June 21: The Three Mile Hike down off the Top of the World, and a Two Hundred Year Old Train Tunnel

We started off the day at 3 am when one of our fellow campers' cell phone alarms went off. Do you not realize 3 am is too early for a sunrise? No? Okay...

We dozed for another hour and a half until 4:30 or 4:45-ish when it went off again. At that point, it was time just just give up on sleeping anymore and get up and around.

There was too much fog and mist for there to be a sunrise, so we bundled up, packed our gear, and made the slick climb down the ladder and onto the rocks.

The hike down out of the tower was wet, slick, foggy, and all around mystical. I felt like I was in a fantasy movie of some sort, just waiting to round a corner and find myself face-to-face with a dragon.

It was a long hike and my knee was hurting, but I enjoy going down quite a bit. I just wish I could have run some of it.

We made it down by about 8, threw our stuff in the car, and made for the showers. After that, breakfast (okay more like brunch).

Breanna was nearly falling asleep at the table (I think I was the only person in the tower to get a good night's rest), but Matt had one more adventure in mind.

The Snoqualmie Tunnel is 2 miles long and over 200 years old. It used to be a railway tunnel, but now it's used for walking and biking.
It was super cool to walk through, and long enough that you could barely see the other end when you stood at either entrance. Listening to the water drip, and watching our breath cloud up in the beam of Matt's headlamp, it felt like we were in another world.
It was totally work the four miles down and back, even if my knee was killing me by the time we got back to the car.

When we got home, I had a nap while Matt and Breanna unpacked the car. Then it was pizza for dinner, and an evening of relaxation and recovery. Seven miles is a lot to do in one day, when you're not used to it.

Tomorrow, we pack up Olga and say farewell to Matt and to Washington. I can't wait to come back.

June 20: Mt. Baker, Sledding without a sled, and the Three Mile Hike to the Top of the World

We ate breakfast and took showers in the swanky Oxford Suites hotel, then Breanna and I napped while Matt drove us to Mt Baker. 

Unfortunately, the road up to Artist Point was closed, so we have to just settle for taking pictures from the parking lot. Still pretty stunning stuff.

And.... (because we're all children) we climbed up a nearby snow mount and went sledding (minus the sleds) down it.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the Jack in the Box, then took off towards Mt Pilchuck.

We hiked the 2200-some feet (stretched over three miles) to the summit in just under 2 hours, and arrived at the top around 5:45 pm.

We staked out our sleeping spots by spreading our gear out a bit inside the tower, then monkey climbed down over the rocks to find a good spot to watch the sunset from.

There were several other groups of people at the peak, but only a few staying overnight with us. We found a quiet spot out away from the tower a ways, zipped up our jackets, and waited.

Between the sunset, the city lights, and the clouds gathering below us, I was left rather speechless.

We watched the sunset, and then the lightning from the storm rolling in to the north, then ticked into bed about 10:30 worth plans to be up in time for the sunrise.

June 19th: Rattlesnake Ledge, and Mt. Rainier

We got up at 3:30 am local time to drive out and meet up with Matt's son, Sahil, to hike up to Rattlesnake Ledge in hopes of catching the sunrise.

We missed the sunrise itself, but still got some pretty amazing views.

Matt, Floyd and I ran down on the rougher trail while Breanna and Sahil took the longer but smoother trail.

I do believe that I've discovered my new favorite activity.
That's right,  mountain running. It's like regular running, but twelve times as fun because it's in the mountains (duh), it's all down hill, and you have to dodge rocks and roots in your way. Hard on the knees, but an incredible rush.

We went for breakfast, then loaded up to head home.

On the way back to the house, Matt turned down the wrong exit. When questioned, all he would say was that he was taking us on an adventure.

We drove a good twenty minutes down a horribly, wonderfully rough mountain road, until we reached a bit of a plateau.

Mt. Rainier was massive, and stunning, and very snowy.

We hiked around the back of where we had parked and found a bunch of really beautiful flowers, and a view of a lake far below.

Then it was time to pack up the gear for our Pilchuck expedition, and clean out the car. Whitaker (Matt's SUV) really appreciated that.

We headed out around 3 to go see Finding Dory (because Matt can't handle anything above PG) with Sahil, then grabbed some supper from a local Mexican place.

We drove around a roundabout 7 times, (Matt is a child. I don't know how else to explain it) made a quick stop at Matt's office to pick some stuff up,  and then started towards Bellevue where we'd be staying overnight.

We saw a beautiful sunset on the way out, but couldn't get any decent pictures.  I suppose some moments were meant to simply be enjoyed and not captured.

When we got to our hotel, we immediately got our laundry going in hopes of getting to bed at a decent hour.

12:30 and the clothes were still in the dryer, and we were both quite thankful that we'd have some sleeping time tomorrow in the car.

