This is my favorite hike of the area. It starts out after a very bumpy pothole ridden  13 mile gut jarring drive to the trail head.  Once there its a two mile hike of switchbacks through a typical Pacific Northwest forest. We loaded up our packs, making sure to take lots of water for Isaac and headed up the trail. The clouds had rolled in making for a moody morning in the trees. We followed the switchbacks coming out into high alpine meadows and then back into the trees again. And then we top the ridge and the whole valley on a clear day comes into view with Mount Baker looming larger than life. This day we made our way up to the knoll instead of around the edge of it. Once on top, we decided to have our lunch and Isaac being 21 pulled out a beer.  Of course we needed to bring our favorite hiking treat - Anytime Toffee.  For the three hours we all got along as a family. There was plenty of teasing and roasting but they all got along. Sometimes three young adults within a family don't always get along, but when they do I hold it close to my heart and try to savor that time.  The fact that it happened on my favorite hike was a bonus.

I  love this image with these boys together.

Had Job not had these friends, I probably would have not had a party for him.  The day would have come and gone and I wouldn't have been able to pull anything off.  Thankfully the day was beautiful.  We set up tents, bought food and candy and drinks. There were games and photo booth and places to sit.  It was relaxing and nice to sit and talk to people. 

18 years we've lived here and never went to the Deming log show.  I'm not sure why we didn't take our kids but it wasn't something that was on our radar.  For some reason and I'm not sure why, we decided to go. The log show is a fund raiser to help injured men and women who work in the logging industry. Think of it like a rodeo for loggers.  There are all sorts of competitions such as pole climbing, chain saw cutting and relays, two person saw cutting, log truck wrapping, and more.  I really couldn't tell you all the nuances about it but it was amazing to see some activities that make up a loggers day.  There were also raffles and prizes given.  Large machines that could cut a log, strip the bark and place it in a pile in less than 5 minutes. Then there was an auction of cords of wood, machinery use, and landscaping that the audience could bid on. When you go to a rodeo, there is a clown that entertains between events as they get this set up.  They had one here as well.  He scaled a pole and did stunts at the top such as standing on his head, and almost losing his balance.  There was also a dialogue between him and the announcer as to why he was "hiding" at the top of the pole. Then came another event and another. These competition events are tasks that logger perform every day and it isn't easy. The work is hard, the equipment expensive and there can be hostile public opinions towards them. This was definitely an eye opener to what loggers actually do.

These boys have spent the last two years together.  Some have played soccer together, some have gone to elementary school together, some have been in classes with each other.  Though the last two years they have been tight.  I call our house "The House of the Revolving Door" mostly because of these four boys soon to become men.  Sometimes they hang at our house even when Job isn't there.  Sometimes in the morning I will find one or all on the floor or various couches.  Sometimes they play video games and then leave to buy junk food.  But they make their way back to the house sooner or later.  This is their last hurrah after graduation.  Then they will be heading their separate ways.  One to WSU. One to BTC and Culinary School. One to California and Chapman U. And Job to the Coast Guard.  What will life bring for them? I am not sure.  Will they make it to their destinations? Will their paths cross again.  Who knows but for the last two years, it has been fun.

This year we had new neighbors move in.  Actually we've had bunnies before but not like this.  We see these tiny little guys all the time.  Sometimes they are skittish and book out of there lickety split and other times they sit quietly as still as possible and hope you don't notice them. I drop to my belly and slowly belly crawl towards the bunny with my lens.  Sometimes I can get some good shots and sometimes I get their tail end as they find their little hiding spots.  I am sure my neighbors are getting a kick out of watching me crawl across our front yard. 

Sometimes I forget about this walk in the woods.  That is what it is - a walk.  This reserve has about 4 miles of trails that weave through Douglas Fir and ferns. After winding our way through the forest trail, we were given the option to detour around the small pond or continue the loop. We choose the pond and within a quarter of a mile to go we were greeted by the sounds of mallard ducks and frogs making their presence known. At the far end of the pond a bench was placed perfectly to take in the scenery and I could imagine spending a morning and a cup of coffee in the quiet. Just as we had rounded the corner to this peaceful sunny spot we were buzzed by a low flying duck coming out of the woods, banking hard and to make a landing on the pond. Continuing on we made our way around the pond and joined the main loop trail. There were families with small kids and trail runners that wanted a quick run through the woods but it was far from being crowded which made it lovely for a  spring walk in the woods.

We live in such an amazing area.  I feel like I have to pinch myself to make sure that I am really not dreaming about living here.  A typical "let's go for an easy hike" weekend day had us out the door on our way to enjoy the beautiful Oyster Dome in the Chuckanut mountains.  We just wanted a relaxing hike that wasn't too strenuous and so chose the Samish Overlook trailhead.  Since this provides a beautiful view of Skagit County with outhouses and picnic areas we knew it was going to be busy.  We've come up a number of times but have never seen para jumpers or hang gliders take off from this area. Yet that is exactly what we found when we arrived.  We walked over to the launch site and realized that this gentleman was setting up to glide and so like everyone else we decided to stay and watch.  Turns out he's in his 80s and has been hang gliding for years and years and this is what he does when he retires.  Makes me rethink what I might want to do. He set up his wings and then attached a green mummy sack like bag to the underneath. He strapped himself in and waited and waited and waited.  He waited for the wind to kick up and come up the face of the overlook.  The wind sock would gust and then quiet down and gust again. The crowd grew bigger and soon people were talking and asking questions meanwhile the gentleman remained quiet and concentrated.  Another gentleman started answering questions and talking about the currents, turns out he's part of a hang glider, para jumper club here. Without warning the hang glider had launched and was heading towards the ground hundreds of feet below, just as he was about to hit the tops of the trees, the glider leveled out and he sailed over the river far below, slowly, making large loops and spirals as he glided ever closer to his destination of a farmers field far below in the valley.  We stayed and watched a few people with parachutes jump and then started on our hike to Oyster Dome, contemplating if we would be able to do something like that ourselves.  A new hobby? Something probably to consider and dismiss.