Returning To Common Ground.............

A Return Trek to the Yellow Jacket Sno-Park.....Lost River Road, Mazama....this time it was snowing pretty good...no snowmobiles on the trail...looked like it had been a day or two since anyone has been up it....the weather was sitting at about 18 degrees but still felt pretty good....My nephew is quiet the trooper....one of my constant companions for hiking and snowshoeing.....I can almost always drag him out to the great outdoor with the promise of a stop at the Cinnamon Twisp Bakery and Blue Star Coffee....We ventured off the trail after we made it up a switch back or two....wandered through the trees...it was quiet the battle to get up the side hill....lots of deep snow and pretty slick....took some effort to make any progress...of course the little one just bombs it up the hill in front of me...makes me feel soooo out of shape....snowshoeing is quiet the exercise.....made it to a fairly even spot and headed out at an angle to connect back with the main trail...it was a pleasant little hike among the trees....dropped back down onto the trail for a short rest then from there we took the short cut trail straight back down to the parking lot.....on our way back down the Methow Valley we stopped and waited for 2 fuzzy deer to cross the road just outside of Twisp....they didn't seem to be in a big hurry to get out of the way....they pretty much own the road up here....beautiful weather the last few days...blue sky's.....sad to be stuck in the office and have to wait for the weekend to get back out there......

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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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