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hikes :: Saturday, July 8, 2006
Green Mountain
MT. BAKER-SNOQUALMIE NATIONAL FOREST, WA :: Each time I've hiked Green Mountain, I've been impressed by how stunningly green it really is. A nearly overgrown section of the trail cuts through a densely vegetated slope of grasses and shrubs. The perfectly green expanse was dotted with millions of wildflowers in many different colors. Some of the flowers would take flight as I approached them, scattering into the air as a dozen butterflies. To top it off, it was all underneath a sapphire sky with jagged, snow-capped peaks on the horizon. This is a beautiful trail!
I heard my first pika squeak and saw my first marmot of the summer, including one brave, little fellow who claimed the summit of Green Mountain for himself. The fire lookout is still missing, but the views are not. 360 degrees of the Cascades, with Baker and Glacier prominent in opposite directions.
As a little reward and energy boost, I like to pack a refreshing, artificially sweetened can of citrusy, liquid caffeine in my pack to enjoy at the trail's end. I thought it was especially fitting today to drink green Mountain Dew on Green Mountain. It would have been perfect if I had started my hike earlier, so that I could drink green Mountain Dew on Green Mountain's dew.
This highly recommended trail is eight miles roundtrip, climbing 3000'
feet to the 6500' summit. A 26 mile forest road needs to be driven to reach the trailhead. The 52 roundtrip miles of bumping and josteling around finally did in my Pathfinder's shocks, which needed to be replaced when I got back home.
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on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 9:40 PM
Nice pictures John. I like the last two especially, the colors of the flowers are a nice contrast with the blues and greens.
Mountain Dew huh, the caffine needed for the hike?
on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 9:07 AM
Looks like the new suspension was worth it for the views.
Keith
on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 2:17 PM
You should have left early AND not eaten anything beforehand. Then you'd have diet green mountain dew while dieting on green mountain's due. Nice pics!
on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 3:12 PM
Ah! Perhaps in addition to my dieting, if I had just finished a year-long program of intense abdominal exercising, then I could have hauled more sodas to the top to gulp a six-pack of Diet green Mountain Dew into my six-pack while dieting on Green Mountain's dew!
Thanks for the comments everyone. I was dismayed when I got home and discovered my camera's ISO was set to 1600... Got some pretty noisy pics, but I guess they didn't turn out half-bad.
John
on Thursday, July 27, 2006 at 7:37 PM
Beautiful pictures John!
on Saturday, July 29, 2006 at 10:19 PM
John, this is amazing. The sharpness, DoF, colors and composition, everything works well here. Love it!
Darkness,
g8.no
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 9:23 PM
I love these mountain shots. And wow, is it ever green! Great series you have here.
on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 at 5:35 PM
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on Thursday, August 3, 2006 at 8:51 AM
lovely site design! and great photos
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