Located within the 5,600 acre Big Buck Wildlife Area, Aspen Lake makes a perfect quick outting during the spring season. This weekend, being Memorial Weekend, usually means tons of people at all the snow-free trails, but not here. We only met a handful of hikers and four people on horseback. The walk to the lake is a short distance from the Elbow Coulee road; it took our slow and wandering family about 30 minutes to get there. The trail consists of an old road that is open to hikers, mountain bikers, and horses. The lake itself is fenced in from cattle, which were not out and about yet, but their calling cards (cow pies!) are everywhere. The balsamroot is in full bloom and the lupine is just getting started–both are carpeting the hillsides and are simply spectacular.

If you go:
Aspen Lake USGS Quad (trails.com)
WDFW Wildlife Areas and Access Points
Posted on May 24th, 2008 by aana
Filed under: Family Outings, Hiking and Backpacking | No Comments »
Here is one of two beautiful white ptarmigans spotted on a snowy hillside on Sunday during a trip up the North Cascades Highway behind the gate.
Posted on April 27th, 2008 by aana
Filed under: photo of the day, wildlife | No Comments »
Thursday is the big day, the day the North Cascades Highway opens. While the reopening of the pass is seen as a positive event for many people, for some of us it marks the end of a period of solitude and freedom from speeding cars. There is a golden time between the start of pass clearing activities to the opening day where people are free to walk, run, bike, and watch wildlife on the highway behind the closed gate. This time is a favorite of our family. We have rode our bikes, ran, pushed a stroller, or toted skis up the highway, soaking up the peacefulness before it vanishes, at least until the next year.
Today we chose to push a stroller and carry skis a short distance to take advantage of some snow that is begining to dwindle away along the hillsides of the valley. While we had a few remarks about our interesting combination, it cannot compare with the motorcycle-pulling-a-man-on-a-bicycle combo we saw starting up the same time as us. What people won’t do to get to the snow this time of year…
Posted on April 27th, 2008 by methowoutdoors
Filed under: Family Outings | No Comments »
Winter just doesn’t want to let go. Last weekend the valley received snow here and there. By Monday morning there was up to a few inches of new snow in some places. Three of us decided to test it out with a trip up to Loup Loup. Driving in, we noticed the snow was fairly wet and could make for more challenging skiing than Spring typically yields. We hiked strait up the hill under temperamental skies that showered snow on us one moment then sun the next. We then tentatively began making turns downhill through a couple of inches of thick and wet crud. It took a little work getting down, but we all had a good time laughing at ourselves, each other, and the wonderful conditions Mother Nature provided.
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 by methowoutdoors
Filed under: Downhill Skiing | No Comments »
Ahhh, the first day of Spring. The birds are comming back, the highway department is about to start work on clearing the pass, and I’ve seen the first Spring Beauties in bloom. And it snowed overnight, but only a skiff. Spring is coming and with it hopefully more frequent updates on the site. If you are interested in contributing, let us know!
Posted on March 20th, 2008 by methowoutdoors
Filed under: Conditions, announcements | No Comments »
It’s snowing in the upper valley! There’s been a few inches of nice champagne powder so far. If you like playing in the fresh snow, today’s the day.
Posted on January 29th, 2008 by methowoutdoors
Filed under: Conditions | No Comments »
Methowoutdoors.com will be undergoing an upgrade today. The site may be down periodically.
Posted on January 23rd, 2008 by Events and Announcements person
Filed under: announcements | 1 Comment »
The Methow Valley is number 1 on the Weather Channel’s “Top 10 Winter Family Getaways”. A short article on their site celebrates our rugged beauty, blue skies, and kilometers upon kilometers of cross-country ski trails. It also makes mention of our “Rocky Mountain Powder”. Whaaa? Yeah, ok, this is the Pacific Northwest, but c’mon, we ARE in eastern Washington. That means our snow is usually dry. Last time I checked, the Rockies didn’t own the patent for dry snow. Ah well, I guess when most folks think of PNW snow they think “Cascade Concrete”. We’ll just let them keep thinking that.
I’m sure some in our community are thrilled about being “discovered” again. But will that change anything? It probably will not. The Methow was discovered a long time ago (see the real estate prices lately?) and it’s still possible if not probable to have the trails all to one’s self especially during week days. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Related:
Posted on January 13th, 2008 by Season LaSalle
Filed under: Family Outings, Winter Activities, news | No Comments »