Black Diamond NOW

Sunrise at Lake Sawyer

My goodness, we've had "photographable" sunrises at Lake Sawyer for 6 out of the last 7 days - and this is November!  With morning fog drifting in and out, it has been particularly fun and challenging to capture.  In no particular order, here are a few examples.  Which one is your favorite?

Tuesday Nov. 13

Wednesday Nov. 7

Thursday Nov. 8

Monday, Nov. 12

Saturday Nov. 10

Sunday Nov. 11

 And one more from yesterday.

Not exactly tough duty getting up in the morning.  Don't forget to get your 2019 calendars.  $20 each with all proceeds benefiting the Black Diamond Community Center.  You can get them at the Smokehouse & More next to the Black Diamond bakery or let me know - I'll deliver or mail free of charge.  Tax deductible too!

Lake Sawyer Water Quality - 2018 Phosphorus Concentrations

For those not familiar with water quality sampling at Lake Sawyer, twice a year, in May and August, samples are taken to measure phosphorus concentrations in the lake at depths of 1, 8 and 15 meters.  Phosphorus is the best single indicator we have as to the health of the lake and potential for algae growth and eutrophication.  The lower the numbers, the better.  As one might expect, phosphorus concentrations are consistently lower in May, when stream flows into to the lake are high, and higher in August when the lake is lower and there is limited stream flow.  Following are the results posted earlier for May.  Trends are what we need to be concerned about.

Though we see some significant fluctuations, trend lines at all depths are essentially flat.  The same can be said for sample results in August.

Because flows and water levels vary significantly from year to year in August, we see more significant variations - though no clear trend at this point.  You might note that lake water levels were particularly low in 2015 and again this year.

Number one concern right now are plans by Pacific Coast Coal to restart the John Henry mine. Will keep you posted.

Photos of the Week

Fall officially began on Saturday Sept. 22 and the signs of change are in the air.  As our evenings cool, we still have flowers blooming but they are just hanging on.  Our sunflowers and cosmos seem to be the hardiest of the lot right now.

Sunflowers bring a smile to my face every day while cosmos may have invented the colors in the pastel palette.

It's a little early for birds to be migrating through or bald eagles and osprey to begin building their nests, but old faithful great blue herons continue to hold down the fort.  This one was practicing his/her "fancy dancing".

We no longer have to get up in the wee hours of the morning or stay up late to catch sunrise and sunset.  The angle of the sun is also flatter, leading to more and more colorful displays at Lake Sawyer.

Sunrise and sunset have both moved further south and rise at about 90 degrees to the east and set at 270 degrees to the west.  I guess that signals the start of fall.  Weather has also remained warm and nice.  It's not often that you will see sunrise reflecting on  Mt. Rainier in the morning without a cloud in the sky.

We also had a rare event with the moon setting right behind Mt. Rainier and the Milky Way also right over the mountain at the same time.  I had to hike up to Dege Peak to stay above the clouds initially.

And then the moon set and you can see some of the Milky Way behind it.

Looking forward to some great fall colors in the weeks ahead.

 

 

Lake Sawyer Water Levels - Current Readings

Thanks to Jack Sperry, we are able to track seasonal water levels in Lake Sawyer dating back to 1996.  As we can all tell just by looking at the lake, water levels have already gotten pretty low - the second lowest reading we have seen for this time of the year since data has been collected on a regular basis.  Here are the trends.

This is how Jack Sperry explained what he sees:

"As you will note on the graphs, the lowest yearly water level in my collection of King County data (1996-2006) and Bob Edelman’s (2010-2018) data using my water level gauge was in 2015(bright green line) when the inlets to the lake were restrained by beaver dams until they were removed.  This year (red line) is showing the 2^nd lowest summer water levels in my data collection.  I believe this is due to unusually lower rainfall this year and early and extended periods of warm and sometimes very hot weather.  We’ve received about 10 cumulative inches of rainfall less this year than at this same time last year and coincidently our water level (red line) is just a little more than 10 inches lower than it was a year ago (brown line)."

Hopefully, the current weather outlook for rain over the next week will help arrest the decline before it gets much lower.

Thank you again Jack for keeping us up to date.

Summertime in Black Diamond

As summer wanes, it's time to look back over my wanderings around town and pick out a few highlights, starting with from whence our community came.

