Sunday, April 28, 2019

Mosaic Monday #25: Blowing Off the Dust

Showy Aster
Sometimes it pays off to let something sit for a while, maybe even gather some proverbial (albeit virtual) dust.  I'm talking about pictures from past hikes.  So far on this blog, I have documented 16 hikes and 3 water adventures, which brings us to the hike of August 31, 2017.  In other words, I last reviewed this hiking entry and its attendant photos 20 months ago.  Do you think it was a refreshing browse, almost as if seeing the photos for the first time?  You betcha.  So now it's your turn!

Yellow monkeyflower
It was a quiet morning when we departed the Camp Misery trailhead for Crater Lake, a 6-mile one-way hike.  Only 2 other cars populated the parking lot, and the friendly rangers greeting us from the porch of the cabin last time were nowhere in sight.

Not a problem - it just means we get all of its glory to ourselves.  And there was plenty of glory on show.


The trail is moderately difficult, with several steep sections that are mercifully short.  Overall, it is an undulating trail that alternates a quad workout on the uppers and knee pounding on the downhills.  Along the way, Martha Lake twinkles in a basin to the right of the path.

We paused at Birch Lake for a snack, and I admired the lake's diversity and photogenic aspects.  Massive rocks anchoring the shoreline.  Meadow fingers jutting into water (which make good access points for fishermen).  Thick shrubs huddling along the water's edge, providing nesting sites and cover for little birds.

The trail traverses two ridges on its way to Crater Lake, and the second ridge is marked by unique rock formations with colorful purple striations.  This is one of the many sources of the purple and red stones you see in the rivers and streams throughout Glacier National Park.  (At this point in time, we had yet to locate the purple rock for the fireplaces in our new house, so we joked about carrying some large stones back to the car.  Of course, we didn't!)

Being late August, most of the plants were going to seed.  In dry, sun-drenched sections of the trail, the huckleberry bushes had turned red and any remaining berries were shriveled.  Near these rock formations, the bushes still harbored a plentiful crop.  On our way back, we would stop and collect a large container of the luscious berries.

Just short of Crater Lake, we were ecstatic to encounter a female mountain goat and two kids.

As you will see in the video below, she did not seem the least bit intimidated by us.  The sound you hear is the wind, quite gusty that day.

After the goats drifted from view, we carried on to the lake and Man with Hat set to fishing while I enjoyed my lunch.  Grass of Parnassus dotted the shoreline, and I spent some time attempting an in-focus shot, a battle against the wind.

The mama goat came over, without the kids.  I still wonder about the purpose of her excursion so close to us.

The fish were not biting, or maybe the whitecaps on the lake made it too hard to see the fishing line moving in the water.  We headed back the way we came, and soon had purple fingertips from plucking huckleberries, all the while keeping an eye and ear out for bears, which rely on the berries for part of their pre-hibernation diet.

We took the north trail alongside Birch Lake, and here Man with Hat caught 1 fish that wiggled off the hook before I could capture it on film.  Showy Aster crowded the shorelines and creek beds, and I was glad for limitless digital photography as I snapped shot after shot.

When we began our hike, haze from the Sprague fire had limited what should have been expansive views of Flathead Lake to the west and Hungry Horse to the east.  As we descended toward the trailhead, we found that the wind had chased off some of the smoke and opened up the view.

It was only upon returning to the house that we learned these same winds had fanned the Sprague fire and caught the historic Sperry Chalet in its path.  As we had been blissfully hiking, the century-old structure beloved by generations of families and thousands of Glacier National Park hikers had been gutted.  The good news?  Re-building of the Chalet is well underway - see this link for more information.
(internet)

Welcome to Mosaic Monday, a weekly meme where we get together to share our photo mosaics and collages.
Please include at least one photo mosaic/collage in your post.
The link will be open from 1 p.m. Sunday until 11 p.m. Monday (U.S. Mountain time).
Remember to add the link to your Mosaic Monday post and not the one to your blog.
Please link back to this post so that your readers will be able to visit and enjoy more wonderful mosaics; taking the MM blog button from my sidebar is an easy way to link back.
As host I will visit every participant and leave a comment so that you know I stopped by.
Please try and visit as many other blogs as you can, especially those that join in later, so that everyone's creativity can be appreciated fully.
Thank you for joining in today and sharing your mosaics with us.
 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

39 comments:

  1. Those are incredible photos and the beauty of your neck of the woods never fails to amaze!

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  2. Good evening! Here we get Sunday at Night and I prefer to read some nice Posts like your Blog.

    Its a wonderful nature there and I enjoyed the description, the captures and feare the Fire...

    ...Happy MosaicMonday

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  3. I always enjoy taking a walk with you in your woods.

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  4. ...looks like God's country!

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  5. Huckleberries! My mouth is watering ...we used to pick them in Oregon and on vacation in Idaho. Mmmm! I didn’t know there was another Crater Lake , but it makes sense...that big deep hole in Oregon isn’t the only place one was created! Such a beautiful hike.

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  6. Hi Angie
    I remember hearing about the fires in Glacier last summer and the loss of the chalet. I'm glad it is being rebuilt! Mountain goats seem to be a friendly lot. The ones on top of Mt Evans walk among the tourists at the summit.

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  7. You are fortunate Angie for being able to hike in such beautiful surroundings. Beautiful photos - wishing you a lovely week.

