Hello Fellow Hikers. As we are all trying to do our part for the virus by staying home I see that we are getting creative with videos of "My Backyard". Loved the idea so here is my backyard trail. The very short trail me and my wife have created in the backyard is a labor of love. We have spent many years making it. Having both lived and spent time in Japan so it has a slight Japanese Garden appeal but not authentic. From the beautiful waterfalls and pond to the tea house and flowers we enjoy our sanctuary tremendously. My wife and I enjoy spending time in the backyard when we want to take it easy which is more her style then mine. I prefer to be out on a trail hiking ten miles to that beautiful lake, waterfall or mountain top and I hope that soon this will happen again. Checkout the video I created of "My Backyard" on my vimeo channel or click down below,

As always get out and see this beautiful state just do it virtually right now because there are lots of videos you can checkout of Washington State on my VIMEO Channel at  https://vimeo.com/mikemorrison

Take Care,

Mike

Walked a new trail today near the house. It was unexpectedly very nice with lots of greenery and some flowers blooming. There is a Creek by the trail too. My dog was loving this trail and loved that it’s not crowded. Great day to get outside. Stay safe.

IG: @Brittanywanderlust

I have been patrolling Camelot for many years now. Some days I am out there all by myself, and on other days I have company. For some reason, the days with the most interesting weather are the days with the least company.  Today there were others on patrol, but they all stayed a minimum of six feet away from each other and from me.

I started at my usual trailhead. In compliance with the local safety orders, I walked to the trailhead. The restrooms were in good order with flush toilets, plenty of TP, soap, hot running water and clean towels. The staff here do a good job. I availed myself of the facilities and washed my hands for 20 seconds before heading out.

Today’s patrol route was an attempt to walk every path in Camelot in a minimum distance. Most of my patrols are just a perusal of the perimeter, but I have been hearing increasing  reports of wildlife, mostly bears and bunnies, boldly wandering where they have never been seen before. It is important to observe what is going on around here.

I started out to the north on Lancelot toward Bedivere, continued on Bedivere to Galahad, followed Galahad to Excalibur to Bedivere back to Excalibur to Galahad to Bedivere to the end, then doubled back to Guinevere, looped around Round Table then back to Guinevere, looped around Merlin and Percival to King Arthur, well you get the picture. There is a theme to the trail names around here. 

Spring flowers are springing forth, delighting my eyes, and making my nose run to the point of excess sneezing. I’m not sick, just experiencing pollen in my own way. There were quite a few bears peering from behind glass in their enclosures. One bold one was climbing a tree. I managed to sneak up on him and get a good picture (above). The bunnies were out and about, some of them laying flat on the path, others flapping in the wind.

There are rumors of some kind of celebration in two days involving eggs and candy and bunnies. It will be interesting to see how it plays out when everyone is staying away from each other. I will be on patrol, as always, ready to report.

I took the house terrapin, Teri, out for a short stroll in the yard where she had several worms. The rest of the wildlife observed were visitors, leaping squirrels, sapsucker and what I believe is a flicker but I could not identify it.

Walked a local trail nearby for sunset. The weather was so nice and warm, felt so good to be out. My dog was very happy to smell some new smells since we hadn’t been on this local trail for a year. The beach views paired with the setting sun made for a relaxing environment. Helped to temporarily forget about some troubles going on in the world.

The flowers blooming was also a nice treat. IG: @Brittanywanderlust