2008.9.28. Snow Lake

Finally some good weather (and in weekend too!)

2008.9.27. Annual Italian Festival at Seattle Center. Grape stomping is fun. Vegan chef Christina Pirello is entertaining. The stage is well set up, a mirror hung above the table, and a side booth with a small army of slaves chopping the ingrediants and distributing the samples. Seattle Opera also performed a few Italian arias. The small photo exhibition is worth browsing through, some dated to 1903.

2008.9.28. Snow Lake. Maybe may be the first time I hike here this late in season. Still some snow licking the lake. An easily accessible beauty (6 miles R/T, I-90 exit 52). No surprise to have such a big crowd (even the overflowing lot had a dozen cars). A few maples are already red, but huckleberries bushes are still green. No berries whatsoever.

2008.9.24. ReBar presents "Tootsie", a new installment of Ian Bell's Brown Derby Series. Starring Andrew Tasakos as Dorothy Michaels (Dustin Hoffman), Nick Garrison as Julie Nichols (Jessica Lange), Brandon Whitehead as Jeff Slater (Bill Murray), Joe Randazzo as Sandy Lester (Teri Garr), Scott Shoemaker as John Van Horn (Goerge Gaynes), Jason Sharp as April Page (Gina Davis). Tasakos is very good. Garrison is too full of himself. The rest of the crew is mediocre at best. Costume is not up to my expectation. Not enough rehearsal. Still quite funny, albeit crass.

2008.9.22. Gutenberg the Musical by Strawberry Theatre Workshop at Erickson Theatre off Broadway. The only stage/costume design is about 20 hats and a couple of packing boxes. Two actors and a piano man. Quite creative. A bit silly and over done, but still fun.

2008.9.18. Swingin' with Marvin Hamlisch and Seattle Symphony. Celebrating the Jazz age. Featuring Nikki Yanofsky, a 14 year-old prodigy, and a local high school talent, Carl Majeau who soloed on clarinet, and a newly founded jazz band Four to the Floor with 4 kids from 4 different high schools, and the Jazz Ambassadors of US Army.
The girl has a fabulous voice, completely at ease in improvising, so was the 17 year-old clarinetist. What I don't like is the girl's outfit, and the blue trousers of the soldiers (an incoherent match with the dark navy blue of their jacket). Hamlisch was funny, talked in between every number. Overall, highly enjoyable.

2008.9.14. Benaroya Hall's 10th birthday celebration. Free performances by various music groups, inside and outside of the concert halls, and Seattle Art Museum also opened for free.
Arriving late, I managed to see Seattle Men's and Women's choir, and Pacific Northwest Community Orchestra playing Mahler symphony no. 1. Captain Smartypants's song that rhymes with e was a lot of fun. Gerard Schwarz conducted (as he announced to be unrehearsed) Mahler's no. 1. Each section has at least one Seattle Symphony's core members, including the concert master Maria Larionoff. All was well and grand.
Time flies. I still remember going to Benaroya Hall's very first open house!

2008.9.7. Eurydice at ACT Theatre. Directed by Allison Narver. Almost no stage design. Set in modern times, an interesting take, but the dialogue could be improved. An extra character, Eurydice's father, who died before her, and happy to be reunited with her in the underworld. Of course, being a tragedy, he died again to be rid of his memory (after Eurydice died a second time).

2008.9.4. Chamber Music America and Early Music America Ensemble Showcase 2008 by Western Arts Alliance which is having its annual conference here.

• Fry Street Quartet
Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 18, no. 6, Allegro con brio, Ludwig van Beethoven.
Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 130, Cavatina, Beethoven.
Quartet in C Minor, Op. 18, no. 4, Allegro, Beethoven.

• La Catrina String Quartet
Metro Chabacano, Javier Alvarez.
Danza, Emmanuel Arias y Luna.
Quartet no. 1, Allegro Giocoso Alla Slovacca, Erwin Schulhoff.

