Nephew Jason Sends Me Cascade Mountain Hiking With His Mother

When I visited Facebook this morning I soon saw there was a message from my Favorite Ex-Sister-In-Law, Cindy, who is also Spencer Jack's grandma, and nephew's Jason and Joey's maternal parental unit.

Cindy's Facebook message asked me if I was able to see the pictures of the hike she went on yesterday. And that Jason thought I would be interested in seeing them.

I messaged back to Cindy that I had not seen her latest hiking pictures, but I would go find them, which I did, including the one you see here, with Cindy at the end of a wooden bridge.

I told Cindy that I assumed Jason wanted me to see these pictures as part of the multi-front attempts to make my homesick for the ultra scenic Pacific Northwest.

Cindy messaged me back saying that Jason thought I'd taken him hiking the Bridal Veil Falls/Lake Serene Trail, and so I would like seeing them. So this was not an attempt at triggering homesickness.

I have zero recollection of taking my Favorite Nephew Jason to this location, accessed off Highway, also known as Stevens Pass, one of the mountain passes over Washington's Cascade Mountains.

I don't remember ever taking Jason hiking anywhere. I do remember taking his little brother, my Favorite Nephew Joey, on multiple hikes, to locations like Mount Baker, Sauk Mountain, and the Glacier Peak volcano.

Til yesterday Western Washington had gone 55 days without rain. Cindy and her fellow hikers got dripped on, but looked well prepared for such a calamity, as evidenced by the below photo, with Cindy in the yellow raincoat.

The south Puget Sound Seattle Tacoma zone did not get much precipitating, but my old home zone of the Skagit Valley did.

One person opined Saturday's long downpour was like Mother Nature was making up for her 55 day absence with a massive deluge.

Even with a 55 day drought Washington's mountain forests appear to still be quite evergreen.

Cindy said they hiked the Lake Serene Trail, not the Bridal Veil Falls Trail. But, even so, I am assuming the waterfall we see below must be Bridal Veil Falls. Then again, it could be just one of the many waterfalls one sees in the Cascade Mountains, which is the reason why this mountain range is so named. Because of all the Cascades cascading down the mountain slopes. 

Years ago I recollect being somewhere in the North Cascades, on a logging road, and opining that I did not recollect ever seeing so many waterfalls before. The argumentative sort in the vehicle with me then told me those were not waterfalls. If they are not waterfalls, what are they, I asked? The argumentative sort hemmed and hawed trying to come up with what these were if they were not waterfalls.

The eventual answer was "They are downhill rivers".

No I am not making that up. I don't remember how many days passed before I realized the word the argumentative sort was searching for was "cascades".

Does the above look like a waterfall or a cascade to you?

One day, hopefully soon, I will get to witness such things in person...

Linda Lou Takes Me To Skagit Flats Beaver Marsh Looking At Olympics

The above is the latest example of something sent by someone in the Pacific Northwest in an ongoing campaign by many, apparently, to try and make me homesick for Washington.

The campaign is working.

The above photo arrived on my phone late in yesterday's afternoon, from Linda Lou.

The text message with the photo said, "The Olympics in all their glory as seen from Beaver Marsh Road".

That made it twice yesterday Beaver Marsh Road was mentioned to me. Yesterday, when talking to sister Jackie, mention was made of Jackie having had herself a mighty fine visit with nephew Joey, Monique and Hank Frank at their farmhouse on Beaver Marsh Road.

Linda Lou called soon after sending me the above photo and when I told her Joey's house is on Beaver Marsh Road, she said she'd driven by it and recognized it from the photo of Joey's house I'd put on the blog.

However, talking to Jackie yesterday, I learned that the house I thought to be Joey's, was not Joey's, but was the house on the 8 acres next to Joey's, which big brother Jason bought. 

As for those Olympics Linda Lou mentions being in all their glory, that is a mountain range to the west of Puget Sound, located on the appropriately named Olympic Peninsula, where you will find the also appropriately named Olympic National Park. 

First time visitors to the Puget Sound zone are often surprised, on a clear day, to see mountains no matter which direction they look.

From the Skagit Flats, which is where Joey and Jason's homes on Beaver Marsh Road are located, one can look west and see the Olympics, to the east and see the Cascades and Mount Baker, to the south and see Mount Rainier, which is also part of the Cascade mountain range, and to the north and see the Cascade mountains as the range reaches the Pacific north of Vancouver.

That makes for two of Washington's active volcanoes that one can see from the Skagit Flats.

No matter what direction I look whilst standing on the Wichita Flats I can see no volcanoes. Or mountains...

Geez, I finished writing this blog post, switched to Facebook, and what's the first thing I see?

Another Skagit Flats photo via Linda Lou. The one above looks west at the Olympics, the one below looks east, at the aforementioned Cascades.

