Scenes from the Garden

While Lin is out climbing mountains,
I'm home tending the garden.
Finally, we are eating out of the garden.
And a few flowers are blooming.
So much bounty, such a short season.
Such beauty and nourishment. So much to be grateful for.

Top of Mount Shuksan

This is the end of the blog. Keep going and you'll get the complete story! I made it to the top! Actually this is staged. Erin said we needed a picture of me summitting, so I backed up and came over the edge again. Erin is sitting on top with Mt. Baker behind her. The blue ring in the middle of the bottom photo is the melted portion of Lake Ann. Shortly after our ascent, the weather we raced all day caught up with us and we scurried off the top while we still had a bit of visibility. Okay, I didn't do any scurrying.
Rappelling, from my point of view, is definitely the unnerving portion of mountain climbing. As I stood perched at the top of the first rappel point wondering how to get my legs out from under me, Erin said, "Don't worry Lin. That anchor is bomber."
"Excuse me?"
"It means it's a great anchor. The best. That rock isn't going anywhere."
"So, I just have to lean back, kick off and trust the rock?"
"Right!"
I did just that and after the first one, it got easier. I learned to only look as far down as the next spot to perch me feet. At the bottom, I was relieved to be on my own two feet again. We retrieved our ice axes from the rock shelf where we'd stashed them earlier in the day and headed back onto the Sulphide Glacier and down to our camp. What a day!
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!!!
Lin

Okay, so I'm new at this blogging stuff. The last posting you'll read is the beginning of my trip! This is the middle! I'm resting during the climbing portion of summiting Mount Shuksan. We were off to the side of a route waiting for six climbers to descend. It may look like rock and more rock from afar, but every crevice holds a hand sized patch of flowers. When I looked around the corner, Mount Baker made an appearence. My favorite part of the climb: reaching up with my hands to grasp solid handles of rock, finding tiny ledges and indentations for my feet and pulling myself up over and over again until, amazingly enough, I reached the top.

Lin climbs Shuksan

Hi Everyone: I'm not leaving the state this summer, but I'm traveling! This is my seventh season as a park ranger for the North Cascades National Park. Each year I do some amazing patrols and last weekend I did my first climbing patrol. I summited my first North Cascades peak, Mount Shuksan, all nine thousand one hundred and twenty-seven feet of her! I'm not really a climber, at least I wasn't until last week, but I was accompanied by my collegue, Erin, who is a climbing ranger, a patient and compassionate coach and teacher with lots of experience and heart. And for good measure, she's also an EMT (emergency medical technician).

The first photo is taken from the approach route and the second is from our camp on the Sulphide glacier. In the third photo, Shuksan is the black peak in the middle. The fourth is a closer view of Shuksan.

Washington Coast

The driftwood was inspiring. All those old old trees...



Then we went to see The Grandmother trees up the Hoh River.




I'm standing in front of a huge Big Leaf Maple. Complete with fern and moss dressing.

Olympic Peninsula Trip with Annelle

We started with a short detour to Purple Haze Lavender Farm outside Sequim. We did "u-pick" lavender and I was in heaven!







We stayed near Rialto Beach out on the coast. Two out of four nights were spectacular sunsets.



We hiked to Second Beach with a "hole in the wall" and seastacks. Lots of driftwood too. We napped and enjoyed the surf.

North Cascades High Water July 2008

We have water!
I've been doing some fabulous creek-sitting!
My favorite spots are not mountain tops, they are as close as I can get to these rushing waters.
Blue green, with foam, over golden rocks - that's my cup of tea.

Steffany