Join Thor, Bear dog, and me as we escape the “2020 blues” to soak up the last beautiful days of summer in our Pacific Northwest mountains.
“But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;”
These days so many of us are hearing Andrew Marvell’s wheels inexorably approaching. No need to enumerate all the crises facing the world! Despite our own year of stresses, Thor and I (and, of course, Bear dog) keep finding ways to connect with Nature and save our sanity. More or less.
Early this week, after torrential rainfalls and crazy wind, and before more wildfire smoke drifted back from California to shroud our mountains again, we escaped for a day. “Let’s carpe the heck out of this diem!” Thor cried. So we joined our friend Brenda at the Bagley Lakes trail head for a mellow hike, picnic, and blueberry munching on the slopes of Mt. Baker (the native Koma Kulshan), where we could look across the lake ravine at rugged Mt. Shuksan.
The drive up the Mt. Baker Highway from Bellingham, WA, is always a delight, but as fall ripens, the huge, moss-covered maple trees along the Nooksack River burst into yellow flame. Here, at the ranger station, one of my favorite of these Ent Trees towers over a life-size statue honoring the Civilian Conservation Corps that built many sturdy structures in our parks and forests.
We head out into the lake/stream ravine, with a glimpse backwards at Mt. Shuksan.
The trail along the stream, heading toward Bagley Lake beneath Table Mountain, is a magical retreat. Fall colors are just starting, and the blueberries are ripe.
Below the bridge, several dippers, or water ouzels, were flitting, bobbing about on the rocks with their distinctive dip of the tail, and then plunging in to navigate underwater in search of treats.
Along the stream bank are plentiful outcrops of columnar andesite, a signature feature of this terrain. Geologist Thor explains: “Andesite is the name of the rock formed from andesitic lava. Andesite is similar to basalt (the lava from Hawaiian volcanoes) but the composition is a little different and the lava is somewhat thicker (more viscous) than basalt. Columnar andesite is formed from andesitic lava flows. When the flow stops moving and starts to cool, the lava contracts as it solidifies. It contracts evenly because the flow is homogeneous. This results in evenly spaced cracks that form polygons at the surface, much like mud cracks in a drying pond. As the flow continues to cool, these cracks propagate to the bottom of the flow making wonderfully even polygonal columns.”
Thor went on to explain that most of the polygonal shapes are hexagons –like honeycombs, the most efficient packing shape ubiquitous in nature.
We start climbing as the trail rises above Bagley Lake.
Bear dog loves heeding the call of the wild. (Though he always Stays when we tell him he can’t chase wildlife.)
Sweet mountain blueberries provide appetizers and dessert.
We relax with our picnic and a view of the lake and Mt. Shuksan.
The sunshine was deliciously warm, and I felt that lake calling me for a swim. As we neared, we realized that we were being called by a mama river otter and her two youngsters who were swimming and diving in the clear, shallow waters. They swam closer to check out Bear, who was politely standing above on the trail. I wish I had a fancy camera, but this is the best shot I could get with my phone:
When the otters call you to join them in the lake, you can’t say no. Stripping down for Bracing dips in the clear, shimmering lake, we shared the joy of the day with these charming creatures. Carpe diem!
We thank Mother Nature once more, and send best wishes to our friends and forests of our fire-ravaged U.S. West. We have to hope for renewal, and fight for desperately-needed change of politics to address climate change. May we all prevail!
*****
You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is available in print and ebook: The Ariadne Connection. It’s a near-future thriller set in the Greek islands. “Technology triggers a deadly new plague. Can a healer find the cure?” The novel has received the Chanticleer Global Thriller Grand Prize and the Cygnus Award for Speculative Fiction. Sara has recently returned from another research trip in Greece and is back at work on the sequel, The Ariadne Disconnect. Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
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