The view here is south of the vantage point of Linda Lou's first photo. Joey and Jason's Skagit Flat location on Beaver Marsh Road would be to the left. If we panned to the left we would also see Mount Baker. The buildings you see on the lower hills are in south Mount Vernon. The main part of the town would also be seen if we panned to the left.

Way back in the previous century, I could look out my windows and see a view somewhat like that above. Well, not the tulip/daffodil Skagit Flats view, but the mountain view to the east...

Geez, it happened again. Added the photo from Linda Lou, went back to Facebook, and saw a new post, with this one asking "Where in Washington are Chris & Sheila? Such a beautiful day, snowy mountain tops can be seen all around us".

Didn't I just mention the fact that from the Skagit Flats one sees mountains no matter what direction you look? And now we have Chris and Sheila saying the same thing. 

That tallest mountain you see here is the aforementioned Mount Baker. Which would make Joey and Jason's location on Beaver Marsh Road to the right in this view. 

I am guessing Chris and Sheila are at the RV park at the Swinomish Casino Resort on Padilla Bay, which would mean we are looking east across Padilla Bay in the above photo. Bay View State Park would be to the left, across the bay. And my old hometown of Burlington would be due east on the other side of that row of trees. I forget what that particular rise above the Skagit Flats is called. Bay View Hill? Is that it?

Okay, I am not looking at Facebook any more tonight...

Linda & Maxwell Throw Me Back To A Last Century Thursday

A few minutes ago Miss Linda and Maxwell texted me with "At Glacier with Maxwell."

Included with the text was the photo you see here of Miss Linda and Maxwell in a Washington Rain Forest near Glacier.

Glacier is a small town one passes through on the way to Mount Baker. Now that you are making me think about it, Glacier is the last town one passes through on the way to Mount Baker.

Seeing this picture of Miss Linda and Maxwell threw me into Throwback Thursday mode.

On a Thursday way back in the last century, on the day of a significant birthday, was it 30, or 40? I don't remember. What I do remember is on that day a brutal hike took place a short distance east of Glacier, to the summit of Church Mountain.

The final ascent of the Church Mountain hike requires use of a thick wire cable, left behind from the long gone fire lookout station. The summit is a flat point, with a panoramic view north into Canada, east into the North Cascades, south to the South Cascades, where Mount Rainier is located and west to Vancouver Island and the Straits of Juan de Fuca.

I have photos of the Church Mountain hike, stored in a box, not scanned. It would require an extensive search party to locate those photos.

If I remember correctly, and I likely do, the last time I passed through Glacier was with my favorite nephews, Christopher and Jeremy, also known as CJ and JR. This would have been a year or two or maybe three before my exile in Texas began.

On that pass through Glacier we were on our way to the Mount Baker ski area, which in late summer becomes a major hiking destination, with trails which usually only get free of snow in August, or later.

Our destination that day was to hike up Tabletop Mountain. I do have photos scanned of that hike and have previously blogged them in a blogging from 2009 titled Going Back To Tabletop Mountain While In Texas.

One of my all time favorite photos was taken that day on Tabletop Mountain. I shall go see if I can find that photo...

That would be JR on the left, which would make that CJ on the right.

Behind JR and CJ is Mount Shuksan. CJ is looking to his left, at the Mount Baker volcano. Behind the nephews, if you look closely, you will see a row of what I have come to call Hoodoos.

Looking at these various mountain photos, I am freshly struck regarding the pitifulness of the fact that currently, in 2016, I am aboding in a flat land where I hike up a big pile of dirt, known locally as The Dirt Hill, which I call Mount Wichita, which really is a real sad excuse for a mountain.

One of my other dear ol' Washington friends, Maxine, recently completed her annual trek over the Cascades to Stehekin, eventually reaching the fabled Courtney Ranch, home to some of the best buffet feedings I have ever had.

This year's Maxine Stehekin Adventure Tale is the best ever. I must get around to blogging it on my Washington blog.

In the meantime I'm thinking it really is time for me to cease living in a vertically challenged location and return to one of the world's scenic wonderlands....

Sampson & Delilah Turned Me Into A Homesick Melancholy Baby Today

This Sunday afternoon has me feeling like a Melancholy Baby.

Sort of homesick.

Yesterday I was told that Sampson and Delilah were taking a roadtrip this weekend. This morning I learned the destination of the roadtrip was the Swinomish Casino and Lodge in my old hometown zone of the Skagit Valley.

Sampson and Delilah posted a couple photos today, on Facebook, taken from their location in the Swinomish Casino Lodge and Resort's RV Park, which I have swiped, without permission.

