Sweat and Flowers

Marmot Pass, 8/2/08, 10.5 miles, 3500 elevation

Is that yet another variety of Paintbrush? How many had I seen by now? I was looking down at a pale pink Indian Paintbrush in the meadows below Marmot Pass. Already I had spotted a Common Paintbrush and Scarlett Paintbrush and possibly another one or two. And that wasn't counting the myriad other wildflowers along the trek up to Marmot Pass. Along the way there were Twinflowers, Tiger Lilies, Red Columbine, Fireweed, False Solomon's Seal, Penstemon, Nootka Roses - the list goes on and on. But it was the variety of Paintbrushes that stood out on this trip.

It's a long hill to climb to Marmot Pass and even on this chilled and cloudy summer day, we were all sweating to make the top. The forest gave us glimpses of the chaos nature can bring when thrashed with a storm. As we quickly climbed through the forest along the Quilcene River, deadfall littered each bank and the forest floor. Flowers peeked out from around stumps and greenery. As the way became steeper, the forest started opening up to grander views topped by low hanging clouds. I could only imagine the splendor we'd have seen if the sky had been clear - the view was beautiful as it was.

We came across a meadow filled with color, followed by another one and another. Soon we reached the meadow below the pass filled with pinks and yellows - all I wanted to do was stop and spend an hour or more shooting. But the color didn't stop there. All along the final climb to the pass were more varieties of flowers and more colors until we reached our destination looking to the interior of the Olympic Mountains. The clouds thinned a bit and the views for lunch makes me want to return, again and again.