Although a wayward automobile crashed the "party" this summer, damaging several exhibits at the Black Diamond History Museum, our miner stood strong and continued to oversee happenings in old town.  Thanks to Mira Hoke and Patty Moss, another part of local history also received a wonderful new face lift. Thank you Mira and Patty!

Other historic parts of town, like Lawson Hill, continued to stand tall after over 100 years.

St. Barbara Church continues to look like new.  Other places like this old gas station in Morgansville - not so new.

Across the street, though, signs of change with a new roof and paint job in the offing.

Less than a half mile from here, a whole lot of new is beginning to take shape.

This time of year, we find mountain bikers and road bikes all around town as they ride some of the best biking roads and trails that you'll find in King County.

Trails for young and old and all abilities - and pets on a leash too.

And some of the best fishing around.

Spectacular views of Mount Rainier in all its splendor.  You can go sight seeing and fishing all at the same time.

You just can't beat our local fishermen.

I guess that's why Osprey are also called Seahawks.  Don't mess with these guys either, part of our police auxiliary to slow down speeders.

Not all of our local wildlife are so aggressive.

Lake Sawyer is a great place to cool off too.

Fall is fast approaching.

Back to school beckons.

Enjoy Labor Day festivities today and tomorrow!  See you there.









 

Bald Eagles - So Much Fun to Watch

This year has been a banner year for watching eagles, be it at Wolf Lodge Bay in Lake Coeur d'Alene, along the Nooksack River, Skagit Flats and here at Lake Sawyer.  Lots of birds including youngsters and adults. There is something special about bald eagles that really grabs my attention.

Maybe it's seeing sheer power on display.  Look at those talons.  My curiosity about their habits and behavior led me to do a little research. 

• Why are they called bald eagles?  They are named for their white head (not lack of head feathers).  
• How big are they?  Females are typically larger than males, 35 - 37" long with a wingspan of up to 90".
• They can weigh from 8 to 14 lbs.

This is what I call a wingspan.

Their feathers weigh twice as much as do their bones, which are hollow and very light weight.  Their feet are actually tendons and as a result, cold resistant.  Eagle beaks, talons and feathers are made of keratin, the same material as in our hair and nails.  

• How do they stay warm when it's cold outside?  Their 7,000 or so feathers have several layers and can be rotated to increase or decrease insulating effect.
• How do they cool off in hot weather?  Eagles have a body temperature of 106 degrees.  To increase cooling, since they don't sweat, eagles pant or fluff their feathers.

Looks like he or she is having a bad hair day!  Eagles are known for their incredible vision.  They can be flying several hundred feet above the lake and see fish below the surface.  How do they do it?

• Eagle eyes are larger than eyes of adult humans.
• Each eye has two "fovea" or centers of focus allowing them to see both forward and to the side at the same time.
• Eagles also have binocular vision, allowing them to maintain depth perception while diving.

Despite being at the top of bird power ratings, their lives are far from easy.  Chicks stay in the nest after their eggs hatch for 10 to 12 weeks before taking flight and leaving.  Those early test flights can be interesting.  The following photo taken here at Lake Sawyer shows a juvenile taking some test flights outside the nest.  Look at how big they grow in such a short period.

Though they get their size early, the growing up process is a long one - 2 to 3 years before they reach full maturity and are able to mate. It has been estimated that 50 to 70% of all juveniles die in their first year and maybe 90% before reaching full maturity.  Learning to hunt for fresh food takes skill and practice.  Catching a fish for juveniles often takes quite a few passes and more often than not ends in failure.  This is one reason, perhaps, why juveniles rely more on eating carrion (dead animal carcasses) than do adults who feed mostly on live prey.

Following is a picture taken this summer of a juvenile "fishing" as the sun rose at Lake Sawyer.  Note the color of the bird's feathers.  They are just now turning into the familiar black with white head pattern of mature eagles.

It's so much fun watching them fish while competing with other eagles for territory.

How old do eagles live?  When in captivity, eagles have been known to live for 40 to 50 years. but when in the wild, 15 to 20 years would be more typical.  Life is tough out there.

Best time to observe eagles at Lake Sawyer seems to be in the morning during the first couple of hours after sunrise and late afternoon before sunset.  You can also see them in the middle of the day soaring high above the lake riding afternoon thermals, scoping out their territory - usually not fishing if they have already fed.  They eat between 1/2 to 1 and 1/2 lbs of food each day (6% to 11% of their body weight) and can gobble down a 1 pound fish in just 4 minutes. discarding what they don't want.

