Bottoms up!

This past week we welcomed our first visitor since moving to our new home. Laura flew in from Kansas for a few days of merrymaking. One of our stops was the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville for some good food and an inside look at the brewing process. Our review of the brewery tour can be summarized in one word: Cheers!

Welcome to the XC

With the snow now covering the trails we headed to the mountains for some cross country skiing. This was Andy's first attempt at any sort of skiing. Bridget turned out to be an excellent teacher and before long he was gliding right along.

Gobble, gobble, gobble

Happy Thanksgiving from the biggest turkey in Washington State.

God Jul

In honor of Bridget's Norwegian roots we joined her people in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood on Saturday at the Nordic Heritage Museum's Yulefest. There we found some delicious lefse (a traditional Norwegian potato flatbread slathered with butter and cinnamon or brown sugar and rolled into a tasty tube). We saw lots of Scandinavian sweaters and crafts.

After wandering around for a while we found the Bodega and helped ourselves to a glass of glogg (a hot, spiced wine) and listened to some polka music. For the sake of everyone present we restrained ourselves from dancing.

"Roll Out the Barrel"

. . . because he was a Fungi.

A couple of weeks ago, before all the rain, snow and mudslides, we made our way to the Boulder River for what turned out to be a very wet out and back hike. So much for weatherproofing. The trail followed the swollen, roaring river the entire route. One of the most interesting aspects of the hike was the variety of fungi we encountered.

A Sincere Pumpkin Patch

Happy Halloween!

Grand Slam

Our latest outing featured roaring waterfalls, craggy peaks, rushing creeks and picturesque mountain lakes. It proved to be one of the more scenic and varied hikes we've taken so far. We started out hiking through the forest before following Denny Creek. After a while we came to Keekwulee Falls.

We continued our way above the falls and before long the Tooth came into view.

Up and up we went to the headwaters of Denny Creek and Hemlock Pass. At the pass the trails were covered with snow and slush but our footing proved sure.

Once over the pass we made a short descent to the lower of the Melakwa Lakes.

We decided to go little further to the upper lake. We crossed the creek that connects the lakes . . .

and found a nice resting spot on the lakeshore before heading back down the trail.

Forward Pass

Last Sunday we made our way to Cascade Pass. It proved to be a low impact hike with lots of wind and lots of views.

We crossed paths with two backpackers on a talus field.

Finally the pass . . .

and the other side.

The Three Faces of Linus

"Little Blue Bone. Little Blue Bone."

"That was one TASTY treat!"

"Go ahead. I dare you."

Blanca or Bust

Earlier in the week we made our way to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest for a hike to Blanca Lake. It was a foggy, overcast day which gave the forest an eerie appearance. We proceeded up the switchbacks over the roots and rocks.


After three miles we reached some lovely open meadows full of fall color.


Once we passed into the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness we came to Virgin Lake shrouded in fog.

From Virgin Lake we made the steep, muddy descent to Blanca Lake. We were the only people there (actually we didn't see another person the entire afternoon) and quickly found our lunchspot. As we got ourselves situated the fog lifted and allowed us glimpses of the peaks across the lake.

The Horror!

In anticipation of Halloween Linus has been perfecting his Bat-Dog costume.

"I vant a tasty treat!"

Sniffing Out a Trail

Last week we took young "Houndsworth" with us on a short hike to Twin Falls. The trail is not that far of a drive from Seattle and just a short ways off of I-90. We kept the hike short for the dog's sake and went only as far as the observation deck for the lower falls.


Linus isn't always on his best behavior on outings so he rarely, if ever, goes with us. However, he managed to behave admirably on this one, thereby increasing his odds of participating in future hikes.

Larch Lust

The western larch is a deciduous conifer so its needles are shed every fall. Before the needles are shed they turn a brilliant golden color. Not wanting to miss out on such a sight and after reading that the larches were reaching their peak color we searched for hike that would quench our larch lust.

We headed back to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in the cental Cascades. The beginning was early and chilly as we followed the North Fork of the Teanaway River for the first little bit.

Soon we reached an intersection and followed the Ingalls Way Trail to the right. We switchbacked up through the forest before finding ourselves in subalpine meadows, with squeaking pikas all around and incredible views of the Esmerelda Peaks.

We then reached the next intersection. Ingalls Way Trail to the left and Longs Pass Trail to the right. According to our trail book Longs Pass provided excellent views of Mt. Stuart and is only a "scant 1/2 mile" from the intersection. We decided to add Longs Pass to our hike and started up the trail. After making it to the pass we questioned the distance but agreed with the analysis of the views. From Longs Pass Mt. Stuart stares right back at you.
We hiked back down to the intersection with Ingalls Way Trail and continued our way toward Ingalls Pass and the larches. After several steep switchbacks we made it to Ingalls Pass and more views of Mt. Stuart while surrounded by the golden western larches. Below is a short video of the views with a cameo by Bridget.

Our final stop before heading back for the trailhead was Ingalls Lake. We took a break on the rocks overlooking the lake, ate our lunch and took in the views of Mt. Stuart off to the right.

We made our way back to Ingalls Pass again hiking through the groves of golden larches.

At the pass we took one last look at Mt. Rainier to the south then headed back to the trailhead.

Serenity Now

Yesterday we went to the Alpine Lakes Region for a hike to Lake Serene. It's a popular trail since the trailhead is so close to the highway. Before reaching the lake there's a side trail to Bridal Veil Fall.

From the falls the trail is up, up and up to the lake. When we made it to the lake we took in the view from Lunch Rock and had lunch.

The fog kept the summit of Mount Index hidden from view but it was a nice lunch spot nonetheless. After lunch we walked a short ways from the lake for a view of the valley below and the distant peaks to the north.

Shaboom

For this weekend's hike we went to Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake. This hike was obviously very different from our earlier ones. The land is still recovering from the 1980 eruption. Although stark and desolate it was eerily beautiful. Below is a view of the Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake. The light and dark objects in the lake are trees.

New growth is happening all over with new trees, shrubs and flowers. With all the pre-1980 trees blown to the ground by the eruption the views were open and spectacular.

We were able to view Mt. Rainier . . .

Mt. Adams . . .

and Mt. Hood.