2024.1.11. Kimberly Akimbo - Paramount Theater

1/11, Saturday, 8pm. I bought 2 reselling tickets from ticketmaster.com. Very cheap ticket, the fee is higher than what the seller would receive. Kimberly Akimbo, part of the Broadway tour at Paramount Theater.

This is a story of a highschool girl suffering from Progeria, her parents, her schoolmates of a bio class. A few scenes are funny: the aunt teaching the kids to wash checks; the car ride of Kimberly and her project partner with her father. The sets are efficient, scene changes are quick. Otherwise, not sure how it won Tony Award. It's still entertaining enough for a cold and wet evening. The venue is beautiful.

2025.1.11. "How Not To Die" at REI

1/11, Saturday afternoon, Kula Cloth organized this interactive event in partnership with REI, King County Explorer Search and Rescue (KCESAR), Washington Trails Association (WTA), Northwest Avalanche Center (NWAC).

We were to choose one of the 3 destinations. We were to study the trail, fill out a Hiker Itinerary Form, pick the gears we'd need. Then, we were told of an accident happened to one of our party. We were separated into 3 different rooms, each with a volunteer from KCESAR, debriefing the real incident happened on these 3 places. Discussion on what we should do, what we shall bring, both for the hikers and the rescuers. Then, we switch to a different destination, and a different real incident.

A girl from NWAC gave a brief talk on avalanche.

Last, REI employees did a "fashion walk". One dressed in proper outdoor clothes, the other dressed in fashionable but wrong materials. 3 sets of the outfit pairs: base layer, mid layer, and outer shell.

There's a give-away in the end, using the hiker itinerary forms we filled. I got a shoe bag from Hoka.

Takeaways:

• bring extra warm clothing + food, prepare for 6+ hours for rescuer to arrive
• always tell someone where you are going
• synthetic puffy is better than down when wet

Kula Cloth had a table printing your own with your image.

2024.1.9. Book Bingo

1/9, Thursday, at Seattle Public Library. Books from 2024's Book Bingo were laid over on 4 tables. Bookmarks, bingo sheets, and fridge magnets. People checkout these books and swap their opinions. I picked up one book because of it's intriguing title. The lady next to me said she liked it and the author's previous book. So I kept the book.

2025.1.6. Sunset at Tiger 3

1/6. Monday. Raining last weekend, so couldn't get out. weather.gov forecasted sunny afternoon on Monday. I wasn't in a hurry, as it was overcast all day. Besides, it's a working day.

Left home after lunch. Took a bus to Issaquah. Had to work a bit before starting my hike to Tiger. Between 600' and 2000', I was in thick clouds. The air smells better in the woods than in the city. I don't regret coming out here.

It was a pleasant surprise when I saw the blue sky above me. Very sunny sky at Tiger 3. Great view of the distant mountains and thick puffy clouds below. There were 2 people here when I arrived. They left before the sun acturally set. \ I had to sit down and deal with a work issue, instead of continuing to Tiger 2. My fingers got very cold. One more person arrived. We waited for the sun to go down.

Going down with headlamp. However, once I was in the cloud, the water vapor reflected the light back to me. Visibility was very poor, barely could see my feet. Couldn't really tell where the trail is. Section Line is not maintained, steep at times. Had to take extra care in the fog. Thankfully, I'd been here many times, and have GPS track with me. All is well, except that my shoes got very muddy.

2024.12.31. Mailbox Peak + New Year's Eve fireworks

12/31, Tuesday. Partly sunny. Having a car in my posession, drove to Mailbox by myself. Since I didn't get up early, it was a bit challeging ~10:50am to find a parking spot. I waited for a lady to leave in front of the decommissioned bus stop, and took her spot. From the recent trip report, I knew that I didn't need snowshoes, because of all the boots packing down the track, even with all this rain/snow in the recent days.

Took the old trail up and down, with my laptop - it's a work day. Snow starts ~3000'. Dumped by the trees at times, for a couple of hundred feet, it felt like walking in the snow, until it was high and cold enough. Once out in the open, it's a winter wonderland. Very pretty. Despite of the clouds, could see out in the Olympics.

I put on the pikes just below the trail junction. The mailbox on the summit was not buried in snow. It was quite cold and windy on the summit, so didn't linger. Snapped a few photos avoiding other hikers, 5 mins top. I was wearing just a long sleep shirt going up. Now had to put on a puffy + a shell.

This rocky section is steep at times. Care is needed on the way down. I brought ice axe, but never used it. Better to carry two hiking poles. In the trees, the old trail isn't that steep. Not sure why the new trail is constructed.

I'm rather out of shape. Took about 2:45 to from car to summit. Thankfully, no one needed me from work during my hike.

On the way back, filled gas, visited an old friend. Not a bad new year's eve.

At 11:55pm, I went up to the roof. A lot of people. With all the thin clouds, it wasn't cold. This year, there's more light installation than before. The fireworks is good, almost 20 minutes.