North Fork Lakes

View of SMC Lake from road to the north and above it. Note the little minor peak above it that I can't figure out if it has a name (actually the area all around all the lakes has a lot of pretty ridges and odd peaks that are probably mostly unnamed but give the entire area a nice feel):



Today I wanted to find 3 lakes in the North Fork area all south of Lake Hancock. SMC Lake appears to be fed by the North Fork river, while Lake Nadeau and Lake Moolock are connected to Lake Hancock.

The first road that made sense on the map, eventually wasn't drivable, so I parked and kept hiking to locate the first two lakes (SMC and Nadeau).

SMC, probably my favorite of the three:


Lake Nadeau (taken from the road southeast of the lake):



I actually had a fair idea about where Moolock after finding the first two, but opted to return to the car and attempt to drive another road to these lakes. This road ended up not dead-ending but was in rough shape.

Taken from above Lake Moolock, where the road eventually ends. This is actually the tributary connecting Hancock and Moolock:


Moolock taken from the shore. With "Moolock Mountain" in the background: (At least I am pretty sure that is "Moolock Mountain" in any case, I think I will try the Middle Fork approach of that one rather than the North Fork which was one of two not-realized ideas of the day.)

Birdhouses

I headed up Dirty Harry via the "birdhouse" trail which cuts off the abandoned road route up to Dirty Harry's Balcony. It adds a little distance on the route but is honestly easier on the body than the cobble of the road. There should be 6 birdhouses, I managed to find 5 of them on the way up and down. I either missed number 2 or number 3 (numbers had fallen off some of the boxes). It is a cute idea for marking a trail.


This little guy (if you can see him) was on one of my early in the trail detours on the way up (always more willing to waste time in the beginning). I would learn on my way down after running into some evening climbers that they seem to call this area "Interstate Park" presumably because of the stunning view of I-90:



The "birdhouse" trail is also considerably prettier than the road route. Tons of cut little trees as you are started to near the Balcony:


Intersection marker of the "birdhouse" trail and the Balcony trail:



Marker coming from the trail to the Balcony and ready to really head up hill for Dirty Harry Peak:


The route is more abandoned road at this point and a lot of the ugly, slashy, weed stuff. Next time I want to bring flowers for the trail bucket:


I took a lot of photos from the top but it was a hot day and actually a bit hazy so most of them are not so impressive.

I believe the farthest north of the Granite Lakes:

Wildflowers on the knee-nagging downhill:





More bird houses in bad lighting...but again a good idea of the pretty woods.

Sampler Quilt

I completed this quilt for the Snoqualmie Valley Quilters following a sampler project that was put out a few years ago. It was supposed to done by completing a new block each week but of course I fell behind and set it aside for awhile.

Girl Scout Project

For knitters wanting to help in a community service project a Kirkland, WA girl is trying to complete her service project for her Girl Scout Gold Award and is looking for help with 7 x 9 inch knitted blocks.

Read her news story.

I wrote her and she needs the blocks by no later than July 29th. Mia and her friends have been using worsted weight on US8 needles. I have been burning through my project scraps so I am generally doubling up smaller weights; also on US8.

Another Rail Fence Quilt

My youngest sister has been joining me at quilt group and just finished her first quilt in time for our final meeting day. This quilt will be donated. She did a great job and I hope to get a chance to work on another one with her.



Also, we finally broke a long run of truly rotten weather which has been a welcomed relief for everyone.

Emma's Quilt

This Rail Fence Quilt is another quilt kit put together by one of my quilting groups that is going to have its last meeting this coming Friday. It was originally started by a friend of my youngest sister, then it was passed back to my sister to work on it, as well as some sewing by a different friend and finally finished by me so I could get it done by our last meeting. :)

Cuddle Buddy - not remotely knitting or sewing related. :)

I don't shop much at Chinworld anymore after my female chinchilla passed away a few years ago and the shipping charges were too high to justify ordering the smaller amounts for one, but every once in awhile I check out the site for new things and awhile ago they added the Cuddle Buddy.



Pascal (pictured) was/is a huge snuggler. The above photo is how he used to cuddle with Gabrielle. Gabrielle never much cared for it but tolerated it when she realized he wasn't ever leaving. When she passed away I would roll up my t-shirt at the end of the day and he would cuddle with that and I still do so when he seems more listless or depressed.



The moment he watched me trying to get it out of the package and get the "squeeze me" sticker off he started circling and cooing. He loves grooming it and moving it around.