June 16: Deception Pass, Bavaria, and Sketchy Forest Roads

After a rather great night's sleep in the Aladdin motor inn, we drove out to take the ferry from Fort Townsend to Coupeville. Matt had Doritos for breakfast, and Breanna had gummy bears.

We boarded the ferry, and grabbed some hot pretzels for a "real" breakfast, then drove out to Deception Pass and climbed to the top of Goose Rock.

Then it was Five Guys for lunch since Breanna and I had never been there before, and then we drove to Leavenworth, got some ice cream, and wondered the streets for a bit. Cute place.

We hiked Red Top Mountain around 7 and got some really incredible views. I can't describe the beauty,  so I'll just post some pictures instead. They won't do the experience justice either,  but they'll do the job better than anything I could write.

We were going to camp at the Bible Rock campground, but we got a bit lost, and so ended up driving for a good half hour on a really rough, really narrow road through the dark woods. Breanna kinda freaked out, so of course,  Matt (being the mediocre, man-child uncle that he is) was talking about serial killers, and bears, and at one point even pretended the headlights cut out. She really disappreciated that. 

Eventually we gave up on finding the campground at the end of the sketchy forest road, and turned around to drive the half hour back to the main road.

We pulled off into the next closest campground,  set up tents and started a fire in the dark.
About an hour later we had 10pm hot dogs, and crawled into bed.

We woke up the next morning and found out that we were - in fact - in the Bible Rock campground, we'd just missed the signs in the dark.

June 17: Bibles and Cheese

Flaming hot Cheetos for breakfast. Then we climbed up to Bible Rock and Cheese rock.

Then it was back to Matt's house to grab some clean clothes (yay!) for a shower.

We ended up at a local truck stop for pay showers, which were surprisingly nice.

Then we took a trip to the hardware store... and Breanna danced through every aisle, and Matt insulted me by calling me the stupid niece. I can honestly say, that was the most fun hardware store trip I've ever been on. And I love hardware stores.

We grabbed a pizza for dinner, then took a mile long hike up a hill near Matt's house to get a view out over Easton lake. It was raining, and too cloudy for a sunset, but it was a nice walk.

June 14: Tiny Houses, and Snow in June

It was 40 degrees and raining when I woke up that morning. In fact, it rained most of the day.

The first thing we did was pack up some gear in preparation for our upcoming three day tent camping adventure. Then Matt had to run down to his neighbor's house to let him know that the closest cell tower was down,  so he'd be out of contact for the day.

Matt's driveway is 4 miles of dirt and rocks and potholes that should probably be more accurately called craters. From there, it was another couple miles up his neighbor's driveway,  then a three or four minute walk down a steep, muddy trail.

Matt's neighbor (a 40-some year old photographer named Todd) lives in a tiny house.

Less than 200 square feet, the house seemed the perfect size. He had an apartment sized kitchen,  a small bathroom,  a sizable loft office, and an entire wall covered in bookshelves. His porch looked down over the hill and through the trees. 
All his electricity is generated by a handmade water-powered generator sitting in the small stream out behind the house.

After that, breakfast from Jack in the Box (a chicken sandwich and curly fries??? Okay maybe it was bit more like brunch) and a ferry ride from Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula.

Then we saw a lighthouse built in 1913, and explored an old WWII fort.

From there we grabbed some tacos from a local place, and drove up to Hurricane Ridge in hopes of getting a sunset view. Instead....

Yeah, snow. A lot of it. Bleh.

So we drove back down the mountain, and found a campground down in the rainforest. Breanna and I took Floyd on a walk while Matt set up the tent and got a fire going.

Matt made us some hot cocoa  (slightly burnt... hard to cook over a Swedish Fire Torch.) And then we put on some extra layers and hunkered down for the night.

June 15: Flattery will get you Somewhere

I'm missing a lot of days in between, and I apologize. At some point I hope to document each day's adventures, but as it is now,  I just can't keep up with it. Someday....

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After camping a Crescent lake, breakfast was freeze dried mac and cheese, and Mexican style rice and chicken, most excellently prepared over the fire by Chef Matt.

After packing everything up, we drove out though the Makah tribe Indian Reservation, to hike the Cape Flattery trail all the way out to the most north west point of the lower 48.

Stunning. Absolutely amazing views.

After the hike back, we took a drive out to Shi Shi beach to let the puppy run a bit.

Floyd loved the beach. It was so much fun to just watch him run back and forth across the sand, with his tongue hanging out and his ears flopping.  I think we could all take a lesson from Floyd. The sheer joy and enthusiasm he greets each and moment with is good motivation to enjoy each moment as it comes, and enjoy it to the fullest.

We went for some food (a little Mexican place called the Crazy Fish) then drove back up to Hurricane Ridge to catch the sunset.