Crowning Glory © 2010 Bo Mackison
This lovely yellow flower has one of the most spectacular crowns I’ve ever seen. Photographed at the University of British Columbia Arboretum in Vancouver.
Blue Lupine in the Cascades
June 23, 2010 by 12 Comments
Blue Lupine in the Cascades © 2010 Bo Mackison
Mother Nature makes it really hard to drive on the back roads of Washington state. Every few yards along the sides of the roads are massive spreads of blue and purple lupine. When she wants to make it especially difficult to concentrate, she adds a few white or pink lupine into the mix. Occasionally there are yellow ones, too.
I finally pulled off the road to get my photography fix for the morning. We were driving from Seattle to Vancouver — shouldn’t have been all that difficult, seeing as it is only a two hour drive. But we were already a day behind our plans, since we had taken the turn off I-5 the morning before for a spontaneous detour through the North Cascades. But even being off schedule wasn’t a good enough reason to not stop. So stop we did.
The lupine were definitely worth the delay.
Golden Rock
June 22, 2010 by 10 Comments
Golden Rock @ 2010 Bo Mackison
Close up view of Ruby Beach as high tide is approaching. I had to hurry to capture this little golden rock on the weathered log, reminded me of a little golden egg resting in a nest, before the waves started to pool around my ankles.
Even so, by the time we had walked north along the beach a hundred yards and back, we were cut off from the path to the car. Nothing dangerous, and there were lots of people still walking the area, but we all had to either walk across a fallen tree that functioned as a (very narrow, slippery) foot bridge or wade through the Hoh River at the spot where it enters the Pacific. We chose the route of wet socks, wet hiking boots, and a story to add to our ever increasing pile of memories.
Ruby Beach is on the Pacific Coast in Olympic National Park.
Pike’s Place Market – From Garden to You
June 21, 2010 by 8 Comments
From Garden to You © 2010 Bo Mackison
Fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish — all abound at the market at Pike’s Place, located just off the waterfront in Seattle, Washington. The Market opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers’ markets in the United States. Not only is it a place of business for many small farmers, it has many merchants, craftspeople and artisans displaying their crafts.
(I ended up buying a jar of handmade caramel sauce, gently flavored with tequila. Indulging in two of my favorites — caramel and tequila. However, I don’t think I’ve ever combined the two in one taste treat before. It was yummy!)
Hoh Rain Forest
June 20, 2010 by 7 Comments
Hoh Rain Forest © 2010 Bo Mackison
One of the more popular places to experience on a hike in the Olympic National Park in Washington state is the Hoh Rain Forest. It is one of a handful of temperate rain forests in the Northern Hemisphere that are in a protected area. Much of the forest in the surrounding region has been logged in the last century, and many areas still show the scars of uprooted trees. This makes the Hoh Forest that much more sacred.
The forests proximity to the Pacific Ocean brings an average of 140 inches of annual rain to the forest and mist adds another 30 inches each year. A visit to the Hoh in the summer is the driest choice – only four inches of rain falls in June on average. We walked the trails for several miles and though there was evidence of moisture everywhere, we had only a few drops fall on us.
This is surely one of the greenest places I have ever seen. Bright green everywhere I looked.
