Sunday, October 5 Hike

This morning Jim and Vickie, Diane, Scott, and Tyler met at our house at 8:15 am. I rode with the Oakes to meet the others at the Sky Country Trailhead on Cougar Mt. We started out on the country road until we reached the trail which took us along a beautiful wooded path. It was a cloudy but fresh and lovely day for a hike. Tyler was happy to be in his jogging stroller. After 1 1/4 miles, Diane notice Tyler was falling asleep. They wanted to keep him awake so he would not miss his nap time later on so they turned around and carried Tyler back the same route to the car. Diane told us later that Tyler got down and walked through the leaves for a while and enjoyed the walk. We continued down the trail to reach Long View Peak and Doughty Falls and then looped on back to the trailhead. We walked 5.6 miles. Although Vickie got stung by a bug and Jimmy got bitten as well, it was a great day!

Vacations

Friday morning, Sept. 26, Mike and I drove to Lake Quinault Lodge, which we have often visited, on the Olympic Peninsula. On the way down we stopped at Elma for lunch which we enjoyed so much that we stopped there again on our return route. There are several good restaurants in Elma the names of which I will add later. Both our lunches were delicious. We had a great time at Lake Quinault. The weather could not have been better. The sun shone through the leaves and branches of the giant old growth forest as we walked through several trails that surrounded the lodge and the beautiful glistening lake. We enjoyed meals both at the lodge and another fine restaurant, The Salmon House, down the road. It was a great 3-day (Jim would call it 2-day) vacation which we plan to repeat again soon. Although I forgot my camera, I am showing pictures of the Lake Quinault lodge and scenic outdoors

Please see Jim and Vickie's blog for pictures and details of hikes we made as a group. http://jim-vickie.blogspot.com/

Rockport State Park

Saturday, August 23, Mike, Jim, Vickie, Gail, and I drove to Rockport State Park, It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed a delicious gourmet lunch prepared by Jim at a picnic table in a nearby wooded area. After lunch we hiked the Evergreen trail which took us 2 1/2 miles through the forest in a loop around the park. The Vine Maples canoping the moss covered trees were part of the scenery at this mini rain forest park. Even though I somehow lost my hiking boots there, this was a terrific day. P.S. I later bought some better boots at the REI sale the next week.

Adventure Trail

Today, Saturday, Jim, Vickie, Mike, and I headed out on the same trail we had hiked on Monday. This time with a map in hand from REI, we completed the loop from Adventure Trail around Brink Trail and Swamp Trail. After about two hours of hiking we stopped to enjoy the lunch we had each prepared. It tasted delicious and we enjoyed the picnic among the beautiful old trees. It was a great day! Tonight Mike and I stay all night with Tyler at his house while his parents attend Scott's high school reunion.

Tiger Mt. Hike

Monday, Jim, Vickie, and I returned to Tiger Mt for a hike at the base of the Mountain. As we had no map, we retraced out steps back through the woods from where we started vowing to know the trail better next time. Regardless, it was a very nice hike on a beautiful day. Afterwards, Jim, Vickie,and I stopped for lunch at a quaint restaurant in Issaquah.

Tiger Mt. Hike

Jim's blog says "Mary, Mike, Vickie and I drove to the parking lot at the High Point entrance to Tiger Mountain. We started up the steep three mile route to a viewpoint, but two members of the party turned back after a little more than a mile. The other two continued on the 3.75 mile route shown below" We were sorry Mike and Jim got tired and we had to split the hiking party up. I would include pictures however I haven't been able to find them on Jim's Twitter site. When I do, I will add them to this post. It was a fun day and some of us plan on visiting Tiger Mt. again tomorrow