Over the river and through the woods I went this week on trails that had not been hiked for a year or better. The biting bug battalion was out in force hunting hemoglobin, thrilled to locate B12-enriched blood. Topical Benadryl is my friend! This weeks highlights include:
- Mt Adams and Mt St. Helens in all their glory from several angles
- Pileated woodpeckers in deadstanding trees
- Visiting Skookum Meadows and the haunted history of the place
- Discovering a peeled cedar tree, which was done years and years ago by Native Americans
- Soaking my feet in an icy cold stream on a hot day
- Finding gobs of wild strawberries (soon to ripen), and singing "strawberry fields, forever"...
- Having time to think (out loud at times) about how grateful I am
- Seeing butterflies of all colors and sizes out on the trails and roads
- Spending 15 minutes sitting on a log watching a pair of courting hummingbirds
- Forcing myself out of my comfort zone and learning, I'm tougher that I thought
This week something occurred to me. Not only have I become a professional writer and photographer, I've also become a "professional hiker". My senses have become heightened, I carry spider web whacking stick, I can tell how far I've travelled by time and the sun, I can sense weather patterns and I can ID bird calls, including alarms. I'm throwing in the towel if I start developing antlers.
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| Langfield Falls |
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| Skookum Meadows Trail |
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| Fungus among us |
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| Pacific Tree Frog and Dwarf Dogwood |
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| Same friend |
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| The top of Steamboat Mountain & Mt. Adams |
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| Mt. St. Helens, who made an ash of herself on May 18th, 1980 |
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| Mt. Adams |
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| Mt. Adams again |
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| Beautiful lupine near a bridge over troubled water |
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| Wild Tiger Lily about to bloom |
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| Lazy daisy... |
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| If I were an elk...I'd live here... |
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| Avalanche Lilies |
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| The beautiful shoreline of Takhlakh Lake |
1 comment:
Beautiful pictures! Wish I was there!
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