I finally got out to an actual mountain last Wednesday. I did the 8-mile out-and-back on Rattlesnake Mountain to Grand Prospect. It was a beautiful day and a great workout. I saw exactly one person on the way up and perhaps 7 or 8 on the way down. There were plenty of cars in the lot (although it was not full) but clearly they were mostly mountain bikers.
I am impressed with the bikers who can go up and down these mountain trails. They built the trails and they definitely use them.
Saturday (which is supposed to be rainy) I am scheduled to do a WTA work party.
I finally got out to an actual mountain today. I did the 8-mile out-and-back on Rattlesnake Mountain to Grand Prospect. It was a beautiful day and a great workout. I saw exactly one person on the way up and perhaps 7 or 8 on the way down. There were plenty of cars in the lot (although it was not full) but clearly they were mostly mountain bikers.
I am impressed with the bikers who can go up and down these mountain trails. They built the trails and they definitely use them.
Here is another view, looking north as above but also a bit west, showing some of the more distant mountains:
North and West
I am hopeful I can get out on Friday. Saturday (which is supposed to be rainy) I am scheduled to do a WTA work party. I hope this old man will be useful.
I am still not getting out to the mountains as often as I would like. I woke up yesterday morning expecting to do J’s Landing but the more I thought about it, and about the various events I have coming up (such as a trail work party on Saturday) I decided to save gas money and go local.
I drove down to Bothell Landing, hiked through Blyth Park and up Norway Hill – as pictured above.
The forest on Norway Hill is nice but not awesome:
Norway Hill Forest
Once at the top of the hill you gain the Tolt Pipeline Trail. From there I went past a few wineries and the fancy-schmancy hotel/restaurant complex near the Woodinville ball fields, and then I took the Sammamish River Trail all the way back to Bothell Landing. It was a beautiful Sunday in early June and the trail was jammed. Another drawback of going local.
Anyway, it was about 9 miles, 3.5 hours, fun but it ain’t the mountains.
On July 21 Jan and I are going to do a boat ride and lunch on Diablo Lake. I was there once, years ago, but I did not drive. I was not sure exactly how to get there or where to go to catch the boat when we arrive so I decided to drive to Diablo Lake, hike the Diablo Lake Trail, and scope the place out.
At the trail head was a warning sign, explaining that there was an active mountain lion in the area. The sign suggested that you hike in a group. I was alone so, reluctantly, I turned around. I hate to drive all that way (2.5 hours) without a hike but I was not inclined to deal with a mountain lion.
However, just a few yards up the trail there were deer:
Almost Friendly Deer
I saw one of them later as I walked on the lake shore. I of course did not try to approach any of them, but they are fairly unafraid of humans. They were comfortable getting much closer than deer usually get.
The lake is spectacular and it is surrounded by mountains.
Sourdough Mountain
I look forward to July 21, it should be a fun outing.
I find it increasingly difficult to motivate myself to drive long distances to hike, thanks to the continuing high price of gas. Plus, I am going to have to drive some long distances in the new few weeks – to Diablo Lake for a boat ride with Jan (and I will probably drive there by myself before the boat ride to see how long it takes and make sure I know the way). To Maple Falls for a WTA Outreach Event.
Speaking of which I drove to Bellingham on Sunday for an event. Here are my two fellow Trail Ambassadors at our table:
Ski to Sea Race in Fairhaven, Bellingham
Not sure where I will hike next – or when. I will do my usual Thursday grocery shopping with Brittany and Dean tomorrow and on Friday the painters might start on our house.
I didn’t make it to Dirty Harry’s yesterday, I am shooting for tomorrow to do that. I did Cedar Butte and then swung by Christmas Lake on the way back.
Parenthetically, I might have solved my bike seat problem (too hard). I just got a pair of padded bike shorts and I will try them out when next I pedal.
I hate to have to cut the bike trips short just because my old butt gets sore.
St. Edward State Park is becoming my new conditioning hike. It is much closer and easier to get to than the Section Line. There are plenty of trails to choose from, including a couple that are steep.
Tomorrow I hope to get out to Dirty Harry’s Balcony, always a good workout and great views.
Yesterday I took the bike to the Cedar Falls trail head and biked east on the PTC. My legs felt heavy. I was worried that something was wrong. So I turned around only about 2.5 miles out. And the instant I started going west I realized what the problem actually was: PTC east is uphill. I have hiked it many times and I never noticed the slight grade. I was pedaling along thinking it was flat. I will go back next week with this in mind, gear down a little and go much farther.
Plus, I ordered a pair of shorts with a padded seat. Even though I stuffed some foam rubber underneath the seat cover it was still a bit uncomfortable.
I will get this biking stuff right (only done it 3 times so far) and add to my outdoor toolbox. Plus, I have an inflatable kayak and I will take that out.
When I got back to the car I stowed the bike and did a little hike around the area, so I wound up doing about 8.25 miles total.
I walked a few miles today but what I did could not be called a true hike. But I just love the city of Edmonds. What a great little city.
I can get there by walking out my front door to a bus stop, and take the bus to Edmonds, which is what I did today. Edmonds has it all. It is a waterfront city, with a nice beach on the Puget Sound, with views west towards the Olympic Mountains. I took a couple of photos of the mountains but, once again, my camera and skills were inadequate to the task.
I did manage to capture the Edmonds-Kingston ferry as it was coming into port as seen above.
And I walked along the marina, ogling the many boats:
Boats Unlimited
Edmonds has a nice art museum, it is the home of Rick Steves, the travel guru, as well as the Edmonds Center for the Arts (ECA) where we have enjoyed artists such as Judy Collins, Graham Nash, and Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives. In fact, Marty and Co. are coming back in June and we have tickets.
And, last but not least, every Saturday throughout the summer Edmonds has a summer market, with several streets blocked off and various vendors – food, arts and crafts, pet paraphernalia, etc. – lined up for business. Jan and I are planning to take the bus there on 5/27 to walk on to the ferry (expect to wait in line for an hour or more if you want to haul your car over the sound, but as a walk-on there is never a wait). As a senior with the local senior transit/discount card, my total cost for a round-trip across the sound, a beautiful experience, is only $5. $5!
Edmonds. There is so much to do (did I mention the scuba diving attraction?) I just wish we could afford to live there.
I had a good workout yesterday, starting at the South Fork Picnic Area parking lot, climbing up to the PTC and then going east, to the Garcia junction and then taking the service road NF9021 up towards Truck Summit. Less than a half mile from the Garcia junction a metal canister just off the trail caught my eye:
Urn
A close look revealed that it had contained the ashes of one David Matthew Estrella. I thought it was a nice tribute to what I presume was his love of the outdoors to put his ashes near a trail. But when I looked more closely I could see that someone had opened the canister and scattered his ashes, which are already quickly degrading:
Ashes to Ashes
It was a sad and jarring sight.
On the way back I noticed a freshly sawed log with sap seeping out of the cut:
Sap
This is another case where, had I a better camera and better camera skills, I could have captured how beautiful it was, almost glowing.