• Music Pacifica - Baroque Ensemble
Sonata sopra L'Aria di Ruggiero, Salamone Rossi.
Sonata in F major, after BWV 529, Allegro, J. S. Bach.
Ground after the Scotch Humour, Nicola Matteis.
Medley of Scottish Tunes: Johnnie Faa, the Gordon, My Lame Leg, Tullymet Hall, Lord Saltoun, arr. Blumenstock.

• The Tudor Choir
Tu Es Petrus, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.
Ave Verum Corpus, William Byrd.
Nunc Dimittis (for double choir), Palestrina.

• Euclid Quartet
Quartet no. 4, Prestissimo con sordino, Bartok.
Chrysanthemums, Giaccomo Puccini.
Quartet in D major, Op. 18, no. 3, Presto, Beethoven.

• Borealis String Quartet
Quartet in F minor, Op. 95, Allegro con brio, Beethoven.
Quartet in D major, Op. 83, Allegretto, Dmitri Shostakovich.
Quartet in G minor, Op. 27, Un poco andante - Allegro, Edvard Grieg.

I really liked La Catrina String Quartet w/ interesting compositions, and Euclid Quartet. Mediocre wine and cookies after the performance. Town Hall downstairs isn't good for acoustics, a bit too dry and loud. They should have booked the recital hall at Benaroya. If not, then upstairs, the main hall, would be better. The audience consists of mostly musicians and agents from the conference. They also should advertise this more. A pity that not many people can enjoy this rare treat in summer.

2008.8.30-9.1 High Divide - 7 Lake Loop. 19 miles, 4000 ft gain, 4 hrs from Seattle. Close viewing opportunity of black bears, peaks, lakes, flowers, waterfalls.

Day 1: cloudy. 8:45am ferry to Bainbridge Island. Only waited 20 minutes. Arrived ~12:30 at the trail head, end of Sol Duc Hot Spring Rd, elevation 1900 ft. Flat and pave-like 0.8 mile to the junction for Sol Duck Falls. Lots of people. Keep left, along Sol Duc River. Old growth forest, mossy, cool, MUDDY. Picked some baby chanterelles for dinner. About 1 camp site per mile. Gentle slope, can hear the roar of the river all the way, but cannot see it most of the time. At mile ~5 (3000 ft), passes Appleton Pass trail. Keep right, pass the last open fire camp site, 2 broken bridges. ~1.5 miles later (4 hr after the start), reached a small flat meadow: Sol Duc Park camp sites.

Day 2: cloudy. 1 hr of steep climb, 7.5 mile from start. Heart Lake area is nicer for camping: better view and water more upstream. 1 mile later, the ridge starts, and continue for 2 miles. Also bears started popping up. This is the best stretch of the entire loop. Great view south to Mt Olympus (Blue Glacier, Ice River Glacier), north to the 7-Lake basin dotted with tarns. A short climb to Bogachiel Peak (5474 ft) is worth the effort. Soon is the junction to the Hoh River Trail, and sure can see the river. Turn right and continue for another mile of flower and blue berry laden slopes. The berries are too small for me, but not for bears. At right about here, saw a group of 40+ Roosevelt elks S.W. in the valley below. A steep descent to the right leads to Round Lake and Lunch Lake (0.9 mile). Both are lovely. After setting up the tent, back traced 2 miles to Bogachiel Peak hoping Mt Olympus would be clear. Alas, the clouds stayed, so were the elks. Didn't catch any fish :( yet quite a few mosquito bites. Woke up by the ranger at night, because she wanted to check camping permit!

Day 3: sunny! Back up the ridge, briefly saw Olympus' peak. 3.4 miles' decent on rocky trail to Deer Lake. Saw a guy caught 3 trout. Another 3 miles of monotony along Canyon Creek (not as pretty as Sol Duc River) back to Sol Duc Falls and tourists. Same 0.8 easy miles lead to the huge parking lot. Before I could release my aching feet of the boots, a young dude in an SUV stopped by and checked camping permit. Such a turnoff.