Busy days

Glacier Lilies 

Busy days are here for sure and there is much to share!  I'm in the process of writing a Day Hiking guide for the Goat Rocks/Mt. Adams area and have been swimming in maps and working feverishly to identify the hikes that must be included.  There are so many wonderful places to spend time in Washington, it almost makes you dizzy!  Between writing up the proposal and working on pieces for Washington Trails, I've been remarkable busy.

This past week, I started my big hiking adventures which led me away from home for several days to hike, document, photograph and journal each location.  Because snow is still clinging to the Cascades, I've been visiting lowland hikes and eastern areas of the State, which will be included.  Each day when I head out, I feel so blessed with good health and a happy heart.  The places I visit are remarkable and it seems at the end of each night, when I talk to V, my words are almost the same "you should have seen it..." followed by a story sharing my awe of the flora, fauna and vistas.  Like people, each trail is unique, has it's own feel and has something interesting to share.

This week I was in bird nerd heaven!  For the third time in my life, I encountered Mountain Bluebirds.  I was also introduced to a Chukar (very odd prairie chicken of sorts), orioles, fly catchers, quail, chats, swallows and various types of swifts.  Beyond that I had some one way conversations with elk, big-horn sheep, a mountain goat, lizards, a tree frog, 3 bull snakes and countless encounters with rattlesnakes.  I wasn't fond of the snakes, but the others were just friends in different skin.  Our new little travel trailer provided a fantastic 'home away from home', and allowed me to download photos and GPS coordinates at the end of each day, and stay up late documenting my adventures.  This is the start of what will be a summer of accomplishing over 125 hikes before the snow falls next Autumn.  By the end of it, I expect to be in good shape, and have lots more stories to share.  I uploaded a few pictures from this past week HERE.

In other news, V has been working his tail feathers off and we both live for the weekends where we get housework done and catch up.  The Swainson's Thrushes have arrived for the summer and their song, found HERE is the soundtrack I look forward to each year at this time.  To unwind, we sit out in our gazebo surrounded by heaters listening to the birds sing and relaxing as the sun goes down.  I live for summer and am so happy that we've been given an early sample of what's to come, after two years of wet springs.

Happy Memorial Day!

I left my heart...

A rather spontaneous trip turned out to be a few days of bonus bliss.  V had a meeting down in San Fran a week ago, so with a little scrambling we decided to make it a family affair.  The dog went to the kennel and I went to the airport by his side, a proud business traveling poacher.  We spent Thursday in San Fran- he at work...me getting yelled at by homeless people as I walked downtown.  Oh the joys of city life.  Somehow we managed to sneak in a couple of hours exploring Fisherman's Wharf together.


Friday (I just accidentally spelled that fir-day...which would also have been correct)- we headed to Yosemite National Park for three, grand, glorious, tree and mountain filled, sunshiny days.  Can you tell I was in love with the place?  We hiked, hiked and hiked some more- exploring the Yosemite Valley as best we could with the time we'd been given.  V was itchin' to climb, but with our gear at home, he was content with following me around trails and spying up climbers on various routes.  Finally, after all these years, I got to see where he and his friend Jimmy did their big wall climb back 'in the day'!  Impressive and downright freaky. 


The photos of the trip are found HERE.  I nearly wore out my shutter with beauty in every direction!


I simply cannot wait to go back there, it's a masterpiece.  Perhaps, John Muir put it best...
"But no temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite. Every rock in its walls seems to glow with life...as if into this one mountain mansion Nature had gathered her choicest treasures..."

Springtime!

We've waited a long time for warmer weather and I couldn't be happier that the sun is coming out occasionally now! Welcome springtime and hurry up summer.

This morning I looked down and to my amazement, my thumb was starting to turn a very light shade of green. Thanks to those of you who have helped me figure out this growing business . My deck garden is actually looking decent. If sun continues, we are in luck.

And speaking of decks, I got out the Simple Green and got to work cleaning and tidying up the deck for an enjoyable evening of sitting outside. One wonderfully warm night down, many more to go!

Lastly, my neighbor Lisa has almost 40 chickens in the valley and she generously gives me farm fresh eggs. They come in all colors, but my favorites are the ones with tints of teal. Aren't they eggcellent?

Rough Skinned Newt

Yesterday as I was hiking, I came across this little newt in the middle of the trail. He was moving pretty slow and I was worried he'd get stepped on, or worse, eaten by someone's unsuspecting labrador. Rough Skinned Newts are highly toxic if ingested and would kill a dog in no time. They say that one of these divided has enough toxins to kill up to 17 people. In fact, snakes that eat them, often fatally convulse within 80 hours spitting the newt back out- alive! What a defense mechanism!

I went about picking him up and moving him to an adjacent hillside. When I grabbed him, he completely stopped moving and his underside turned a vibrant orange, like a little 'danger' flag. He became stiff as a board and his upper body was like a statue as I held his tail. When I set him down on the hillside and he realized the danger had passed, he started to wiggle again. Fascinating creature! I found a stream to wash my hands, since occasionally, but very rarely, touching them can cause a rash.

Yakima Skyline Trail

It was a sunny Easter day and instead of the normal activities, we decided to spend the holiday with a jaunt to the eastern side of the mountains to a trail called the Yakima Skyline. It was warm, but windy, and the desert was alive with birds, flowers and views. We soaked in about 8 miles, then turned back. After it all, the three tired hikers headed back across the mountains for an easter dinner to celebrate a great day.

Below: Female California Quail

Below: Male California Quail

Below: What a treat! A flock of Sandhill Cranes did a fly-by, complaining loudly overhead at the challenging headwinds.

Below: Horned lark with a fantastic song

Below: Desert Parsley in bloom

Below: Arrowroot is just starting

BFF

You know when you are little and you have a sidekick and you think that nothing in the world will separate you? Somehow you grow up and life slowly and gently puts distance and time between you. Years later, you are still the same little girls, only now in adult bodies with complicated things such as mortgages and families. This is Angie, my very best childhood friend. I got to see her again this past weekend and it brought a smile to my soul and tears to my eyes. She's still the same hilarious person and we had a blast going through old pictures and laughing about hairdos and fantastic 80's outfits. We are both cheesy as you can see by the glamour shots...just dorks. When we used to write notes back and forth as kids we'd sign every single letter BFF, which...as you know...stands for Best Friends Forever (we were ahead of the texting acronym curve and didn't even know it!). Forever is right- it's been a long, time, but I still consider her one of my besties. Awesome weekend.

A visit from Mama & twins!

Remember last spring, when Mama came around and brought her adorable twins (see picture above)? I'm so happy to see that they survived the winter and predation and have returned to graze on our grass and meadow. They are nearly full grown now and it's hard to tell which one is Mama! The first one here..is Mama.

Little ones...

Mama and one of the twins...

Both twins...

The three musketeers!