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I really love the Cascade Mountains! From exploring their early history as a center for mining of dish-washing powder, to finding new, yet familiar places, I can’t imagine mountains offering a better variety of rugged beauty, geological interest, verdant foliage and hospitable hiking.
I went out on Monday on a return visit to the Ice Caves of the northern Cascades. When I was last there four years ago, a massive storm the winter before had covered the trail with so much blowdown, that I was turned back!
Given that the trail to the caves was merely one mile, not much of a challenge, I decided first to hike to a place with the rather uninspiring name: Lake Twenty-Two.
I saw some surprising things on my hike. First off this sign:
It’s a sentence fragment. I didn’t cut anything out of the photo. What is it trying to say?!
Then, there was the pika. Remember I used this creature in one of the “name that animal” blogs? It was quite a thrill to see one in real life.
This guy is of the American Pika species.
Enjoy!
Great hike but it really IS nice to have some snacks or a lunch for half way. Sometimes it can be the motivation to get TO the destination!
ReplyDeleteThat does look like a hike I would enjoy however. A bit of a challenge.
By the way, you should let someone know when you are going out, even on a well traveled trail, alone. One way is to put a note on your driver's seat that gives your destination, date and approximate time you left. If you turned your ankle or fell a Ranger checking the parking lot would have some idea of where to search. If just your van is there they might not and it can get very cold in the woods at night.
Just a thought ...
Thanks for the tip, Mom! Each of the trails I've been to around here has a little "check in" sheet at the head of each trail. I always fill it out. On Monday, however, so many people had also checked in after me (it was a busy trail), that I couldn't find my name when I left!
ReplyDelete