I'm delighted to report that progress has been made on our list of "must-do" summer outings. It's disheartening when summer is gone, and we've missed it. And we HAVE missed it before when outings weren't high priority. Seize the season!
All went well on Mt. Spokane, except the hiking part, which is the main reason we go up there. At least we thoroughly enjoyed the drive! We encountered an annoyance never before seen, at least not to this degree. The bugs were completely out-of-control horrid. I mean completely and totally. I have never seen bugs that bad. If you swapped the mountain scenery for a tropical rainforest, you'd have some idea of what I'm talking about. They were swarming everywhere and would not leave us alone for two seconds. The ladybugs might have been fun, but they kinda blended in with the multitudes. Lots of flies. I'm sure it would make a great kid's book:
Big ones, small ones
Fat ones, thin ones
Bugs of every shape and size
Some are nice, but some are flies!
This is new! What can I do?
Oh, that one wants to bite me, too!
The only explanation we can come up with is that there was no wind. VERY weird. Usually it's so gusty up there I have to plug my sensitive ears with cotton balls. Nope, it was hot and dead, other than the bugs, which were not dead at all. We're thinking wind interrupts their flight patterns, usually keeping them at bay.
Normally I would walk around taking pictures and find some rock to settle on while the boys are climbing. Instead, I fled to the car and left them to battle their way through. This was my scenery:
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| AC, CD, shade, and best of all: no bugs! |
I was hoping if they stayed on the move, it wouldn't be too bad. Unfortunately, moving didn't help them much. We definitely want to try again before fall, and next time we'll check the wind forecast first!
I'm including some pictures from previous years, since I don't think I've posted any before. The landscape has changed little, and the view is always spectacular. I'm slowly building a "portfolio," as I seem to get different shots I like each time. One year it might be a chipmunk, the next something else. This year I got one of the boys on the summit.
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| The Summit |
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| Rock |
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| Greg took this with his phone while I was cowering in the car! |
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| Vista House |
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| 2008 |
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| 2008 |
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| Chipmunk! |
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| Rocks and More Rocks |
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| From the Drive |
2 comments:
How strange about the bugs! We have had a huge increase of bothersome flies and mosquitoes here...worse than any other year. Nothing like what you experienced. Still fun to see the pictures prior to get an idea! Greg's phone shot is great! LOL with your "view" no bugs sounds much better!
That encourages me to think that maybe it was not only the wind but an extra bad bug year! I would never go up there again, if I thought it would be like that every time!
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