It seems that Jeff and I have gotten pretty good at miscalculating the weather for our hikes. We didn’t think it was going to rain when we went to Lower Lena Lake, and we didn’t think it was going to be that snowy or rainy at Mount Rainier either. The same problems plagued our hike [...]
This weekend Jeff and I hiked a section of the Wonderland Trail at Mount Rainier. The Wonderland Trail winds a 93-mile circle around Mount Rainier, and some day (maybe soon) I hope to do the whole thing. (But not yet!) This time we planned to start from Longmire and hike northwest along the trail with [...]
Yesterday Jeff and I went back to Lower Lena Lake. The weather had been sunny for the last six weeks, so we assumed we didn’t need to worry much about rain. Think again, roared Mother Nature. The water poured down in buckets. Not that we minded (much). Washington is already in an official drought emergency [...]
Seeing those idiots on the ice cliff, so close to catastrophe, made Jeff and me realize that we really need a good first-aid kit, not only for ourselves (although that’s certainly important) but for the less-prepared around us. Some of the other hikers on that trail today were obviously experienced, but the overwhelming majority were [...]
I’m feeling a lot better this morning than I was last night. I woke up in the middle of the night, needing to use the bathroom, legs screaming—but Jeff woke up when I whimpered in pain, and he brought me a glass of water for my aspirin. The aspirin made me feel much better, and [...]
I’m too tired to blog right now, even though I really want to. I’m too tired, and sitting up is too painful. (Note to self: 1700 feet of elevation gain in 5.5 miles, round trip, is not good when one hasn’t been hiking in over a year, and that somewhat mild.) But I remembered my [...]
It’s snowing so much today that the steeper hills are practically impassable, and buses are slipping even on relatively mild hills like University Way. It’s complete craziness! The University is still open, but classes were cancelled as of 12:30 today. Guess when my first class was supposed to start. *smirk* Unfortunately I was already at [...]
Ever since I came back to Seattle last Tuesday, the temperature has been around freezing. Tuesday night there was enough snow to accumulate on the ground; this morning there’s no snow yet, but the weather gurus are predicting up to 4 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow morning. Yikes! Jeff and I were planning on [...]
Weather’s been nonsense recently. Buckets of rain while I was out of town, then a couple of weeks of cold like midwinter and dry as Nevada. Now it’s cloudy, gray, and pitch-black at three in the afternoon. Brr. Okay, that last one is a teensy bit of an exaggeration. But man, I felt like I [...]
This morning when I walked in to work, the grass was fuzzy and silver-white. Even the wider leaves on the bushes by the sidewalk sported a delicate sparkle. It made me glad that I got up and came into work earlier than usual, because I’m sure the frost would have burned off by the time [...]