Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Fourth of July a little late

Me, Holly, Al, Peggy, Mary
Our first "extra" hike of the season was yesterday, Monday, when eight of us headed south to the Fourth of July trailhead. These hikes take us farther away from home and give us a chance to have dinner together before heading back. Only five of us finished it, however, which makes a story all by itself. Here are the five of us, in a picture taken by a fellow hiker: Al surrounded by this newest group of "gal pals."

We had a fairly new (to us) hiker who ended up having some difficulty with the trail, so Jonelle and Steve, who was driving, took him back to Bellingham, and Mary came back with us. Three can fit rather snugly in Al's back seat, so it wasn't too crowded, plus we are all fairly close friends. Holly is back in town for a short while, and Mary joins us on our hikes occasionally. We made it to the best view, which is situated a little below the pass. There are no summit-type views, but the mountains were really pretty.
I think this is Snowfield Peak
These mountains are fairly high. This hike starts at a low elevation and only gets to 3,600 feet at the pass, giving us a total up-and-down of somewhere around 2,600 feet. Since the first part of the trail is fairly flat, the last two miles up are STEEP. I think this hike should be reclassified from "moderate" to "hard." The weather was almost perfect, with a light breeze and temperature in the 70s. As we sweated uphill, that breeze was sublime and made it much more comfortable, although we were in shaded forest most of time.
Diablo Lake from the overlook
Before we headed to Marblemount for dinner, Al insisted that we take a short trip to the overlook above Diablo Lake, which is this strange blue-green color. One of the informative plaques told me this:
As glaciers in the surrounding high country slowly wear down the mountains, the grinding of rock against rock produces a fine silt that meltwater streams carry into the lake below. This "rock flour" suspended in the water reacts with light to give the lake its blue-green color.
I was tired and a little bit grumpy when Al suggested we take this side trip, but I'm really glad we did. It is an amazing view, and I wouldn't have known what I missed. Al did, though, and since he was driving he made the right decision. Then we headed down to Marblemount for dinner.
Toasting our successful hike (Al had coffee)
 Today I have a bit of residual tiredness from hiking more than ten miles and having spent a fair amount of the day in a car getting there and back. I didn't get home last night until almost 9:00pm, after having met the others at 7:15am. Long day! I woke in the middle of the night worried about my garden, realizing that I hadn't watered it. At 5:30 this morning I was out watering, when I spied a beautiful zucchini, my very own produce! Just now I took its picture before I harvested it. These are small zucchini, ready to eat by the time they reach just a few inches long. There will be more to come, and the delicata squash plant has blossoms! Wow, this is fun!
There are so many things going on in my life right now that I feel just a bit overwhelmed. How would I EVER have time for a job these days? My sister reminded me that I'm ready for a haircut, so now I'm off to get that taken care of. And the bird seed has run out... okay, here I go! Hope you are having a great day, thanks for visiting me.
:-)

24 comments:

  1. i bet you are feeling that one a bit...smiles...pretty cool ont eh rock flour turning the color of the lake...is it just at a distance or is it different when you are up close i wonder...

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  2. i feel bad for the newbie hiker that couldn't complete the trail. i'd feel bad about causing someone to take me back, but that would probably be me! :)

    congrats on the first produce!!!

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  3. and i do like the 'rock flour'. :)

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  4. You are indeed a very busy lady. Makes me tired just to read all your activities. Your new zuchini is a beauty. It's so fun watching your own food grow.

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  5. Knowing me I would have had a book and paper and pen with me and would have sat by the side of the trail until you all made it back rather than have to have somebody bring me back. I felt badly for them.

    The pics are great! You guys look happy, love the mountain, the weird water gave me a double-take, and hurray for the little zucchini!! Your own produce, indeed! Enjoy!! :):)

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  6. A long day on the mountain, and up at the crack of dawn to attend to your garden. And a hair cut.

    You are one busy lady.

    Love the mountain pictures, and the explanation of the blue-green water.

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  7. That was one long day. I am sure I could not do that anymore.

    Your photo of the zucchini made me a bit envious. I decided not to plant any this year. I am sorry I didn't. They taste so good fresh from the garden. Your plant looks very healthy.

