Camp Muir. . .almost

As much as I'm missing Melis & Abee Joy (visiting her folks in UT this week), I'll be honest - I was pretty stoked about this hike. Darrel, Mike & I left after our softball game (we won 14-0) and camped at Cougar Rock campground, near the entrance to Mt Rainier NP. Mike treated us to dough boy's & a killer breakfast. On Saturday morning we were joined by Kristin, Steve, and Jeremy for the assault on the mountain. We were headed roughly for the horizon behind the two tall trees on the right.

We started at 5,400' elevation, on a mission to get to Camp Muir, which is at 10,100'. Attempting a 4,700' climb in June takes a bit of luck, as the weather at that elevation is always a wild card. For a couple of hours, it was beautiful - about half sun & half clouds. But the clouds kept building, and soon we started hearing far-off thunder. Around 8,300' the clouds moved in pretty thick. Below is a group trying for the summit. Is that a ghost?! Oh. . .just you, Kristin.

As we sat & grabbed a bite for lunch, we started getting pelted by hail, which sent us scrambling for our jackets. Shortly after that, the lightning got a little too close for comfort, and chased us down. I think we could have endured the pounding of the hail, but none of us wanted to have to explain to someone else's family why we didn't turn back when the lightning started.

It hailed on us for ~45 minutes non-stop, with plenty of booming thunder - a reminder to how quickly conditions up at elevation can change. We were all pretty soggy before long, but had a great time on the way down. Steve here demonstrates perfect glisading technique.

Darrel, Kristin, Steve, Mike, Jeremy, Brian

And, just as we got back to Paradise, most of the clouds on Rainier broke, and it looked like the weather was pretty decent up there again. Typical.

As Darrel pointed out, it's nice for the mountain to win once in a while. It breeds a healthy respect for the wildness of Creation, deepens the legends of those tough hikes, and gives you a good excuse to go try it again.

Mtn Biking the Mount Tahoma Trails

No. . .the road wasn't like this for long.

Trillium

Cooper Creek Hut

Mount Si & Waiting for a Return

After dropping Melis & Abee off at the airport (heading for UT), I took Matty & climbed Mount Si. It's a Seattle favorite, and despite the crowds, a pretty good hike. Here's the view I was met with at the top.

Looking close, you can see the skyscrapers of Seattle just left of center, with light glinting off the waters of Puget Sound on the right.
Matty couldn't have done better. We moved a pretty brisk pace, which probably made her more willing to stick by my side most of the trip.

Melis snapped this one a few days ago, as Abigail was waiting for daddy to come home. Now the roles are reversed ;-)

Let me leave you with a stimulating John Piper quote that Tom shared with us in Sunday School today:

"From all eternity the ever-existing, never-becoming, always-perfect God has known himself and loved what he knows. He has eternally seen his beauty and savored what he sees. His understanding of his own reality is flawless and his exuberance in enjoying it is infinite. He has no needs, for he has no imperfections. He has no inclinations to evil because he has no deficiencies that could tempt him to do wrong. He is therefore the holiest and happiest being that is or that can be conceived. . .

To share this experience - the experience of knowing and enjoying his glory - is the reason God created the world."