If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 509

 

 

 

 

 

Bride and Groom wearing traditional wedding costumes, Ulvik, Vestland, Norway, ca 1997

 

This used postcard is a Snorre Natur og Kulturforlaget product with SD140 printed at the bottom edge on the reverse.  The photograph is by Snorre Aske.  A cousin sent this card in 1997.  The blurb at the upper left on the reverse says:  “Traditions are kept up in Norwegian fjords.  You can still see bridal parties arriving at the church by boat.  National costume from Hardanger with gold brooch.  Ulvik.”  The village and Ulvikafjorden, are seen in the background.

 

Norway is divided into fylke or counties.  In 2020 some of the counties were combined and renamed.  The village of Ulvik, situated on an arm of the Hardanger fjord, that was formerly in Hordaland.  Today it is in the new county of Vestland, which resulted from the merging of Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane.  This bunad or national costume is slightly different than the one found in the area closer to Bergen where the Landaas family lived.  However, the colors are similar and it has the traditional and distinctive Hardanger cutout embroidery on the bride’s apron.  The beautiful sølje pin seen at the upper right on the card is not only decorative but in times past was functional. There were no buttons on the blouse or vest and the pins were used as fasteners.  The pins are handmade, usually in sterling silver with gold spoons or disks.  Anciently the spoons were supposed reflect the sun and protect the wearer. 

 

The bee and ladybug stamps, issued in1997, are fun and were part of a sheet featuring several different types of insects. 

 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulvik_(village)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestland

 

Talapus Lake, 2021

 

 

 

 

Trailhead sign

The trailhead for Talapus Lake and the lake above it, Ollalie, is 50 miles from home for us.  Because it is close to the city it is one of the more popular hikes.  A Forest Service Pass is required.  The trail is within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, a high alpine area with over 50 lakes of varying sizes situated between Stevens and Snoqualmie Passes in the Cascade Mountain Range.  Each lake is a gem and each one is a little different.  Most of the lakes are too far and have too much elevation gain for us to attempt in a day hike.  There were already 8 cars in the parking area when we arrived.  There is an older small outhouse at the trailhead and a back-country toilet at the lake where camping is permitted.  We spent considerable time looking for the sign and location of the back country toilet.  The lake beach area is for day use only and is a nice place to have lunch. 

 

 

Mud pit and rocks

 

Snow on the trail

 

Bridge across Talapus Creek

 

Talapus Lake from our lunch spot

 

We have hiked this trail 4 or 5 times now, but not since 2018.  This time we had a couple of goals, one was to get at least 1000 ft elevation gain and the other was to do 5 miles roundtrip.  That would mean hiking to both Talapus and Ollalie Lakes.  I think we have been here in mid-summer and fall but not in spring when the snow is still melting.  The trailhead is at 2600 ft, Talapus is at 3264 and Ollalie Lake is 3785.  Trail crews have been working on the first section of the trail and there are indications that they are planning on working the entire trail, i.e., there were the orange bags with sand/gravel, and some cut wood alongside the trail in places.  Currently there are plenty of rocks, roots, mud pits, melting snow, and old snow in places especially as one climbs upward.  Just before reaching Talapus Lake we found snow on the trail.  It was slippery but the trail was visible just ahead of the snow, and it was fairly easy to cross using a trekking pole for safety.  There is a brand-new bridge crossing the creek.  There is just too much mud everywhere due to the melting snow. 

 

 

 More snow

Tiny garter snake

 

From Talapus onward the trail deteriorates and the rocks, mud, and roots multiply.  There were more snow fields covering more of the trail.  We met people coming down from Ollalie and asked one couple if there was much snow ahead.  The answer was yes, the trail disappears completely under a snow field but it was possible to walk across the snow following in the footsteps of others.  One woman said it took them about 5 to 10 minutes to cross the snow.  Bob estimated that meant it was probably ¼ or more of a mile of a snow field.  She added that right at Ollalie Lake there was no snow but the surrounding area still had snow.  It was slow going, relatively steep, lots more mud, many large rocks to step over or around, running water in small streams to walk through or hop rocks over, and several switchbacks.  We made the decision to turn back after reaching 1050 ft elevation gain and encountering another fairly large snow patch covering the trail ahead.  No bugs, no bears, no cougars, two chipmunks and one tiny garter snake.  Plenty of birdsong.  The round trip for us ended up being 4.5 miles

 

 

Trillium

Marsh marigold

 

 Coralroot

 

  

Skunk Cabbage

 Columbine

 

 

 A 4.5 mile RT with 1050 ft elevation gain

Count for the day:  37 people including one baby being carried, 1 dog. 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 508

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Francis Drake statue, Plymouth, Hoe, England

 

Signed Aubrey, the postcard shared this week features an ink drawing or etching of the Sir Francis Drake statue found in Plymouth Hoe, England.  The card was distributed by British Manufacture, series B.C.M./OKETUB.  The blurb on the back of the cards says: “Drake Statue.  This stone image of Sir Francis Drake stands within sight of the spot where he finished his game of bowls before setting out to defeat the Spanish Armada.”

