We Love Our Mountains

by | Jun 13, 2021 | Edmonds, photography, volcanoes, Washington | 19 comments

I like living near the water. I don’t have a sea view from my house, but I can smell the seaweed at low tide. If I walk three houses down the street, I can see it. If I go to Starbucks or the supermarket or the eye doctor or almost anywhere else, it’s there. I like to walk on the beach and the boardwalk and along the street above the ferry landing. But sometimes I feel the need to get closer. I don’t have a boat, and the Salish Sea is too cold for swimming, so I hop a ferry.

(If Salish Sea is a new name for you, you’re not the only one. The inland waters of Washington and British Columbia weren’t officially named until 2009. The newly named Salish Sea encompasses the Strait of Georgia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Puget Sound.)

Last week my daughter and son-in-law and I walked onto the Edmonds ferry for the 30-minute ride to Kingston. A stormy ride has its charm, but a sunny-day ride is better, especially when the air is clear enough to see the mountains. And there are mountains on all four sides. Mt. Baker to the north, the Cascades to the east, the Olympics to the west, and Mt. Rainier to the south.

Mt. Rainier, the towers of downtown Seattle, and a barge and tugboat

No matter how clear the mountain looks to the naked eye, it’s hard to get a sharp image with a cellphone. Maybe it’s the distance. It is 78 miles away.

In Kingston, we walked up the hill to the north of town. Then we walked on the beach before buying crepes and ice cream in town. No matter where we went, Mt. Rainier was there, commanding the view.

Mt. Rainier from the hill. (You may have to click on the image to see the mt.)

Mt. Rainier from the beach:

Maybe we shouldn’t love Mt. Rainier so much. Rainier and Mauna Loa have the distinction of being the only US volcanoes on the list of what they call Decade Volcanoes, the 16 volcanoes in the world with the greatest likelihood of causing loss of life and property if eruptive activity resumes. Until that happens, though, we might as well enjoy its beauty.

Back on the ferry, I take a photo of Mt. Baker to the north of us. It’s a more delicate, lady-like mountain and even a little farther away than Mt. Rainier.

Mt. Baker from the Edmonds-Kingston ferry

To the west of us are the Olympics. Sorry, I didn’t snap a photo of the Cascades to the east.

paperback or ebook available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, your favorite bookstore, or wherever books are sold.

19 Comments

  1. Anne Byam

    Hi Nicki

    Your 2nd cousin Ann in Washington state sent me this post to your website, and I enjoyed reading about your wanderings and loved the photographs. I am guessing you are an avid photographer. Lovely pics. I enjoy that pastime myself.

    I will let Ann know that I have left a comment here and hope it shows up this time ( tried before but nothing happened ) … I owe her an email /letter … am way way behind in my Gmail account at the moment. We have been corresponding for years across the Pacific – in Melbourne suburbs ( Upwey), Australia.

    Regards,
    Anne Byam (Annie )

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Hi Annie. Yes, Ann is a treasured cousin. Although her mom is close to my mom’s age, her mother and my grandpa are siblings. It’s good to hear from you all the way from Melbourne. I’ve been to Brisbane (a brief stop on our way to Vanuatu) and spent a week in Sydney, but never made it as far south as Melbourne.

      I love the beauty of nature, and I used to do Chinese brush painting and batik. Although I really enjoy taking pictures on my iphone, I’ve never taken the time to learn the intricacies of photography. My sister is more serious about it. She belongs to a club that hikes and travels around the area to take pictures.

      Don’t worry. Your comment showed up both times. I’ll cancel your second comment now. The way my blog is set up, if you’re new to it, it waits for me to approve your comment. After that (if everything goes right), your comment goes up immediately.

      Reply
  2. Ally Bean

    Such a beautiful part of the world. I like your photos, the colors are clear and relaxing. I didn’t know about Decade Volcanoes and am intrigued. I’m with you about enjoying yours while you can. It’s gonna do what it’s gonna do regardless of what you want to happen.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      I didn’t know about Decade Volcanoes either until recently. The name is strange. It seems to imply that something might happen within the next decade. In fact, the project was begun in the 1990a as part of the United Nations–sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. The 16 volcanoes on the list were chosen because they’ve had recent activity and they’re close to densely populated areas. But these stand-alone mountains are particularly beautiful and beloved.

      Reply
  3. Jennifer J. Chow

    Such beautiful photos! I’m glad to get such a lovely virtual tour.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thanks for joining in, Jennifer.

      Reply
  4. Mabel Kwong

    Thanks for taking us along on Edmonds ferry and around Kingston, Nicki. It looked like a gorgeous sunny day. My Rainer is absolutely stunning from the different angles. It sort of looks like it is part of the sky, almost like a cloud, from afar and going no where out of sight. I hope you enjoyed the ice-cream and crepes. I like being around water and enjoy going to the beach. A nice stroll along the beach is a good way for me to unwind 🙂

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      We get our share of cloudy or rainy days here, which makes us appreciate all the more our views of the mountains when the sun comes out. In fact, when it’s sunny, sometimes instead of saying, “It’s a sunny day,” we say, “The mountain is out.” I, too, like a stroll along the beach. Almost any kind of walk can be relaxing.

      Reply
  5. nrhatch

    Gorgeous shots. Glad you had a chance to get outside and capture the views.

    Reply
  6. judith works

    Can’t do without our waters and mountains!

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      I’ve visited for weeks at a time in places like Indiana and the non-mountainous side of Tennessee, but I’ve never actually lived far from mts. and the Pacific Ocean.

      Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      It is. Especially on a sunny day.

      Reply
  7. Maureen Rogers

    I’m with you Nicki – nothing beats living here – so near to the water and with almost daily views of mountains! (I hadn’t heard about our new name Salish Sea – it sounds like something out of a history book) I love your photos! Thanks for showing us off to the world!

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Your view of the sea and mountains is spectacular.

      I didn’t know about the Salish Sea either until a few years ago. I was trying to be precise, trying to find the borders of all these bodies of water–Puget Sound, Hood Canal, the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Where does one start and the other end? Here’s what I found: The first use of “Salish Sea” was by a Bellingham biologist. The British Columbia Geographic Names Office made the name official in 2009, a few months before the US Board of Geographic Names approved it. It’s still not well known. We’re writers. I guess it’s up to us to spread the word.

      Another tidbit: The name Hood Canal became official in 1917. It’s no longer Hood’s Canal.

      Reply
  8. Autumn

    Beautiful views. I like living near the water, but a place without hills or mountains to look up to doesn’t feel right to me.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Flat places have their conveniences–numbered roads arranged in grids, for example. I grew up a half hour drive from the water. The flat farm land did provide a restful sight for the eyes. But beyond that, you could always see the mts. I agree, it wouldn’t feel right without them.

      Reply
  9. L. Marie

    Oh how lovely, Nicki! Thank you for taking us along on this journey. I live in an area without mountains, so seeing even one is always amazing to me.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      We do tend to brag about our scenery. Visitors from elsewhere sometimes complain about feeling hemmed in. But on a sunny day when the mountains come out in all their glory, most visitors enjoy the view.

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and your favorite bookstore.

Archives

Follow Me

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Loading
Available on Amazon

Archives