Snow lake

After many weeks of being to busy to hike, or having no one to go with, I was finally able to get out and go hiking this Veteran's day. It was long overdue, because my last opportunity to go hiking was over labor day weekend. Even though I had the time, I still was not sure that we would actually be able to go because of the heavy rain and flooding of the few days prior. Charles was not availible until 1pm and he would be in Issaquah, so I decided to do my first hike in the I-90 corridor. Up until now I had avoided I-90 because of the crowds but now I didn't have a choices. The weather forecast called for heavy snow above 2500ft and high in the 30's. A perfect day to go hiking.

It rained pretty hard as we were driving up to exit 52, and I was wonderng what the trail would be like and how far we would make it. The rain seemed to turn to snow just as we got off the freeway at our exit, and much my our surprise we were driving through an freshly fallen winter wonderland. I had expected to see snow, but I was not at all expecting a few feet to have already fallen. It took us some time to find the trailhead and get dressed up for the weather and we started at about 2pm.

This was my first actual hike in the snow (the others being glacier climbs) and I enjoyed the new experience immensely. I loved the way that everything is quiet and peaceful in the snow. All the snow was freshly fallen powder almost waist deep, but the trail was hard packed and easy to walk on. We traveled slowly to take it all in, and take lots of pictures. I saw two small waterfalls to the north of the trail and at one point we met a wolf along the trail. After a mile and half we came to a fork in the trail and went uphil to Snow lake.

Despite going uphill, it was not very difficult, and the switchbacks made it easier because with each new level the view of the valley below got better. Once we got to the top of the ridge, we could see the lake, but had to descend about 20-30 feet to get the best view. The lake was beautiful, and one the edges we could see multi layered sheets of ice. There was a flat spot near us where I wish I could have spent the night. After a few minutes at the lake we turned around because we were sure that we would not make it back to the car before dark. We never planned it, but we both ended up jogging the two miles back to the car. We made just minutes before dark.

A good day

I got off work early at 3:30pm, and then decided to go for an 8 mile run. It was pouring rain, and I got soaked, but I had a great time. When I got home, my wife was making salad and lasagna, and she makes both dishes as good as they come. After a delicious dinner, I helped clean up, then had some ice cream and went to sleep thinking of the mountains.

The picture has nothing to do with what I did today.

Tumwater Falls

It's been far too long since I've been able to get outdoors and go hiking. Over two months to be exact. One big problem is a lack of time, and an even bigger problem is that there is no one to go out with. Everyone I've gone hiking with in the past has moved away in the past few months.
Last weekend my family was visiting to help with the kids while my wife was away at a conference. On the lsat day of their visit, my sister and wanted to go see something naturey but we didn't have a lot of time. The best choice I could come up with that she hadn't already been to was Tumwater Falls. It's not the most impressive waterfall, but it is a small island of natural beauty in the middle of a large urban area. Unfortunately we came too late to see the salmon run. We saw only one fish where a week before there had been hundreds. Overall, it was fun to spend time with my sister, and it wsa a gorgeous day to see the outdoors and the fall colors.