Royal Ruminations by A. Queen: A Walk On The Ridge

Mount Angeles is the set of peaks on the left.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day with the sun beaming down

creating temperatures in the 60s on the ridge.

Me & Kory enjoying a nice hike.

The last time I ventured out toward Mount Angeles, I made it to the top.

Unfortunately I have not been out much this year. I did not realize how out of shape I was for hiking in high altitudes until we were fairly close to the top.

Yes, I wimped out.

I now have a goal to work toward :)

A view from the trail.

Kory enjoying the splendor.

A couple more shots along the trail.

We got of to a bit of a late start, so it was late afternoon/early evening

when we reached the highest point of the hike for the day.

Since we are in cougar country we made a point to remain watchful for any signs of wildlife. We saw several species, but (thankfully) no cougar!

We spied a large black bear about 75-100 yards away. I tried to get the camera out before he ducked into the pines, but wasn't quite fast enough.

Kory noticed a mountain goat wandering around in the woods nearby, but he did not show himself. Considering the fact that one of these goats actually killed a man last year, we were quite relieved that he chose to let us pass without a standoff.

We stopped & had a snack along the trail when this gal came along.

She was brave enough to get pretty darn close, but decided to walk behind us rather than continue on her trail route. She stopped and studied us for a few seconds, then sauntered off.

We had the pleasure of several different types of wildflowers in full bloom!

At first glance this looked like a family, however, the little brownish guy on the left didn't belong. The poor baby couldn't get any of the others to accept him. I watched him trot around, bleating the entire time as if he was looking for his Momma but none of the deer in the area wanted anything to do with him. They kept charging him & running him off. It was actually pretty sad :(