Campfire Smell

Man, I thought Colorado was super rad (and it totally still is) but Washington is abso effing lutely gorgeous. Just the drive in had me stoked to lace up the ol hiking boots and go do some ground poundin but today was the first chance to and surprisingly a fair amount of roads in Mt. Rainier Natl Park were closed :( But there was a terrific opportunity to check out Crystal Lake Trail! Normally I’d say this is your typical steep grade/lotta switchback 6 mile yo-yo but interestingly it traverses an avalanche slope so as you progress (at least, at this time of year) one must hike on solid dirt with large patches of avalanche snow melt that is too hard to make a good footing but too soft to walk right upon. Talk about a slow crawl. After getting 2 1/2 miles of a 2300 ft elevation gain on that crap, it’d be easy to say “the hell with THIS!” A few minutes later, though, a couple of middle aged folks with snowshoes and Yaks on came by, apparently since the winter we were the first two parties to have made it that far! haha :D So, fear not because the first of three Mt lakes is just ahead! :D Gorgeous aquamarine snow melt on top of the snow covered lakes was really neat! In your typical high ridgeline surroundings it was a great place to have a bite of lunch :)

In all, while hoping to get some of that Wonderland Trail action, that’ll wait for a different day ;)

Cheers

Headed from Denver to Puyallup, WA in only 5 days! Work starts May 6 so it’s only sensible to take the time to see Arches Natl Park, check out Salt Lake City, drive up to to Grand Teton Natl Park and finally Yellowstone Natl Park before b-lining to Seattle for a week of fun on the bay! :D

Now, to get through this blasted week of dumb work before we bounce! haha