Where We Left Off

Playing catch up for a spell.  These are really the best of days, finding order, coming back home, restoring a space of tranquility.  Pretty much my favorite of Things I get to do today.

Mt. Rainier from the southeast.

But I left you, all of you, at Mowich Lake on the spectacular northwest exposure of Mt. Rainier.  The lasagna was well received.  But I have a story to tell you about Wednesday the morning I left.

Several days before on my daily training trudge with Bailey Dog around our nearby park, a woman with a dog (the most common of sights in the park) caught my attention.  I recognized her as Sue, the mother of one of my daughter's classmates from first grade.  We hadn't really seen each other in 20 years but chatted about our daughters and the pooches--both belonging to our daughters, and about Mt. Rainier.  But it was nearly dark; we kept it polite and short, and both of us headed for home.

Wednesday morning I was in a hurry to complete my training hike before leaving to join the family at the mountain.  My loop included the street in front of Sue's house.  Her yard erupted with crazy barking and snarling as we passed.   She rushed out with a leash, apologizing over the rudeness of her dog.  Once on leash the pooch settled down, and Sue continued with me for the next 3 miles of my walk, giving us a chance for a real conversation.

Mt. Rainier had been her focus for the whole summer.  She had a glorious coffee table book about Rainier and was reading it a bit everyday, dreaming of being there, relishing every picture. Plans to visit the park with her family had just crashed on Monday. Basically she was fixated on being connected to the mountain.

"I'm headed there at noon today and camping overnight.  Do you want to ride along?"

"Yes! But you're not serious, right?"

"I am serious.  I'd enjoy the company."

"I'll be ready at noon," she replied.

From Mowich Lake Road

I picked her up at 12:30 and we headed north, both of us marveling from every angle about the circumstances that had brought us together and the nasty behavior of Laddy, her dog, which  played the most important roll.  Bad was definitely good in this case.

Hubby with a "warm" beard

At Mowich Lake, we found happy hikers, eager for the lasagna (recipe will be in the next post), for the green salad and tomatoes, for a cold beer.

Shards of breakfast: fried potatoes with onions and
bell pepper topped with cheese, scrambled eggs, cinnamon
rolls and nectarines!

The next morning after a hearty home breakfast (anything, please, please, other than instant oatmeal), the cheery band set off for the last 30 miles to their destination at Sunrise.

Lunch and trail mix for the next three days.

And Sue stood amazed at it all. She took rapid mental notes about all the gear and how to use it. We drove round the whole mountain on our way back to Portland.  I also stand amazed at how the Universe saw to it that she put her feet at the base of such a magnificent spot.  She'll be back.

Gone Camping!

Today and tomorrow.  That's how long I'll be gone.  Things I get to do today are:  pack up the dog Bailey, pack up the camp stove, fuel, sleeping bag, pack up real food for real dinner and real breakfast, and drive one state north to Mowich Lake on the northwest side of Mt. Rainier. I'll camp one night with  those hungry Wonderland Trail hikers, feeding them dinner and breakfast the next morning. The menu for dinner is lasagna with eggplant from the garden and tomato sauce squeezed out of our own Rapreco Paste Tomatoes.  The sauce was the best I've ever eaten, I swear!  We'll add a huge tossed green salad and finish it off with wet, wet, juicy watermelon.

Breakfast to fuel those three pair of legs to Cataract Creek Campsite will be fried potatoes (from the garden), scrambled eggs from our chorus of hens, and sticky, gooey sweet cinnamon rolls from the nearby chain grocery store.  We are not so high and mighty as to not recognized the value of something that tastes this good that is filled with sugar and refined flour.  Hooray for common sense and happy campers.

Lasagna with eggplant and homemade tomato sauce

There'll be have more photos when I'm back on Thursday afternoon.  You get the leftover lasagna, if they leave any.  If they liked it, I'll write up the recipe and share it with you.

Left Behind

Fresh before the adventure

They're on the trail. A text message said they were at Summerland (their second night's camp site), arm was much better, and they were very tired. Today's hike was 10.3 miles with packs averaging 43 pounds. Tomorrow will be 11.1 miles.







It's called the Wonderland Trail, that magical walkway that encircles Mt. Rainier.  93 miles of ups and downs reach over the shoulders and arms of that mountain.  If all the elevation gain were added together it would be four miles of straight up.  Of course, that is not so.

Bailey dog and I 

For days we've been collecting food items that are now assembled into 10 breakfasts, 10 lunches and 10 suppers for four people.   Mountains of plastic bags stuffed with instant oats, fruit toppings, trail mix, beef jerky, rye crisp (I'm in charge of breakfast and lunch) have been forming on the kitchen counter.

But the food was finished, meals assembled, packs were packed, and the crew (spider-bitten arm and all) headed off to their hiking vacation.

Bailey and I are home alone.  My body wasn't in shape to do this jaunt.  Bailey dog needed someone to be with while his owners were away.  Things I get to do today include planning for next time.  Got out a good-sized backpack.  Put in my sleeping bag with 36 pounds of weights.  Will wear it for the next 10 days while Bailey and I walk around the neighborhood.  Hope to log 30+ miles.  Next time someone else can watch the dog.