Into the valley they rode...getting a bit carried away, wrong poem.
Heading into the mist as we gain altitude, snow-capped peaks in background.
Contrast of clear and cloud after we lost sunshine. Clouds moving across quickly.
On our third full day in the Park, we hiked 2,500 feet through a forest, almost eight miles roundtrip,
and found Lake Angeles enveloped in mist. Had we been in Los Angeles, we might have used the words
fog and smog instead. What a pity. We believe the lake has a small island in the middle, is
surrounded by towering walls on three sides with glaciers and a waterfall. We were expecting to be
confronted with an incredible sight. These things happen but we still enjoyed the hike of an unrelenting
climb and the jog, for much of the way, down.
Editor makes room for enemy...um...goats to pass. Struggling to get a firm grip on steep slope.
Three families ( two about to arrive) blocking our way. The tilted head of the 'baby' makes us smile.
By the way, point those horns elsewhere.
The following day, the weather had not improved. As much as we enjoy mist and clouds, to get the best
from them, they have to keep moving in order to create mystery as well as provide glimpses of the beauty
they hide. To an extent, the ziz-zag hike to the Visitors' Centre provided much of this. At times though,
the mist was solid and views were limited. Although this amounts to repetition, Olympic Park is quite
beautiful, serene and somewhat spiritual. The latter is a term one feels rather than can explain satisfactorily.
Changed weather provides a different perspective of the Olympic Mountains.
Run deer, run. Don't know why as we don't eat venison.
We half-joked about goats the other day although we're not sure of the difference between a half
and full joke. While climbing this steep incline, we decided to photograph the editor standing on a
particularly steep path next to colorful flowers. "Be careful behind you," she shrieked. We turned to
face a goat and its kids approaching. A few seconds later, another two families of goats followed,
heading our way. It so happened we were positioned on a narrow path above a washed-away slope. Seriously,
the position was precarious and if the goats were feeling aggressive, we had a bit of a problem looming.
We moved a few feet off the path to appear less threatening. (You should see the editor when she's
aggressive...something we've never seen). However, a combination of the slope, loose sand and danger restricted
our movement further away.
Out comes the jacket as sun disappears but snow remains.
Thin ground cover but colorful as we look down the slope.
At that stage, the goats decided to eat. We watched although it did nothing for our appetites, that is,
observing what they were swallowing. We eat a lot of greens, but grass, no matter how green, does not do
it for us. After a couple of minutes, with the kids tilting their heads to the side and looking at us,
(one can eat them up they're so cute, figuratively speaking), we thought: 'We humans, we clever.
They animals. They dumb.' We clapped our hands, they scattered and we walked onwards although we had
to repeat the process a few times. Correction. 'We humans, maybe not so clever.'
Dear Jenni crests with a great but invisible background.
Jenni's deer crossing...no, cresting.
Jenni's dear cresting, too. A lot of it going around.
We need/want to eat so every now and again we have to go shopping. After coming down from Angeles Lake
today, we headed home but not before stopping at Walmart. Of course, we realize shopping at the giant
retailer is not considered the place to be seen, in certain circles. However, as we are squares, we like it.
The editor has developed trust of our shopping ability and will, from time to time, set us loose and
off we go in hunt of this or that. We have noticed that prices are rising. We mentioned to Jenni that
higher prices are great, resulting in more expensive food and other essentials. ‘Great! That’s pretty dumb,’
she replied. We then had to explain the finer points of economics to her. “You see, the Chairman of
the Federal Reserve, the big money man, Ben Bernanke says we need inflation. All the other important
leaders say the same thing. It is a good for the economy.”
Our editor will not accept this notion and mentions that at the cash register we are going to need
more money. ‘What’s good about that?’ We don’t have an immediate answer because, after all, we are
not an intellectual. Who are we to argue with the brains of the country and the world? They have
Phd’s and steer the country for us so unselfishly. We must be grateful and so we welcome paying more
for the same merchandise because the government tells us it’s good. After all, we are 'fine' citizens.
The editor can be difficult. ‘So on the money we saved over the years, we are no longer earning interest
and for the goods we need, we are paying higher prices.’ We shake our head because we think she is saying
something we used to think. However, we live in a different world today. That’s the old way. We must
change. Borrow and spend is the new mantra; something we are having difficulty grasping. We wish we had
a better head for economics, inter alia.
Perhaps when we climb the next mountain, it will become clearer. Looks like Mom and Dad taught us
incorrectly which we passed onto our children. The funny thing is, it's...not funny.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Our last picture of the Olympic Mountains, with cloud cover.
Love the boldness of the greens in a misty environment.
Some color from 'wild' flowers.
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