Sunday Pilchuck Monument Hike

 

I got a picture of the full moon this morning.

After a light breakfast, we decided to walk to the Pilchuck Monument.  I am not sure of the details but the Pilchuck School of Glass owns a whole bunch of property surrounding the school. They have opened it up for hikers, bikers, horseback riders .... but the school property is very private.  We had to sign a waiver before entering the trails.  No cars allowed. Debbie and Joe had been in the area mountain biking but not walking.  Google said 5 miles round trip with an 800 foot gain.  So I was nervous, to begin with.  But I was curious since Chihouly had been at the Pilchuck School.  

There were a lot of trails so there was a lot of guesswork of which trail to take.  All of them were uphill.  

We found out on our way back that this had not been the main way, but it worked. 

Joe was pretty confident about where we were going.  

Pretty woodsy trails.

 

And then we found it!! 2.95 miles later 

Convolving Forms designed by Alison Baudoin 1976 to honor John Henry Hauberg, the owner of the property and supporter of the school.

What a great view.  Debbie & Joe's place is off in the distance of the far right.

We decided to go back down a different way.  After a few false starts, Joe managed to get us down safely. It was hot, I don't like going uphill and I especially do not like walking in a somewhat lost fashion, so I was a little frustrated and tired. It did take us longer to get down than it did to go up.

It was pretty.  I sure enjoyed the monument and the view.    It took us 3.86 miles to come back down.  I was ready for a rest break.  We went straight to lunch.

We went to the District for lunch in Mount Vernon.  It was a pizza and brewpub kind of a place.

Caprese salad and vegetarian pizza, which were both very tasty.

Elderberry cider

It felt good to sit for a while.

There was a Sunday market going on. We checked it out after lunch. 

Then we headed back to Debbie and Joe's.  We enjoyed riding in Joe's new vehicle, a red Porsche Cayenne.  It was time to pack up and head out.  George noticed that we had a tire that was low.  Joe had an air compressor and fixed us up.

  We were on the road by 3 pm. 

We had seen a car off the side of the road when we were nearly back to Debbie and Joe's.  When we drove by again the cops were there and they were looking at solving the problem. You can't tell by my picture but the car was off the road.

We had a very slow start due to some accident. We tried taking a detour which may have been a mistake.  When we got back on the freeway the road was clear.

Going through Seattle

We dropped Nathan off at 7:45 and we were home by 8 pm.  What a nice trip.

Mt Rainier or Mt Tacoma

We started the morning bright and early thinking that we would have breakfast at the close bakery and coffee shop.  But when we got there we found that there was a long line for coffee and not many choices of bakery items, so we just went to the market and bought a few items that would work for breakfast and lunch.  We were on the road by 7:30 am. I am glad that we did one of the hikes yesterday.

We found a lot of opportunities to take pictures of Mt Rainier (or Mt Tacoma). There is a push to change the name back from Rainier to the local Native American name of Tacoma or Tahoma.

First stop was Box Canyon.  Amazing.

We are 180 feet above the stream.  My picture just does not do it justice.

Then we continued on the drive.  Nathan was driving and he knew all the places to pull over to get good views.

A small waterfall

Louise Lake

Reflection Lake was a fun stop

Attempts with selfies

We finally got one that was ok (not great).

Magenta Paintbrush flowers were everywhere.

Our next big stop was Paradise.  This a main area with several lodges and a huge parking lot that was nearly full at 10 am when we got there.  Nathan had plotted out several walks for us to do.  Most of the trails were paved and well marked.

Myrtle Falls

Patches of snow around

I did not want to sit for the photo.

Restroom stop at the lodge.  We could have eaten lunch here but we had been told that all the facilities were still closed.  Apparently not.

Making snow angels

We did the Nisqually Vista Trail to see the Nisqually Glacier.  It has almost disappeared.

This is a reminder to not sit on the protective fence.

Lunch break.

He was hoping that we would leave some food behind for him.

It was starting to get hot.  The morning had been cool.  We could not have asked for better weather.

View from the top of the Narada Falls

We walked down to the bottom, which meant that we had to walk back UP after.  I was starting to get tired but the view was definately worth it.

cool rainbow

 

I was surprised with the number of people who had their dogs with them on the trails. 

The bridge over the glacier

Crossing the bridge

Hobo Inn.  If we had known, we might have tried to stay there. 

We were out of the park and on our way to Debbie and Joe's 

I had hoped to get there by 4 pm but we did not actually get there until 5:30 pm

Joe's new Big Green Egg.  He used it to cook dinner

View from Debbie and Joe's deck

Relaxing before dinner

Dinner being cooked.  Steak for Debbie, Joe and me, Mahi Mahi and Salmon for Nathan and George.  Grilled zucchini, salad and rice.  Wow.  What a delicious meal.  It was very pleasant to sit outside to eat.  

They have such a nice view

We moved to sit around the firepit

We stayed outside as long as we could before we got to chilly.