The Drunken Bear Region

Mt. Index (on the left) as seen from the Skykomish River
approximately a mile northwest of The Drunken Bear

Yellow skunk cabbage (Lysichitum americanum).

Peaks seen from the banks of The Drunken Bear
(looking northwest).

 Looking up river (the peaks in picture 3 are in the background).

Our little piece of heaven is located near the small town of Index, WA on Highway 2. It is a little over an hour's drive from the city of Seattle. The property runs along the beautiful Skykomish River (sometimes not so beautiful...more about this in a future post). We are surrounded by mountains with forests of Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Alder and various other trees. Many of the trees are covered in a carpet of green sphagnum moss. The undergrowth consists of huge ferns, salmon berry. tall huckleberry bushes (filled with delicious berries in late summer), and other plants and bushes too numberous to mention. Huge rocks jut out from the forests as if they were put there for lookout points. The area around Index is well known for its rock climbing regions. So far none of our friends have taken advantage of the rock climbing and at this stage in life, I, myself, plan to leave that for the younger ones. You can spend hours sitting along the river taking in all the beauty of the region. Roger, my friend, thank you for finding this little bit of heaven which we now share with all your friends.