cinco de mayo

I was feeling exhausted after Sunday, so I decided to take Monday off. I slept in, had breakfast, got a haircut... and around 11:00 AM realized how nice a day it was outside. 70 and sunny. So, I decided to do what every one in WA should do when it is a beautiful day, go to the mountains. I went to the Hamma Hamma recreation area in the Olympia peninsula (Lena Lakes, Putvin Trail, Mildred Lakes area), which was supposedly closed. I figured I could make my way in regardless... and I made it pretty far... but...

Here is the landslide over the road that kept me from getting to the trailhead:

Even the Mazda 3 couldn't make it over that mound:Even though the 2-wheel drive hatchback couldn't make it, my new hiking treads were able to get me past the road block. I decided that my new goal would be to at least reach the Putvin Trailhead, about 2.5 miles down the road. I followed the road for probably a mile-and-a-half before hitting lots of snow. I kept going for awhile and noticed that some of the tracks I was walking beside looked an awful lot like a bear's tracks. I trudged along anyway, but about the time that I got sick of the snow in my shoes I realized that I didn't REALLY want to interact with the bear that made these tracks, so I decided to turn around.
Unmistakably bear-tracks: there's the paw, the fingers, and the claws...I kicked it down by the river/creek for awhile... Eventually I climbed up the cliffs on the northside of the road and found a sweet spot with a great view to have a late lunch and to read for awhile. After an hour or so I noticed that there were a lot of spiders hanging out on my mossy overlook. I'm not a big fan of spiders. I enjoyed the view for a few more minutes before heading down... It was great to get out of town for the day. Good to be out in the mountains with no towns, cars, or people for miles...