"At the end we found ice cream, and it was good -"
Earlier in the week St. Kirk had proposed a hike to Crystal Lakes just next to the development previously surveyed the past month. Someone who had tagged along to that event would be coming along, but by the time we met up at the parking lot today he had changed his mind. We were looking for the red Odyssey but St. Kirk had his wife Karen's vehicle instead.
I brought along a windbreaker but did not need it. After various pit stops and small talk along the way we entered Mount Rainier National Park and soon reached the trailhead. Many years had past since Cough, Roy, and I did this hike, fifteen or so by best guess. Dorian and St. Kirk returned to Chinook Pass while the three of us pressed down to the lakes and to the highway. After a meal of Mexican food in Enumclaw we had returned home.
A blue Chevy Lumina left at the trailhead bore the signs of running headlong into a deer at high speeds. A note dated a week ago assured those reading it that it would be removed as soon as possible. The bumper had been sheared off and lay on the back seat. Airbags were deployed and the windshield supernovaed. They apparently tried to put on a spare or were driving on it either way they left it behind.
Up we went discussing politics, Alaska, Robert Xavier Boxburger, other hikes, biking, and wineries.
Boxburger repaired his deck before leaving to Ocean Shores with his son. They have a cabin out there.
St. Kirk biked across Alaska and seemed surprised at the friendliness of people he encountered. He remarked, "People kept stopping and asking if I need a ride. By the fourth time I said 'Sure why not?' However then they'd want to take me to their house for dinner. After talking I'd end up spending the night."
While biking to Missoula retracing the Lewis and Clark journey a racing bike team passed St. Kirk and my brother without the proper protocol. My brother put on the afterburners, passing all of them on the uphill over Alpowa Pass, and was waiting for them in Lewiston. St. Kirk added that he heard my brother was considering joining the Cal Poly team.
Hikes mentioned included Emerald Ridge and Klapatche Park off the abandoned West Side Road. Both are now many miles to reach, when in the mid 80’s one could drive up to the trailheads. No one has the funds or desire to maintain the roads anymore so they return to wilderness. I have to wonder how long it will be before Sunrise and Ipsut fall to the same fate.
Genetics were discussed with the whole science moratorium that has unofficially been going on under dictator for life G W Bush. I point out various priests who wrote letters to the editors about "Intelligent Design" and the "7 Day Creationists." The seven days, Adam and Eve, Cain, and Abel bit were basically fables to describe the fall of mankind due to disobedience to the Ten Commandments. Similar examples exist in the text, as at that time this seemed the best way to relate things to people, most things were oratory as opposed to written and thus told down through the years. St. Kirk mentions that "Intelligent Design" is the best way for failing Republican students to pass classes they would otherwise not understand.
Halfway in we had a choice to make, up or way up. Up and we reach Crystal Lakes, while way up meant Crystal Peak. St. Kirk says this is an easy one and we plod on through sub-alpine fir and cedar to the lower lake and then up and around a ledge to the upper one.
We ate some sandwiches and various snacks while the sun trued to break free of the clouds. For a moment it did but the swirling gray soon obscured the ball of hot gasses and the chill of autumn returned. The lake was much like other mountain ones I have been to but with fewer people and that’s always a plus for me, unless of course all of them are my friends and it’s a party of sorts. National Park status and a long drive prevent the mobs of weekend backpackers from trashing the place.
To the north were meadows of asters and occasional fir. To the east lay Crystal Mountain Resort and the Pacific Crest Trail. The southern horizon contained rocky masses, one of them Crystal Peak, with a ragged knife like edge. The Mountain sat in the southwest enveloped in clouds.
On the way back after lunch we discussed more of the same. At one point I smacked my stick hard against a stump but the rest in the trio did not get the message. Persons were bearing down on us from behind. They brushed by offended and I had to explain to the rest my non-verbal signal akin to goaltenders in hockey warning that someone is about to burst out of the penalty box.
I realize the words are not flowing out the way I want to at the moment. I have felt terrible lately, full of heightened irritability, and a sense of restlessness. The tendency in this case is to pull towards the negative. To be honest Crystal Lakes would not have been my first choice due to the fact I have been there and want a new adventure. This contrasts to my life in general where I want the same boring events for some odd reason. However Crystal Lakes is a good place to be away from the grind of city life and is only six miles round trip. I did feel better out there in nature.