Following is a photo from a recent fly-by taken from our deck.

You can observe eagles at Lake Sawyer most anywhere on the lake, including at the boat launch park and the regional park at the south end of the lake.  Enjoy the spectacle!

 

Lake Sawyer Water Temperatures - Hot

With August temperatures among the highest we have seen for an extended period, being able to go for a swim or jump in the lake has offered great relief from the heat.  The Lake Sawyer boat launch and Regional Park have both been well used during this period.  How hot has it been?  Bob and Janie Edelman maintain a local weather station - most helpful if you want to know the answer to these questions (LakeSawyerWeather.com).  Following is the graphic posted today showing both ambient air temperature and lake water temperature measured one meter below the surface.

At over 80 degrees, that's almost bath tub hot.  

How do current lake water temperatures compare with history?  It's getting hotter.

Data Source:  King County 

The above chart shows water temperatures measured 1 meter below the surface dating back to 1993.  As you can see, the trend is up.  This does not bode well for water quality and local fisheries.  If surface water temperatures are rising, what about at 8 meters and 15 meters below the surface?

Data source:  King County

Sampling for temperature at 1, 8 and 15 meters below the surface are typically done twice a year , once in May and once in August.  Data for August 2018 has not yet been posted.  Please excuse the chart labeling showing November for each year.  The correct labels would be May and August (blame my lack of charting skills in excel for the mislabling).

Unfortunately, we are seeing spikes in water temperatures at 8 meters below the surface now too.  This is not good for salmon and steelhead spawning through Lake Sawyer and on to Ravensdale Creek and Rock Creek.  If you have done any hiking into the Green River gorge, you might note the signs that have been posted by Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.  Steelhead fishing this year is limited to catch and release only.  Water temperatures were apparently too high at the hatchery resulting in low survival rates for hatchery stock.  Trends would seem to indicate that this problem can only get worse.

Lake Sawyer Photo's of the Week

Our wonderful summer continues with even a little rain and cooler temperatures.  It also brought out the eagles and osprey enjoying stellar fishing this summer.  Here's one of this week's better fly-bys.

This is not what you would call a classic full moon rise but lots color.

So many different lake toys now in use and kids are having fun.

Our pets even get into the act.  I didn't realize that pets had lifesavers too.  Of course, this is Black Diamond.

This year's new leading edge water toy appears to be a motorized wakeboard or paddleboard.  No need for boat or paddles.

Some people take their exercise seriously and get around the lake the hard way.  Wow

Our police force has enlisted some help in patrolling the lake during off hours, so don't speed.

Looks like another great week ahead.  Be safe!

 

A Summer of Butterflies

I'm not sure why, but I seem to be seeing a much larger number of butterflies taking wing this summer than I have in the past.  Locally, the Western Tiger Swallowtails are both abundant and colorful.  They seem to particularly like our phlox.

One thing I've noticed in contrast to other local wildlife is that butterflies seem slow to get going in the morning - kind of like our teenage grandchildren who like to sleep in late.  Why?  As it turns out, butterflies need to get their blood temperature up to a minimum 86 degrees before they can fly.  Their lifespan as an adult butterfly is also typically short, perhaps just 3 months or less.

I first thought this guy was a moth but the club on the end of it's antenna clearly shows it to be a butterfly.  No such club for moths.  Here is another tiger swallowtail enjoying the nectar from one of our rhododendrons. 

How can butterflies survive from year to year?  As we all were taught in grade school, they have four lives.  First, a mature female must lay fertilize eggs, usually leaving them on a leaf as shown in the following picture.

Image courtesy Canisius.edu

Interestingly, some butterflies can "taste" with their feet, helping them to identify whether the leaf they are on will be a good place for laying eggs.  Caterpillars (larve) rely on these leaves for food as they grow and grow.  That's the job of caterpillars - eat and grow big.  They are not always the prettiest creature at this stage of their life.  

Note the ants clinging to this caterpillar.  Looking for a meal?  Because they grow so fast, caterpillars continually shed skin.  Then comes becoming a pupa, hanging from a tree swathed in a protective net and looking like a mummy.

Finally, mature butterflies hatch from the pupa, completing the cycle back to adult butterflies.  Once able to fly, it becomes a mad dash to mate and lay eggs before they can be eaten by numerous preditors, starting the cycle all over again.  They sure are pretty now.

