Saturday we went to the Freemont Solstice Festival. I had never been before. I knew there were going to be naked bicyclists, but I really knew nothing more than that. We opted for the bus from Tacoma since the Rock and Roll Marathon was going on in Seattle as well and it was a great idea. The traffic was stupid around Seattle.
We arrived around noon and had some lunch and a beer at the Red Door. They have a sandwich that is spicy hummus and thin slices of green apple on wheat bread with tomatoes and lettuce that is really good. I'll be stealing that recipe. We also had their Black Bean Burger that is nice and spicy. A couple of beers and we were ready to walk.
Right away there were some talented and entertaining buskers mixed in with the vendors. The weather was perfect as well. We walked through the vendors and around the parade route, stopping at Woodsky's for an additional beer.
A visit to the troll under the bridge and we were ready to work our way back around for the parade. I'm sure I have never seen as many pervy looking old guys with cameras as I did there. It made me a little self conscious about my camera.
We realized early on that there was to be only rare "clean" shots of the cyclists and moved down the route to Woodsky's for a beer until the cyclists began. Most of the pics I have were taken with the camera overhead and snapping away so I'm sure there's no Pulitzer Prize in my future.
The parade proper is a very Earth centric affair. There were anti- Monsanto and anti- Coal train groups, a sun and planet crew and lots of great bands. With perfect weather it was PACKED.
We had people we were trying to meet up with, but there was no hearing your phone ring so we never connected. We headed for the bus a little before 5 and were home by 6:30.
Sunday we had plans to hike Crystal Peak. We have hiked it before and been turned around by snow before the summit as well so we were hoping for success this time.
It was raining in Lakewood when we woke and the rain was worse as we drove through Puyallup, but - magically - as we got to Enumclaw the rain stopped. We hit the trail at 8:10 and followed an inspired Pam up the hill. This trail starts out with switchbacks like most trails for the first almost 1 1/4 miles. At that point you take the switchback to the right and there isn't another for a little over 2 miles.
That means that you are looking up at the hill ahead of you for a long time, so it is a good trail to hike head down. We did encounter some snow on the trail after the long awaited next switchback. There were 5 patches and the worst of them was the first. It required crossing a 100 -200 foot area on a steep slope. I was wishing I had my ice axe for that chunk, but the snow was easy to manipulate and we made it without incident.
We arrived at the summit in 2:15 minutes, had some food and rested for 20 minutes before heading down. The return trip took 1:30 and a well deserved lunch and beer at the Naches Tavern in Greenwater awaited us. All in all it was 8 miles and about 3100 feet of elevation gain.
Be very well and more soon.....
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