Mason Lake...last training hike before Mt St Helens!

Just one week until Mt St Helens! I really really hope next Sunday is not as hot as today!! After a very cold and wet spring, suddenly we now have a weekend of 90+ heat! Ridiculous. I started up to do Bandera Mtn, which shares the majority of it's trail with the Mason Lake trail. However, as I approached the place where the trails diverge I thought (after almost two hours of stiflingly hot hiking!)...hmmm, I can either climb up a completely exposed boulder field to the top of a rock OR I can go around to a still frozen lake!! Of course, went for the lake (duh). Immediately after cresting the ridge, the temp dropped at least 10 degrees and I quickly got to the mostly still frozen lake surrounded by about 4 feet of snowpack!

Oh yes, did I mention that today is ALMOST JULY and it was 90 degrees!! I decided that this hike was 50% Corsica, 25% Washington and 25% Alaska...how appropriate...
This ridge above is where I would have been if I had gone up Bandera...
Snowpack by the lake (the Alaska part)...

On the way up to the lake (sorry, out of order!), this peak didn't have a name on the map...
(This was the Corsica part of the hike...HOT and DRY)
I think this is Mt Defiance (guessing, as it was way too hot to bother with pulling out the compass and taking one second longer than necessary on this trail!)
And this is the Washington part (Mt Rainier through the haze, logging roads and other evidence of logging, evergreens and old railroad grade)
View of McClellan Butte...
Eating lunch on the way back (after the Alaska part of the trail in the snow and at the lake). Yummy PB and H!
Check back in a week for Mt St Helens photos!

On the Solstice...

I went on another training hike while Jay worked on some last minute details for the project in Corsica.

In the evening, we had a BBQ and celebrated Jay's birthday...

Here's Jay's Dad making homemade ice cream for his birthday!














The view from Rattlesnake Ledge (looking East, towards Snoqualmie Pass)...

17 Days till Mt St Helens...

And another training hike! This time to (or rather nearly to) Lake Serene at the Base of Mt Index (above and right of my head). The snowbridges were getting a bit rotten and scarey with a long way to fall below! So, turned around half a mile from the lake, but still a good time...
and this is a very cool tree...
Love this waterfall!

This snow is getting ridiculous!! It's almost the solstice! And this is at 2300 feet...arg!!

Book Review: Conservatize Me by John Moe

This book is fabulous! The premise is that John Moe, NPR personality and life long Seattleite, decides to immerse himself fully in conservative culture, to see if he can convert himself in 30 days (think Super Size Me with Morgan Spurlock). In addition to being HILLARIOUS, this book was more profound than I expected. It explores culture and how complex it is, along with the complexity of being a "conservative" or a "liberal".

My favorite chapters were the one were he visits the Nixon library, the one where he goes to a Toby Keith concert in suburban Indianapolis and the conclusion, which takes place in South Lake Union.

It's a quick read, very funny and gives you something to think about.

On Oyster Dome...and it's finally summer here, we think!

Yes! It's true! Finally a sunny day here in Western Washington! This afternoon we went on a hike to Oyster Dome, just a bit south of Bellingham. What a view...

My Students Graduate!

Yay! I'm so proud of them!
(And happy for me, that it's summer!)