Our weekly hike is up for grabs

Mountain gal

Melanie took this picture of me in front of Mt. Baker on our hike last week. I laughed when I saw it; I was using the scarf under my hat to keep the bugs away from my face, once we got to the ridge and I could take off my bug net. It was horribly hot and without much breeze, even on the ridge I was suffering from their constant assault. This helped a little.

Well, just yesterday Al sent around an email to the group to let us know he will not be hiking with us this Thursday. His wife is in the hospital with heart issues and is undergoing a series of tests. Hopefully she will be all right, but Al is understandably not willing to be out of reach for the day. He asked if anyone is willing to step in, and I foolishly said that I would be willing to go up to Church Mountain, rather than Lake Ann (which is long and mostly without any shade) if someone would share the leadership duties with me.

Now I'm wishing I hadn't volunteered, since now I'm on the spot. I've tried very hard not to get into a leadership position on the hikes, because I like to complain about how other people do it and how much better I'd be at it (not!). But so far, nobody has stepped up so maybe I can still back out. We'll see what happens. The smoke from the BC forest fires is still an issue, with a weather change in sight but not soon enough for Thursday. 

In the meantime, I've stocked up on repellent and bought a long-sleeved shirt. Sigh. Wish I'd kept my mouth shut.

:-(

Lazy hazy Saturday

The beans are coming, the beans are coming!

Look at the scarlet runner beans: the beautiful scarlet flowers are turning into beans. I have to smile and pat myself on the back, since these beans are the product of beans planted by me in starter packets, and I didn't even know where the bean pods would show up, until I saw them. This neophyte gardener, even those with five years of planting under her belt, is still surprised every time she gets food from her efforts. And the scarlet runner beans are so pretty, too!

This morning we ladies walked around five miles in cool, breezy weather, with haze from the forest fires in British Columbia cutting the full effects of the sun. Our walk was lovely, and Lily stopped several times to pick blackberries, which are beginning to ripen and attract passersby. See?

Lily's blackberry haul

We ate so many of them; it was hard to stop because every once in awhile there would be one so delicious that you wanted another. Some are a little tart, but they are all simply delightful, not to mention FREE! And now I'm home thinking I should soon be getting hungry again. Life is good on this lazy, hazy Saturday.
:-)

Challenging Skyline Divide

Frank (left) and Al in his net (right)

We were supposed to head up to Lake Ann, but it's a hike mostly in the sun with lots of elevation gain and almost twice as long as what we did today on Skyline Divide. Only eight Senior Trailblazers showed for today's hike in unusually hot weather, but that was the easiest part of the challenge. The hard part was the constant biting flies and the occasional mosquito. Frank is wearing long sleeves to combat the bugs. Al was slathered with bug juice, as were we all, but there were so many it was impossible to keep them off. I swear the repellent attracted them! He's wearing his head net.

The flies don't care about the repellent

This was at the start of the hike, and I had sprayed all my clothes with 40% DEET bug juice. They don't seem to mind it, and I began to wonder if they have become attracted to it. They bit me through all the stuff but not through my clothes, thank goodness.

Gaining the ridge

On this hike we travel on a partially shady trail, two miles uphill to the ridge and a magnificent view of Mt. Baker, which is hazy through the smoke from the fires in British Columbia. We've been having some haze and smoke for days now. I didn't expect to see the mountain look this good.

The flowers were amazing

As we trudged upward, I could see these fields of flowers through the netting I was wearing over my hat, because I got tired of inhaling the flies and having them constantly buzzing in my ears as I swatted them away, a useless exercise. Even though the netting was hot, it kept them off my face.

Walking the ridge to our lunch spot

We walked a bit on the up-and-down ridge trail, looking for a lunch spot to catch the light breeze and maybe even find some shade. After a fairly short distance (we usually go much farther), we found a nice place for lunch. Three Trailblazers were not ready to quit, so they went farther along the ridge while we found some shade and enjoyed our lunch, even if some of the bugs had found us. At least once we reached the ridge, they were not as bad as at lower elevations.

