This view comes from along the Chuckanut ridge off of Cleator Road. Overlooking Samish Bay and Rosario Strait, you can see the Olympic Mountains.

A cold, cloudy December morning didn’t stop us from traversing this piece of the Chuckanut Mountain ridge. Chuckanut is an interpretation of a Lummi word meaning “Long beach far from a narrow entrance,” and these mountains represent the only place where the Cascade mountain range stretches down to the sea. Famous for their leaf fossils from the Tertiary Age, the Chuckanuts also have a lot of glacial erratics, which I call “erotics,” upon which Lupe loves to climb.  Marcos, although he seems to be worried in this picture, loves the views from the cliffs.

The light, on many afternoons, flits through these hemlocks and firs in a strange way. It’s hard to capture with a camera and still pick up Chuckanut Bay, which you can see beyond the trees.

Lupe, a contented pick-up dog, enjoys her ride back home.