North Cascades Adventures

There is no better way to appreciate the environment than by getting out there and enjoying it. Despite the shot-happy hunters around here, the hubby and I took advantage of no kids in the house, and drove 17 miles into the mountains on Sunday. Down the road towards Arlington there was a Redneck concert-fest at the river featuring Kelly Pickler, and up the road toward Darrington there was the ultimate hippy-fest (aka Flowmotion), so staying at home was not an option.

Once we got the hell out of Dodge (up Mountain Loop Highway), we pulled off at Forrest Road 49 and hiked it almost 3 miles up. Along the way we only saw one marmot and heard a few birds, but remembering it was bear season, I was regretting not taking a dog or packing a gun. We were looking for a creek to pan for gold, but settled on a spot on the Sauk River just off the trail near Sloan Peak. Once we were at the river bank, we did do some rock scaling to make our way to a tributary creek bed so I could hunt for quartz and rubies.

I found two rocks with garnet stones imbedded, but did much better when we started panning. I found almost fifty very small garnets that were between purple and fire red in color. We only found one small piece of gold in the river, but I found a gold vein in a quartz rock I busted open on our way home in a dry creek off the southwest face of Mount Pugh. On our way back to our car from our spot on the river, we took the North Fork Sauk Falls trails down to the lookout/cliff. I will post pictures of this spectacular waterfall as soon as I can make a Radio Shack trip.

My gut feeling about bears came true when, on our way home, a black bear cub leaped out in front of our car. We slowed down to get a better look, but didn't stop for a picture as Mamma Bear was at the tree line watching our car. I really didn't want to have to explain that kind of a claim to Progressive.

The Environmental gods are looking out for me, as luck has come my way. Western Washington University will be adding Environmental Planning and Policy to their list of Bachelor's Degree's offered out of the University Center at Everett Community College where I go now. I won't have to drive to Bellingham until I'm ready to take my Sustainable Design classes in my last year! You have no idea how happy that makes me, and my hybrid (which is now named Escahpay thanks to Dr. Alix at work).

Go out and enjoy Mamma Nature!