Stunning Start to a New Year

Bill and I sat on top of that mountain in August. 

This morning's photos are a blend of what I saw during my comings and goings by foot and by car over the New Year's weekend.  It was oh so beautiful at virtually every stop. 

Strawberry Mountain leads off the pack today because I now feel like I know the real mountain where Bill and I climbed to the top one August Saturday in 2015. 

The physical woes (four miles worth of nonstop leg cramps while coming down the mountain, blisters and a bad knee which made me limp along like a really old woman for about a month afterward) reminded me that I had done something rather stupid that afternoon, i.e., long, steep hike with one bottle of frozen water which leads to dehydration and taking off on a hike after a hot summer of less than adequate physical exercise.  

Still, all the aches and pains combined could not come close to the exhilaration and pride of having completed that goal, even if it wasn't the mountain I always thought it was. Only after our hike, did I learn that the mountain I've always thought was Strawberry Mountain was, instead, Grouse Mountain. 

Now that I know the difference, Strawberry Mountain has truly gained prominence in my memories and Grouse Mountain (it's the one below behind the silo), not Strawberry, still ranks as one of my favorite scenes.

Next, you'll see Strawberry Mountain among its friends in the Cabinets, including the very prominent Pend Oreille Peak.  We have walked the trail along the ridges from Lunch Peak to Pend Oreille Peak, and I can tell you the entire view is astounding. 

Over the weekend, I also took a short drive on the Upper Pack River Road, turning around at the Caribou Creek Road and stopping for a few minutes to enjoy the river in its winter glory. 

Cold, cold, crystal clear water without a thick coating of snow or ice allowed for some images we don't usually see in the dead of winter, especially reflections of trees as the frigid water comes rushing over the creek bed.  

It was fun to dig out a photo from the fall of almost the same scene, once again proving that in this country any change of day time or season provides a whole new opportunity in capturing the continuous beauty around where we live. 

While driving down Selle Road one day this weekend, I saw a photo possibility out of the corner of my eye and quickly turned around to capture it.  The horse in the woods next to Selle Valley Carden School was nice enough to stay put while I parked, grabbed my camera and snapped a shot. 

Another horse was standing nearby, but its dark color blends in with the background.  The overall combination of the horse, the snow-covered log and the evergreens offered a pleasant Christmas card image. 

Back to Upper Pack.  In addition to the beautiful river flowing from a spectacular backdrop of Selkirk Peaks, the area around the first bridge is always fun and filled with memories for a lot of folks who remember the good times at Edna and Buck's.  

For most of my younger life, I knew the restaurant bar and its nearby cabins as Buck and Edna's, but later learned of the reversal of names. 

Is it my foggy brain or is it true that Edna ran the show, so her name got listed first? I really don't know if that's true at all, but it makes a good story, and that watering hole along Upper Pack offered ample fodder for lots of stories. 

I'm sure that someone seeing this today can set us straight on lots of aspects of Buck and Edna's.  Don't tell Edna that I regressed to my youth and used the name that rolls so much easier off the tongue. 

Below, the mailboxes in Buck and Ednaville offered a fun wintry image. 

The photo above and several below were taken in our yard and just out on the road one morning when I went for a dogless walk down South Center Valley Road.  I've been grabbing dogless-walk opportunities any time I can while Bill is around.  

My group of canine friends does provide me much pleasure and joy, but once in a while a walk in solitude without being dragged by an eager puppy on leash is pretty nice.  By the way, Liam starts school tomorrow---seven weeks of obedience training. 

Anyway, back to the pictures.  The snow has just been busy as heck producing all kinds of interesting scenes and when it does, I view it the same as newly opened back of tasty chips.  Ya can't settle for just one, so you gobble and gobble and gobble.   That's how it is with a camera on a pretty day. 

And, when a group of snow machines comes down your country road, that adds another nice touch to the overall scene.  

Those riders were very courteous and careful as they slowly went down the roadside in their caravan, probably bound for a spot where they could rev up those engines and have a good ol' time racing through the snow. 

Nothing to say here 'cept it's one of Geneva Meserve's rose hips from her magnificent row of bushes, forming a border along her yard. 

The final photos, including the one above were taken on a trip with my siblings out the Sunnyside Road.  Since we took the three doggies with us, our picture taking turned out to be fairly limited, but we stopped a couple of times and, overall, just enjoyed the drive, which included a trip down East Shingle Mill Road where that silo lives on one of the farms. 

Overall, an absolutely gorgeous weekend, where the outside world was filled with an overdose of eye candy and no calories.  

Happy Monday.