#windy pass

In the past our friends Paula and Frank Shafransky have shared some of their beautiful pictures of the Larch changing in the northern reaches of the PCT. We posted those a couple of years ago. They recently went back to near that area that is a favorite of theirs (and ours) and shared these pictures of the wildflowers in their full glory near Buckskin and Windy Passes.

Windy Pass

Paula Shafransky sent us these images from her Fall, 2017 “larch march” along the PCT in the North Cascades. These pictures were taken on Grasshopper Pass and Windy Pass .

We talked briefly about larches on an October 31, 2017 post featuring images taken by Dennis Golden in the North Cascades (http://pcttrailsidereader.com/post/166985416827/dennis-golden-walked-the-five-miles-of-the-pct).   Paula’s colors are more vivid but Dennis includes the added dimension of fresh snow. Larches are deciduous conifers native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere (the dominant tree in the boreal forests of Siberia and Canada and common in the North Cascades).

It should be prime larch time in the North Cascades right now.  Hopefully, they won’t drop their needles with the blast of winter forecast for this weekend in the North Cascades,

Stunning!  Spectacular! Jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Paula Shafransky sent us these images from her annual “larch march” along the PCT in the North Cascades. These pictures were taken on Grasshopper Pass and Windy Pass last fall. “We pass a lot of PCT people on the trail who are coming to the end of their long journey,” she noted. “We take candy bars to pass out to them as they are almost always hungry. This year we encountered quite a few people from out of the country - Sweden, France, and Poland. One gal had carried her cat the whole way!”

We talked briefly about larches on an October 31, 2017 post featuring images taken by Dennis Golden in the North Cascades (http://pcttrailsidereader.com/post/166985416827/dennis-golden-walked-the-five-miles-of-the-pct).   Paula’s colors are more vivid but Dennis includes the added dimension of fresh snow. Larches are deciduous conifers native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere (the dominant tree in the boreal forests of Siberia and Canada and common in the North Cascades).

 EP4 - Photography at Lake Caroline and Windy Pass