Wordless Wednesdays: 12 Views of a Summer Dawn in the Skagit Valley

 

A Cathedral of Anticipation

Watching the sunrise at Sunrise Point, Mount Rainier

“But a summer morning when the sky first glows is a cathedral of anticipation.”
— Verlyn Klinkenborg, The Rural Life

Cascade Mountains from Sunrise

Cascading Cascade Mountains at dawn near Sunrise, Mount Rainier

Early morning departure.  Driving in the dark.  Arriving at Sunrise Point on Mount Rainier just in time to watch the sun rise over the Cascade Mountains.  Clear skies at dawn.  It’s worth sacrificing sleep to experience this glory even without the drama of illuminated clouds.

A Walk, a Succession of Instants

Pedestrian walk signal

“A walk is not a parade or a race.  It’s a succession of instants, any one of which can illuminate a lifetime.”
—  John Baxter, The Most Beautiful Walk in the World:  A Pedestrian in Paris

City walks and nature hikes.  Each a succession of instants.  Each can be a source of illumination.

Hiking the Naches Peak Loop Trail near Mount Rainier

View of Cascade Mountains and Dewey Lake from Naches Peak Loop Trail

 

Seattle Day Trip to Mount Rainier National Park

Watching the sunrise at Sunrise Point, Mount Rainier National Park

My niece, who is visiting from Israel, wanted to see some of our country’s national parks, so that was all the excuse I needed to made a day trip from Seattle to Mount Rainier National Park.  We were on the road at 3:00 a.m. so that we could be at Sunrise Point in time for sunrise at 5:22 a.m.  It was worth the early start.  Sunrise, at 6400 feet, is the highest point reachable by car in the park.  Mount Rainier with elevation 14,409 feet, looms majestically and dominates all views at this point.

The cascading Cascade Mountains

I simply loved the cascading shades of blue vanishing to white on the most distant peaks of the Cascade Mountains.  It was easy to see why the Cascade Range got its name, but when I read more about it, I was surprised that neither the explorer Vancouver nor Lewis and Clark called these peaks “Cascades.”  The first reference to Cascade Range came in the writings of botanist David Douglas.

Landscape at Sunrise on Mount Rainier

Wildfowers in the alpine meadows at Sunrise on Mount Rainier

We didn’t do much exploring on the trails at Sunrise because they were still covered with snow, but the meadows were full of wildflowers.  I will share more photos of the wildflowers in tomorrow’s post.

Melting snow bank

The trails along the Naches Peak loop were also blocked by patches of snow, so my plans to take my niece on this hike were thwarted.  We salvaged the day by indulging instead in a touristy trip up a gondola at Crystal Mountain Resort.  I had never taken the time to do this before, and it was fun.  The views from the summit were stunning.  We could see Mount Adams, Mount Saint Helens, and, of course, Mount Rainier.  Altogether a wonderful day trip.

The gondola at Crystal Mountain Resort

First vistas as you exit the gondola at the summit

The gondola rode higher than the tree tops!

View with Mount Adams

Wildlife sighting! A chipmunk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Fun in the Cascade Mountains

Snowshoers on the trail

This weekend was the annual Team Survivor Northwest Snowshoe Event at Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascades, and it was my one day to play in the snow this winter.  (Although winter is not yet over, and March can hold some surprises.  My mother always used to say of March, “In like a lamb, out like a lion.”  And this year in Seattle, March 1st was a mild day.  So it is always possible that we might get a snow storm yet this month!)

I, of course, wanted it to be actually snowing, but the temperature was too high.  We were fortunate that the rain held off while we were in the mountains.  (Back in Seattle, it was a very rainy day.)  The light was flat and gray, and the magnificent tall trees along the trail were cloaked in darkness.  The colorful jackets of the cross-country skiers and showshoers along the trail contrasted sharply with the dim, cloudy surroundings.  It was still and quiet though at times we could hear the hum of the distant freeway traffic.

There was something almost gloomy about the still forest in the muted light.  Along parts of the trail, trees were moss-laden or furred with lichen.  I came to play, but this wasn’t a playful landscape on this day.

“Many trees are soulful.  These are trees that are old enough and large enough to shelter us.  These are the ones that draw a stillness in us.”
— Jean Shinoda Bolen, Like a Tree:  How Trees, Women, and Tree People Can Save the Planet

“And there never yet has been a nature writer who, confronted with primitive forest, has not resorted to the vocabulary of architecture.  Indeed, since it has been impossible to visualize or verbalize nature in terms free of cultural association, the woodland interior has been habitually conceived of as a living space, a vaulted chamber . . . curved and bent boughs and branches suggesting arched portals to some grandiose vaulted hall.”
— Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory

Lichen-covered trunks of tall trees along the Cold Creek Trail

Moss-laden trees along the trail

Piece of fallen moss on snow

Lichen-covered branches

Fallen lichen on snow

Lichen on a cracked boulder

My eyes were drawn to the branching patterns on the tall evergreen trees.  They seemed quite fern-like.

Layers of branches in a cascade down the trunk of s tree

Branching patterns

Branches like ferns

Fern revealed under melting snowbank

I was startled to see blue — almost a tropical blue — in the shadows of the snow along the trail.  Where did this blue come from?  There was no sunshine to reflect and refract the light on snow.  It was as if the snow held its own glowing lantern.  Miraculous!

