Little Diamond in the rough!

Just a Wildflower

Just a Wildflower

How simple is that?

This morning I had the chance to just sit and listen to the sounds of the forest before anyone was awake.  The animals were very awake!  Duke needed to go out which is very odd (we realized later that he wasn’t feeling well). Once he had me up and we saw a very large deer I decided that 6 am was a pretty good hour to get up!

Hard at work, 7 am

Hard at work, 7 am

This guy was huge and right above our RV working away on a hole for about an hour while I watched.

His finished work

His finished work

The hole is up about 50 feet and very easy to see from the ground!  The squirrels were also very busy but didn’t have time to sit while I took their picture.  Usually later in the day they are friendlier.

We are hanging out for a few days near Little Diamond Lake, Newport WA.  It is in the Northeastern corner of Washington and today we took a hike that we had to enter in Idaho and then back to Washington before getting there.  We also ended up 10 miles from the Canadian border!  Beautiful country with lots of lakes and the Pend Oreille River.  

Today’s goal was to get onto one of the many hiking trails.  I found one, Bead Lake Trail that would have went part way around the lake, was moderate difficulty and the dog was welcome.  It was about a 20 mile drive and all the information stated that it was hard to find and not very popular!  Sounds great!  Only when we finally found it, the trail took a steep descent into the forest and didn’t look well marked so plan B!

We continued up the road along The Pend Oreille River to Lake Sullivan where it was suppose to be a lakeshore trail around 1/2 the lake for an 8 mile round trip hike!  We found this one after only asking the ranger guy and it was a very nice hike only it wasn’t really along the lake shore.

Ready to hike the Lakeshore Trail

Ready to hike the Lakeshore Trail

Lots of beautiful forest

Lots of beautiful forest

The lake

The lake

Most of the trail was either away from the lake or high above it!  We did finally find a spot where Duke could get to the lake and get a drink!

LakeSullivanBeach

Crystal clear waters

Crystal clear waters

It was a beautiful hike, although the fear of poison oak is always on our minds.  We saw lots of greenery with 3 leaves!  After awhile every piece of folliage starts to have 3 leaves!  This was a very narrow trail and when we got home everyone got a shower and the clothes are being washed!  If we survive this hike without an outbreak I might get Paul out into nature again, otherwise we are going to be stuck on paved walking trails!

LakeSullivan2

Paul trying to get Duke to pose!

Paul trying to get Duke to pose!

We only hiked about 2 miles in because this wasn’t a loop trail,  Paul was concerned about the greenery and I had other spots to check out on our trip back down The International Selkirk Loop,  280-mile scenic drive encircling the spectacular Selkirk Mountains in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and southeastern British Columbia.  We did only about 40 miles of it today.  I think we will do another section later next week!

Just outside of Metaline Falls, where we stopped into the post office to send some mail we found a short little walk to Sweet Creek Waterfalls.  What a very nice little rest stop with picnic tables and you can get right down into the creek!

SweetCreekWaterfall

If you look closely you can see a couple enjoying the falls between the upper and lower cascades!  We climbed up to the break and met them.  A very nice couple who were ready to leave and let us enjoy the spot to ourselves!

The upper falls, where Duke and I walked into the creek and got a very nice photo!

The upper falls, where Duke and I walked into the creek and got a very nice photo!

A very nice day and I got some much enjoyed time out in the woods!

Wild Berries

Wild Berries

Back at our home in the woods,  a shot of some wild berries!  The area just north of here boasts about Huckleberries and it is picking season.  They only grow wild and they make all kinds of things out of them.  Picking them is a bit of a sport as they are a favorite of the bears in the region!  Careful!. I wonder if these berries that are right outside of my door are huckleberries!  I soon will be finding out!

 

 

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