 

 

 

Black Diamond Trails

Looking to find a shaded place for easy hiking close to home?  Try the old railroad bed which once carried passengers and coal to and from Black Diamond - now part of the Green to Cedar River trail plan.  Long term, this trail will take us all the way from Lake Washington to the Green River near Flaming Geyser State Park.  The following map shows the trail.  Most of it is hike-able and mountain bike-able and suitable for horses today, but some overpasses are needed such as at 288th and across the railroad tracks north of 288th.  In addition, most of the trail will eventually be paved to facilitate use by street bikes, trikes etc.   

The south section of the trail between 288th and Lake Sawyer park has some of the best "walking" trail you'll find.  The area is also haven to some great mountain biking so keep your eyes open for these hardy souls.  Following are several recent photos of the trail from this past weekend.

It was nice to see bikers with their dogs on a leash.  Some, like the woman above, attached the leash to her wrist.  Others attach it to the bike.

This guy sure looks like he is having fun.

Great place to teaching youngsters how to ride.

Also a great place for youngsters to carry their first backpack.  Have to carry water.  

Best parking is in the recently completed parking area on the west side (on your right heading south) along SR169 just south of 288th.  Gotta love the plant "cave" created by all the trees and bushes growing along and over the trail.

Lake Sawyer Scenes - Weekly Highlights

Despite the warm temperatures and a large number of boaters and swimmers this past weekend, I was surprised to see so many raptors still hanging around Lake Sawyer, including both osprey and bald eagles.  All I can think of is that the fishing must be very good.  If you want to see them, however, you best get up between 5:30 and 7 am as they set out in search of breakfast.  First to appear were the osprey.  The sequence that follows shows just how deep they will dive in search of fish.

This osprey was fully submerged from its dive and struggled to lift its prey out of the water.  Here it is struggling to rise out of the water before being pulled back into the water by the fish.  

The fish was almost too big as it turned out - probably a large mouth bass or big catfish.  Finally the osprey prevailed

The battle went on for almost a minute before the osprey finally succeeded in achieving lift off.  You can see the fish being held in the osprey's talons.

Next, with the osprey back at the nest, two eagles came by scouting the territory and brightened by the sun light.

This sequence was taken at very long distance and in a shaded area but it shows how the eagles tend to only skim the surface when they fish - seldom going under water.  Here, he/she makes the grab.

The buoy helps put size and distance in perspective.

Lots more pictures of these guys but also saw some nice mountain sunsets and sunrises from the lake too.  First, Saturday night's sunset.

The following sunrise photo was taken on Sunday July 15 showing mountain reflections just before the sun rose above the horizon.

Fun week.

Lake Sawyer Resorts Circa 1925

With 90+ degree weather last weekend, summer is in full swing at Lake Sawyer.  Lot's of wake boards, ski boats, paddle boarders and kayaks out on the lake.   A good reminder that Lake Sawyer was once home to not one, but two resorts - The Grove at Lake Sawyer and the Paradise Resort.  The Grove was located just south of the current Lake Sawyer Resort on the west side of the lake.

Photo from my personal collection and Washington State Historical Society, Asahel Curtis photographer, circa 1925

Not many rowboats these days and more boarders than skiers.  Boating attire was also rather different - white shirts and rolled up sleeves for the guys.    Following are two pictures of the Paradise at Lake Sawyer Resort, located near our current Lake Sawyer Park at the lake's south end.

Photo courtesy Lake Sawyer Grocery

Photo courtesy Lake Sawyer Grocery

One factor that drove the popularity of private resorts was the lack of public facilities.  Publically owned parks just didn't exist, which significantly limited those in the populace who could visit places like Lake Sawyer.  Park fees were beyond the means of most.  Today, we are blessed with some of the best parks around.  We pay for it through our taxes but we also gain the benefit of lands set aside for public use in perpetuity.

Edited and republished from an earlier post.

OH MY Sunsets at Lake Sawyer

We are blessed to live on Lake Sawyer and I have long promoted the lake as the sunrise capital of western Washington.  November thru February can be absolutely stunning, particularly since I can sleep in late and just walk out on our dock to snap a few pictures.  As I am now learning, though, most any time of year is great - I just have to get up a little earlier for sunrise (4 am anyone) and position myself facing west at sunset with a view of the mountain in my sights too.  Since standing on my paddle board and trying to take photographs facing whichever way using expensive equipment might be a little risky, I prefer the flexibility and fun of hopping in our kayak and paddling wherever the best vantage point may be.  In the last week, we had two of the more beautiful sunsets I have seen at the lake.

