Parade of the species

Him: Hey hon, what should we do tonight?

Her: Let’s take the goat for a walk around Capitol Lake.

Him: Oh, let’s!

sighted at the end of our walk this evening

Just look at that face!

Rendezvous

Nick in People’s Park across the street from Tempest

Nick and I were missing each other like crazy earlier this week, so we decided to meet in Tacoma for dinner. I picked Tempest, which is owned and run by Tom Douglas’s sister. I’d heard fantastic things about her cocktail concoctions and the food was well-priced.

Little did we know that it was located in the heart of Tacoma’s infamous Hilltop neighborhood or that Tempest was a gay bar. Neither turned us off of the place - it really was a fantastic neighborhood bar. It did, however, add to the adventure of rendezvous. 

Climbing in the Olympics – Take Two

Me with rope leads Stan and Jim on the summit of Warrior

The climbing gods must be smiling on me. Last weekend’s trip up Warrior marked the third climb in as many weeks that were successful.

Eight of us met at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Quilcene Ranger Station. The Forest Service desk jockeys had no reliable information regarding the road or trail conditions, so we headed out. We picked the Big Quilcene River approach because the standard approach via the Dungeness River Trail was missing a key bridge. With spring runoff at its peak, we decided not to risk a river crossing. We also anticipated magnificent views from the camp at Marmot Pass and a possible scramble of Buckhorn Mountain.

Right from the start it was apparent that we had a strong group. Unfortunately, the smallest party member also had one of the biggest packs. This slowed us down significantly. The team rallied to carry some of her gear which helped a little. We reached Marmot Pass but were sorely disappointed by the whiteout that welcomed us. So much for the views! Since it was mid-afternoon, we convinced ourselves that descending to Boulder Shelter would be a good idea.

At 5 a.m. we were off again, headed towards the Warrior-Inner Constance Cirque.

Alpenglow on Mt. Mystery

Continued...

Welcome to Olympia

Puppy jail

I finally have my camera in Olympia with me, so I’ll be doing my best to post pictures of life in this eclectic community. This is Scooby, my landlord/roommate’s six pound Peek-a-Poo. (Those who know our cats will realize this is about half the size of Bentley.) He’s pretty well behaved except for the minor indiscretion here and there. Tonight, however, he decided to taste my toes - not a good idea. Now he’s in puppy jail (aka the laundry basket).

Mugshot. Even when he’s in trouble he’s cute.

Update: The little turd bit me again on Monday. I’m losing patience.

South Ingalls

Basin below Ingalls

We heard folks were canceling climbs because of avalanche danger last weekend. Taking due note, Steve, Mark S, Mike L, Doug and I decided on a scramble of South Ingalls. I’d been on top of Fortune (just south of S. Ingalls) and N. Ingalls (just north of Ingalls), so this was a great opportunity to knock off the last peak on the ridge.

We found the basin below Ingalls full of snow, making for a speedy step-kicking ascent to the top. We settled in with our snacks to watch Clusterous and Fuckteemious screw up the rock climb on the south face of Ingalls. We weren’t sure why the bolts looked so unattractive to this group. I don’t think they could have made it any harder on themselves or more entertaining for us to watch.

Mike with a view of the south face of Ingalls in the background

Mt Stewart looked good

the requisite summit shot