September

First day of school, a hike, and a backpacking trip with Jean

Seeing the new cat in the Lucas family
The first day of school!
Hiking in Robe Canyon - Lime Kiln TrailSome of the old artifacts that have been artfully scattered along the trail
The old lime kiln
Peter, about to sell his cub scout popcornHe's hard to resist in his uniform!
Eric took Peter and Kenny to the state fair in PuyallupJean and I went on a hike to Lake Ingalls, north of Cle Elum. The first day was rainy, cold, and very windy. The scenery was still outstanding.
A pika in the rocksIn the Alpine Lakes wilderness
Lots of interesting rocksWe didn't see any mountain goats, which are aparently common here, but we did see lots of tufts of their hair.
Some very unusual rock formations, it looks like a dried out old streambedThe next morning dawned bright and sunny, thank goodness!
The larches were turning yellow, and apparently in about 2 weeks will be a bright orangeOur tent survived the night fairly well, despite the heavy winds and rain
Lovely little streams in the meadow, with sandy bottoms - if it had been warmer, I would have jumped in!
We had to keep a close eye on the cairns, to find our way
Over the gap, our first glimpse of Lake Ingalls
An unusual seam of rock in the cliff
We decided to try a circumnavigation of the lake. In terms of distance, it wasn't too bad, but there was serious scrambling involved.
The "beaches" would have been very tempting if it had been warmer!The lovely north side of the lake
In the basin below was another meadow with streams similar to the ones we camped next to
We tried to find a way all the way around the lake, but were not successful
What looked like a rescue helicopter was flying around, very close to the mountain and lake, and then hovered around in the valley next to us. We thought that there had probably been an accident.
On our way out - a view of Mt. Rainier in the distanceSylvia at the Mini Maker Faire