The beginning of our hike - can you see the truck? That's where we have to leave our car.

Not being able to ford the river with our car added an additional 6 miles (3 there, 3 back) to our hike. Whups.

The road behind us. See the truck? Big mountain-hill

Woo! So we begin!

The river we had to wade through. Timothy forgot to lock the car and remembered AFTER we'd crossed it.

I got soaked. I'm happy my husband made me bring 2 pairs, even though he made me get the first pair wet, hahahahaha.

1.5 miles up to the ridge trailhead (3,000 ft elevation)

2.5 miles up (almost to the trailhead!!)

Cold, clear, and WINDY. The winds got up to 30mph, mostly stayed around 20 though.

ME! Before windburn and 22 miles in 2 days with several thousand feet of elevation change.

Timothy! At the trailhead, on top of the ridge @ 3,000 feet elevation

Water droplet. Plant is about an inch high.

The beginning of our hike on the ridge. This is the easier part. Just have to not get blown off the top, haha.

I am NOT smoking. I think I'm eating. I do that a lot. =)

Visibility from the highest peak is over 40 miles we think.

Mountain flowers. Plants are about 2" high. They look like pansies!

Fuzzy moss!

That peak is across the river, ~ 5 miles on the ridge.

A silver lining on everything

The early explorers mapped out the mountain ridges.....

Pensive

Halfway down the ridge.

Can you see our trail?

The early explorers rest from the rough hike, battling the elements of intense sun, wind, and cold.

Sagebrush twisted branches. Probably 50+ years old

Mountain lupine. Has bacteria living in the roots that help convert minerals and elements for the plants.

Pretty.

All of these plants are no higher than mid calf.

Shorter than my fingers. Binocular case in the background.

Tons of flowers but they are all so TINY

Snack break!!

B&W

Color

More laurel. Grows in arid, nutrient-deprived soil.

Flowers!

Look closely. That's a 1950's rusted car with shiny chrome bumpers. Wonder how long its been there....

Makes the ridge look SO big!

Wet wrinkled toes from my soaking earlier. This is with a change of socks!!

2 miles downhill off the ridge got us here. Cottonwoods and sagebrush and a nasty looking creek.

Our future site

It was so windy that we despaired of finding a site to keep us from blowing away during the night.

BEAVER LODGE! COOOOOL!!! (water is still gross)

Uhmm...me looking at beaver lodge.

Sunset in the hills

Neato rock formation.

Sunset

Isn't it beautiful??

I told you the water was nasty....

Bones!! We found 2 deer skeletons next to our site.

Early dentures....

Bambi's mom.

A young deer, based upon the relative low wear-and-tear on the teeth

Nasal passages. Isn't that neat?

I like it.

Sunset and a full moon

We found a place amidst the sagebrush. We stole the Elk's sleeping site.

Perfect fit for our little tent.

The kitchen is right behind him.

Our deer watch over us, haha.

After a LONG day's hike (11 miles), our blessed flip flops. Too bad it was about 30 degrees out and froze off our toes in minutes.

Breakfast man! 27 degrees overnight makes pancakes blessed food.

See? Cozy!

Sunrise

Sunrise in the valley. No wildlife. Sad.

4 grain homemade pancake mix. SO good. Warms the fingers.

Sans tent.

Yoga to loosen us old folk up before a new day's hike (another 11 miles)

Optimistic!

Sorry, can't help it. Bones are fascinating

The only deer we saw that morning.

Now we just need the cowboy music.....

Those early explorers.....

Beaver-eaten tree! NEATO

Beavered. They can fell many trees in one night. Neat, but glad I don't have those teeth.

Birdsong Tree. Where we originally wanted to camp, but couldn't make the additional 2 miles.

The only source of fresh water; a "spring" (really, it's under there somewhere.

Refilling d'l'eau.

What is this? Did someone spill malt balls?

*gasp!* no, it's....it's... DEER TURDS!

They were so cute and round! Couldn't help it. Don't worry, they weren't fresh at all.

Beaver lodge!

Nasty beaver pond. I'm sure they loved it.

Beaver felled tree. It's been there a while.

NOM

Simply beautiful! I can almost see the indians riding along...

We went off-trail to save a few hours and ran across tons and tons of these.

All different shades of pinks and purples.

Can you see the grains of sand? These flowers are SMALL

Some of the biggest flowers we saw.

Some of the smallest! The camera refused to focus.

Do you see what I see?

Mouse trails! These were ALL OVER the place.

Elk!

Simply magnificent

See the little brown pond of water waaaaay in the distance? We came from even further away.....

1.5 hours to the top of the ridge. Walk. Rest. Walk. Rest. Walk. Rest. Wa--. Rest. Rest. Wal-...

At last. The trail head. It felt SO good to sit down. The wind almost blew us off the rocks. Now just the last 3 miles down to the car....

Oh blessed creek that wouldn't let us cross! Wet mine feet that I may embrace my car!

DONE!

My poor poor limbs. After we sat for a few minutes, I felt like I needed a walker to help me move around.

Leaving, headed back home. This is the east side of the Cascades.