a creek where a trail crew turned it into a substantial bridge. And the girls may have inadvertently walked into a National Park but I quickly called them back to pose at the boundary. I thought there would be a sign saying ‘welcome to the park, no dogs allowed’ but it was just a simple marker.
On my birthday, we drove to the Quinault Rain Forest and enjoyed a lovely walk in the green, green forest. Everything was lush and growing, growing out of everything else it seems. Trees were tall and covered with moss and lichens. Water dripped off of every surface despite the fact that we had partly sunny skies. Luna particularly liked the smells of the rain forest. For the first half of our walk, we mostly had the place to ourselves but later in the day, it was busy and we all returned to leashes.
Most years we head out in the forest with friends to find our Christmas trees but this year, it was just us. The road was covered in snow and we did not drive nearly as far into the forest as we have in the past. No point in trying to get stuck. Some people think that’s fun but not us! It did not take us long to find a nice Douglas fir that will grace our home for the holiday season. Of course, it was on the steepest hillside. The dogs and I trundled through the snow while Ken tied the tree to the top of the truck.
I had an errand that took a while in Twisp the other day so I whiled away my time with a walk in the park. I was socially distanced from people but not with the trees.
My Everyday Photos 