Wandering In The Foggy Wenatchee Hills

© 2008 Clint Hollingsworth

(Dec. 12, 2008) Greatly needing a day out from modern craziness, I just decided to stay fairly close to home and wander in the hills above Wenatchee (WA) near the Beehive reservoir. The hills there are laced with old fire roads which are great for short hikes among the pines, and I had been on this road about two weeks earlier, and listened to the coyotes yipping below me farther down the valley. It had been sunny then, now...? Not so much.

The fog had rolled in so thick, that I couldn't even see my area from the valley. I was wearing my woolrick coat with a down vest underneath, and was somewhat warm, even though cold air kept going up my legs... (Shoulda worn my long johns)

More fog ...

This woodpecker was about all the wildlife I saw out there. On my earlier trip, there had been deer and elk tracks everywhere. Now the frozen ground wouldn't take a track at all.

At last, i made it to my destination, a really cool sandstone pillar in the middle of nowhere. I like to meditate at the base of the pillar (not that I'm very good or disciplined at it), there's a perfect flat spot right there on the left.

Here's the other side....

I actually did pretty good this time, and when I opened my eyes, here's what I saw. Winter was finally here!

Here's a pic of my "new" $3.99 man-bag from Goodwill (also a bit of my finger). That's my Tracker knife sticking out of the bag.

Last elderberries of the year...

The snow brings out the track.

The road out.