Back in civilization we stopped at Wally's in Buckley for ice cream.
I brought along a windbreaker but did not need it. After various pit stops and small talk along the way we entered Mount Rainier National Park and soon reached the trailhead. Many years had past since Cough, Roy, and I did this hike, fifteen or so by best guess. Dorian and St. Kirk returned to Chinook Pass while the three of us pressed down to the lakes and to the highway. After a meal of Mexican food in Enumclaw we had returned home.
A blue Chevy Lumina left at the trailhead bore the signs of running headlong into a deer at high speeds. A note dated a week ago assured those reading it that it would be removed as soon as possible. The bumper had been sheared off and lay on the back seat. Airbags were deployed and the windshield supernovaed. They apparently tried to put on a spare or were driving on it either way they left it behind.
Up we went discussing politics, Alaska, Robert Xavier Boxburger, other hikes, biking, and wineries.
Boxburger repaired his deck before leaving to Ocean Shores with his son. They have a cabin out there.
St. Kirk biked across Alaska and seemed surprised at the friendliness of people he encountered. He remarked, "People kept stopping and asking if I need a ride. By the fourth time I said 'Sure why not?' However then they'd want to take me to their house for dinner. After talking I'd end up spending the night."
While biking to Missoula retracing the Lewis and Clark journey a racing bike team passed St. Kirk and my brother without the proper protocol. My brother put on the afterburners, passing all of them on the uphill over Alpowa Pass, and was waiting for them in Lewiston. St. Kirk added that he heard my brother was considering joining the Cal Poly team.
Hikes mentioned included Emerald Ridge and Klapatche Park off the abandoned West Side Road. Both are now many miles to reach, when in the mid 80’s one could drive up to the trailheads. No one has the funds or desire to maintain the roads anymore so they return to wilderness. I have to wonder how long it will be before Sunrise and Ipsut fall to the same fate.
Genetics were discussed with the whole science moratorium that has unofficially been going on under dictator for life G W Bush. I point out various priests who wrote letters to the editors about "Intelligent Design" and the "7 Day Creationists." The seven days, Adam and Eve, Cain, and Abel bit were basically fables to describe the fall of mankind due to disobedience to the Ten Commandments. Similar examples exist in the text, as at that time this seemed the best way to relate things to people, most things were oratory as opposed to written and thus told down through the years. St. Kirk mentions that "Intelligent Design" is the best way for failing Republican students to pass classes they would otherwise not understand.
Halfway in we had a choice to make, up or way up. Up and we reach Crystal Lakes, while way up meant Crystal Peak. St. Kirk says this is an easy one and we plod on through sub-alpine fir and cedar to the lower lake and then up and around a ledge to the upper one.
We ate some sandwiches and various snacks while the sun trued to break free of the clouds. For a moment it did but the swirling gray soon obscured the ball of hot gasses and the chill of autumn returned. The lake was much like other mountain ones I have been to but with fewer people and that’s always a plus for me, unless of course all of them are my friends and it’s a party of sorts. National Park status and a long drive prevent the mobs of weekend backpackers from trashing the place.
To the north were meadows of asters and occasional fir. To the east lay Crystal Mountain Resort and the Pacific Crest Trail. The southern horizon contained rocky masses, one of them Crystal Peak, with a ragged knife like edge. The Mountain sat in the southwest enveloped in clouds.
On the way back after lunch we discussed more of the same. At one point I smacked my stick hard against a stump but the rest in the trio did not get the message. Persons were bearing down on us from behind. They brushed by offended and I had to explain to the rest my non-verbal signal akin to goaltenders in hockey warning that someone is about to burst out of the penalty box.
I realize the words are not flowing out the way I want to at the moment. I have felt terrible lately, full of heightened irritability, and a sense of restlessness. The tendency in this case is to pull towards the negative. To be honest Crystal Lakes would not have been my first choice due to the fact I have been there and want a new adventure. This contrasts to my life in general where I want the same boring events for some odd reason. However Crystal Lakes is a good place to be away from the grind of city life and is only six miles round trip. I did feel better out there in nature.
Back in civilization we stopped at Wally's in Buckley for ice cream.