It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Summer hikes don't get better than this!  There's a growing movement to call Mt. Rainier Mt. Tahoma, or Mother of All Waters in Lushootseed, as it is the source of five rivers. This was an easy 6 mile out and back hike from Mowich Lake to Tolmie Peak in Mt. Rainier National Park. The 15-mile drive in on gravel roads was a different story. The parking lot was full, so we had to park a ways away from the trailhead. There were lots of people, but the trail didn't feel crowded, as there were plenty of quiet spots and detours to get...

Mark and I had the chance to house sit for a friend this weekend in Ferndale. Sunday, we started off picking blueberries at a U-Pick farm and headed on a 5-mile round trip hike to Oyster Dome just south of Bellingham on Chuckanut Drive. Views from the top:  I took these photos right after a bald eagle swooped by the edge of the cliff. We were so close that it looked huge. I spent a good deal of the hike back down wishing I'd had my camera out.  We got back to the parking lot and met a woman who was...

The sky pics are of sunrise, one of our camp, and one of a young coyote we saw up there. I heard them the night before in the area. We watched a lightning storm move over Yakima at midnight the night before and I was still up at 5 to watch the sunrise. This is a large plateau in the middle of nowhere that takes a 4x4 rig to get to. 

Not sure what there is to say. Steep climb for some amazing views. The westward slope faces the Olympics with Tahuya Lake below. We saw Seattle (left) and the tippy top of Mt. Rainier (right) from the summit.