We had a gorgeous, clear day on the Saturday of President's Day Weekend, so I decided to take a day trip down to Thurston County, to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge is located near Olympia, at the bottom of the Puget Sound region, south of Tacoma. It's about a 45 minute drive from my house.
Unfortunately, I did not realize just how cold and windy it was going to be down here, on the water. I was completely unprepared for it. When I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed all the other people hitting the trails bundled up with hats, scarves, gloves and winter coats. I was wearing a short sleeved tshirt under a denim jacket. I froze my chicklets off and had to cut my hike short b/c I was freezing.
Lots of lichen on the trees
The snow covered, craggy Olympic Mountains were just stunning!
I was disappointed that there were no bald eagles out and about, due to the cold wind.
The Nisqually River is fed by the Nisqually Glacier on Mt. Rainier and flows all the way down to Puget Sound.
Nisqually River
Olympic Mountains
I love love love nature photos! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletehttp://brownbugz.blogspot.com
Beautiful, as always!
ReplyDeleteMallards seem to be everywhere. Another case of the male being more attractive than the rather dull-looking female.
ReplyDeleteOH my goodness, what a beautiful place. Your photos look like postcards.
ReplyDeleteWow, to have those gorgeous places to go! And, to capture them for all of us to see what you are so lucky to be able to enjoy...thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeletegorgeous pictures.
ReplyDeletehow are your chicklets???? LOL
Thanks everyone!!! Yes, Val, tons and tons of mallards.
ReplyDeleteAnd my chicklets are still frozen.
Jojo, you must be my Savior, 'cause you are the only person that takes me to Heaven so often.
ReplyDeleteOMG, what stunning atmosphere and locations!
Oh and thanks for talking about how cold it is there...I kinda fed off it while sitting in 90 degree heat again today :-(