Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Mountain Peek
For this week’s Photo Challenge – A football game on a late afternoon overshadowed by the mountain peeking in the background.
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Tiger’s Turn
“Sue we need to talk.”
“Sure Tiger. What is it? I always have time for you”
“Do you Sue? Sometimes I wonder.”
“Why do you say that Tiger?”
“It’s the boy, Sue. He gets all the attention. It’s always ‘Benji this’ and ‘Benji that.’ I’m beginning to think you like him more than me.”
“Oh Tiger. You mustn’t think that. It’s just that he requires a lot more attention than you do. You know how he is, young and impetuous. I don’t know what I’d do without a mature cat like you around the house to balance out the boy.”
“Well okay Sue,” he said. “Still I’d like to be on the blog now and then.”
“Of course Tiger! It’s your turn! How about we get one of you sleeping?”
“Sure Sue. How’s this?”
“Perfect Tiger! What form!”
“Aw thanks Sue.”
~ Susanne and Tiger
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Icicle Creek and Wenatchee
Day 2 of our road trip to Leavenworth and we awoke to another sunny day and headed to nearby Icicle Creek. (You can see the story and pictures from Day 1 here if you missed it.)
Icicle Creek originates near the crest of the Cascades and flows into the Wenatchee River near Leavenworth. This wilderness area draws hikers, campers, and rock climbers.
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It also draws serious backpackers to one of the most popular hikes in the country: The Enchantments in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
According to the Washington Trails Association website: “In the Enchantments, nature has carved one of the magnificent places of this world–an alpine paradise of granite worn smooth by glaciers, larches manicured by wind and cold, and crystal blue lakes strung together by a creek that tumbles and thunders between them. Seemingly everywhere, herds of mountain goats calmly wander by. Superlatives simply don’t suffice, and you quickly find yourself resorting to otherworldly comparisons, just like the early visitors who bestowed place names like Aasgard, Sprite and Leprechaun on the fairytale surroundings.”
We stopped by the trail head to check it out.
No we did not take the hike. It’s challenging for even the strongest hiker and requires a minimum of two days (and that assumes you have the coveted permits, determined months in advance by lottery.) It’s a hike that every backpacker in the state dreams about doing. Bob did it once and we have the pictures to prove it.
Enchanting, yes, but not for me. I never did take to backpacking. I had one failed attempt in high school and never tried again. (But that’s another story.)
After our fill of Icicle Creek we moved on to Wenatchee where we stopped for lunch at the Pybus Public Market and took a walk along the Columbia River.
The paved Apple Capital Loop Trail follows the river and has boat ramps, playgrounds, a railway, and sculptures. My favorite is PED.
Amazing that in just two days time we had covered so much ground, enjoyed sunshine and forests and mountains and flowing rivers all adorned in fall color. A wonderful time for sure but it’s always good to be back home.
~Susanne
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Toes Up
While working on my next post on our road trip to Leavenworth, I found myself distracted by the cute one sleeping on the couch. I thought you might enjoy being distracted too. So here’s Benji, Toes Up.
~ Susanne
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Road Trip to Leavenworth
A couple of sunny fall days in the forecast so we packed our bags for an overnight trip to Leavenworth. I had to remove the stowaway who was hoping to tag along. (Sorry Benji, you wouldn’t like the car ride.)
The sun was shining and the road was bare as we headed northeast on Highway 2, surrounded by mountains and rivers, all lit up with fall color.
We stopped for pictures of Mt Index and were reminded to be on the alert for Bigfoot who is known to frequent the area. (We didn’t see him.)
We continued over Stevens Pass, until we ended up alongside the Wenatchee River, beautiful Tumwater Canyon and finally Leavenworth.
Leavenworth was once a dying logging town but reinvented itself as a Bavarian Village in the nineteen sixties. It’s now a popular travel destination with charming shops, restaurants and festivals.
After settling into our hotel, we went out for lunch and some shopping. Not surprisingly I was able to find a few things to buy, before walking down to Waterfront Park where the Wenatchee River flows through town.
Hard to believe all this beauty happened on day one. On day two, we traveled to nearby Icicle Creek and the trailhead to the Enchantments, a famous backpack into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. We also stopped by Wenatchee to visit the Market and take a walk along the mighty Columbia. Too many pictures and more story to tell, so I will save that for my next post.
Until then,
~ Susanne
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Rounded Benji
This week’s photo challenge reminds me of Benji, a soft and curvy, well-rounded kitty.
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Nolte State Park in Color
There’s never a bad time to visit Nolte State Park. We’ve made the drive south many times to get away from the city, breathe in fresh air and walk the trail through the forest around lovely Deep Lake. We were there in January when the only colors were green and brown and the lake was frozen over.
And again in the spring when the trees were waking up in chartreuse on a rainy day in May.
But today under sunshine and clear skies, the fall version of the Park was something new and wonderful to us as brilliant colors mingled with the evergreens and reflected in the lake.
I guess you could say fall is my new favorite time to visit Nolte.
Till next time,
~ Susanne
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Sunset Glow
For this week’s photo challenge I bring to you a sunset over the Strait of Juan de Fuca from a recent cruise to Alaska.
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A Walk in the Rain at Soos Creek Botanical Garden
Our first storm of the fall season was supposed to land today, bringing heavy rain and gusty winds up to forty miles an hour. It still may. But this morning I decided to brave what looked like ordinary rain and headed to Soos Creek Botanical Garden for a walk.
I’m so glad I did. It was exquisite.
~ Susanne
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Benji on Boxes
“Hi Benji. I see you found the box from my new shoes. What is it about cats and boxes? What compels you to get into an empty box?”
“Well Sue, it’s like this. Once we get into a box, a nap is immediately forthcoming. Works everytime. In fact I’m getting sleepy already.”
“Could you turn out the lights on your way out?”
“Sure Benji.”
~ Susanne and Benji
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 