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Tag Archives: Twisp

Fourth of July in Twisp

I am quite certain that Twisp hosts one of the best small town parades around. It has horses, music (played by small children with violins), dogs, political causes and lots of fun. What more could you want?

County commissioner candidate
A blast from the past.
Another candidate for county commissioner.
Methow Recycling team
We love our firefighters.
We remember the ones we have lost.
Always training for ski season!
Last year when it was one hundred degrees, this was the most popular thing in the parade.

New Work at the Confluence Gallery

I continue to work on photo encaustics this winter. Three of my new pieces are hanging in the new show – Shadow and Light – at The Confluence Gallery in Twisp. Photo encaustics are a combination of photos, beeswax and pigments. For this series I have been embedding the photo in the beeswax on a wooden substrate. I hope you have a chance to see this show in person.

Morning Light
Redpoll Flying into the Light
Winter Light on Beaver Pond

A Great Egret Near Twisp

Last week I got to watch this stately bird preen and preen some more in the morning sunshine. The bird didn’t mind me watching and taking pictures and was a lot more cooperative than the Mallards in the nearby pond. Great Egrets nest south of here in central Washington and after they fledge, they disperse to various areas, some going north like this one. Hopefully it will get some sense and migrate south soon, before the beaver ponds freeze over. There was a skim of ice that morning when I watched it and we’ve had smatterings of snow twice this week already.

Weekend Fun

Living in the Methow there is no shortage of fun stuff to do and often a person needs to make a choice between various planned events. This weekend is the big Rhythm and Blue Festival outside of Winthrop so there are lots of people in town. And motorcycles too. We did not go to the festival. It’s a BIG event. We stuck to smaller things.

There was the Farmers Market in Twisp in the morning. In the afternoon we went out to the Methow Valley Ciderhouse to listen to Danbert Nobacon and Anna Dooley perform in the relaxed atmosphere under the big tent. After that we went into Twisp to enjoy a couple of gallery receptions – at the Confluence and also Donna Keyser’s D*SIGNS. Later in the evening Ken did go visit some friends who live across the river from the Blues Fest and he enjoyed the music from afar.

Music at the market
Bread
Honey
Watch art being made at the farmers market
A basket of glass eggs
First time I’ve seen naked ladies for sale in Twisp
Fresh corn
Peaches
Apricots
Perennial flowers for the garden
Blueberries
Methow Made hard Cider
Anna and Danbert
Hops
Comfy chair at the Cider House
Cider taster
Where the cider comes from
New mural being created in the alley behind Glover Street
The artist’s pallete
Donna and Ken share a laugh

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.