[.]

[Elvis]

Nice Pics PiB! Glad you two got out to enjoy the day. We saw that same jet from Keechelus Lake (well, it was probably the same one, but no photos).

[Quark]

Yah, seeing that creature was sumpin' else! A rareity indeed. I finally got to the original Hucklberry trailhead. I had been looking in the wrong place the last 4 years. I was looking too far west - but a gentleman at the road end today told me that the first hundred feet or so of the original trailhead was taken out by the river, so I hadn't recognized the site. I'm not the only one who's been there - the way is now marked with a cairn sitting smack-dab on the Suiattle road, so you can't miss it. But to tell you the truth, I saw the tread before I saw the cairn, so I sorta found it on my own (I tripped over the cairn 'cause I was eyeballing the tread). I was sorta bummed that I didn't really find the trail on my own. Stuff like that is cool to find. The goddam sun was out, so it was too bright, making the pics of the trail fairly lousy, but imagine an overgrown trail. The original trailhead, is probably now sinking into the earth's mantle after being stuffed into an ocean trench back in 2003. I got all tingly walking on that trail again. PiB and I worked about 9 weekends in 1997 - the summer that never came - sleet, snow, rain - each weekend, all summer long - rebuilding the lower portion of this trail, so we love it. I am probably safe in assuming that that trail has been hammered; that creek takes out a few switchbacks with each flood event, and there have been 2 in the last 3 years. There's bound to be somewhat of a mess up there. I'd like to get up that trail before the road opens; time shouldn't be an issue - it's not to be repaired til 2009. We were pleasantly surprised to see some freinds of ours walking the road; we walked and chatted with them awhile, then they went on ahead while PiB and I slowed down to take pictures. All together there were 4 parties enjoying this road on foot, including an elderly gentleman enjoying a mocha and soaking in the sun at the road end. He knows a lot about the area, and it was nice chatting with him. DInner at Hometown Bakery and Cafe - awesome pizza, and you gotta love a restaurant where when you order a salad, the waitress nods her head, goes back to the kitchen, and you hear chop-chop-chopping. Boy that salad was fresh!

Alders

At Boundary Bridge

Big river from Hucklberry

Lungwort, both sides of one piece are very different and beautiful.

Lichen and moss

Pond at second washout

Red Osier, salmonberry and alder

Suiattle Scene3

Someone had asked if this is a confluence with the River and a creek. It is not; the Suiattle is braided, and many of it's braids are as big as some creeks. The alders in the middle are actually anchoring an island in the River.

Tiny alders poking through snow

Trees and river bar

Twilight, or 4 PM in January

[raz2sea]

Wow, impressive. The Pacific Green Crested Land Seal is so rare that it doesn't even exist on Google

[Quark]

raz2sea, check out 'calcitrated toads.' You'll probably find information on the Crested Land Seal there. Intrestingly, they're related (of course not closely related, but still...).

[peltoms]

PiB and Quark' another excellent adventure. The Suiattle sciene is showing the confluence of what stream with the Suiattle?

[Quark]

No confluence, peltoms. It's confluencing with itself (and currently the river is running low). The Suiattle is majorly braided and created huge islands all over the place. There are whole forests on islands in the middle of the river (both alive and dead and laying flat)I tried some photos to capture the hugeness and wideness of the floodplain, but I couldn't. It's an amazing river; alive, vibrant, beautiful, wild.

[Gabigabs]

Great pics. Sad to see the serious washouts though.

[raz2sea]

Thanks for that Info Quark, I see how related they are now. Always good to know these things, never know when they may come up.

[Yana]

[JimK]

I coulda sworn those land seals were wiped out by predatory land sharks.

[GeoTom]

They are even less related to the Pacific Northwest tree octopus. Jim, it was actually the mountain walrus that almost wiped them out. PiB's photo is great news indeed!

[Hiker Mama]

More wonderful pictures, you two. That looks like a neat area. I haven't been there before. And you got sunshine, too!

[Randy]

Finally catching up on some TRs. Really like the write ups and pictures. I haven't spent much time down that road and your report had me exploring on Topo!

[Quark]

Be careful, Randy; that River, she'll grab you & woan let go! Such a beautiful area - you have the map; you know what's up there. But yeah, like Putz said; you can tell Ma Nature is taking back her own; moreso than even this past summer. All those alder sprouts on the road.... no matter how much I love that river, I don't feel that it's mine. It's not possible to lay any claim on that wild one. It can lay claim on you, but you can't lay claim on it. That's the deal. I love it, but I'm half afraid of it; I look around and see what it's capable of. The Suiattle River is the epitome of Nature's indifference to Man.