Dam if I know....

 Hello Gang,

Little Fox here.  I am off exploring the Northern Cascades in Washington this week.  I'm pretty close to the Canadian Border but didn't bring my passport so no visiting my pal Sandy this week.

My hiking adventure is near Mt. Baker in Washington State.  The trail is called Damfino Lakes to Excelsior ridge.  

According to the people I chatted with on the hike they said a young whipper snapper asked an old timer mountain man what the name of the lake was and his response was "Dam if I know."  The named morphed into Damfino lakes and stuck. 

I made it to the lake!  The bugs were crazy at this time of the day.  It was one of the quickest lunches the humans ate.  Do you see the foggy weather, yep that's smoke from fires in Eastern Washington (8/13/21).

Next stop is Excelsior Ridge.   Yep, more smoke. 

Note to self, come back when the weather is a tad clearer.  Mountains look cool.  

At the top of the ridge.  A few different ways to access it.  We took the short cut, but the dirt road we traveled to the trailhead had a fork in it.  One way was to the trailhead, the other way was to Canada.  I should have seen if a certain Canadian Bear was interested in meeting up here.

Met some cool bears at the Air B and B. 

Just in case you are wondering I did not choose the air b and b simply because of the stuffy bears but it' was a nice perk. 

Time to rehydrate after the hike.  

Where is this fox off to next? 

Yipee, more wildflowers.

 The gods of the wildflowers (should that be capitalized??)  on the mountain were generous to this fox.  If all goes well I am off to McNeill Point.  Who was McNeill? He was a journalist from Illinois who moved to Portland in 1912 and instantly fell in love with Mt. Hood.   An avid skier, hiker and journalist who advocated for it's protection. 

Indian paintbrush along the way. 

Beargrass!

Tons of huckleberries that the humans ate along the trail.  My lunch spot.  Lupine, paintbrush and a lunch fit for a fox. 

To celebrate the end of my hike I decided to visit an old friend. He didn't have much time to talk as the wildfire season is his "busy time" but he did find a minute or two to pose for a picture.

Time to relax outside at Timberline Lodge.  This fox earned this beer, a nice Mt. Hood Brewing Porter.   

Wildflowers on the mountain!

 Hi Gang,
Little Fox here.  Welcome to my post dated blog.  Today, I am off on a little hike to Cairn Basin to check out the wildflowers.

You can see that there was a forest fire a few years ago (I need to research when).  They have cleaned up the trail but the damage from the fires is still clear.  Looks like some fireweed is blooming along with some other wildflowers.  Yipee! 

One of my favorite flowers, beargrass. 

OMG, even more flowers.  

Of course, a certain dog wanted to get in on the blog.  

PS - Sequoia says "hi". 

Off to my next hike.   Burnt Lake.  Yep, there was a fire here as well, this one happened in 1904 and the forest has recovered pretty well. 

Blue Huckleberries.  My favorite. 

Before exploring the lake, I had to check out Zig Zag Mountain.  Mt. Hood looks great and if you look hard you can see Burnt Lake in the background. 

Burnt Lake is looking great.  Lots of people enjoying the lake and who can blame them. 

Time for some dinner, yes I am having more than a beer.  This is just to tie me over until my dinner arrives. 

Yum.  Chicken burrito.  I'm a lucky fox. 

Off to Lake Cushman

 Hello Blog Gang,

Finally, the mountains decided to show up to the party.  The weather has been beautiful but the clouds just haven't lifted to get a view of the Olympic Mountains.

Time to pack up and head out for a hike.  So many options, Mount Elinor is pretty darn cool but way too steep for today's adventure.  We are going to check out the creeks and hopefully make it to the viewpoint. 

Time for a quick break.  The stream is ice cold but the area nearby is shady. 

Some cool bridges along the route. 

A nice stream. 

This little waterfall is perfect for me.  Relaxing, refreshing and just the right size for a little fox.

Yipee! I made it to Lake Cushman. Lake Cushman is a 4000+ acres lake in the Olympic National Forest.  It was originally a narrow section of the Skokomish River and then a few years ago (during the ice age) it was dammed by a terminal moraine.  The power company built Cushman Dam 1 (no points for creativity) and now it's much bigger and  is a reservoir. 

Some people are super lucky and have houses along the shore.  At the lake you can fish, paddle board and swim.  None of that today, this fox has to get back home.

Off to Lower Lena Lake

 Hiya Gang,
Little Fox here.  Today I am working off all the calories from yesterday's lunch on a hike to Lower Lena Lake in the Olympic National Forest. 

Sequoia says "enough chit chat" let's go.  Okay Sequoia, okay. 

The trail is in great shape. It's a popular lake and access point to other parts of the National Forest (and Park).

Red huckleberries.  They are not as sweet at the purple ones but edible none-the-less.

Made it!  Lower Lena Lake.  There is camping at the lake and a handful of trails that leave from here.  

Here's the stream that feeds the lake with snowmelt.

There's even a fox size waterfall to enjoy.

Time to explore with Little Fox

 Hiya Gang,

Little Fox here. Today, I am exploring Port Orchard and Bremerton.  Two cities on the Puget Sound. 

Before I head out I am going to seek the advice of a few animals I met at my air b-n-b.  These two suggested checking out the bakery in Port Orchard.  Great sandwiches and the key lime tart is a treat for a good stuffy (like me). 

The frog prince suggested visiting the waterfront of Bremerton to have a drink outside.  Good advice for sure.

First stop is Port Orchard. I need to find the bakery.  Luckily, Port Orchard's main street is very walkable so I should be able to find it  using my own two paws. 

I made it.  The bakery has a nice flower garden and a hearty vegetable garden.  Perhaps some of the tomatoes will be in my sandwich.  

They had three choices of panini but my roommates said I could only get one. I got the sweet pork panini. I hope there is enough for me.

They had two key lime tarts left. I wanted both but only got one.  It was very tasty.

Finally time for that beer in Bellingham.  There is a small ferry that travels between Port Orchard and Bellingham that is run by the local bus company.  Only $2.00 a ride but being a weekend the schedule just didn't work out.

That's Okay, I am a good navigator and made it to the docks.  I was able to wander around town, check out an art show, saw a few shops and finally made it to the boat dock.

Those animals were right.  The boat dock had a little patio bar.  Time for this fox to relax with a nice cold beer.