 

The sculptor, Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834-1890), made two of these statues.  One, completed in 1883, is found at Plymouth Road, Tavistock, Devon, England, and the other, shown on the card, was unveiled on Plymouth Hoe in 1884 by Lady Fuller Drake.  In 1979 the Sir Francis Drake Commission of California gifted a plaque to be added to the base of the Hoe statue commemorating Drake’s coming ashore in Marin County, California in 1579.  The statues are made of bronze and granite. 

 

Plymouth Hoe, or the Hoe, is a large open public space in the city of Plymouth.  The Hoe is known as the place where Drake played a game of bowls in 1588 while waiting for the tide to change so he could set forth to engage with the Spanish Armada.  While it is a colorful story, it is not possible to prove that it happened. 

 

Some form of lawn bowling was played in England as early as the 1200s.  It was later banned for a period of time by kings and parliaments for fear of it replacing archery training, an important battlefield skill.  Later the game could be played on private grounds.  The term bowl for wooden ball is found recorded in the 1400s.  The advent of the lawn mower in 1830 allowed for more modern playing fields and grass courts for not only lawn bowling but also football (soccer) and tennis.  Today the game is played in over 40 countries.

 

Sir Francis Drake was born ca 1540 and died 1596.  An English explorer, slave trader, privateer, naval officer, sea captain, and politician, he is best known for circumnavigating the world in a single expedition from 1577 to 1580 on his ship the Golden Hind.  His naval successes made him a hero in England but the Spanish considered him a pirate and offered a reward of 20,000 ducats, about £6 million or $8 million today.  He was buried at sea, wearing full armor and placed in a lead lined coffin, near Portobelo on the Isthmus of Panama.  Although attempts have been made to find the coffin, Drake’s body has never been recovered.

 

Several replicas of the Golden Hind have been made including the one pictured below.  It is a full-sized reconstruction of the ship built in Appledore, Devon, England, using traditional methods, and launched in 1973.  It has traveled and been exhibited around the world.  Since 1996 it has been in Bankside, Southwark, London where it is open to the public and hosts educational programs.   

 

 Replica of the Golden Hind

[By Jose L. Marin - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2520640]

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Edgar_Boehm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowls

https://www.gpscity.com/attractions/sir-francis-drakes-statue-42095.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Hoe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind

 

 

 

Cooper River, 2021

 

 

 

 

Cooper River sign

 

The Cooper River trail is located near Salmon la Sac in eastern Washington.  This is about 105 miles from home for us or almost a two-hour drive.  The day started out with some excitement as just before we reached the turn off for the trailhead a gray wolf darted across the roadway in front of the car.  At first, we thought he might be a coyote, there are plenty of those around even in the city, but this was too big and well fed plus the wrong color.  When we got home and checked the local wolf pack locations, we saw that there is a wolf pack in the Teanaway, close enough to where we were to make us more certain it had been a wolf.

 

 

River views from the trail

 

A Forest Service Pass is required for this hike.  The Cooper River trail follows along the river for the first section and then heads up into a nice mixed forest.  There are mostly Douglas fir, Ponderosa pine, some cedar, vine maples, and alder with open spaces unlike the western side forests that are more densely treed and have more underbrush.  There was one Yew tree, not common, growing alongside the trail.  The Cooper River trail is not in, but right outside, of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area.   

 

 

 

This forest has never been logged and has nice big trees.  The trail surface starts out as dirt and rocks but once in the forest it becomes mostly packed earth and needles.  

 

 

The stream flowed through a group of three tree trunks.  It is hard to see but there is a pool of water at where the stream crosses the trail. 

 

 In one place a stream runs through 3 trees and creates a small pool that requires fording.  This is high water spring runoff season, even so, the water did not go over the top of our boots and it was possible to wade across without mishaps.  We saw several different wildflowers along the trail.  Near the ford we met a family of 4 with a dog coming up behind us.  It was a little after noon, and these were the first people we had encountered so far.  We met a few others on the return trip to the parking area.

 

 

 

 

 Trillium in new bloom

 

The Trillium turns a gorgeous shade of purple as the bloom is dying back

The first Canadian Dogwood or Bunchberry this year

A surprise, Camas!