Following is a sampling from Monday night July 2, starting with the later shots first.  These have not been previously posted.

The intensity and richness of color as the sun slips behind the horizon can be pretty amazing.

For panoramas like the one above, I take multiple photos across the horizon and stitch them together using Lightroom software.  The wind also tends to die down the later we go into the evening and the glassier the reflections become.

The above panorama was taken just after the sun slipped behind the horizon.  I particularly like this one because of what almost appears to be a split screen.  Just before the sun fell behind the horizon, the following combination of sun star and cloud reflections was pretty fun to see and photograph.

My tendency is to start taking pictures too early.  The following photo was taken well before the sun met the horizon.

Best colors and pictures typically come late.  Sunday night July 8 also had some amazing colors at sunset.  Like the photos above, the most intense were last.  This panorama had me pretty contorted around in my kayak to span such a wide horizon.

Which do you prefer - a wide panorama like the one above or a closer up image like the one that follows that tends to be more color intensive?

Either way, capturing reflections on clear as glass water is the goal.

And by the way, keep your eye on the mountain.  One of these days, we'll get some real color on the clouds reflecting on the lake with dead calm water at sunset too.

If you see me in our kayak, grab your camera and come on out.  Fun time chatting with Linda and Dave Hagen last week.  Hope to see you on the lake.

Happy 4th of July!

Celebrating Independence Day has a long history in Black Diamond and though its "face" has changed over the years, the 4th is always a day that our community looks forward to.  In the early and mid 1900's, parades were the celebratory choice and time to fix up and decorate our cars and trucks.

Photo courtesy Roger Parry and the Black Diamond Historical Society, circa 1918

Great time for advertising locally produced briquets.  The kids sure look the part with their faces smudged with coal dust.  Pretty fancy car pulling a trailer and outfitted with a cow catcher too.  Hmmm

Photo courtesy Roger Parry and the Black Diamond Historical Society, circa 1925

More children in the parade in 1925, this time riding in a 1918 Kleiber truck driven by the Henry Bellack family.  Apparently the truck motor was of some notoriety and was to be on display at the depot museum after the parade.  Could those be paved roads in Black Diamond in 1925?

No more parades these days on the 4th of July (we will have to wait for Labor Day for those festivities), but with all the Lake Sawyer goings on including boat parade and fireworks show, followed by Miners Days on Saturday the 7th, this is an action packed week and fun for all.  Following are a few of my favorite photos from recent years' celebrations.

Sergeant Lynch making sure that Jay Newton (aka Uncle Sam) doesn't get out of hand throwing candy to the kids.  Police protection is also needed as the parade makes it's way around the lake.

Ryerse's super heroes.

The Incredibles

Under attack.  Good thing it's only water.  And then the sun goes down.

Have a great day and hope to see you at Miners Day on Saturday July 7.

Water Quality - Lake 12 and Jones Lake

While updating water quality trends for Lake Sawyer, I took a quick look at water quality indicators for two other local lakes.  Lake 12 and Jones Lake will both be adversely impacted by discharge from the John Henry mine should it restart operations.  Both lakes are also currently struggling with water quality challenges.  Following are graphs showing trophic state index trend indicators provided by King County for each lake.  As a reminder, >50 = eutrophic is good for algae, catfish and cloudy water, <40 = oligotrophic is good for salmon, trout and clear/clean water.  Lake 12's numbers are as follows.

Phosphorus concentrations appear to have worsened at Lake 12 in recent years.  In addition, should the John Henry Mine restart operations, this will further increase the amount of runoff and phosphorus going into the lake, potentially adding to current concerns.

Jones Lake appears to have even greater water quality challenges and would be considered as eutrophic today.  The data shown below is the last data available, but there is nothing to indicate that things have gotten any better since then.  To some extent, Jones Lake serves as a "sink" for process water and stormwater generated by the John Henry mine, stormwater from Lawson Hill residences, SR169 road runoff and old town Black Diamond stormwater, before discharging into Rock Creek and eventually into Lake Sawyer.  Without this sink and accumulation of sediment in Jones Lake, it is likely that Lake Sawyer water quality would be worse than it is today.  And keep in mind, what happens to sinks after a while?  They can only hold so much before accumulated sediment begins to overflow and this could significantly and adversely impact  Lake Sawyer.  Here is the data we have for Jones Lake.

