Happy Veteran's Day.

Thank you. 
Lfox and Crew. 

Happy Halloween

 Hello Blog World,
Here is my entry for the 2021 Jerry and Ben Halloween Contest.  I am going as Danny Devito and my pal Drunk Fox is going as Arnold Schwarzenegger and we are recreating the movie poster from the 1988 movie Twins. 

See the resemblance?

My pal Reindeer Coyote wanted to get involved in the fun (go Reindeer Coyote!!!).  He entered the snack contest.

This year he wanted to do a healthy Halloween Treat.  He has two mandarins and two stalks of celery.

Not the best final picture but perhaps you can see Reindeer's pumpkins. 

Thanks J and B for hosting the Halloween Contest.  Good luck everyone. 

Another hike? Nope, a ferry ride in the San Juan Islands.

Hello Blog World.  Little Fox here. I am hanging out at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal waiting for my ferry to come.  

The Anacortes ferry terminal is home to a variety of ferries.  I'm off to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, but they also have ferries that travel to other San Juan Islands and also Vancouver Island in Canada.  

The border just opened between the US and Canada so that's cool but they aren't running any ferries between Anacortes and Victoria yet.

Do you see my ferry in the background. I am traveling of the MV Suquamish.  The Suquamish was rebuilt in 2018 so it's in great shape and ready to take some important cargo (i.e. me) to Friday Harbor. 

Pro tip.  Hang out in the back of the ferry less wind. 

So many islands in the San Juan islands in Washington. 

About an hour and a half later I made it to Friday Harbor (they had to do some drills on the ferry....you know safety first).   Friday Harbor on San Juan Island is a popular destination and a cool place to visit. 

Lot's of neat stores.  This one looks right up my alley.  

Time was short on the island (gotta catch the ferry home) but I did find a nice spot to have a picnic lunch.  What a great view from the park. 

The Salty Fox coffee shop was closed but I have to admit I like the name. 

So, the Anacortes ferry terminal was pretty big and the Friday Harbor terminal was a little more low key.  No fancy walkway for walk on passengers (the only way to go) instead you walk on the dock straight to the ferry.

My vessel to Anacortes is the MV Yakima.  The Yakima is an older ferry (it's showing some age), built in 1967, then rebuilt in 2000.  It's had a good history.  First running Seattle to Bremerton, then Edmonds to Kingston and now it's running Anacortes to Friday Harbor.  How did one fox learn so much about the MV Yakima, Wikipedia of course (yes, the ferries have their own Wikipedia page). 

MV Yakima page

A side trip to Fairhaven.

 Hello Gang.  Little Fox here, this snowshoeing bear who is also staying at my air b and b suggested that I head into Bellingham for lunch today.  This fox isn't one to argue with a snowshoeing bear and/or a lunch suggestion. 

I'm in the Fairhaven district of Bellingham.  Fairhaven was it's own city plotted by "Dirty Dan"  (I need to research more about this guy) in the 1880s.  There are lots of cool buildings in town. 

Today Fairhaven is home to the lower terminal of the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry system).  Yep, you can take your car on the Alaska ferry from Bellingham to many ports north.  You can also do a walk on, it's kind of spendy but hey it's a ferry to Alaska so that's kind of cool.  Fairhaven is also home to Bellingham's Amtrak station and I believe the last stop before Amtrak goes to Vancouver, BC. 

I have never been to New Orleans (it's on the list) but this building seems like the kind of buildings that New Orleans would have.  Older, elegant and very distinguished. 

 

This building is home to my lunch stop, the Shirlee Bird Cafe. 

What? I have to share? Are you serious? 

 

More Mt. Baker Adventures!

 Good Morning!  Little Fox here. I am off to a hike I have wanted to do for ages, Ptarmigan Ridge. Ptarmigan Ridge is near Artist's Point on the Mt. Baker Hwy. This year, the dept of transportation is repairing some damage which adds a few miles to our hike.  That's okay, this fox is a good hiker. 

I believe this is Terminal Lake near Heather Meadows.  A nice little hike near the start of the hike.

The mountains are out today.  Two days later from Damfino lakes and what a difference in the air quality. 

Fireweed looks great today. 

Onward....perhaps I will see a ptarmigan on this ridge, being that this is the name of the trail.  

Mt Baker is in full view today.  Yep, a little snow on the trail in August. 

A marmot off in the distance.  He's whistling, according to Google marmots whistle when they sense danger.  I can only assume the danger that the marmot is whistling to warn other marmots of danger (i.e. me).  Little do they know....I'm a friendly fox. 

Mountain lupine. 

Welcome to my lunch spot. 

On the way back, Sequoia decided to take a break and cool off on one of the snow patches.

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.