Breakfast

From the Autumn Vacation Series

How does one reduce the experiences of a day into a single image? On most days that might sound easy, but take a day like our 1st in the Canadian Rockies and you might be hard pressed to do so.

By the time we had breakfast on that morning, we had already travelled several hundred miles through colorful aspen and green hills. By the time we had breakfast that morning, we had spied several glimpses of snow-covered granite beyond the yellow aspen and green hills, through the breaks in the clouds. By the time we had breakfast on that morning, our eyes were already sparkling with the opportunities of the day . . . of the trip.

Picking just one image from that day is an impossibility, but for now, I will give you this one - our view during breakfast. Mt Robsen had teased us forward into the mountains, shyly hiding behind fast moving clouds winking momentarily at us before disolving back into the white. We almost passed the visitor center at the Mt Robsen Provincial Park before deciding to take a break from driving. There amongst the buildings stood a little cafe and as we sat at the picture window sipping tea, the clouds suddenly parted to give us this view through breakfast - Mt Robsen in its jaw-dropping splendor tucked behind aspen and paper birch.

I couldn't eat fast enough to get out and spend some time recording the memory.

In Perfect Company

I mean no disrespect to my husband who is my lifetime adventure buddy, but I met my perfect hiking companion several years before meeting him. This companion shares with enthusiasm my passion for any time spent outdoors.

Take this past weekend, she & I went to explore Lake Wilderness Park in Maple Valley and its small yet beautiful arboretum leaving Michael behind. We wandered through the trees glowing in the orange, red and yellow of the season before immersing ourselves into the dark green of the surrounding forest. I know I'm not supposed to but at this time I let my companion of the leash so she could run down the trail as if she were the puppy I fell in love with so many years ago while I followed, laughing at her antics.

It's not often that a person can find someone who not only shares in their activities, but also shares the pure joy they experience while doing it. Michael enjoys the outdoors almost as much as I do, but just to walk through the woods on a drizzly Sunday morning is not his ideal. As long as she gets to sniff and roll and run, Olympia is just as happy as I am when I breathe fresh air, crawl on the ground with my camera, and just stretch my legs.

Here's to all our loyal friends, four-legged or not.

Storm Chasers

Rialto Beach 10/17/07

The forecast said winds, high winds, would be whipping through our area bringing with it the media hype only an early winter storm can bring. Ready for a little wind and wave action, Michael & I played hooky from work to head to the beach for the afternoon . . . the day BEFORE the storm was to hit. Poor timing wasn't all too bad for us.

After driving through the pouring rain around the north end of the peninsula, we made the decision to head to Rialto Beach near forks. The sea stacks there might lend themselves to some interesting pictures, if the weather held out. By the time we made it to Forks, the rain had lessened and was now coming in short showers between sun breaks.

The beach proved to be wonderful, with waves crashing on the shore - not as strongly as they would the following day - and blue sky overhead. Dark heavy clouds grew to the north of us and to the south. Waves blew sea foam into the tumble of driftwood as we made our way through the logs trying to avoid the waves and foam and the occasional squall. Looking back toward the east, a rainbow arched across the Quilleutte River. Clouds stretched from the storm clouds over the waves and sea stacks, across the blue sky.

We stayed until the sun set first turning the air golden then back to normal, as it lowered behind the clouds building on the horizon. Harbingers of the storm to come?

A Vacation Adventure

This fall, Michael & I went to the Canadian Rockies for our vacation. I hadn't visited this alpine wonderland since I was a child. Michael had never been. So it was with great excitement that we planned our adventures. I imagined days from my time in Colorado, where we might get a little snow in the evening but the sun would come out during the day to make the newly fallen snow glisten. I saw us hiking into autumn colored mountain meadows, to glacier toes, to alpine lakes and through herds of wildlife. Did I ever mention how horribly optimist I am?

