Happiness is . . .

I had gotten an email from a friend Friday morning wanting to know what I was doing on Saturday - the weather would be fabulous & she knew I was one of only a few friends who wouldn't complain if she wanted to take the 5:35 ferry out of Edmonds to go on a snowshoe adventure. However, I had committed myself to a snowshoe event with my sister. It would be a great day for the views at Hurricane Ridge & not the tromping through the trees at Stevens Pass for the event. Luck would have it though, the event was funding Susan G Komen Foundation and after the flap earlier in the week regarding funding of Planned Parenthood, my sister & her friends were done with their support of Komen. She cancelled. And I was waking up at 3:30 to go to Hurricane Ridge.

The trip really only hit one snag, a car sized boulder in the road that closed the road for and extra hour. But we weren't bothered by this - a quick trip back to town for second breakfast and a cup of coffee later and we were on our way again. The parking lot at the visitor center was already filling up, but there was still plenty of room as we parked our car and started of on our day.

We weren't in a hurry to get anywhere. In fact we didn't relly care if we got to the top of Hurricane Hill at all. We meandered along the snowy road, heading off into the woods anytime we thought we might see a view or just for a small change of pace. Some of the snow was just too much to resist and I threw myself into a snow bank, on Mary's recommendation, to make snow angels.

Once we hit the end of the road, the "work" began - a steady and often steep climb up the first knoll to the ridge. The rest of the climb to Hurricane Hill would follow the ridge. The views we had been admiring all morning became even more incredible as we climbed. We stopped for a while taking pictures until we couldn't stand the biting wind anymore and continued on our way. It was too far past the first hill that we came to a section of trail that cut into the snow along a cliff. I didn't like the looks of it, even less so when as I watched a group go by one of their number slipped. Nope I was done.

Mary & I started back to the visitor center for some hot cocoa before calling it a day, smiles on our faces.

Best Laid Plans

Hurricane Ridge 6/17/07 4.5 miles

I had been trying to get my friend T.K. to go hiking with me for two years, and for two years he has found one reason or another not to go. Granted, most of his excuses have been legitimate - working on his house to make sure he had a roof over his head or walls to hold up the roof. But it's been a long haul and unrelenting patience. What finally got him out? Her name is Nancy and she has the strength to pull him out of the house to experience some of the grandeur the NW has to offer.

I had planned a hike along Klahhane Ridge up to Mt Angeles - a good 8 mile hike through meadows of wildflowers and patches of snow. However, the patches of snow were a bit more than anticipated. We were stopped far short of our goal when we came across a steep slope filled with snow. I was rather apprehensive about heading down the hill so steep that we decided to turn around and try another trail.

Why not the trail up to Hurricane Hill? Again we would be hiking through wildflower meadows and hiking up to a viewpoint over looking the Elwha Valley and the Bailey Range. There was still a bit of snow on the trail but the lupines were starting to bloom as was the phlox and indian paintbrush. The marmots were out in search of edible blooms to nibble on; the deer were grazing in the meadows, napping in the trees. We even got to see a couple of bear across the valley.

One last word. As we stood atop Hurricane Hill, T.K. looked out over the valleys and mountains and wondered why he had never been before - it was only an hour from his house. If he had been any closer to the edge, I would have pushed.

New Year's Eve

1/1/07 Olympic Coast

I can think of no better way to ring in a new year than snuggled in my tent beneath snow-covered mountains or tall stately trees. This year we welcomed 2007 by sleeping on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. But first we made a little tour around the north end of the Olympic Peninsula.

We packed up the puppies Saturday and drove to Sequim, hoping to camp at the Dungeness Spit. Sadly, the campground is closed during the winter and we had to figure out our next plan as night was fast approaching. Kudos to the Washington State Park system as we can usually find a campground open - our Saturday night was spent overlooking Sequim Bay. We were beginning to regret our decision as most people crazy enough to camp in the dead of winter are at least intelligent enough to do it in campers, with generators. After 5 days of listening to our neighbor's generator during the last power outage, I was not thrilled about listening to our temporary neighbor's power source. By 10, though, the campground was silent except for the occasional wave lapping up against the rocks. Thank you temporary camping neighbor.

We awoke early the next morning to catch the possible sunrise on Hurricane Ridge. The road to the ridge is closed until dawn, but we were there waiting when the rangers opened the gate and we weere able to watch the sun make it's way across the sky, through the infrequent breaks in the clouds. The wind, blowing harsh and cold convinced us that a few hours on the ridge snowshoeing wouldn't be the best way to spend the morning. So we let the puppies play in the snow a bit and went on our way to Kalaloch.

It rained on and off on our drive out to the beach and sprinkled lightly on us as we set up camp. But dried up a bit as we walked along the beach watching the clam-diggers, many coming up the beach empty-handed. The rain came back as wee settled into our tent, the puppies curled up on our feet. A few of our neighbors whooped it up at midnight, but Michael & I just wished each other a happy new year then nestled back into our sleeping bags.

Happy New Year!