Recent Outings April 15, 2009

This first photo is from a trip last week (photo courtesy of Bernie). Bernie and I went up to the Mt. Baker ski area, and headed out on showshoes. It really was a beautiful day to be up in the snow. The sky was SO blue! And I got my first (although meager) sunburn of the year! I am so excited to have enough sun to get a burn. It was nice to hear the crunch of snow as we explored the slopes. Both Mt. Shuksan (the photo above) and Mt. Baker are spectacular from up there.

 

Yesterday we made our way back to the Chuckanuts (big surprise there!). First we hiked up to Fragrance lake. Its a great uphill climb, through a beautiful forest. It’s a good one for me to get in shape. It was a beautiful hike, but nothing inspired me to take pictures along the way. But when we got back to the car, this little guy was sitting on the passenger door, resting in the warm spring sun (This picture is for Joan, the bug lady). We all know what honey bees and bumble bees look like, but have you taken the time to get close to your flowers and look at all the different native bees in your area? I think it is something a lot of people miss. Last fall I had the honor of seeing the most beautiful emerald green bee. It was so beautiful! And I had never seen one before.

We then drove to larabee State Park, which was near by and walked down to the beach.

 

The Red Flowering Currants are still blooming in full glory. They really do add a beautiful burst of color to the countryside.

 

I love the patterns that the water wears in the sandstone along the shore. I really wonder what causes these little pits in the stone. Just a weak point that errodes out?

 

We sat on the rocks, enjoyed the view, and studied tide pools.

 

Sometimes the tidepools look back. This charming little fish was trying to get closer as Bernie took this photo. I think he liked getting his picture taken, cause all the other fish swam to their hiding spots. There were also two large Red Rock Crabs sitting in this little tide pool. We tried to take some pictures, but they just didn’t turn out. Its amazing all the life that can live in such a small pool of water.

 

We then drove down the road to a little mud flat/cove that we had not visited before (well, maybe I was there when I was young, I can’t remember). The tide was out, so it was a nice (although squishy at times) walk. We got to see three areas relativly close to each other, but different in feeling.

The Inter-Urban Trail March 13, 2009

Wednesdays outing was along the inter-urban trail that starts in Fairhaven. We ended up hiking about 12 miles round trip. Usually Bernie and I spend our outings just the two of us. But my moms dog, Angel just looked so bored and pathetic, I decided she could use a bit of a walk.

Angel is the type of dog that has endless energy, she would truely be a canidate for a daily run of about 10 miles. But alas, she does not get that kind of exercise. I try to go out and throw the ball for her in the back pasture each day when I am around, but that just burns off a fraction of the energy.

The inter-urban trail runs along an old rail road grade. It travels through some nice stands of trees, along a steep hillside that looks out across the bay, and ends at Larabee State Park which lies along the bay. Its a nice, mostly level, beautiful trail.

The focus of the day ended up being Angel. She is an entertaining dog, but has some neurosis she needs to work through. Too many to list, but a couple of the big ones being too aggresive to other dogs, and being overly hyper in certain situations. So as the day went on, we worked on being a civil dog when other dogs came along. This is a big challenge for her for some reason. And we have two other dogs that she lives with….. Dogs are always supposed to be on leashes along this trail, but people let them off. I wish I could have done this with her, but I just don’t trust her with the other dogs, and the possibility of her running off, never to be found again.

Perhaps it was an exercise more for me than her. I do not always have the most patience in the world, and it is a good challenge for me to deal with slightly chaotic energy in a level headed way. In some ways I am not sure if I did well in this exercise, I wanted her to come to a more centered place. But I think it gave me a little bit of perspective on things, and I was able to do some of my own mental work. And in the long run, Angel seems to have a great time. She doesn’t mind her chaotic energy, she enjoys having energy. And she makes me laugh.

Even with all of that, we had an enjoyable outing. It really is a beautiful walk along most parts of the trail. And at the end of the trail we went down to the beach at Larabee State Park, and played in the sand. It was a nice midway point, and then we got to turn around and walk back to the car. The sunshine lately has been so wonderful, its been really nice to get outside and enjoy it.

Sunset Adventure November 25, 2008

Yesterday Bernie and I decided to go and try to get some pictures, since it has been a little while. So we went down to Larabee State Park. It’s a beautiful area, right on the water, and beautiful woods all around. We walked around for a little while in search of animal subjects for Bernie to capture in the digital world. Unfortunately there really wasn’t much going on in the animal kingdom. The water birds that were around were too far offshore to be able to get pictures of. We are really amazed at how little wildlife is around, it seems like the numbers decrease each year. Its disturbing sometimes.

After some time wandering around, not finding many opportunities for photography we decided to drive to another trailhead. This one is up a hill over looking the water and the San Juan Islands. We got up there well before sunset, and got some nice scenery shots of the view. Once the sun started its descent we started getting some beautiful shots. We had been frustrated at not getting many pictures for the day, and then all of the sudden we were handed the opportunity to take as many as we wanted. It was beautiful to experience this island sunset from our little hillside meadow.

I have been reading that book on the Law of attraction, and I think I have been getting a little bit better about following the mindset, because lately, every time I want some type of opportunity it has been presenting itself. The power of our thought is an amazing force, its something we don’t seem to realize. The more we believe in ourselves, and positive thought, the more we can achieve. How much fun!!

To see other peoples experiences visit: