A Smokey September In The North Cascades........

I have been slowly working through old pictures on my hard drive....trying to clear up space and complete some hiking trips that I took this last year....I came across this set of pictures I took of our drive back from the Cascade Pass Trail....The smoke from the fires around Wenatchee, Pateros's Billygoat Mountain and the Methow area were really starting to push up into the North Cascades....One of the great things about the drive through the North Cascades is it seems like at every corner and turn in the road you have views of mountains...the views from the road alone are very spectacular....makes for an enjoyable journey home even if its a long day....It's hard to explain the thrill and fascination I have with the North Cascades....each time we travel back and forth from trail head to trail head...each visit is different and beautiful...can't wait to return....I am very envious of folks that ski or even snowmobile this time of year up and down hwy 20....On our way to the Cascade Pass Trail head I noticed that there was a North Cascades National Park visitors center in the Newhalem area...so we made a detour off the road to go and explore and visit it.....I have drove by many times but apparently the scenery is too distracting to see the sign....Lots of information and a sweet little gift area....I will make sure we return to visit with my nieces and newphew when we are back in the area..... Yesterday winter decided to come visit us again....brought a little bit of new snow with it....made things nice and white again...I hear rain is possibly before the weekend...this should make road conditions all kinds of fun....

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Cutthroat Trail.......Snowshoeing North Cascades Highway

I have a confession to make, I have been having some winter blues. Not sure if they can be officially called winter blues due to we have had little to no winter. I have been very impatiently waiting for the snow to arrive, it comes, blows through, makes the ground white, then its gone. The last few days we have been sitting at temperatures in the 40's. What is up with winter. One thing I can say for sure is I am very thankful for the few trips we made up highway 20 before the silver star gate was closed. Our trip to Cutthroat Trail was back in November, when we had visions of winter coming to the valley very soon. The snow was nice and fluffy and deep. Pleasant day to get out and enjoy it, one of those days where your not sure if the clouds where going to allow the blue sky to show it self or not. We parked right off the highway with a couple of other cars and Snowshoed up the road to the trail head. Wasn't very long and more hikers, cross country skiers, and furry

The Places We Can Go

Life goes on, things change, storms of life come and go. One thing that always remains the same is the feeling and quiet peace I feel from being in the mountains. This was a spur of the moment overnight trip. It was so needed and such a beautiful time. Left the house around 2:30 PM, traffic was so slow heading up Hwy 20, lots of folks heading out of Mazama. Arrived at the trail head a few minutes before 4 PM, and we were off down the trail in a few minutes. Three quarters of a mile down the trail a bee or some kind of flying ant decided to bite my nieces eye lid, talk about hysteria for a moment. I was pretty sure our trip was over, but we were able to move on with a very cold creek soaked multipurpose face mask. The sun was sinking fast and the wind was howling by the time we reached the top. Made some quick decisions on the best place to park the tents, and we set up camp. It was truly an incredible evening, hiked around a bit and watched the sun slip behind the mountains.

Carlton Complex Wildfire, Pateros Washington

The last few weeks have been crazy busy. I spent last weekend moving my animals back home to a mostly burnt out barn yard. We had a small patch of trees and garden space that escaped the fire, which was where my dog pens were located. So they were able to return to a fairly normal life. The horse pen was kind of a hit and miss burnt area, since there wasn't a whole lot of vegetetaion in it the fences took most of the heat. The metal panels got a nice rusty color to them, with some serious scorch marks. Besides my horse having red smudge colored marks on his nose from the fencing he seems to be adjusting to his return home. We have found temporary living close by so it has made taking care of my animals easier, and a stress off of where we be this winter. The town is slowly getting the debris removed and homesteads cleaned up. Lots of piles of rubble and cut down trees piled up in the city lot areas. I understand that Okanogan County and the Confederated Tribes Of the Co

Lost In The Right Direction

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