Overnight to Lake Josephine

Two friends reconnect during the COVID-19 pandemic after first meeting 20 years earlier…with nature as much as with themselves…and must one confront the Trail to embrace the Wild?

*Note: This foto-essay has 103 fotos and 13 short videos*

Lake Josephine from the Icicle Creek Trail in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, WA. We left the PCT to head downhill to the lakeshore.

The magic of this adventure surprised me as I rarely go on overnight backpacking and camping trips. Once one has experienced going out for several days and nights it’s difficult to go back to merely one or two nights out. Such trips can be a lot of work and takes time to prepare for and to clean up afterwards. Edan had invited me to go with him. He’d encouraged me, and chose a fairly easy trip with low mileage as we both felt out of shape. Having had a surprisingly wonderful time overnighting solo on the PCT a month earlier, I agreed. Glad I did. Rediscovered the joy and ease of overnighters. Turned out to be one of my most favorite backpacking trips ever. We had balmy Autumn weather with a burst of Indian summer conditions. The scenery of Washington’s Alpine Lakes Wilderness is magnificent. And two long-time buddies, both divorced with kids all grown up, got to spend some rare time together in a place neither had been to before.

Edan Z and William B, friends for 20 years, pose at the Trailhead. The author’s on foto right holding the camera. Sunday 4 October 2020.  We left parking lot on foot at 11:18. Bit of a late start for an overnighter, but not as late as those we encountered later in the dark. All’s well, tho, as such a later start isn’t ideal. Yet we were well-rested from a good night’s sleep. Edan drove, and we were determined to enjoy the journey anyway.

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On the Kendall Katwalk Between the Sun and the Moon

Unexpected surprises on a short journey to a long-sought destination

(This is an unfinished work in progress. Welcome anyway, thanks for your patience, & enjoy what’s here in the moment.)

Sunset alpenglow from the Kendall Katwalk on the Pacific Crest Trail, late afternoon/early evening of Tuesday the 1st of September 2020.

Video Sweep of Snoqualmie Pass, Washington, Cascadia, on Tuesday afternoon the 1st of September 2020 C.E @ 14:31:31. Love this place! Gateway to great rock climbing, skiing, backpacking, dayhikes, camping, & yummy food & more!

Hello! I’m William, the author of this piece. Enjoy!

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To the River House

Our blended family’s joys & sorrows finding, gaining, enjoying, and losing our dream house and the many wacky adventures & jolly mishaps in and around the area, 2007 – 2010

*Click on any picture to expand and enlarge*

*This is a graphic intensive foto essay with 246 fotos & 1 video, and the larger the screen the better*

Kristina out in front of our new home with our realtor Randy V. We called it The River House. I took this picture with a LG smartfone camera at the time, Tuesday the 16th of October 2007, down in Mule Tail Flats outside Plain, Washington, in the Greater Stevens Pass – Leavenworth – Wenatchee Corridor.

The River House, Monday 18 August 2008.

Our back yard ends here at the river. The Wenatchee River flows thru the Cascade Mountains from Lake Wenatchee down thru several canyons before merging into the huge Columbia River. Wednesday 26 December 2007.

Blended family dynamics, y’all! Trying to get ourselves togerther for a family portrait by our comic genius Emily, one of my oldest daughter’s closest friends. I’m on my knees in the snow. Behind stand L2R: Talia, Kate, Morgan (now Dylan), & Kristina. Wednesday 16 January 2008.

Kids were at the right age for goofy pranks, too. Here my oldest, Morgan/Dylan discovers, well, this shower stall doesn’t quite work like one of Dr. Who’s TARDIS booths. This one here just sucks people screaming down the drain merrily, merrily, merrily into oblivion. OK, well, I don’t know exactly what she’s up to here, LOL! But Emily does! Mid-January of 2008.

Talia & Kate wrecked & laughing at the Sledding Hill over in Lake Wenatchee State Park close to the River House. A big day for Talia as she got back into snow sports after breaking her leg in a sledding accident on the same run two years earlier. Taken on Monday 15 February 2010.

The back side of the River House, the side facing the Wenatchee River. Yeah, I cleared and cleaned up what was an overgrown, debris-strewn yard. “Parked it out,” as the locals say. Took many long days and weeks. Had to for wildfire insurance, too. Hot tub on the deck picture right, and an onion swing, a fun gift for the kids from family friends up in Edmonton, Alberta just left of center. Aye, we love this place. Took us a long time to get over its loss. Was a house we’d expected to leave to our kids and their kids and have family & friends from around the world visit us here. Monday 18 August 2008.

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Snow Lake 2019: A man hikes with his oldest child on Father’s Day

William & Dylan (formerly Morgan) hike up to Snow Lake in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness on Sunday the 16th of June 2019

*This is a work in progress. Click on fotos to blow up big. Enjoy!

Snow Lake from the rocky overlook on the trail up from Alpental, Snoqualmie Pass, WA. Sunday 19 June 2019.

Father & Child…William Dudley Bass & Dylan Blair Bass, formerly Morgan Hannah… Selfie-shot atop the ledges overlooking the lake.

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The Strange and Beautiful Mundane: A Rare Father-Daughter Dayhike to Mason Lake

*This is a work in progress. Enjoy anyway!*

A 60 year old dad & his 20 year old daughter go on their first hike together in nearly 4 years, just the two of them without any other family & friends. Double selfie shot on Thursday 30 June 2019.

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Sunset & Darkness: October on Granite Mountain

An afternoon Autumn hike up a mountain to watch the sunset turns into one cold scramble back down towards midnight in 2017

*This is a work in progress. Feel free to enjoy in the meantime. Thank you!*

Click on any image to enlarge the foto & enjoy.

Grunting up to the summit late in the afternoon of Monday the 9th of October 2017. All fotos by the Author.

Gazing deeper into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness from near the mountain summit.

I seem to end up hiking in the dark a lot lately. One reason I always bring a headlamp with extra batteries for me. Today was one of those gorgeous fall days of Indian Summer bright with autumn foliage amidst the evergreens. Winter awaited me at the top of the mountain, however, and accompanied me back down into darkness. There wasn’t any ambush. Instead I embraced the elements and went into it. All the way into it, too. Yes, it was a glorious day.

“Epic!” another climber declared as he hiked back down as I scrambled up. Low-angled beams of waning sunlight lit up the mountainside in shades of fiery golden reds before the encroaching shadows of sunset.

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Dreams of Sasquatch: Solo to Mason Lake & Mt. Defiance

Conversations with the Invisible on a day hike to Mason Lake then climbing up to the top of Mt. Defiance in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of Cascadia

*Click on any picture to expand the foto. Enjoy!*

This is an unfinished work in progress. Feel free to explore what’s already here. Thanks!

Looking down from atop the summit of Mt. Defiance (5584 ft / 1702 m) into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Lake Kulla Kulla is in the lower left. Mason Lake beyond over in the right center. Bandera Mountain rises behind Mason Lake, followed by Pratt & Granite Mountains further back towards center ridge side. Foto by the author. Monday 22 June 2015.

Gazing deeper, steeper from Mt. Defiance into the belly of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.

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An afternoon ramble into the Alpine Lakes one day in May

The author tramps into the woods with an urban friend to show her a taste of the Wild with a view of mountain lakes

 

Olallie Lake from the ridge connecting Pratt & Granite Mountains, Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, Washington/Cascadia. Monday 25 May 2015. Foto by the Author.

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