Amanda’s backpack was pretty nasty after our hike. Here is the evidence:

Ya, disgusting, eh?

02 SEP 2006 : SATURDAY
Amanda and I packed up our hiking gear, watered the garden, said goodbye to the piglet, and head out to the ferry for our hiking adventure. At the ferry, we discussed whether or not we should declare our white gas fuel, and decided that we should. The ferry guy said it was fine; they were more worried about people bringing in five+ gallons of fuel. I am still unsure of why it matters, since all the cars and other vehicles have one hell of a lot more gas than that aboard. Anyways, the ferry guy asked us where we were going (since there are multiple ferries), and Amanda said “the Olympics!”… to which the ferry guy replied: “Bainbridge, then?” Amanda: “Uh, yeah”.

The ferry ride was fun. We exited the car and rode on the upper deck and took in the scenery. It was sunny but cold crossing Elliot Bay. I was amused by a seagull flying directly over the ferry; it looked like it was hovering, but obviously it was flying at the same speed as the ferry.

We eventually got too cold and got some hot beverages and scones at the ferry’s “restaurant”. I again admired the cool native american art depicting a snake eating an egg.

We did not really know where we were going, and our maps were not detailed enough, but we figured it was not that hard. I was really really tired because I had been trying to finish my contract project up and did not get much sleep the night before, so I phased in and out of consciousness while Amanda drove.

Port Angeles was not that far away… only around eighty miles. I thought it was much farther. We eventually found the place where were picked up hiking permits. Amanda originally had talked to some guy there (or perhaps at the information center) about what hikes he would do, and the person suggested a three overnight hike down some valley to some lake… we needed suggestions because the park was crawling with people due to the holiday weekend. However, I was really put off by the 4000+ initial drop into the valley (since we would have to hike up that the last day) and I was leaning towards a two night outing anyway. The guy suggested a loop near Mount Angeles that was nice and at that point no one would be camping out (which could change).

We decided on that trip, rented a bear canister, bought a topo map, bought a trowel because I did not think we packed one (and again laughed about how they were always orange), and headed out. We hit the trailhead around two in the afternoon.

The campsite was not all that far, perhaps four to five miles, but we did have quite a bit of elevation gain: 3500ft or so. Fortunately, I have an altimeter, so we could track our progress. Before I got the altimeter, I always hated the fact that one could be hiking endlessly up some mountain and not know how far away one was from one’s destination unless one could get a bearing or two from landmarks… hard if you are blanketed by trees. Endless climbing can be very dispiriting. However, the altimeter made it much easier to find your location without troubling with compass bearings.

A few people passed us going down; I presume they were on dayhikes, but I was unsure why as the “other side” of the loop we were on seemed more exciting for a dayhike (to Lake Angeles). I still don’t know why the people were there, unless they just wanted a lot of exercise. Most of the views and whatnot were a little far away and high up for most people for a dayhike and the people who were going down did not look like they did so… most were not really carrying anything and I would not hike up where we were going without a lot of water at least.

There was a place called “Halfway Rock” marked on the map which we had read bout earlier that had good views of the straight and was about halfway from the trailhead and Heather Park, campsite area where we would be stopping, in bought distance and elevation. We were bummed out when we got there as it was lame and there were no views because the trees were still too thick. I hope the people we passed weren’t coming up here because they might have been disappointed.
Three quarters of the way up, there was another rock outcropping where there were some great views, though. I don’t think it was the intended “Halfway Rock” as it was no way near halfway up.

We eventually made it to Heather Park. There was another couple there already camped by the stream that wound through the area. The stream was a welcome sight, because we were not sure that there was water available; usually official campsites have water, but not always. The guy at the permit place had said there was “usually” a stream present… hardly a statement that inspires confidence. The couple said the other campsites were scattered up along the trail.

We explored a bit and found what I had later read described as the greatest campsite ever. It was the remains of a stone cabin of some sort. One wall with the fireplace, chimney, and two metal cooking areas was still mostly there; the other three walls were reduced to fence size. There was a few logs surrounding a place for a fire, and there were also a few areas outside the walls that were flattish where one could hang out.

There was even a very spooky cool dead tree at one end.

So we set up camp, got water, made a dinner of insta-rice and boil-in-the-bag vaguely indian spiced vegetables (heavy! since it was already hydrated, but convenient). Amanda had some cocoa later, and I broke out the 375ml bottle of port I had brought along.

There was not much daylight left, so we cleaned up and relaxed in the tent. Amanda was surprised I had brought my iPod with me (how, like, so not back-to-the-earth of me), so we listened to some NPR podcasts… one earbud for each or us. Eventually we called it a night.

