I have PVNS: My Mountain Excursion... June 2014

I feel like it is officially summer for me… finally… kids have been out of school for over a week so has most of my staff… but a few of us had been lingering around and will continue to be around next week. But… I took Friday off… and left early on Thursday so that I could head north… to my mountain. (I am actually writing this while I am at the mountain… but won’t be able to post it until I return to civilization…) I had debated about coming up or not… mostly because I had been up this way last weekend… and there is a wedding on Saturday to which I had been invited…not too far from here… and I feel a bit obligated to go… I would feel guilty being here sharing pictures later and not having made time to see one of my friends get married… but… in looking ahead to the summer there are a lot of fun things lined up, but also many things which will keep me busy. So… I sent my friend a message on facebook and apologized that I would not be there, at her wedding. I was honest… because there is no reason not to be… and explained that it had been a long school year…that there were some things I had been battling and that I really needed to get away this weekend… to unplug and take in my mountain… she was sad, but said she understood… I am afraid that I hurt her feelings, but… I am truly at a place in my life that allows me to take care of myself… and now, being here… in the shadow of my mountain, I know it was the right choice.

This was the mountain's way to welcome me:

A small bull moose off in one of the ponds along the road...

And... a view of the mountain... partly cloudy...

I got to the campground Thursday night around 5:30… just in time to catch Dad grilling some burgers and he gladly added one to the grill for me… and as we were finishing our meal, someone in the campground yelled that there was a moose in the stream… so I grabbed my camera and walked down to part of the campground where said moose was hanging out. He was a big guy… antlers still in velvet… and looked healthy. I took a few pictures went back to finish dinner then got my kayak ready to go and paddled in to where the moose had been. He was still there… and as many moose do this time of year focused on his food more so than the lady in the red kayak. For that I was grateful. I watched him eat for a while and I think I got some decent pictures.

I then paddled up the river a bit and got to see the sun shining on my mountain in a beautiful way… it was so peaceful…

(I think this is one of my favorite pictures of the mountain... I will get it printed at some point... the colors and the light... I love!)

I love this reflection!

There were so many irises this trip!

Later, while we sat around the campfire… Dad, Betty in her wheelchair, and a few family friends, the moose swam across the river. It was so dark it was hard to see him, but he braved the current and made it across… they are so big… and these animals with spindly legs manage to swim against a strong current… then disappear… they are amazing…

I slept pretty well and woke up really early, so early there was barely light on the mountain… and decided it was too early to go out on the water so went back to sleep… I got up again at 7 and got on the water… It was a bit windy, but it was beautiful… I was excited that the water levels were high enough that I could get into Tadpole Terrace… one of my favorite off shoots of the river, I saw a deer off in the distance.. she had seen me well before I had seen her… I used my camera to zoom in to make sure it was a deer and not my eyes playing tricks on me… not long after I got confirmation she turned and darted away and behind her was something tiny jumping after her… I am sad I did not get to see her baby, but maybe I will get to see it tomorrow…

I explored all of the off shoots this morning and returned and about 2.5 hours had passed… I visited with Dad and Betty and made them lunch… well dad cooked the chicken, but I put everything else together for a sandwich I have replicated from one I ate while in Denver… so good! Then… after lunch I decided to go back on the water… I found some beautiful flowers in the stream then as I headed up the river a loon decided that I was someone he wanted to spend time with… so we hung out… I think I got a great picture..but I can never tell for sure until I get them on my computer…

I will also print this one at some point... I like it...

Also think I will print this one... Daisies... make me think of mom... and think this is a good one to hang somewhere...

It was windy... and the water on the loons beak got caught in the wind...

this is not a great loon pic, but wanted to have the loon symbol on my kayak in a photo with a real loon...

The next loon pics are among my favorites... I really like the first one.

I paddled up the river a ways and drifted back down… again spending a good chunk of time out there… and again after dinner, I set off in my boat… a family friend was on the water with his grandchildren in his motor boat… and he was entertaining them, going fast which meant it was kind of loud. I was a bit annoyed as he managed to get his boat into tadpole terrace and I figured he would have scared away any wildlife… so I paddled up the river beyond tadpole terrace, figuring that I would stop in there on my way back… I enjoyed the evening paddle… the sun was beautiful in the way it shined on the trees and casted shadows… I saw a bald eagle dive for something in the water and of course I was not fast enough with my camera to catch it… but it was cool to see…
After a while I turned around and headed back towards the campground and went into Tadpole Terrace.. I paddled around a bit… Tadpole Terrace… is a pond… to get in there after leaving the main river you have to do a couple of sharp corners and if the water is high enough paddle over the beaver dam. It then is a fairly narrow entry way.. compared to the river, but then it opens up into a decent size pond… I had paddled into the pond and circled around a bit and as I was leaving something caught my eye… a deer was watching me… I froze.. afraid it was the mom from this morning and she would be easily spooked.. but she was not scared… as long as she could see me… I watched her for a while and we both heard something crashing through the woods on the opposite side from where she was standing… I expected a moose to join us, but nothing else came out of the woods… I decided to say good bye to the deer and as I was paddling away, she lost sight of me and began blowing… silly girl…I returned to the campground… sat around the fire… and am now going to go to sleep… I am tired.. and bet I will sleep well… I spent probably 7 hours on the water today… and… my arms are a bit sore… but… I know coming here was the right decision… I feel more relaxed already…

Saturday…I woke up this morning around 6:00 a.m. and thought about going out in my kayak, but… the wind was blowing a bit harder than I liked and I decided to wait… in fact I ended up waiting until after lunch… It was still a bit breezy by then, but better than it had been early in the morning. I did not see any deer or moose, but got to see a pair of loons fishing together and I enjoyed that. I also got to see some more irises and other beautiful things… apparently I saw a lot to take pictures of up here… as of tonight… I have taken 623 pictures! Tonight I got some good silhouette shots of Dad fishing which I am excited about. I am looking forward to seeing those enlarged… I am not sure what else I did today… the day went by as they do up here, fast… It was nice to sit around the campfire tonight and watch the sunset… I am bummed that I will leave tomorrow, but am also looking forward to getting home so I can get things ready for my next adventure… but… in the meantime I have one more morning here… and I will get up and kayak …. And crossing my fingers, hope to see some moose!

You may have to look closely but there are three tadpoles on a log in this one and two in the pic below... hence the name "tadpole terrace."

A teal dragonfly... taken for Donna who loved teal...

The reflections were amazing! I love the next shots of my dad fishing... love the peacefulness...

Sunday... I woke up early... nature called... and at 5:30 a.m. I was on the water. It was beautiful... the way the light was... I didn't see any 4 legged furry critters, but saw lots of beautiful things... I left the campground around 11 to head home, planning to visit my aunt on my way home, but she wasn't there...so I came straight home... and got to have dinner with Sara and Maria which was a nice bonus!

Here are some final pics from the trip... So many pictures from this trip that I love!