A Drive Up North Cascades Hwy 20...................

Our destination was the top of the North Cascades Hwy 20 to see the snow......we kind of got waylaid by some pretty flowers when we stopped to use the restrooms at Early Winters Campground....what a nice campground this time of year...the ground was a carpet of flowers....pink and white with a few balsam roots mixed in.....hiked around through the brush and creek....the weather was pleasant....a tad bit windy...made for interesting flower shots.....it's kinda hard to catch a flower between wind gust as its swinging back and forth in front of your camera....from there we ventured on up the pass...made a few stops and checked snow level....wow....all I can say is its going to be awhile before we are hiking the Pacific Crest Trail on the backside of Cutthroat Pass....it was a lot of fun....a little chilly on top...lots of folks skiing...and snowboarding....and other folks getting ready to pack in with skis and such.....brave souls....The sky was pretty much grey by the time we got to the top....rain clouds moving in.....as we ventured back down made a stop in at Klipchuck campground...looking for the Driveway Butte trail head....We will return when the sunflowers are in prime shape here....once again a beautiful campground and with lots of options for exploring...the snow if pretty much gone out of lower area of the pass......we checked out the trail head and campground as we wandered around looking for flowers....the Glacier Lily's were blooming in this area very nicely.......as you drive into the campground you have a really nice view of the mountains up the pass....from there we headed back down the pass and into Winthrop....a stop at the book store to check for any new reading material and checked out Winthrop Mountain Sports....I could spend hours in there.....so much to look at....made a lunch stop at the Twisp Cinnamon Bakery....there is always something in there to munch on....as we headed back down the Methow we had to make our regular Blue Star Coffee stop...a must.....it was a pleasant day for a drive...a little bit gusty and windy....I thought March was supposed to be the windy month....

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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 ...

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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 aroun...

Carlton Complex Wildfire, Pateros Washington

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Lost In The Right Direction

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