CHRISTMAS KAYAKING

Where else but Seattle?  A few kayakers nutty enough to brave a cold, brisk wind, lots of boat traffic and the inky blackness to follow the Christmas ships.  Much fun!!!

NIGHT HIKE

Wednesday night, wrapping up work.  I don't want to go hiking.  I'm tired.  Justin seems to agree.  Do we really want to do this?  We waver, but remember that Marc is coming as well.  He's been looking forward to this.  We have no choice.

We meet Marc at the trailhead.  It's cold, the wind is blowing.  It's also dark.  Really, really dark.  Headlamps on, we set out across the paraglider landing strip and into the woods.  The cold, very dark woods.  The only light is from our headlamps as we weave up the mountain.

A conversation sets up, I warm up, and the familiar feeling of exertion takes over.  Breathing hard, the conversation flows and we climb.  Up. Up.  The trail to Poo Poo point isn't as hard as Cableline, but it's UP.  About 1,700 feet of vertical elevation gain in just under 2 miles.  Justin is in the lead and he hikes eerily and sometimes annoyingly fast.  His natural gait doesn't look fast, but try to follow him and it's a work out.

We're all huffing and puffing and finally we get to the top.  We stop.  It's quiet. There's no one else up here.  It's not only quiet, but it's warm -- much warmer at the top than the start at the trailhead.   The temperature inversion that has hit the Northwest is still in effect.  No wind.

And the view!  We can see all of Issaquah below us and the major roads twinkle with movement.  Each road has a blur of white on one side and red on the other.  From our vantage point we can see thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of commuters getting home.  The tall buildings of Bellevue glisten in the distance.   Who ever thought Bellevue would have a skyline??

The lights are concentrated in patterns, our view is bracketed by the dark Sauk mountain on the left and the equally dark lake Samammish on the right with bright and busy Issaquah directly  below.

There's no place I'd rather be.  Legs have a nice burn after  a quick hike up.  We quietly chat, marvel at our good fortune to be able to experience this, and then we hike back down.  In less than 2 hours we've had a good chat, great exercise, and were able to take in a breathtaking view.

Nice evening.