Monday, June 30, 2008

It's been 90+ degrees since Friday around here... Saturday morning I woke up to a beautiful day and decided a hike was the only responsible way to spend it. With a bit of a late start, Matt Hessler and I hit the road around 10:30, heading north of Olympia, east of Seattle, and east of Snoqualmie pass to Rampart Ridge trail - about a 2-hour drive from Olympia. I haven't done any hiking past Snoqualmie pass, so it was cool to be in new territory.

There were two downers: 1) was that there was broken car window glass in every parking space at the trailhead, because someone had recently busted into everyone's cars while they were off enjoying a beautiful dayhike... and 2) because there was still a lot of snow and it was hard to find the trail at times. I was a bit nervous leaving the car there and also unsure of how far we'd make it through the snow.
The trail was great - it followed a creek with waterfalls every few hundred yards. If we couldn't find the trail we just stayed near the creek.

Matt and I both made it across this shaky log... probably against better judgment.
With tons of snow this past winter and the hot days recently, there were quite a few waterfalls on the hillsides surrounding us.
Matt documented me doing a face-plant on this log... which transitioned into a nap... or a coma?Nice views from the valley we were following...

The height of wildflower season is still to come... but there were a few coming out...
We ended up only being able to go about 3 miles in since we lost the trail... Rachel Lake was our intended destination (about 4 miles in). It was a great time anyways...

Junior High Hike

About a week ago we took 10 of our Junior Highers on a hike to Lower Lena Lake. It was a great time... all the students made it to the destination... and back - it was about 5 miles round trip.

Here's most of the group:
A huge tree tipped over and fell on a bunch of the girls. Thankfully these guys were able to lift it off and no one was hurt!

Also, it was my birthday a few weeks ago... you may have celebrated it without knowing it on Flag Day. I'm 24!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

we're on TV...

A Seattle TV news station (King5)made use of a video I put on YouTube last summer... Here is the original video.... Meet local celebrities Alan Kaiser, Brian Koning, and Matty (I'm holding the camera):

video

Al probably would have preferred that the squeals and screams that came out of his mouth while the snow went up his shorts would be kept off TV... Too bad, ma-man.

Check it out - It's worth seeing this video in the context of the story... The news report can be watched here:
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_060108WAB_mt_ellinor_injured_SW.4eb939d0.html