High Pass on Mt. Larrabee

Roosevelt Glacier on Mt. Baker

These pictures were taken with my phone. I didn't bring the camera because I have been taking pictures of the woods and mountains all summer and didn't think I could outdo any of the previous pictures. We have been wanting to do this hike, the Heliotrope Ridge Hike, all summer but the Forest Service road leading up to it has been closed. It opened a week or so ago and we decided to go do the hike. The hike required fording some glacial streams that Kirsten and Marcos didn't like. We met some nice hikers-- Pam and Lance, who currently hail from New Jersey although Lance had some tales about growing up in Sumas, Washington and doing a milk delivery run through Glacier and Maples Falls (along the Baker highway)-- and they had a rope which made fording the glacial streams a little easier, at least in a psychological sense. Marcos seems to freeze up at the streams not because it's too deep (because his feet can touch bottom) but he has bad memories attached to these fordings. Anyways, you can see that fording the cold streams was worth it.

Not having a camera makes adventures better. To keep Lupe calm during our drives, we usually stop early to look for some hike or maybe just some open land along the highway. After leaving Cle Elum recently after a fishing trip,I pulled over at USFS road # 9714 not knowing what to expect other than a space with trees and devoid of cars and people where Lu and Mar could run free. We found trail #1351, the Iron Creek Bear Creek Trail, which led us to the Nason Ridge. That morning, September 10, 2009, will be etched in my memory as we came up to the ridge and there stood Mt. Rainier, looking ominous on the horizon, huge and engulfing our vision. Over 70 miles away, it dominated our view, making us realize just how big it is and how it dominates life in Washington. Not having a camera to document the beautiful view and the beautiful ridge that we were walking, made even more beautiful by the cool, crisp September air, made the moment even more special. Here's to leaving your camera at home.

Yakima River Fishing Buddies

Recently, we took a fishing trip to the Yakima River with my parents. We fished mainly with hopper patterns and it was the first time that I fished with crane fly patterns. One of the pictures shows my dad and I with a double hookup. I caught a 16-17" cutthroat trout on the Yakima and maybe 10-12 smaller cutts and cuttbows (the hybrid version of the rainbow trout and cutthroat-great sporting fish). You can see Lupe showing a lot of curiosity about the fish that the guide is holding for me. My mom got a big one, too. The picture of my dad with a big fish is actually one my mom sent me that documents their trip to the South Fork in Idaho where they continued after the Yakima River trip. Marcos was a little afraid of the boat but settled in and enjoyed the ride.

Ptarmigan Ridge Revisited

We came back to the Ptarmigan Ridge trail because during our first trip, the weather turned and we didn’t want to be caught so high up in the mountains with sour weather. This second trip was awesome and we really felt like we were on another planet. We made it up near the base camp for climbers of Mt. Baker.

Self-portrait of family at Ptarmigan Ridge

Visiting another planet: Approaching Pavonis Mons by Balloon

I am a therapy dog

Marcos is a licensed therapy dog and we have started visiting assisted living houses and hospitals in the area. Right now, I am working on the concept of therapy dog for a project. Not just the therapy dogs that provide emotional therapy for the sick and elderly like Marcos but the ones that cure our ills by inspiring us and giving us confidence to face a daunting world, dogs like Lupe.

Cooking happenings at the Forest House

This is a chilled beet soup with pickle juice. Very good on hot days in the summer. Kirsten is holding a hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower, very tasty in a stir-fry.

Firewood

It took my truck 3 loads to bring a cord of firewood up to the house. The summer has been so nice we haven't had a fire yet. It took about all day to stack and organize the wood, in addition to making the trips out to a forest house outside of the towns of Nooksack and Everton, where an old guy in overalls was busy chopping and stacking what looked like the last piles of some 100 cords of firewood he had to sell. I asked him if he did it himself and he said yes. And I wasn't surprised that his torso was shaped like a V and his biceps cut from under his shirt.

Chilling at the Forest House

Bedtime stories and views of trees.