Unfortunately, it was not a pleasant night. Amanda had gotten sick from something, and was very nauseous with various other GI distress, and spent the night throwing up and whatnot… no need for the exact details. Obviously, being that sick is unpleasant enough, but it is really unpleasant when you are in the dark without water and surrounded by cliffs in unpredictable directions. Ug. Ug. Ug. Too bad a modern bathroom could not have magically appeared there.

It was, however, a nice evening. I did see quite a few shooting stars at various points. I don’t think Amanda appreciated it, though.

03 SEP 2006 : SUNDAY
The next morning Amanda had magically felt much better. I had thought about just going back to the trailhead… “This isn’t fun anymore!” I cried… because if Amanda got sick later during the day it would really really suck because we would be that much farther away and in a more precarious area. Amanda, though, said she felt fine, so we decided to continue. I had trail mix and tea for bfast; I think Amanda ate some oatmeal as well.

We did not know why Amanda got sick. I had practically everything Amanda had to eat. I had a lot of port, but Amanda only had a little. Amanda suspected the cocoa. I thought it might be some weirdness in her water bag. Who can say.

I loaded up on water from the stream before leaving. It was a little unclear how much we would be hiking… six miles or so… but it would be on a ridge with no water available and a lot of sun coming down. We also redistributed the stuff in our packs since Amanda had been ill and so we would hike at the same speed. I dunno how much I ended up carrying, but it was sufficient to slow me down enough.

Today, we hiked and along a ridge and then descended to Lake Angeles where our next campsite was. There were quite a few nice views of Port Angeles, the Straight, and Vancouver Island in one direction, and the peaks in the middle of Olympic National Park in the other.

Getting up the the main ridge was more crazy than I had anticipated as it required going through two passes with a lot of exposed hiking on some very very steep non-trails in the talus. I was carrying a lot of weight, so it was not as easy to keep my balance, especially on some of the descents due to the weight and the general slipperiness of things. Good thing I did not pitch off the side.

It was just very steep in the above picture. It was more cliff-y on the other side of the pass.

We passed a few people on the ridge. Two guys were doing the loop we did in one day. It was not crazy long, maybe 17 or 18 miles, but there was a lot of up and down (6000ft maybe). I would not do that for fun myself although I might if I was inspired to train for something. They looked pretty much like me in terms of physical fitness, so I think they were just doing it for fun rather than training to go up some steep mountain peak.

The descent to Lake Angeles was pretty unpleasant. It was not all that hot, but the sun was beating down on us, and the trail was steep and very dry and dusty, so it was slow going. The views were nice enough, though.

It got more pleasant once we got lower down and were walking on soft pine needles instead of hard, dusty dirt. By the time we got to the lake I had drunk almost all of my water and undoubtedly sweated out a lot more.

The lake itself was pretty nice. There were a quite a few people there when we arrived… practically all dayhikers. I spent a bit of time looking for an optimal place to set up camp while Amanda waded and relaxed in the lake. The lake itself was surprising cool. Actually, perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was not absolutely freakin frigid as mountain lakes tend to be. The lakeside area was a bit grungy as I saw many poorly dug catholes, old toilet paper, and even a suspicious looking trench (i.e. I am pretty sure it was used as a latrine). Not out in the open (except for that trench), but really too close to the lake and the logical areas to put down a tent. We eventually set up camp further away from the dayhikers and relatively close to the lake.

Amanda was very happy to wash the grime off her and change into some clean(er) clothes (i.e. long underwear). She did not get sunburned during our hiking, but we surmised later that it was due to the copious amount of sunblock mixed in with a layer of dirt. While wading in the lake (admittedly high impact) we noticed a guy and his two sons crossing the lake via floating logs and settling above the lake on a very steep rock. They obviously intended to jump down which seemed kinda foolish to me. I envisioned Amanda trying to stabilize one of them after they broke their necks diving. The father was obviously checking the depth visually and with rocks, so it wasn’t so bad. He eventually jumped in (wisely feet first) and swam back to where their mother was waiting. The two sons were uncertain about jumping and dawdled about for a while, but their parents told them to get a move on because they had to leave. I thought they were going to bail and not jump, but after egging each other on, they jumped in and swam back.

We made dinner: a variety of soups we had brought. We both had potato/leek soap. I had black bean soup as well; Amanda choose a tomato pasta. There were very bad in the objective sense, but subjectively everything tastes good after hiking. We also had quite a bit of banana chips.

After cleaning up everyone else had left and we had the lake to ourselves. We just sat at the edge and relaxed and watched the insects and dragonflies buzz about. We also saw some sort of creatures periodically splash in the water. I thought they were probably fish, but they could have been frogs as some look like they were jumping out of the water. It was hard to see, though, and we never did figure out what they were. There were definitely fish in the lake though, as we could see some species. They did not look the type to jump about, though.