Glow of blue shadows on snow

Pleated snowbank

Something restful about the soft curves of these snowbanks

Slush in a creek

Cold Creek Trail at Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains

Mountains and Good Tidings

Cascade Mountains near Leavenworth, WA

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.  Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.  The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off you like falling leaves.”
— John Muir, Nature Writings

Restoration on the mountainside

I saw my first mountains when I was 19 on a road trip to Colorado with my parents.  Now I live in Seattle, and (when it is not too cloudy) I can see the snow-capped peaks of the Olympic Mountains on the western horizon, the Cascade Mountains to the east, and mighty Mount Rainier to the southeast.  I love being surrounded by mountains.  They make me feel uplifted.

 

 

Season of Mists and a Road Trip with Clouds

Morning clouds swirl on the hillsides above the Columbia River north of Wenatchee, WA

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness . . .”
John Keats

The drive back home to Seattle from Chelan was a wet, misty affair.  But the low clouds clinging to the hillsides and mountainsides created a beautiful, moody atmosphere as I covered the miles.  I drove Hwy 97-alt south along the Columbia River to Wenatchee, and then drove west on Hwy 2 over Stevens Pass in the Cascade Mountains.  It’s a great fall drive with lots of color.

The gray skies dulled the colors a bit along the Columbia River

Yellow poplar trees along the Columbia River

Hwy 2 as I approached Leavenworth

Along Hwy 2 in the Cascades

Moss-covered branches

A little open meadow along Hwy 2

Fall color on the mountainside near Stevens Pass

Tree branch with waterfalls

Road trip on Hwy 2 in autumn

Celebrating National Public Lands Day by Watching the Sun Rise at Mount Rainier

” . . . the public land endowment of the United States is one of the greatest perks of this democracy.  Rich or poor, every citizen of the United States of America has title to an area almost the size of Italy.”
— Timothy Egan, “The Geography of Nope,” The New York Times online Opinionator blog, September 27, 2012

Cascade peaks blanketed in clouds as the sun rises on Saturday morning

Every year in late September the country celebrates National Public Lands Day by offering free entrance to the national parks.  When possible, I try to take advantage of the free admission because I am frugal, and the regular cost of entry makes visiting a rare treat for me.  You may recall that two years ago, my husband and I took a road trip to Glacier National Park in Montana on National Public Lands Day.  (You can revisit those blog posts here and here and here.)

Timothy Egan, a writer whose blog I follow regularly, reminds us that our national lands are under threat by politicians, generally Republicans, who want to mine this shared inheritance for its resources and material riches.  The full article can be found at this link.  I support keeping our national parks and national lands for the general public to enjoy.  They are a rare and awesome treasure and shouldn’t be plundered.  I think a worthy goal would be to visit every national park before I die.

This past Saturday I got up very early and drove in the dark so that I could be at Sunrise on Mount Rainier in time to watch the actual sunrise at 7:07 a.m.  I had to use my windshield wipers to clear a misting rain on my way there, and I was worried that the clouds might hide the rising sun.  I arrived at Sunrise shortly after 6:00 a.m. and waited.  As dawn approached, I could see Cascade peaks blanketed in clouds all around me.  Mount Rainier itself played peek-a-boo with the clouds, revealing its snow-capped peaks and glaciers in fits and starts.  It was quite a show.  Here are some photos:

Driving to Sunrise on Mount Rainier in the dark. I saw the moon set and then waited for the sunrise.

The lightening horizon illuminates the cloudy Cascade range.

The clouds were generally thick and gray, but there were a few moments of glowing color.

Mount Rainier peeks through clouds, viewed from the parking lot at Sunrise Point.

A handful of spectators watching the sun rise at Sunrise Point.

Tree line on a distant peak, with clouds

Snowfields on Mount Rainier

View from the final approach to Sunrise on Mount Rainier

Paintbrush along the road

Mount Rainier in the early morning light as I was about to depart

Elk at the edge of the road down from Sunrise on Mount Rainier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exploring the Mount Baker Scenic Byway

Early morning fog along the Mount Baker Highway near Bellingham

I do love a road trip.  Sometimes it still surprises me how I’ve yet to see many parts of Washington State, even after living here for more than thirty years.  This week I took a day trip along Highway 542, the Mount Baker Highway, and realized that this was unexplored territory for me.  I never knew what I was missing!

The Mount Baker Highway is designated as a Washington State Scenic Byway.  It starts in Bellingham (90 miles north of Seattle), and it’s just 58 miles to its end at Artist Point overlooking snow-capped Mount Baker. The outdoor adventure company, GORP, names this road one of the “Top Ten Scenic Mountain Drives” in North America.

I’ll devote several more posts to some of the spectacular spots I discovered along the way.  But today’s post will share the experience of the drive itself — a virtual road trip.  Enjoy the ride!

Fog along Hwy 542

A flock of Canada geese

Heading east toward the Cascade Mountains, blue in the distance

Towering trees in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Little bits of fall color amidst the evergreen

The road ascends

Surrounded by high peaks

Curving Mount Baker Highway near Artist Point at 5,100 feet of elevation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Re-entry

The Cascade Mountains from my airplane window

I returned home from my retreat yesterday.  I’m so glad I went.  The week away was a cherished gift to myself.  I can’t say that I’ve been transformed or changed into a new person.  But I do feel filled up with beautiful images, words, and bits of wisdom.  I now need to let all this input percolate and slowly incorporate these new insights and practices into my daily routines at home.

I’ll be posting more about my retreat experience in the next few days.  So stay tuned. . .

In the meantime, it’s good to be back home.