Another surprise, Candystick!  Just popping up out of the ground

Serviceberry or Saskatoon

Surprise #3, an albino currant.   Our botanist friend tells us albino plants are not common but not rare either.

Orange Indian Paintbrush

Fairybells

 

As with the Greenwater Lakes trail the week before, there were signs warning of cougar sightings and instructions of what to do if a cougar was encountered on the trail.  Bear warnings are common at many trails.  These signs always cause me some concern but Bob assures me that the animals are always out there but we don’t see them. 

 

 

River view spot

There are many ups and downs on the trail.  Bob factored those in to arrive at an elevation gain of 600 ft.  Once again, we used the clock as well as a destination, agreeing to stop for a snack or mini lunch at 1 pm even if we didn’t reach the reported river view.  Then we could reassess whether to forge ahead to Cooper Lake, another ¾ mile ahead, or turn back.  With the time approaching 1 pm we stopped at the view point and ate half our lunch, then decided not to try reaching the lake and started back.  The reported view spot turned out to have a gorgeous view of the roaring river.  The round trip was 5 miles.

 

On the return trip we heard a loud noise, like the cracking of a dry branch, and turned to each other and said "What was that?"  Then I saw it and told Bob to look up at the hill.  A large lumpy shape on the hillside about 100 yds away.   A bear, a very large cinnamon brown bear!!  He looked to be between 200 and 300 pounds.  He turned and stared right at me.   Once again not enough time to get the camera set up and take a picture, and he was too close for comfort to even want to try.  Fortunately, he did not like the looks of us either and ambled up the hill at a pretty fast clip.  Exciting to say the least.  We told hikers coming up that there was a bear in the area and we put note on the trailhead sign with the date and location so others could be aware that one had been seen close to the trail. 

A 5 mile RT with 600 ft elevation gain

Count for the day:  13 people, 2 dogs

Greenwater Lakes, 2021

 

 

 

 

 Greenwater Lakes sign

 

 

Where did we hike?  The Greenwater Lakes trail.  We had been on this trail in February of 2015 when the river was considerably lower.  This time we managed to hit what was is probably the height of the Spring runoff.  The water was turbulent, high, almost to flood stage and had broached the trail in a couple of places.  There was a rampaging roar all along the way.  The river making islands in of some previously dry areas and isolating trees in the lakes.  The sign at the trailhead warned that the bridge at the 2.5-mile mark was closed.  Another note was tacked on the board mentioning two cougar sightings less than a mile from the trailhead a few days earlier.  We did not see any animals except one lone chipmunk and a few birds. 

 

 

 

A boardwalk across the water.  Normally this section would not be flooded.

 

Standing on the boardwalk looking at trees in the water

This log bridge had two rails.  The water is almost up to the bank and running fast.

 

 

 The river is flowing over downed trees and lapping at the trail bank

 

 

The two small lakes are flooded and joined together with trees partly submerged

 

 Another view of partly submerged trees in the lake(s)
 

The trail is wide enough in most sections for two people to walk together.  It winds up and down and comes close to the edge of the river in a few places.  The surface is packed earth with needles with the usual rocks and roots sprinkled here and there.  The grade is gentle except for a couple of steep places and has only one set of 6 stairs.  The trail is also used by horses.  There are horse fords across the river and a horse bridge that can be used by hikers.  Considering the violence of the water, I doubted that any horse would try fording the river the day we hiked.  The foot bridges are single logs with at least one railing.  We hoped to make it to the closed bridge but did not make it that far. We encountered a bridge with only one wobbly railing that was without a rail for about 12 feet at the end.  The river was high and dangerous.  While I tried to work up enough courage to cross, Bob did a trial crossing and decided the missing rail at the far end would prove a too big problem on the return to be safe.  

 

 

 The one rail bridge where we turned back

While not in the protected Wilderness area it is near and there are plenty of large trees.  Here Bob stands by a downed tree that was cut to allow trail use.  There were lots of the wildflowers we expect to see.  Calypso orchids are shy and fun to find.  The tiny Blue-eyed Mary was a surprise as was the beautiful Oregon anemone.
 

Calypso Orchid

 

 Blue-eyed Mary

 

Oregon anemone
 

 

On the return to the car, we met a group of 11 kids and two adult leaders on a backpacking expedition.  I’m not sure where they were planning to camp as the water was up to the trail edge and the normal dry places were underwater.  The two lakes were united into one fairly large lake and the normal campsites were also underwater.

 

 

A Forest Service Pass is required.  We did a 4 mile RT, 500 ft elevation gain.

Count:  25 people, including the group of 11 kids and 2 adults backpacking, 5 dogs.