My mother grew masses of bearded iris but I prefer these wild, beardless iris growing in exuberant clumps.
According to US Forest Service, unlike most flowering plants, iris has a superpower: both leaf surfaces of the iris can absorb light to provide the energy to photosynthesize and produce food for the plant that is stored in its rhizomes.
Here’s a few more photos from my trip. Table Mountain was amazing. Took damage to 4 pieces of gear and have multiple bruises from slipping on the rock field but it was a fun trip. Washington State is beautiful.
Look at this view of Mount Hood! Absolutely gorgeous. I’m sitting on the edge of a cliff on Table Mountain across the Columbia River in Washington State.
Woke up to something chewing a hole in the leather of my boots. This isn’t the AT, we don’t have mice I don’t think. I have a feeling it was something larger. What could it possibly be?
Heading up the West Table Mountain trail. Clear skies so far. 🤞🏼
Looking out from Pike Place Market over the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement and seeing this cruise ship docked at Pier 66 made me stop to reread this excellent Hakai magazine article from March by @andyengelson about the environmental costs of the cruise ship industry. "[T]he majority of ships idle their diesel engines for nine to 11 hours while passengers snap photos at Pike Place Market and the Space Needle."
Made it out on the trail at sunrise. Little bit of a green tunnel so far but just hit this view of Gillette Lake and Table Mountain. So happy to be out in nature. There is something so freeing about living off of only the possessions you have in your backpack.
I’ve been struggling to ID these ridiculously fast little spiders in my yard for a couple years now. They look like a small wolf spider or maybe a parson spider. I just saw more than one with what appears to be an egg sac attached to her. Are wolf spiders the only ones that do this? In the PNW. No good pic cause FAST. #OlympiaWA#pnw#arachnids#spider#spiders
Seattle Fire Department Search & Rescue Dog 'Rojo' On A S.F.D. Boat
Elliott Bay, Puget Sound (May, 2021)
Nikon D3300 / Tamron 16-300mm
I got to photograph Rojo when i saw him on a Fire Department boat that came up to a little floating dock extension on one of the big docks on our waterfront here in Puget Sound / Elliott Bay.
#Kelp has long been an important part of the #Samish diet and culture. The Samish Indian Nation's Department of Natural Resources dive team, formed in 2021, was created to gain a better understanding of the health of kelp forests, after elders noticed they weren't finding kelp fronds, which are traditionally used to wrap salmon.
Planning a 4-day backpacking trip this weekend to explore the southern most section of the PCT in Washington. First time hiking in this area. Will probably check out Table Mountain. Anything else interesting to visit in the first 30 miles or so of Washington?
Ok the second of the really superb nonfiction #books I read was The Annals of the Former World by John McPhee. I believe this was recommended either by @vickyveritas or someone via their #geology feed, and so thanks for that.
Geology is in fact the topic, and if you think that's not compelling, well, McPhee is the writer who might convince you otherwise. This book won a Pulitzer and it's easy to see why. His ability to weave together fact and narrative is amazing.
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Annals was written in four parts across decades, ending in the 90s, and it's left me quite curious as to how the field has evolved since then. If anyone in academic #geology sees this thread and is familiar with the McPhee book, I would love a pointer to further reading that covers more recent findings and theory. And I'd especially love a book on the geological history and tectonics of the #PNW - after the Assembling California section of Annals I'm ready for more of that!