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angelakI woke up and tried to call James. I knew that Inna could not go, nor anyone else aside from our usual hiking crew could not come. Sooo, I was excited in the fact that we would not have to worry much about tiring. I mean, beyond the usual. We always adapt to one another, however... it's a different element when you add new people you've never hiked with before. It's as good as an energic bond, I believe, after you've hiked with a particular group for a certain period of time.
Eventually I got a hold of James and he headed out here with Rocky, the moose-dog. [Golden Retriever]. We grabbed sandwhiches and water and headed out from our place on foot with the 2 dogs and the 3 of us. [James/Steve/myself].
We hiked up where we took Inna, only this time we had enough daylight to keep going. The hike from our house to the trailhead is about 2 miles.
So, once we hiked up to the trailhead, we went up our usual West Tiger Trail. About a mile and a half up at one of the crossroads, we decided to take a newer untraveled route that we had never gone on before. This was the Connector Trail. We heard there was some cave up there, so we went. We crossed a few little streams and the dogs bounded across them ---Rufus a little grumpily so.
This was not really flat either, as the West tiger is extensive uphill terrain, I was almost moody about not getting that intense uphill grade. However, as we moved along the connector trail, [it was only about half a mile] it went up and down, and up and down, until we ran into another place where we could explore a NEW trail.
Here we found a trail that said it went to the Vista. This is the top of the West Tiger trail. I was like, "oh we have to go we have to go!" It said it was only .8 miles to the top. I was like, "hell jeah! Uphill!" So, we went on this trail after some debate. It seemed this trail was scarcely traveled by many and was very unstable, and steeper uphill than the West Tiger trail.
This trail traveled the face of the mountain and was very bow-ridden. Lots of trees and slippery things, so forging this trail was a challenging, if not treacherous.
At this point I believe I began to hit my threshold of endurance. It takes a while to hit it, but once I get there, I keep stopping and not following at the usual pace. Which is really annoying for all parties concered. About this time we made it up to the West Tiger Railroad grade. We didn't know which way to go to get to the Vista, so we agreed on stopping here, which was at the top, just not at the Vista.
We stopped, fed the dogs some dogfood, ate food ourselves, drank, and then we realizing we were cold because we had stopped moving and it really wasn't warm out. We all agreed we're glad to be beginning our fitness check now, before we need to pack things up, as to get our cardio vascular system in shape for the upcoming exciting summer that will follow! We're thrilled about it.
So, anyway. We headed down at a good clip. Steve lagged, James kept slipping, he fell twice on the unstable ground, as his feet are club footed, which makes it extremely easy to fall in these situations. Poor James! I slipped several times myself, as it's wettish, loose, ground. As we booked down, we decided to take yet ANOTHER trail back down, as to by-pass having to go back through the woods and take a more lighted trail in case it were to get dark. It had already been about 3 and a half hours by this time.
This trail we chose was going to take us to the Highschool down in Issaquah. This was a good prospect, and we traveled it a great deal. After we got further down, I recognized a part of this trail from when I had gone hiking late last year with Aaron. Good old Aaron.
As the hour or two passed quickly, we hiked about 3 more miles down, and found ourselves near the highschool. Here, we hiked through a brief section of Issaquah from the community center to my house. At last, we sat down. James didn't stay long thereafter. Enough to get a drink, and then grab the Rockstar and drive home. I am used to spending the evening with him back in Sultan after such hikes, so the idea that he leaves is rather saddening. That's okay. I took a shower with Steve and then we argued a bit, and then we relaxed. I didn't want to relax I wanted to harrass Stephen. But I hadn't heard from him anyway, and by then it was 6-7 PM and jeah.
This was our hike :D It was 4 and a half hours, nearly 5 hours long. [this includes stopping to play in the cave area and eating lunch, letting Rocky swim at one point, etc etc].
I am awake and ready for Sunday.
We'll see if I can get a hold of Stephen to chill. I am really hoping I can...
-Angela
Eventually I got a hold of James and he headed out here with Rocky, the moose-dog. [Golden Retriever]. We grabbed sandwhiches and water and headed out from our place on foot with the 2 dogs and the 3 of us. [James/Steve/myself].
We hiked up where we took Inna, only this time we had enough daylight to keep going. The hike from our house to the trailhead is about 2 miles.
So, once we hiked up to the trailhead, we went up our usual West Tiger Trail. About a mile and a half up at one of the crossroads, we decided to take a newer untraveled route that we had never gone on before. This was the Connector Trail. We heard there was some cave up there, so we went. We crossed a few little streams and the dogs bounded across them ---Rufus a little grumpily so.
This was not really flat either, as the West tiger is extensive uphill terrain, I was almost moody about not getting that intense uphill grade. However, as we moved along the connector trail, [it was only about half a mile] it went up and down, and up and down, until we ran into another place where we could explore a NEW trail.
Here we found a trail that said it went to the Vista. This is the top of the West Tiger trail. I was like, "oh we have to go we have to go!" It said it was only .8 miles to the top. I was like, "hell jeah! Uphill!" So, we went on this trail after some debate. It seemed this trail was scarcely traveled by many and was very unstable, and steeper uphill than the West Tiger trail.
This trail traveled the face of the mountain and was very bow-ridden. Lots of trees and slippery things, so forging this trail was a challenging, if not treacherous.
At this point I believe I began to hit my threshold of endurance. It takes a while to hit it, but once I get there, I keep stopping and not following at the usual pace. Which is really annoying for all parties concered. About this time we made it up to the West Tiger Railroad grade. We didn't know which way to go to get to the Vista, so we agreed on stopping here, which was at the top, just not at the Vista.
We stopped, fed the dogs some dogfood, ate food ourselves, drank, and then we realizing we were cold because we had stopped moving and it really wasn't warm out. We all agreed we're glad to be beginning our fitness check now, before we need to pack things up, as to get our cardio vascular system in shape for the upcoming exciting summer that will follow! We're thrilled about it.
So, anyway. We headed down at a good clip. Steve lagged, James kept slipping, he fell twice on the unstable ground, as his feet are club footed, which makes it extremely easy to fall in these situations. Poor James! I slipped several times myself, as it's wettish, loose, ground. As we booked down, we decided to take yet ANOTHER trail back down, as to by-pass having to go back through the woods and take a more lighted trail in case it were to get dark. It had already been about 3 and a half hours by this time.
This trail we chose was going to take us to the Highschool down in Issaquah. This was a good prospect, and we traveled it a great deal. After we got further down, I recognized a part of this trail from when I had gone hiking late last year with Aaron. Good old Aaron.
As the hour or two passed quickly, we hiked about 3 more miles down, and found ourselves near the highschool. Here, we hiked through a brief section of Issaquah from the community center to my house. At last, we sat down. James didn't stay long thereafter. Enough to get a drink, and then grab the Rockstar and drive home. I am used to spending the evening with him back in Sultan after such hikes, so the idea that he leaves is rather saddening. That's okay. I took a shower with Steve and then we argued a bit, and then we relaxed. I didn't want to relax I wanted to harrass Stephen. But I hadn't heard from him anyway, and by then it was 6-7 PM and jeah.
This was our hike :D It was 4 and a half hours, nearly 5 hours long. [this includes stopping to play in the cave area and eating lunch, letting Rocky swim at one point, etc etc].
I am awake and ready for Sunday.
We'll see if I can get a hold of Stephen to chill. I am really hoping I can...
-Angela
