Hurricane Ridge

Leslie and I spent Sunday in the Olympics, the first time we’ve managed a hike in the mountains this year. Unfortunately, we were too late to catch the flowers. Truthfully, though, I go to the mountains for the views and the sense of standing on top of the world, as in this shot from the Visitor’s Center on Hurricane Ridge.

View of Mountains from Hurricane Ridge

Of course, you can’t visit the mountains without testing yourself against the trails, most often guarded by ever-vigilant

Chipmunk

chipmunks, rarely by flitting Pine White butterflies,

Pine White Butterfly

and sometimes by female Mountain Bluebirds.

Female Mountain Bluebird

Strangely enough, the view doesn’t look very different from the top of Hurricane Hill,

From Hurricane Hill

though the 1.5 mile walk up to the 5757-foot pinnacle makes it seem rather different.

Song of the Wild

When I looked back at the shots I’d taken at Woodland Park Zoo I was surprised how many of them were of exactly the same subjects I’d taken at all of my previous trips. In fact, I think there was only one experience that was truly different.

In all of my visits I’d never heard the Siamang “singing” to each other. And I’m positive I would have remembered if I had ever heard them before. Don’t miss the opportunity if you get the chance,

They’re not particularly striking visually,

Siamang

but once they start singing back and forth to each other the sound is as distinctive as the loon’s song:

Siamang singing

Shaman

I and thousands of mothers with toddlers headed out to Woodland Park Zoo yesterday to celebrate the 80° temperatures. Although I went primarily to spend some time trying to capture some bird pictures that had seemed impossible to capture with a youngster in tow, I ended up spending more time watching the Orangutans than anything else.

I love the way this Old Man of the Woods

Orangutan

suddenly disappeared,

Orangutan hiding under gunny sack

though afterwards it felt like the woods themselves were watching us.

Indian Summer?

After an extended rainy period that had me foreseeing the end of summer, yesterday afternoon was beautiful, as reflected in this backlit dahlia:

Backlit Dahlia

I can’t ever remember the dahlias looking better than they did yesterday at the Pt Defiance Garden, and, though I’m not particularly fond of the huge, showy dahlias, I couldn’t resist taking this shot

Orange Dahlia

of a dahlia that was nearly the size of my head.

The ball dahlias were out in full force, too.

Purple Ball Dahlia

And, though several of the roses seem damaged by recent heavy rains, some actually seemed revived by it, with new roses appearing everywhere refusing to be overshadowed by the nearby dahlia garden.

Red and Orange Rose