PORT MADISION AND A BLAKATION

An eagle at Port Madision

The work week was bracketed by two trips away from the dock.  Last week involved some little projects and I had no intention of leaving the dock on Saturday.  My phone buzzed with a text from Andy.  Yahtzee would be in Port Madison in a couple of hours, would I want to join them for dinner?  Heck yes, why not.

I threw a couple of chickens into the smoker, did a couple of loads of laundry and in about 90 minutes the laundry was done and the chickens were well on their way to being done but had already acquired the great smoke taste.  Transfer the birds to the oven, shut down the smoker, untie and go.

That evening we had a great dinner with the addition of Will and Sarah, a Canadian couple, sailing down for the boat show.

Porter, getting ready for a big adventure

Porter starting on his big adventure

Porter well on his way on his big adventure

Porter being rescued from his big adventure

Porter

Team Cross

Adam

Sarah and Will

Sunday morning involved a kayak trip around Port Madison and then back to the dock.   Met some new folks, had a great dinner, a little bit of exercise, clean laundry and ready for the work week.

Fast forward to the next weekend.  After an unexpectedly nice Friday night, again fired up the engine Saturday morning to join  about 10 boats for the annual ‘Moscow Mule’ party at Blake Island.  Dana had rented the shelter on Blake. Complete with fireplace, the shelter has a great view of the Seattle skyline.

They have arrived

Cambria’s contribution to the pot luck were Rueben Sandwiches.   The corned beef had been slow cooking all day in the crackpot filling the boat with anticipation.

Seattle lit up by sunset

Night skyline

Ruebens - Adam cooked them to perfection

S'mores

Will's roast

Fun times.  We learned on the dock that instead of a vacation, the trips to Blake were 'Blakations'.

Sailing and the skyline on the way back

NICE WEEKEND

A nice weekend on the island.  Nothing special, but at the same time it’s all special.

The mountain range behind Vancouver shines in the morning.

Someday I'll get a shot of an Eagle that's in focus.  But not today.

Kuper on the beach

Shortly after sunrise

The 'Clifford A Barnes', a University of Washington research boat, was doing some work out font.  One of the goals of this trip focused on Sea Stars -- the UW has been trying to better understand the wasting disease that has wiped out great swaths of starfish.  For more of what they are doing, click here.

Hard hats on the aft deck get ready to drop a drag net.

Net down, scraping up what's on the bottom.

Three shots of Mt Baker.

Midday sail

Just before sunset, light shining on Baker and the opposing shore

Less on the shore but Baker still catches the receding light

Like an ill fitting lid, Sunday's cloud cover didn't quite go to the horizon

 Successive shots of the Sunrise....

We watched the Seahawks and groaned as the time wound down and it appeared certain the Vikings would pull off a game winning, seemingly easy field goal.  Seemed like our last game of the season...until the kick went wide and the Hawks won.  Doug Baldwin's tweet summed it up.  "I don't believe in luck.  But I don't know what else to call it".

Friday Harbor slips away in the ferry's wake

A nice, very nice, weekend....

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.