That would be my Favorite Nephews Jason and Spencer Jack awaiting snow on top of Little Mountain.
Two days ago Miss Linda called me from her location slightly northwest of Little Mountain and told me she was looking out the window at Little Mountain dusted with snow at its top. And then as we were talking Miss Linda reported snowflakes had begun to fall.
In the Washington lowlands snow comes and goes quickly. It may stick around for days, or it may stick around for a couple hours before melting. It appears that Spencer Jack and Jason were at the Little Mountain summit after the snow Miss Linda saw had melted.
That green land you see behind Spencer Jack and Jason is known as the Skagit Flats. Some of the most fertile land in the world. The water you see in the distance is saltwater. I am guessing it is Samish Bay, an inlet north of Puget Sound.
Below is sort of a look at Little Mountain.
No. Little Mountain is not the big pile of white you see in the center of the picture. That big pile of white is the Mount Baker volcano. This picture was taken in April, hence Mount Baker being totally white. In summer much of the lower white melts away.
This photo was taken from the vantage point of I-5, heading north. That mound of green on the left is the east side of Little Mountain, which would make where Spencer Jack and Jason are standing in the top picture to the left of what you see of Little Mountain above.
On that particular day in April, of 2006, to be precise, I was being chauffeured by the individual who was later alleged to be the inspiration for Spencer Jack's name. Ms. Spencer. Jason had been advised to name his incoming newborn after his richest relative. Later it was revealed that the actual name choice was made due to the fact that it is a cool sounding name, particularly when Spencer was combined, name-wise, with Spencer's great grandpa's name, Jack.
Spencer Jack.
The reason I was being chauffeured north by Ms. Spencer, at this particular time, was to attend the aforementioned Favorite Nephew Jason's wedding in Burlington. After the wedding the reception party took place at Jason's Eaglemont Pavilion, located at the Eaglemont Golf course, with that golf course located on the notch you see above, between Little Mountain and the other mountain to the right.
At some point in time Mount Vernon turned Little Mountain into a city park. The access to the summit is via a twisting and turning well made gravel covered road. Or one can hike to the summit. Or bike.
When I was a youngster, back in the last century, the summit of Little Mountain featured a tall wooden lookout. By the end of the century that lookout had been replaced by a lookout not quite as adventurous.
The Little Mountain summit has a hang glider launch pad. Hang gliders take off and land on the green fields along I-5 that you see in the Mount Baker photo above.
Til you live in an altitude challenged part of the planet you don't appreciate how unique it is to have little mountains in ones town.
The town I grew up in, Burlington, also had what would be called a mountain in Texas, but is simply called Burlington Hill in Washington. The top of Burlington Hill has a giant illuminated cross which glows bright this time of year. At least I assume that is still the case.
If the town I am currently in, Wichita Falls, had a topographic feature like either Little Mountain or Burlington Hill I am guessing it would be a HUGE tourist attraction, due to its uniqueness in this flat land.
As you can see, there is not enough mountain to Mount Wichita to warrant building a road to the summit.
A Mount Wichita lookout tower of the height of the Little Mountain lookout tower would add about a third to the height of Mount Wichita.
I am almost 100% certain that there is no possibility of adding a hang glider launch pad to the summit of Mount Wichita.
But, maybe if enough material could be dredged from Lake Wichita, sufficient altitude might be achieved to facilitate hang gliding. There is plenty of green space on which to land. And there is definitely enough wind regularly blowing....
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