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  8. Ten miles!!! Wow that's amazing. I love the water, and yep it was worth the trip, and glad you could show it to us! Hope the zucchini was good, they're so tender when small. Take care, a little rest maybe?

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  9. I need another haircut, mine is growing too fast..the amount of miles you hike with all you do I am envious, wow you must be in great great shape, I am younger and need to walk many miles a day for my type 2 diabetes, if I could hike like you do in whatcom county and the other areas you do I would be in great great shape, I have to hit the pavement and run around a high school track each morning and sometimes evenings too..got our bikes fixed we are ready to bike everywhere my hubby and me! Good for you to do so much and be so focused and your zuchinni looks great a gardener to boot, love your blog..keep up the great sky diving tooooo!

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  10. Great hike. The hard hikes are really challenging. I love zucchini!
    I know I've slowed down and don't accomplish as much. I think we could do more if we we're challenged.

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  11. That blue green water is beautiful. Thanks for the info about it. Love getting together with friends for a meal. Great fellowship. Beautiful zucchini.

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  12. It looks like an amazing day weather-wise. That is an unusual shade of green, thanks for the explanation. I've never heard the term "rock flour" before.

    Sorry to hear the new hiker had to go back. He missed some great views but it does happen.

    The little zucchini is so pretty!

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  13. Always a pleasure to be here!
    Looks like you all had another great hike.
    And that zucchini!! Beautiful...and hopefully as delish as it is pretty.
    I love the leaves on the squash plants...as well as the blossoms.
    I'm so glad you had a good day hiking yesterday. The views of the mountains and the lake are so pretty, Jan.

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  14. Rock flour very interesting I have seen that color in one lake in this area..it has no weeds...I have also seen that color out west..awesome. Great hike again! You sound tired..better rest! :)

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  15. A nice view on your hike and nice harvest from your garden, DJan.

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  16. Was Al a director in another life? He seems to have quite the power trip with several ladies to keep him company :-)

    I love the tiny zucchini because they seem so much more flavorful than the larger ones. I make zucchini bread with larger ones.

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  17. Very decent of Jonelle n Steve to take new hiker back that could not make trail. That is called "looking out for your hiking buddies". Even though they did not get to make the hike with you, it is a very decent thing to do. Give up your hike to take care of the newbie. The reward in a deed like this will allow the newbie to feel comfortable enough to carry on with hiking and perhaps get to the point of making that trek another time and finishing it. You are a good bunch and I admire your care of the newbie.
    Long day DJan and rewards at the end. The "rock flour" is interesting as we have same colour here in areas around the bay and this is indeed beautiful. Al seems happy and comfortable with his "gal pals". ha,ha
    It is indeed fun to watch your garden grow and enjoy the reward of eating your own carefully cared for "FOOD".

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  18. Diablo Lake is gorgeous! It should be called paradise lake. And that pretty zuccinni!

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  19. That sounded like a super tiring day - but so so beautiful as well. Thank you for letting us take the 'easy option' and see it without the effort.
    I love your home grown produce but should warn you that zuchinnis are sneaky. They can (and do) hide their babies very well. One day they are invisible and the next they appear as foot long monsters.

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  20. Zucchini is such a rewarding crop to grow.
    That was quite a long and hard day for sure, but beautiful too.

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  21. I think it would be great indeed, if you did a photo special on Bellingham Bay. I would indeed love to see this area and I am sure your readers would too. Thanks for the nice comments DJan and have a great day.

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  22. Beautiful hike scenes again. I always enjoy your photos AND your dialect on your hikes. I would probably have been one that turned around....but, oh to miss the lake? Wow...a rich beautiful turquoise hidden to those who don't hike. I'm glad you share this.

    And your zucchini [that's always a hard word to spell...thank goodness for spell-check] would make the bestest ever brownies!! Have you ever had zucchini brownies? Rich, moist and ever so tasty!!!!

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  23. Dear DJan, you do have such a full, rich life and the joy of it for me is that you find time to post about this life and to express your gratitude for it. That's inspiring. Peace.

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  24. What a terrific day and a zucchini to harvest to boot! You're so lucky to have such a friendly hiking group to do this with.

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