After all the trips we’ve done together, my hiking friends can now probably just about predict when they’ll hear me say it.
The trail we’re on crests a rise and we get our first, full-on view of an amazing string of peaks; or, in late fall or early winter we enter a chilly high country basin already filled with snow, and the winds have blown the frosty white stuff into incredible sculpted patterns.
And for the umteen-billionth time I say what I always say, week after week, hiking season after hiking season when we’re in some take-your-breath-away wild outdoor place:
“Man I LOVE where I live!”
And, really, can you blame me? I’ve lived in Washington state for 35 years now, and its mountains, green forests, desert country, and ocean beaches are so varied and offer such sweet eye candy to feed my photographic soul, I can’t help but gush.
I am smitten by this place.
