Evening sun goin' down

I snapped this shot this evening from the NE corner of the house. You can see part of the house (if you look real hard) on the right side.
I thought the sun looked so neat through the trees.
My artistic moment. HA!!!!

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smaller peaks series #3

This mountain in the Cascades is called Twin Sisters--7000 ft at summit. I took the pictures from Hiway 9 just this past August except the last photo was taken by Scott Dusek also in August.
The Twin Sisters Range is an interesting outlier of the Cascade Range. Located just 21.5 miles (34.6km) from Bellingham Bay, the range sharply contrasts the rock and mountains that surround it. The rock is very red, so much so that native peoples called the range "Kwik-Kwek Smanik" believed to mean "red rock" or "red mountains". The color is related to iron content.
The range is of particular interest to climbers. The rock (olivine) is extremely grippy and makes for some of the best scrambling in Washington State. Given their proximity to Mt. Baker and Bellingham Bay the views from the range are spectacular. The Olympic Range, the Coast Range in B.C., the Picket Range, The Cheam Range B.C., and the North Cascades all provide eye candy for climbers.

South Twin Sister (the tallest of the range) saw its first ascent on August 1, 1891 by J.M Edson, E.A Hegg, and P.J Parris
The Twin Sister Range is the largest body of exposed Olivine (Magnesium Iron Silicate) in the Western Hemisphere. A fragment of the Subcontinental Mantle brought up by the Shuksan Thrust, the range was emplaced by faulting into sedimentary rocks of the Chuckanut Formation as a solid mass.
The few significant glaciers are retreating at a rapid rate and will probably be gone within a decade. The largest glacier is the Sisters Glacier about 1km accross. Two smaller glaciers, called the Green Glaciers, flow into Green Creek.

Smaller peaks series #2

Whitehorse Mountain, 6840 ft at summit overlooks the backcountry logging town of Darrington. I took all these pictures, except the last, from Hyway 9 in the town itself. Whitehorse is in the Cascade range along with Mt. Pilchuck.
According to Fred Beckey in his "Cascade Alpine Guide" book 2 ("The Mountaineers Books, third edition, 2003), the mountain was named after an incident when an early pioneer's horse ran away. To quote Beckey, pg. 129: "During the search, a neighbor noted the image of a horse in the form of a snowpatch on the mountain, and pointed out in jest, 'there it is above us.'" Some locals I've spoken to claim they've seen the entire mountain resemble an image of a horse during certain snow conditions but I've yet to see the resemblance. Regardless, it's a good name for a beautiful mountain. Beckey also states that first ascent was by Nels Bruseth in 1909.

Smaller peaks

I show so many pictures of Mt. Rainier-14,200+ft and Mt. Baker 10,760 ft--that I thought I would show one of the smaller peaks in the Cascade Range. this is Mt. Pilchuck, a mere 5324ft at the summit
The word "Pilchuck" comes from the Native American name "red water," for a creek in the area. Mount Pilchuck was likely among the "long ridge of snowy mountains" as described in the journal of English explorer George Vancouver during the spring of 1792. This peak stands well apart from the main Cascade Mountain range.

In 1918, the Forest Service built a fire lookout on Mount Pilchuck's summit. The Lookout was staffed until the 1960s. From 1957 to 1980, Washington State Parks administered a ski area here that was run by a concessionaire. The ski area closed in 1980 due to poor annual snow conditions.

The area currently is managed in partnership with the USFS and Everett Mountaineers. The Forest Service maintains the trail and trailhead, and State Parks and the Mountaineers maintain the historic lookout

Are you out of your mind???

When the boys and I were on Camano Island Friday we met this man as he was out doing his afternoon fun stuff. It looked like fun and off he went.

Residents

Our resident Eagles on a gloomy day. These are Eagles that stay year around--not ones that come for the winter. Here they are at their nest. I posted pictures in the early summer of them feeding their young. They look so majestic.

Crazy!!

I feel like I should apoligize for posting so many Mt. Rainier pictures, but I just am in awe when I look out and there she is!! I took this this morning at 7:47--the second pic is just how I see her from my bedroom. Just look at the colors--what can I say--I am speechless. Glorious!! Yesterday she had wispy clouds circling her crown so that it looked like she was smoking a little. I should post that pic too. Maybe some other day. She is an active volcano as is Mt. Baker. Usually this time of year we have gray and gloomy weather but not now---just mountains!! MB