Finn and I set off for Granite Mountain Sunday morning with four liters of water for the two of us, way more lunch than I could eat (I'm usually ravenous when I hike, but not this time), and not a speck of extra clothing (an oversight on my part, but I was way too hot to care). And, sans camera. But whatever, we all know what Mt Rainier looks like on a spectacular cloud-free summer day, right?
Eight miles round trip. Every single step out was uphill, and every single step back was down. Certainly an exercise in heel blistering and toe bashing. Ow. But great. Really great, actually. The top half of the trail is almost entirely exposed, sparse trees creating little oases along the way. On the way back down, Finn would plop his butt on the trail in these shade oases and refuse to move for several minutes. Once we were back into the forested lower portion of the trail, he trotted right along.
I am nearly as sore as I was after Mt St Helens last summer (ok, probably not even close, but it is reminiscent). Wait a minute... that too was eight miles... up... back.... view of mt rainier.... same old, same old....
26 July 2010
16 July 2010
colors: freshwater coastal wetlands
I just love these colors!
The colors of the baylands vegetation are gorgeous -- I find them very inspirational and plan to use these photos to guide some future quilting.
05 July 2010
hike: ira springs trail to mason lake
The goal of my second hike of the season was origininally Bandera Mountain, but I changed course to Mason Lake as I reached the trail junction. The Snoqualmie Pass area was socked in with clouds, so I opted for a scenic lake, rather than a view of the clouds. I estimate 8-9 miles total, as I took the "Road Closed" sign too seriously and parked on the forest road about a mile shy of the trailhead (the way between the sign and the trailhead was completely passable, and about 40 cars were in the parking lot when I got back ot the trailhead... oh well. Four and a half hours, round trip. A lovely hike, a very well maintained trail -- you'd have to work really hard to get lost on this trip.
view from the trail looking out over Snoqualmie Pass
dwarf dogwood (Cornus canadensis) dotted the trail edges, along with bear grass, indian paintbrush and lupines.
mason lake, from its outlet, where the trail approaches the lake
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