Saturday 22 September 2018 Today, after a delicious homemade brunch, we drive to Duvall for a rainy afternoon hike to Cherry Falls. Although it is rather wet and occasionally slippery walking up to the falls, the rain stops by the time we arrive. Once there, Zephy has a great time chasing sticks in the water. After admiring the falls, we hike back to the car. In Duvall, Zephy waits patiently
Friday 21 September 2018 Seattle S and K take today off. We drop Zephy at puppy care and head to Seattle. Our delicious brunch is at Coastal Kitchen. Then we drive to the Science Museum of the Pacific where we enjoy various interactive exhibits and visit the butterflies.
Sunday 16 September 2018 O and I wake to the sound of a hard rain falling on the roof. Once again we are quite happy to be warm and dry! Breakfast is a (relatively) fresh peach pie that we picked up at the Olympia farmers market yesterday. We laze around for most of the day and venture out to Bellevue Brewing Co. for dinner. They have a great selection of
Saturday 15 September 2018 Enumclaw to Olympia to Bellevue O and I wake warm and dry at the Enumclaw Guesthouse and Inn. It was a relatively short (1 hour) drive here yesterday afternoon from Rainier. After hot showers we had a lovely dinner at Griffin and Wells Cafe. This morning, from our window, we have one of our clearest views of Rainier! We pack Vincent and are on the road
Friday 14 September 2018 Granite Creek back to Sunrise Amazingly enough we are all up early, fed, packed and on the trail by 8 am. I even had time this morning to re-bandage Shelley’s toes. She has an infection under one toenail – I advise her to have it drained as soon as she can when she is back to civilization. O and I are more than ready to get
Thursday 13 September 2018 Mystic Lake to Granite Creek We are allowed the luxury of sleeping in a bit this morning. O and I are up early anyway so that we have time to pack up before kitchen duty this morning. After cowboy coffee, shredded potatoes with peppers, and scrambled eggs with cheese we begin striking camp. I take some time to check Shelley’s feet. She’s got blisters on top
Wednesday 12 September 2018 Ipsut Creek to Mystic Lake We backtrack along the extra two miles we hiked last evening. As we approach the Carbon River Crossing our line of hikers comes to a halt. Jenn, our fearless leader, negotiates the rocky ledge above the log bridge. We see her hugging the unstable talus on the steep hillside next to the trail and tossing an occasional rock aside. Apparently there
Tuesday 11 September 2018 James Lake to Ipsut Creek It pours steadily all night long. O and I find it hard to believe there is so much water in the clouds. Aaron, our youngest participant, quotes Mark Twain, “It was the hardest rain I’d ever seen, except it was midnight and I couldn’t see it.” By morning the rain has graciously stopped so that we can eat breakfast and take
Monday 10 September 2018 Fire Creek to James Lake Today will be a short hiking day, which is good because tents and tarps are drenched this morning from last night’s rain. The ten of us huddle under our two tarps as we eat breakfast. Luckily, the rain pauses as we begin to pack up. Our packs are heavy with wet gear. We start the day’s hike with a descent to
Sunday 9 September 2018 Northern Loop Trail to Fire Creek (8.2 miles) O and I wake in the dark. The morning goes quite smoothly. We are indeed packed up and on the road by 8 am! By a bit after 9 we arrive at Sunrise where Rainier intermittently reveals its glaciated peaks through the clouds. It is 42 degrees F when we begin our initial climb, which warms us quickly.