Twin Lakes

Let me start by saying this is one of my favorite collections of photos in the past couple of years. Julie and I were able to get away for an overnight camping trip so we packed up our gear and headed up to Twin Lakes. It was GREAT!

Monday we hiked up to Winchester Lookout...did you know there's a lookout up there that's kept up by the Mt. Baker Hiking Club? There are two beds inside and it's first come first served for sleeping up there. Alas! We brought everything on the trip to do this but decided at the last moment not to. Oh well...save it for next time.

Highlights included the blueberries which were thick...you could smell them everywhere!
Also our evening...millions of stars out there, the milky way, and so much more.

The second day was hot, hot, hot! We did a little bit of the high-pass hike which heads out to Mt. Larrabee, but decided to head back to the Winchester trail and pick blueberries instead. All in all, it was a couple of days to remember!

For you photo geeks, all the daytime pictures were shot with my newish 15-85mm with a polarizer. The night shots were a combo of lenses, but most of the best ones were with an ultra-wide; 10-22mm. I really need a remote to activate the shutter, as my 40d only maxes at 30 sec. exposures...needed longer exposures at night.

Scroll for a few of my favorite pics...and read the captions for a little more info.

Here's a link to the entire album (worth looking at).

Our Camping Site...not a bad view!

These are the "twin lakes" - our camping spot is just above the lake on the right.

The sign at the lookout...

The lookout - lots of pics of the inside, go to my album to see them

Mt. Larrabee is the closest, followed by American Peak, and lastly Canadian Peak

The Big Dipper

Stars and Milky Way were amazing...only wish I could have done longer exposures.

Of course, everyone has this picture!

Go to the album to see a whole bunch more!!!

The Fair!

Julie, B and I went to the Fair on Saturday...it was fun and exhausting! What we weren't prepared for was how much "growing up" Brennan did from age 2 (when we went last year) to age 3 (this year). Last year he did 2 rides; the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round. This year it was all about roller coasters! The first surprise was that he went on a roller coaster at all. He did the "bigger one" 3 times (the caterpillar). Then there was another roller coaster, the "dragon." Well after standing in line for awhile we got the front and realized that Mommy couldn't go with him...the coaster cars were too small. We assumed B wouldn't want to go without Mom but we were wrong. He got on there, sat next to a complete stranger, and loved every second of it!

Of course we ate a lot of great food, although we did avoid the "fried butter."

Click here for all 99 pics!

Summer Fun

Here's a bunch of pictures of home life this summer. I combined a few albums into one and narrowed it down to 60 or so shots. Click here to see all the pictures or scroll down to see a few of my fav's!

Chain Lakes Loop + Bagley Lakes

Yesterday I spent most of the day up in the mountains, hiking the Chain Lakes Loop + Bagley Lakes. It was hot, and gorgeous. It's probably the earliest in the season I've hiked these trails and there was lots of snow still. The entire approach up to the Herman Saddle was one huge snow-field. Forget trail finding...it's just hike straight up and hope you don't slip. Still, I had a blast.

Surprisingly, there were very few people on the trails...maybe because of the condition (too many snow bridges). Even with my trekking poles I did take one fall while crossing a snow bridge...slid about 15' or so. The solitude was so worth it!

Here's a link to all the photos, or some of my favorites below.

Table Mountain

Mazama Lake

Table Mountain

Aptly named "iceberg lake"

Iceberg Lake

Hayes Lake

Hayes Lake

The Zoo

Had the joy of going to the zoo again with Grandma and Grandpa Greene. Of course, B LOVED it! Highlights were the owls, the train ride, the zebras, and we got to see the lions and tiger get fed. Fun! While Brennan was napping in the Bob, we also saw two cougars get fed, a black bear get fed, and grizzly bear too. Brennan's favorite was probably the python...he loved hanging out with all the snakes.

Link to the full album here

Owls

Brennan and I were walking through Whatcom Falls Park and heard these owls. We were on the wrong side of the creek so we doubled back and found them. Very cool!!! B learned that some owls don't really go "whoo whoo" as these were screech owls.

Link to the album...