Poor JK spent last weekend on the couch, surrounded by a mountain of Kleenex and cold medication, instead of playing outside on actual mountains in the sunshine. Our friend Amy was sick as well, so her husband Tom and I did what any supportive spouses would do – we went hiking without them. Tough noogies, germos!!

Lake Twentytwo was beautiful as always (well, the snow on top of the lake was beautiful at least, I’ve never actually seen it in a melted state), and the trail was full of smiling humans and happy dogs…including one depraved Jack Russell Terrier that humped Wellie with such vigor and gusto that it took four adults to separate them. My poor boy will never be the same.

Fortunately JK is feeling better now, just in time for another sunny weekend – our local news station described the forecast as “spectacular with scattered awesomeness.” Where to go, where to go…

The Sunday after our arrival back in Seattle looked damp, gloomy, and generally just too Pacific Northwest for our South Pacific mindset, so we joined our friends on a hike east of the crest, where the sunshine lives.

This was my second hike on Sauer’s Mountain outside of Leavenworth, and it has become one of my favorite spring trails. It’s perfect this time of year if you’re like me and the mere sight of snow makes you stabby (or you’ve just returned from ten days in paradise and you’re not emotionally ready for your tan to fade just yet).

The trail starts on private property (in what is presumably Sauer’s backyard) and it’s decorated with all sorts of totem poles and whimsical tree trolls. Past the forest service border, we had to make do with clusters of bright yellow balsamroot flowers and views into the Enchantments. The horror!!

At the top, Tom brought out a bottle of Disaronno so we could take a shot (or three) in honor of our friend Jo who is currently out of hiking commission with a gimpy leg. Get well soon, Josie, we need you to finish the bottle!

I hate shopping. I like to say that I was born without the shopping gene, but anyone who knew me in high school would tell you that this isn’t true. My shopping gene is merely switched off, and it has been for years (coincidentally I think this happened around the time I gained several metric tons of weight and couldn’t find a single article of clothing I felt comfortable in). Now I abhor any sort of shopping – clothes, groceries, souvenirs, even hiking gear(!).

Anyhoo, my point is that when JK and our house guests decided to hit up the outlet mall in North Bend for a “quick” (YOU CAN’T FOOL ME!!) shopping session, I decided to drag my arse to the nearest trailhead instead.

Did I mention that I was hung over from our housewarming the night before? And that we had just eaten lunch at the greasy establishment that used to be (sort of) the Double R Diner? Well, these things bubbled and combined to explosively rocket me to the top of Little Si in record time. (Have I stumbled across the secret of TNAB’s afterburners?) A quick phone call to JK confirmed that I still had lots of time to kill, so I relaxed at the summit for a while and then chose a longer route, the Boulder Garden Loop, on the way down.

Little Si has never been a favorite of mine, but it sure as hell beats shopping.

We landed at Sea-Tac last night, but I’m still riding that Hawai’i high. Megadoses of vitamin D and oodles of honus work wonders on my brain chemistry.

I’ll post more later once I’ve managed to get all the Maui sand out of my hair and, as always, processed photos. Aloha!

After the wettest March in decades, Washington made up for the misery by serving up record-breaking heat and sunshine for Easter weekend. JK, Wellie and I celebrated by basking in the sun on Oyster Dome.

Luckily we got an early start for once and were able to enjoy some almost-alone time on the Dome before the hordes arrived. I loved seeing lots of happy, smiling people enjoying themselves outdoors, but once we all congregated on the edge of a cliff, the acrophobic introvert in me decided it was time to hike on.

When we hiked Oyster Dome last year, we started at the regular trailhead along Chuckanut Drive. This time we followed Tom’s recommendation to start at Samish Overlook instead, and it will definitely be our default route from now on since the views from the trailhead are actually better than from the top. It also cuts a whole bunch of the mileage and elevation gain (which isn’t much to begin with), so we decided to visit the neighborhood lakes before heading home.

The side trip paid off – as we were walking along Lily Lake, a sudden, loud squawking scared the bejesus out of us. We saw two huge (so much bigger than Wellie!!) bald eagles two feet off the trail, giving us the stink-eye.

They were not happy about being interrupted in their exploration of the birds and the bees (spread-eagle?), but they decided to a) let us pass and b) not eat Wellie. It was the coolest wildlife sighting of my life so far, better than all the bears and even the marmots we saw making sweet love on Mount Baker.

We looped our way back to the trailhead where we sat down to eat the rest of our lunch and enjoy the sun and views. It’s a good life we lead.