A snowfield to cross, Baker behind

We didn't feel much like sitting around swatting the bugs after lunch, so we went off in the direction of the others, knowing they would be meeting us at 1:00pm before we all went back down. When we would catch a little of the slight breeze, it was pretty wonderful, since even though it was hot and buggy, it was also rather beautiful. The longer we stayed on the ridge, the more we could see Baker.

An exposed spot on the trail

I was glad we made it to this place, because I always enjoy the scary traverse. It's not long, but you sure don't want to fall right here. It goes down a long ways, a good way to increase my adrenaline. Plus it made for a good picture.

Ridge trail

We finally ran into the other three and then we all headed back the way we had come. You can see the winding trail along the ridge, where we retraced our steps before heading back into the trees and down to the trailhead. You can see the hazy hills behind the ridge.

Return trip

As we went back down the trail, once we traveled down this open area, we were in the trees, but since we were moving more quickly, going downhill, the bugs didn't bother us as badly as they did on the way up. We got down to the cars before 3:00pm and headed down the twelve-mile-long road back to the highway and the ice cream shop before it was all over.

I have done this hike many times, in sun and rain, but I never experienced bugs like these before. I'm not sure why they were so bad; probably because of the sun and heat, but I really don't know for sure. I will not be going on any more hikes this year without plenty of repellent and my skin completely covered. My face netting will stay with me as well!

Now, however, I'm home, showered and hydrated. I'm thinking a nice glass of wine should hit the spot!
:-)

Heat wave

From Climate Prediction Center

Yes, a heat wave for us, at least. It looks like those who live in the middle of the country will be having some relief from the heat for awhile. Notice that this is valid for August 7–11. I learned about the Climate Prediction Center during my working years, and I still use it to see what it says about temperatures and precipitation around the United States. I find it funny that all of Canada is blank, left out because of a political border. I do think some of it can be extrapolated from the broad outlines, but I apologize to my Canadian readers for the missing information.

We are right at the beginning of the heat wave, and I woke this morning to hazy skies, sent to us from British Columbia, which is having devastating wildfires. The wind direction changed from our usual onshore to offshore flow, and the natural sea breeze that keeps us cool even when it gets really hot won't return until Friday, when the temperatures will back off a little. I found this article online about the heat wave. We don't usually ever see triple digits, so none of us have air conditioning. Our trusty fans will be in full use for the month of August, it seems.

We are supposed to be heading to Lake Ann this Thursday, which is a nine-mile hike, most of it in full sun. I'm wondering if I might decide to take a day off! But I might miss something and I hate to think of my buddies suffering without me.
:-)

Another beautiful Saturday

Scarlet runner beans climbing the fence

I took this picture from outside our garden fence, hoping you can see the scarlet runner beans in bloom. These are in Hedi's garden spot, because the ones over in my area don't receive anywhere the same sun, and they are lagging behind. In any event, I am thrilled because they will soon start putting out seed pods. At least I think so; I've never grown them before. The bees and hummers sure do seem to like them.

Thirteen of us ladies walked five miles this morning, enjoying the cool breeze and mild temperatures. By midweek, we'll be sweltering along with the rest of the country, so we're happy to enjoy it now. We had coffee together and then went our own ways. Lily and I went to the Farmers' Market and enjoyed a pizza together.

Just right for two people

I think we could have finished one of these each, but it was sure nice to have someone to share it with, or I would now be very full indeed. I'm home now and thinking about how to spend the rest of my beautiful sunny Saturday. Now that my regular Saturday post is finished, I'll settle in for awhile with my latest book. Hope you are staying comfy and cool yourself!
:-)

Sauk Mountain 2017

Harebells captured in the morning light

Sixteen Senior Trailblazers decided to make the long drive to Concrete in order to hike up Sauk Mountain today, It's not a long one, but it's sure quite a distance to get there. We have done this particular hike often, although we skipped it last year. I did go the previous year, and what I remember most is how incredibly hot it was. Today was much nicer, with the temperature very comfortable, although most of the day was in full sun.

