A Drive To A Lake

 All summer my husband and his brother have been going on hikes once or twice a week. I've learned we have a lot of small lakes around here up high in the mountains because they've been hiking to them and telling me all about them when they return. Last Tuesday my husband suggested going for a drive to visit one of the lakes he's been to. You can drive to it, or hike. 

I can't do much hiking right now because my leg is still healing. The swelling and bruising in my knee is healing, but it's still got a ways to go. Well, anyway, we took a drive up north to visit Roman Nose Lake. I don't know why it's called that. It didn't look like a nose of any type to me. 

The drive was very nice, even if it was mostly on rough gravel logging roads up in the mountains. The weather was perfect. I really enjoyed it. I took a few pictures. Thought I'd share them.

Here are two Mule deer does and a fawn standing in the road chewing on a couple bushes. They were not afraid of us. We had to stop and wait for awhile until they decided they'd stroll off into the woods so we could get by.

This is lower Roman Nose lake. There is also Mid Roman Nose and High Roman Nose Lake. You can't drive to them. You have to hike. I think it's about 4 miles over a nearby ridge, or something like that. The lower lake is quite pretty. 

It's way up at the altitude that Alpine firs grow. Alpine firs are the slim-line Christmas kind of tree. They only grow about an inch a year, if that, because they're up too high to have a reasonable length of growing time. I learned some time ago that Conifer trees don't grow below the temperature of 56F degrees. It's a much colder climate up in the mountains.

There's a trail that goes half way around the left side of the lake. I noticed something while strolling along. The really big Alpine Fir's bark starts to split into squares and rectangles. I don't know why, but I find it interesting. This particular tree is probably about 12 inches thick. The tree is well over 300 years old.

Besides Alpine Fir, there are Tamaracks. The Tamarack is a conifer tree (has needles and cones) that actually turns yellow in the fall and the needles all fall off. It's the only conifer I know that does that. They are incredibly beautiful in the fall. These ones are growing up the side of an old boulder avalanche. The rocks are pretty big and made of granite.

It's where the trail ended. I got Zoey to pose on a rock for me. She was pretty happy. So many new things and smells to experience!

When I was taking the above pic, there was a bush with tiny little cones on it behind me. They were so cute!

The bush was some type of Alder. My thumb is in this photo so you can see the size of the cones.

A picture of the lake from another side. You can see the avalanche straight across.

I wish I had taken a chair and my knitting with us. It was kind of sad to drive all that way only to stay for about 30 minutes. I could have sat in the sun breathing in that clear sweet smelling air and knitting. I would have liked that.

Speaking of knitting, I have started a pair of socks. These will be this years Christmas present for the daughter-in-law. I was going to create some socks with trains on them, but I ran across this pattern and fell madly in love with it. She would definitely like them.

I'm using white and a heather blue yarn . So far, I'm liking it. The main pattern is 12 stitches wide and 10 rows high. A nice easy pattern. It'll get a little bit more difficult after I turn the heal. The bottom of the foot has it's own stitch pattern.

Live long and prosper. \\//