More about Jones Lake in a future post.

 

Lake Sawyer Water Quality - Updated Thru May 2018

King County recently reported water quality sampling results for Lake Sawyer updated thru May 2018.  In a nutshell, there was not significant change.  Focusing first on phosphorus concentrations during May, here are my updated graphs.

No data was reported at a sampling depth of 15 meters for 2016 or 2018.  Not sure why.

Secchi disk sampling (a measure of water clarity) also remains in positive territory - five straight years now showing lake water clarity at a depth below the May average going back to the year 2000.   Data collected this year was rounded to the nearest whole number.   

As an overall indicator of lake water quality, King County uses what is called a trophic state index.  A eutrophic lake with an index greater than 50 is what we want to avoid at all cost - they are full of nutrients, weeds and algae.  Great for growing catfish, but not salmon or trout.  An oligotrophic lake with an index of 40 or below is generally clear with high oxygen levels and excellent fish habitat. 

In recent years, Lake Sawyer has remained borderline oligotrophic with good clarity and little if any algae.  Let's not go back to the bad old days of regular algae blooms and cloudy water.  Why are we concerned about process wastewater (coal washing operations) from the John Henry mine and stormwater from the mine being dumped into the Lake Sawyer watershed?  Enough said.

 

Lake Sawyer Sawmill Circa 1922 - 1934

For those not familiar with the history of Lake Sawyer, commercial activity began here in the early 1920's.  The Lake Sawyer Mill Company operated a sawmill and logging operation at the northeast corner of the lake between 1922 and 1934,with some periods of shutdown due to economic conditions in 1927 and early 1928.  Employment ranged from 20 to 30 men producing 40 to 50 thousand board feet per day.  This would be considered in the mid-range of mill capacity in the northwest during this period.  Facilities consisted of one circular head rig saw, an automatic trimmer, dry kilns and lath mill.  Logs up to 60 feet long could be processed.  Company logging operations fed the mill with 3 miles of 45# rail, 1 geared locomotive, 1 speeder, 2 donkey engines, 1 high lead logging operation, 8 log trucks and 20 flat cars. 

The following aerial photo taken in 1936, shows the mill site not long after shutting down.  

Following is a closer image showing site rail access.

A short spur apparently connected the mill to Northern Pacific’s Stampede Pass mainline, making for efficient transport of lumber to market.

The company also had two log dumps, one at the mill site as shown above and another at the southwest part of the lake on property currently the site of the Sunrise Lake Sawyer Resort.  Remains of log dump piling at the mill site can still be found.  Apparently, rather than remove the piling, the tops were cut off making it easier for small boats to navigate - but the stubby piling can still be found there underwater.

Following is a photo of the log dump located on the southwest side.

Company logging operations utilized high lead logging technology including spar trees for yarding and loading.  In the following photo, note the high climber standing on top and crew members suspended from the ground by cables.  This is one of the better photos I've seen that shows a complete high lead logging operation including spar, cables, donkey engine and rail loading area.  The size of this spar tree is impressive to say the least.

Photo courtesy Ted and Debbie Strand, Lake Sawyer Grocery circa 1920's

In May 1928, John Neukirchen, one of the owners who were based in Issaquah, apparently had a run in with their locomotive.  As reported in the Issaquah Press at the time, “Mr. Neukirchen received minor injuries when the Willys-Knight he was driving was struck by a switching train at the Lake Sawyer mill.  The car was demolished.”    

Photo courtesy Erik Erickson, circa 1928

Judging from the photo, the locomotive used readily available wood waste for fuel and was likely used for moving railcars around the mill site.  It had also likely seen many years of prior use.

Here's the mill as seen from the lake, which served as a handy log pond for receiving, sorting and feeding logs into the mill.  You can also see the rail track leading down to the log dump and conveyor up into the mill.

Photo courtesy Peggy Hawkins, granddaughter of mill co-founder Joseph Neukirchen.  The photo was taken by noted photographer Clark Kinsey

Following mill closure in 1934, equipment was removed and sold and the lands on the east side of the lake owned by the mill were platted for sale to those looking to build a vacation cabin on waterfront property.  In essence, this was the owner's exit strategy from the business and I'm sure that it served them well.  Bill Kombol recently ran across several old maps showing these East Shore lots as they were drawn by the Neukirchens at the time.  Apparently, these specific maps were not recorded, but they sure look a lot like what we see today.  Bill was kind enough to share this with us.  Perhaps some of you can find your lot on this map.

