Mad River Trail, Entiat Washington

This trail was all about the flowers. Our timing was perfect to catch the Tweedy's Lewisia in bloom. Having never before catching them in bloom before it was exciting. So we spent most of our hike with out heads down or checking out the side hills looking for flowers. Which led to me being scared pretty badly by a pair of motorcyclist that came up on us very quickly. Very polite riders, were very aware that there was folks up the trail ahead of them and being cautious. My brain just took entirely to long to realize the sound I was hearing was a motorcycle heading straight at me, might have had something to do with being sprawled out on the ground at flower level snapping pictures. Good thing there wasn't a cliff near by or I might have fallen off it trying to back peddle out of the trail. We arrived at the trail head at a decent time. The drive up the Entiat Valley is gorgeous, It has been a long time since I have traveled up in that area. The road seems a little narrow when you leave the main road and head to the campground where the trail head starts, makes for a tight fit with a full size rig. But many brave souls where in the campground with full size camp trailers. So as we got ready, unloaded and started to post our forest pass on the dash, oops expired. Not sure how I forgot to buy the new one, then we realized there was no where to buy a day pass either, so we paid a campsite fee for the day and parked in a empty spot. Bad time to realize you have no pass, miles from the nearest forest station or wally world. The trail is pretty, well used, lots of flowers blooming. Follows the rushing river, some nice size cedars and gorgeous ponderosa pines along the way. We didn't venture up the trail a long ways, just far enough to see plenty of flowers and some nice views of the canyon. I spent more time taking pictures of flowers than hiking, but some trails are just about the flowers. This was one of them. After our short hike we loaded up and headed farther up the valley for a quick hike up Silver Falls. Hopefully I will be back with those pictures very soon.

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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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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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