Ponderosa Pines

I have been really longing for a sunny warm day, and some mountains, so this morning, after my gym class, I hopped in the car and drove up to the Eastern Cascades, near Leavenworth. I ended up at the Icicle Creek Gorge trail and ambled around the 4-mile loop (which is wonderfully devoid of big hills).

What an incredible day - I'm so glad I went. Of course, I have been checking my weather app for a day that was going to be bright and sunny up there and I was not  disappointed.

There are lots of Ponderosa Pines, which are one of my favorite trees - here is a photo of a few of them meeting under the crystal blue sky. I also came upon loads of glacier lilies (extras 1 and 4).  They are so delicate and a lovely color - the first wildflowers of spring in the high elevations around here. The creek is running so high, it was a constant crashing sound during my walk (2nd extra).

At one point, I was sitting up on an overlook and I heard a tremendous crash. Turned just in time to see a large tree whomp into the river with a large cloud of water spray. In the 3rd extra, you can see the tree across the narrow section of the creek near where it disappears into the trees. That's a first for me - kind of scary and I didn't tarry under any trees for the rest of my walk back to the car.

Hiking season has officially begun!