Another Spencer ramble started early in the morning before light, but until half-way to the trailhead I was not sure if sunrise would be worth pushing for or not. The clouds were breaking up – a sunrise might work – so, Fox Hollow TH for a longish challenging up / down.
Dmitri was calling the entire time at the car and then I could hear him all the way to the top at the first stone stairs. No fog, no wind, little ambient noise … his calls carried all the way up the hill. Dmitri is an Eurasian Eagle-Owl at the Cascades Raptor Center. Here’s a good recording from Cornell (my attempt at voice memo recording failed this morning).
Then after Dmitri’s calls went silent, sunrise.
All the above pics were from the first time at the top. There were very few other hikers, so I bounced down to S. Willamette TH, and then back up to the top. By that time less than an hour after sunrise the sky was very different.
This naked tree pointing up to Mt Washington is a regular subject (disclosure: this photo was cropped to remove noise from the right side). After being at the top it was back down to N. Willamette and then right back to the top. That time, the view was unremarkable and not photoed. From the top, it was down and over Fox Hollow and up and over Baldy to Spring Blvd … then back to the car at Fox Hollow.
The first 2 hours of the hike were so quiet – every bird call could be heard and even the little Douglass Squirrels when they stopped screaming could be heard making softer sounds I’d never heard before. Once the trails were busier and the city was fully awake and working, those earlier sounds vanished … still, a remarkable ramble in the woods.
GaiaGPS Stats
Sunrise is missed by so many, Mon. e Wed. each week are my days. Thanks for reminding me to “look.”