Reported Mount Wichita Eruption Evidently Fake News

Chelsie Stillwater sent me that which you see here, this morning, and asked...

Is this Mount Wichita erupting?

Well, this sort of looks like Mount Wichita.

Perhaps someone blew up some fireworks atop Mount Wichita with the ignition getting out of control.

But I suspect such is not the case.

Mount Wichita is not an actual volcano, thus not able to erupt in the traditional sense.

Mount Wichita is made of mud sludged from nearby Sikes Lakes.

I suppose a decade or two of lake sludge fermenting could build up some sort of natural gas accumulation which could possibly erupt into some sort of explosion which could sort of emulate a volcano erupting.

If Mount Wichita were actually erupting in the manner we see here I would be able to see the ash plume by looking out the window I am looking out right now.

All I see is an almost clear blue sky. No plume of ash erupting from the one and only nearby semi-mountain.

Running the above image through mountain identification software I was able to determine for certain this is not Mount Wichita erupting.

This is Volcan del Fuego in Guatemala erupting, eventually spewing ash 4 miles into the sky. Some of that ash has fallen as far as Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. The ash has been so bad that Guatemala City's La Aurora international airport had to shut down its only runway.

Guatemala's president, Jimmy Morales, has activated the Guatemala National Emergency System and is considering declaring a state of emergency in the area of Chimaltenango, Escuintla, and Sacatepequez.

I doubt Wichita Falls' Mount Wichita will ever behave bad enough to cause the U.S. president to declare any sort of state of emergency...

Incoming Smoked Salmon From Nephew Joey While Nephews JR & CJ Find Hoodoos

Yesterday I blogged about Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey's Big King Salmon Catch Of The Day.

That would be Spencer Jack's Uncle Joey you are looking at, a few years prior to recently catching a big  fish.

I used to see that volcano you see here from my Mount Vernon kitchen window. That would make that volcano Mount Baker. This volcano has not erupted since the 1800s, if I remember right.

On the day this photo was taken Joey and I hiked up Mount Baker til we could safely go no further, but close enough to see the steam spouting from the volcano's crater and smell the sulfur.

I heard from my Favorite Nephew Joey this morning, with the following message....

FUD,
Fresh smoked salmon is highly requested by all of the non fishing family members. The  order in which I distribute my catch usually starts with my grand parental units on my mother's side, and filters down to bribes with my coworkers. However, I believe this is a third or forth time you have requested this highly sought after delicacy. I believe persistence pays off, so the next time I catch a fish it will be smoked and sent to Texas. I will inform you prior to its arrival.
FNJ

I don't remember making smoked salmon requests, but I am old and my memory is shot, sometimes.

Looking for a photo of my Favorite Nephew Joey I came upon the photo you see below.

That would be my Favorite Nephew Jeremy (JR) on the left, with my Favorite Nephew Christopher (CJ) on the right, a few years prior to moving to Arizona.

Behind JR & CJ is Mount Shuksan. This location is on the north side of Mount Baker, opposite the side of Mount Baker Joey and I were on in the first photo. CJ is looking towards Mount Baker, which looms large a short distance away.

Where JR & CJ are sitting is the top of Tabletop Mountain. Access to the Tabletop Mountain parking lot usually opens late in the summer, after a lot of snow melts. This year I suspect the parking lot will be opening earlier than the norm, due to Washington's current drought emergency.

Can you see what caught my eye in the photo of JR & CJ? Between where they are sitting and Mount Shuksan?

A line of Hoodoos!

Just yesterday Tacoma's Queen V pointed me to an extremely impressive video showing Hoodoos being made in exotic locations. Then destroyed.

The Tabletop Mountain Hoodoos are in a slightly more scenic location than that place I frequently find Hoodoos nowadays, that being the Tandy Hills....

Hiking The Tandy Hills Seeing Volcano Visions While Thinking About Trinity River Inner Tubing With Elsie Hotpepper & GG

I decided to make a rare visit to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area today, around noon, for my daily salubrious aerobic activity.

It was HOT on the hills. HOTTER than yesterday. I was soon a HOT sweaty mess.

And loving it.

Like I was in an Indian Sweat Lodge without walls.

Soon I was having "visions" just like my Native American forebears used to have.

Climbing up the trail that leads to Lost Sunglasses Ridge I had a vision of a snow covered mountain peaking over the crest of the ridge. I felt like I was back in the Pacific Northwest, hiking a trail on the western slopes of the Cascades, seeing a volcano in the distance.

But, when I reached the top of Lost Sunglasses Ridge the vision of a volcano in Texas turned into yet one more cloud.

Elsie Hotpepper has been sending me mixed messages today. By this afternoon I am not sure if she really wants to go inner tubing in the Trinity River on the 4th of July. Regarding that issue, I did get a message from Miss GG in which she clearly indicated, in her words, she won't be "swimming with big rats" on the 4th of July.

I do not understand why so many Texans are so hypersensitive about the water they are willing to get wet in.

Very perplexing.