In the first photo you are looking northeast, towards the Cascade Mountain foothills, with the Mount Baker volcano being that white thing sticking up on the middle left side of the picture. The water you see is saltwater. Padilla Bay if my memory is correct.

Make note of how clear the air appears to be. I miss clear air, that smells good. Fellow Washington exile, Steve A, has asked, more than once, regarding all the tree covered mountains and hills of Washington, pertaining to the Cedar Fever Texas woe, "What makes Mountain Cedar pollen worse than Western Red Cedar pollen?" It is a perplexing question.

In the next purloined Sampson and Delilah picture we are looking slightly northwest at a couple of the islands sticking out of the bay. I don't remember if that is still Padilla Bay. There are a lot of named bays in the Puget Sound zone. My memory is starting to fail regarding Washington geography. Is this considered the Straits of Juan de Fuca, north of Puget Sound? I can't remember where Puget Sound ends and the next named body of water starts up, let alone its name.

The Swinomish Casino was about 15 miles from my abode in Mount Vernon. To the left in the above picture, which is west, in another 10 miles, or so, you come to Anacortes. Anacortes is the town where Spencer Jack's dad, my nephew Jason, has a restaurant called the Fidalgo Drive-In.

Speaking of Spencer Jack's dad. One of the reasons I am feeling a bit melancholy is I got email from my nephew this morning telling me he was thinking of burning up some frequent flier miles by coming to Texas in early February. Spencer Jack's dad was last in Texas nine years ago, way before there was a Spencer Jack. I am appalled that that is nine years ago. Time flies. I felt bad explaining this was a not a good time to come to Texas.

Looking at these Sampson and Delilah pictures has me thinking how extremely different Skagit County is from the county I am currently in, Tarrant County in Texas.

As you can see, via just a small glimpse, Skagit County has some rather scenic natural water features. Tarrant County has some man made lakes, a polluted river, creeks prone to flash flooding and a bizarre plan to make a fake lake and build an unneeded flood diversion channel.

Speaking of channels. There is a marina at the Swinomish Casino. There is also a channel. Called the Swinomish Channel. I believe the Swinomish Channel is manmade. I know it is a connection between two bays and that the scenic tourist town of La Conner is on the channel.

The total population of Skagit County is 118,222. The total population of Tarrant County is 1,809,034. The total area of Skagit County is 1,920 square miles. The total area of Tarrant County is 897 square miles.

So, Skagit County is more than twice the size of Tarrant County, with a population less than one-fifteenth the population of Tarrant County.

And yet, all of Skagit County is served by public transit, known as Skagit Transit.

From the Skagit Transit website, this blurb....

"Our goal is to provide high quality public transportation that meets the needs of the citizens of Skagit County at the least cost to the taxpayer contributing to the county's economy and quality of life."

How come it is no ones goal to provide high quality public transportation that meets the needs of the citizens of Tarrant County I am sitting here wondering? And somehow it is someone's extremely goofy goal to provide the citizens of Tarrant County a Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which no one has voted for?

Another stark difference between Skagit County and Tarrant County is the existence of casino resorts. There are two. In addition to the already mentioned Swinomish Tribe's operation the Skagit Tribe has the Skagit Valley Casino Resort.

Whilst living in Skagit County I would visit the Skagit Tribe's casino more frequently than the Swinomish Tribe's Why? Nothing to do with gambling. It was the Skagit's buffet, usually at lunch, that I frequented. However, for seafood, the Swinomish Casino's Two Salmon Cafe was my favorite. So good. With pan-fried oysters just like mom used to make. And no catfish, ever.

I purloined the below image from the Swinomish Tribe's website about the aforementioned Two Salmon Seafood Buffet.

Before the Washington Tribes won their battle with the state over casinos it was a novelty for me to go to Nevada, usually Reno. It seemed so exotic, all those noisy slot machines. It took awhile for the Washington Casinos to get to being totally Nevada-like.

Unlike Texas, Washington did not use a primitive form of eminent domain to evict its Tribes. There was some hostility, early on, but for the most part relations between the natives and the newcomers were fairly cordial. Hence the name of Washington's biggest town being Seattle, after Chief Seattle, well, Sealth. It is why a lot of Washington place names are native based.

Unlike Texas, Washington has multiple Indian Reservations. During the 60s and 70s and 80s the Tribes got themselves some good legal help that helped them win court battles against the state, over and over again, over things like fishing rights. And their rights to a high degree of sovereignty on their tribal lands. And to open casinos.

The income from the Tribe's casinos  has noticeably improved conditions on the tribal lands. I remember when the Swinomish Reservation was an extremely impoverished, depressing thing to see, back decades ago in the previous century. That extremely impoverished depressing thing to see no longer exists in 2014.

I really think I need to move back to a progressive, liberal, well-educated location. I must try and figure out how to make that happen.....