go take a hike!

you know, i just realized i never blogged in august what we actually did in august. oh well. too late now. i was too busy blogging about our europe trip, and haven't gotten very far. i think i'll have to make them a bit shorter, or it's gonna take me forever, or at least until next year. so for august, pretty much, if it was sunny, we were outside until the sun went down. greenlake. alki beach. baseball. reading. swimming (or trying to), hanging out with friends, etc... regular summer relaxing sort of things, taking it easy, just like everyone else. and it ends all too soon. now we've reached september: which means: back to school, and schedules, and soccer games...



but to kick it off, this year, we did something totally new and different: we got out of town with karen and kevin and friends for the whole long labor day weekend. rented two little cabins near the north cascade national park, and lemme tell you: that was a whole lot of fun!





we relaxed! reading in a hammock, playing badminton, cook-outs, capture the flag, staying up late, sleeping in, waffles and coffee, listened to old-time radio programs, played scrabble, baked and ate brownies... greg and francis did their first fishing together (which unfortunately i have no pictures of: cellphone died! but did take some with greg's camera), the sun came out, went away, rained, came out again,(which made me very happy!) we picked blackberries, K & K took us to the lake diablo overlook (spectacular by the way), and on the last day (monday) we all went for a hike. let me tell you a little bit about that. they, the other cabin, said it was just an "easy" hike, "only 3 miles" there and back, so-and-so's "60 year old parents did it", so, ok, fine, i thought. plus, francis really really wanted to go with them. he would not be left out! going around greenlake is 3 miles and takes about an hour. so i thought we might be gone a few hours...thought it might be a nice stroll thru the pretty forest, etc, etc, etc...



i think maybe i misunderstood their definition of the word "hike", which actually meant: UP THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN! TO THE TOP! TO SEE THE GLACIER ON THE OTHER SIDE! suffice it to say: i was dying! so out of shape and so out of breath, but francis was a little mountain goat and kept up with all the super-hiker-backpacker-people up front, while i labored and lagged behind at dead last. (however, i DID stop to smell, and take pics of course, of the flowers!) greg kept me company, and took a whole lot of pictures too. when we reached what i thought was the top, (you'll see, more pics on flickr) it was only the top of that part of the mountain,



and then the trail traversed the tip of the ridge into the distance where you could see it no more, and our friends were little specks on the horizon, and francis with them! which was fine for me, except that on the other side of the mountain we had just climbed up, was a very steep and very long rocky hill of death or severe maiming, awaiting you, if you fell down it.



so that was a little nerve-wracking. and it was very windy up there. and bitterly cold. i had a bit of vertigo and some real fear. i wondered how much i would embarrass greg if i crawled on my hands and knees, but the trail was too long. so i just walked VERY CAREFULLY and eventually got used to it. i was doing ok until the trail we were on DISAPPEARED into the mist. then i got a bit panicky and thought the view was sufficient from where i was. but greg wanted us to stick with the group, besides francis was with them, so on we went. and on and on... luckily the mist cleared a bit and on the other side we could see again, (which is always nice)and they were all parked at this outcropping, overlooking the glacier, which was even bigger close up. it was literally right below us.



so we quickly ate, and froze, and got all stiff, and then commenced the hike back down, which actually wasn't any easier--my legs were shaking before we even got off the ridge. i felt like my legs were pulling along the dead weights of my feet and was afraid i might trip on them, and perhaps induce the long long roll to my death. felt much better on safe ground, where grass grows on both sides of the trail, and again, was dead last, but karen was kind and kept me company. they had asked me "how was it?" when i had got to the top, and i said cheerfully: "you know, it kinda reminded me of that time i gave birth, when the doctor said "almost there!" and then i had to push for 2 more hours!" hahaha. so, it was pretty hard, but it was good, and very beautiful. we even saw marmots close up, both on the way up and back down, and could hear their whistles, calling and answering. it took 6 hours round trip, and francis was amazing. he had so much fun. he skipped along ahead of us, with the rest of them, all the way up and back; i barely even saw him on the hike at all. but, in the car ride down the mountain, it caught up with him; he was passed out before we even got out of the woods...