Esmeralda Basin, Teanaway Road

This was my second time on this trail, the last time was a couple of years ago on a very warm and dry day, with lots of other folks heading up and down the trail. I really enjoyed it this time better than the last, not sure if it was because it was still a little bit early, which meant a little less traffic, or just because I knew what to expect. The flowers were blooming every where, the shooting stars are just unreal. There is so many of them, I have never saw so many on any other hike. It was fairly over cast the whole time, just a few sprinkles here and there. Pretty pleasant hike till we started up to Fortune Cookie Pass, then it was cold cold cold. The wind was blowing hard, and it was a mixture of rain and snow. We didn't spend much time at the top, made our way part way back down and found a log a little ways off the trail to enjoy the views looking down the valley, and eat our lunch. The Western Pasque Flower was fascinating, mostly small blooms but so pretty, found a few pink colored ones here and there. They tend to grow in the dryer area on this trail, and at a higher elevation. This is a great trail to see lots flowers. The Teanaway Road can be a little rough in spots, and feels so long. When we reached the trail head that morning there wasn't a lot of cars, but by the time we headed out it was the place to be. We made plans to return to this area and hike the other trails, but July happened and things went up in smoke, changed some of our hiking plans. My nephew did get to try his new pack out that he was going to use the 4th of July weekend. A very pleasant hike, a little bit of drive from where we live, but worth it.

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Echo Basin, Eastern Washington

Echo Basin was our last early spring hike in the Eastern Washington area. We were planning to hike the Frenchman Coulee side that heads toward the waterfall but changed our mind due to the amount of cars parked at the trail head. So down the road just a little ways we went to hike the Echo Basin trail. Even with a early start the sun was way too bright, not hot, just bright. We hiked up the jeep trail that starts on the left hand side of the road as your facing the Columbia River. Didn't seem like a real exciting trail till we reached the sand dunes, which put us closer to the rock walls. Up and over the sand dunes and on up a goat trail to get above the walls. Without really knowing were we were going we just winged it. Lots of faint trails and trails in the sand, hard to know which was the true trail. The rock walls are huge and fascinating, the columns are even more interesting up close. We hiked until we had a view looking down into Echo Basin, and a nice look at th

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

Looking For Mountain Views....................

Since I couldn't get anybody to go snowshoeing with me this last weekend....I went on a drive and took pictures.....It was a lovely day...lots of variation in the clouds...started down on the Columbia River in Pateros and continued on down towards Chelan...stopped at the park...which has a great view of the mountains...then on up around Manson...drove as many roads as I could looking for the best view of the mountains....drove a couple of roads I have never been on....what a festive little town Manson is right now....Drove on up towards Echo Ridge trail area...roads got a little on the icy side up in that area....then found my way back home....now I have a camera card or two loaded with pictures...plus basketball pictures.....lots of computer time...The season is moving right along...lots of new snow in the mountains...Can't wait to get out there and play.

Lost In The Right Direction

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