Blanca Lake 10-15-11

This Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, although a bit chilly.  Justus, Cedar and I were joined by my friend Dan’s flat-coated retriever, Clark Kent, for our 7 mi round trip Blanca Lake hike. 

This was a hard hike, although I’m not sure why in particular.  It was steep, but we have done steeper.  It was longish, but we have done longer.  Both Justus and I were off our game though and took our time climbing up the switchbacks.  The forest was beautiful though, with the sunlight streaming down, the forest floor scattered liberally with these miniscule orange mushrooms, and all the leaves dappled with dew.  I don't know what the funky little round fungi are.  I have managed to misplace all 3 of my mushroom ID guides.  I'll add a note to this blog when I find out.  : )

When the forest started to thin, we were treated to stunning views of the newly frosted peaks surrounding us, with a beautiful blue sky as a rare backdrop. 

The dogs enjoyed the hike a lot.  Cedar had a good time running around on the trail, and Clark had a good time near any water.  He spent time in this marshy area biting the ice that was in the water.

It was pretty cold near the top of the hill.  This ice had beautiful swirls in it.

Finally we reached the upper elevation of our hike, at the 1^st of the two lakes, Virgin Lake.  It was a very still pretty little lake, more of a large pond it seemed.  It had water bugs in it and Clark went for a swim each way as we passed it.

After eating our lunch on a log near Virgin Lake, we dropped about 600 feet in maybe a half mile to Blanca Lake.  We were dreading the climb back up, but seeing this stunning, large, aqua blue lake was worth it!  Look!  It’s gorgeous!!

Justus had an assignment for photography class, so he took a moment to snap some black and whites.

On the way back up, Clark barked and we looked up in time to see 2 mountain goats running through the brush about 100 ft up the slope between the trail we were standing on and one of the upper switchbacks.  I was really surprised that with a large hiking party we had just passed, and both dogs that they chose to show themselves.  It was quite a treat, but they were too fast to get a picture.

What a fantastic day!  Totally worth the sore muscles.  : )

Chantrelles & Maple Pass Loop Oct 1-2, 2011

Last Saturday my friend Ken, Adventure Dog and I set out in search of the wild chantrelle.  So I can’t really say where we went, since we did find a few and I’m not sharing.  : ) He is a member of the Puget Sound Mycelogical Society, and they had a fungi genius down at the Soda Springs campground near Mt Rainier, so we brought our findings to him and he identified, gave harvesting tips, and blew my mind with the amount of knowledge he had. 

While we were there we crossed a little bridge and sampled the soda springs water.  It is naturally carbonated and I don’t care for club soda, but it was definitely interesting and worth trying.  It bubbles up from a couple little springs under the trees on the far side.

Then we took off looking for more mushrooms.  We did pause to sauté up the ones we had found.  Both a pan of chantrelles and a large lobster mushroom.  Yes, that is smoked salmon and both merlot and chocolate milk at the table.  Don’t be hatin’. 

We looked well past sundown, which was interesting.  Once night fell we could see frogs in the road, hopping across and other creatures like A DEER! ACCK! Whew, he missed it.  Actually during the course of the day, Ken avoided hitting a red shafted flicker which seemed to launch itself at his windshield, a fat old dog that seemed to think it had the right of way on the highway, and that deer that leaped out in the dark in front of us.  It was an exhilarating drive.

On one of our last daylight stops, I smelled something awful.  It got worse the closer to the river I got, and when I stepped out on the river bank I saw why.  Salmon were spawning and dying along the banks in numbers I’d never experienced before. 

It was a fun day and hopefully there will be more weeks of chantrelles to come.

The next day my cousin Vanessa met me at my house and we took Adventure Dog way way out on Hwy 20 just pass Rainy Pass to an amazing trail called Maple Pass Loop.  I love loop trails, since you are constantly seeing different scenery, but these landscapes I wouldn’t mind seeing again.  It had a little of everything… blue berries, beautiful clear lakes, snow, wildlife, and a good workout.

The fall colors had just started, yet there were still wildflowers blooming, including lupine, paintbrush, and various other flowers.  I don’t know what the yellow succulent flower is.  If you do, post it in the comments!  Also represented was one of my faves, Old Man of the Mountain.  You can tell it by the shaggy hair.  It reminds me of a poem:

My beard grows to my toes

I never wears no clothes

I wraps my hair

Around my bare

And down the road I goes.

The larches were not fully gold yet, although a few of them had turned.  They are beautiful trees.  Even the greenest of them had an odd glowing hue to it.  I would like to do some more larch hikes and learn more about these interesting trees.  I can’t look at them without hearing a Monty Python voice saying, “the LARCH.” 

We had a great time on this hike.  Vanessa has a great sense of humor to go along with her terrific sense of adventure. 

Cedar had a great time too. He looked at all the lookout points, played with another dog on the trail, walked over the snow, and charmed several other hikers including one that tried to snap pictures of him. He didn’t hold very still for her. Luckily I have treats in my pockets. ; )

This little pika, gathering tasty greens, amused us with his herby mouthful.

Get out there, no matter what time of year, and enjoy this most beautiful place on Earth!