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  8. Beautiful hike. That Parnassia is so very pretty. Nice collage of photos. Speaking of collecting rocks. Was recently going through pictures of a trip that the boys and I took with a couple of aunts and an uncle to another aunt's place in North Carolina where my Uncle Danny actually collected stones from a hillside there to take back to his house in Ohio to line his garden beds, which the boys helped him do. :) A shame about the fires. From the videos you can see that the wind was definitely strong that day.

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  9. Thank you Angie for sharing your wonderful hike. A treat to see though your camera eyes.
    Joy

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  10. Hello, beautiful hike and lovely views of the mountains, lake and the flowers. The berries look yummy. It was sad about the fire, but I am glad they are rebuilding. Beautiful photos and mosaic. Thanks for hosting MM. Happy Monday, enjoy your day! Wishing you a great new week ahead.

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  11. I love taking a hike with you. It looks so different from our hikes here in Florida! Love the huckleberries! The blackberries are ripe here and abundant. I need to go back over to Pruitt and pick some! Happy MM! Hugs!

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  12. Youb live in a beautiful place,Angie.
    Such a wonderfiland flowerts.
    Have a good new week!

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  13. A magnificent place to hike through, Angie. Like you, I am grateful for the benefits of digital photography, taking hundreds of photos that provide me not only with wonderful memories, but a useful archive from which I can draw to use when I am at home "hibernating" in Winter...

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  14. Sad to read about the fire, but good news rebuilding is underway. I can't imagine enjoying any walk knowing that there might be a bear on the prowl!
    Thank you for hosting, have a great week!
    Wren x

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  15. Fires are frightful and whether they occur in cities or the countryside, they take an enormous toll. Rebuilding and replanting after a fire is a healing process...

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  16. I keep forgetting to do a mosaic! sigh.

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  17. You wonder what that mama was thinking, looking back at you. And no doubt in the second video, the two youngsters were just out of sight up the hill.

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  18. A beautiful hike.

    I liked your photograph showing the female mountain goat and two kids, and also your videos of them.

    Sad to read about the fire, but that's good news that rebuilding is underway.

    Enjoy the week ahead.

    All the best Jan

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  19. Hi! Your flower photos are very beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

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  20. Digital cameras are the best tech invention in my book. I can snap 100 photos in minutes. The tens of thousands of dollars I have saved. :-) At first mention of Crater Lake I thought you were in Oregon. Still wasn't sure until you mention Glacier National Park. Your hike was lovely, Angie. The only time I visited the park (1975), we saw goats jumping on a patch of snow. I was surprised how they didn't mind us humans. Cheers!

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  21. We want to visit Crater Lake now that we have an RV. We just got back from a trip to Corvallis and Eugene to watch women's softball games. It was much more fun than staying in hotels like we usually do, and we could stay a lot longer and enjoy the outdoors while we were there. You were so lucky to see the mountain goats. We have them, but they stay too high up to get good pictures of them from the lake level. - Margy

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  22. Beautiful scenes! Love the little goats.

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  23. Love love love the mountain Goats. Good shots of them. That Grass of P. is very interesting.
    About Tulips---well we have planted huge beds of them for years. I had never had the many deer around here bother them. But last Fall I planted some in my flower garden along the road and lo and behold guess who were nibbling the yet to bloom Tulips. Yep--geer. Bob said "3 deer in the front garden" and I shooed them away. We have so many deer all summer because of the huge garden (vegs) Bob's son has here and we have 14 apple trees and the deer nibble on them and clean upall the windfalls. Give and take
    MB

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  24. The goat seems curious about who is filming them. Those blowing winds so clearly heard on the videos sure sound as if they could turn a spark into a blaze of fire.

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  25. What a great hike! The mountain goat sighting was a special event! I'm also glad for limitless digital photography!

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  26. What a lovely hike - there is no better way to refresh the spirit.

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  27. Fantastic day out, see more with mosaics.

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  28. a beautiful hike, we bike because that is easier for me than walking!! your pictures are really beautiful, i enjoyed the videos of the goats. the momma goat seem curious about you humans!!

    i like these mosaic layouts, it's a great way to share a lot of pictures!!!

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  29. Thanks for another lovely trail hike Angie. If my old knees would take it, I would love to join you in searching for huckleberries while taking lots of photos. If that goat is truly wild, I wonder if she feels safer with humans than the other creatures she meets? Wolves obviously, but are bears predators of wild goats?

    I guess things are hotting up for you now as for me. The Med is very inviting this year following our cold March and April.

    Have fun.

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  30. Stunning Landscapes! Thanks for sharing! So pretty! Makes my heart happy! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  31. Lovely presentation of beautiful nature photography ~ love those goats!

    Happy Day to you,
    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  32. Beautiful place to hike and what a treat to see the wildlife.

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  33. Wonderful hike, beautiful photos, excellent mosaics and a lovely narrative. I enjoy your posts, they are always interesting. Well done Angie.

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  34. What natural beauty surrounding you on your hike.Reminds me of our scenery out west in the Canadian Rockies. And the mosaics you've put together are beautiful too.

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  35. Aster and yellow monkey look so beautiful...
    Thank you for sharing interesting videos.

    Have a wonderful spring

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  36. Your hike is so beautiful,Angie. I like to see those pretty flowers!

    Have a good weekend.

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  37. It is always a good day to visit you and accept your invitation of going along with you on a hike. =) I never tire of seeing the beautiful world in which you live. Lovely too, to see pretty Spring flowers.

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  38. It really is a gorgeous area. As someone comments above there is a great deal of resemblance to the Rockies of Alberta. Now if only you didn't have six months of winter!

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