Thursday, July 21, 2011

First time for Goat 2011

This will not be the last time the Senior Trailblazers will try to make it up Goat Mountain this year. But today, ten of us set out for the summit, with little confidence that we would even make it to the meadow, because of all the snow. Down at the lower elevations of Goat Mountain, however, the trillium are still in bloom, and this picture (when enlarged) shows all the RAIN we had pelting down on our heads today. Last year, we tried to make it to the summit a few times, and in this post I show the views we missed today.
I woke to the sound of rain again today, the only day of the entire week that it is supposed to fall, and of course it's Thursday. Although I went on the hike anyway, many of us were not at all happy about having a fourth Thursday's soggy hike in the rain. Al in the above picture is not smiling, he's grimacing. As we made our way across the snow field, the rain and sleet continued to fall. It's almost noon and we are looking for some place relatively "dry" to have our lunch. The skies lifted enough for me to get this partial view. See the blue? It's kind of there.
Our lunch spot was a mostly protected area free of snow nestled in the trees. The only problem is that the trees above us dripped constantly, so it wasn't what you would call a "rest area." We endured while we ate our lunch and tried to stay warm. I know the rest of the country is in the middle of a heat wave, but I couldn't get my gloves on fast enough once we stopped. This was also the first time out for what will be a constant new friend: my boots.
Boots in action
My new boots wouldn't have allowed me to stay home today. They almost pranced around the front door as I got ready to leave, letting me know that it would be a perfect day to try them out. They were wonderful! No kidding, I didn't realize that my old boots were so worn on the bottom; I had perfect traction, dry feet, and no hot spots after seven miles and 2,200 feet up and down!
On the way down (isn't it always this way?) the sun began to break through the clouds and the rain stopped. Here you see Dennis soaking up the rays. All this rain makes our environment so lush and green that it's almost impossible to be grumpy, even when it's so wet. All in all, it was a good day, and I suspect that we will again make another attempt on Goat Mountain this season, since so many of our usual summer hikes are impassable because of the snow. Once we reached our cars, we stopped on the way back down the mountain at a place known to the locals as a magical spot, where old growth trees almost a thousand years old still live. This tree was the most amazing of all.
Not more than a few hundred feet from the highway, no sign tells you to stop and park your car and take a short walk to look at these giants. This tree stretched up into the heavens, with no way for me to show you how really huge it is, except for Fred and Diane stretching their arms around the base. I stood at the base of the tree and gazed up, and it took my breath away. This old soul has been watching us all for so long, so many centuries, and will continue to do so for what I hope is many more centuries.
Some of the crags in the bark are so deep that I'm sure many small little mammals know this place as home. We will return to this place again, but for now, I wish that this ancient tree will be here for our descendants to admire for a long, long time. Until next time...
:-)

19 comments:

  1. I'm completely blown away by the size and beauty of this giant tree. Wow!

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  2. Wow! Another difficult hike, but I love that your prancing boots convinced you to go--LOL!! There is something about really huge, old trees that just stirs something in me. Makes you want to touch them, lean on them, stretch your arms out around them like your friends did in the picture. They do inspire awe.

    Thanks again for bringing us along with you. :):)

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  3. Good for you! Your boots look wonderful and I'm glad they were comfortable. Anytime I switch footwear, I expect some time to get used to them. How fabulous that yours worked out so well quickly.

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  4. Wish there was a way I could lure some of that rain over our way. At least you got a tiny bit of good weather today. The old tree, a Douglas Fir I believe, is beautiful.

    Do they call it Goat Mountain because usually only a mountain goat would climb it? LOL!

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  5. Wow. What a magnificent tree. It reminds me of the Ents in Lord of the Rings!

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  6. Oh, one of my passions - big, old trees!
    Glad the new boots worked so well!

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  7. Your 'prancing boots' made me smile and your tree reminded me of a movie I just watched on Netflix...National Geographic's 'Climbing Redwood Giants"....there's a whole world of living things in the top of those tall trees.

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  8. I had a good laugh over the image of your prancing boots. And a huge sigh over the beauty of that magnificent tree.

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  9. wow...what a gorgeous tree...give it a hug for me...and glad you decided to maybe take it again...and way to go new boots!

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  10. I always look forward to reading the names of the trails you hike. I would like to see a list of those. I especially like names that sound like American Indians named them. The gaiters should help give your boots a longer life. I liked wearing those when we went skiing.

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  11. it is so awfully hot here that I scrolled through your shots several times just to cool off

    I LOVE the tree hugging shot :)

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  12. that tree is incredible. and of course there were no goats on goat mountain.

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  13. Another confusing mountain name again, Goat mountain, I haven't gotten over with Church mountain yet and I chuckled everytime I think about it... I was looking for an old church hahaha. Anyway, like I was amazed with that huge tree! You were so lucky enough to stay close at it!Btw nice boots looks dirty but cool.

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  14. DJan, you are my hero! I love reading about your hiking adventures! I can't wait to get this knee healed and get back to the trails. Thanks for the photo of the old growth tree. It's so rare to find any that huge anymore.
    A fun note- I was telling my Bellingham daughter about your hiking adventures, and she asked me your name. I laughed (thinking, how would she know you . . .) but told her, and she said, "I met her this morning! She came into Great Harvest." (I think this was Wednesday morning)
    Is it possible?? She's the morning counter girl, a blond named Jessica.
    Small world. :)

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  15. Lovely pictures again today D-Jan and I can only say I am in awe of the enormous old tree - full of dryads too no doubt! I shouldn't complain too much about the rain and cooler temperatures (so much like ours here in England it seems to me) because they are sweltering in so many parts of the U.S. at the moment, aren't they!

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  16. I'm looking forward to pictures of the group hiking without rain or snow in the picture. I wonder if that will happen this summer.

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  17. It was worth it just to see that tree I'm sure.

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  18. That is some tree! I would love to see a tree that big. Trillium in July..it was very pretty even if it was raining:)

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