What we got was two & 1/2 days of partially cloudy weather with snow flurries sprinkles. We took full advantage of those couple of days exploring the northern region of Jasper National Park. However, as we headed south on the Icefields Parkway the weather forecast we had hung our hiking plans upon betrayed us. Snow flurries turned into heavy rain in the lower elevations and thick snow with possible white out conditions at the higher elevations . . . and no hope of sun breaks for several more days. Our next decision would make our autumn vacation plans for the following year. We would continue to head south to what we hoped would be sunnier weather.

We passed the Canadian-US border in the rain. We passed Glacier National Park in a downpour. found some sun in eastern Montana. A little less sun in Yellowstone. But did get snowed on there too. By the time we headed home we were tired of avoiding the inevitable, winter was reminding us that she was right around the corner. The hiking boots may need to be put away for a little while so the can snowshoes come out and camping will take a turn for the cold. But I'm not quite ready to shift gears. And luckily once we got home, Autumn put her foot down for just a few more days.

What you will find in the coming days are pictures taken on our epic little adventure, and the story behind each of the images.

We've already blocked out a week in September for our return trip.

Autumn Hiking

Sourdough Gap 10/13/07 5 miles

Autumn days like today don't happen very often in the Northwest. So when the morning sun streams through my bedroom window, I hit the road with hiking boots on. I had hoped for morning clouds for a remarkable sunrise - like those I admire from the train window on the way to work. No luck with that this morning, the sky was perfectly clear and the autumn colors high in the mountains called to me.

Olympia would accompany me today, so the short hike to Sheep Lake was perfect. A bit of frost and snow greeted us at the trailhead just east of Chinook Pass, but the trail looked as clear as the sky. Olympia, who seemed ecstatic about going for a hike lead the way up the trail stopping every now and then to look for "wobblies" - chipmunks and squirrels - but was eager to reach our destination. It didn't take too long before I could smell the crisp scent of a campfire near the lake and then wee broke out from the forest to look at the smooth lake surface and perfect reflections of the hills surrounding.

We walked around the lake, allowing Olympia the chance to play in the lake and chase the fishes. But my thought of break, sitting next to the lake with my dog at my feet relaxing, soaking in the scenery, meditating would remain a dream. Olympia was raring to continue up the hill. But never having hiked beyond Sheep Lake, I was unsure how she would be able to handle the terrain and distance. But, I didn't want to return either, the day too perfect to waste.

I slowly climbed the hill behind Sheep Lake hoping to slow Olympia down and preserve her legs. We met a hunter who asked if we had seen the mountain goats in the rocks above the lake. I couldn't say positively whether I had or not - I thought I had, but couldn't say for sure. I saw something like a goat high above the lake but when I looked again either it was gone or just a patch of snow. Soon we were high enough to see Mt Adams and Mt St Helens off to the south. Olympia didn't seem to care, she just kept heading up hill.

Another hiker greeted us as we came to Sourdough Pass and she pointed out my options after I mentioned that I had never hiked beyond the lake. She told me that there was another pass just off in the distance, where I could see Crystal Lakes and it's a nice hike down to them for Olympia to play in or continue following the Pacific Crest Trail to Bear Pass. I looked at the snow-covered traverse of the north facing slope, looked at Olympia looking eagerly up at me and thought it couldn't hurt to at least go to the other gap and get a view of Crystal Lakes.

A quarter of the way across the traverse, I looked up to see Olympia trotting easily through the snow almost to the other side. Then all of a sudden the other pass seemed to only be further away then I first thought and the snow seemed far dangerous than it really was. I called Olympia back, but she only looked at me as if I had just asked her to perform brain surgery. The look of disbelief on her face was as plain to me from several yards away. After much coaxing, she rejoined me at Sourdough Gap where we had a snack and chatted with other hikers passing through before heading back down to the lake and the car beyond.

By the time we made back to the trailhead, Olympia's legs were about to give out but she got into the car to pass out for the ride home. I may not have realized my dream of resting next to the lake with my dog at my feet, but she is resting there now as I write this - tired but restful.