The sun went down and we retired to the tent again, listened to some podcasts, and went to sleep.

04 SEP 2006 : MONDAY
We woke up early and had bfast. Someone had gotten up really early to hike up to the lake; I thought they must have started before sunrise. We packed up and headed back to the trailhead. It was a relaxing hike back. We lost a lot of elevation, but it was not that steep and it was pleasant hiking downhill under the trees. We did pass quite a few dayhikers coming up, but we were much more fleet of foot since we had gravity on our side.

Back at the trailhead, we relaxed to cool off (translation: stop sweating) before changing out of our grubby clothes. We met a woman who was there to check out where her son had started hiking. She was going to pick him up at another trailhead later. She was really worried about it and asked up questions about the trail and if it was dangerous etc. etc., and we told her he would be fine and the hiking was pretty normal. She seemed to be worried about glaciers and crevasses and mudslides and rockslides, but we reassured her that there was none of that on his intended route. I refrained from talking about the cliffs and exposed trails because there were a lot of places were one could slip and, like, die, because she did not need to hear that (and that kind of thing is normal in most hiking in the mountains anyway).

We headed back to return the bear canister. We also took the opportunity to wash up in the welcome center’s bathrooms. Then it was back home.
We considered a place to eat on the way. Amanda was hoping for a Taco Del Mar, but there was only Taco Time which she does not particularly like (although she liked in when we were in Banff). We ended up going through a Wendy’s drive through where she hoped to get a baked potato, but they were out of the cheese and broccoli! We did end of getting a lot of fries (yum!), a diet pepsi, and a vanilla frosty. Amanda did not like the frosty either so Wendy’s is not on her good side anymore.

At Winslow, we saw the ferry back to Seattle loading up as we drove in. The ferry woman at the gate told us “good luck”, but we were denied with maybe five cars in front of us. We got out of the car and looked for something to eat since Amanda cannot subsist on fries like me. We did not have all that much time to walk about, because the next ferry would leave in less than a hour (and would presumably load even sooner). We did find a place were Amanda got a slice of cheese pizza that she was very pleased with.

It was a nice ride back. We stood outside and took in Elliot Bay and the Seattle skyline. We amused ourselves watching lone seagulls floating in the water see the ferry bearing down upon and trying to play chicken, but they eventually took off squawking.

Little piglet was happy to see us when we got home. She had noticeably gained weight after only three days of the neverending food bowl.

Amanda’s ER schedule has moved to overnight shifts, so she has been sleeping during the day. She does have a lot of days off coming up; they were bunched at the end of the month for some reason. Actually, she did request to have days off this weekend as Lainie will be visiting.

Last Friday Amanda and I walked down to Columbia City and had dinner at Tutta Bella and then spent the evening hanging out with our neighbors.

Saturday, Amanda slept a lot to prepare for her upcoming overnight shifts. I wandered down south to do a lot of errands. I was going to do some painting, but I did not get around to it.

Sunday, one of our neighbors threw a big party in the area between all of the townhouses. There was a stage and sound system set up and various people played stuff all throughout the afternoon.

There were quite a lot of people around throughout the day.

Later on in the evening, Danny Schmidt played. He’s like a professional and I presume a friend of neighbors. It was fun.

I saw the Blue Angels. As in, I delibrately bicycled out to the viewpoint on the I90 lid* to watch an official show over Lake Washington. It was cool; I don’t think I have seen them since elementary school or junior high. Cool in the abstract technological sense if one ignores the militaristic destructive power being displayed (it is propoganda recruiting stuff after all) and the absurd waste of petroleum resources.

They just finished another show which I can hear and feel since we are very close to the water. I saw them waggle over beacon hill in a line; they must have been getting ready to land as I could see their landing gear.

Amanda is getting pretty burnt out at work. She has a day off tomorrow, but then has to work a lot without a break (mostly because of scheduling quirks and the fact she requested three straight days off when Lainie is visiting). She is stressing out about finances, too, but signing a huge mortgage will do that, especially since that she is making the majority of our income right now. On the other hand, I am still making money, albeit considerably less than before, and practically all of our current liquid and illiquid assets are my responsibility, so I don’t have to feel too much like a slacker bum.

• the I90 lid refers to the section of I90 between downtown and Lake Washington that is below ground. The lid potion is mostly a series of connected parks with some residential areas.

I like the new cat icon that I am using on the weblog. Amanda prefers the other one (a pencil drawing avatar of a circa 1990 me).

rowr!