Early Winter

Snow Level is Falling

Castle Rock in Clouds

It has been stormy the last couple days--hard and steady rain, blustery, cold. There was a little window of sun this afternoon and I could see that a lot of snow has fallen in the mountains, with the snow level much lower than it's been up until now--maybe down around 3,500 feet. (For comparison, Stehekin is at 1,200 feet, the ridge straight across the lake from my window is at about 6,000 feet. The high peaks at the head of the Stehekin Valley top 9,000.

I am getting so much composing done--I accomplish in a day what it takes me a week or more to get done in regular life. There is supposed to be a little break in the weather tomorrow--I may hike up toward the high country (east, up the Purple Pass trail) and check out the snow.

Looking up to the ridge above my house, in first light.

Monday Morning Hike

There was a slight break in the weather this morning, so I took the 8:00 shuttle bus up to High Bridge to get a half day of hiking in. (Tomorrow is the last day the shuttle bus runs, so getting upvalley will be a little less convenient after that.)

I started with the Agnes Gorge trail. This trail goes for 2.5 miles, on the opposite side of Agnes Creek as the Agnes Creek trail (the one I came into the Stehekin Valley on at the end of my backpacking trip). Unlike that trail which climbs high above Agnes Gorge, the gorge trail contours just above the creek for a couple miles and then drops into the Agnes Gorge. It is a pleasant, nearly level low-elevation forest walk ending at the beautiful gorge. The fall colors are probably a week away from their peak at this lower elevation. There were a few drops of drizzle and a few small sunbreaks.

Agnes Gorge took exactly two hours, which gave me just enough time to go to Coon Lake and still catch the 12:15 shuttle home. It is 1.3 miles and maybe 500 feet of elevation gain, through more open forest with some views across the Stehekin Valley and up to McGregor Mountain. I watched a duck feeding in the lake for a few minutes, but never got any decent pictures.

Critter notes: Agnes Gorge is considered one of the best places to see bears (I have seen them there before). And the trail to Coon Lake is considered one of the best places to see a rattler. Unfortunately, I saw neither. (This is my third time hiking the Stehekin area, and I have never seen a rattlesnake, although they are by no means rare around here.)

This afternoon I finished the slow movement of the clarinet sonata, while the rain started up again. The locals seem pretty surprised by the amount of rainy weather this past week. The forecast calls for sunny weather Friday-Sunday: I will probably backpack up to North Fork Bridge Creek then—my last backpack trip while I’m here.

View 15 photos from these hikes. 

Sunday Stroll

The sky is cloudy but clearing this morning. There is fresh snow on the high peaks. There was a great blue heron on the shore right in front of my house as I stepped out the door. I went for a little walk after breakfast, about a mile down the lakeshore trail and back, then settled in for work: I'm hoping to finish the slow movement of the clarinet sonata today.

Fresh Snow, First Light

Burnt Forest

Castle Rock

Uplake View

Fresh Snow On McGregor

Sunlight, Snow, Clouds

This and that...

The complete 34-photo set of yesterday's hike to Rainbow Lake is available now, here. (Again, I recommend the slide show option with "info on.") I think there are some terrific photos in this set.

For my Michigan friends: I learned today that there is a small confirmed population of wolverines in the north cascades. Just thought you'd want to know.

I had a productive work day today, getting the ending set for one of the pieces I'm working on. (I generally start with the ending.) It was rainy and cool and really felt like Fall today. I made a big pot of jambalaya for dinner which will feed me for a few days.

Speaking of feeling like Fall, it feels like things are winding down here in Stehekin. The bakery is only open Thur-Sun now, and the few other businesses in the valley have also scaled back. The shuttle bus upvalley only runs for a few more days. I have a feeling things are about to get very quiet here!

Supersized Dayhike to Rainbow Lake

I had planned to do a hike this weekend, but the forecast calls for increasing chance of rain through Sunday, so I decided to take my weekend today and work over the weekend. The forecast was iffy, but I took off for what turned out to be a monster hike: a 3-mile bike to the Rainbow Trailhead, then 11 miles and 4,800 feet up to Rainbow Lake (and then back). It’s been a long time since I hiked 20+ miles in a day (plus 6 bonus bike miles.) I beasted it, as my son would say, but I’m sure my feet will be protesting in the morning.

View all 34 photos of Rainbow Lake Hike. (I recommend opening them in a new window, choosing the “slideshow” link, and clicking the “info on” button to see the titles.)

Here's a teaser (click to see the full-sized image):

Larch With Reflections

Smoke On The Water

Fall Colors

I left my door at 7:00, getting to the trailhead at 7:15. The Rainbow Creek trail starts off the Rainbow Loop, which climbs the initial headwall of the Stehekin Valley above Rainbow Falls. Then you climb (fairly steeply) a spur ridge high above Rainbow Creek and contour to meet the creek at the Rainbow Ford crossing, about 4.5 miles from the trailhead. Here is a groovy little suspension bridge. You’ve got to give it to the NPS: I heart the Forest Service, too, but NPS trails are beautifully built, maintained, and signed. You can tell that they have more resources to devote to this than the NFS. On a long hike like this, it’s nice knowing there will be no worries finding the trail. Another mile takes you to the junction with the Rainbow Lake trail, which crosses Rainbow again, then climbs steep switchbacks into the hanging valley of the N. Fork Rainbow Cr. After reaching the top of the hanging valley, it moderates and travels almost straight north along the N. fork to Rainbow Lake (and another mile to Bowan Pass.).

I saw fresh-looking “liquid cub” Bear scats by the dozens on the trail, but never saw the bears. (Looks like they’ve been eating salal.) It drizzled ever so briefly on the way up a couple times, but no big deal. The colors became increasingly spectacular as I headed into the higher country, as well as the views downlake to the big peaks of the Milham Pass area. One final talus to switchback up brought me to Rainbow Lake, which was just gorgeous with fall colors, including larch trees that had started to turn gold. (In about a week it will be unbelievable up there.) I plopped down for lunch a little after 12:30, enjoying my PBJ, apple, and the fruit and berry trail mix that two wonderful women had sent along with me from home. By 1:00 the skies were looking more threatening, so I thought it’d be wise to get down to a little warmer place before the rain started. Sure enough, by 1:25 it was raining, and it never really stopped the rest of the trip, although it was mostly just a steady drizzle. I got back to the trailhead at 5:00, back home at 5:15, and in a hot shower at 5:16.

First work day

(Non music geeks--there is non music geek content below...scroll down.) 

It was a productive day today--I got down to work and devised the scale system for the two pieces I'm going to be working on here. It has some interesting properties: you music people might want to poke around with it and see what they are:

C-Db-Eb-E-F#-G#-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-Ab-Bb-C

This is an "octave non-repeating" scale, which is typical for me. It actually repeats its pattern every 8 semitones (in other words, the pattern starting from G# is the same as it was starting from C.) So three cycles of 8 = 24, or two octaves. It includes all 12 pitch classes, but over two octaves. You can figure out the rest.

This evening I rode bike (the NPS has one for me) up to Rainbow Falls, which is about 3 miles upvalley from Stehekin Landing, getting there right around sunset. I didn't take the camera, but here is a picture of rainbow falls:

The only problem with bike riding back (it was all downhill) was the million bugs I ate. Dessert!  

I also got some good news by email today: some good friends from Seattle might be able to come and visit while I'm here. All in all, a great day. The only downside is that my watch stopped, and of course, there is nowhere here to get a new battery, or buy a new watch for that matter. And there's no cellphone service, so my phone won't know what time it is either for long. Oh well.