A couple pictures from late summer

France.  Hiking across the Pyrenees.

Orisson, August 26/L Herlevi 2019

Dawn in Orisson.  I spent the night in a room underneath the deck.  We each got a coin that ensured 5-minutes of shower time; there's limited water availability.  I hadn't been sure I would be coming this way when I left home, but I put in a reservation request just the same.  When I was able to access email, 2 days before my request date, I found I had an invoice to pay and a reservation.  Between that and the G-7 closing the French border up near Irun (my original destination), that sealed the Pyrenees hike.  And it's a tough crossing, but I probably could've done it in one day.  As it was, I split it into two, Orisson, 8 kms up from St Jean Pied de Port.  Hot, and 100% humidity; with air so thick that morning, you could barely see 20 feet in front of you.  The Refuge at Orisson suddenly appearing out of the mists.  The picture below is how it appeared later in the afternoon, once the mists had burned off.  There was a family dinner at 7 pm, where everyone introduced themselves and what brought them here.  At night, we'd left a window open, and moths and other insects attracted to the bathroom lights, collected inside.  Ones you'd probably never see otherwise.

Orisson, August 25/L Herlevi 2019

French Pyrenees, August 26/L Herlevi 2019

The second day was more dry, with a lot of wind.  Full of herds of horses (which I'd hoped to see, and made the walk worth it), crowds of people walking, jeeps of armed security driving down the road, and a very steep descent into Roncesvalles, the first village in Spain.  I was tired and happy to get a bed when I arrived.  I got a top bunk, but a woman I'd met in Orisson, remembered that top bunks were hard for me, and traded with me, without my asking.

French Pyrenees, August 26/L Herlevi 2019

Summer Part II

And for Part II: Whidbey Island (Oak Harbor, Dugualla Bay, Deception Pass State Park.) Days of heavy smoke from all the surrounding wildfires.

Pier in Downtown Oak Harbor, August 15/L Herlevi 2018

Roadside Poppies, Dugualla Bay, August 14/L Herlevi 2018

Northbeach, Deception Pass, August 14/L Herlevi 2018

Nature Trail, Cranberry Lake, August 14/L Herlevi 2018

Where the Sea Meets the Sky, August 14/L Herlevi 2018

Nothingness, W Beach, August 14/L Herlevi 2018

Summer

Keep trying to write, and then running out of steam.  In the meantime, some pictures of my summer. Part I: Mt. Rainier and the North Cascades. On Mt. Rainier it was cool, and cloudy with expected thunder storms (and relief from the smoke and heat.)  In the N. Cascades, the smoke was at hazard level, and it was around 90 degrees F.

Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park, August 11/L Herlevi, 2018

Meadow in Cloud, Mt. Rainier, August 11/L Herlevi 2018

Electric Forest, N Cascades, August 15/L Herlevi 2018

Newhalem, August 15/L Herlevi 2018

Newhalem, August 15/L Herlevi 2018