Saturday, July 11, 2009

Hiking the Cascades



"Let's pack a picnic and go," said Mr. Wonderful at breakfast.

"Yes!" Cold chicken and lemonade, cherries and chocolate chip cookies... Sketch pad, watercolors, pencil... leashes, puppies and nalgenes full of ice water and we're tootling east up the highway and into the Cascades.

This is the same glacier we see from the living room window, but up close it rivals the Alps at its best.


Alpine lakes. Snow fields, even in July. Glacier lilies. And that's just for starters.




Trickling water refreshed our souls with music composed by God himself.

I was stunned by the wildflowers~ everything from flowering blueberries



to ferns unfurling like a majestic and artful dance



buttercups side-by-side with the violets along a mossy stream...


When we turned toward home I felt as if I'd had a whole week's vacation, condensed into one glorious day.

How is it that one place can be so refreshingly energizing?

If you are coming to the Pacific Northwest this summer, you must let me play tour guide. I need to go up into the Cascades again. Soon.