A little catch-up

Summer has finally arrived and although I prefer the 80s, I won't complain too much of the recent 100 degree weather that just arrived (and soon leaving). I try to not stay in town during the summer and so far so good. Last weekend I went with a couple friends to hike the Entiat North Fork Loop just above Wenatchee. I planned out the backpacking trip (only 3 days), and that is probably why it was a doozy. I didn't think it was going to be as tough as it was but I didn't mind it. The first day we hiked 8-9 miles. The last 1.5 miles was a 1700' accent up to Fern Lake at 6900'. We were also surprised to see snow at the top with the lake frozen over. Thankfully there was enough "dry" ground to set up two tents. That night was cold though as the wind swept along the snow and iced over river and then through us. The next day we hiked back down the steep climb and then hiked to Three Tree Camp, another 8 or so miles and significant climbing and descending. It was a beautiful backpacking trip and we saw a bear, deer, grouse and more.

This week later and this last weekend I went with Mike, Rich and Heather from Utah on the North Cascade Highway "Loop." As it was high 90s... it was hot and miserable in Eastern WA but once we reached Seattle, it was quite enjoyable. Also remarkable was Ellensburg during the summer.. the thought came to my mind, "I would live here." It was beautiful. We ate dinner at a tex mex restaurant called the Cactus. The food was remarkably good and had excellent flavor and a little kick to it. I very much enjoyed the food. We then hit up a hotel and then took off the next day across the North Cascade Highway. This is the second time I have made this trip and it was once again very pretty. The windy narrow roads and beautiful scenery (waterfalls, mountains, turquoise water, etc) was very enjoyable. We descended south from Twisp and hit Wenatchee and was sweating it out again. The very warm weather sucked the energy out of us and it was good to get back to my house. We then watched the fireworks from my house and the bow of my boat, which was parked in my drive-way. One of my neighbors almost killed us but it made things exciting... something about fireworks exploding on my neighbors garage and another's front porch :).

I look forward to much more backpacking, waterkskiing and an enjoyable summer.