October 15, 2011 It's been a long, long time since we bounced along White Chuck Road, one of the many sideroads of the Mountain Loop Highway - nearly 8 years, in fact. White Chuck Road has been closed to vehicles since a huge rain and wind storm on November 7, 2003. Both the White Chuck River and Road were decimated by flooding and mudslides. Last Wednesday Tim spied an announcement that much of the White Chuck Road was being re-opened to vehicles [link]. We knew where we were going if Saturday's weather permitted. And we did. Here are a few pictures

Off we went on a very narrow road, sometimes semi-paved, sometimes gravel.

We drove through a lot of woods. Now and then there was a clearing and wow!

Here's the summit of White Chuck Mountain

We surprised several flocks of friendly Franklin's Grouse.

We were very close to the base of the mountain, looking almost straight up.

It was easy to spot the maples and larches on the mountainsides.

This is (I think) Mount Pugh...it sports a cloud halo.

After a giant loop drive we went past White Horse Mountain in Darrington.

The scenery on the MountainLoop Highway was very pretty.

Little Myrtle Lake was ablaze with color.

I'll try to remember these lovely colors through the dull, dreary winter.

Photographs Index