First Snow Shoe Adventure

Today, Terry surprised me by saying that we would be taking our first trip up to Mt Rainier with the plans of doing some snow shoeing.  Since last summer, we have talked about going snow shoeing.  I had looked online and noticed that Mt Rainier gives ranger led trips twice a day in the winter and even have snow shoes available for use (they ask for a $1-$4 donation only.  Check it out at http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/winter-recreation.htm#CP_JUMP_142395 for more information).  We had talked about it for a long time and finally, today was the day we decided to try it out.

We left our house around ten o'clock and made it to the ranger station in Paradise in time to sign-up for the 12:30 trip.  Terry noticed a sign advertising the ranger led walk and it described it as "moderately strenuous".  At reading that, I began to freak out.  I suddenly became weary of the walk and wasn't sure that we should be attempting it.  However, I decided to give it a try and figured that a 2 hour walk that was only 1.5 miles should be very doable.

I am sure glad that we went.  We had such a blast!  Since it was ranger led, we stopped every so often and she talked about the area.  There was one hill that we had to go down and since I had my snow pants on, I went down on my butt like a sled.  The walk took us to the Nisqually Glacier overlook and it was very neat to look down at the glacier.  Then, we headed back to the visitor center.  We had a really good walk and both really enjoyed it.  We can't wait until we are able to get out and try it again!

Bad Blogger: September ReCap

I have been horrible at blogging lately which is weird since we have been very busy doing fun stuff. I do want to do a quick overview of our September this far. So, going back to Labor Day weekend, Terry and I headed out to Lake Wenatchee State Park. We were a little disappointed about the proximity of the lake to the camping sites. We did find one site we would like in the future as it was very close to the lake, however, the loop we were in was far from the lake and day use area. We stayed Friday night there and fell asleep and woke up to rain. So, after one night, we decided to head down to Taneum and spend the rest of the long weekend with the Tamers. We snagged some seats on Sunday for a little trail ride where we encountered snow on the high ridge. It was chilly, but a fun weekend.

The weekend after Labor Day was Team Trophy Challenge-Washington (TTCW) that our club hosts. It was the third year of putting on the event and a ton of fun. We had 16 teams (I think) of 2 rigs and 4 people. The teams spend about 24 hours on the trail completing tasks during the day and looking for punch buckets at night. Our task this year was to a side hill winch task. We were there until about 11:15PM waiting for teams to finish before we were able to head back to camp. However, on the way back down the gravel road, on of the teams took a corner a little too fast and ended up down the embankment. There was a large group of us that helped winch the Jeep up and luckily everyone was okay. As we were about to go back to camp, Dan-O and ScramblerMike drove up on a mission to rescue some Toyota guys who had gotten lost and broke. Terry jumped in with Dan-O to help with getting them back to camp and didn't return until about 6:30 on Sunday morning. We had an exhausting, but fun weekend and can't wait until next year!
Then, last weekend was Operation Shore Patrol (OSP) at Ocean City State Park. Terry and I headed down on Thursday and enjoyed the sunny Friday around Ocean Shores. My parents and most of the Tamers arrived on Friday. Then on Saturday we headed out for the beach clean-up. I was surprised, there actually wasn't that much garbage on the beach. On Saturday night, our club put on the annual steak dinner that everyone seemed to enjoy. After that was the raffle where we won a gift card to 4 Wheel Parts, a ARB hat, and a T-shirt. On Sunday we packed up and headed home, stopping at the casino on the way out to watch the first half of the Niners vs. Seahawks game.
Once we were home, we unpacked a few things and then headed to the airport to pick my brother up. On Monday, Danny and I headed up to Mt Rainier and did the Naches Peak Loop hike which was a nice 3.5 mile hike that gave amazing views of Mt Rainier. It was a perfectly clear morning for the hike. On the way back at the house, we stopped and got tacos from the bus that were amazing. Once Terry got home on Monday, we headed up to Seattle for the Ben Harper w. R7/Pearl Jam concert. We had burgers at Dick's before the show and then walked over to Key Arena for the performance. Both bands put on an amazing show and we were entertained watching the guy in front of us try to pick up the drunk girl who had previously vomited into her purse.

