Karen and Tom Wanderings

With unusually hot weather in the Seattle area, we opted to avoid the (sunny) high country for our now weekly hike.  Instead, we headed back to the NW corner of Mt Rainier for a walk in the temperate rainforest along the Carbon River to Green Lake.  This was a return trip for Tom, having done it decades prior, but it turns out his memory had faded.  The first few miles were along an old road, abandoned many years ago by the repeated flood damage caused by the unruly Carbon River.  But even this road section of the hike is inside the Park, so the ancient forest was intact.  The trail itself winds uphill through big (but gradually smaller) stands of trees, by a lovely waterfall, up to the totally unremarkable lake.  It was all very lush and the old-growth forest worked its calming magic on our souls.  And the heat wasn't too bad, either, though jumping in the stream upon our return to the road did momentarily cross our minds. Rainforest Hiking Foamflo...

As the summer hiking season started getting serious, we headed to our beloved Mt Rainier National Park for a new hike for us ... Crystal Peak.  We'd been to nearby Crystal Lakes before, but decided to try the more difficult route to the peak.  We didn't have very high expectations, but the flowers and views had our jaws dragging on the ground.  WOW!!  More bear grass than we've ever seen ... started out a bit spotty and just kept getting more and more and more prolific!  Literally laughing out loud!  Great views of The Mountain and the surrounding peaks from the trail and the summit.  Making it to the peak pushed us to near our limit, but we made it, and made it down, too!  No significant bugs, and joyous sunshine!!     Karen in Beargrassville Bear grass and Mt Rainier Upper Crystal Lake Western Wallflower Indian Paintbrush and Mt Rainier Prolific Bear Grass More Photos

[Blogger's Note:  Way delinquent.  Playing catch-up with this and numerous subsequent posts].  After minimal hiking last year due to Tom's shoulder surgery, we were looking for an early season hike.  In the Pacific NW, snow lingers into the summer in the high country, and bugs can be an impediment for several weeks after it melts.  So, we picked a low-elevation hike on the east side of the Cascades, where warmer weather arrives earlier.  Cashmere Canyons is a private reserve managed by a land trust, and is a relatively new area for hiking.  In some ways, it was like a glorified cow pasture (without the cows and accompanying pies), but it was green and sunny, had some elevation gain, and even some mountain views.  Quite lovely, actually.  Just what the doctor ordered ... and no bugs, too!! Meandering Trail Cascade Views Green Landscape More Photos

Needing to get out beyond the 'hood, we found a good weather window and did a one-nighter at the southern Washington coast.  We spent an afternoon exploring Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia River.  The next morning we checked out some of Leadbetter Point State Park at the northern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula, and a short beach walk at the town of Long Beach.  We then headed north and spent a few hours walking along the beach at Westhaven State Park, near Westport, and enjoyed a nice sunset before heading home.  We enjoyed checking out the sandpiper-type birds (Dunlins? Sanderlings? Semipalmated Plovers?) as they darted in an out from the surf line searching for whatever it is they search for.  And their unified twisting, turning flight patterns ... kinda like a single organism.  Surprises included harbor porpoises along the north jetty at Cape Disappointment, one-legged dunlins/sanderlings/plovers hopping among their scampering two-legge...

The warm, dry weather has caused the hiking season to arrive a little early in the Pacific Northwest.  So, we headed to Annette Lake, a relatively easy hike near Snoqualmie Pass, to stretch our legs and see how they behaved.  The wooded hike wasn't too exciting, but pretty green, and the lake was just another ho-hum wooded lake surrounded by peaks.  But, it reminded me how lucky we are here in Washington ... seemingly endless hikes to choose from, and even the "mundane" are pretty damn nice.  The legs did pretty decent, and there weren't too many mosquitos!! Annette Lake and Abiel Peak Queen's Cup Lady Fern Deer Ferns Cascades along Humpback Creek Random Scenes Sitting lakeside, absorbing the view and munching on some gorp, I jumped with a start, and realized a pesky chipmunk had snuck up onto my hand to get into my bag of gorp!  No sense of personal space!!

After being cooped up from Covid for way too long, we headed out to Moab to spend a week with Kelsey and Brian playing in the red rocks.  We rented a condo south of town, and juggled activities and the kids' remote work.  Needless to say, the kids played harder than the adults!  Way harder! Kelsey hadn't been to Moab before, so we ended up revisiting many of our favorite places, but also covered some new ground.  Old haunts included a  couple of hikes in Arches National Park, some mountain bike riding at Dead Horse Point State Park, an evening walk to the end of the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, a hike in the Needles District of Canyonlands NP, a hike at Fisher Towers, and mountain biking at Moab Brand Trails.  (See previous postings for more description and photos).  A couple of new areas were the Sand Flats Recreation Area, where we did a mountain bike ride, and along both shores of the Colorado River west of Moab ... inclu...

After a quiet, no-visitor holiday, we headed to the Oregon Coast (again) for a few days with Karen's sister and niece (again) ... to satisfy our need for some variety, while avoiding human interaction.  This time, we opted for the southern portion of the coast near Gold Beach.  It was new territory for us, and very impressive.  Incredibly beautiful, rugged coastline, massive surf, and almost no people.  The weather was decent (for winter), with a couple of very nice days, and a couple of wet/windy ones.  Lots of walks on different beaches and headlands.  And on our return trip we took a short hike into the sand dunes, which abut the coast for about 40 miles.  We consider ourselves very fortunate to be within striking distance of places like this!! Secret Beach Kissing Rock and Beach Golden Rays, China Beach Trail Thunder Rock Cove Viewpoint Coquille River Lighthouse Arizona Beach Shades of Grey, Meyers Beach Sand and Water, Ophir Beach Sunrise, Nesi...

With the approach of winter and a likely Covid resurgence, we slipped out of town for a short, pre-Thanksgiving visit to Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast with Karen's sister and niece.  We'd usually be inclined to avoid Cannon Beach, since it's very popular and therefore quite crowded.  But, with it being off-season, it looked like a good opportunity to check it out. The weather report looked pretty stormy, and delivered as promised.  Very high winds (60-70 mph gusts) and lots of rain.  A combo of the short daylight hours and the timing of the very-high (King) tides restricted our beach-walk schedule, but we managed.  And good rain gear allowed us to go for walks on the beach and along the headlands without getting soaked.  It was incredibly beautiful both along the beach and in the wooded, fern-filled headlands.  Uncrowded and very quiet (except for the wind).  A very relaxing trip, and much needed break from home. Cannon Beach and Haystack Roc...