A Great Hike!

Took a break from knitting to go on a great hike the other day. When we've been on this trail previously I've regretted not bringing my camera along. We started this hike rather early in the morning when it was cool and shady, so the lighting was not the best for photos, but I still got some good ones... so many that I had a difficult time deciding what to post. The first photo is a creek crossing. The water is but a trickle this time of year. There are about 17 or 18 creek crossings similar to this along the trail. The trail is over 2.7 miles up the mountain; 5.5 miles round trip. It's a great work out!




My photos are a bit out of order. At the top of the trail is an 1887 family homestead. The stacked rocks are all that remains of a stone fireplace. A family intended to log this area but their plans never came to fruition.



A nice jagged rock. Too bad the lighting was not a bit better!



At the top of the mountain, you find an enormous steam boiler and flywheel. (This appears to be the door to the boiler, where I imagine the boiler would be stoked with wood or coal?) It was brought here for the logging business. Just a few yards away is a patch of wild raspberries, although on this particular day the berries were all dried up. The raspberries are on some rather precarious ground right on the edge of the creek... difficult footing. We've been mindful to watch for bears when we harvested the berries in the past, although we've not seen much in the way of wildlife when we've been on this trail. By the way, the raspberries at the top of a mountain, growing wild along a beautiful creek, and after hiking 2.7 miles, DO taste much better than the berries at the grocery store. Imagine that!




I think this must be the "flywheel".



Sunlight on berries. Autumn is in the air for sure!




Three mushrooms in the shade. The lighting was poor so my camera automatically turned on the flash, which made the photo of these mushrooms look even better than in person!




Sunflowers... a nice end to a hike. Snapped this photo just before I got back in the car for the ride home. I am fortunate to live in such a beautiful area!