Magical Mother's Day

Total Training Miles Today (Sunday 5/11): 17.9 miles

This kind of morning puts a smile on your face. Clear blue skies with a few puffy clouds here and there. Mount Rainier shining with the first rays of sunrise. Birds are singing. The flowers are blooming. And everything is SO green! I love it.

Playing with shadows in the beautiful morning sunlight.

Patti had a lot to do this morning, so she walked for just over an hour before heading back. We decided to head down the road past the gravel operation. The equipment looks like some huge octopus.

Palmer Coking Coal gravel processing equipment

As we passed some large puddles, they acted like mirrors in the morning light.

Bridget wanders into the reflecting puddle to get a drink.

Our next stop was Oak Lake. We wanted to see if we could walk around the lake. The answer was not only no, but HELL NO! The water was even higher than the last time we visited. It must be ten feet higher than "normal", whatever that is, since this lake all but disappears in the dry summer months. 

Bud tests the water at Oak Lake. It is about ten feet higher than normal.

 We headed back up the trail and walked towards Lake Sawyer.

Deb and Patti on our way to Lake Sawyer.

 After walking by the lake, we headed back to the forest road. Patti took the dogs and headed back to the car. Debbie and I headed out on the forest perimeter trail. We always stop and add a rock to the little rock-pile monument.

Debbie adds a rock to the rock monument.

 I had Debbie pause to show off her new pack. She went to REI yesterday and complained about her old pack. It was hurting her hips, and they determined that it was too big for her. She spent two hours with them and finally got this one. She still needs to adjust the hip belt and shoulder straps. However, it looks really good. She also got her sleeping bag, which is bundled in a very cute carrying bag.

Deb with her new pack.

 On the main trail, the scotch broom were so heavy they pushed out into the trail.

Scotch broom along the main trail that follows the old train line.

We took a few different trails and got back to the car in two hours and twenty minutes.

Forest Green

Total Walking Miles this past week (Monday 4/28 - Friday 5/2): 80.7 miles
Total Training Miles Today (Saturday 5/3): 16.5 miles

Debbie had to work today, so it was just Patti and I on our walk. This is Patti's first walk in over a week, as she was visiting her brother last weekend. However, she did visit the REI store there, and bought a "Jet Boil" stove. She had it in her pack today and is carrying a bit over 14 pounds.


Although a storm is coming in, and although it rained off and on last night, it was clear weather for our walk. On the way towards Lake Sawyer, we saw a large elk. Of course, the elk bolted for the forest, but I got a good picture of Bridget as she raced after!

Bridget in hot pursuit of the elk as it runs for the woods. 

The lake was really calm and I got Patti to show us what her pack looks like. She had a pack cover on since we expected rain.

Patti and Bridget. 

On our way up from the lake, we both noticed that Bud was not moving very fast. Patti mentioned a while back that she knew that Bud has a heart condition. During the rest of the walk, we had to encourage him to keep going as he would tend to lag way behind. Poor guy!

Patti follows Bud up the road. 

We took the trail that follows Ravensdale Creek. This is one of my favorite spots on the trail. Everything was SO green. I love it this time of year.

Bob admiring the forest greenery. 

When we got to the main trail (where the train tracks used to run), Patti loved that the path was lined in yellow. The scotch broom bushes are in full bloom now. Besides, it was good to allow Bud to catch his breath.

Scotch broom are in bloom. 

From this point on, Bud was really moving slowly, so I suggested to Patti that she walk on ahead, get to her car, and meet us on the road. This would have been a really good idea, except for the fact that as she got further away, Bud would pull everything together and move faster. By the time we got near the road, Bud was almost caught up to Patti. Once we got to the road where the dump trucks were busy hauling gravel, Patti went on ahead and returned with her car. Bud gave a noticeable whine of joy as he got into the car for his ride home.