About the cover photo: It took me three attempts of between 4 and 5 days each to get into the spot where this photo was taken. On the first two trips I suffered some very painful injuries. This spot is in the Baker River drainage in North Cascades National Park. Do you know the name of the mountain?

Converse hightops on my feet, I traverse the North Cascades in pursuit of my life project to walk into every high lake or pond mapped in the Skagit River watershed. The upper Skagit Valley near Marblemount, WA is my home and has been home to my family since 1888. I have come to feel that the culture of this place, like the culture of much of rural America, is misunderstood by an increasingly urban population and threatened by economic depression. I would like to share the stories of this place and the people who call it home. Through my stories and images of these mountains, my goal is to help others understand and respect both the natural resources and the people of the North Cascades.


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Pictures of the Week

Somewhere on the Upper Skagit River in North Cascades National Park. It took a day and a half of steady walking, mostly off-trail to reach the spot where this photo was taken.

Somewhere else on the Upper Skagit River in North Cascades National Park. It took about 8 hours of walking, mostly off-trail to reach the spot where this was taken.

Somewhere on the Cascade River in Glacier Peak Wilderness. It took about 8 hours or hiking about 4 hours of this off-trail to reach this spot.



Red Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum). A very showy early bloomer that produces berries that are edible though maybe not the best tasting.



Calypso or Fairy Slipper (Calypso bulbosa). Very pretty but also very small orchid native to the Pacific Northwest. When new, the flowers also have a very nice fragrance. These plants have very delicate roots and may also depend on fungi in the soil to provide them with many essential nutrients. Picking may actually break the roots or fungal connections of this plant resulting in its death. However, I have also observed these little beauties in woodlands grazed by cattle and in frequently disturbed stream banks so they can apparently tolerate some disturbance, at least in certain situations. 

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