I'm salty. Yes, I said salty. The cat is trying to lick my arm.
The reason I'm salty is that I sweated like a pig. You should have seen me, huffing and puffing, while my friend Rachel trotted along ahead of me. I'd like to say 'like a mountain goat,' but that isn't nearly demure enough to describe what she was doing. Oh, she said she broke a sweat, but I didn't see it. I was dripping on myself for God's sake!
Today, we took our dogs up to the Rattlesnake Mountain trail at the new Snoqualmie Point trailhead. I have to tell you that both Rachel and I thought that the ice storm had dropped a tree on the shelter there, but when we got up closer, it turned out that it was designed that way. I feel kind of bad for the architect, thinking that. I'm sure that wasn't the intent when the idea came to mind. Don't you wonder what people are thinking sometimes? Now that I know that it was intentional, I think it's pretty.
We didn't have as much time as we wanted since we both have think about kids getting home from school in the afternoon. So, we started up this trail. The sign said that Stan's Overlook was 1.9 miles. Washington Trails Association said it was 2.5 miles. I like them better. Don't you just love that you can look up trails on the Internet on the drive to get to a hike?
The trail wasn't steep, really, but it was relentless, going up and up and up until we came into a clearing and could see the valley. I kept thinking of reasons to pause. Stop and look at something. Tie my shoe. I'm sure Rachel could see right through me, so I gave up the pretense and just stood there and heaved a sometimes. We came into some clear cut areas, but these were starting to grow again and they left an occasional tree. I loved it because it was a great chance to stop, resume breathing, and pretend to take a picture to send to Mike. He's got me on a new app called 'Find Friends.' Ostensibly, it's so that they can find my body if I die and forget to tell him where I went hiking. I saw the movie '127 Hours,' didn't you ? This guy made a point of free climbing in the wilderness without telling anyone that he'd gone. Shoot, I wanted Mike to see where I was. Does elevation show up on those things? I even wished I could send him a recording of my heart rate too. After crossing a bunch of forest service roads or the same one more than once, we finally got to the fork in the trail to go to Stan's Overlook. There were a couple of benches where we opened up our packs to get a drink. I was really glad I remembered my canteen. It felt like we were higher than Mt. Si! Actually, we were at 2100 feet and Mt Si is 3900 feet, so I was wrong. I was just reading a book that said that the altitude of mountains can be confusing for a pilot, that perception can be tricky. Guess they were right. Still, we could see the track at Mt. Si High School. I was still trying to figure out other landmarks when Rachel reminded me that we'd better get moving so we didn't miss the kids.
Isn't it funny that down hill is so much faster, but not really easier. My feet began to hurt going down hill. I felt as though I was going to skid on the gravel that had been turned up. Rachel was really moving. Oh, I was sort of keeping up, but she got far enough ahead that I couldn't hear what she was saying unless she turned her head to speak in my direction. Doesn't it stink to get old? Wobbly and hard of hearing. We made it back down in record time.
I'm telling you this dog-walking thing is either going to kill me or it's going to make me healthier.
Thank you for listening, jb
The reason I'm salty is that I sweated like a pig. You should have seen me, huffing and puffing, while my friend Rachel trotted along ahead of me. I'd like to say 'like a mountain goat,' but that isn't nearly demure enough to describe what she was doing. Oh, she said she broke a sweat, but I didn't see it. I was dripping on myself for God's sake!
Today, we took our dogs up to the Rattlesnake Mountain trail at the new Snoqualmie Point trailhead. I have to tell you that both Rachel and I thought that the ice storm had dropped a tree on the shelter there, but when we got up closer, it turned out that it was designed that way. I feel kind of bad for the architect, thinking that. I'm sure that wasn't the intent when the idea came to mind. Don't you wonder what people are thinking sometimes? Now that I know that it was intentional, I think it's pretty.
We didn't have as much time as we wanted since we both have think about kids getting home from school in the afternoon. So, we started up this trail. The sign said that Stan's Overlook was 1.9 miles. Washington Trails Association said it was 2.5 miles. I like them better. Don't you just love that you can look up trails on the Internet on the drive to get to a hike?
The trail wasn't steep, really, but it was relentless, going up and up and up until we came into a clearing and could see the valley. I kept thinking of reasons to pause. Stop and look at something. Tie my shoe. I'm sure Rachel could see right through me, so I gave up the pretense and just stood there and heaved a sometimes. We came into some clear cut areas, but these were starting to grow again and they left an occasional tree. I loved it because it was a great chance to stop, resume breathing, and pretend to take a picture to send to Mike. He's got me on a new app called 'Find Friends.' Ostensibly, it's so that they can find my body if I die and forget to tell him where I went hiking. I saw the movie '127 Hours,' didn't you ? This guy made a point of free climbing in the wilderness without telling anyone that he'd gone. Shoot, I wanted Mike to see where I was. Does elevation show up on those things? I even wished I could send him a recording of my heart rate too. After crossing a bunch of forest service roads or the same one more than once, we finally got to the fork in the trail to go to Stan's Overlook. There were a couple of benches where we opened up our packs to get a drink. I was really glad I remembered my canteen. It felt like we were higher than Mt. Si! Actually, we were at 2100 feet and Mt Si is 3900 feet, so I was wrong. I was just reading a book that said that the altitude of mountains can be confusing for a pilot, that perception can be tricky. Guess they were right. Still, we could see the track at Mt. Si High School. I was still trying to figure out other landmarks when Rachel reminded me that we'd better get moving so we didn't miss the kids.
Isn't it funny that down hill is so much faster, but not really easier. My feet began to hurt going down hill. I felt as though I was going to skid on the gravel that had been turned up. Rachel was really moving. Oh, I was sort of keeping up, but she got far enough ahead that I couldn't hear what she was saying unless she turned her head to speak in my direction. Doesn't it stink to get old? Wobbly and hard of hearing. We made it back down in record time.
I'm telling you this dog-walking thing is either going to kill me or it's going to make me healthier.
Thank you for listening, jb
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