Thank you again, Bill, for sharing with us.

Yeah - Time for Raspberries

While strawberries are still being harvested in the Puyallup Valley, raspberries are now coming on strong.  My favorite to pick and eat for sure.  I ate so many as a youngster picking with my mother and sister, I'm not sure that growers ever made much money off of me.  But, you only got paid for each full flat you picked, so perhaps it all evened out - except for a few rows that had pretty low yields.  Following are a few photos of families picking raspberries in the Sumner area during the late 1800's or early 1900's.

Photo courtesy Robert Jowett, n.d.

Berry picking was indeed a family affair.  Sunday was picture day in the berry fields too and this family is quite well dressed for the occasion.  Notice how nicely displayed the full flats of berries are.  One lady even brought her young child apparently in a "stroller" of some type.  The size of these rows of berry vines is impressive.  Yields must have been really high.

Photo courtesy Robert Jowett, n.d.

It appears that children eating what they picked has a long history too.

Judy planted raspberries here at Lake Sawyer perhaps 5 years ago and they are growing strong.  About ready for our second picking this year - and sooooo sweet.

Photographs of the Week

It's a great time of year.  Flowers blooming, sunny skies and wildlife aplenty.  For me, this was Osprey week.  These amazing birds continued to put on quite a show at Lake Sawyer.  With fish making up 90% plus of their diet and youngsters to feed, activity levels were as high as I have seen them all year.  So graceful in flight.

For shear "lift power", Ospreys rival their oft competitor bald eagles.  They also don't just skim the surface when they spot their prey like eagles do, they dive and at times become fully submerged.  This big catfish was last weeks prize catch.

Early morning hours seem to be the best times to watch them.  Meanwhile, the air wars continued as eagles raided the nests of other birds, including this poor crow who is attacking the eagle with his talonless crow feet.

Back at home, the music serenade kicked into high gear with this newbie hummingbird practicing for her graduation solo performance.

Capturing photos of hummingbirds in flight is fun and challenging.  Caught this little guy sampling our garden plants highlighted by the morning sun (shallow depth of field, ISO set at 5.6, accounts for the blurred effect on the flowers while keeping the bird in focus).

This Flicker is another regular guest - and suet thief.

We have a birds nest right over our heads as we go through the door to our deck.  This mom (aka Roberta) is pretty frustrated with our comings and goings.  Maybe just a bad hair day as she scares us half to death flying off when we go out on the deck.

Great news last week - Chinook Pass is now open.  Although Tipsoo Lake is still mostly covered in snow, it won't take long before wildflowers begin to bloom.

Here's a view of Yakima peak from upper Tipsoo Lake.

Even a red Columbine at Suntop.

And a sunset panorama from Suntop.

Great weeks ahead.

 

Lake Sawyer Wildlife of the Week

Though we were out of town for much of the week, our wildlife friends did not disappoint.  Some are regulars, others passing through and most will be heading north over the next month for summer vacation.  None are more dependable than a great blue heron who flies by our dock most every morning at about 6:30 am.  A true creature of habit, it landed this day on our dock before taking up patrol in an area we maintain for growing rushes.  These reeds provide great shelter for little fish and attract lots of birds in search of a snack.

We regularly see river otters visiting this same area but this is the first time we've seen a beaver passing by.

Also for the first time, I saw a juvenile bald eagle dive down and snatch a fish out of the lake, taking advantage of the early morning sun.

If you look closely, you'll see the fish's head being held by the eagle's talons.  My pic of the "snatch" was not very good - a long way away and the lake was covered with "cotton" from the cottonwood trees, but this one clearly shows the fish in the eagle's grasp.

The air wars continued last week, this time with a brave crow trying to protect its recently hatched chicks from this notorious nest robber. 

Speaking of young birds, I saw this Hooded Merganser mother carefully shepherding around her youngsters in Frog Lake. 

Getting big.

What bird makes the most noise around your home?  At our house, it's definitely the Stellars Jays.

A member of the crow family (known as Corvedai), these birds are very wily, have a great memory and capable of solving complex problems.  Very noisy too.

Have a great week.