On Tuesday, Danny and I headed down to Ruston Way in Tacoma and took a little walk and had a great lunch before dropping him off at the airport to head back to Texas. The weather was amazing for the first day of fall and it was good to be able to enjoy the day with him. Then, yesterday, I started school. I am going back for my degree and certificate in Social Services/Mental Health. I was a little nervous about starting classes again, but have always enjoyed school and my classes seem pretty good. I guess that is all that has gone on this month. I will try to be better about posting in the future.

Jake & Brittany's Visit

Jake and Brittany came up to visit for 10 days from Aug 19-Aug 29. We were very busy while they were here. They arrived on Wednesday so straight from the airport, we decided to spend the day in Seattle. We had breakfast at 5 Spot, saw the Fremont Troll, visited the lochs, walked through Pike Place Market, and enjoyed dinner at the Crab Pot. On Thursday, we stayed local. We drove through Point Defiance Park and had lunch and a walk along Ruston Way in Tacoma. On Friday, we headed to NW Trek and then spent the day at home.

Over the weekend, we attended our 4-wheel drive club picnic at Lake Samammish on Saturday then went to church and Emerald Downs on Sunday.

Then, on Monday we did a 5 mile hike at Mt Rainier followed by a drive through the park and up to Paradise. Then on Tuesday, we drove down to Mt St Helens and spelunked through the Ape Caves. After that, we drove into Portland and had wings at Hooters (and yes, they were good). On Wednesday, we headed up to my parents' house and on the way stopped for wine tasting at Chateau Ste Michelle. Then on Thursday, we took a ferry to Orcus Island. Friday was another relaxing day at my parents' place with lunch at the Bellingham harbor and then a night of margaritas and Mexican food in Ferndale. On Saturday, we left early and dropped them off at the airport for their trip home. It was a busy week and we had a lot of fun.

Mt Rainier Hiking

Yesterday, Terry and I decided to do some hiking at Mt Rainier National Park. We live close to the area and have been wanting to do more hiking so decided to go up there to take advantage of the great weather.

The first hike of the day we did Naches Peak Loop. It was 5.0 miles and took us exactly two hours to hike. We parked at Lake Tipoo and started the hike from the trailhead there. There was a small hill at the beginning of the hike but after that the hike was fairly level. I had read that the trail was popular and there was a chance of crowds, but luckily since we hit the trail early we didn't see that many people. The hike took us over highway 410 through fields of wildflowers. Once we were about half way through the trip, we were graced with great views of Mt Rainier. The morning light was amazing and we got lucky with the weather. When we arrived back at our car, we were surprised to see the parking lot full and tons of people milling around the lake. We were definitely glad we hit the trail early in the day and do plan on hiking it again in the future.

After the first hike, we decided to hit another trail since the day was still early. In the book I had, it described another trail in the Sunrise area that looped around the visitor center. It also described the trail as easy and 5.0 miles so we decided to try it out. The Sunrise Loop Trail started at the Sunrise Visitor Center went up to Frozen Lake, across to the First Burrough, down the back side of the Burrough to Sunrise camp then back to the visitor center. The hike was definitely harder than the first hike of the day with some steeper hills. There was one area that still had a snow patch that we had to navigate which was a little scary since one slip and it was a long way down a steep hill. The views of the mountain were amazing! It seemed like we were really close to it and I am sure the pictures don't do it justice. Coming back down the hill, Mt Rainier was to our back so we think if we did this hike again we would do it in the reverse direction to get the views in front of us going up the hill. There were more people on this trail then the first one but it still wasn't too bad. We hope to have decent weather in a few weeks and do this trail again with Jake and Brittany.