Seattle Trip - Mount Ranier National Park, Olympic National Park, and Mount Si

 Seattle and the surrounding area screams "green!"  The city requires citizens to separate out compost from recycling from trash.  An intimidating sign on the trashcan of my sister's condo complex threatens to increase the HOA fees should compostable waste be found in the trash dumpster.  REI was founded there.  The grocery store charges you for every plastic or paper bag that you use.  There are parks everywhere including three national parks within a reasonable drive.  And it may be not be science, but it sure looked like the fitness outweighed the fatness of the passers-by that I noticed on my visit.  It seemed a natural place for hikers to convene.  And if it weren't so far away and traffic didn't terrify me (a by-product of learning to drive near DC?) I might just move there.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to visit my sister who has taken up residence in Seattle.  While there, we did some hiking, some wandering, and a whole lot of enjoying the beauty of nature. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

View from Skyline Trail looking away from the summit of Mount Ranier (Mount Ranier National Park)

Mom and Jenny enjoying the hike

Mount Ranier via Skyline Trail

A snow tunnel at Mount Ranier

Snow covered trail on the Skyline loop (Mount Ranier)

Me and Casey at Panorama Point (Mount Ranier)

Wildflowers at Mount Ranier

Another shot from the Skyline Trail at Mount Ranier

Hurrican Ridge at Olympic National Park

Me and Jenny at Hurricane Ridge

Marmot on hike near Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center

Ruby Beach (Olympic National Park)

Sol Duc Falls (Olympic National Park)

Deer at Hurricane Ridge (Olympic National Park)

Raven Rocks

I have no photos of this hike that Casey and I did in June and not really much to say for it.  That's not to say that it wasn't a good hike.  In fact, for a hike in the Northern Virginia area, it was reminiscent of those hikes surrounding Blacksburg.  As you can see graphically if you check out the hikingupward link to this hike, the trail does not merely ascend to a ridge with views.  Instead, it climbs and then descends and then climbs and then descends, and then finally climbs again.  I can't decide if I appreciate the intermixed ups and downs or if I prefer the more typical "up on the way there - down on the way back" hike.  Regardless, we had a nice time and met a few German folks who are doing a long section hike on the AT.  They commented on how lacking the flora and fauna identification skills seem to be of hikers in the area and then embarrassed us by quizzing us on our history knowledge when they asked if we knew how Washington D.C. got its name.  Born and raised not 30 minutes from the nation's capital, I was ashamed that I hadn't the faintest idea.  I have since looked up the answer and in case you are wondering, the name "Washington" is after George Washington (I could have guessed this much) and "Columbia" is after Christopher Columbus and was an old term used to describe America.  So there you have it - a hike and a history lesson in one.

Great Falls - Virginia

I am a bit behind on posting my hikes, but on June 13th, Casey, Kevin and I decided to hike the Billy Goat Trail section A.  I have done this hike numerous times before - albeit not in a few years - but with Casey as the driver and I as the co-pilot, it is easy to see how we ended up in the wrong spot.  When we arrived at the entrance to the park, it didn't look like my usual parking spot, but I assumed that we were merely in the legal parking zone.  Unlike where I typically park, this lot involved driving past a ranger station and paying an entrance fee (which was waived thanks to Casey's NPS volunteer pass).  Nevertheless, we parked and set to scanning the map which we had received at the entrance station.  When we couldn't find the Billy Goat trail on the map, Casey took himself back to the station to ask the ranger for some assistance.  According to the ranger, we were a hop, skip, and jump across the river from our intended destination.  With no bridges or boats to speak of, daylight slowly dying, and self preservation in mind, we opted to find some new trails on the Virginia side of the river.  While not quite as exciting as the rock scrambles on the Billy Goat, the trail proved to be a worthwhile expenditure of our time.  Plus, I saw a cool snake!

Casey and Kevin at the falls overlook

Baby snake near a launch

The falls in focus