Back-Country Wilderness for the Day

DPR is off to scale Mount Townsend this morning. It's a 6,278 peak with a 2,307 ft. elevation gain in 3.2 miles of hiking. He loves these hikes, and especially since he knows he will be rewarded with stunning views of the Cascades, Puget Sound, and the back country of the Olympics. One of the reasons we moved to the Olympic Peninsula is so we could take day hikes in the high country wilderness, and be home in time for dinner! We awoke this morning to the clearest skies we've had in weeks. It's the day he's been waiting for. He has the camera with him and plans to photograph the journey.
Until then, here are some shots we took on Monday from our favorite trail along Port Townsend Bay. I've been trying for a while to keep a steady enough hand and anticipatory eye with the camera focused to get a shot of a great blue heron taking off in flight. I was pretty pleased with this shot. Definitely click on the photo to enlarge it.

Along the trail we also saw this hawk circling above the bay. We don't usually see hawks this close to the water, so took a photograph of that as well.

And, one of our dear friends and commenter CCorax sent us this stunning photograph of a red-tailed hawk that has become quite acclimated to humans. She said she was able to get within four paces of it. We thought it was one beautiful raptor. (Thanks CCorax, you definitely know the way to our hearts!)

Photographic Update: Look at what DPR missed this morning. This spider was the biggest I've ever seen in the house. I tried to put a quarter in the shot for scale, but the spider just moved too quickly. In this shot, it was on its way down from the counter across the kitchen drawers to the floor, where it scurried behind the refrigerator. I probably should have figured out how to get it out of the house, but was too busy trying to focus on it as closely as I could before it got away.