Spirit Lake

Today we attempted to go to Spirit Lake . The plan was to take photos on the way to the lake and at the lake. It didn't quite work out that way.  The trip there for the most part went well. It was overcast, drizzling rain (very light) and the weather was cool but comfortable.  There was very little traffic on Salmon Creek road. Generally during the summer months there is a lot of traffic on that road due to campers, hikers and mountain bikers. It was nice to be able to drive and check out the scenery without having to deal with tourist traffic.

The road leading to Spirit Lake was mostly clear. There were a few trees that had fallen across the road, but they had been cut and the pieces removed. There were also a few largish rocks on the road in some places.  There were also some trees that looked like they were going to end up in the road sometime in the near future, but looked stable for the time being.  Along the way, there were several small waterfalls. There was also some small patches of snow visible.

We passed one large pickup truck coming down from the direction that we going in. I didn't think much of it at the time. The drive was uneventful. I would stop and park the car whenever I saw something that I wanted to take pictures of. Then the trip came to a stop. The road was block by snow. A lot of snow. And it was deep enough that it would have been foolish to try to drive through or over it. That brought the trip to Spirit Lake to a halt.

 

Th e above photo is the road. It was taken near where the road turned.  The snow was deep enough that getting my car over it would have been risky. And it was densely packed. I was able to walk on the snow without sinking into it or getting snow in my hiking sandals.

Anyway, here are some of the photos that I took in this short day trip. I took over 100 photos on this particular trip.

This photo was taken where one of the trees that fell splintered apart. Plants were already growing up through the fractures. The rain was not too bad at this point. I didn't need to put a gallon Ziploc bag over my camera. The log was soaked. When I leaned up against the log to get a better shot, my jeans were soaked where they came in contact with the log.

One of the several waterfalls on the way to Spirit Lake.  I think most of the waterfalls were from either spring melt runoff or springs that run during the rainy weather.  This waterfall was right next to the road.

This particular photo is of a waterfall that I think may flow year round.

There were many rhododendrons in various stages of blooming up there. Most of them were of this shade of light pink, though there were some that appeared to be a much darker pink.

A view of the overcast or misty sky through the trees. This was taken at around the 3000 feet elevation level.

 

Scotch broom, my nemesis. This plant's pollen has caused more allergy flareups for me. 

Another shot of the sky seen through the trees.

This is a photo of a white Douglas Iris. This one was taken on the way back down to main road. The rain was tapering back to a fine mist , for awhile.

I am hoping to be able to make it up to Spirit Lake after the snow melts and before the mosquitoes are bad.