The outhouse near the trailhead

What we have enjoyed about this hike in previous years are the abundant wildflowers, and we were not disappointed this year, either. In a few more weeks, they will be past their peak, and it's been very dry throughout the area, so you'll see some evidence of that. But since we are so high in altitude, we did see some snow around even today.

Some of our hikers on the switchbacks below us

Although it's not a long hike, you do have to climb switchbacks on a mountainside to gain the ridge. We were all careful with the dusty trail and steep switchbacks, because a woman fell to her death just a few weeks ago on this trail. An article about the incident indicates that she fell 70 feet when almost to the top of these switchbacks and must have hit her head. She was taken out by helicopter but didn't make it. We all thought about her as we navigated our way to the top.

A view of the Skagit Valley

You not only see magnificent wildflowers on this hike, but you also have tremendous views of the Skagit Valley and the mountains surrounding us. We stopped numerous times to take pictures of the great views. In this picture there is a junction of the Nooksack and the Skagit Rivers. The Skagit is quite green on the right-hand side of this shot, with the Nooksack meandering on the left-hand side. If you look carefully you can make out where they converge.

Another view of the Skagit River

Here you an see quite clearly how green the water is in the Skagit. We were almost at the top of the mountain in this picture. You'll see more from this vantage point, but first, the flowers.

A riot of colors

There were so many different kinds of wildflowers it was almost overwhelming at times. It's a good thing it's not a long hike, since it was impossible not to stop and try to capture the incredible variety of them. I haven't seen such wonderful flowers on any other hikes so far this year, so I was stopping often to take pictures.

Peggy enjoying the view

Although we had quite a wonderful view, once we made it to the top, we had to traverse through a wee bit of snow. At the top, we stopped to have lunch. Some of our number decided to head down to the lake, but the rest of us carefully made our way back to the cars. Our time on the top having lunch was very delightful, as some clouds came by and helped keep us cool.

Halina at lunch

Here's one of our hikers, Halina, enjoying the view from the top. She's one of our newer recruits, but she doesn't miss very often and has become a fixture on many of our excursions.

Sauk Lake from the top, looking down

Some of the group wanted to head to the lake, which means descending some distance, but you have to know that Richard was one who wanted to go down there, since he always takes a dip if there's any water nearby. Since I didn't go with them, I'm not sure how many went swimming this year. Two years ago, we had quite a few. You can check it out here.

Time to head back

The rest of us headed back down the switchbacks, again very carefully because of all the loose dirt and sketchy spots, again reminding us of the recent fatality. We still had to stop often to snap pictures of the incredible flowers on our way back.

Tiger lily and lupines

I kept looking for just the perfect picture of lupines, and I found a few, but this one had the added delight of a tiger lily in bloom and backlit by the sun. All in all, it was a truly lovely way to spend our Thursday, with only a few glitches to keep it from being perfect, like the construction work being done on Highway 20, making our return trip a little bit longer. But we were all in a good mood from such a great day.

Me enjoying the lovely day

I had to finish with this lovely picture that Melanie took of me as we began our return trip. We covered less then six miles total, and only 1200 feet of elevation gain and loss, but it was still a challenging day in many ways. I wonder if the final adventurers who went down to the lake will have any exciting stories to tell. In any event, I am happy to be sitting here at a reasonably early hour, sipping my wine and ready to relax for the evening, feeling well exercised but not wiped out.
:-)

Happy birthday to Norma Jean

Sisters with preferred drinks, 1995 and 2012

Today my sister Norma Jean has a birthday! I know we all have one, but the two of us are not even three years apart in age and have always sort of been there for each other. Not necessarily in the same town, but sometimes we are actually in the same place at the same time. I'm hoping again this December I'll get to be there with her; I try to visit once a year.

Her late husband Pete took that first picture of us, when we were visiting family at Thanksgiving in Texas. They lived in Florida and I lived in Colorado. Our brother Buz took the second picture, with the two of us (actually all of us) having aged a few years as well as illustrating how we changed from our preferred beer to red wine.

The one constant as we have moved through our days is that we still like to quaff a brewski or a bottle of merlot when we're together. So tonight, after I finish this very tardy blog post, I'm going to raise my glass to her. Happy birthday, dear sis!
:-)